#i just have a feeling it was kind of doomed from the start. b/w the va debacle and then all the spoilers coming out beforehand

[a-deadly-serenade]

i do have a lot of things to say about bayo3 now that i’ve completed the main storyline and been given time to think things over. 

personally, the core mechanics of the game, i.e the combat and demon masquerade/slave, were a LOT of fun. the way you can rack up combo points really easily by equipping and using your demons to boost your attacks is really neat, and beating the shit out of an enemy with one of them was always a blast. the weapons were unique and fun and while i do miss being able to mix&match whatever 2 you’d like, i get it: each weapon has its corresponding masquerade that adds its own flavor to the combo pool. every boss battle had me on the edge of my seat, wndering whch demon was going to get supercharged and just how they’d have you use them to beat the enemy. giant kaiju battle with gomorrah? blowing cute little bubbles as you relax in the clouds as a giant mistress of atrocity? controlling either malphas or phantasmaraneae? a god damn RHYTHM GAME with baal? riding on Madama and beating the shit out of some homunculi? come on. 

i didnt mind that the levels were a little more open, they all looked pretty good but, they suffered from where a lot of more modern nintendo games do, wherein they felt kind of empty. i think i felt this more when you were on thule, as opposed to the physical locations like all the cities. there really wasnt much going on there, it was just kind of a hub for all the portals and unlike-- i guess the best relative comparison to the series would be, noatun--didnt really get developed. so, i will say, the portions where you travel across thule are some of my least favorite. 

which, does bring me to my biggest complaint, is the overall handling of the story. everyone’s talked about the ending to death and how bland the narrative is, but the biggest thing for me is how underdeveloped the whole thing is. there’s hardly any lore given for thule, how the lumen and umbra even got there, why they started using this island in the first place. i havent collectd all of luka’s journal entries for this game, so idk if those help shed more light like they usually do, but, then again, all of this SHOULD be provided within the game itself. a big part of what i love from the bayonetta series is how lore heavy 1&2 are. does a lot of it make sense? no. is some of the storytelling in 1&2 messy? of course. they throw so much at you in the first 2 games, that it can honestly be a bit overwhelming, but that’s a big reason that encouraged me to replay them so much. it’s like watchng a movie multiple times; the more see it, the more you find out. with 3, there’s not a lot TO find out. even the core theme of being in control of your own destiny and defining your own truth while, a decent theme, is kind of haphazardly thrown together at the very end. 

and while there’s a lot of mixed opinions ON the end, i thought it was... ok? i got spoiled like, before the game even came out about who viola turns out to be so, unfortunately, the big reveal at the end wasn’t really a “reveal”. i’m definitely surprised this is the turn they took, but it doesn’t bother me That badly. it’s tossed in so last minute too that i cant really give it much more than an afterthought lmao. i DID however really enjoy the boss battle when all 3 bayonetta’s show up though. that was really cute and the fight itself was fun. 

i really enjoyed jeanne’s little levels! the music was good, i LOVED the QT J transformation sequence that could happen, the way it utilized her beast & centipede within. the shower bonus always made me crack up and they are all relatively easy to rank up a platinum-pure platinum with.

i wish jeanne had more time in the game, like actual dedicated levels like viola, but i’m glad theyre sticking the trend of having her be unlocked by completing the main story like 2. and speaking of viola, i enjoy her as a character. she’s cute and being voiced by one of my favorite creators doesnt hurt, but man do i SUCK as using her parry 😭 it was just really easy for me to get frustrated fighting wth her, especially new enemies/bosses. and, again, i just wish they’d developed her  a little bit more.

the story is definitely where the game lacks a lot of its previous charm, but the fights and combats really did carry a lot of its faults. i had so much fun experimenting with all of the demons and new weapons and how the masquerades work, that i could forgive how lackluster the narrative was. which, does suck, considering how much i loved learning about the World of Bayonetta, but there’s nothing to be done about it now. 

i personally had a fun time with the game and sunk almost 20 hours into it already and i havent even touched the post-game content, not to mention replaying the chapters to get a better score. i dont know where the series stands as of right now, and im gonna be honest, i wouldn’t be upset if this was the last game. it’s pretty clear that the creative workings for this one were all over the place, if the jumbled, disjointed plot is any indication. is it everything we expected? definitely not, but i am grateful that it was still able to get made in spite of everything. i was just happy to have another bayonetta game. i’ve been a fan of this series for over 10 years now, and while its definitely not as good as its predecessors, it still has its own unique individual charm that i’m sure i will keep coming back to down the line. 

[geminiwritten]

dr. dreamy ; bones

fandom: star trek

pairing: bones x reader

summary: it’s been a while since you’ve been laid, and it’s starting to affect your mood so jim offers his help before quickly realising that you’re still hung up on a mysterious ‘mr. dreamy’ from your academy days... but he soon finds out that the man you’ve been in love with for the past five years is, in fact, the enterprise’s best doctor

notes: did somebody say hyper-fixation? also, if you haven’t noticed already, i have a favourite formula... i wrote this while sick, so apologies if its crap, but let me know what you think!

warnings: swearing and horny

word count: 4173

The turbolift halts when it reaches the deck on which the upper-most access to the warp core is located. Your steps are sluggish, and the lace on your left boot is about five strides from falling untied, but you don’t really care to fix it even as you feel your boot go lax. Your heel begins to slip in and out of place just as you reach the door to one of the larger maintenance rooms.

“What’s got your knickers in a twist?” Scotty asks as soon as he sees you.

You shrug, “just tired.”

“Too tired to remember where you’re s’pposed to be?” he stops you from picking up the spare pair of gloves from the bench, “first aid trainin’?”

A vague memory fights its way to the front of your mind, and you recall being ordered by Jim to attend the annual first aid training course that at least two crew members from each division were required to attend.

“Why me?” you sigh, “why can’t you be the first aid officer, or-or Ayden?” The young brunette lieutenant who was half-concealed behind a large metal tank pokes his head out.

“Because,” Scotty says, dismissing Ayden with a wave of his hand, “the capt’n requested you specifically, and I know he’s a bit of bastard sometimes but he’s still our capt’n.”

“He just wants me to suffer because he has to,” you grumble.

He chuckles as he grips your shoulders and physically turns you back toward the door, “I doubt you’ll be sufferin’ much, lassie, I heard the CMO himself is runnin’ this one.”

Your feet forget their steps and you stumble before catching yourself on the doorjamb. “W-Why is Bones running it? Isn’t he busy? He never does this kind of thing,” you say as you turn back to face Scotty.

He shrugs, “capt’n’s orders, I guess. Now go before you’re late.”

You drag your feet out the door, down the corridor, and into the lift once again, all the while muttering about all the ways you intend on getting back at Jim.

You met Jim on your second day at Starfleet Academy and were almost immediately joined at the hip, being one of the only women on campus who was immune to the man’s charm. Well, not entirely immune at first, but you’ve definitely built it up over the years. It took a whole twelve months before you met his other other half, the doctor, and no matter how many years you spend with that man, you will never be immune to Leonard McCoy. From the moment you met him, you knew you were doomed, though you still tried desperately to deny it and got pretty good at controlling your body’s reactions to him. Your thoughts, however, not so much.

For almost two whole years, you managed to keep your crush under wraps, even though it was quite literally crushing you. It was one drunken night when you finally confessed to Jim, not quite revealing the identity of the man you were in love with but giving him enough information that he actually comforted you. That was when you realised it was a lost cause, and you were condemned to pine after this man for all eternity, because even James Tiberius Kirk couldn’t make a joke about your heartache. He did, however, affectionately nickname this mysterious man ‘Mr. Dreamy’ and continue to ask you about him and allow you to vent. It was nice to not have to bottle it all up, but it felt strange talking to one of your best friends about the other without him even knowing that it was the other best friend that you were talking about. Your conscience certainly took a guilty blow every time you’d end up in tears in Jim’s arms, or have to quickly change the conversation because Leonard was approaching. Jim never questioned it though, nor did he push the topic when you stopped bringing it up once aboard the Enterprise, leaving him to assume that Mr. Dreamy was left behind at the academy.

“You’re late,” Jim says as you fall into the chair beside him.

“You’re ugly,” you retort.

The large conference room is devoid of the oversized table that usually sits at its center, instead there are only two smaller tables piled high with medical equipment surrounded by a number of limbless, humanoid dummies. You and Jim are sitting in the front row of the audience chairs, whereas most of the crew attending had opted for further back.

“That’s no way to speak to your captain,” he chuckles, “what’s got your panties in a knot?”

“My panties are neither yours nor Scotty’s business,” you snap, though as soon as the words leave your lips you know you’ve given away exactly the reason why they are in a proverbial knot.

You’ve been aboard the USS Enterprise for almost two years, which means it’s been two years and one month – give or take a day – since you’ve been laid, and holy shit are you frustrated. It isn’t that you have an aversion to sex, or are practicing abstinence, in fact, you have a very healthy enjoyment for the act. It just so happens that you can’t seem to want anyone other than the one man you can’t have, because who fucking knows what would happen if you went down that route after five long years of friendship.

Jim’s laughter turns into a childish giggle, “has it been a while?”

You roll your eyes, “yes, Jim, it’s been a while.”

“How long?”

You turn in your chair to face the curious man, “that is also none of your business.”

“You know,” he glances around the room, “I know for a fact that there are many lovely lieutenants aboard this ship who would be more than willing to scratch that itch for you.”

“Shut up,” you hiss, “and no. Do you know how complicated it can get when you sleep with someone you’re stuck on a spaceship with for five years?”

“I do, actually,” he replies, “I know very well, but that doesn’t mean we should have to ignore one of our most primal needs.”

“Primal needs,” you roll your eyes again, “I appreciate the concern, but I’ll be fine. Three more years won’t kill me.”

He gasps, “it’s been three years?”

You roll your eyes again so hard you’re sure you saw your brain, “Jim, you know very well it hasn’t been three years.”

“Wait, so you haven’t slept with any since… since we-”

“Nope,” you say, stopping him from finish that sentence.

Yep, you had sex with Jim Kirk, but in your defense, who hasn’t? It was a drunken night, one week from embarking on the Enterprise’s five-year journey, and you were both a little lonely and incredibly horny. It wasn’t half bad either, if only a little strange sleeping with one of your best friends while you were in love with the other.

“Holy shit, Y/N, I didn’t-”

“Of course you didn’t know, Jim,” you sigh, turning back to the front of the room, “besides it’s not like I haven’t had… options, I’m just not interested.”

He frowns, “don’t tell me you’re still hung up on Mr. Dreamy.”

You purse your lips to keep from laughing, not out of mirth but something more along the lines of grim amusement, and your silence is enough of an answer for Jim.

“Hey,” he places a hand on your arm, “you know, I wouldn’t object if you wanted me to… help you out again. Believe me it was no chore, I mean-”

“Jim!” you snap, “shut up before somebody hears you.”

His cheeky grin only grows wider, “come on, you think anyone on this ship would be surprised to find out we’ve slept together?”

Before you can reply, the sound of someone clearing their throat catches your attention, and you both snap toward the front of the room to find the doctor himself staring at you. His frown is harsher than usual, and his hair a little mussed, which only fills your inappropriate mind with a thousand different fantasies of the messy-haired doctor in your bed.

“Well,” Jim sighs, “maybe one person.”

You glance around to the find majority of the room watching you while the rest of them do anything they can to not witness this situation unfold.

“Sorry, Bones,” Jim says, “you can begin now.”

“Well, thank you, Jim,” the doctor replies sarcastically before turning his attention to the room, “now that our captain has given his blessing, let’s get started.”

Jim settles back in his chair, though his demeanor is less relaxed and a little more anxious than before. You keep your eyes trained on the holographic slides behind Leonard as he talks about first aid basics and what different codes and acronyms mean. You try your hardest not to look at him, but all you can think about is how much you want to jump his bones. His voice is still a little raspy from sleep, and you start to fantasize about how delicious his Southern drawl would sound whispered against your neck.

Your almost halfway through a dangerously vivid daydream when Jim nudges you. “Are you okay?” he asks, and only then do you realise that the rest of crew had begun packing away their chairs to make room on the floor.

You nod and stand, dragging your chair to the side while Jim retrieves one of the rubbery dummies from the front of the room. Everyone pairs off, and you sit on the opposite side of the dummy to Jim while he uses his PADD to pull up some notes.

“Now,” Bones says, “we’re going to practice a variety of different cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques. The concept is the same, it just depends on the anatomy of the patient.”

Jim hands you the PADD and you start flipping through all the different diagrams of different species’ anatomies, each illustration pointing out the location of the body’s heart, lungs, and esophagus.

“How the hell does he remember all these?” you wonder aloud.

Jim chuckles, “why do you think he’s so grumpy all the time?”

You get up on your knees for a better angle at the dummy and place your hands over where the heart would be on a human.

“I have to ask,” he says before you can start practicing compressions, “how do you even know if Mr. Dreamy is still single? Why wait for him?”

“It’s not like I still think I have a chance with him,” you reply, “it’s just… complicated.”

“How could it be complicated? I know you’ve got your excuses, but if you’re so in love with this guy, what’s to lose if you just ask him out?”

You can’t help but glance over your shoulder at the doctor. He’s kneeling beside another pair and helping them with their hand placement.

“It just is,” you say, before starting CPR on your own dummy.

“Well,” Jim says, “my offer still stands, because who knows how long before you’re grumpier than the good doctor over there.”

You sit back on your heels and gesture for him to take his turn, deciding not to acknowledge his proposal. After taking turns on three different methods of CPR, the doctor appears beside you.

“Do you need any help?” he asks as he kneels on the floor, and you want to say yes but you know he’s only referring to the dummy.

“You underestimate us, Bones,” Jim replies, “we’re top of the class.”

“Sure you are,” Bones rolls his eyes, “show me then.”

Jim sits back and gestures for you to do the honors.

You turn to the doctor, and the butterflies in your stomach erupt into a frenzy. “J-Just human?” you ask, cursing yourself for stuttering.

He nods and you lean over the dummy, placing your hands over where the sternum would be and starting a rhythmic pulse of compressions.

“Harder,” he says, which almost makes your hands slip off the dummy entirely. “Don’t be scared to break a rib, I’m sure they’d prefer a broken bone over death.”

You take a deep breath to compose yourself and put a little more force into the compressions. After counting to thirty, you tip the head of the dummy back, pinch its rubbery nose, and act as if you’re blowing into its mouth without actually putting your lips on it. Then you return to performing compressions.

“Good girl,” the doctor praises, and your sure your heart stops just as your breath does. Your hands slip and you have to catch yourself on the floor to keep from faceplanting.

