#i don't remember which was but i recall that for a while the chapters weren't coming out weekly

[laugtherhyena]

Is csm chapter 168 dropping tomorrow??

[aettuddae]

business matter — chapter 70.

↳ synopsis: two of the most important kpop companies covet a partnership with a huge global brand, only to be surprised when the deal is extended to both labels. fearing potential sabotage and cynical strategies to secure exclusivity for just one of them, both CEOs resort to desperate measures. in a bid to maintain trust and prevent betrayal before the signing, they come up with a pact: forcing a fake relationship between the leaders of their star girlgroups. if one side attempted to fail the other, they threaten to expose it all to the conservative south korea.

masterlist | prev | next

[written chapter]

[a/n: the reactions of the fans are not happening at the same time as the events written.]

a large team with cameras and employees of different categories were in a field not far from the city. from the makeup area where they also got their microphones to that piece of land where there used to be nothing, but now there was a recreational structure for the recording, it was about twenty minutes by car. the filming crew surrounded the cast of azza time!, which was meeting for another week to produce a new episode.

the celebrities were casually chatting about everyday topics and also conspiring about what today's maze could be, already accustomed after three years to the dynamics of the program in which the production devised confusingly ordered circuits in which there were different games as obstacles that required general knowledge, intelligence, and also physical skill.

serim often asked herself how she had ended up being part of this kind of program and not one where she could merely sit, eat and talk, as she knew there were many.

after waiting a moment, the director was heard throughout the set announcing that they would begin recording, so the regulars stood next to each other looking at the camera to start the program.

“so…” sejeong, who was standing next to serim, leaned even closer to her friend so that she could talk to her without anyone else hearing. “is she your girlfriend today or not?” she asked as she watched the guests approaching from a distance.

serim returned an annoyed look, causing sejeong to laugh with accomplishment. “they asked us to act friendly in front of the camera.”

“in that case, i hope she doesn't go into acting.” she commented, looking at karina, who showed irritation on her face.

they received the indication that they were already being filmed and then jaesuk, the main host of the program, began the presentation of the episode and gave way to a short exchange of words between the arranged cast, to finally introduce the guests.

“…they finally returned to azza time with their first full album, ‘armageddon’, aespa!” the four members entered the camera vision and were welcomed with applause from the mcs.

the group introduced themselves, as well as one by one, and then their new project, courtesy questions that are asked at the beginning of any variety show took some time, in which the leader of aespa did not deign to place her eyes even close to the position in which the leader of heaven was, as if they did not partially live together.

“serim-ah." jaesuk called, catching her attention. “you are an idol, are you close to the members of aespa?”

“well…” she turned to look at them, noticing that winter and ningning were holding back the urge to laugh, while giselle looked terrified at the possible answer to that question, and karina had her eyes on the ground. “we have recently promoted together, as you know,” she recalled. “we are co-workers, we can still become closer." she replied, careful with her words.

“didn't you exchange contacts after the episode they appeared in before?” another member, jukjae, chimed in, surprised that they weren't close.

“to be honest, i don't really remember that episode.” serim's answer caused her mates to laugh.

“that sounds like serim.” sejeong accepted.

“from among them,” the star of the conversation pointed to the guests with her hand. “karina and i…” the aforementioned raised her head quickly to look at her seriously, causing serim to smile sideways, smug. “we are the closest.” she adverted, turning her gaze from the girl to her work friends.

the others started talking over each other asking questions, after all, they were quite close since they recorded together every week and even met after when they could, but it wasn't enough to know who was in their inner circles, so they were fascinated by the new information of a possible friendship between their beloved serim and another of the most popular idols in the country.

“karina and i,” this time she spoke to the camera, possibly because she was disturbed by the furious gaze of the blackhaired woman who was staring at her. “we met through what she describes as…” she gave a sigh and thought for a second. “a business matter.” she nodded her head, affirming the memory of jimin using that term. “we've spent a lot of time together” she added. "at work." she commented, creating even more tension than there already was between her and the guest, but seeming like an ordinary anecdote to those who had no idea of ​​the context behind it.

“i can't believe we're on the same team again." sejeong complained to serim as both of them, part of the red team, entered the maze prepared for that day.

the azza time labyrinths were artificially assembled sets that were easy to dismantle, but they needed large spaces to be settled up in, which is why the episodes were always recorded in open fields or large spaces such as baseball stadiums or sports courts. they were generally themed based on what the guests were promoting, and in this case, the topic was an alien invasion.

the dynamics of the program is that the participants are divided into two randomly chosen groups that have to explore the map until they find the exit, completing missions, playing games or passing obstacles along the way, and once reached the end they cannot win without a certain number of these carried out.

“it's destiny trying to tell us something.” she brought her hand to her chest acting in love with her.

“serim, could you behave?” the oldest punched her shoulder in frustration. “karina is right there." she joked, without having the latest news on the relationship between these two.

ningning turned to look horrified at the brunette, then at her leader to capture her reaction, but she just, very poorly, pretended she didn't hear, while serim swallowed hard and opened her eyes wide as if she were trying to tell her friend to shut up with them, although she didn't see it since with her competitive spirit she had taken the lead in the team. even so, the atmosphere did not become uncomfortable since the other two members of the cast did laugh at the joke, although they may not have understood it very well.

without giving time for there to be any type of interaction between the two leaders because of that comment, a sharp shout from sejeong was heard, and as a result, the two members of aespa who were on the team reacted the same out of inertia. when they turned a corner they ran into an actor in an alien costume, and once everyone saw what it was that had scared the woman, they simply burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation. once they grew normal with it, serim approached the boy and took a letter that he had in his hand to open it so she could read what it said.

unconsciously, due to her restless, game-loving and impatient nature, jimin pressed her body against the older girl's, trying to grasp the instructions to start the mission as quickly as possible, wrapping her touch around the other's upper arm and leaving her cheek only a tilt of her head from jang's skin. but serim loves being right, in addition to being in control of every scenario, and considering the grudge and annoyance she held against jimin at that moment for the attitude she had adopted that they were complete strangers, she couldn't help but notice the girl's closeness, nor contain the victorious smile that appeared on her face, creating a pedantic and arrogant aura, which only unfolded with karina abruptly breaking apart from her side in madness.

“let's see if i understood." dongyeon spoke after hearing the explanation. “he" pointed to the alien. “is going to sing in an extraterrestrial language and we have to guess what song it is?”

"exactly." assured ningning funnily before the mini-game.

they prepared to carry out the activity, sitting on some stools that the production prepared for them and paying attention to the man when he began his part, failing in some, but eventually getting four of the five songs right that they needed to complete that point of the race.

everyone was waiting for the next melody, leaning on the edge of their seats, ready to shout the answer. the boy awkwardly started humming something after receiving the name and the show's stars took a moment to guess what it was.

“ah!” serim exclaimed after identifying the sound, feeling a tap on her shoulder from one, very passionate about the game, jimin, who seemed to have also deciphered it and wanted to communicate it to someone in some way. “snsd!” she shouted, upset.

“party!” yu finished.

for just a second everything was silent, but the moment it was confirmed that it was the correct answer, they both squealed happily. the song began to play through the speakers so they could complete the next part, which was to dance and sing it, to which they both got up running. serim got to the center faster, but she has always been terrible at remembering choreographies, so she stayed static, although not for long because as soon as karina caught up with her, she pushed her out of the shot and started performing impeccably.

upon seeing the youngest, the vocalist remembered the steps and returned to her position, covering her work mate in front of the camera lens and continuing with the dance. however, this one approached quickly and she used the full weight of her body to rush at the girl who had interrupted her, quickly returning to the middle to continue from where she had left off. jang stopped to look at her in disbelief, but quickly regained her determination and approached with wide steps to wrap her arms around her waist and lift her off the ground, carrying her back through the air to leave her behind, going back to the center to finish the challenge by herself.

“girls, remember that you can dance together, we are all one team.” tried to intervene jaesuk from his seat, although in any case, all the spectators found the leaders' tom and jerry act entertaining and funny.

but no one listened to the man and the main dancer once again gained the spotlight by pulling the older's shirt until she was off camera, ending in serim running back towards her and grabbing her by the torso again, but this time maintaining her grip, no longer trying to dance, but to prevent the girl from achieving what she wanted.

"let go!" perhaps because of the distraction of wanting to win, she didn't give that order with bitterness, but rather charged with the emotion of a child who wants to continue playing.

“no! it's my favorite group, i have to answer!" she refused, still having her captured in her embrace.

“it's my favorite group too, nam…” she realized. “serim." she retracted herself, trying to get free.

“it can't be because you and i would never have anything in common.” she contradicted.

“i liked snsd before you did!” seeing that she couldn't get out of the woman's arms, she changed her strategy and began to try to throw her to the ground.

“how would you know when i started liking snsd?” she struggled to maintain balance.

"intuition!" she responded simply as she finally managed, after kicking serim's foot and causing her to lose balance when it lifted suddenly, to get her to fall off. although perhaps she didn't expect the vocalist to take her down too.

“they both got the point for the team.” someone from the staff announced. they hadn't even noticed that the song was no longer playing.

"that's not fair!" from the ground, jimin pointed accusingly her index at the person who said that, with her back against serim's front and still in her hold, still too blinded by her desire for victory to notice what position she found herself in.

"i don't believe you!" serim continued.

“it is possible, we are playing as a team.” interrupted sejeong, appearing in their field of vision above them. "get up please."

after several hours of recording, the red team was on the fifth mission, and this was one of those that required physical dexterity. before them stood a platform that swayed, decorated as if it were a spaceship. in the middle of it, there was nothing more than a tube that connected from the floor under the machine to the ceiling of the place, which had various steps that wrapped around it, and a little higher hung a series of figures in moons, stars, hearts, and butterflies of different colors. on the sides of the wobbly stage were two baskets.

the game consisted of reaching the required figures and placing them in the containers without anyone falling off that surface that kept rotating and moving up and down. those in charge of climbing to reach the emblems were ningning and dongyeon, while jaesuk and sejeong were the ones who had to throw them into the barrels trying to fill them, and karina together with serim worked as hinges, holding the previous two so that they do not fall, but also ensuring that those who climbed didn't either.

the figures were very high, so the hosts really had to work hard to reach them, but dongyeon managed to get a pink star, as requested in the game instructions, and went down to pass it to serim who would get it to sejeong. but as soon as the last one stretched out to try to throw the object where it had to enter, as it was her first attempt, she lost her balance and also the support she had in serim's hand, almost falling into the water that was under them. fortunately, her friend, with speed and agility, released her grip on the tube, taking advantage of the fleeting moment in which the platform was tilted on the opposite side, but elevated on hers, she approached kim, hugged her against her body, and returned to hold on just in time so they wouldn't be propelled out of the game.

on the other side, ningning already had a green moon in her hand, but she was still on the iron bars that functioned as steps. it was difficult for her to go down because of the movement, leaning on her leader so that she could tell her when it would be appropriate to step. but the blackhaired woman had her eyes distracted by serim and how she was hugging sejeong, which is why she was not paying attention to her maknae when she tried to get down just at the moment when the ground rose on their side, causing the girl's foot to suddenly rose and with it the rest of her body that was still over the metals that formed a staircase, leaving her hand trapped in the one it was wrapped and causing her thumb to bend unnaturally as she did not adapt to the abrupt change in position. the youngest girl's scream echoed throughout the place, accompanied by her body falling on top of her bandmate as she released her grip because of the pain.

upon hearing her, the game stopped and the production, as well as the group's staff, came to help her without delay. taking her off the set to the car they had arrived in so she could be checked by a doctor, followed by karina, while the others were notified. everyone gathered outside to deliberate about what had happened and wait for answers about whether they could continue recording, while the members of aespa gathered around the car with their manager and others to see how serious the maknae's injury had been.

after a moment, when she saw the emergency staff leaving, serim decided to approach the girls.

“hey, ning, how are you?” she gave her a kind smile.

"fine." she assured her, she didn't look distressed. “it's a sprain, but it's not serious, in a few days it will heal.” she raised her hand to show it. “they only gave me this.” a splint held the injured finger in place, wrapped with some bandages to support it.

"i'm happy to hear you're well." she walked over to lie against the truck next to the opening where ningning was. "but what happened?" she put her palm on the girl's leg, which made her nervous and so begin to mix up her words when trying to explain, without getting her to understand.

"it was my fault." karina interrupted, gaining the attention. “i should have been attentive to help her get down, but i wasn't.” she explained.

“no, it wasn't anyone's fault.” ningning denied. “my finger got caught in the tube, no one would have imagined that would happen.” she clarified.

“either way, it was my role to prevent something like that from happening.” yu repeated.

“you seem to have a tendency to lose control of things.” serim observed, her tone slightly hostile to her.

"what do you mean by that?" she furrowed her eyebrows and looked at her with annoyance.

“whatever you want to understand.” she shrugged her shoulders. “ning, have they already told you if you will be able to continue recording? maybe you should rest.” she turned to see the named one.

“serim, i think i already told you more than once, but you don't know me enough to make assumptions about me.” she warned irritably.

“don't you get tired of repeating the same things over and over again?” jang turned her gaze to her in distaste. “even jesus rested.”

“i wouldn't have to keep repeating the same thing if you would just stop acting so immature.” karina defended herself.

“i'm done talking to you.” serim cut off her words.

“how can you be so unbearable?” she took a few steps to get closer to her.

“that question is too personal, i'm sorry, i thought you didn't want to know anything about me.” she pushed herself from the vehicle and faced her.

“can you two not fight? ningning almost ripped off her finger…” giselle tried to stop them.

“is all the resentful attitude you've had today is because i rejected you?” she crossed her arms. “poor little serim, finally a woman says no to her.” she hummed mockingly.

“what resentful attitude are you even talking about?” she inquired unperturbed.

“your constant laughing, looks and comments with double meanings.” she recounted. “that speech of yours about how we met that you gave at the beginning, was it necessary?” jimin was furious.

“i was just repeating what you told me.” she argued with an innocent tone. “and for someone who doesn't want to know anything about me, i noticed that you were very aware of what i do all day.” she tilted her head, looking at her expectantly.

“how can i not notice the stuff you do if you are over me all the time hoping that i do something you can hold against me?” she exclaimed, raising her voice.

“did i force you to do those things that i ended up rubbing to your face?” she responded, turning up the volume of her sentences.

“i didn't do anything to you all day!”

“aside from letting your groupmate get injured because you were too focused on what i was up to?” she exclaimed exasperatedly. “or did you really think i didn't catch you staring?” she spoke normally again, but still with anger.

“fuck you, serim.” she said angrily and turned around to leave.

“fuck me yourself!” she shouted loudly for karina to hear as she walked away from her.

[szynkaaa]

Black Myth: Wukong Journal Entries Part 1

Summarizing some of the journal entries that I found interesting because why not fanfic research?? who knows not me

All the journal entires can also be read on the fandom wiki page

Starting with the Mount Huaguo monkeys because I too, am wondering how they were faring after SWK died.

Circus Monkey (chapter 3 New West)

After Mt. Huaguo was destroyed, the Macaque Chief (flying monkey we fight three times in Chapter 3) led a bunch of monkeys away

arrived at Flaming Mountain (chapter 5) but a plague broke out and Macaque Chief asked for the sick monkes to be tossed into a called

This did not like that, so they decided to stop following the Macaque Chief and they wandered around

lived among humans, pretended to be monkey performers, did not make good money, so they decided to rob the audience while performing.

they killed them, stole their things and moved to the next city

The moved tot he New West, heard Macaque Chief is there too but avoiding them because he feels guilty

circus monkey became circus monks

Tenner (chapter 5 Flaming Mountain)

Centuries ago, Court razed Mt Huago once more

lots of monkey left the home after they heard of SWK death, and because SWK was buddy buddy with the Bull King they decided to go to Mt. Huago

Bull King hated monkeys because of SWK betrayal LOL, but he still gave them shelter and the monkeys were often bullied by other yaoguais

The Flaming Mountain Keeper (dude who had the hots for Princess Iron Fan) treated them with kindness and gave them food and support

Plague struck, monkeys fur fell out and they had sores and boils all over their skin spreading across their back

Macaque Chief casted the infected into the Furnace Valley. Dude said not my circus not my monkeys lol

Keeper came and saved them and cured them. Wings spread from the boils off their back

Keeper taught them how to fly and enlisted them as his minions

first thing they did was purge the Macaque Chief's camp, killed all the other monkeys, only leaving the Chief alive, who then fled to the New West

Macaque Chief (Chapter 3 New West)

Yellobrow helped Macacque Chief retracting his black wings

Macaque was a Chief under SWK

Yellowbrow offers the Macaque Chief to stay and help him rebuild the Thunderclap Temple

"If you had the abilities of that monkey who wreaked such havod in the Celestial Palace, it would have been others who would have suffered." - Yellowbrow

My personal thoughts and musings:

based on the entries from Tenner, I guess it's been more than 100 years since SWK died, I recall reading somewhere it was 270 years but I don't remember where I got that number, so if anyone knows let me know. I like that they added information on what happened to the monkeys at Mt. Huaguo. Chapter 6 felt very Unfinished (fitting title) in terms of also environment - there weren't much enemies around beside the court soldiers and bosses to fight. And when I first walked into the waterfalls cave, my first thought was how empty and abandoned it look like. There are stone tables and chairs and peaches scattered around, but it looks very much like no one has been there for a very long time.