You sit back and stare at Bones’ arms as he rolls his sleeves up and positions himself over the dummy.

“Make sure you interlock your fingers,” he says, “and keep your arms extended, that way you won’t lose stability.”

You want to listen, but you can’t stop staring at his bare arms as he performs perfect CPR on the doll in front of you. His skin is tanned and taught across his strong muscles, honed from years of practicing to have the steadiest and most skilled hands in all of Starfleet. His hands, oh god, you’ve had countless dreams about them tangling in your hair and touching every inch of your body.

You shift a little to try and relieve the pressure building between your thighs.

“Jim,” Bones says, “your turn.”

You look up to find Jim staring at you, his brows furrowed and a question on his lips as he slowly moves to take over from the doctor. Once satisfied with Jim’s technique, Bones leaves to help another pair and you quickly start flipping through the PADD to find the next diagram.

“Y/N,” Jim says, his tone suddenly serious.

You glance up, your cheeks hot, “Captain.”

He stares at you, his blue eyes trapping you and stopping you from looking away no matter how much you want to.

“Holy shit,” you can practically see the lightbulb flash above his head, “holy shit, I can’t believe I didn’t notice! I mean, it’s so obvious, and- how the hell did I not realise? Holy shit.”

“Jim-”

“It’s Bones!” he exclaims, earning startled glances from the people surrounding you.

“Jim, please-”

“No, no, no, you’re not lying your way out of this one,” he says, “I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me that Mr. Dreamy- or should I say Doctor Dreamy is Bones.”

You sink onto your bum and cross your legs on front of you, leaning your elbows on your knees as you hide your face in your hands. “Jim, please don’t say anything,” you plead, “he can’t know, no one can know.”

“The way you look at him, the way you’ve always looked at him,” he goes on, though his voice is significantly lower, “I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”

Before you can say another word, Bones calls the room’s attention. Behind him, the holographic slides have changed to new points of information, and everyone falls silent to listen to the doctor’s speech.

You can see Jim squirming from the corner of your eye as you try to listen to the rest of the seminar, but it’s almost impossible to hear anything over the beating of your own heart. Heat washes over you in waves, ensuring your cheeks remain a bright shade of red and making your uniform feel itchy and tight. It feels like an eternity before Bones announces a break for lunch.

You grab Jim before he can move and begin dragging him out of the room, down the corridor, and into one of the smaller, vacant conference rooms.

He’s already giggling as you flop into one of the chairs, “you’re in love with Bones.”

You sigh, “yep.”

“And have been for five years?”

“Yep.”

“Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s stupid,” you reply, “and when I first met him, he was still getting over the divorce. Every time we’d drink together, he’d end up ranting about his ex and either make himself angry or upset. We all became such good friends, and before I knew it… I just didn’t want to ruin the friendship.”

“Ruin the friendship?” he repeats, “what are we? Teenagers in some old, soapy television drama?”

You shrug, “yes, I’m in love with him, but I’d rather have him in my life even just as a friend than not at all.”

“What makes you think he wouldn’t want to be with you?”

“Have you seen the women who hit on him?” you scoff, “and the women he’s been with? I could never-”

“Hey,” he interrupts you and pinches your chin between his thumb and forefinger, “none of that. You’re gorgeous, and Bones would be an idiot not to agree.”

“Okay,” you swat his hand away, “say we did go out, but it didn’t go well, and then I’ve lost one of my closest friends and made it incredibly awkward for you. Not to mention being stuck on this damn ship with him for another three years.”

Jim huffs, his eyes boring into his own shoes. It looks as if he’s having his own argument in his head, his posture rigid and his lips set into a hard line.

“Jim, just promise-”

“Sorry to interrupt,” a red-shirted lieutenant pokes their head through the door, “but I actually have this room booked in five minutes.”

“Oh,” you stand and grab Jim’s arm, “sorry.”

You pull your captain into the corridor and begin back toward the big conference room.

“Y/N, just hear me out.”

You turn abruptly and push Jim against the wall with a hand on his chest, “no, Jim, you hear me out. You know how I feel, and you know how long I’ve felt like this, so don’t you dare try and tell me what I should do. Just because you now know it’s Leonard doesn’t change anything.”

“Okay,” he raises his hands in surrender, “okay, I’ll shut up, I’m sorry.”

You release him slowly and he lowers his hands.

“I have to admit though,” he smirks, “he’d be an excellent lay.”

“Jim!” you exclaim, your hands balling into fists at your side.

He chuckles and looks down the corridor, his grin disappearing the instant his eyes land on the doctor. You frown and follow his gaze before quickly taking two steps back from your captain.

Jim clears his throat, “Bones-”

“We’re starting again,” the doctor says, before turning sharply and walking back into the conference room.

Neither of you say another word as you reenter the room and take a seat in the front row once again. Leonard avoids looking your way for the rest of the afternoon, and though you can’t help but worry about what you’ve done wrong, it also allows you to stare at him unashamedly. You let your thoughts run wild, imagining his hands pinning your wrists down, his body on top of yours, and his mouth everywhere as he slowly unties that knot below your stomach that’s been twisting tighter and tighter for five years.

Eventually he calls the day to an end, and everyone thanks him before shuffling out of the room, everyone but Jim.

“Dinner?” you ask.

He takes a deep breath before standing, “I’ll be there soon, you go ahead.”

Your heart thuds nervously, but you stop yourself from questioning him any further and turn toward the door. You’re the last out aside from Jim, and you can hear him address his friend just as you step into the corridor. The last of the crew shuffle into the lift. “Are you coming?” one asks.

You fight with your good conscience before shaking your head, “no, you go.”

The doors of the lift ease shut, and you turn several times on the spot, asking yourself whether you’re a sneaky person before giving in and pressing yourself against the conference room’s door.

“Bones,” you hear Jim’s voice, “just listen to me.”

“I don’t really feel like listening to you right now, Jim,” the doctor bites back.

You frown and press your ear against the door.

“Please, let me explain.”

“Explain what exactly?” Bones asks, his tone harsh, “the part where you slept with girl I love, or the part where you lied to me so that I didn’t?”

You smack your hand over your mouth to keep from gasping… or screaming.

“I didn’t lie to you, Bones, I just-”

“You told me she was in love with some other guy, and that I couldn’t ask her out because it would only make things awkward.”

“I didn’t lie to you, I-I just didn’t know that-” Jim sighs loudly, “Bones, I am sorry, we were both drunk and it didn’t mean anything, it was just-”

“Just sex?” Bones snaps, “that’s all it ever is with you, Jim, you never think about anyone else.”

“I know, it was stupid, but I never lied to you,” Jim says, “she really was- is in love with someone, but she never told me who it was. I just- I assumed it was some guy back at the academy, and I should have realised-”

“Realised what, Jim?”

You can only imagine the two of them squaring up to each other, and you try desperately not to let the picture of an infuriated Leonard turn you on.

“The guy she was- is in love with, she never told me who it was, we just called him by some stupid nickname, she’s loved him for years, but I never-”

“Are you trying to torture me?” Bones interrupts again, “spit it out, damnit!”

“It’s you!” Jim exclaims.

Your heart lurches, threatening to break through your ribcage and burst right out of your chest.

“She’s in love with you, has been for years.”

The silence is heavy, and you have to hold your breath to stay quiet.

“What are you playing, Jim?”

“Nothing, I’m telling you the truth,” their voices are no longer raised, “and I am sorry, Bones. I shouldn’t have slept with her, drunk or not.”

Another beat of silence passes.

“I didn’t realise you were still in love with her,” the captain says quietly, and you have lean against the door before your knees give way.

Bones sighs, “course I am.”

“Then tell her.”

“Tell her?”

You startle at the sound of footsteps approaching, jumping back from the door when it slides open.

Jim smirks, “I didn’t take you for the spying type.”

You don’t have a chance to reply before he pulls you into the room and drags you toward the doctor. He smiles at both of you, pats Bones on the shoulder, and leaves.

“Hi,” you murmur.

“Hi.”

Staring up at him, you soften instantly under his hazel gaze. You can feel the warmth from his body, you’re standing so close, and you’re positive your cheeks are burning red.

“I’m sorry,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair, “Jim’s just-”

You’re not sure if it’s the fact that you’re touch starved or just overwhelmed by what you’d just heard, but you surge up onto your toes and press your lips against his. He catches your waist and presses your body against his, tilting his head to allow your mouths better access to each other as his tongue slides past your lips. You can’t help the little whimper that travels up your throat, which only urges Leonard on. He turns your bodies and sits you on the table, knocking half of the equipment on it to the floor. Your legs part and he settles between them, pressing into you enough to make you shudder.

“I love you,” he says between open mouthed kisses, “by the way.”

You giggle against his lips, “I love you too.”

His hands stroke your jaw before travelling gently down your neck and chest and stopping to cup your breasts. He groans, and you sigh, before his hands continue down to your hips and he holds you in place to grind against you.

You gasp, his name falling from your lips like a prayer, “Len.”

Your hook the fingers of your right hand in the band of his pants while your left travels up under his shirt. His skin is so hot and so soft, you can feel the appreciation for him pooling in your panties.

“Oh, my God,” a voice exclaims, and you jump apart, “that was quick!”

Leonard looks over his shoulder but keeps his body facing you, concealing the bulge in his pants. “Damnit, Jim!”

The captain giggles, his grin so broad you’re worried he might get stuck like that, “this is a public space.”

At the same time, you and Leonard shout, “get out!”

He continues laughing as he leaves, and only then does Leonard disentangle himself from you and march toward the door to lock it. When he turns back, you can’t help but giggle at the delicious sight of him.

“Want some help with that?” you ask, nodding toward his crotch.

He’s back on you in less than a second, claiming your neck with a heavenly bite. “Thought you’d never ask,” he whispers against your skin.

END.

[lightburnsyou]

respond to the following prompts out of character, then tag others you'd like to get to know a little bit better.

roleplayer name: sky!

roleplayer pronouns: she/her

muse name: anakin skywalker

preferred communication: tumblr dms or discord!

experience: over fifteen years! i started on neopets (doing "gifted vs government" rps if you remember those. it was basically just x-men ocs lmao) and started on tumblr doing groups when i was about 14? discovered indie rp around a year or so later. moved to discord and wrote 1x1s sometime during lockdown. rped exclusively with one friend for like three years. (still write the same two rp threads w her!) recently came back to tumblr with this blog! have been in many many fandoms.

preferred roleplay type: as long as there's something to work with, i am content. i'm very story focused. i don't care much for threads where it's just two characters chatting about nothing, unless it's giving us juicy character exploration. i prefer threads with some kind of conflict, whether it be internal, between two characters, or a third party/impending doom/secret/whatever. it doesn't have to be action based, but i think all stories do need something going on. as long as there's something, i'm happy. i'm not very good at this, but i also really like threads with strong environments! i suck at remembering to describe places, but i like a nice setting. i think it makes it more fun and vivid, and you can do cool symbolism and metaphors with a good setting. trying to get better at this bc sometimes i feel like i write characters in a void rather than a solid, grounded place. so if my partner is good at establishing setting, it makes me happy bc i feel like i'm learning lmao

pet peeves & dealbreakers: ooc dramaaaa. it is my biggest dealbreaker. also this is a minor pet peeve and hasn't really come up here, but i must warn you all that i am not a hayden simp. please don't assume i am just bc i write anakin. love him as anakin! great actor! but idrk him and i don't want to talk for hours about how hot he is. i'm a lesbian, and i'm just not interested in talking about the hotness of men really at all, let alone in excess. i won't stop you from talking about it, but i just can't sometimes. a boundary i have. i'll talk about my love for anakin all day any day tho.

plot or memes: both! i will say that memes can sometimes get the ball rolling faster, especially if the characters have an established dynamic or common setting! that being said, i do love plotting just as much! never feel scared to reach out to me to discuss a plot or dynamic! i'm down. and unless otherwise specified, you're more than welcome to continue any meme without asking! i try to write them with potential continuation in mind

long replies or short replies: i don't really mind length, but i do gravitate to multi-para. one-liners are great starting points, but i naturally expand. i don't vibe with blabbing just for the sake of matching length, though. anakin is a talker, so a lot of my replies do have a bit of dialogue! however, whatever i feel the reply needs is what the reply gets, and i hope my partners do the same! there's no pressure to match length, as long as there's something to work with, yk?

best time to write: it really depends! my work schedule fluctuates quite a bit. for me, as long as im (a) not tired, (b) have a quiet environment, and (c) am in a somewhat good mood, i can write something. the thing that hinders my writing most frequently is stress or sleepiness.

are you like your muse?: i think we all are in some ways. there is a reason we chose to write or create the characters we did. my writing is obviously rooted in how i see the world, and through that, how i see ani. there will always be a part of me in the way i write anakin. we have very different life experiences, reactions, and perspectives on things, but i love that boy.

tagged: @petitsdieu

tagging: anyone who sees this and wishes to fill it out! tag me! it's good to get to know one another

[invested-in-your-future]

What restrictions have you set for it?

Oh that one's easy.

Two sets of rules. First its the specific restriction of what I'd be using. Then things specific to V4 and onward that I swore I would never bring up or use.

The Basic set of Rules:

V1 - V3 stays the same - Everything from the first trailers till the end of V3, including the post-credits scenes, is still exactly the same. Even if its the subplots that did not work or I don't like. It is what it is, it happened the way it did. Build upon past mistakes instead of trying to "perfect" things.

Song Lyrics from the first three volumes stay - things being written still have to take into account the soundtrack lyrics (only from those specific volumes that stay), just like one would have done when theorycrafting back then.

Keep the overall "idea" of the setting mostly same as V1 through V3 - which means that its still "Somewhat contemporary" vibe of the setting and the setting is "somewhat grounded" (with exception for rule of cool) with things that could be considered "magical" being limited and ambiguous enough as to not break that suspension of disbelief. Which means the idea of magic is still limited to what's connected to "Maidens subplot". Remnant is a world built on science and myth and while there’s something in the root of it all, the best part about this setting for me was always the fact that there’s very clear limits to the world and world-building. It was the world where “magic” was a far-away fairytale that "might" have existed but majority of the world probably never was ever going to care about it or be impacted by it. It was a world after terrible strife and multiple very human very normal wars, where kingdoms were built on quite grounded and contemporary ideas with very human conflicts that sometimes might be influenced by something "out there", but would still wind up being about here and now.

Each of the leads has to have a character arc - In some cases like Blake, that would mean having to think up something new altogether. Would be weird for something called "RWBY" to have nothing on the said R, W, B and Y right? So whatever goes has to be focused on them. While other characters exist and can have stories and arcs, in the end of the day its their story and their journey first and foremost.