Also the Macaque Chief is NOT the six-eared Macaque, he died in JTTW killed by SWK.

So we know that

SWK left the court and buddhahood behind to just chill with his homies

in retalition the Court started killing his monkey kind

SWK killed himself in order to be completely free

the court very likely continued to massacre and raze through Mt. Huaguo

which then led to Macaque Chief leading some other monkeys away to find a new home

When the Old Monkey is telling the stories of SWK and sending out monkeys to retrieve artifacts, we see a bunch of other monkeys holding staffs too (spot the anime protagonist lmfao)

we do not see or find any other monkeys when we arrive at Mt. Huaguo

My theories and headcanons:

Without Sun Wukong's protection, Yaoguai's run rampagne and the monkeys are not able to fully defend themselves

also when we arrive and on our way to the Stone, we get attacked by court soldiers

My theory is that because they know SWK will be reincarnated, and they want to prevent that, they have soldiers stationed there to attack whenever someone triest to obtain all armor parts and reach the Stone with SWK remains

hence also why the monkeys had to leave, because they would get attacked by court soldiers on sight

I don't think ALL of them left, we do still see monkeys at the beginning of the game

Overall when I played through Ch.6 there was a also a strong feeling of excitement of reaching the end of the journey soon, but also sad because it Mt Huaguo just felt so empty. it's supposed to be SWK's home and he wanted to leave buddhahood behind to be with his kin. To me, that already paints an image of mt Huaguo, being a lively and happy place.

I do wonder what is gonna happen next now that SWK is back. I suppose words will go out that the Monkey King is back, and that some of the monkeys will try to return again? I also wonder what the DO was thinking when traveling and having to fight his own kin. Does he know the history of his mountain? Hopefully the DLC will answer some more questions for us

And that's it about the monkeys! I'm still reading the Journal Entries, and will tackle the Tigers from Chapter 2 next!

[acciocriativity]

THE 'U' IN 'US' - AN ATEEZ SERIES - CHAPTER ZERO

Summary: You weren't really the lonely girl™ of campus, but it does feel like it when you look around, and there's no one by your side when everyone else are talking and whispering between each other. You did have "friends", more like "group projet friends" that you managed to get for yourself, but they were the ones that were real close, you were there only when they had an extra empty seat. But it seems like the gods above took your nonchalant facade as a challenge. Oh, you don't think you need friends to survive through college? Bet.

Pairing: Non! idol OT8 ateez x reader (platonic)

Tags: college! au; hybrid! au; ateez! au; fluff (a whole lot of fluff and wholesomeness); angst; hurt/comfort; mentions of mistreatment and abuse.

WC: 2,2k

N/A: It's finally here!! Please reblog and let me know your thoughts, the feedback is really important to me 💕 If you want to be tagged, also let me know!

INTRO MASTERLIST ONE

Ateez Masterlist

Don’t you remember us?, the words repeating in your head as you stared back at the brown haired boy. Now that your attention was on him and him only, you noticed the smallest of ears picking up from his hair, the color blend made it almost invisible. He was not a human, he was a bear hybrid, and you remembered exactly where you met him for the first time.

The police station was a complete chaos that day. It was a sudden change from the monotony of the small town your father started working at the beginning of his career. There was at least double the people walking left and right. Doing what? You’d never know, but it seemed important enough that you’re too scared to interrupt any of them to ask where was the bathroom, much less your father. He was not in the best mood since you moved, and you hated to be the reason for more stress. Also, he busied himself in conversations you could only watch from a distance, not even keeping his eyes on you sat at an old chair.

He won’t even notice that I left…, how stupid of you.

You wandered off, walking next to the walls so no one would bump into you while carrying a stack of thick papers. There was no sign of a bathroom in the room you were, you didn’t even know where you were, no idea it was the heart of that police station.

You kept walking further and further out of the room into the empty hallways at the back, ignoring the signs at the top of each door, too focused on the triangle dress symbol you couldn’t find. You turned right, but you only found a single wooden door.

The sight was discouraging to say the least.

You sighed, or you thought you did, because you heard it, but it didn’t seem like it came out of your own mouth. Then you heard another sigh, now you were sure it wasn’t you.

You stared at the door a little longer, then up to the sign at the top of it, it said ‘RH waiting room’. You didn’t even know what RH was. A waiting room so far back? Maybe there is a bathroom inside of it. That was enough for you to grab the handle, but it wouldn’t open.

“You have to be kidding me���, you said as you looked up to the ceiling, but you hoped all the gods above could see your disappointment. You were out of luck for the 4th time this week.

Inside the room, there was only silence, something you didn’t notice right away. If you were there, you would be able to feel the tension and fear as the hybrid stared at the door.

“Hey, is there a bathroom in here?”, Jongho repeated the first words you said to him back to you. “You remember now, yeah?”, he could see the embarrassment coming back as you recalled what happened after that, which made him giggle with the others.

You never remembered that moment as funny, because your father told you what RH stood for and why anyone would be there in the first place. But he did.

“Wait, that’s actually the first thing you said to him?”, the one with the bunny ears asked, while laughing so hard he almost fell.

“Yes, I did Min…” you tried to recall as he leaned forward, a glee of expectation in his face as you said his name. “…gi, of course, Mingi”, you said as casually as you could.

He seemed so happy, you felt bad that it was whispered to you behind his back. You would get to it eventually, he did make a good impression of himself when you first saw him too.

“I do think I remember each one of you”, you said as you looked at each of them, one getting harder to greet than the other, until you reached the last two, Yunho and Hongjoong. They didn’t seem to hold any grudges against you, Yunho smiling wider than Hongjoong, but that was a given considering the little you knew about their personalities.

“It’s okay if you don’t, it’s been quite a while”, the blonde boy gestured it wasn’t a big deal with his hands. “I’m Yunho”.

“You didn’t have blonde hair back then…”, you trailed off as you remembered the one day you wished to forget.

“Nor the height, it’s truly unfair”, Wooyoung said with a sad tone as he gave the blonde one a side eye, but his fluffy red tail continued to bounce back and right with energy.

That comment made everyone giggle a little, even yourself. It was true, he grew up well that one, he seemed well nurtured too. That thought calmed your heart a bit.

“So can we sit, then?”, Mingi asked then sighed as if he was standing for hours by the table. Even his long bunny ears were tired of standing on top of his head, alert of all movement around him. He got one lightweight slap on the arm for that. “Ow… why-“, before he could whine, you interrupted.

“Of course, but there’s no-, Hongjoong, Yunho and San already went to get some extra chairs before you could finish the phrase, while the other 5 got comfortable in their sits.

Only then you noticed they wouldn’t be eating since there were no plates

“Do you guys want some?”, you asked as you looked down at your food.

They all declined, including the three ones that just came back with chairs, but you could see some of them eyeing your fries for a bit too long, so you slid the plate to the middle of the table.

“So, every single one of you came to study here, and this is a complete coincidence or this conversation has another purpose than to chitchat?”

In your mind, there was a clear answer. They wanted something from you, and you’ll be glad to give it to them if you could, but what can you do when the cases closed so many years ago?

“We saw you around campus”, Wooyoung said as he leaned over the table, you noticed one of his hands holding onto San’s arm, just like you remembered. “We didn’t think you would recognize us, though”, Hongjoong added after a beat of silence.

“So you followed me here? I don’t get it”, you looked at each one of them.

“No, w-”, Jongho said, but then looked at San and Yunho’s guilty smiles and back to you. “Kind of, some of us saw you around two other times, we weren’t sure it was you the first time, but your scent didn’t change much from back then…”, his voice losing its confidence and volume by the end of the phrase.

“We hoped you would be here, we did not see you today”, Seonghwa cut him off as he leaned forward. His smile was shy, but you could see it was sincere. “That’s the only time of the day we all have to be together before dinner, so don’t worry, we weren’t stalking you together like this”, he giggled while talking and then gestured to them all at the end of the phrase.

The effort Seonghwa had to make to not cover himself with his ears were more than he could express. He was glad his tail was out of sight, clinging to Hongjoong’s thighs in search of some comfort.

It was a weird feeling to be in front of you after so long, and Seonghwa knew the others would agree. He noticed how Yeosang was uncomfortable, readjusting his position on the chair every so often, and how San’s legs bounced without him even noticing.

“Well, that’s good to know”, it was easy for you to smile when they were being so adorable without even making an effort. “But that doesn’t really answer my question, so did you guys just wanted to talk?”

On one side, you had Mingi and Yeosang barely looking at you, at anyone for that matter. Then you had Hongjoong and San, apparently the air was so dry to the point they needed to wet their lips every 3 seconds. Seonghwa, Jongho and Yunho were too awkward to say it first, they could only smile to try to hide their own embarrassment. Wooyoung was eating to keep himself calm.

“Is it that bad?”, your joke made Yunho and Seonghwa giggle and shook their heads. “Then you can tell me, it’s okay, did I make that big of an impression in some of you when we met?”, it was supposed to be a joke, they were supposed to laugh.

But all of them nodded. In such a serious way, too, they weren’t awkward smiling anymore. Their staring suddenly became intense. You couldn’t pretend they didn’t mean it, and you didn’t know what to do with that information.

What could you say? You didn’t do anything to help them, you couldn’t do anything at that age and with the little independence you had. Not to them, nor any other hybrid who stepped foot into that police station.

Your silence spoke for you, and your surprise spoke more than you intended to.

“We just wanted to see how you were doing and to show you how we were doing”, Hongjoong broke the silence.

“I’m glad you all are doing well”, they recognize a certain softness as you said those words, they knew you meant it from your heart.

It was this softness you carried with you whenever you spoke to them that made such a big impression. Humans tend to be harsher while talking to hybrids, maybe because they couldn’t see themselves in their position to be kinder or because they thought hybrids were born stronger and less emotional, they wouldn’t care about those things, right? Up until they met themselves, the only kind one was you, even when it was so brief they barely met your eyes.

“You weren’t even scared”, you barely heard Yeosang’s voice, but the other boys heard him as clear as the day.

He seemed like he was in another world, since he wasn’t looking to anyone in particular. Yeosang jumped out his skin when Seonghwa nudged him on his ribcage. The red colored his cheeks, ears, and nape as Wooyoung did a poor job at hiding his laughter.

You did laugh yourself, but you cleared your throat. “Who wasn’t even scared?

“Hmm, you, you didn’t seem scared when we came by”, Yeosang said as he searched for something to look at to calm himself down, but you did deserve the respect of being look at while being spoken to, so he ignored his instincts and all the bullshit he learned to look at you.

“Why would I be scared of you?”, you said as you watched all of them.

That didn’t even cross your brain, you only realized now. You were too busy wondering why someone would break the ultimate rule of society ‘do no talk to someone wearing headphones’, because that would be much more rare than a hybrid attack out of nowhere. Okay, that wasn’t a real statistic, but it could be.

Yeosang thought you were talking about him for a moment, but then he noticed it wasn’t the case. It was clear no one would ever be scared of Yeosang or Seonghwa, they were at the bottom of the hierarchy, even Wooyoung wouldn’t scare many hybrids, much less many humans. The other 5 were a different matter. By their tails only, one would know they were predators hybrids. Jongho could be underestimated, but smart eyes could tell he was a bear hybrid and not to be messed with.

They were surprised by your genuine question, including Hongjoong, but he felt like he shouldn’t be. You seemed to be just like the kid he met.

“Most people would, but you don’t seem like you are capable of being scared of hybrids, do you?”, Hongjoong said as he observed your body language.

His words carried more meaning than he let it show to the others, but you got it, of course, you did. You also remembered.

“Guess my mom was right when she said I’m not like everyone else then”.

“Fuck, I missed you”, those were the first words San said to you and it caught everyone off guard.

It sounded so genuine and raw, San himself didn’t know what to do now that he said it. Until now, he was observing, checking in with all of the others body languages and emotions, Wooyoung’s more than the others only because he was right beside him. But his own emotions were boiling inside of him, he had to say something to you, but he couldn’t find the right words, well, until now.

Wooyoung was only surprised by the sudden emotion coming from San, but he couldn’t say he was surprised he felt that way in the first place. You must not know to this day what truly happened to them when they met you, but your kindness was the only thing they had to hold themselves onto and if it was up to him, you would never know.

“I’m- I-“, Choi San was blushing like a school girl and that was enough for all chaos break loose.

The other students couldn’t help, but get curious to know what the hell was so funny as laughter dominated the whole cafeteria and to know who were those hybrids that no one saw before.

Tagslist: @asherthehimbo @katsukis1wife @a1i33a @idfkeddieishot @pyeonghongrie-main @h3arteyes4mingi

[blinday]

Fuck it. Um. I'll post it on AO3 tomorrow.

If I don't remember to add something else.

You Ruined Yourself

Chapter 1.

Polite Stranger Smile #2

Ford didn’t know what he'd expected. He hadn’t spoken with his brother in a long time, hadn’t even seen him aside from his infomercials. Ford didn’t like that his face was plastered in those ridiculous things, but it did bring him comfort to see his brother's smile.

Stan's smile was something only he had, one of the few traits they didn’t share. Ford's smiles had always been a bit tight, a bit nervous, because he was never quite relaxed in his own skin; it's hard to be so when you have such a huge sense of alienation. Stan's smiles were bright enough to light up a room. It could be a wide toothy grin with a playful tint to it, or a small subtle smirk of someone you know is proud of you. Ford had loved Stan's smiles, and used to have a mental list of their differences and meanings.

The one Stan was using at that moment was the Polite Stranger Smile #2, mostly used during festivities when they met relatives they were supposed to know but didn’t quite recall who they were. It was a funny smile all things considered, specially because it was usually followed by his favorite, the I Don't Know What I'm Saying, which Stan always directed at Ford as they greeted the unremembered relatives. But right now Stan wasn’t looking at someone else with the Polite Stranger Smile. It was at Ford.

Ford, who had a crossbow pointed at his twin and could not afford to get lost in memories, even though those thoughts pulled at his heart in a way that made it hard to breathe. He had to focus, focus.

"Were you followed?" He inquired, looking over his brother's shoulder but never leaving the crossbow unaimed. Stan narrowed his eyes and cocked his head, his smile straining. It was now more akin to a grimace.

"No. And I know because that's totally a concern normal people who aren't doing anything wrong have." He said, and Ford couldn’t tell if Stan was being sarcastic or not. He couldn't do it without much concentration in good days, so trying now would be futile at best. He decided to not press the matter further, and tried to pull Stan in to check his eyes.

Only, Stan stayed firmly planted in his place, looking at him with that same grimmace, slightly furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. He was suspicious. Scared? It was hard to read him, now. Ford would not think about this now.

"I'm sorry bro, I am sure you don't have any terrible or vengeful intentions, but I'm not getting in while you have that crossbow in hands." He said breathily, like he was trying to say something serious with a humorous delivery. Ford frowned and slowly put down the crossbow.

Stan followed Ford's pull, and Ford checked his eyes. Stan stared at him, not even pretending he wasn’t weirded out by the situation at this point. Stan sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Good to see you don't think I'm a junkie." He said with what Ford knew to be sarcasm, so he had to stop for a second. Upon further thought, yeah, he could see why Stan would think he'd thought that.

"No, no, I just had to... You could've been..." Ford looked away, trailling off. "It's complicated."

Stan seemed fine. He could handle this task, right? But what if he couldn’t understand? What if it was too much? But if he didn't explain, what if Bill got to him? He had to explain everything. Yes, yes. He could do this. Stan could do this.

"Uh, you gonna explain what's going on, here? You're acting like Mom after her tenth cup of coffee." Stan said, interrupting Ford's musings. Ford looked at him and took a deep breath.

"Listen, there isn't much time. I've made huge mistakes and I don't know who I can trust anymore." From the corner of his eye he saw his research skeleton (for anatomycal comparisons with gnomes) flash a bright yellow eye at him, and quickly turned it away. They weren't safe. What if Stan didn’t understand? What if they really were just strangers sharing a face after all these years? Ford started pacing, muttering to himself.

"Hey, uh, easy there." Stan had both his hands extended like he was trying to calm down a wild animal. Which, fair enough, Ford could concede he might look a little... rough. "Let's talk this through, okay?"

"I have something to show you. Something you won't believe." Ford said, rubbing his hands. Everything felt scratchy, like his consciousness was just barely there. Stan smiled, and this time it was his reassuring one. Ford liked this one. Their childhood was filled with this smile, reflecting how their own mom smiled at them.

"Look, I've been around the world, okay? Whatever it is, I'll understand." Stan said. Ford hoped he was right, but knew he couldn’t be.

Ford led his brother towards his secret lab, and only as they stood in the elevator, did he stop to notice Stanley himself. Ford was hungy and exhausted and on the lookout for a demon who threatened to gouge his eyes from its sockets. He couldn't afford to pay attention to these details at every waking moment, but it didn’t mean he didn’t care. He just had a lot in his mind.

Stan had a tidy jacked that looked well worn, but cared for. His hair was wrapped in a ponytail, and he had a bit of beard on his chin. He looked nice. Didn’t have huge bags under his eyes like Ford, and didn’t look too thin. He wasn’t as big as when they were teenagers, but strongly built. Ford was glad. He'd always had a tiny voice at the back of his head worrying if Stanley would be able to make it alone in the big world, specially when they were teens. But by the looks of it he'd been fine.

It almost made him mad. Stanley was here, a fully functional adult with his 5 normal fingers and no demons to haunt him, after costing Ford everything. No, no, not now. He couldn't let himself go that way. He had to finish this. He turned on the lights as they walked into the lab, revealing his beloathed portal.

Stan gaped. Ford expected something like 'there is nothing about this that I understand', maybe a joke about it being a doomsday portal, or just a questioning look. He hadn’t expected Stan to look at him like he fully understood what he'd done, the magnitude of the situation, how much danger they and the whole wolrd could be in, like he got it.

"Ford," Stan said in a raspy, breathy voice lacking any of his usual humour. "What the fuck did you do?"

[islands-0f-violence]

Kimetsu no... Isekai?

Synopsis: Modern Era MC is thrown into disarry inside the Demon Slayer universe. What could go wrong? Pairings: Various X MC/Reader

❝Under the harsh light of day, MC appears! Groggy and confused, our lovely MC has to figure out how she went from attending boring seminars to slaying demons within hours. With no memory to conclude how she got there--or why she got there--our MC adventures through the Taisho era with Tanjiro and company trying to figure out just why they're there, while trying to keep the story as linear as possible. Though, it's getting harder and harder to keep secrets as they keep piling up.❞

Chapter 1 [NEXT]

I winced at the bright light that suddenly enveloped my face. Covering my eyes from further abuse, I sat up in my bed and rubbed them out. I could've sworn I shut the curtains tight so this wouldn't happen. Upon placing my hand down on my bed, I felt a peculiar texture and immediately snapped my eyes open. Around me was greenery, something that isn't in my bedroom. I stumbled up from my bed—which happened to be made of moss—and looked around.

Where the fuck am I?

The last thing I remembered before dozing off was watching TenSura. Ah, what an anime. No! No time for that right now! I gotta figure out what happened. I felt around my person for anything but found nothing. I'm stranded out here with no phone or supplies.

Honestly, it's probably just a prank my friends pulled. Though this feels borderline too far, I suppose they wouldn't actually leave me for dead in the middle of some unknown place, right?

Right?

Sighing, I began to walk around. Well, not around, in as straight of a line as I could. I can't waste time going in circles. After a few moments of walking, I came across a dirt path. I'll be damned, I'm not completely lost. I still don't recall any dirt trails I'd personally know near me, though, so I just hope I'm not too far from home. Or a gas station. I really have to pee right now. I kept walking for quite some time and felt like I was getting absolutely nowhere. Suddenly, the trees and greenery around me got thinner and thinner. Once the trees had ended, I walked out into a nice field. On either side of the path I'm walking lies some sort of vegetable or something. Maybe rice? It's set up so weirdly… I don't think this is anywhere near my house.

Looking further ahead, there was a bright blob in the middle of the road. It wasn't moving and didn't look like any animal I'd seen, so I continued forward toward it. Maybe it'll have some telling of where I'm at.

As I got closer, my stomach began to twist. I felt such an intense wave of déjà vu wash over me, but I shoved it aside. Once I approached it, it became clearer and more person-sized? No, not just person-sized, but just a human! I crouched down beside them, they weren't making too much noise. Honestly, I was concerned because they were just trembling there.

"U-Uhm," I started out, but it felt like I haven't used my voice in days, "excuse me? Are you ok?" I went to reach out to nudge their shoulder when they stopped moving altogether. Their head snapped up suddenly and this man's amber eyes were locked onto mine.

And then he opened his mouth.

"AHHHHHHHHH! I thought I heard someone coming, but I thought I was crazy, but it turned out to be an angel sent from above!" In mere seconds he had pushed my back and was nuzzling my cheek, a sobbing mess. "You've got to marry me! MARRY ME PLEASE! I might die soon!" My face exploded in color as I tried to shove the strange man off of me. Looking around, there was no one here to help me so I panicked and began to hit him.

"Off! Get off of me!" He seemed to not care as he continued to cling to me and beg for marriage. I don't think I'm ready for that. As I continually assaulted him, I got a closer look at his face.

It was snotty, but I instantly recognized the blond and orange hair, the bushy brows, and—oh god—the haori. How could I not recognize this pattern sooner? My swings got weaker as I put the realization together and he seemed to quiet down a bit once he noticed, but I swung harder once I remembered cosplayers exist.

This man could just be pretending to be Zenitsu to cop a feel of random girls and blame it on his character! With this new fuel to my anger, I successfully kicked him off and scrambled backward onto my feet. I brushed my shorts off from the dirt path. He pulled himself back up and began to walk on his knees towards me, hands are done in a praying motion. "Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasemarryme-" he babbled.

"Ugh, just get away from me, it's pathetic you have to cosplay that just to touch a girl." He blinked, seemingly not understanding a word I said before he lunged. Screaming, I tried to turn and run off from his sudden attack, but he was too fast. Lightning fast. Does this kid do track in his spare time?

"You can't leave me here! I'll probably die on my next mission and if I do I'll never have the chance to marry someone so you have to marry me right now!" He was getting desperate, his fingers digging into my hips from how hard he was gripping. I was actually starting to tear up when suddenly his weight was forced off of me. I looked up and saw a man in a green and black haori, a box strapped onto his back and an irritated look adorned his face as he faced the blond.

Did I stumble into a cosplay reenactment scene and they used me as the girl? They began bickering, running through the same shtick as I slowly boiled with anger. Would it not hurt to ask someone's permission? Maybe I wouldn't have minded or even dressed up for it!

"This is so fucking stupid, next time ask someone before you involve them in your games." I snapped at the squabbling pair, effectively stopping their argument and I turned to walk off, hoping to find someone competent enough to help me.

"Stop! You're going to be my wife!" 'Zenitsu' reached out again, grabbing my shirt and yanking me back. I fell on my ass pretty hard and let out a groan. He squeaked and crawled over with speed to my side. "I'msosorryididntmeantopullyouthathard-" I held my hand up and stopped him, which to my surprise he did.

"A-Are you OK?" I looked up to see 'Tanjirou' reaching his hand out as if to help me up. I accepted and he pulled me up gently, even stepping in between me and 'Zenistu.' At least one of these guys has manners.

"Yes," I paused, contemplating asking him for directions. "Do you know how I could get back home? I don't know this area very well. We shouldn't be too far from [address], right?" His look changed to an uncertain one as he looked me over. This further puzzled him, I guess.

"[Address]? I haven't heard of anywhere like that near me. Which prefecture are you from?" Prefecture? Excuse me.

"Look, we're not in Japan so don't play with me right now. I'm looking for [address] in [State/Province]. You can drop the act." I swallowed as the boy in front of me struggled to understand. Even 'Zenitsu' was quiet, trying to figure out what I was talking about. Is it that hard to stop with the reenactment to help someone who's lost?

"But we are in Japan? What are you talking about?" I opened my mouth to further argue with him but stopped myself. I woke up out of nowhere in the middle of some forestry area. I don't remember getting there at all, not to mention I clearly remember laying in my own bed last night. To say I am confused is an understatement. I genuinely believe this is fake and there are cosplayers in front of me, but a part of me is scared. What if I'm actually here?

I shook my head, it's not possible. Looking back up at 'Tanjirou' who was waiting patiently for me, I reached up to run my hand through his hair. Before he could object, I already had his strands between my fingers and I felt over his head for bumps from possible wig caps. None. Leaving him red-faced and stammering, I turned to 'Zenitsu' who had watched the interaction with jealousy. I proceeded to do the same to him, which he absolutely enjoyed. But still no wig cap. I pulled my hand away to his disappointment and examined it for any spray-on dyes.

Ok, this has got to be either a really good dye job or my ass is in Kimetsu no Yaiba. And yet, for some reason, I felt calmer than I should. Maybe it's because I don't thoroughly believe it yet? And honestly, as excited as I am for an isekai, I at least want to know if it's real, y'know?

"I- Sorry, I just needed to know if this was… really happening." I covered it lamely. "What I mean is, I don't remember coming to Japan."

"How could you not remember coming?? You speak the language." The blond pointed an accusing finger at me. This puzzled me, I don't think I'm speaking Japanese. In fact, I don't hear it either.

"But your outfit… tells a different story." 'Tanjirou' commented, looking me over once more. I look down at myself to see the loose pair of shorts I sleep in and a random [design] shirt. There is literally nothing wrong with my outfit. Well, I guess unless I am in an anime set back in time, there is.

"Shut up! There's nothing wrong with her outfit!" OK, maybe this actually is Zenitsu. He giggled and crawled forward, reaching for my thighs when I slapped his hands away. "That's ok, I can wait for my… my…" I expected him to say wife, but it looks like he was going for something different. "What's your name?"

Of course, they wouldn't know your name, dipshit. "Sorry, it's [Y/N]."

"[Y/N]." Tanjirou tasted, slowing the pronunciation. "I knew your accent was strange, but this definitely backs up that you're a foreigner. My name is Kamado Tanjirou, but please, call me Tanjirou."

Not missing a beat, the blond beside him scrambled up and grabbed my hand, smiling. "I'm Agatsuma Zenitsu. Your future husband." I pulled my hand from his grasp and stifled back a laugh. Me? In this situation? Fanfiction could never beat this.

"You said you don't know your way around right? Well, more specifically that you don't know how you got here, you could come with me and I could take you to a nearby village?" That sounds like a shit idea, to be dropped off at a random village and just left. However, I could travel with them to their next mission and see if this place is actually real.

I opened my mouth to respond before Zenitsu butted in. "You! You got in my way once already, I'm not letting you again! We're going together!" He dramatically pointed at Tanjirou, seething at the idea of the two of us traveling alone.

"Fine, we'll go together then, but I do have a mission we need to complete." Zenitsu panicked and began to have a full meltdown again, to my and Tanjirou’s disappointment. After his scenic spazz attack, Tanjirou managed to hoist him up and get him to walk a way with us.

"Better now?" The redhead smiled at the other.

"Mm, yeah, but I'm hungry." I walked along the other side of Tanjirou, making sure I stood away from Zenitsu. Tanjirou reached into his haori, pulling out an onigiri and splitting it. He handed one half to Zenitsu and offered the other to me.

Not gonna lie, it looks good, but provided I'm experiencing this in real life, he's going to need it more than me. I shook my head, "Keep it, I feel nauseous. " I didn't lie, I do feel sick right now, but I'm not sure if it's just nervousness or not. Tanjirou opened his mouth to offer again, but I grabbed his arm and had him take a bite. He was surprised at my action but didn't bother offering it again. I know he was hungry, too, so I would keep chewing and swallowing as well.

"Eh?! Really, just eat in front of her?! Don't you have any other food!" Suddenly flustered, Tanjirou swallowed harshly and began sputtering.

"I-I'm sorry, this is all I had left-" I slapped Zenitsu upside his head for making Tanjirou panic. Not saying another word, Tanjirou finished his half, not trying to invoke anything like that out of me.

"Give it a rest! I'm not hungry, can't you listen?" I glared at the blond, who teared up in response.

"[Y/N]-chan, you've been hitting me all day! Why can't you hit Tanjirou like that?!" He brokenheartedly bit into his snack.

Tanjirou paled and looked at me. "Tanjirou hasn't been acting stupid! Also, it's only been like 20 minutes since we've met?!" The redhead was relieved to see I wasn't gunning him down. Tanjirou stuck his tongue out at Zenitsu before a crow circled above them and cawed out.

"Tanjirou! Zenitsu! Start running to your next destination! Run! Run!" Hearing that in person, yeah a little creepy.

"AHHHH- THAT CROW! IT JUST SPOKE TO US! crowsarentsupposedtodothatright?!" Zenitsu fell to the ground, having one of his episodes again. Instead of helping him, Tanjirou and I just stood there, staring at him with a blankly stare. Was it ever right for me to simp for this scrub?

( ˘▽˘)っ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

The rest of the walk was decently calm, except for the occasional whining of Zenitsu wanting to stay back. We eventually reached our destination, which was a tall manor, mansion? Big home. Yes, that. I can't remember what happens here too well since it's been a minute, but there should he some kids around here. I scanned the area.

"I smell blood, lots of it." Tanjirou sniffed.

"Smell? I don't know about that, but I can hear something from inside… you hear it, right?" They looked at each other, and then at me. I looked back at them blankly.

"Huh? Did you ask me something?" They deadpan. Zenitsu begins to repeat it when Tanjirou interrupts him.

"Look, children. " We follow his gaze to the tree line where a young boy and girl stood, clinging to each other with wide eyes. Zenitsu is startled for a moment since he didn't hear them, but Tanjirou took the lead and stepped towards them carefully before crouching down to their height. I followed behind, hoping to not frighten them. "Hi! Is this your house?" The kids shook their heads and he continued. "Could you tell me what's wrong? I'm here to help you." After they showed no signs of speaking, Tanjirou pulled Zenitsu's sparrow out and presented it to them. "Look at what I have, it's a sparrow." It took a moment, but they relaxed and one of them finally spoke up.

"Th-There's a monster in there!" The boy choked out. "We were with my brother and a monster grabbed him! We followed them here with his blood but… he was hurt badly." The kids teared up. I wanted to hold them close and tell them it would be ok, but it felt weird. Like it wasn't my place.

"That was very brave of you two, to follow him all the way here. Don't you worry, me and my friend here are going to help him and reunite you three." The girl's eyes sparkled.

"Really?! You're going to save our brother!" Tanjirou gave her a kind smile and nodded.

"Hey, do you hear that? It's like drums." Zenitsu spoke up seriously, staring at the second-floor window. What happened here again? I listened closely, trying to hear what he was hearing but couldn't.

No-

I got up and ran towards the house but by the time I got there, I was too late. A body flung itself from the second story and landed mere feet in front of me. I stared down at it, wide-eyed, feeling the blood spatter hit my bare legs and cheeks. I heard the other two run towards me, Tanjirou crouching over the body. I remember this scene, as he's the one who comforted him in his last moments. Could I have saved him if I caught him? Or was he too far gone before that?

"Hey! Are you OK?" Zenitsu turned me around to face him, I stared at him blankly for a moment. He had a look of concern and his hands were around both of my wrists. I shook myself out of it and gave a half smile.

"Yeah, just wasn't expecting that." That was a lie. "I just was trying to hear what you were hearing." What I really didn't expect was a legitimate dead body. I didn't expect the realness of the situation. If I enter that house with them, will I come out like this next? I'm just an anomaly. Anything could happen to me.

Zenitsu felt around his person until he found a spare cloth that he happened to have. He placed one of his hands under my chin to look up at him and used the cloth to clean off what splattered on my face. He had a soft smile while he was doing it, and damn I almost melted right there. Well, that was until he finished with my face and dropped down, wiping at my leg while placing his other hand firmly on my ass to hold himself up. "I'll get you cleaned up, [Y/N]-chan~" This ruined it and I planted my foot against his chest to push him away. He fell backward, losing his grip on the cloth he had and I used it to quickly get what he didn't before he sat back up. "So mean…"

I turned to Tanjirou who finished laying the boy in a respective way. He turned towards the kids and gestured toward this man. "Is this… your brother?" They shook their heads and he sighed in relief. "Then we still have time." He bowed to the body before getting up and walking over to the kids. He took his box off and handed it to them, smiling. "This will protect you. I and my friend are going in for your brother, so just wait here with [Y/N] and everything will be alright!"