What would NOT be used:

Relic McGuffin Subplot - Because honestly? Its just all around ehhh and a very tired trope (ex: if you reviewed at least ten D&D RP sessions you would find something like that being used in more than half) and there already are enough things going wrong within the setting that I don't really get why they needed this? I guess it allowed the writers to basically just...not need to think up why characters are in one specific location or the other? And in some cases as a convenient exposition plot-device? And the story already has plot threads of powerful items/locations, there's no need to THIS. Also "let's go on the hunt for magic RPG Plot Items" is kind of...crass right after all the trauma and war and probably the most "grounded" end to a volume that was Fall of Beacon? So yeah, N O P E.

Salem's Evil Doom Council of Very Evil - again why does the story need this? Why does an Ancient Evil with an army of eldritch monsters at her disposal need a bunch of stereotypes? Why do we need another set of henchmen for Salem? And honestly? Whenever they would show up my brain would just start up playing the Bad Horse segment from Dr Horrible and...no. I literally expect bunch of background henchmen start singing "The evil league of evil is watching so beware" whenever Cinder's group reacts to anything there. More factions and interests in the world? Sure, but Salem does not need this and it kind of feels detrimental to how her side was portrayed in V3? The scary thing about the bad guys is not the numbers, its all the manipulation and planning that ends up working because of human nature.

A lot of V4 and onward characters - Kind of self explanatory, but since a lot of those characters are kind of one-time one-note appearances tied to specific subplots, there's not really any reason for them to be there anymore? And quite a few are kind of completely redundant. RWBY already has more than enough characters it forgets to use past their first appearance already. Doesn't mean no new or returning characters though. Just very likely not the RWBY-proper V4+ ones.

The RWBY-proper version of Menagerie and the subplot there - Because honestly I have absolutely no idea what the writers thought when doing this considering how out of touch it feels. WF subplot is already very shaky and filled with unfortunate implications in the first three volumes already. There's absolutely no need for a season long subplot filled with padding that leads to Blake delivering the equivalent of a twitter rant about how "achshually marginalized communities are as bad as literal bigots because... uhhh... burning and looting". Not to mention the fact that they basically made Menagerie be literal equivalent of rich people resort with Blake's family owning a literal freaking castle. Like you literally could just not touch WF Subplot at all past V3 and it would end up being BETTER than what was there.

Salem and Ozpin backstory from V6 and everything connected to that - so yeah got to just kind of throw all of that away. Whoooooop. Gone. "Gods did it"? Gone. Ozpin's big secret that is supposed to make everyone angry but is kind of tamest most toothless revelation ever? Gone.

The Curing of PTSD via Fear of Rats. - I have already written pages upon pages about this with how extremely vile pretty much every aspect on how Yang's trauma is handled in V4 is so I won't repeat myself.

[sophaeros]

3 13 15 20!!!!

3. humbug or tbh+c?

THIS IS AN EVIL EVIL QUESTION AND I CANNOT BELIEVE OP WOULD WRITE IT OR THAT YOU WOULD ASK ME THIS!!!!!! humbug is so very immortal for its moody unabashed horniness but tbhc is so..Is So.....when it hits you it really hits you. it's so cinematic and i can't help but love that. BUT HUMBUG..ITS PIVOTAL TURN AND OBLIQUE LYRICS......but also the narrative and Imagery of tbhc. i dont know i dont know i dont want to give a cop out answer. OK IDK MAYBE HUMBUG??it has a range of sounds that are nonetheless cohesive + i love how he switches between obfuscating clever wordplay and kitchen sink slices of miserable time. very hashtag inspiration. my new homescreen in progress is literally tbhc tho so WAILING EMOJI

13. what are some of your favourite lyrics alex has written? (doesn't have to be arctic monkeys, can also include tlsp/ other artist collaborations/the submarine soundtrack)

OK SO I HAVE A CHANNEL IN MY PERSONAL DISCORD SERVER FOR LINES THAT INSPIRE ME BC SOME OF THEM PISS ME OFF IN HOW THEY FEEL LIKE I COULD HAVE WRITTEN THEM IF I WAS JUST A LITTLE BETTER AND MORE WIRED. here are some

when the heat starts growing horns / she's thunderstorms

in the backroom of a bad dream (i'll feel bad if it turns out miles wrote this one)

like in my heart there's that hotel suite / and you've lived there so long / it's kind of strange now you're gone

is that vague sense of longing kinda tryna cause a scene?

LIKE FUCKIN..first one drives me insane forever i dont even know why. for one thing i'm forever in awe of how he slots words into melodies like i can't write music man maybe i'll learn this year but it blows my fucking mind how he makes them sound so good And that they rhyme. and his imagery is just off the charts like u listen to it and ur like fuck that makes so much SENSE even as ur hit w HOW THE FUCK DID HE THINK OF THAT. i can't even articulate what it is about shes thunderstorms that gets me so bad.

2 and 3 are just. idk i love how he conceptualises these abstract places. like it brings these nebulous feelings and vibes and locates them in a solid place but also with surreal imagery. idkidk it just blows my mind im so mad maybe i should make a compilation of lines like these

4 just hits hard bc it's saur relatable LMAO. just fuckin the phrase "cause a scene" with the vague feeling of longing.......URGH. song made for aimless artists having an identity and existential crisis.

15. favourite arctic monkeys b-side?

UMUM UM . SO VERY MANY. ok the on brand answer would be catapult but TRUTHFULLY i find myself always going back to too much to ask. every time it comes on i have to loop it at least twice. im just soooo very enraptured by how he captures the mundane and the slow frustration the impending sense of doom. the whole song has such a like..inevitable vibe. the song trucks on at a steady pace all leading toward the ending realisation that really you could already see coming from the very first line.

20. favourite record ender track?

GOD it's gotta be a three way tie between that's where youre wrong, i wanna be yours and the ultracheese. actually perfect sense is in there too. four way tie.

thats where youre wrong to me really encapsulates this breezy sense of melancholy thats so distinctive of the sias album. it just moves so lightly like a clear day when spring is shading into summer but it's so undeniably Sad. it coming after sias is the perfect one two punch of this exact vibe.

BUT I WANNA BE YOURS. MY BABY. I LOVE HER BADLY the simplicity of it the pure unadulterated longing and desperation. i would fucking do ANYTHING to be yours i would make myself so useful and devoted just for you to deign to say you need me. it just brings you to another dimension man. blast it on your headphones at 3am and you will unlock a never seen before depth of hell called longing. it just strips the whole am album down to its core (ie pleaesepleasepleaspelepalseplease text me back)

the ultracheese. lies down. it's everybody's favourite. and for GOOD REASON. the insanity of ending on a gutwrenchingly honest confession after an entire album about fantasy and escape. WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT KIND OF ACTUAL FUCKING SICKO ENDS ON "but i haven't stopped loving you once." ARGHHHH and musically it's like it's so very tbhc. is the best way i can say it. the tbhc album's sound and atmosphere put to fucking Work.

perfect sense makes me want to walk off a cliff and lie down in the dirt forever and ever and ever. if ultracheese was a confession perfect sense is a rumination. i was going to say it's like relief if relief tasted like whiskey but idk if i can even really say relief it's just like. i think it's also quite special to me because i do sincerely believe that by and large things will work out in the end and something unremarkable in your past will come to be the perfect solution in your future and back then it appeared just as it was meant to. it's like going on a long journey so that you could learn that where you began is what you needed and that doesnt mean the journey was a waste because you needed it yknow. i know there were people being like ohhh oh no tc is their last album and like perfect sense has such end of movie vibes but only the kind of ending where you know the characters are going to continue on past the end of the reel. yknow.

so idk maybe i will say either perfect sense or thats where youre wrong because i listen to thats where youre wrong a lot but clearly i have Feelings about perfect sense

thanks for the ask bug!! <3

[dedenneblogs]

Grover X Beckendorf Headcanons:

- Grover hangs around Beckendorf. a lot. the satyr takes exuse he can get to tag along with percy when he’s hanging out with Charles and only does so to eat all the scrap metal they leave behind, which comes in mass when it comes to Beckendorf; he was a perfectionist in his younger years, so there we always failed prototypes for Grover to chew on. It annoyed Charles at first, but after a while and getting to know the goat boy better he actually liked Grover’s company (he even thought it was kind of cute whenever his new friend would snatch and scrap metals that came flying over his way - wait that’s kind of gay- (POSSIBLE FANFIC IDEA???)

- Charles always tries his best to send iris messages to percy when his friend is on quests. percy unfortunately doesn’t note them because they’re usually just hour long conversations between a percy at 3:00 am who’s unable to sleep and a Beckendorf awake in the afternoon (cause of time zones) talking about girls, video games, etc. one time he was caught by Chiron late at night but the iris message quickly dissolved into Chiron stealing Charle’s call to talk with Percy.

- Silena was one of the first people to really recognize Charle’s discarded work (other than Percy and sometimes Grover whenever he wouldn’t eat his scrap, Silena was just more persistent and interested in his projects). the funny thing is that most of the time she confused his inventions for other things. example: Beckendorf makes a homemade lunchbox that folds for extra storage on the inside (actually one of Grover’s favorites that Charles finalized later in his years and gifted it to Beckendor)? Silena: “Ooooo! Is that a makeup kit?” Really, they were more friends than lovers. Silena had feelings for Clarrise, and Beckendorf was starting to realize a lot about himself when it came to Grover. But wouldn’t it be fun? It’d be easier. It’s what was expected of them anyways. (WOW! i’m on a role with this doomed yaoi!)

- Charles looks like he benchpresses, but in reality? he’s…(shudders) a GA(Y)MER…

- Charles loves to play the drums. as a full homemade set he can fold and carry from his home and camp. also has steel drums ONLY for camp (Ms. B doesn’t like the sounds it makes, it gets annoying after awhile). Him and Grover have duets.

- Before Grover went out on his quest after book 1, Charles gifted him a cup that had “The Best Satyr Ever” written on it (gay???1!1?1!)

- Tyson could see how gay Charles was for Grover. he has a voice radar AND gaydar which is unfortunate for Beckendorf. one time almost outed him to the entire camp when he said something along the lines of “you homo for goat boy?” In his heart he’d rather Charles be homo for anyone BUT goat boy, but he’s accepting (can’t spell cyclops without W).

- in an alternative (better) universe, Charles is along for the ride in the Sea of Monsters! but it sad lemme explain to myself: basically like Clarrise is given her own quest but Chiron and Dionysus don’t trust her, but more importantly her father, so have Charles, Silena, and maybe a few other campers go out to keep and eye on her. Clarrise catches on and tries to kill them probably distracting her from another event and shit goes down the drain. but like in the end everyone makes up and these characters actually get screentime! yay! victory! (also probably carry’s Grover like a princess. it awakened something in the both of them

- Grover is crazy good at just dance. Charles made another wii and everyone suggested him to download new games. “Can you install Super Mario Bros Wii?” Percy pleaded. “Does this stupid console have Halo?” Clarrise interrogated. “Oh, I just love Just Dance, it’s just great, BLAHAHAHA!” Grover humored. Just Dance was on Charle’s second homemade wii in a matter of minutes, and in stayed in his cabin so that when they could, him and Grover could just be together as two (either way Charlie isn’t the best at Just Dancd, Grover is too good but Beckendorf doesn’t mind watching him).

- When Grover called Beckendorf Charles for the first time, he didn’t correct him. A few minutes later another camper called him Charlie and he corrected them.

[magnoliamyrrh]

@osmanthusleaf djdks im so sorry for replying in post i didnt wanna cut this up into a million bits, uve not even got to read all this cuz its long ive just got a lot going through my mind and im bad at shutting up once my brain starts going sorry 😭

for sure & well said. i fully agree, and understand having more care and knowledge for your own peoples issues, its natural; like u know example apart from ur own ex., i do know and have looked into the sex trafficking situation in the rest of the world and it horrifies me just as much and it is all connected, but end of the day, i understand most and focus most on the issues in my area and thats what i can give my two cents on more than anything. or, yea, i know abt plenty of things going on around the world, but theres also Tons that i have no clue on and overall i end up knowing more and spending more time on mostly things that i have some sort of personal connection to, like even this thing which i spend time on cuz of my own trauma; were all bound to be more immediately concerned if our own house is burning down w us in it than if the house a mile away also is, and were bound to be more interesting in why our own house burned down and who burned it down than the one a mile away, especially if the two arent connected directly. its past a point impossible for the psyche to b up to date w so much info, especially so much info on bad shit, to keep track of all of it and to feel something about all of it all the time.... if anything, i think the constant info on bad stuff everywhere happening which,,, for the most part we can do little on, is part of whats made our generations more doomful, hopeless, and lost - end of the day its good to care, but weve just got to pick some things in particular to rly care abt and if we can, try to understand them and do something about them, and hope if enough ppl do that for enough things they care about while working together, things may get better...... but also, if u say u care abt some issue, i reckon its important to care too abt other ppl caught up in it, even if its not a main focus and not dismiss it bc its not ur own shit directly 🤷‍♀️

i guess yea, the lack of knowledge isnt what bothers me at all bc god knows we all lack knowledge of plenty of things and frankly we kinda have to for our sanity. its the attitude that does and we all do it too often. like some while ago i was telling my mom u know, we (in broad ethnic&national terms) have some sort of responsability to the ppl that have been opressed in our lands and still deal w the consequences and weve got to care abt that history and struggle, not even in a sins of the ancestors way but in a we all have to try to be better way, and her first reply before we talked more was, well, whose going to help us and pay us back for communism, or serfdom, or imperialism, or slavery, or poverty? and havent we got enough of our own issues? and its like yea 😭 the world isnt fair and theres endless cycles of ppl fucking each other over and its a lot, which is why we have to try to just be kind and decent and help each other and rise each other up and come together as hard as it may be and as endlessly annoying this species may be 😭 and weve got to spend more time on how were similar and can understand each other, rather than always predominantly looking at differences, or pointing fingers, or giving in fully to our good old tribalistic mentality. theres gotta b a balance and id like to think and hope, if we tried, we'd indeed find out in many regards we are more similar than we are different, and all more connected than apart ..... if anything, i think thats something that the loss of spirituality in the "modern" world hasnt helped, bc it was one of those things which bound us to universality and connection

and yea, part of it definetely is social media and also current academia and the general cultural mindsets floating around, theres a whole lot of boiling down of super complex shit into short tidbits or black and white things, bc its easier to digest and faster (also, that overboard american centrism that goes beyond being concerned w ur own stuff, while the rest of the world has to know abt the us). i think too, were all bound to have reactionary and defensive attitudes to things especially when dealing w years of shit from ppl, and when we hold a lot of pain and anger, and it leads too to ppl taking things in bad faith which is something ive dealt w too and had to learn to hold myself back on, bc ive definetely got a tendency for it for sure... and its frankly a whole lot easier to point fingers endlessly or to play the opression olympics than look at the god awful messy complexity of it all and how were all caught up w it,, and frankly, i reckon that it feels better to an extent too... it feels/safer/ and simpler i think, than to say, oh god, has truly this whole species been capable of so much hororr? is there nowhere that was or is good, and pure, and untained, and truly a lot better?.. and its i reckon nicer too, to think of things in terms of purely victim and victimizer, than to think abt how plenty of us, most ppl throughout histoy actually if looking at it systemically, have been as u said, a messy contradiction of both....and uhh what's that bible quote, why are u pointing out the spec in your neighbors eye, but not the log in your own? take the log out of your own, and then you may help your neighbor w the spec. and yet, we just dont like doing that much as humans cuz its harder and uncomfortable, its something we have to force ourselves to do and train ourselves for. and unfortunately its not something that is taught very much either

,,,, and yea on top of that too youre definetely right, ethnicity and race and even culture especially in regards to opression and historical and current day dynamics (especially on an international scale) are so incredibly messy, changing, and mostly a whole bunch of stuff weve made up and keep making up and changing all the time and choosing to define ourselves by or to oppose or imposing on other ppl, that it is hard shit to keep track of and detangle. ur example is a good one and in some ways the same sure can be said for the balkans, the question of if were white or not and to who and where and why and when could go on forever, and our history sure has been when taken as a whole, as both opressed and opressor. america too in particular focuses a lot on race (where u could say other parts of the world might focus more on ethnicity, tribe, religion, or class, even nationalism etc, and as far as ill say, i think we need to focus more on class here), and its had a particular kind of rigid understanding of it, and i know from talking to ppl born here in academia and outside and online and whatnot, that a lot of ppl are surprised to find out how ethnicity and race and racism xenophobia and all that shit are different in even south america for a closer exmaple, but in the whole world in general 🤷‍♀️ which aint an issue at all cuz again theres shit we all dont know, but ive also seen plenty of ppl b past surprised or confused, trying to impose us understandings of shit elsewhere... and also, yea, we get focused on things here to the point where its forgotten in a lot of things what it means that were also living in the imperial core at the same time, especially in america

,, , , , i guess w my complaining abt this sort of stuff broadly speaking, it mostly bothers me tbh when i see it come from ppl who do position themselves as like,,,, social thinkers, social activists, or ppl who look into all this and care and speak about it, as self proclaimed educators for others especially, or as some form of academic. not neccessarly like random ppl who occasionally talk on things or vent frustrations or whatnot (cuz also, we all talk abt things casually we havent spend idk how much time on thinking abt or knowing extensively abt)....,,, bc when u say ur that or hold urself up to that, or say u know youre talking or doing whatever to teach ppl or try to help society be better then... welp,,,,, theres a certain responsability (?) and need to try to hold urself up to that ... and i guess yea, its also my personal thing bc after idk a lifetime of always being fascinated w messy complexities and years of cultural anthropology, my brains very focused and fascinated by complexity and contradiction and endless webs of connections 🤷‍♀️ and it does bother me when ppl want to throw around their degrees or education (which dont even matter all that much, plenty of ppl with degrees who dont think too well, and plenty of ppl without them who could run circles around me when im having a good day) or even their own self taught info, and they want to say theyre ppl who generally care abt opression or theyre caring ppl or theyre better than others or whatnot, as a way to say ppl should listen to them and they know better dont uhhh,,,,, , , take the time to really,, think too much abt what theyre saying and educating on and if its actually helpful

[hollymbryan]

Blog Tour + #Review: THE REUNION by Kit Frick (w/ #giveaway)! #turnthepagetours

Welcome to Book-Keeping and my stop on the Turn the Page Tours blog tour for The Reunion, the latest YA mystery/thriller by Kit Frick! I've got all the details, my review, and a 3-copy giveaway for you below!

About the Book

title: The Reunion author: Kit Frick publisher: Simon Teen release date: 29 August 2023

From the author of I Killed Zoe Spanos comes a YA thriller in the vein of The White Lotus and Karen M. McManus’s The Cousins following a doomed family reunion gone wrong at a posh Caribbean resort, where old grudges and dangerous secrets culminate in murder. Eleven Mayweathers went on vacation. Ten came home. It’s been years since the fragmented Mayweather clan was all in one place, but the engagement of Addison and Mason’s mom to the dad of their future stepbrother, Theo, brings the whole family to sunny Cancún, Mexico, for winter break. Add cousin Natalia to the mix, and it doesn’t take long for tempers to fray and tensions to rise. A week of forced family “fun” reveals that everyone has something to hide, and as secrets bubble to the surface, no one is safe from the fallout. By the end of the week, one member of the reunion party will be dead—and everyone’s a suspect: The peacekeeper: Addison needs a better hiding place. The outsider: Theo just wants to mend fences. The romantic: Natalia doesn’t want to talk about the past. The hothead: Mason needs to keep his temper under control. It started as a week in paradise meant to bring them together. But the Mayweathers are about to learn the hard way that family bonding can be deadly.

Add to Goodreads: The Reunion Purchase the Book: Amazon | B&N | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Kit Frick is the author of B&N YA Book Club pick and Thriller Award finalist I Killed Zoe Spanos as well as the young adult thrillers See All the Stars, All Eyes on Us, Very Bad People, and The Reunion, and the poetry collection A Small Rising Up in the Lungs.

Connect with Kit: Website (+ Newsletter) | Instagram | Twitter

My 4-Star Review

This is my third book by Kit Frick, with my favorite that I've read being See All the Stars. Kit does a great job of portraying teens and all the feelings running through them at any given moment, and then turning that brew into a great YA thriller. Here we have a large extended family that seems super tight, but when they go on vacation together, cracks begin to appear. The mystery dribbles out slowly as we watch the characters interact, giving us hints of old anxieties and issues, as the tension ratchets up. I was shocked by the ending to be sure, which is always a plus for me!

The publisher was kind enough to send me a copy of the book for this tour, but I also purchased myself the audiobook to listen along as I read. If you're an audiobook fan, I'd definitely give this one a go! Either way, it's a solid YA mystery/thriller and any fan of those should definitely pick up The Reunion (and any other Kit Frick book!).

Rating: 4 stars!

**Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for purposes of this blog tour. This review is voluntary on my part and reflects my honest rating and review of the book.

About the Giveaway

Three (3) lucky winners will each receive a finished copy of The Reunion by Kit Frick! This one ends 2 September at 11:59p.m., so get your entries in quick. Enter via the Rafflecopter link below, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary257

5/31-6/1/24

friday - saturday

still off tomorrow...

which is nice but also a tragedy it will end, but that's just momentary.

i read the rest of dead dead demon's dededededededededededededededededededededededededededededededededede struction today, and it made me choke up a couple times, the last time i read it, i was at chapter 87 about. really is great, asano is super great at what he does i think. i think it goes beyond a lot of the commentary stuff in this one, the politics are important and interesting, but i think it gets to a rather painful sense of like, being a description of the fantasy of wanting to undo all your failings, the ending is rather bittersweet in the truest way, it's basically happy but not really, nothing is undone, it's just some characters get some happiness in another time, while those same characters go on being doomed elsewhere. the sense of doom, i guess, lazy doom, and also the fact that this weight of non-weight is achieved w/ an art style that feels extremely referential to older ways of drawing manga, something cute, unassuming, violently cartoony except for the backgrounds (and also the fact that he works in collage at points basically with the robots (like the ship that's shaped like a computer mouse? like a logitech mouse lol. it's crazy and imo points his work towards being a kind of surrealism (he often evokes this but i think typically that's been in obvious ways, in things he drew and not necessarily process) rather than like, that being just a way to fill a page/shortcut)). maybe i discount the politics too much, it is extremely deft at handling the multiple characters who are reactionary, and describing their turn, and making a horror out of that. and then the avoidance of the protagonists, all of it. idk. just a lot of pain there, i suppose maybe i think his way of approaching the people protesting for the aliens gets a little too 'both sides can be bad' but it never really turns into that, which is only a kind of sanitizing of the issue, it remains rather nuanced in that it's trying to show you what empathy might be mobilized towards in some cases (taken advantage of by rather counter-revolutionary sorts), but he can come off as excessively cynical there i suppose. that's an issue that can be taken with his work frequently but i also think it's against itself frequently in that regard too. the fact that love isn't enough but that it remains so tender a thing, that ontan and kadode have such a strong relationship, makoto (best character) and oba bonding so much over the memories of ontan, which is probably the peak of the series for me, it's not just about understanding + accepting + forgiving, it's about the process of involvement, spending hours with people, spending hours and years in a state, in a condition, the monotony, the escapes from that, the terror of that. i guess asano also constantly desires that escape, the something else, this work tries to square that with the fact that in some ways we have that, right now, in the immediate, and the fact of the crisis is one which is used against us as in the ecologies that seek to rehabilitate capital, and so on. this is even a huge part of the plot in the manga. crazy how prescient it was. some of the stuff w/ the facemasks in the start feeling so predictive and descriptive of how covid felt brought back some unpleasant memories of being stuck at home, because my stepdad wouldn't let me go anywhere, and wearing an n95 mask on walks outside for no reason, hiding from people, getting panicked over passing people on the street. a terrible time, really. i suppose that's the nugget which enables it to touch on that in its early chapters, the fear of people, which is also a huge part of the work but also a lot of japanese art in general. terror in the social, or the terror of the social.

less related to thoughts on the thing itself, the content, i went and looked at ebay and look at what i could buy...for...50... dollars... basically...

or like 46 buxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. but that's too rich for my blood. unless i get stupid. i might. i think it could make me happy to see a character i saw myself in many years ago, before i really started being, i dunno, out, i guess. it makes me really emotional honestly, thinking back so long ago, that's like a bunch of years ago. i was like 17-18. now i finally get to be 'myself' which isn't anything in particular just like makoto, at one point, ontan says they use either bathroom, and that they have to be really strong, something like that. it feels funny, to think about. somehow it cut even though it must be a silly joke. something also about the fact that i had to escape my home (during covid as well) to start to get to be 'myself' or do what i want to do with my 'self' (need to read blanchot more to obliterate the sense of self better, (joking, i already know i am not, and blah blah blah i am a point in time where many things come through and this is not a self so much as... i dunno, non-communication between the drives and activity, or, idk, it's unclear or difficult) any way, the point is really that maybe i have to contend with being something because the points in time bent me in ways and now i'm all fucked or whatever?)) anyway, the escaping, the not telling my parents, nobody really knowing, just showing up to people like that, and then making them deal with that. it's beyond mere relation to the character, it just feels actual to me.

anyway here's some pictures of me:

that was me on tha 29thhhh, very good night despite the semi-sucky bands that did play (2 great bands at a local show, that's like, awesome, to be honest). sad i didn't eat more pizza. really suffering for that. pizza was promised another day...the day did not come... and ordering pizza would be stupid cuz the bugz would come and eat eat eat it up and crawl on it and i would probably cry if i saw that. seeing insects on something you want to eat and bought makes me suicidal honestly and it reminds me of this awful horror movie i saw as a kid where it pointlessly punished someone who had ocd by making them eat a cockroach and then because they felt so unclean, drink a bunch of drain cleaner and the acid ate thru his neck and his face and stuff. it honestly made me so upset, not like i was scared, i just think about it and feel really badly for that character. i also thought at the time i'd do the same thing if i ate a roach when i thought i was just eating chips. something about the ocd ritual stuff too, that it showed of the character, being really neat and gentle, i dunno. i don't really understand horror movies like that. it gets to me worse than anything really scary, it's impossible to understand and it's so not scary, it's just cruel and judgmental, it's like, what horror is meant to attack and dislodge, at least that's what i think.

thinking back to things like pinnochio 964, which is an attack on 'the norm' and the methods by which it's enforced, even in the way in which it was made.

thinking now about how long dead dead demon's has basically been a thing in my life, not even central in any way, just present, when it's been more something i was thinking about, when it went away, that kinda thing, how like, my friend's had multiple relationships kind of fall apart in that time, how we've gone certain places to go eat, social formations came and went, jokes, people we knew, i remember someone from online in those old college days, he was cool, he does drum vids on yt and has a cool band. one time he commented on a yt vid of mine. he helped me out with my first music video. i hope he's well. and i see my friend often kinda, or, a decent amount. god. living is so weird, and time's passage is scary. my life's just so many fragments that add up to very little, at the end of all that experience, the people, the time we listened to animal collective in the parking lot outside sushi twister going to the bank, fireworks was on, the night was out and we were in a bank drive-thru and years before the night i was being driven home in my friend's huge car that he used to have and singing along to capn jazz oh messy life (i hate all the twinkle emo midwest shit but capn jazz are beautiful life affirming music), all of this precipitates me, and back then, i feel sorry i wasn't wearing dresses a little, maybe, but also, i guess i had to be like that to be this now, and this now is precious little, pearlescent maybe, if i want to be pretty about it, i am hardened and refined waste, which is sub-ideal and good for me.

if i want to be sad about it, i am a college dropout who depends on their girlfriend financially and wastes money but i guess i also have tried to help out a lot w/ the money i do get, i pay for things, like food, but i guess i have a child's idea of helping out. i guess my gf sort of likes that kind of thing about me though.

getting a 4th song done today, very good, i kind of thought i'd be useless when i got up today, our sleep schedule has been so messed up, but today's been at least productive enough. actually it's been pretty good for things, i wrote today too, more onto the thing i liked, or not necessarily more onto that passage itself but more tending to that area / set of thoughts, a response that would come later, i suppose.

anyway, the 4th track is taking longer than i thought but that's okay because i feel like it's one of the freakier sounding songs so it needs that extra effort.

kayyy, 4th one complete, making good progress on this round of mixing i think, hopefully when i go back to listen to this it's not all...awful sounding i guess. i worry, too much probably,

anyway

i need to sleep,

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[euterpessi]

Romance Manhwa/Manga Recommendations:

Historical Manhwa/Manga:

Death Is The Only Ending For The Villainess

I’ve reincarnated as the reverse harem game’s villainess, the one and only adopted daughter of the ducal Eckart family.

But the difficulty just has to be the worst!

Everything I do will only lead me to death.