Thank God, he didn't expect me to go in with him. Zenitsu, however, looks like he was just given a life sentence. "I don't know if we should Tanjirou! I can't fight!" He cried. I glanced over at the kids who stared at him in obvious disgust. Eh, maybe I do wanna go in. I could see him make a fool of himself in front of those kids. Tanjirou's only response to that was to grab him by the haori and drag him to the entrance.

"We'll be back, [Y/N]! Stay with the kids." He waved as he and Zenitsu entered the building. I sighed, looking back at the box of his sister and the children. If it weren't the day, maybe I would take a peek inside. I crouched down beside it, reaching out to examine the materials used, and suddenly the box shook, and scratching sounds emitted from it. I jumped, and immediately felt stupid since I expected it to happen. The kids screamed and dashed for the main door.

I got up and ran towards them after I realized they were making a b-line for the entrance. "No! Don't go in there!" I was a few inches short of grabbing the boy's kimono when the door slid shut. I stood there, mid-run and my hand outstretched where the boy once was. I can't go in there, I won't live! But I have to, what will Tanjirou and Zenitsu think about me if I let those kids run in there?

Actually, Zenitsu wouldn't blame me one bit.

But that's not the problem, it's immoral. I reached for the door and went to open it, but it wouldn't budge. I glared at it and tried again. Still, no movement. I took a few steps back from the door and looked at the frame and—there! The door was slammed so hard, it broke the door frame. The door is now jammed into the wood, and therefore not moving. Huh, I guess I don't need to go then. Kicking the frame in slight frustration, I made my way back to Tanjirou's box and sat on the ground beside it. Soon enough, there were scratches coming from the box again. I furrowed my brows. Does she need something?

"Hello?" She doesn't know me yet, so I don't want to just start calling her name. "Is there someone in there?" I was met with silence. I waited a bit longer to see if she'd respond, but it seems since she can't sense Tanjirou outside the box, she doesn't want to. Tanjirou… "Are you worried about Tanjirou? He's going to be OK, trust me! He'll be back soon." I stopped at that, not wanting to give her too many details. Just give her hope for his return.

After a moment, there was more movement in the box, with no scratches this time. She must've been stressed before with Tanjirou leaving her here. I hope that brings her some peace.

It felt like a good hour, but eventually, there was movement from the house. Zenitsu came barreling out of the same window as the guy from before. In his arms was the boy from earlier. I gotta admit, he looks pretty cool when he's doing selfless stuff. I ran over to where he was going to land and, again, fell short and watched as he hit the ground. Fortunately, I knew he was going to be OK already.

The boy, however, didn't. "Ah! Are you OK?!" He gasped out, pointing at Zenitsu's head.

I looked closer and winced at the stream of blood where his head hit the ground. "Yeah, I'm better than ever since I got out of there, why?" He rubbed his head sheepishly and then froze when he felt something wet. Bringing his hand back in front of him, he saw blood and screamed. "TH-THAT'S WHY!" I pulled the cloth he was using earlier and pressed it against his wound for him. In response, he giggled gratefully and flushed. Man's was just dying and now he's blushing. Great.

A crush suddenly emitted from the other side of the building and a boar-headed figure rounded the corner. "I sense a demonic presence!" And then the most guttural cackle came from him. He started towards Tanjirou's box.

Honestly, I could care less because of damn this man's chest. Stop, stop ogling him right now, [Y/N]. I can't stop. Stop. I can't stop. Stop. I can't- UGHSG, get to Nezuko now! I can't get distracted by him, he's literally targeting her.

I half expected Zenitsu to get up as he does in the story, but he's too busy begging to be babied further by me to do it. I groaned and sprinted towards the box, Zenitsu sitting up confused behind me. I blocked Inosuke's leg as he came to kick back the box. His foot met my crossed arms and knocked me back into the box. A corner lodged itself into my back and I gasped in pain. Jesus fuck, that hurt.

"You, woman, get out of my way!" He pointed a sword down at me, tip at my nose. I scowled and pushed the box back further, backing up with it. He brought his sword up to swing it down when suddenly there was yellow in between us. Zenitsu stood there, arms out. "St-Stop! Leave her and the box alone!"

"There's a demon in that box and if you don't move I'll have to take you with it." Zenitsu stuttered for a moment, aware that he was right.

"No! Well, I mean! I know that! I'll ask Tanjirou when I see him, I just haven't yet." He glanced around nervously.

Inosuke didn't like this answer and pulled his arm back. "I don't care! I'll take him and his box out!" He proceeded to punch Zenitsu, who recoiled back at me. I caught him and stabilized his stance so he didn't fall over. Inosuke continued his pursuit and kicked Zenitsu's legs out from underneath him and began to kick him while he was down. In reflex, I got up and tackled the boar. This pisses me off too much to be able to stop and watch.

He laughed maniacally as we rolled over each other, fighting for dominance. I swung at him at any chance I got, but it was like my punches weren't doing anything to him. I kept my stomach and face as protected as I could, but there was only so much I could do when being rolled around on the ground. I could hear Zenitsu yelling out, but eventually, Inosuke's fist met my stomach and I gasped for air, letting go of him. He took advantage of this and got another hit on the side of my face. My ears were ringing and I tried to make out voices from it but had a hard time focusing on them and trying to breathe. I could feel myself being sat up as I began to breathe again. My hearing was clearing and Zenitsu was snapping to get my attention.

"[Y/N]! [Y/N]! Can you hear me? Oh my god, are you alive?!" I looked around before answering him, seeing Inosuke knocked back and Tanjirou standing above him, seething.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. It just made things fuzzy for a moment." I tried to get up but immediately got pulled back into Zenitsu's lap.

"No! You shouldn't get up after getting hit like that!" My eye twitched.

"Zenitsu, I'm fine. It just, like, stunned me for a moment, I guess." I tried to pry myself from his grasp again to no avail. I glanced over at Tanjirou who watched us with disgust I know people could only hold for Zenitsu. His attention was snatched by Inosuke once again as he began to sit up.

"I understand! Fight me, with your fists!" Tanjirou sweat dropped and told him no. Inosuke ignored him and lunged at him, Tanjirou missing just barely. I wiggled out of Zenitsu's grasp while they had their squabble. Eventually, Inosuke's head was grabbed and Tanjirou slammed his head into the boar's. There was a sickening crunch that I even heard and I winced.

"DIDYOUGUYSJUSTBREAKYOURSKULLS?!" Zenitsu screamed, shaking his head back and forth at the scene. The boar head slowly came off Inosuke and I stared in anticipation. Blue hair and vibrant green eyes were revealed and I squealed. Of course, I clamped my hand over my mouth, but I don't think it matters since neither guy was looking my way. "EH?! A girl's face! How could someone with your personality be so pretty!"

Inosuke turned towards Zenitsu. "Got a problem with my face?!" He huffed.

"No! There isn't a problem! It's just that most people, including me, would consider it an attractive face!" Tanjirou smiled nervously. This seemed to rile Inosuke up further. I had no comments, I just wanted to soak up this moment and look. He caught my gaze and lunged forward again.

"You! Do you have a problem with my face? Stop staring!" He growled as Tanjirou and Zenitsu caught him halfway. "I'm going to fight all of you! Fight me! Headbutt me! Just fight me!"

"Stop! We can't do that!"

"Stop! It's taboo to fight with each other! Is it really that fun to you? To beat those who are weaker than you??"

The guy flexibly bounced back, doing a flip and landing in an interesting pose. "Fight me now! I'm flexible, strong! I won't take no for an answer."

"Stop bending like that! You've got broken ribs! That can't be good for you." They cry.

"There is no one else like me! Only I can do this! Aren't I awesome?! Aren't I?!" He smiled up at them in his scorpion pose. "Now fight me!"

"No!" Everyone yells.

"You know what! I'll tell you my name! Hashibara Inosuke! You better remember it!" He stood up straight.

"How is it spelled??" Tanjirou piped up.

Inosuke was taken aback. "Spelled?! Eh! I don't know how to spell, or read! I just know my name was written on my loin-ACK!" He paused. We watched as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell back.

Zenitsu screamed. "Is he dead?!" Tanjirou quickly knelt down beside the man and sighed in relief.

"He's just unconscious! I bet I gave him a concussion when I headbutted him." He smiled.

"A-Are you OK?" The girl spoke up, Tezuka? Teruko? Teruko I think.

"Yes! I was born with a really hard head, like my mother!" He smiled proudly. Teruko grinned at him and reached up.

"Could I touch your head?" He nods and lowers his head for her and she runs her small hand across it, even tapping it. "Wow, it is tough!" I lean in and reach out as well. Might as well do it, too, since he's offering. My palm came into contact with his forehead and he turned red. I ran my thumb across it and the red mark and smiled.

"Yeah, it's hard." Zenitsu began whining behind me, disappointed.

Tanjirou stared for a moment before he got up hurriedly. "I-I think we should start burying the dead. There were countless people in there." He started off in the direction of the house, before making Zenitsu give him his haori and taking his own off to make sure Inosuke was more comfortable. After that, he barely spared me a glance before taking Zenitsu with him inside again. Was I not going to help?

( ˘▽˘)っ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

Yeah, I helped more than they wanted me to. How do I know this? The moment they brought the first bodies out, I helped with the burials and they kept trying to push me away. I proved stubborn and kept assisting where I thought I could. There was a sudden movement from behind us and we turned just in time for Inosuke to get up and face us.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked.

“We’re burying the dead, you should help.” Inosuke turned his head up in distaste.

“I don’t need to help, I see no reason to bury them.” I opened my mouth to say something since he was so rude about it, but Tanjirou beat me to it. Honestly, I preferred his response anyway.

“Oh, it’s OK, I see. You’re too injured to help, right? Please, lay down and get some rest. I wouldn’t want you to overdo it.” He gave a coy smile. I had to stifle my laugh. Way to go. Even Zenitsu looked impressed.

Inosuke growled and pointed at him. “No! I can do it! I can bury more bodies than you ever could!” And with that, he ran off back into the estate. With him hard at work, we got everyone buried properly. Paying one last bit of respect, we turned to leave. In the distance, Inosuke was rushing head-first into trees. Tanjirou’s crow circled above us, calling out and shocking the children.

“Go down the mountain!”

“Is that crow really talking?” Shoichi asked.

“Crows actually have higher intelligence than most people believe. It’s very possible.” I smiled down at him. He nodded in thought.

We walked for another 10 minutes before the path split and the three siblings took the left. They bowed and thanked us for escorting them down. Zenitsu caused a scene, dragging Shouichi down, and begging him not to leave us. After some convincing, we pulled him off and went our separate ways once the crow handed the ward to the kid. As soon as they were out of sight, Inosuke began to pick another fight with Tanjirou.

“Come! Fight me, you!” He pointed at the redhead. I groaned inwardly.

“Dude, can’t you calm down?” I poked my finger into his forehead, pushing him back.

“You! Weak woman, fight me as well!”

Ticked, Tanjirou spoke up again. “We have names you know! I’m Kamado Tanjirou, and this is Agatsuma Zenitsu and [Y/N]!” Inosuke laughed at this.

“Alright, Gonpachiro Kamaboko! I’ll beat you.” He stated seriously. Zenitsu and I could help it and laugh.

"Excuse me, who? I don’t know who you’re talking about!” Tanjirou whined.

“You! Gonpachiro!” In response to this, Tanjirou retorted with his proper name.

I sighed. “This is exciting.”

Shortly after that argument, we came to a gate with a Wisteria crest on it. I marveled at the size of it as the crow came back within distance and landed on Tanjirou. “Rest! Anyone who was injured, rest!” Tanjirou raised a brow, skeptical of the crow's comment.

“Huh, what about earlier when I was fighting with my broken rib and leg from the mission before?!” The crow looked sheepish and let out a dry cough. Inosuke popped up on the other side of him and grasped his tail, holding him up.

“Let’s eat him.” I gagged at the idea of it, and the crow itself screamed in discontent, flapping to get away.

The gate creaked open and an elder woman stepped through, a warm smile on her face. “Hello, welcome. You guys are demon slayers, right?” There were glances my way before they curtly nodded. Well, except for Inosuke.

He stood beside her, poking a finger into the side of her head. “What are you? A demon? Huh?? You look weak.” Steam escapes through his mask.

“Rude!” Tanjirou exclaimed, but the old lady seemed unbothered.

“Please, come in.” She turned to the side and entered the gates, walking ahead at an alarming pace. In hopes of keeping up, I quickly scrambled after her, and the others followed shortly. She led us to one room and gestured inside. The boys entered and before I could step foot, she stopped me. “Here, I have a separate room for you to change in.” Huh, understandable. She led me not too far down the hall to another room and handed me a clean yukata. It was just white with a faint, generic pattern in it. So simple. “When you’re done, you can come back down the hall to the left and I’ll have food prepared.” I nodded and she left before I could say thank you.

Once I had changed and put my scuffed-up clothes to the side, I stepped out into the hall. It was empty, except for the faint noises coming from Tanjirou and the others. I honestly didn’t know where I was going, but I didn’t worry too much as I had the sound of their voices to follow. I came up to a lit-up room with a crack in the door. I pushed it open to reveal four sets of food, Tanjirou and Inosuke were sitting next to each other while Zenitsu had the empty spot reserved beside him, waving me down. I tentatively took a seat beside him, causing him to squeal.

I picked up my chopped sticks and tried some of the food, a little clumsily, might I add. I liked most of it and picked around a few parts I didn’t quite enjoy. Across from me, Inosuke had his boar head off, eating away at his food with his hands. Huh, I wonder if they’ll care if I do the same. One day if I get tired of it, I’ll break down and do it, too. “She’s a monster!” He shovels a mouthful of rice and shrimp in his mouth and begins to speak again. “Granny’s a monster! She does things too fast!” Tanjirou recoils in disgust.

“Use your chopsticks!” Inosuke stops for a moment and grins before snatching some of his food off his plate. Zenitsu was clearly bothered at the sight, but kept his mouth shut in fear of falling victim, as well, I’m sure. Tanjirou went to put some more of his food on Inosuke’s plate, but I stopped him and proceeded to place what I had left on my plate on his. Honestly, it was mostly the things I didn’t like from the selection, so it wasn’t a loss for me. “Oh, I wouldn’t have minded, [Y/N]!”

I shrugged. “I didn’t like that anyways, might as well give it to someone who will eat it.” I took a drink of my tea. He nodded back in understanding and continued to eat. Zenitsu tugged on the sleeve of my shirt and offered his chopsticks to me.

“[Y/N]-chan! Feed me please~ I’m so tired.” I groaned and declined.

“No, thanks. I’m not interested. If Tanjirou and Inosuke can feed themselves, you can, too.” I huffed. He pouted and began to eat again, albeit dejectedly.

After everyone was finished, they went to the room they were originally in. There were three futons set up in the boy's room and I inwardly groaned. I expected this, but I’m too nervous to say anything about it so I’ll just suck it up. I walked back to my room alone and shut the door behind me. The room was scarcely decorated and a decently fluffy-looking futon was in the center of the room. I sunk into the bedding and turned over, thinking about today’s events.

[alpha-trauma-novel-trans]

Chapter 86

Wooyeon stared blankly into space. A flurry of thoughts floated slowly through his mind. Most of them were Suhyang's words, but at the end of them was Dohyun's.

'See you tomorrow.'

A little while ago, after Suhyang had finished talking, Dohyun had gone home with a complicated face. He offered to call for Secretary Yoon, but Dohyun politely declined. It was a strange reaction, considering that everything was going to work out if everything they'd heard was true.

Perhaps that was why Wooyeon did not return to his room but stayed quietly in the study. He thought over everything he had done, recalled the conversation in the car, remembered Secretary Yoon's apology, and even had a small question.

'What did they talk about the day Dohyun went to get his phone fixed?'

Dohyun said he wanted to ask for permission. In the car, and in retrospect on the day of the argument, it was implied that Dohyun had reached out to Suhyang first. As if he brought up Wooyeon on his own accord, not because he was told to.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

Suhyang's words cut off his train of thought. Wooyeon focused and slowly looked around. The study, decorated similarly to Suhyang's office, still had a faint scent of Dohyun's pheromones.

“There's something I wanted to ask you.”

Suhyang looked at Wooyeon as if to telling him to talk. Her eyes, which looked nothing like his, were bright in color but strangely heavy.

"Last week...Seonsaeng-nim said he met you."

“Yeah, why?”