I must be paired with one of the main male characters from the heroine’s harem before the ‘real daughter’ of the duke family appears!

Two older brothers who always pick a fight with me on every little thing.

The insane crown prince whose route will always lead to my death.

‘I only see the heroine and no one else’s wizard, and also her loyal slave knight, too!

‘First, let’s take some of them which I see no hope in, out of the list!’

“I didn’t know my place up until now. From now on, I’ll live as quiet as a mouse so you wouldn’t care the slightest bit!

But why do their interests in me keep on rising every time I draw the line?!

The Villainess is a Marionette

Cayena, the Imperial Princess, was known as the most beautiful woman in the Empire. She was a woman who knew nothing but evil and luxury.

However, she was destined for ruin: she would be used as a chess piece by her younger brother to secure his throne and killed by her crazy husband.

“I’ll make you the Emperor.”

“… Sister, are you referring to me?”

“In exchange, give me freedom.”

She had to change things before she became that Cayena.

The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up At The Duke’S Mansion

Poisoned to death by her own betrothed?! Eunha didn’t wake up in a novel’s story just to get killed off again as an unfortunate extra! To change her story she needs a cover… 6 months pretending to be the fake fiancée of the novel’s male protagonist, Duke Noah Wynknight. But will this cold-hearted, angel-faced demon of a man really help her avoid another ill-fated ending?!

Your Throne / I Want to Be You, Just For A Day

The story follows main characters Medea Solon and Psyche Callista, who become archenemies after competing for the position of crown princess of the Vasilios Empire. On the day of the Yearly Prayer, Medea and Psyche accidentally switch bodies.

The Remarried Empress

Navier was the perfect empress, however, the Emperor wanted a wife, not a colleague. And so, the Emperor abandoned Empress Navier and placed an enslaved girl beside him. That was fine until Navier heard the Emperor promise the slave the Empress’ position. After many ups and downs, Navier decided she would accept being the Queen of the neighbouring country and remarry.

Kill The Villainess

Eris Mizerian was the villainess of a novel. The only daughter of a marquis, she got executed after scheming against the pure and lovely protagonist, Helena. My only goal, after possessing her, is simply to leave this world and go home. I am prepared to face even death, but the laws of this world keep stopping me.

A changed Eris begins to draw the attention of three men who once loathed her; the Crown Prince, the High Priest, and the Knight.

"It doesn't matter. I will never be able to love this world."

Even if the only way out is death,

even if the only way out is make a deal with a witch...

I will absolutely leave this world!

This is the story of the villainess who defies fate, Eris, and her escape from this world!

The Way To Protect The Female Lead's Older Brother

I accidentally took possession of someone in a 19+ reverse harem novel.

The problem is that I became Roxana Agriche, the older sister of the sub-villain. My damn father kidnapped the heroine’s brother. Now, is the only thing left to meet a terrible end from the vengeance of the heroine?

But what if I can avoid that horrible development?

“I’m also interested in this toy.”

“I’ll protect you until you can get out of here safely.”

The heroine’s brother, Cassis Pedalian, will definitely be able to pay me back later.

Shadow Queen

“Can you be my daughter for me?”

By his offer, Elena became Duke of Franceschi’s fake daughter.

She became the queen and gave birth to Crown Prince’s son.

Then suddenly, Princess Veronica who was assumed dead came back.

She was only just a toy.

But eventually, Elena gets her son taken and is murdered.

However, she went back to the past.

“I’ll destroy all of you.”

I’ll never live as a toy again.

Elena decides to seeks revenge.

Under the Oak Tree

The daughter of a duke, the stuttering Maximilian, married a knight of lowly status at her father’s coercion.

After their first night, her husband departed for an expedition without another word.

He comes back three years later, this time as a famous knight in the whole continent.

How would Maximilian face him on his return?

"The more I think of you, the more lonely and lonely I become. I don't know why I can't quit even though it's so painful."

I'm Stanning The Prince

Angela’s fanfic became such a sensation that it even reached the Imperial Family, leading her to get arrested on charges of treason. Nevertheless, her fanfic improved the First Prince’s image, and his sister, the Princess, decides to take political advantage of this and keep Angela by their side. 

The heroine who can now fangirl to her heart’s content, and the Prince who doesn’t know how to act around her. As they bicker back and forth, they start growing closer…

Miss Not-So Sidekick

Hyejung loved to read to escape her daily stress. But that’s before she woke up inside the bizarre world of her favorite novel! Instead of the main heroine who courts three eligible men, she is now Latte Ectrie – a minor villain that everyone hates?! One way or another, it’s a chance to live out her most beloved storyline, with popcorn in hand to watch all the drama! Taking charge of the narrative takes on a whole new meaning!

Even Though I’M The Villainess, I’ll Become The Heroine!

I wasn’t able to overcome the harassment and took my life, but I was reincarnated with the perpetrator? The perpetrator is the heroine, Florre, and I am the villainess, Dahlia, who’s going to die horribly.

“They said you are a villain with neither blood nor tears, but unlike the rumors, you often shed tears.”

“Your Highness must believe all the nonsense the idiots are talking about, huh?”

Grand Duke of Cervian, the half brother of the Male lead and who will be punished for treason afterwards. He approached me. I can’t lose the man who will be my greatest ally.

“Your Highness, would you marry me?”

“Now…… what did you say?”

“And take revenge together.”

A similar situation, a fixed ending. The heroine is not the only one who knows the ending of the novel. I took a long and arduous path of revenge.

Who Made Me A Princess

The beautiful Athanasia was killed at the hands of her own biological father, Claude de Alger Obelia, the cold-blooded emperor! It’s just a silly bedtime story… until one woman wakes up to suddenly find she’s become that unfortunate princess! She needs a plan to survive her doomed fate, and time is running out. Will she go with Plan A, live as quietly as possible without being noticed by the infamous emperor? Plan B, collect enough money to escape the palace? Or will she be stuck with Plan C, sweet-talking her way into her father’s good graces?!

The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass

With the marriage of her prostitute mother to the Count, Aria’s status in society skyrocketed immediately. After leading a life of luxury, Aria unfairly meets death because of her sister Mielle’s schemes. And right before she dies, she sees an hourglass fall as if it were a fantasy. And just like that, she was miraculously brought back to the past.

“I want to become a very elegant person, just like my sister, Mielle.”

In order to face the villainess, she must become an even more wicked villainess. This was the new path Aria chose to take revenge on Mielle who murdered both her and her mother.

The Evil Lady's Hero

Junipe Magnolia, a villainess friend of the heroine in this novel called Rael Cania.

The Junipe inside the novel has always loved the male lead, Iseed. To the point where she harassed Rael out of jealousy because she's loved by Iseed.

And thus, Junipe is destinied to die in the hands of the male lead of this novel.

But one day.

"Why did I become Junipe?!"

But let's think about it, it's still one year away from the time Junipe is going to get killed by Iseed. So, I have to meet Iseed and Rael first, I'll be able to find a way out of my death if I do so.

Yeah, let's meet them first!

But, this man is just so tender-hearted and kind. Would Junipe be able to escape from this man?!

I Tamed a Tyrant and Ran Away

God gave me a chance to relive my life. Before the rebirth, I had been used for the past 400 years as the empire's sword. And so, I swore to destroy the empire. I found the young prince of the country and became his teacher. I taught him how to become a tyrant and asked for the country.

"I will do the lady's will."

He conquered the whole empire for me, and I ran away.

"I came to take you, Charlize Ronan." Dylan became a perfect tyrant and searched the entire empire for me.

"You tamed me, so why did you run away?"

Untouchable Lady

“Please, Hilise. Please die in place of Gabrielle.” My always dignified brother begged me for the first time. He wants me to die for our stepsister, whom we don't even share a drop of blood with. “For the first and last time, I ask you this.” I've always been miserable, and there is no exception this time. The seventh time that I was betrayed and killed, I was completely free of lingering feelings. “I'm glad that you're a scumbag until the end.” I won't be swayed by love anymore. It's my turn to abandon them first.

I’ll Live On As A Villainess

I reincarnated as the villainess in a book!

The one who dared to commit attempted murder on the heroine is the owner of this body?

Let's just live in a quiet place where we have fun and eat! That's what I thought for a while.

It was so, so, so cold here in the north, where I was kicked out as a punishment.

Before I froze to death, I called the Great Demon of Fire and set fire to the fireplace but...

Why isn't he going back? If you've done the job, shouldn't you go back?!

I was flustered to find out that I had signed a life contract with a demon just to start a fire but to think that I'd be responsible for relieving his desires!

The bickering romance between a big puppy demon and a small villainess lady!

It Looks Like I’Ve Fallen Into The World Of A Reverse Harem Game

When I opened my eyes, I was in a different world. I had become the game’s villainous princess who was feared by all. Not to mention… Completely naked men I didn’t even know were approaching me left and right! “Are you cold? Shall I warm you up with a hug?” “Oh? Have you not had enough yet?” Seriously, what’s up with this situation? And just how the hell am I going to get out of this freaking game?!

Father, I Don't Want to Get Married!

I’m Jubelian? The daughter of the duke and the villainess of this novel?

I managed to avoid my death with some previous knowledge about my life, as this was my second time at it. Now, I should be able to live a peaceful life!

“I’m not going to marry a man unless he has everything. I want the most wealthy, famous, and competent man there is.”

I dreamt of a glamorous life as the daughter of the duke, but my father tells me the Crown Prince who is known to be a lunatic is to be my husband! As an extraordinary measure, I couldn’t help but start a contract relationship. That is, with a handsome side character that looks better than the main one.

“Why are you trying to avoid being engaged to the prince?”

“He’s scary. I heard that he even kills his own entourage if he doesn’t like them.”

A few days later, the prince sent a terrible letter to me.

“I will not kill you.”

Oh no, did I set up another death trap for myself?

Like A Wind On A Dry Branch

"Hi, You."

Count Casarius fell victim to a plague and died suddenly, leaving behind a will stating that Rietta, his beautiful young widow of the manor, whom he tried to use as a concubine, be buried alive alongside him. Just before Rietta is buried, Archduke Axias, rumored to be a cruel tyrant, arrives at the funeral to collect the enormous debt Count Casarius still owes him.

“Everyone here seems to feel sorry for her, and I still have a debt to collect from Casarius… If I take her instead of debt, I think all of you here should be happy," he smiled.

"Hello, Temptress."

Everything was a Mistake

Roa Valrose reincarnated as villainess in the book. In order to avoid the fate of being burned at the stake, she approaches the hero, Nocton Edgar.

It hurts every time she gets closer to him. Nevertheless, for her survival, she does everything he wants her to do.

“Come again, Valrose.”

The mysterious Nocton unexpectedly sought her out every day.

Then one day, her friend for 10 years says something unknown to her.

“Actually, I have a dream. The Duke of Edgar is a terrible villain!”

He is not the hero, but the villain?

As soon as she realized that she had misinterpreted the role, she decided to get away from Nocton.

“Let’s not meet anymore.”

But the villain’s reaction was strange.

“Don’t go. You’ve always been special to me.”

She was suspicious of his sudden change of attitude.

Will she able to get rid of Nocton safely?

I Became the Tyrant's Secretary

I became the secretary of a tyrant in place of my clumsy brother to survive.

But I have so much potential for it. I’m so darn good at my job. Because I served the tyrant so well, ‘Everyone has a happy ending’.

Well then, shall I quit being a secretary and live a leisurely life now?

“Rosaline, tell me what you want.” He asked as he stepped down from his chair.

“I want to quit.”

His eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Do you want to die?”

Your highness, you never hold on to people who want to leave, so why’re you being like this to me?

Seduce the Villainess Father

After being in a bus crash, I woke up to the world of my favourite web novel.

Not only that, It was before the protagonists were born, to their parents’ world!

To stop the incoming multiple bad events.

I tried to prevent the kidnapping of the sister who is pregnant with the female lead!

But I got kidnapped instead?!

It's depressing to be kidnapped, but my body couldn't handle the mana and became a sunfish-like state

But... if I am next to the emperor who kidnapped me, my body becomes normal!

Right! The way to save that man from marrying a witch and getting killed by his son, and for someone who is vulnerable to mana such as myself to live, is for us to get married!

The Villains Savior

Set on a path to tragedy and misfortune from a young age, Aseph Randell is doomed to die a villain. That is, until the mysterious Elzay Tiathe appears in his life with a promise: "I can save you." After having vivid visions of him for so long, can Elzay untangle the twisted fate tied to Aseph... or will they both be dragged down together?

Contemporary Manhwa/Manga:

Night Crying Crow

This woman; who is she?

If something was action, it'd be action. If something was romance, it’d be romance. The A-list actor Cheon Woo Kang, who's great at every (genre), had his heart stolen away by an unknown woman who’d broken into his house!

“We'll meet again.~"

Woo Kang contracted an over imaginative illness as he drew the woman, whose name he didn't even know. In front of Woo Kang, she reappeared as the police officer Park Tae... Could the shadow of the crisis that appeared in front of them be a coincidence?

Raise wa Tanin ga Ii

Yoshino Somei would have been a normal high-schooler if not for the fact that she is the granddaughter of the leader of the Osaka-based Somei Group, the Kansai region's largest yakuza organization. One day, Yoshino hurries home after hearing of the news about the unification of Kansai and Kanto's biggest syndicates, the Somei and the Miyama groups. This, according to the article, will result in a marriage of the leaders' grandchildren—one of whom is Yoshino herself! Despite her best efforts to annul the arrangement, Yoshino has to go to Tokyo to visit her fiancé, Kirishima Miyama, who is unexpectedly nice and charming.

During their first meeting, Yoshino is swept up in various events and becomes unable to refuse moving to Tokyo, which is why, half a year later, she now lives with the Miyama group. At school, she soon realizes that Kirishima is very popular, so her relationship with him garners the hate of his fangirls and subsequently results in bullying. To make matters worse, Kirishima could not be further away from her prince charming since he, after all, was born to be a yakuza member.

Raise wa Tanin ga Ii follows Yoshino and her new life in Tokyo that is filled with nothing but troubles connected to the underworld. However, though she wishes to be as far from it as possible, this isn't Yoshino's first time dealing with the world of the Yakuza...

Positively Yours

To Hee-won’s dismay, the BFF she crushed on and her other BFF are now dating! Seriously bummed, Hee-won decides to go wild just one time, and find solace with a handsome stranger. A very satisfying one night affair has now turned into more — she’s pregnant! Fate brings them together again, and now the regimented Doo-joon is determined to do the right thing and marry her. But they’re basically strangers! Except... their bodies have been very intimately acquainted. What’s this mother-to-be to do?

True Beauty

After binge-watching beauty videos online, a shy comic book fan masters the art of makeup and sees her social standing skyrocket as she becomes her school’s prettiest pretty girl overnight. But will her elite status be short-lived? How long can she keep her real self a secret? And what about that cute boy who knows her secret?

Cheese In the Trap

Hong Sul is a ordinary college student. Yoo Jung is the school's most popular upperclass man. He's good looking, rich, smart, and even nice. However, Hong Sul thinks there's more to Yoo Jung than what meets the eye…

SPY x FAMILY

The master spy codenamed has spent his days on undercover missions, all for the dream of a better world. But one day, he receives a particularly difficult new order from command. For his mission, he must form a temporary family and start a new life?! A Spy/Action/Comedy about a one-of-a-kind family!

Doppio Senso (18+)

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about a guy.”

KyungHyun stopped in the middle of a deep kiss and sighed. His lips began to form a smile, but his fierce glare said otherwise. Possessiveness and jealousy spread across his sculpted face.

“Will you tell me his name?”

His easygoing and languid voice reached her ears.

“Why?”

“So that I can shoot him down.”

[joaquinwhorres]

doodles (Joaquin Torres x Reader, Soulmate!AU)

PAIRING ››››› Joaquín Torres x GN!Reader

REQUEST ››››› ya know the soulmate au alphabet? Could i request Torres + b and w from the alphabet?

b...ody art (doodles that a person draws on themselves appear on their soulmate’s skin). g...uardian (it is said that the person who saves you from a near-death experience is your soulmate—drowning, car crash, etc.)

WORD COUNT ››››› 1,255

WARNINGS ››››› none

A/N ››››› Sooo I kind of cheated by combining the two letters. Also the writing style is kinda different from my usual story work, but hopefully both risks pan out.

The first picture to ever blossom on his skin is a bird.

The other boys in class have flowers and suns and clouds and little stick figure girls and boys, but he has a bird. And while theirs are sketchy and smudged and disproportionate, his looks as if it's been plucked from a picture book with its steady lines and cartoonish detail.

He'd been surprised to find it, nestled into the crook of his elbow, only appearing when he raised his hand to answer a question. He's so used to seeing his friends with images that littered the backs of their hands and wrists and thighs, he’d never thought to check anywhere else.

A thought crosses his mind.

More than crosses.

It takes over.

He knows he isn't supposed to.

If his teacher catches him, he'll get into trouble. He's not even supposed to have a pen in class. The rule's supposed to help kids avoid the temptation of sending off doodles to their soulmates. Of course, like all school rules, kids find a way around it, keeping pens tucked away in pockets and backpacks and lunch bags.

He's never been one to break the rules, but this feels like he has to. His soulmate's out there somewhere, waiting for him. It only feels right to assure them that he's waiting for them too.

Joaquin pulls the pen he keeps tucked in his desk in hopes of just such an occasion and quietly uncaps it. Carefully and stealthily, he drags the pen tip across his skin, eyes darting up to track the teacher’s movements and make sure he doesn't get caught. As a result, the drawing isn't very good. The head's too big for the body and the feet too long. He’d attempted to draw the wing twice, leaving the lines thicker than the rest of the bird. But it's there, facing the first and chirping out a note, so they know he's alive and thinking of them in this moment. And that had to feel nice.

He sticks the pen back in his desk, looking up at the board and quickly copying down the problems he’s almost missed. It's not until he reaches forward to pass in his paper that he notices the addition to the doodle. Two eighth notes tweet out from the first bird.

He smiles.

It becomes increasingly clear that his soulmate’s an artist.

Most people don’t have doodles on their arms and palms anymore. Instead they have drawings sketched into places only they can see--secret notes passed between soulmates. But his body is littered with art.

Intricate patterns bloom across the back of his hand, and twist and twirl up his arm. His forearm becomes a comic strip. Constant commentary on their day or whatever social issues are on their mind. Sometimes they leave a panel open for him to finish. His drawing hasn’t improved much from the first bird.

He wishes he could send along words of praise or encouragement even though he knows words won’t go through.

He wishes that they would use this gift to pass along messages like just about everyone else his age does. But all attempts at starting a conversation like that have gone unanswered. Instead, he simply gets to witness their art and their life play out across his skin. And Joaquin has learned to be content with that.

Because while other kids are coordinating their futures around their soulmates and tailoring all plans to match the other’s, he gets to make his decisions free. He gets to sign up for the Air Force ROTC without a shred of guilt or pushback like some of the other cadets have to deal with.

Their doodles are what keeps him grounded. Throughout basic and his first deployment, their delicate designs and drawings keep him company in those moments when he feels absolutely alone. They make him feel human in moments where he’s asked to be inhuman.

Their art has saved his life more than once too. The obvious doodles keeping him from doomed missions and distracting him for just long enough to avoid disaster. But more than those obvious, blood running cold, vomiting from how close it was moments, the doodles save his life because they are a constant.

He’s not the only one who appreciates the art either. The others in his unit laugh at the comics his soulmate still draws on his arms. They marvel of the intricacy of his soulmate’s work. On how they’re able to create such a detailed band of wild flowers around their own tricep. They laugh as he attempts to draw a bird amongst the flowers. He wonders if his soulmate knows they’re a bit of a celebrity amongst the 547th.

He wonders if he’ll ever get to tell them.

That’s the thought that weighs heavily on him as he watches his friends on base turn to dust around him. As he watches planes fall from the sky and plummet to the ground. As he watches the gentle waves and roles of the ocean that cascade across his forearm disappear.

It's five years before another doodle appears on his skin. He almost cries when he sees it. A small cartoon bird wipes sweat off of its forehead as if relieved.

He lacks all creativity in terms of response and just surrounds the bird in a cloud of hearts.

And that's their reunion. After this, life continues on, and their established routine continues. While the rest of the world still feels like a mess, the familiar rhythm of waking up to a new comic, of finding a new illustration branded on his shoulder makes him feel whole again.

The art maintains its affects on others as well. Both Sam and Bucky like to tease him for the "garden on his arm" or tell him he's a "human gallery." But he notices the way they practice drawing on their arms, watches as the other eyes the spot it appears on their own skin and mercilessly roasts it. Bucky has asked Joaquin if he's willing to trade soulmates more than once.

Joaquin's not.

Ideally, Joaquin would have met his soulmate under calmer circumstances.

Maybe they could have met at a Starbucks when they accidentally reached for the same drink and noticed the matching patterns on each other's arms.

Maybe they could have met while his soulmate was taking a tour of the base, and he just so happened to stop and say hello to the guide and realized that he had the same three birds on his shoulder.

Maybe they could have just finally coordinated a time to see each other face to face.

Instead, he catches them as they're pushed from a stolen helicopter.

Later, they tell him that they wish he'd just walked into their tattoo shop. That his first impression of them wasn't screaming and crying and just about ready to vomit all over him. That they wouldn't have blamed him for keeping the connection a secret when the first thing they said to him after saving their life was "Ow! I think you broke my back." (Which, for the record, he didn't. It was just bruised.)

But when he sees the band of flowers encircling their tricep, he can't keep it in. He can't believe he's holding his soulmate in his arms. The person who's kept him company for almost two decades.

So he says something almost as idiotic as they do: "You're the bird."

And that pretty much solidifies the fact that they're meant to be.

[kanene-yaaay]

Yellow, Black, Blue and Warmth

Kanene’s note: I am very proud of this sdfghjqswerty.

Warnings, fun facts, random things and stuff:

* This characters don’t belongs to me! They all belong to the anime/manga Boku no Hero.

* This is a SFW tickle fanfic. ^w^)b

* This is Lee!Toshinori with Ler!Hizashi + Ler!Aizawa. Platonic or Romantic. Around 4.500 words.

* This has mouth tickles (raspberries, nibbles, tickly kisses...), teasy nicknames, use of the spotlight system (green, yellow and red) and baby talk. If there is anything that needs to be tagged just lemme know! 

* Sorry for any spelling, pontuation and grammar mistakes! Any and every advice is very very welcome! \(-w-)/

* Tell someone that makes you feel safe how much they matter to you. If you want, no words are needed. Sometimes just an emoji or ‘this reminds of you’ is needed. Don’t forget you’re especial to someone, as well. <33

[~*~]

“W-wait!”

 His arms twitched on their position above his head and, not for the first time, he felt himself starting to lower them in a desperate urge to hide his flaming face adorned by a soft, uncontrollable kind of smile that only a few people in the world could claim the happiness of seeing.

 A warm hand rested on the right side of his ribcage and nails positioned themselves under his toes, two playful gazes looking at him, warningly.

 “Let’s-” a quiet gasp escaped from his lips when he tried to make a placating gesture with his hands and lowered them further, making the nimbly fingers start to wiggle restlessly on his spots. “I aham sure we can think another solution for this p-problem!”

 Goosebumps ran freely across his body in a wave of warm and excitement as the concentrated, evil black eyes blinked lazily at him, their owner not dignifying himself with an answer before he shoved his face back on the right side of his stomach, nuzzling and humming calmly, his nose exploring, drawing shapes on the ticklish skin, the adult being extremely careful and attentive enough so every vibration seemed to buzz on every and any of his so, so sensitive nerves, leading his back to arch with the unbearable sensation and the “attacker” to smirk in his quietness.

 “I-I beg f-for you to reconside-eek!” He squirmed harder as a low ‘oh’ was pronounced, trying - with not nearly all his strength, if he was being honest, but no one needed to know that - to dislodge the other adult from the newly found sweet spot right next to his hip, which was currently being rustless attacked with soft, barely there kisses that, no matter how much he buckled, refused to move. “Please, please. Yohou don’t have to d-do this!”

 His barriers were starting to crumble, quiet sounds beginning to find their way out of his firmly pressed lips, red growing more on his face as an awed cooing researched his ears and the long, awfully long nails lightly scratched the arch of his feet, making themselves known. They prodded, scribbled and danced skillfully across his sole, circling the weak spots that, for the way the blonde’s grin widened every time he stumbled in a new one, wouldn’t be forgotten that easily.

 And then Toshinori giggled. 

 That was when he realized he was doomed.

“Aw, but I do think we do! Who wouldn’t want to hear more of that cute laughter of yours, my dear squeaky listener?”

 “Hi-hizashi-san!”

 “Yes, my wiggly wiggley bear? What is the matter? You seem rather smiley today. ~” Hizashi sing-sang, an only one finger focusing at that lovely spot right under the ball of his feet that made him squeal in a poorly hidden delight, his laughter starting to overcome his titters. Especially as Shouta decided to be a little more hands-on and weak, almost maddening touches were spidered on Yagi’s right side, not helping at all the flow of high pitched squeaks escaping from his mouth. “Does that tickle? Huh? Does that tickle tickle tickle you so much that it makes you want to give us all that amazing squealing squeals and cute yelps? Aw, isn’t that so kind of him, Shou?”

 “You think that after so much hero work the Symbol of Peace would have gotten at least a bit of a resistance.” Aizawa pointed, not bothering to lift his head so his words wouldn’t be muffled as they hit directly Toshinori’s tummy, not even a drop of remorse on his tune as his act made the aforementioned to crackle, kicking as a series of ‘nonono’s filled the room. “Don’t you agree, Toshinori? Just a few well placed tickles here and there and then All Might would be begging for mercy in a few seconds. Tsk. So ticklish, so helpless, so cute.”

 Aizawa didn’t call them cute often. He did, however, reconsider his choice when his gaze quickly locked on Yagi, a nice feeling bubbling in his chest with the other’s half whine, half giggle, his wobbly, happy smile almost disappearing under all the blush that consumed his features.

  “Right!” Yamada experimentally squeezed his calf, beaming when a guffaw answered him, the leg tugging halfheartedly on his grip, arms hugging himself to not push them away. “But that is no problem! We are teachers, after all. Teachers very capable of teaching him how to increase his endurance, and I think I have the perfect idea of a lesson to help him.”

 Yagi was dying. Part of himself wanted to flee away from all the attention, all the warm, caring touches and compliments and that absurdly insufferable sensation that still tingled his body even now, when Shouta and Hizashi stopped to loom over his form with matching evil smirks, making it almost impossible for him to not hide his face and curl in a silly, rather giggly ball.

 The words of the previous finally sank in his mind and he fiercely shook his head, not trusting his own mouth and trying to not let the amusement he felt blooming on him to drip on his move.

 “Awesome! Thank you for agreeing, tickly listener. It’s amazing to know you’re also as eager for this just as we are!”

 “But I did not-” A true shriek cut his words as Aizawa dug his fingers on his armpits, resulting in a sea of wild giggles to overtake him. The tickles being mean enough to be able to completely dissolve his protests, although also the right amount of light so Yamada’s teasy words would still be able to be heard above him.

 “So!” The Voice Hero clapped joyfully, getting even more excited at the other's reactions. “The best way to be prepared for any situation is to train! Practice! You need to be prepared to all resist to any and every trickys tickly tickle technique that exists, which means scribbles, scratches, squeezes, kneads, nibbles, nuzzles, kisses, spidering, nursery rhymes, and ooooh, of course, raspberries!” Hizashi nodded once, determined.

 “I can’t!” Yagi threw his attempts of forming entire, coherent sentences out of the window, his brain basically short-circuiting on Hizashi’s first examples. “Please, please, I swear! I cahahan’t!”

 “Oh, don’t worry my dear sweet, squirmy listener, it’s really a lot of work to do... But! You will not be doing it alone! Me and Shouta will be here cheering and helping you for hours and hours and hours until you master the whooole lesson. And," the blonde got closer, lowering his tune until his words were just a breath on Yagi's ears, teasing the sensitive spot no matter how much he shrugged and shook his head. "If you get something wrong all we need to do it's just start aaaall over and over again, right, Shou?!”

 “Oh gohod.”

 “Of course, I don’t waste my time with someone who doesn’t have potential.”

 Aizawa’s predator smirk and tone maybe would be scarier if it wasn't broken by Yamada’s loud cooing, the taller coming back to his previous position as he rested a quick squeeze on Shouta's hip, fishing a surprised snort and a warningly glance from the black haired man, who, on his turn received an innocent whistling as an answer. Toshinori chuckled in amusement at the scene, gratefully taking the breather.

 “Better be careful,” Yagi’s tune was innocent, with a titter dropping here and there, still, a dangerous shine gleamed intensely on his blue eyes, “so that lesson won’t backfire on you in the future.”

 Aizawa stared at him, the tip of his lips curling in a barely there grin that heavily contrasted and complemented Yamada’s dramatic gasp in betrayal.