“Why did he come to see you?”

He hadn't asked because it was too obvious. Dohyun's reason for meeting Suhyang was obviously to give her an update on Wooyeon, but why did she want to hear about their relationship?

"You don't necessarily need to know that."

Suhyang cut him off firmly. But Wooyeon had a set plan for what to say.

"It involves me."

“....”

"Like I said earlier, this is all my own business."

It seemed to work this time, since she didn't argue back. It was a subtle look of amusement, but it was enough that she didn't kick him out. Suhyang stared at Wooyeon for a moment, then spoke up.

“He came here because he thought he knew the person who posted the photo. He had someone he suspected and it would be quicker to investigate this way.”

It started out differently than Dohyun's story. But what came next was similar to what Wooyeon had heard.

“He said you weren't safe on your own, so he was going to keep you at his place for the time being.”

“....”

“What did he say, he apologized for dating you.”

It was subtly different from what Wooyeon knew. Unlike what he'd expected, which was that Suhyang had asked him to tell her how Wooyeon was doing, this was Dohyun's own will. It wasn't even really a 'report'.

“...Is that all?”

“No.”

Suhyang turned her head, her gaze shifting away before returning to Wooyeon after a short pause. With a hint of hesitation, Suhyang spoke.

“He even asked me to wait until he told you."

Wooyeon didn't ask what he needed time to say. From then until now, there was only one thing Dohyun had to tell him. What mattered was why it was Suhyang and not Dohyun who told Wooyeon the truth. 

“But...you told me first?”

If she'd granted Dohyun's request, Wooyeon wouldn't have been so hurt. There would have been no need for Dohyun to desperately beg, and no argument that they took the long way around. It's possible that Dohyun would have remained silent, but at least that would have been better than the current situation.

"I just weighed the pros and cons."

Even after living his whole life, he still couldn't figure out Suhyang's feelings. Especially not when she stared at him so expressionlessly. Her pupils were transparent enough to see through, but they didn't reveal what she really felt. 

“If I hadn't told you, do you think you would have left his house?”

“...Ha.”

He felt like he couldn't breathe. Shackles rising up from the ground tightened around his ankles. The pressure that had been creeping in finally reached the tip of his neck.

'No. This is a misunderstanding, Wooyeon.'

He remembered the sensation of Dohyun's grip on his wrist. He remembered the way his gaze, which rarely wavered, was filled with desperation. The whole scene flashed through his mind like a panorama, from the moment he let go of Dohyun, turned his back, climbed into Secretary Yoon's car, and drove into the main house.

Why did Dohyun’s phone ring at that particular time? Why did she insist on calling Dohyun when she knew Wooyeon was going to him? He didn’t check the caller ID, but he now knew exactly who was calling.

‘I’m sorry about a few days ago.’

“You did it on purpose.”

Dohyun probably knew. If he was shrewd enough, he would have seen where and how it had gone wrong. That’s why he would have sarcastically told Secretary Yoon that it was too late.

“You deliberately...to make me return to the main house..."

His head was dizzy, his eyes spinning and his body drained of energy. Even breathing was difficult, and then he heard a hoarse voice.

“It was for the best.”

It was an irresponsible statement. It wasn't the kind of thing you say when you're angry and frustrated.

"The wounds you receive from people will heal over time. Moreover, how could you trust and keep by your side someone who would leave bruises on your wrists?"

“Ah...”

The bruise on his wrist. Wooyeon, recalling the memory from that time, gasped in short repetitive bursts. A feeling that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry from quickly turned to bitter resentment.

“Then the wounds you received from your mother?”

It was a single sentence, but Suhyang stiffened. Her normally sharp pupils became unusually dull. Wooyeon stood up and walked out of the study without giving Suhyang a second glance.

next chapter

[crunchystarz]

"A Distant Memory I Used to Know"

Chapter - 2 EyelessJack x GNreader

Previous - chapter index

CW- none

Summary: After you drop your brother off at school you run into that same masked man from a few days ago.

Word count: 2429

“We've been looking more into the recent rise in the numbers of murders taking place in our ci-"

With a click the TV powered off. You needed to not listen to the news, for your own sake you told yourself. Placing the remote back on the counter you let out a sigh.

You don't need anything else to feed your paranoia. You haven't been able to sleep much after the convenience store incident. You felt like you were going insane. It was just some random guy, so why was it driving you crazy?

You hated that one small thing that messed with your head so much.

It's just one guy. One weird masked guy. You felt as if you saw that mask before. Like you know it from somewhere.

Who are you kidding? You needed to call your therapist and see if any spots opened up sooner than your initial date.

"What do you think would happen if a fox were to drink an entire can of soda?" A chirpy voice said from behind you.

Hunter rested his head in his hands. You chuckled and ruffled through his scruffy black hair still slightly damp from his shower. He swatted you away while laughing.

“Foxes don't have opposable thumbs. How would they drink from a can? " You playfully questioned swiftly turning around and flipping the pancake to cook it on the other side.

“Well I never said it had to come from a can just it was the amount that was in a can! Plus it could have knocked it over” The boy playfully bantered back.

You let out a fake hurt gasp before putting your hand on your hip giving him a glare. “Getting sassy with me now Mr, Bold maybe I shouldn't add chocolate chips to your pancakes”

“Nooo” Hunter said, flopping his upper body on the counter, head down.

“That's what I thought” You chuckled gently hitting him on the head with your spatula.

Hunter was one of the only good things in your life that came from your past. You were adopted into a middle class white family when you were 4. Your parents weren't really in your life much however. Growing up you were convinced they only had adopted you for tax benefits.

They weren't physically abusive however they played a massive part in your poor mental health growing up. They didn't go to things like school graduations or after school club things. They never got you anything for Christmas only every other birthday you'd get a happy birthday card as a rushed gift.

They never knew how to take care of things like your hair which you learned all by yourself through lots of trial and era and almost killing it tons of times.

Things like this led to your already poor social skills dropping so low they were basically non-existent. You hated talking to most people and your friends never lasted long.

Except for one boy. You don't remember much about him because a lot of your life is a blur but he was nice and stuck with you throughout highschool as you recall.

Hunter was their golden child. Their first blood child. He was spoiled for the first two years of his life until your mom passed due to unfortunate circumstances.

Your mom was always the more responsible one. She worked a ton and did a lot of the financial work. She tried more with you yet wasn’t super active in your life.

Unlike your father who was always a complete snob. He was a college dropout who stayed home. Sometimes you'd even wonder how any one can put up with that man

Your dad got a new girlfriend pretty fast after your mother's death. Things got worse and your father payed no attention to Hunter after that.

You adored your brother however, he was a good kid with a kind heart. So you were more than happy to basically be the one to raise him for a little bit until you went off to college.

You and Hunter had a 15 year age gap but you two were still extremely close. Your brother got you and helped you stay grounded.

With you having your own place and all you could take care of Hunter more often. Unfortunately for legal reasons you couldn't keep the kid all the time and you've sometimes debated on trying to get full custody over him but you knew it probably wouldn't end well.

Despite only being 12 Hunter was extremely smart. He for the most part understood your weird traumatized brain and was a big help when it came to calming you down other than the pills. He really was your only family.

"Who do you think would win million Pikachus or Godzilla?" The raven hair asked, reaching for the syrup bottle that was on the farther end of the counter. You put the plate of hot pancakes on the surface before pushing the maple syrup closer to the boy.

"How about we stop talking and eat ,hurry before you're late for school" You chuckled to yourself. Hunter pouted but started to dig in anyway.

You went to clean up your batter mess you made in the kitchen. You'd need to change before you left the apartment because your shirt was now covered in dried up pancake mix. You usually didn't make big breakfasts like these but you'd do anything for your brother.

You went off to get changed while Hunter finished up breakfast. It was getting significantly colder so you made sure to put it on your mental list to get Hunter a new winter jacket.He was tall for his age.He had a huge growth spurt a few months ago yet his voice was still as squeaky as can be. His new height difference meant he needed new clothes and you wanted to make sure he stays warm during the upcoming winter.

You two left your apartment after two checks to make sure he had everything. Hunter went on ahead before you, skipping down the steps that led to your apartment which was on the second floor.

You locked up your door, again making sure to lock both the bottom and the top. A familiar meow from a few days rang through your ears. You looked down to see the kitten from before under your legs. It meow and rubbed your leg. Your heart basically melted.

"Hey buddy nice to see you again...I hope you're keeping warm- I can't stay long though" You said to the cat who obviously didn't understand what you were saying just appreciated the chin scratches it received from you.

You realized you should head off before Hunter got inpatient and threatened to eat your entire kitchen again. You gave the chestnut colored cat one last pat before hurrying to catch up with your younger brother.

Hunter's school is luckily in a good distance for you to walk from and back to. This helps save gas whenever he was over on days he had school. You smiled as the younger boy walked on the sidewalk occasionally kicking a fallen leaf.

When you two got to middle school you made sure to do your little "don't get into any trouble" speech before shooing the boy. He gave you a hug before sprinting off when he saw one of his friends. You smiled to yourself as you went to walk in the direction you had came from.

You hummed a random tune as you slowly strolled along the concrete. You weren't in a rush to go anywhere so you could take in the calm scenery. It wasn't an extremely pretty sight as you were just walking through your neighborhood but it was an early morning in the beginning of fall. You were allowed to appreciate the small things.

Your body tensed up but you never stopped walking. There it was again. You couldn't catch a break could you? The feeling of eyes on you was back. It made your skin itch. It made you want to sprint home and get under your covers where you felt safe.

You're just being paranoid again [ name] just like you always are there is no one watc-

Your brain circuited as you felt something hard bump into you. Well more so you bumped into it. A person. Once you collected yourself from your mini shock. God you were all over the place, You fully realized you bumped into a person. A person. A human being.

"Holy shit I am so sorry I wasn't paying attention I-" You blurted out an jumbled up apology. Embarrassed, you cleared your throat. Just like the first time your heart skipped a beat. It felt...sickly. A discomforting feeling of familiarity washed over you.

You were met with silence from the same hooded man from the other day. The same masked weirdo that was like a plague to your mind. That mask. Against you felt as if you've seen it before. The thought made your stomach twist. You soon realized how tall the brunette was exactly. You had to basically step back to look at him properly. He was so tall it almost felt... unnatural.

You got a better look at the man from last time. He was lanky and scruffy looking. You couldn't make out any facial features as he wore a mask. A blue mask covered in some unknown goop. It looked more dried out than the last time you saw it. Maybe it was paint. He wore the basic black hoodie like before and tattered jeans. His shoes were beat up and definitely have seen better days.

The way he looked at you made you cold. You swallowed and subconsciously made yourself look bigger. That damn mask. It would make any normal person uncomfortable but man it felt as if the empty sockets of the eyes were just staring into you.

You were snapped out of your trance when you heard him clear his throat. "No its fine I wasn't paying attention as much as you were..." That british accent called out.

The second time you heard him speak. His voice didn't match his creepy appearance. While it was extremely monotone it was strangely calming. You wanted to say something so bad.

You didn't know why just something made you want to. Maybe you thought talking to him would make him leave your brain completely and you'd give your mind some closer that we was just some weirdo walking around. Just as he started to continue his way down the street.

"Hey um uh-"

You didn't know what to say. He stopped. That's good. You hoped anyway. He turned on his heel and faced you again. He tilted his head in an almost animalistic way. As if he was showing you he was listening, waiting for you to continue. While he stared at you, that weird feeling of being watched came back. You swallowed a lump of air.

"Do you live around here?... I haven't seen you around here is what I meant-" You stopped yourself from talking you sounded like a mess. You felt embarrassed. You honestly didn't know what to say. You started rethinking why you even stopped him. You really had no reason other than you couldn't get this stranger out of your head. You felt absolutely insane.

He's literally just some weirdo that you so happened to run into twice. A weirdo that you for some unknown reason feel like you know. A stranger. A stranger in a mask. Calm yourself.

"Do you…remember me too?”

Your thoughts halted when he spoke up again. You didn't get to catch what he said because you were so wrapped up in your own head. You felt bad and gave him a weak smile.

" I'm sorry, what was that?"

…

" It was nothing I just had said you're that same person from the other day is all. It's funny running into you again especially because I don't necessarily live around here" He supposedly repeated with a shrug. You let out a sigh of relief and chuckled a little to yourself. You really are getting yourself worked up over nothing.

He is just some weirdo.

"sorry for um you know stopping you out of nowhere i just don't know i couldn't get you out of my head- wait no that sound creepy it's just you have a strange.... appearance? I'm just making this worse for myself aren't I" You awkwardly laughed. To your surprise the masked man let out a laugh. This calmed your nerves a little bit.

"I get it not everyday you see someone who looks like...well me I guess. Just walking around in broad daylight like some kind of freak " He replied in his monotone voice. You two just stared at each in silence for a bit. He cleared his throat before nodding his head.

"I should go...stay safe out here with all these murders and all"

"y-yeah um you too"

The brunette walked away with a quick wave goodbye. Maybe he was some psychopath your brain tricked you into thinking you knew after all.

You ran your tongue across your bottom row of teeth before taking a deep breath. You needed a nap, or an entire tub of ice cream. Both. Both would be needed.

You turned on your heels before making your way home. You listened to your footsteps as you walked up your apartment stairs.

You were stopped yet again but a now familiar fur ball. The tiny cat watched you as you unlocked the door to your home. You thought it was going to run off again but instead it let it into the building. You blinked as it turned to you and let out a meow.

"This is not your house, all though I might have to just name you if you keep showing up like this" You basically scolded the kitten.

It meowed at you again as if it was talking back to you. You put your hands on your hip and stared down at the creature. "You're adorable but you need out" You said as if it understood you, you pointed to the open door.

It just meowed again and walked farther into your home. You let out a sigh. You were to mentally and physically exhausted to chase a kitten out of your home. You shut your front door and promised yourself you'd deal with the kitten who was now rubbing itself all over your couch later.

—

"What happened to you?"

....

"stay back"

"please..."

[the-bad-batch-baroness]

Where's Mommy?

Wolffe x Lilith Sestri (OFC)

Part 13

Summary: Wolffe's wife suddenly dies, leaving him a single father in the middle of a war.

Pairing: Wolffe x Lilith Sestri (OFC)

Characters: Wolffe, Cara (child OFC), Sinker

Tags & Warnings: heavy angst, mention of death, off-screen death, spousal death, grief, hurt/comfort, family fluff

Word Count: 1.4k

Author's Note: Okay, so I know I said that this chapter was going to be the funeral scene, but it is not. Next chapter, I promise. I tried to fit everything into one chapter, but it got way too long, so I split it. While this chapter does not contain the funeral, it is still very emotional as Wolffe recalls memories of his wife. I don't like to exposition dump, which is why information about her has been sprinkled in, but I felt it was time for readers to get further knowledge about Wolffe's wife before we collectively say goodbye. Side note, is this my first chapter with zero dialogue??? Wild. As always, please enjoy 💚

Beta: @beating-a-dead-plot

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Wolffe's heart pounded as he led Cara out onto the terrace. She held his hand and walked beside him without argument as Sinker walked ahead of them, hands folded neatly behind his back. He obscured most of her view, but she didn't try to break away from Wolffe's hand to see around him. Instead, as more and more people came into view, Cara shifted to a guarded position and trailed further behind Wolffe. He noticed her hesitation and squeezed her hand to reassure her as they approached the formation that Sinker filed into.

The terrace was full of clones, some in uniform and some in armor, most of whom Wolffe had never seen before, still, there were many that he did know, including the entirety of the 104th Battalion, Commander Fox, and several members of the Coruscant Guard. There were a few Jedi in attendance besides his own, but he ignored them. It didn't matter to him whether the Jedi paid their respects, but he had to admit that if there was one custom he was thankful the Jedi and Mandalorians had in common, it was burning their dead.

Wolffe's wife wasn't Mandalorian, but neither was he, officially. He wasn't trained directly by the Mandalorian bounty hunters, like the Alphas or the Commandos, but he was trained by Alpha-17 who upheld those same traditions and passed them on to the Commanders. Newer clones didn't always understand, and not every commander had the time to instill those traditions into their men. They may be fakes, copies, and imposters, but the culture gave them something to hold onto; something that made them feel like real people.

From what he could see at a distance, the funeral pyre was hauntingly beautiful. The wood was artistically arranged and perfectly level and the wisteria flowers outlining her body added a degree of femininity to the scene that made Wolffe's heart plunge into his stomach with a level of ferocity he wasn't expecting. The authenticity was unrivaled. There was more care and concern put into that one pyre than had ever been afforded to a single clone on the battlefield. He would have to remember to thank Sinker properly for all of his efforts in preparing it.

As they approached the formation of clones in the front, Wolffe sucked in a breath when he saw his in-laws within the gathered crowd. Their audacity to show up to their daughter's funeral after disowning her, cutting her out of their will, and throwing her on the streets, made him sick. When Cara was born, her parents made it very clear they wanted nothing to do with her either; something about the child of nature's greatest abomination being a stain on their superior bloodline. His initial instinct was to throw them out, but he remained calm.

However, his in-law's presence brought memories of their first meeting flooding back. At the very beginning of the War, before 79s was a clone bar, there weren't many places on Coruscant where a clone could get a drink or unwind, but there was one run-down tavern on the lower levels that let anyone in. That was where Wolffe first saw her; messy auburn hair, crystal blue eyes glazed over from being drunk, and skin so pale he thought she would burn under the neon lights. A man at the bar tried to cop a feel but Wolffe decked him without a second thought, and, as a thank you, she threw up on him. It was love at first sight.

After cleaning himself up, Wolffe was able to get a look at her ID and find her address, because there was no way he was going to leave her alone as drunk as she was. It surprised him that someone from the upper levels would hang out in such a dingy bar, but he wasn't one to judge. He hailed a taxi and paid with whatever credits he had to get as close to her address as possible, but still ended up carrying her on his back for the last stretch. She was loud and obnoxious the entire way, endlessly wiggly, and shouted pure nonsense in his ears.

When they finally arrived at her residence, he was greeted by her frantic parents and was subsequently arrested by the Coruscant Guard on charges of drugging, kidnapping, and assault. Without a single chance to explain himself, Wolffe was placed in binders and tossed into a holding cell at the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center. He sat in that cell all night trying to figure out how he could've messed up so badly on his first visit to Coruscant that his general probably thought he was the most incompetent commander in the GAR.

In the morning, however, it wasn't his general who came to get him, but a woman.  Wolffe didn't recognize her at first. Her clothes were elegant, made of fine linen, her auburn hair was neatly wrapped in a bun, not a strand out of place, and her soft blue eyes shone with compassion against her pale skin. It was her eyes. That's when he realized she was the same woman he carried home from the bar the night before. She was the last person he expected to show up at the Detention Center to bust him out, but he wasn't about to be ungrateful.

She introduced herself and then proceeded to profusely apologize for what happened. Wolffe was shocked when she started crying while explaining how she only wanted to have a fun night out away from her high-class lifestyle and strict parents. She never intended for anyone to get hurt by her shenanigans, especially the man who protected her honor and was kind enough to bring her home after she was too drunk to walk straight. In her eyes, he was a hero, not a villain, and she couldn't let her parent's influence lock him away forever, so she had him released.

It wasn't long afterward that they started seeing each other in secret, away from the prying eyes of her parents and the GAR. One thing turned into another and they both fell hopelessly in love. She knew he was a clone, and that her parents would never approve, but she didn't care. Even after Wolffe protested, saying they should break up, she insisted that she would regret leaving him over something so trivial as family status. So, she professed her love for Wolffe to her parents and they slammed the door in her face. It was the bravest thing Wolffe had ever seen.

She was left alone with only the clothes on her back and the credits in her pocket. Wolffe wanted to help her adjust, but she refused, asserting that she needed to make it on her own if she wanted to be seriously involved with him. Weeks later, when Wolffe arrived back on Coruscant after his first mission, she had a job, an apartment, and the beginnings of her own life. Fear crept into the back of his mind that she moved on and didn't want him anymore, but when he arrived at the coordinates she sent him, she welcomed him home with open arms.

It was that same night when they accidentally made Cara. It wasn't something either of them planned on, but they were both young, in love, and lacked certain levels of education on the matter. They learned quickly though, and even with the options and obstacles presented to them, they decided to keep Cara. They both knew it wasn't going to be easy, and Wolffe felt guilty about letting it happen, but his wife was ever the stubborn woman and she knew that it was meant to be, even if it terrified Wolffe more than any battle ever did.

Their first moments together felt like they happened only yesterday, but now, they were just memories. Memories that Wolffe replayed in his mind as he desperately tried to grasp onto every remnant of his wife he could, afraid that he'd lose her completely if he didn't catch all the pieces. There was still some part of his mind that didn't want to believe she was dead, even as he looked over at the funeral pyre with her form–her auburn hair, blue eyes, and pale skin–lying on top of it, just waiting for him to light the fire and fill the air with her remaining essence.

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[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

Ostara chapter 2

Note: a second part to the Ostara fic, inspired by a lovely anon's idea!

Warnings: 18+, suggestive, mention of alcohol.

pairing: Sihtric x you (f)

summary: The spring equinox celebration continued.

wordcount: 1,7k

Masterlist

Ostara. The yearly celebration to welcome back spring. And why would it only be celebrated once, if the spring equinox could be celebrated for several days in a row? And that is exactly what your town always did. 

The first night of the festivity had been a surprising one, for your husband, Sihtric, had kept away from drinking too much ale and had given you a chase through the woods you would long remember. 

You were still bedazzled by the happenings of the night before, that when you finally woke up in bed the next afternoon, wrapped in your husband's arms as he was peacefully snoring next to you, you needed a moment to ground yourself again and wake up fully. You turned to Sihtric, who was still far away in his dreams, and you plucked a few twigs and crumbs of leaves from his messy hair. You loved him so dearly, more than anything or anyone else in this world, and you kissed his forehead before you snuck out of his safe embrace.

There was no time for you to stay snug under the sheets, as you were to clean up the town along with other wives and daughters of the husbands and sons who had left the mess the night before. You slipped on a new dress and tightened the laces, then made haste to join the other ladies. While cleaning up and preparing the town's square again for the night, you were asked by several ladies where you had been the night before, as they had only seen you and Sihtric briefly.

'The woods,' you said nonchalantly, 'it was a beautiful night, so… we went for a stroll.'

'The woods?' one lady replied, 'have you not heard the wolf that roams there in the night?'

'The wolf?' you scoffed, 'there is no wolf in these woods.'

'I have heard it too,' another lady added as she clutched her broom, 'last night, during the celebration. I heard the likes of a howling wolf in… in heat.'

You coughed as you almost choked on your own saliva, remembering how your husband had howled loudly through the woods as he chased you, ready to breed you, while the owl had hooted and bats had flapped their wings above the treetops.

'I… I have not heard such a thing,' you waved off their concerns, 'and besides, I was with my husband. He would surely protect me if we were to encounter a beast like that.'

'I do not know if a man could protect his loved one against a wolf,' the first lady muttered. 

'Well,' you scorned, 'I don't know about your husband, but my husband is a warrior and-'

'A foul creature,' an old lady suddenly spat, and her face revealed her sneer was not towards a supposed wolf, but to the beast that was your husband.

You opened your mouth to speak, but decided against it as you figured the old lady, who somehow knew every secret in town, probably had more knowledge about that wolf. You thought no one had been aware of your little escape with Sihtric, and you weren't prepared for your secret to come out like that, so you quickly continued the preparations.

Your mind wandered as you adjusted the decorations, reminiscing about the night before. You felt a blush on your cheeks as you remembered the way your husband's hair felt between your fingers, while his tongue pleased you in the most unholy ways and his grip on your thighs created bruises which would last for days after. You recalled the softness of Sihtric's fur cloak beneath you and the warmth of his body above you, as he humped you vigorously while the sky subtly changed from darkness to light. And you remembered how he had carried you home, lovingly and with the utmost care, once you were filled with his seed and both beyond satisfied.

You only snapped out of your remembrance when you suddenly felt two arms around your waist and lips being pressed onto your neck; your husband had risen from his slumber and found you not long before dusk would fall.

'My love,' Sihtric whispered and twirled you around to face him, then cupped your cheeks and kissed your lips sweetly.

'And my love,' you smiled, your hands slowly moving up and down his clothed arms.

'How is my wife feeling today?' he asked and brought his hand down to your belly, 'with my pups, perhaps?'

'Sihtric,' you sighed and rolled your eyes, but a smile continued to curl your lips, 'we'll find out soon, but not this soon.'

'We could always try again tonight,' your husband smirked, 'to make sure…'

'You will remain sober another night?'

'If that means I get to chase you again.'

You returned the cheeky smile, already anticipating another night of love and lust under the moonlit sky, and you pecked your husband's cheek before the festivity was about to start again.

You sat on a stool, arms crossed and with a face that made everyone stay far away from you. You gritted your teeth while you watched your husband gulp down another full jug of ale amidst his friends, near the bonfire, and you huffed in anger.

'So much for remaining sober,' you muttered and kicked at a lone rock near your feet.

You sighed and averted your eyes for merely a few seconds, but your attention was drawn back quickly upon hearing a sudden commotion and the sound of cups clattering on the sandy ground. Your eyes found your husband with his fingers curled around the neck of some other man's tunic, getting ready to throw a punch, and you jumped up before he could knock the man's lights out.

You shouted your husband's name as you stormed towards the drunk men, who all stepped away upon seeing your fury, except for Sihtric, who was oblivious to his surroundings in his drunk state.

'Enough!' you yelled and grabbed your husband's hands, tearing them off the drunk who had looked at him wrongly, 'home, now!'

Sihtric snapped his head towards you and gave you a disapproving look, then pulled his arms out of your grip and he looked you up and down.

'Woman,' he hissed with a grimace, then turned on his heels and stumbled towards where he remembered you had been seated.

'Sihtric!' you groaned and chased after him, 'we go home, now!'

You grabbed his arm to gain his attention, but instead going with you, he pulled away once again.

'Lady!' Sihtric barked, 'I will not go home with you!'

'Excuse me?' you scoffed, 'I think you will-'

'No, I am a married man!'

You blinked in confusion at your own husband, who just announced very sternly to his own wife that he was married, yet refused to go home with you.

'I know,' you replied, 'we are married, and we are going home.'

'No, I shall go home with my wife,' your husband slurred lightly, 'I must find my wife,' he looked around and mumbled as he wandered off, 'where… where is my wife?'

You watched in disbelief how your husband stumbled around the celebration, searching for you, looking so lost and confused as he couldn't find you where he had last seen you. You watched how he managed to drag his feet towards his friends, and asked Finan if he had seen you. Finan laughed and cocked his head towards you, but Sihtric wasn't having it.

'I can't find her,' he kept saying, 'I can't find my wife, Finan. And that woman over there,' he said and grabbed Finan to pull him closer, as if he was to tell a secret, 'she keeps telling me to go home with her. What do I do?'

'Go home with her,' Finan shrugged, knowing that woman was his seemingly lost wife.

'By the gods,' Sihtric gasped and stepped away from Finan, 'how dare you suggest I leave here with a lady that is not my wife,' he suddenly looked at you for a few long seconds, then back at Finan, and he leaned in closer, 'she looks like my wife?'

'She does,' Finan agreed.

'She is remarkably beautiful,' Sihtric said to his friend.

'If only she was your wife, ey?' Finan snorted and slapped Sihtric's shoulder, then pushed him your way.

'Okay,' you sighed and grabbed Sihtric's hand as he stumbled towards you, 'it's time to go home, I've had enough of this.'

You pulled his arm but Sihtric wouldn't move an inch, and he tried to wildly pull away again.

'I am not leaving without my wife!'

'I am your wife!'

Sihtric fought your grip again as you refused to let go of him, you pulled and tugged at each other, but your husband was obviously stronger and he suddenly picked you up and walked you over to the stool you had been seated on before.

'There,' he said after he had set you down, 'now, I shall go look for my wife,' he hiccuped, and once again you watched in disbelief how your husband returned to the heart of the celebration, searching for you and hoarsely shouting out your name in the hopes to draw you towards him.

You threw your head back against the wall and groaned, you knew this had to play itself out, so you just sat there and waited. The celebrating crowd, those who were not drunk enough at least, started to notice and understand what was going on. And soon everyone became amused with your bewildered husband in search of his wife, who was simply waiting for him on a stool outside of the packed tavern he had just disappeared into.

You waited and waited, while several people tried to get through to your husband that you were waiting outside. Then finally, after a long hour, your husband stepped out of the tavern and suddenly his eyes found you, and they widened as a sense of relief washed over him.

'My love,' he gasped, clearly sobered up, and clasped his hands in front of his mouth, then rushed over and took your face, 'my love, I found you,' he nearly whispered and kissed your face all over, 'I- I've been looking everywhere. Where have you been?'

'I… just… you know what, nevermind. However,' you sighed and smiled, then leaned in closer and cupped his cheeks, 'the people believe a wolf roams our forest, my dear, for it has been heard the night before, or so they say.'

'Do they now?' Sihtric smirked playfully.

'Yes, my darling,' you whispered and kissed his lips, 'now hop, my husband, like a little bunny… for this wolf is hungry.'

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[overflowchute]

i was never very good at math in school. but i don't think it's math's fault, i think it's adhd's. the way math is taught here exacerbates the weaknsses wrt studying consistently and turning in hw, especially when you must focus in class and things are not always explained well. something i realized after i graduated hs was that math felt fundamentally different when i actually read the chapters of the textbook, which i often hadn't done much at the time. i failed abysmally in my first semester of college b/c i did not understand what i needed to do

i see people sometimes talk about math and example problems with derision and it makes me sad b/c even in times like this i never felt math was useless. i had a bad experience with the classes but the math itself is a form of undeniable power. very specifically for me there was a period when i really actually came to understand what a sine and a cosine were, like when i came to truly understand sound waves, that made me inherently get a lot i'd always found theoretical and rather meaningless as a kid

thinking about this once more because of that thing i overheard the other day regarding schooling and people hating "book learning". i quite like learning certain things from books, and often it's the circumstances that frustrate me using them productively... i wonder if people have difficulties w reading that make them associate it w a bad experience, or are poorly taught and motivated w it, and so they come to view books as the enemy. sometimes i feel like my issues came from teachers who weren't well equipped to teach the books...

like, if you read something that you don't understand, and ask a teacher for help, and the teacher doesn't know either but prescribes just memorizing something - i recall situations like that greatly frustrating me as a kid and making me feel like it was memorization w/o goal

in particular this is a criticism i never understood regarding history? people say "history is just memorizing events" which i never comprehended, b/c while that might be how you're tested the events always meant something and connected to what came before and after. an earthquake tsunami occurs in sumatra in 1907, and half the population of the island of simeulue dies. a hundred years later the third greatest recorded earthquake occurs in 2004, and their descendants evacuate the wave b/c they remembered last time. it's all connected...

ultimately i am not a teacher, but i so strongly believe that a great many issues in education come from teacher failure... and it's not like it's their fault, they're in a rough position. it's hard to teach, it's a social job after all

[dr-lurker]

Also, if we have to address ships, I wonder how the present love triangle will be solved this time around... last time we had one, I really appreciated that the Jackson/Brenda/Exer one was subverted (in quite the creative way, might I add! I'm not sure i can recall a love triangle resulting in one guy ending up with the girl's friend, the other guy ending up with the girl's BROTHER, and the girl staying good friends with both of them). But idk how this will play out.

I honestly think the webcomic's creator might break it up by having kenda as endgame and setting jolie and elijah up, because when her and timothy are introduced to the new entry in chapter 126 she is kinda drawn with blushing cheeks, but it looks more like out of awe of meeting ken's new neighbor (in fact there is no trace of anything like that except jolie's usual sunny disposition). Also, we have 10 characters in the main ensemble, it wouldn't be news for a series to pair each character with someone in the main cast so that they are not left hanging, but I feel like that's kind of overdone. I also really like the idea of Jolie taking a break from boys after her shitty ex whose name I can't remember for the life of me and keep girlbossing. And maaaaaybe find herself a girl on the way. /hj

Somebody else, either in webtoon's comment section or instagram's, i can't really remember, suggested that the way the love triangle trope might be flipped over its head might be with polyamory. Honestly, I think that would be cute and interesting, and I see it a lot in that "my favorite ship dynamics" memes/sketches, but I never really see it in media, so that would also be a play upon expectations, that are in line with the comic's history.

If we go we this idea you could also argue that Brenda and Elijah kind of share a motif/parallel: on one hand we have Brenda, who started off s1 with a friend group of "cool kids" that are actually mean-spirited and, as told by Pamela, she has a record of liking the effortlessly cool BUT nice guy, and now she has an albeit messy, but well-meaning friendgroup, and she is seen falling in love with Ken, who is not really somebody's ideal of coolness, but he also has plenty of kindness to give; on the other hand, just like her, Elijah has a record of these "plastic" people throwing themeselves at him, but it seems like he's sort of quietly making an effort to breach out to ken, who he quite evidently finds weird in an entertaining way and with whom he goes out of his way to interact with, and his friend group- and of course, on a lesser scale, to Brenda, who is nothing but honestly nice, supportive and earnest.