 “Very well.” Eraserhead said, positioning himself on top of his legs, successfully pining him on the mattress. "Let's take care of any riot that might happen right now, then."

 Suddenly, All Might senses all the confidence he felt not a few seconds ago to transform in butterflies flying in despair on his stomach. Shouta’s shadow stood above him, the usual bored expression plastered on his features as his face lowered closer and closer of the blonde, stopping just a few centimeters from his ear.

  Toshinori held his breath in anticipation.

 “Green?”

 Something… something he couldn’t really nominate melted in his heart and for a moment he forgot how words worked.

 He really loved them both so much.

 “Green.”

 Shouta chuckled.

 "Good." He adjusted himself, resting their foreheads together and capturing those blue eyes to himself. "Giggles, titters, whines… every sound you make I will be able to hear clearly so be very, very careful and don't laugh.”

 Toshinori gasped when the feeling of skilled hands, scratching and kneading his side shoot through him. The offending fingers danced slowly, taking their time on each weak spots before switching to another one, a bit too close of his stomach or his spine, completely oblivious to how Toshinori's chest already shook with trapped sounds. Toshinori realized, maybe too late, how their new position prevented him to perceive where Aizawa would attack next, every time the black-haired hero changed his target to an unexpected spot adding a tear in his barriers, the squeaks and crackles getting stronger and harder to contain.

 “So, sweetpea, how would you rate your ticklish experience from one to ten, so far?” Yagi couldn’t help the way his body twitched and squirmed involuntarily at Yamada’s voice, his imagination unhelpfully whispering that, at any moment, any moment now, Hizashi would give up from his purely verbal teases and be touchier. “One being ‘That Is All You Can Do?’ and ten being ‘This Is Everything I ever Dreamed About Please Don’t ever Stop?’” 

 “P-p-lease!”

 “That is not a number.” Aizawa observed, jumping in his friend’s teasing at the same time he stopped, thinking about something until his eyes shone. His voice was velvety, almost as a purring. “But that can be helped. Here, I will refresh your memory.” A finger pressed on the lowest rib on his right and the blonde’s eyes widened, a snort flying from his lips, his head shaking from one side to other, a pleading gaze.

 “Wait! Aizawa, please, wait! I will do anything!”

 “What.” Suddenly the finger was replaced by the whole hand shaped as a claw, the spot where it touched tingled in anticipation. “Did you call me?”

 Aizawa was adamant about very few things, actually.

 Hizashi chuckled darkly, free of any pity, next to him. “I think he is asking for it, Shou.”

 Do not mess with his cats. Do not mess with his kids. Do not wake him up. Do not eat his jelly porches and, of course, if he gave you the permission to call him by his first name, use it.

 “No, no, no! I meant! I meheheant Shouta!”

 Of course, except for the first two, he didn’t actually care that much for when the others were ignored by his close friends, but - he curled his fingers, watching as Yagi continued to squirm and snicker at every twitch of his fingers - that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have his fun with this slip. 

 “And also,” again, Yamada pipped in, “he just giggled, didn’t you just said him to not laugh?”

 “I did.” 

 “Please! Anything! Anything you want! Just name it! I will givehe you anythihihihing.”

 Aizawa adjusted himself so his lips would rest on Yagi’s neck, he sighed deeply, relaxed. 

 “Then give me your laughter.”

 And he started.

 The fingers dug on his spot, prodding and scribbling in attacks which danced in a perfect synchrony with the fast nibbles assaulting all the sensitive skin he could reach, expertly dodging from all the trashing, the attacks seemingly to only be fueled by his shrieks.

 “An autograph!” loud, booming laughter exploded, snorts and an intelligible mix of half English and half Japanese painting his words stumbling and falling nonstop from his mouth. Yagi lost track of what he was saying the moment a raspberry was placed right under his chin and the hand tased his side, vibrating and vibrating and vibrating there for what seemed an entire eternity. “Rare merchandise! My house! Anything, I swear, anything but this!”

 “Oh my god.” Hizashi braced himself on the wall, his conflicted heart torn between cooing and teasing the other for how much adorable he was being and giggling in joy with his funny reactions. “Oh my god. Shouta, please, don’t ever stop tickling him, this is the most precious scene I witnessed in my whole life.”

 Shouta felt tempted to agree, however, after a couple of minutes, he stopped, shoving his face on the other’s shoulder to hide his own soft chuckles, being accompanied by the residual, bubbling giggles. They waited until his breath became steadier before the one with black, deep eyes stared at the watery, gleaming blue ones.

 “Shoutahaha…”

 “Just one more spot, okay?”

 Toshinori closed his eyes, nodding before trying to hide his expression under his hands, being stopped by Yamada, who took each one of them gently and gave a kiss on his knuckles, lacing their fingers, knowing very well Yagi wouldn’t attempt to pry them away like this. 

 “No hiding your beautiful face, remember?” Yagi wanted to huff in annoyance at the unprompted tease, but it was being said with such lovely care that he couldn’t help but melt under it, especially when Shouta began to bombard the place behind his ear with kisses and small raspberries, descending him in quiet titters and silent laughter sprinkled with sporadic guffaws.

 After a few more of kisses, tickles and fast, inaudible giggles he ceased his attack, giving a last nibble on his ear before getting up from him, letting the Symbol of Peace recompose himself between his blush and gigantic smile, offering a cup of water when his laughter stopped to fly across the room, all of them enjoying the silence as Toshinori drank the liquid, thanking Shouta.

 “Green?” Hizashi asked, stepping a little closer, a shy grin on his lips.

 “Oh my… Why do you have to make me say that?” Toshinori squeezed their hands, huffing and deviating his gaze. “Green.”

 The blinding smile that was sent in his way seemed to have enough shine to light up the whole house. “Let’s jam!”

 The Voice Hero tried to untwine their hands kindly, blinking in surprise when the other only held them more fiercely. He tried again, same result. Behind them Shouta snorted, amused.

 “Giggly bear, my sweetpea, you will have to let go of my hands.”

 “Absolutely not, you will attack me.”

 Yagi stared at him with a challenge in his face, daring the hero to do something about that.

 “Well…” Hizashi winked playfully. “I always have my mouth, and, you know? That wiggly wiggley yummy tummy of yours seems to be asking for a couple or maybe a dozen of raspberries… ~”

 “Wait, no!” Toshinori squirmed, instinctively sucking his belly. “Don’t!”

 “Aw, but that is such a pity! I was thinking about being a bit merciful today, you know? Maybe some skittering under your knees, being sure to give enough attention to every inch of both of them, I mean, we don’t want anyone feeling left out of the fun, of course! Then I would give one or two squeezes on them, a swift under your wiggly wiggley toes, a few scratches on your squirmy feet and voilá! A happy, silly, giggly Yagi ready to go. But, well, now I believe I don’t have another choice except place all the mean raspberries aaaall over your unprotected stomach and sides and ribs and sides and neck and ribs and-”

 “Stop, stop!” Toshinori let go of his hands in order to hug his tingling torso, curling in a defense ball, trying to stop the feeling of the imaginary tickles. “J-just get over it!”

 “Aw,” Hizashi placed a kiss on his temple, smiling softly for a piece of moment before letting it turn into an evil grin. “Your wish is an order, my adorably ticklish bear.”

 He positioned his hands in each leg, grazing his nails from the bottom of his calves and lightly scribbling their way up to the wonderfully sensitive spot under his knee, taking his time to draw spirals and rivers on the skin, being very content to feel the other squirm under his touches, huffs of laughter puffing from his lips. “Hey, Toshi, can I ask a question?”

 “Fuck,” he squeaked when an unexpected pinch was placed on his hip before Hizashi innocently continued his previous attack. “Y-you may.”

 “Right! But, first of all, let me take care of this two...” Yamada smiled, completely unfazed as he sat on the bed, holding both ankles and lifting before resting them on his shoulders. “There you go, squirmy toy! All comfy and unable to wiggle away from my curious, tickly fingers!”

 “He is going to kick you.” Aizawa rolled his eyes, getting closer until he could get a firm, yet gentle, grip on Yagi’s ankles, truly preventing him from moving them. “Here. Now ask your question.”

 “Thank you, babe.” Hizashi relished on the way Aizawa’s ears were painted in red before beaming again at Toshinori, who kept trying to pull his legs away from his predicament, and seeming to take the fact that he wasn’t laughing his head off as a personal offense. He rested his hands on his knees again, one of them squeezing them skillfully while the other scratched the sensitive skin underneath it. “So, Toshinori, what do you think it tickles more? When I squeeze, squeeze, squeeze those adorable ticklish kneecaps or when I tickle tickle tickle them silly?”

 “No, no, no!”

 “No?! Aw, I am afraid that isn’t really the answer I am looking for, darling… But that is okay! Do you know what I am going to do now, Toshi? Huh? Do you know?” 

 Yagi just shook his head, knowing pretty well that anything said would just fuel the evil words dripping freely from the other’s mouth.

 “Not even a guess?” He changed his technique to lightly tease with plentiful of scribbles the sensitive spot with just the tip of his fingers. “An itsy bitsy tiny guess? Awn.” A fake pout adorned his face. His fingers ascended a bit more, now tormenting the thighs, their owner smiling wide as the squirms began to get stronger, drawing circles around the little weak spots he knew that would fish the wildest laughter. “But I will tell you anyway! Because the Tickle Monster is feeling very kind today. I am going to get those sensitives calves riiiight here!” 

 “Hizashi!” Yagi tried to pull his legs again, his giggles becoming more frantic as he realized they didn’t even buckle from their spot. “I can’t. I promise you, I can’t! Hihihihizashi!”

 “But I do think you can! I believe in you, Toshinori. You’re such a strong, nice tickle bug. I think you definitely can take some good cootchie-coothie-coos right here!” He poked. “And here” Poke. “And here, and here, and here, here, here!” 

 Suddenly a sea of pokes - just that, just tiny, harmless, quick pokes that shouldn’t be able to make him feel even more ticklish than he already was - assaulted his calves, some surprising pinches and clawing also making an appearance and disappearing just as fast as they came.

 “Shut up, please, shut up!” Throwing his head with loud, squealing chortles, Toshinori pleaded, his mind overtaken with how much it tickled and how unbearable it was and how amazing all of this felt. 

 “Gasp! Toshi! How can you say that? The Tickle Monster thought you loved his teases. Why would you want them to ever stop? Do they make you feel more ticklish? Huh? Do they? Do all my silly teases and tickly attacks make the big, strong Yagi Toshinori become a very lovely and adorable mess of those cute sounds? Huh?”

 “Don’t you think how great would it be if we just stayed like this forever? Me, here, playing with you and your awfully helpless toes,” at the mention of the new spot Yamada changed his target, making the other to arch his back and shriek in belly laughter as fingers attacked under his toes, tickling and digging unmercifully at every single one of them. “and hearing this wonderful laughter! Don’t even make me start about your laughter! It is music to my ears.”

 When nothing but a series of snorts and loud laughter answered him, the blonde decided to stop his tickles, slowing them until his warm hands just rested there, peacefully.

 Toshinori wiped the single tear that traveled to his hot cheek, just a quick glance in Aizawa and Yamada’s general direction being enough to make his giggles start a-new.

 “I am not even doing nothing to you.” The tease couldn’t be helped, especially as his giggles got stronger and, consequently, quieter.

 “Your hands!”

 “My hands? What about them?” Hizashi shouldn’t be allowed to feel that much smug nor powerful.

 “They’re just…” A flow of intelligible noises fell from Yagi’s lips, and he decided to try again. “They’re just there! It tickles!”

 “Now, it does?”

 “I would never have guessed.” Aizawa deadpanned, watching as the other wiggled and squirmed in protest.

 “Right? I mean, they’re just chilling there. No moving, no tickling and Toshinori attacks them like that! I would feel wounded, but I guess he is really just a very ticklish giggle bug. Shouta, what are we going to do? The lesson clearly isn’t working… Oh, I wonder if there is something I could do to stop tickling him...”

 “Just take them off there!” Yagi gasped when the fingers started to skitter around his ankles, another newly discovered sweet spot that erupted a new round of snorts. “No!”

 “I don’t think there is anything that can be done. We could just stop and stare at him and he would be laughing uncontrollably in three seconds.” Aizawa remarked.

 “He is just too much sensitive, ya know? Just an itsy bitsy touch and you get him all giggly and blushy.” 

 “Am nohohot!”

 “And helpless too. Cute and helpless.”

 “Shouta, plehehease, let me go!”

 “Yean, absolutely.” Hizashi agreed, shaking his head with fake sadness, a tiny grin blooming on his lips. “I guess this is our fate, Sho, to hear him laugh and squeal and snort and giggle-giggle-giggle at anything we do.”

 “A pity.”

 “Enough!” Both stopped, hearing the light of tiredness painting Yagi’s tune. “That- haha, that is enough, please.”

 “Yellow?”

 “Red.” Toshinori smiled, feeling yet too shy to find their gazes with his. “I'm just an old man with one lung.”

 Hizashi snorted, offering him a bottle of water and heading to the kitchen to make his special tea - after all, no one knew a better recipe for tired throats than the Voice Hero himself, - and Aizawa just rolled his eyes, sitting on the mattress and massaging his feet, a calming gesture that helped both to relax as they enjoyed the silence with the phantom laughter and reminiscent giddiness that still ran on their veins.

 “Shouta,” Toshinori lightly hit the other’s thigh with his free feet until the black haired one turned his attention to him, not even slightly prepared for the soft, incredibly soft, expression and gleaming, energetic eyes which found his. “Thank you.”

 Aizawa scoffed, quickly trying to brush off the warmth engulfing his heart and smile that tried at all cost to appear on his features. 

 “It was very… enjoyable.” Toshinori pressed further, tipping his head to the side in an attempt to see his expression. “Your technique is very effective! You don’t rely a lot on verbal teases but the way you can mix different attacks and keep track of which spots bring the most reactions is very impressive! Not to mention-” A squeak broke his thoughts when a mean squeeze was delivered on his calf, Aizawa huffing before massaging the local to make the tingles go away.

 “Continue with this and I will not be above ganging up with Hizashi to wreck you, again.”

 “If it’s Complementing Eraserhead hours and you’re being too stubborn to accept the deserved nice words I think it’s very clear who I will end up helping.” Hizashi remarked as he got into the room, distributing the tea before squishing himself between them, almost spilling the drink as a warning tickle on his stomach made him jump.

 “Hey!” The one being called just quirked an eyebrow at him, almost challenging. Hizashi just shrugged. “It would still be worth it.”

 “Yagi,” Toshinori blinked, surprised at being pulled on their usual bickering, staring Aizawa above the rim of his mug. “Analyses about Hizashi as the ler.”