Moreover, back in s2 I think, or at least back when dexer weren't an item yet, there was this cute little scene in which Ken greets Brenda in some sort of flirty/overtly nice manner in front of David, so David calls him out for doing that "in front of her brother" (I'm paraphrasing but I SWEAR something like this happened and I'm not crazy), so Ken just goes straight up "oh okay" and does it (what was it??? I. Don't. Remember. Desperation is a real thing) to him instead, causing him to blush. This, of course, couldn't mean much and it probably doesn't mean much, for it only kind of confirms that sometimes Ken doesn't have the best nose for social clues and his role as comic relief, while still being overall a good dude who notices stuff much quicker than some other people in the comic (as I realized tonight when reading a twitter/x thread that was written back in april by @/arthurium_key, they were live reacting to a bunch of chapters), but if you have delusional/overthinking goggles like me, you might as well take as him not caring about being ambiguosly affectionate with a dude in broad daylight, in the late 80s/early 90s, and consequentially, MAYBE not caring about being involved with a guy. But honestly? I don't this is likely, so I'll guess we find out.

But I'll use this post to vent for a bit: I really don't like how people in webtoon comments talk to people about shipping, especially rarepairs/non-canon ships, ESPECIALLY when they're gay. They're all so mean and loud about it. What do you mean "oh artists are run off the internet because of shipping"??? What do you mean "oh this is not going to be a comic where everybody is gay"??? That's... kinda... petty and targeted. To me, at least.

And by the way, i can't get a read on elijah for the life of me. He looks so cute and he seems soo polite, but I wonder what he brings to the plot other than being part of the love triangle and Jackson's past best friend. I'm pretty sure someone in the comic lampshaded them being the same person? So is he magic-related, someone else jackson might be able to control, is the love triangle a red herring is he trust-worthy, does he know something...? Everytime he arrives in a scene I feel so uneasy about him. But eh.

Just wanted to ramble btw, nothing serious, but I may have some words about Other Jackson by the comic's next update

[aggimaginary]

The Bad Guys Season 2: The Baddest Trip (chapter 1) - Take A Trip

Surprise! I'm back with a brand-new story and a brand-new chapter. Since it's a New Year, I decided to publish the first chapter of The Bas Guys season 2. Please enjoy the story for the first day of the year!

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It was another normal day at the Bad Guys' hideout. Everyone was doing their everyday routine and minding their own business. It wasn't their schedule to have another heist or have another night shift to be vigilant with other criminals. It was time to sit back and relax.

For Wolf, he went through photo albums of him and his team that had gone through over the years. They were all about the fun and happy memories. Some memories were about the successful heists they made, and some were from other places they'd been in. Those were the best memories Wolf had ever saved. There was no treasure in the world that he would trade for his best friends.

Snake slithered in and looked over Wolf's shoulder to see what the team leader was looking at. "Hey, Wolf, what are you doing?"

"I was looking back on our photo album about the places we've been to," Wolf said.

The rest of the Bad Guys joined in to see the album for themselves.

Tarantula chuckled while looking at the photos while Wolf flipped the page every minute, "Heh. Those were the good times, right? Who knew we would spread the word all over the world about who we were?"

"And everybody knew us now," Wolf stated as he flipped another page.

Shark laughed when he pointed to another photo, "I remember this. It was a fun heist."

Hornet scanned through the album and noticed that he wasn't in some of the photos, not to mention he didn't recall those memories in the album. "I don't remember some of them."

"You weren't part of the team yet, bug," Wolf ruffled Hornet's head gently with his finger.

"Oh, yeah," nodded Hornet.

"Hey, at least you were in some of them," Piranha pointed out some of the photos on the page that Wolf flipped a couple of times.

Near the end of the album, Hornet was already in pictures. He came into the team a little late, "Don't I know it."

"It would be fun if we go back in time and do these things all over again," the team leader sighed, missing those moments.

"Hey, Wolf, we had a clean slate now. I don't think we'll ever go back," Snake advised.

Wolf knew Snake was right. He went a little far with plans before, and he couldn't risk getting himself and his team in trouble again. Not this time. But then Wolf had a different idea this time, "What if we can?" He stood up, which startled his friends. "I mean, not in that way. What if we can take another trip around the world, just for a good ol' fun trip?"

But the other Bad Guys felt more confused and worried than ecstatic.

Snake knew Wolf was planning something drastic as he told him with cautious advice, "Are you sure, Wolf? I mean, we still have our bad reputation out there. We may be vigilantes, but only here in LA."

Wolf then said while peeking through the gap of the blinds, "Snake, I get the feeling that the gang needs a little rest from all of this. Our crime life, our crime-fighting life," he closed the blinds and turned around face-to-face with his team, "Plus, it'll be one way to tell the world we're… 'half' good now."

"What if no one would believe us? Just like what happened at the gala?" Tarantula reminded about the Gala of Goodness disaster a year ago.

"Then we'll show them."

"I don't know, Wolf. Remember last time? We're definitely on their wanted list," Hornet said while looking through his helmet, showing each of his and his team's holographic status in every country. Some countries titled them as "unknown.".

"Then, if it didn't work, then let's just lay low and consider this as our vacation trip," Wolf suggested with a convincing smile.

While the other Bad Guys were unsure of this trip idea because they had caused a lot of trouble all over the world when they were still full Bad Guys, they realized they hadn't left Los Angeles for a long time. They had been laying low to avoid getting caught, being in prison for a year, and changed careers when they were trying to change their ways and went good… well, not fully good yet since they were still adjusting. It would be fun to travel and get away with problems occasionally and clear their head after what they had been through after getting released from prison.

"I do want to travel around the world with you guys," Hornet confessed. "Besides, I missed a lot before I came here."

Tarantula snorted as she would feel envious if she missed out, "Oh, what the heck? I don't want you guys to take all the fun."

Shark wrapped his fin around Snake, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet, and squealed, "Woo! This is gonna be so much fun! Another Around-The-World trip! Just the six of us!"

"I'm so in, Hermanos," Piranha raised a thumb up.

Feeling defeated that no one was against Wolf's trip plans, Snake sighed as he rolled his eyes, "Fine. But I'm warning you, Wolf. It won't be easy to travel around the world. It was easy before, but now that we're clean, we won't be able to do the same thing of how we traveled last time."

"So what? We're gonna buy tickets?" Wolf guessed since they didn't have to force someone to send them somewhere around the world anymore.

"That's good enough for me," Hornet said, agreeing with the idea.

"I'm checking them right away," Tarantula was already typing on her laptop to book planes and reserve tickets.

"Oooh, where should we go? The Bahamas? Africa?" Shark inquired.

"What about Spain? Or France? They had good cuisine." Piranha suggested.

"I want to try to go to Japan. For what I've read, that is where my species came from," Hornet said.

Feeling pressured, Tarantula knew it would take much money to go to places that her friends requested. "That's a lot of places I have to book, and it costs a lot of money. We just have to secretly rob another bank again just to get that amount of money."

"Not to mention, stealing a gold bar," Piranha stated.

While about it, Wolf was looking through his phone as he scrolled through a bunch of stuff on social media until he found something interesting.

"What if we don't need to steal gold?" He declared.

The other Bad Guys paused for a moment, feeling puzzled by Wolf's phrase.

"Wha-?" Hornet wanted to ask.

"What if we do another heist to steal something bigger and more affordable than money?" Wolf smirked sinisterly.

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At LAX, a pilot was guiding a line of visitors around the airport, and their tour ended up in hangars where the planes were resting and ready to serve again in a couple of days. Some planes in the hangar were still in service and held good records for their services.

"This is the Gulfstream IV." The pilot showed one of the planes in the hangar, "This aircraft is one of the most popular aircraft from Gulfstream Aerospace, a trusted name in the private aviation industry. It has a completely customizable interior and can seat up to 14 passengers."

The visitors were amazed by the plane as they took pictures of it.

The pilot then guided the visitors to the next plane, "And this is the Learjet 60XR. This aircraft was a poor buy in 2008, losing 74% of its value."

Despite its poor reputation, the visitors still took pictures of the plane.

Then, they moved to the third plane as the pilot narrated, "And this is the Cessna Citation XLS. This aircraft has a maximum cruise speed of 507 mph and a transcontinental long range of 2,100 nautical miles. It can also take off from shorter runways."

The visitors took a picture of the plane while following the pilot to the end of the hangar.

Once they were outside, the pilot stood in front of the gates of the next hangar, where the gates were closed, yet to reveal the next aircraft.

"These planes were good in service while some couldn't be bought, but there is one jet plane that is the latest, and passengers who already tried this plane gave out 5 gold stars because of its luxurious experience and could fly all over the world."

The visitors were so excited to see this plane and hoped that they would see the insides of the aircraft.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Airjack Hydraulic FX8." When the gates opened, the visitors made wide smiles as they wanted to see the jet plane with their own eyes, but once the gates were fully opened, they only saw an empty hangar.

The jet plane is gone.

"Hey, what happened to the private jet?!" The pilot screamed as one person took a picture of the empty hangar with a flash of his camera.

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Meanwhile, Diane was doing a lot of paperwork in her office when she received a call by the radio from her secretary.

"Governor Foxington, a journalist is here to report on an important news."

Diane pushed the button to speak through the radio, "Send 'em in." At this cue, the doors opened, and Mira entered the office while holding a folded newspaper. "Oh, Ms. Rose, it's you."

"Just call me Mira, Diane. I have something to show you," Mira threw the newspaper on Diane's table, showing the news about a missing jet plane.

Diane read the headline and inquired, "A private jet was stolen?"

"And I want to let you know because this isn't just someone who stole it," Mira took out a photo from her pocket. "I didn't put this in my report, and I kept this from sight," she placed the photo on top of the newspaper and showed Diane. That it was an image of a circular seal with the initials "BG".

Knowing what those initials meant, Diane placed a paw on her face and sighed as if she was exhausted upon seeing this. "Not again."

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The missing private jet plane zoomed across the sky, off the grounds of Los Angeles, and flew through the clouds.

Hornet stared down through the window as he began to hyperventilate, "I can't believe it! We stole a private jet! The Airjack Hydraulic FX8 Jet! Can this just get any more unusual?"

"Relax, Hornet, this is an exquisite jet. They even have champagne here!" Snake said as he popped the champagne bottle open and poured some in his glass.

"I do love this cocktail shrimp." Piranha added as he took one and snapped his mouth close with the shrimp inside.

"Come on, guys, we didn't exactly steal it. We're just borrowing it for the trip, and we'll return it once we're done." Wolf declared as he piloted the jet at the cockpit.

"You mean 'secret borrowing,'" Tarantula stated.

"Yeah, Webs gets it," Wolf smiled before he heard his phone ringing. He took out his phone from his pocket and saw Diane's contacts onscreen. "Oh look, guys! Our favorite governor," he tapped the answer button and said, "Hello?"

Diane's voice was so loud through Wolf's phone that even the other Bad Guys could hear her from the cockpit, "Wolf, what the heck! I gave you more than one chance to change your ways! I even let you have a double life as both criminals and vigilantes, and yet you stole a jet! A private jet!"

Wolf chuckled, "Relax, Diane, we're just 'secretly borrowing the jet."

"We're travelling around the world!" Shark yelled from the back while raising a glass of soda.

Diane overheard Shark's voice, and she felt confused. "Why would you want to travel? This is… new."

"We already traveled before, Diane. We want to do it again," "Wolf explained, but when Diane opened her mouth to scold him more, he cut her off by continuing, "And before you say anything, we won't do anything drastic this time. We'll be doing… something else."

Diane scoffed angrily, "I don't like what you're doing, Wolf. I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice. You better get back here and return the jet back to where you stole it, or I'll snitch on you guys and send you back to jail."

"Oh no, you could do that."

"I'm serious, Wolf. You better get back here, or I'll call the chief. It's your choice now."

"Very well. I'll send you a message of the scavenger hunt that will provide you with my answer."

After the call, Wolf sent Diane a message, and she read it.

ONE WEEK LATER

Diane took a quarter that was taped under the cemented bench as Mira followed her along with the hunt.

"Here it is! A rustic quarter from 1933. We're getting closer to our answer!"

But Mira slapped her aggressively across the face, making her drop the quarter. "Wake up, Diane! They chose to steal the jet and fly around the world!"

Somewhere, the Bad Guys were relaxing on the beach.

"You really fooled that governor, huh?" Snake spoke while still sunbathing next to Wolf.

"She'll thank us once we finish our trip." Wolf responded.

"Maybe we should go to places that we haven't gone to yet," Tarantula offered.

"Or a place we were never heard of," Hornet uttered.

"We'll just plan as we go," said Wolf while still trying to relax under the sun.

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Cast:

Michael Godere - Mr. Wolf

Chris Diamantopoulos - Mr. Snake

Ezekiel Ajeigbe - Mr. Shark

Raul Ceballos - Mr. Piranha

Mallory Low - Ms. Tarantula

Eugene Lee Yang - Mr. Hornet

Zazie Beetz - Diane Foxington

Stephanie Beatriz - Mira Rose

Eric Bauza - Pilot

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Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Hornet: Why don't we go to the place where you used to live?

Piranha: It's not a big deal.

Piranha: Welcome to Letifecto.

Hornet: But why did you want to leave this place anyway? There's nothing wrong with it.

Prima: My little hermano has finally come home!

Primo Sr.: The prodigal son has finally returned.

Wolf: Your family is… good and perfect.

Piranha: My father wanted me to be something I don't want to be.

Wolf: No one will know that we're the Bad Guys, and no one will know we're infamous criminals.

Wolf: No one will know. Just act normal. No one has to know.

Prima: I know

Primo Sr.: Pepe, you're a disgrace!

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I finally finished the first chapter of season 2. I finally published chapter 2 after a long time of planning. The Bad Guys 2 is coming, and I decided to continue my story. Season 2 took place before the sequel, so season 2 happened between the first and second films. There were plenty more surprises about what happened to the Bad Guys before the sequel, so get ready for plot twists!

The scene where Wolf gave Diane a scavenger hunt and Mira slapped her away was a reference to Family Guy: Into Harmony's Way.

This story is dedicated to my two best friends, MasterClass60 and TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3 who were there for me through tough times and helped me plan season 2. I hope they'll see this story and like it! There will be more chapters to come, and I promise that there won't be any long waits. Stay tuned for this year!

Happy New Year, everybody!

[blankwashed]

Sleepless Shadows (Part 5)

Chapter: I II III IV V VI VII

Satoru smiles when you say his name. He shifts his weight up so that he stares at the ceiling.

"I wonder how I'm going to sleep tonight, on this broken bed and smelly sheets. At least I have you with me," Satoru says, not looking at you.

"Si- Satoru, I have to apologise. Previously when you were paying for this room, I felt so bad. I-I wish I could repay you in any other way," You were truly feeling bad.

"It's no big deal, dear. I have a lot of money, remember? I know this place is utterly trash but its okay. At least I have good company here," He turned and you realised, where the fuck did his shirt go?

Blushing and turning your head to the other side, you spoke softly again, "S-Satoru..can you sleep? C-cause I don't think my body is-"

He cuts you off.

"No I can't either, darling."

Your face immediately flushes and you could even hear your own hearbeat. It was beating at a fast pace having palpitations, you figured.

Satoru is shirtless? What the fuck? I mean the room technically did not have any air-conditioning but it was a cool night, wasn't it?

You definitely bit your lip. If you were at home, alone, you would start touching yourself, imagining it was him. Carressing your shoulders up to your thighs, marking each and every spot as his— Not now!

Fuck having a hot teacher, really. You cursed in your mind.

"Darling, face me. Why are you so shy? Have you never seen a man shirtless?"

You held your breath with your face turned the other side, "I—I have…I have three brothers, Satoru," T-This was the most awkward you have ever been around Sator—you meant your sensei!

"Then why are you so shy around me?" You could SWEAR to the heavens that you knew he was smirking. Fuck.

"B—because I think it's not right for me as your student, even though we're out of school grounds to look at your bare chest," You just tried to come up with excuses at this point but deep down you know you wanted more.

Satoru cracks his neck, clearly he was stressed at the moment.

"Who said that it was wrong? I don't see anyone else here. It's just me and you, sugar plum. I know how you feel about me. The way you chew your pen when you look at me while I'm giving a lecture in class, with your legs on top of each other. Don’t even get me started on me spotting you trying to look at my cock, huh? Seeing whether I haven’t gotten rid of my morning wood. You’d like to help me on that?"

You just wanted to dissapear at that moment.

"Also, whatever student's say will somehow come to the lecturer's ears you know? Were you aware of that, my sly minx?"

Your mind just went blank at that moment, trying to recall what you told your friends about your crush on Satoru. Obviously with heat rising up to your ears, you weren't able to.

"I—I have no idea what you're talking about, sir…"

He scoffs.

"We're back to formalities, cupcake?" he sighed.

"N—No nothing like that, Satoru. I just feel that it's strange for me to call someone that I respect so much by their real name" You were justifying yourself and again he cuts you off.

Satoru slithers a hand underneath you to bring you closer to him.

"Angel, you said you wanted to repay me for this room right?"

You gulped, is he going to say what you think he's saying?

"Y—yes Satoru…"

He licked and bit his lip.

"I'm stressed now, dear. About my car and how stressful work has been these few days. So if you could help me with a certain problem, a predicament if you will," he spoke in a low, sensual voice that made your soul almost jump out of your chest. Is he saying what you think he's saying?

Your risque teacher comes closer to your ear and wraps his arms around your body.

"Are you up for it, my angel?"

You wished you could just crawl into a small ball and disappear. Woosh.

"S—Satoru?" You finally turned to face him and obviously with your jaw dropped, slightly. He started to move his head side-to-side, cracking his neck again with a lick of his lips which made your fingers fidget under the blanket you tucked yourself into. Was that just his habit or did he mean something else?

Remembering what the woman at the front desk said, chocolates and champagne, of course! You got up and dashed for the chocolates and champagne bottles, wanting to buy some time before you could think about what to you wanted to reply Satoru with. In your gut, you were wishing that the chocolates and champagne were are least decent enough to take Satoru's mind off whatever he wanted to do with you. His tastebuds have already tasted premium luxurious chocolate, so he might not bother about these cheap ones but you hoped it would buy you some time.

There was no doubt that you wanted to please him in that way but you were new to all of this and have never done such things with anyone before. Your mind was fogged up thinking about whether you wanted to give all your firsts to Satoru, your lecturer, someone you practically only meet during class hours. The more you think about it, you shouldn't even have agreed to go out to have supper with him in the first place, you were the reason why all of this happened.

You looked back at Satoru, offering him the chocolate that came in boxed form while munching on them yourself. “Here! S-Satoru! These aren’t that half bad. M-Maybe if you have a few you might calm down,” You said loudly, due to how nervous you have become.

Satoru stood up, approached you and knocked the chocolate off your hands. Aww they were actually not that bad.

“Don’t you want this, my dear? This is the perfect opportunity and you’re just going to run away from it? I thought there was a connection, with you agreeing to go out with me and how I can clearly see how wet you have become just being in the same radius as me. It’s not that hard to see, sugar plum.”

Is Satoru Gojo really begging for you to touch him now?

This time you dropped to your knees right in front of him. Did you have a choice? Did you know what to do? I mean you’ve seen some videos and heard people talk about it, is it going to be the exact same?

“Don’t worry baby, I’d guide you. J-Just like in class..” His breath hitched while taking your head towards his cock. You were feeling full, like you were sucking on a big lollipop. He thrusts into your mouth, showing you how to do it till you were swirling your tongue and trying to tease him just as he has been teasing you all this while. Like the innocent lamb you were, you were making sure your tongue gets right in between his folds, making him grunt. Lunging forward and grabbing your hair but not pushing himself onto you made you moan onto him and he showed that he clearly got pleasure from that. You made a note in your mind that he’s sensitive when you do that, making sure that you only do it when you want him to be putty in your hands. “Oh this is fun,” you thought to yourself.

Satoru’s full length was hard for you to take in and he didn’t want to force it on you. With little knowledge about how this was done, your hands wrapped around his cock, trying to stroke it with the same rhythm as how you were sucking. He threw his head back and groaned loudly while jerking into your mouth as you remained pleasuring him at the same speed. You were choking, at one point and that increased his pleasure.

“T-that’s right..my best student also knows how to please her teacher, doesn’t she? F-Fuck it’s always the innocent lambs that do it the best,” Satoru groans in pleasure. That was an ego boost for you, trying to keep the pace up even though you were crying. He was too big for you. Satoru noticed your tears and he pulled himself out which left your mouth empty and that made you whine.

He stroked your cheek and you made a groan at first, still wanting more of him.

“My sweet darling, am I too big for you? Want more of me?” You felt a little smirk after saying that. Wiping the involuntary tears off your face, you shook your head, trying to seem brave and a little more experienced than you actually were. It was embarrassing to be seen as a virgin at your age.

“Really dear? Then you wouldn’t mind if I did this?” Satoru grabbed your waist and brought it closer to his. You wanted to scream or shout but that would turn him off. “Losing my first time with my lecturer isn’t that bad, isn’t it? It would be an achievement actually,” you thought to yourself.

Moans came out of your mouth when he bit his lip and started to take off your panties, his cold hands touching your heated skin. You were sure they turned him on even more, so you guessed that there was no more looking back. As he was holding it in his hand, he sniffed it and softly groaned, “Baby you smell fucking delicious,” and then he proceeds to stuff it in your mouth. “We know the walls in this place are thin as fuck, I don’t want people to hear my girl’s loud screams, do I?”

He aligned himself again once more and slowly inched himself into you. The pain was excruciating at that point but thankfully your shouts were muffled down.

“S-shatho..” You tried to call out his name. He looked like an ethereal god at that point, enjoying how painfully tight you were with his head thrown back and his hands reaching to grab your breasts. He also realised that you were a virgin and how he just penetrated and broke your hymen, but he was enjoying himself a little too much to bother about that. As painful as it was, Satoru was going slow and that helped a slight bit for you to adjust to his size. He also noticed that you were bleeding from the penetration but he didn’t bother as this motel probably has to deal with situations like these, he didn’t care.

The panties in your mouth was starting to get so wet from your saliva so you decided to just spit it out. There he saw your face, full of pain and pleasure, trying to keep up with his momentum. Satoru dipped down to take a nipple into his mouth, swirling it and nibbling on it slightly. You were contented with the sense of pleasure you were getting for your first time. Just before he released it he bit on it, earning a loud moan from you while grabbing a hold on his white hair and jerking your hips forward made Satoru smile sinisterly. Oh what has he made his top student become?

At that point the pain became pleasure and you’re already reaching your release as so as him. His movements start to become rapid with mumbles of “Oh I love yous”, “Should’ve fucked you sooner” and “How have I been resisting all this time”.

“Where’d you want it baby girl? Ah- fuck it,” Satoru forced you to kneel on the floor and opened up your mouth before stuffing his cock back into it. He was close to his release, you figured. With your tongue you drew figure eights onto his cock head repeatedly, hoping it might help him. Just as your tongue went into his slit, that’s where he released his load.

Your eyes were closed at that point with a mouth full of cum. Were you supposed to spit it out or swallow? You weren’t sure so you swallowed all of it down. Tangy, bitter still slightly sweet, hmm.

“That was a bold move, dear,” Satoru said as he came out from the toilet, you were assuming he went to wash his cock off with water. You were embarrassed now, thinking that all forms of relationship have been broken with your lecturer.

“If you had told me that you were a virgin, I wouldn’t have taken it so far you know?” he said as he came closer to you in a soft voice.

“I-I didn’t want to seem inexperienced, I-I hope I came up to your standards, sir…” Satoru looked at you with disapproval as you called him sir. Again.

I'm so stressed from uni...writing is my only escape really. I also have kind of nervous to write the sex scene but I'm reading and trying to, I hope I reach up to my reader's expectations! i also think this fic might end at possibly before it reaches part 10, after sex idk what they're going to do

Update: I got it, here comes drama~

More update: there’s more sexy scenes here LOL

[animeloverskylarmoon]

Byakuya Kuchiki (Bleach) Short Story: Chapter 1

"You're slow."

"G-Gomen, Kuchiki-taicho!"

You replied trying to match pace as you jumped through the skies of Karakura Town.

Just your luck that you would get stuck with this stickler.

Truth of the matter is you weren't even a seated officer. Usually you were fine hiding out in the fourth squad barracks healing the wounded.

However, for this mission they'd requested someone to accompany the team on this trip to the world of the living and your Taicho had so graciously nominated you. Now you are tracking activity with Byakuya, Rukia and Ichigo. You understood why Rukia was here. She was always trying to assist her brother. Ichigo has just stumbled upon you three and decided to join.

"Are you certain this is where the others were?"

"Of course I am. I took down the first two. You think I'm stupid!!"

Byakuya didn't reply to Ichigo's statement which only irritated him more.

You sighed internally.

Between dealing with this perfectionist and hoping these hollows had taken a vacation, you were nearing your limit. You weren't used to this. You kept feeling like you would make one wrong move and be banished from Byakuya's sight. He wasn't that heartless, but his gaze was chilling.

It's obvious that whatever had been here is gone now.

For the next half an hour, you all do a sweep of the town. When it's decided that the threat is diminished, you all retire to Kisuke's shop to regroup and possibly implement a new plan tomorrow.

Rukia and Ichigo have left for a while. Byakuya refuses to stay in Kisuke's place, so he'd also left. Now it's just you. It's weirdly peaceful. You have a chance to gather your bearings.

Think.

The night has already fallen.

The day feels like a complete waste and you can't help but wonder if it's your fault.

You flash step, landing on the roof of Kisuke's shop, a bit defeated.

"Why are you still awake?"

You scream at the voice, and Byakuya just watches you blankly.

"G-GOMEN!!!"

You bow repeatedly, and he says nothing, standing there, looking up at the sky.

It's awkward, you don't know why he's back here. Maybe he was doing another check for the hollows.

You feel another pang, sitting down slowly.

His dedication is just another display of how amazing he is in this position.

You're nothing more than a healer, and an average one at that.

The reminder is painful.

"I know the only reason I'm here is because of Unohana-taichou. I really think you guys could have gotten someone better."

You laugh awkwardly, scratching your head. It's embarrassing to admit that you're weak. Compared to Rukia, Byakuya, Ichigo, your abilities were that of a bug.

Useless.

"Unohana was not the one who requested that you come, it was me."

You freeze at his words.

"You may not recall, but when Aizen injured me, you were one of the reapers who helped me heal. I had already accepted my faith. I almost abandoned my only family. Your hands were shaking as you worked to summon your kido. You were scared. Something about your gaze was comforting. It was a sign. Even though you were afraid, you did the job. It was a reminder that fear did not have to be absolute."

You barely believe it. You hadn't even remembered the moment until he brought it up. So much had gone down then. It felt so far away.

"I admire your strength, despite your clear weaknesses. You..remind me of someone. Someone strong that I knew."

Your eyes are shaking. You can't say that you ever expected those words to leave his lips. Especially not directed at you.

"T-Thank you Kuchiki-taicho!!!"

You bow, because at that moment you aren't sure what else to do. You almost feel like crying. When you straighten, he smiles.

Actually smiles.

"Call me Byakuya."

You might just die.

[scaly-freaks]

random thought that occured to me in the middle of the night after reading chapter eleven of tgowarl, but no matter how loving amara's parents may have been when they actually did give her attention, it truly is the cruelest thing to be subjected to their happiness - when, as even amara says, its such a rare thing to procure for oneself in the world :(( i know im stating the obvious and that was likely the point for the reader to understand, but it truly does explain her rebellious streak perfectly. they unintentionally made their child feel alienated, like she were peering at them through a window - into their a warm house, while she froze to death outside enduring the blizzardous winter. apart from the blatant neglect, it's the worse thing they could've inflicted upon her as a child (among the lesser evils).

it's quite pitiful... how she grew up viewing her own parents relationship as the golden example of love. a love so pure, it's become selfish in it's pursuit.

don't get me wrong, im sure we can all agree in unison that amara generally does not have the wisest taste in her choice of partners, far from it - but the image of her parents taunting her by comparison at the back of her mind most certainly would not help in encouraging amara to make better decisions. just feeds into this hopeless belief that happiness is unattainable because amara's highest standard to reference from is her own parent's relationship, which would probably make any other relationship seem dull. i suppose that's why the next best thing for amara is that all consuming love? because if she managed to enter a relatively healthy relationship, it still wouldn't be like her parents relationship. the kind of love that grants blissful ignorance to everything else. it'd fulfill a role, but overall amara would be empty imo. where as if she's indulging her 'type', even if she's ashamed of herself because 'there can only be so many mistakes' one can allow themselves to make, horribly enough... at least it'd satisfy her. its a very.. bad, self destructive mentality of course - but if nothing else will ever compare, might as well do what provides you the most satisfaction right?

okay sorry for the rather long ramble, it just became a sudden hyperfixation to me since i love nuance in psychology like that ^^

*instils voice with the sheer tenderness of Colin Farrell's Irish lilt* Oh I absolutely fucking adore this ask.

I'm so, so happy someone mentioned the parents thing, because I wrote this part of her background specifically with the hope that people would mention and comment on it (and you did!! YAY!!!)

Emotionally immature parents can go so many different ways. A lot of the time, they fail to understand or accept their mistakes because their view of the past is tinted with rose-lens. That in itself is painful for the child. I imagine at some point, Amara accused them of some of the things she complained to Aegon about, and got blank stares. They unintentionally gaslighted her by saying but baby you were happy, we remember you were, don't you remember this day when we went to that one place and you were so happy? Neglectful parents often point out things they did for you that they specifically recall because it was out of the ordinary for them to do. Rather than realise that their moments of attention were so few and far between that now even the smallest of them becomes a huge gold star for their "efforts", they think the child is remembering wrong.

If her dad beat her, or her mother snapped at her, I think Amara would cut herself off from the emotionally a lot easier. But instead, what she did was mature a lot quicker, but then become their emotional support child. She hid all her troubles the way parents should hide from their children. She turned them into the vulnerable party who needed protection; maybe if she hadn't, they might have soldiered up quicker. But she was a kid and she made a judgement and they just weren't attentive enough to realise that she had.

And then as you said, the golden ideal of their relationship becomes her aim. But since she's a child, failure hits her harder. She hasn't yet learned that you make mistakes and keep going. So when she realises her first relationship is failing, and it isn't the true love her parents share, she stays in it almost as if to punish herself for it. She can't match up to her parents, so she's just a piece of shit that deserves to suffer until something magically 'clicks' and she'll be better.

She's definitely afraid of prioritising Aegon over Jaehaera for fear of Jae ending up like her (and with plenty of people in the Keep ready to take advantage of a royal, there's dangers for Jaehaera that Amara herself can't predict but knows are coming).

But onto the subject of the way her parents raised her and how it correlates with Aegon.

So far, what she seems to seek out in her romantic partners (and her friends) is a parent. Mirian is very maternal. Alys is obviously older, and definitely a dominating force (Amara bowed fast under the way Alys patronises her which is lowkey hot but I digress). She would also make friends in KL who were much older and more worldly, for instance prostitutes, pimps, sailors, guards, you name it.

And then you have Aegon. The father of the realm, the ultimate symbol of paternalism, but suddenly she's his jester. She obviously has to obey him, but she also gets to point out his flaws and turn them into comedy that he'll laugh about. She refused to see the flaws in her own parents until it got to a point where her body and mind were unable to take the pain.

But with Aegon, this new parental ideal, she's cutting at his flaws from the start. That ruins the fantasy of 'replacement father'. If she was just a servant at court, she'd be obedient, she'd probably even respect him from a distance because of everything he's been through. Amara never wanted or meant to be his jester. It happened because he wanted it to happen.

And then suddenly, for the first time in her life, there's someone who's paying attention to her the way her parents should have, but who goes way overboard with it. She chafes at the bindings because she's accustomed to protecting herself, but at the same time, hates admitting how good it can feel. The more she finds herself sinking into it, into becoming the little girl who just needs someone to protect her and make the decisions for her, the guiltier she gets over what might happen if Jaehaera goes ignored. The princess is going to be well-protected in the castle - she won't run loose in the streets of KL like Amara did, so it'd be easy to just let her be cared for by others.

Amara herself is at risk of being an emotionally immature parent now because her needs as a child are still waiting to be fulfilled, but she's forcing herself to become the mother she never had for Jaehaera at the same time. And if she fails at this, she's going to hate herself.

It's a huge, huge psychological mess for a 23 year old honestly. Imagine discovering you view your potential lover as a replacement dad, whilst fully knowing he was a neglected child himself and can't fulfil that role properly, and THEN you both have a daughter as the cycle threatens to repeat.

Okay, I have a lot of thoughts still, but I think I rambled wayyyy too much in answer to your lovely ramble, nonnie, so I'm going to stop here.