 An inhumane screech flew from Yamada’s lips. “Don’t you dare!”

 When he was over, sneaking one and other praise for Eraserhead here and there, they were all laid on the bed, limbs entangled due both the magnetism that seemed to pull them together and the fact that if it wasn’t for it, Yamada would have already fled from the room on the shine of Yagi’s first word.

 “I don’t like you.” The one with long, blond hair complained, grumbling when his sentence only made the others snuggle closer, snickering. “None of you. You’re both very mean and dirty traitors and I am going to scream.”

 “Don’t.” Aizawa slurred from somewhere behind Toshinori, his tune showing he was almost asleep. Hizashi, who already forgave them for their “betray” searched for his waist, resting his arm on it and very lightly scratching the base of his back, a spot he knew would make the underground hero absolutely melt. Toshinori captured his free hand, coming close and humming softly as his finger traced the lines on his palm.

 Soft. Good. Warm.

 At some point of the conversation, someone had turned the television on, and for a few pieces of moment the show playing in the background was the only thing that filled the silence.

 “Hey, Toshi.”

 “Yes?”

 “I know you don’t like a lot of attention when the tickling is over but… thank you.” A quick kiss was delivered on his forehead, happy to see no trace of discomfort on the other’s features, only a tiny, timid smile. “Thank you.”

 “Go to sleep, Hizashi.” And then he kissed his knuckles, just like Hizashi did back then, and Shouta murmured something, pulling them closer and Hizashi smiled and the television started to grow more and more silent.

 “Ok.”

 After that, everything was soft, good, warm.

[~*~]

Inspirations!

* That entire AllEraserMic tickle series that I absolutely live for

* The teases from the fanfics of that amazing author

* A very especific post about cute reactions when the lee is being tickled but I can’t find it so please enjoy Onion’s blog (the op)  instead. His blog is gold.

[janetbrown711]

"Don't be scared, I'm right here," Yakko?

The Warner siblings were doing okay.

Sure, there were a few bumps along the path here and there, Wakko almost passing out being one of them, but ever since Yakko got some food in him, he was starting to look and feel better. Not his usual self, of course (you can’t just shake off starvation like that), but better. Then again, almost anything is a better state than dying. 

But still.

Nothing major had happened. They were sailing smoothly up and down the mountains, the wind and snow on their side. They were even having a little bit of fun again. It was... nice. 

“So the wishing star can really give you anything you want?” Dot asked. Wakko nodded. 

“That’s what Pip said,” He grinned, his tongue sticking out. 

“So we’re really gonna get mom and dad back? Wow,” Dot smiled a little. “I’m done with grandma.”

“I think you speak for all of us when you say that,” Yakko laughed. 

“What do wanna do when they come back?” Dot asked her brothers. 

“I think I’d give them a big hug and then we’d go back to the garden and have a big fancy picnic all day, just like the ones we used to have on mine and Dadoo’s birthday,” Wakko grinned. 

“What about you Yakko?” Dot turned her head to him. 

“That’s a good one...” Yakko thought for a moment. Truthfully, he had no idea. He’d been preoccupied with worries about his sibs ever since they died he hardly had the time to envision what he’d do if they came back or never died. He had to give it some thought. 

“I’d hug them, obviously. Then, I’d tell them about all the good things they missed, the lessons we’ve given you, the birthdays, and other good things like that. Then, I’d just... spend time with them. We wouldn’t have to do anything- just to sit in a room and read with them in the room too would be enough for me...” Yakko thought aloud. 

“Oooo, that sounds nice,” Dot smiled a little. 

“What about you Dot?” Yakko asked.  Dot sat and thought. 

“I think I’d hug them, tell them how much I missed them, and then have mom brush my hair and sing lullabies, and Dad reads bedtime stories... maybe we’d even play dolls together,” Dot hugged herself a little, touching her hair lightly. 

“It’s been so long... I barely remember what it felt like...” Dot frowned. Yakko felt a wave of sadness and empathy for her. 

“It’s okay Dot- mom will be back brushing your hair and singing lullabies and Dad’ll be back with his stories before you know it,” Yakko reassured, and Dot’s face brightened. 

“Yeah! They’ll be back before I know it,” She said happily. 

“How much longer do you think, Yakko?” Wakko asked. 

“Probably within the hour.” 

That felt crazy to say. 

“Within the hour.”

His parents were less than an hour away. 

This was actually happening. 

“Cool,” Wakko nodded. 

“Yeah... cool,” Yakko chuckled, still reeling at the thought.

The siblings rode in silence for a moment, each processing just how close they were, getting more and more excited the more they thought about it. 

This wasn’t some far-off fantasy- the star was right there, just beyond. All they had to do was reach it first, and since they hadn’t run into any other travelers it actually looked like they’d make it- it seemed luck was finally on their side for once.  

“Hey Yakko- there’s someone behind us,” Wakko pulled on Yakko’s pant leg and pointed. 

Of course there was...

Yakko sighed, and looked, before freezing. 

It was the royal carriage. 

“Fire!” A voice from within the carriage ordered. 

“You two- get down,” Yakko ordered, as a cannon was heard, and it exploded no more than two feet to the left of them. Dot and Wakko were quick to obey. 

“Of course her carriage has a cannon- of course it does,” Yakko growled as he steered them away, as he heard it fire again, this time landing two feet from their right. 

“Yakko- are we gonna-?”

“Everything’s gonna be okay, I got you,” Yakko assured, looking back and saw Angelina sticking her head out the window. 

She looked terrible. The wind caused her usually perfect up-do to lose quite a few hairs, which were now flapping in the wind. Rage had consumed her, and her usually refined makeup created dark smudgy circles under her eyes. Her fur shawl also slipped off of one shoulder, and overall she looked like she was losing it. 

Huh. 

Yakko did always wonder what would happen if they tried to run away. 

Guess that was the answer. 

Yakko then put his attention back onto the path ahead, and bit his lip when he realized it was about to get a little narrow, meaning he probably couldn’t weave should they aim directly for them... though he could try... Hopefully, the person firing was a better person than their grandmother, and wouldn’t aim for them, not on purpose...

“It’ll be okay,” Yakko said again, sucking in a breath of cold air as he weaved through a few trees before going onto the narrow path. 

Thankfully, it appeared the person in charge of firing was either a poor shot or wasn’t aiming for them on purpose like he wanted, because no matter what, he always hit the mountainside. However, this wasn’t a good thing, because it caused the snow to shift and for rocks to fall onto the path, which Yakko feared would cause either an avalanche or rockslide- neither of which would be good.

“Is that grandma?” Wakko asked, peeping his head to look. 

“I said to stay down,” Yakko ordered, and Wakko went back down.  

The cannon fired again, this time sending a loud cracking sound through the mountain. 

Yakko just had to jinx it, didn’t he?

He heard the guard behind on the carriage curse, and Yakko tried to pick up the speed of the sled before anything happened- they were almost down too- After that it was just an open field to the wishing star. 

“Yakko- a-are you sure we’re gonna-”

“We’re gonna make it Dot, I promise,” Yakko really didn’t want to deal with any kind of negativity at the moment. He had to focus. 

Just as he predicted, the guard had shot into the cliff, which was now causing massive amounts of snow and rock to start plummeting down the mountain, in a weird mix of “avalanche” and “rockslide”. 

“If we weren’t wishing for our parents back, I’d wish we had better luck,” Yakko muttered, trying to avoid falling rocks as the path widened once more. 

“Agreed,” Wakko said, holding onto Dot. That was good at least...

The impending doom as it became clearer that there was no way they were going to make it off the mountain without being knocked off their feet and losing the sled or worse was not. 

“Brace yourselves you two,” Yakko said, not knowing what advice he should give. He had never survived an avalanche- what did he expect?

Eventually, Yakko held onto his siblings too closing his eyes and bracing himself when he felt the sled get turned over and the three of them were tossed into the air. 

The three of them flew for what felt like too long, before hitting the snow with a  sharp thud which forced them to let go of each other. 

With all the strength Yakko had in him, he clawed and dug his way out of the snow, and was relieved that both of his sibs had at least gotten their hands to the top by the time he was all the way out. Quickly, Yakko got the rest of him out, and dug out his sibs, surprised to find they had already reached the plane. 

“There it is... the Wishing Star,” he said as he helped Wakko stand. 

“Wow...” Dot said in awe. Yakko looked back and saw that somehow their grandmother’s stupid carriage had survived.

“C’mon, we have no time to lose,” he said, taking his sibs hands and running for it. 

He was not going to lose to her. Not here, not now, not ever. 

He heard shouting from behind, likely Angelina losing her mind even more than she already had. He couldn’t care less- he was focused more on getting to the star than whatever She was saying. Dot however, kept turning her head. 

“Don’t look back Dot,” He ordered. Dot didn’t listen.

“I don’t care anymore- get the smaller one!” He heard, and Yakko panicked picked up the pace. However, Dot froze in her tracks, letting go of Yakko’s hand, looking back. 

“Wakko! Watch out!” She shouted, shoving him out of the way-

An ear-piercing gunshot rang through the plane, and Dot screamed in pain, before falling to the ground. 

“Dot!” Yakko screeched to a halt and ran back to her, while Wakko remained frozen on the ground in shock. 

The snow around her was already turning red. 

“Oh god- oh god oh god oh god-” was the only thing Yakko could say as he knelt onto the snow and examined his sister. 

“Y-y-yakko-” She said, shuddering in pain, which only made it worse. Yakko put her head on his knees and held her hand. 

He could hear arguing from behind. 

“It’s gonna be okay Dot- It’s gonna be okay,” he said, tears already filling his eyes and a tight lump formed in his throat. 

“I-it hurts Yakko,” she said, fear in her eyes. 

“I know Dot, b-but it’s gonna be okay,” Wakko managed to say, crawling over from where he was. Yakko looked up to try to see if he could see their grandmother, but he couldn’t. Yakko realized he didn’t care- he couldn’t care. Not right now. 

Dot shuddered in pain. “I-i wanna go home,” She said. 

“I know Dot, we’re gonna. We’re gonna get our wish and we’re gonna go home, okay? W-we’ll pick you up and carry you if we have to,” Yakko said shakily. 

“I-i’m scared,” she practically whispered. 

“Don’t be scared, I’m right here,” Yakko assured, giving her hand a squeeze. Dot cringed as her breathing got more unsteady. She turned her head away from her brothers. 

“M-mom? Dad?” She asked weakly. Yakko sniffled and wiped his eyes. 

“They aren’t here Dot- th-they-” 

Wakko tugged on his arm. Yakko looked up. 

His parents were there, running in the snow with all their might. 

“Th-they... they can’t...” Yakko couldn’t say anything. The siblings were dumbstruck. 

“Mommy! Daddy!!!” Dot was sobbing now too. 

“Dottie!!!” Their parents cried out in unison, picking up their pace until they reached them. 

“Y-you’re... y-you can’t...” Yakko couldn’t speak. Wakko practically lept into his mother’s arms sobbing, while William went and held Dot’s other hand. 

“It’s okay, Dot. W-we’re here pumpkin,” William said, placing a soft hand on her cheek. 

“Daddy, i-it really hurts,” she cried. 

“I-i know pumpkin,” William said, as he slowly picked her up. Yakko couldn’t move a muscle, dumbstruck and numb at the scene that laid before him. 

“It’s gonna be okay- alright? Everything is gonna be just fine,” he spoke so softly...

“I wanna go home. I wanna hear a story,” She said, gasping in pain. 

“We’ll go home real soon, okay pumpkin? We’ll go home and we’ll read you a bedtime story and tuck you in, alright?” He asked. Dot nodded even though the action clearly pained her. 

“I-i w-wanna go home,” she sobbed, closing her eyes intensely. 

“I know sweetie,” William hugged her closer, rubbing his face against hers. 

“Y-y-yakko,” Dot turned her head weakly. 

“Y-yeah? I-I’m here, Dot,” Yakko wiped his eyes, being forced back into the moment. William slowly set her back down again and he held her hand once more.

“Yakko, you’ll go home too, right?” She sniffled and smiled weakly. 

“O-of course. All of us- we’ll all be there, okay? We’re gonna get our wish and we’re gonna go home, okay?” Yakko asked, looking at his parents and Wakko. 

“O-okay,” she smiled a little more. “We-we’re gonna go home, a-and be together- a big happy family,” she said. 

“Y-yeah Dot. A big happy f-family,” Yakko stroked her face with his thumb, doing his best not to choke. 

“Together...” Dot said, before another wave of pain washed over her. 

“Yakko I don’t wanna die,” she looked at him. “I-i’m not ready to die.”

“Dot- no. Y-you can’t die-” Yakko pleaded with her. 

“Yakko I wanna go home,” She cried, squeezing his hand with all the weak might within her. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Dot. Y-you aren’t gonna die,” William said, but it was clear the light was already fading. 

“I-i l-l-love y-you...”

Her eyes became glossed over, and she went limp. 

No. 

No, no, no. 

William checked for a pulse. 

No. 

He checked for breathing. 

This can’t be- she couldn’t be-

Eventually, he just picked her up and broke down. 

Yakko couldn’t believe this. It wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. 

Dot... 

Dot was dead. 

.o0o.

Dot was dead. 

Her baby girl was dead. 

Lena hadn’t said a word- why hadn't she said anything?!

She should’ve said something- anything, but now-

Oh god. 

She hugged Wakko tighter. 

She tried looking down at Dot, but she couldn’t-

God, there was so much blood. 

Instead, she looked away- out towards the mountains- where she saw-

No...

She wouldn’t-

She would. 

The next emotion Lena felt was rage. It consumed her, mixing in with her grief and anguish. She sprang to life, picking up William’s sword and running toward the Wishing Star, fueled by her anger and hatred.  

She ignored any pain felt in her legs, focusing only on stopping Her- she couldn’t reach the star. 

“Stop. Right. There,” She said, cutting off her mother from the star, pointing the sword at her mother. 

“Angelina,” The queen halted, even taking a step back. “Y-you’re supposed to be dead.”

“You’d know that, wouldn’t you?” Lena glared. “Your assassins failed. William and I survived.”

“Not without scars, I see,” Angelina looked her daughter up and down in disgust, regarding the massive scar on her shoulder. Lena glared. 

“I don’t care about that. You took everything from me- you killed Dot,” Lena was crying. 

“They were aiming for that abomination of a younger son,” Angelina rolled her eyes. “It’s not my fault that girl was foolish enough to jump in the way.”

“You do not get to speak of her or Wakko that way,” Lena stepped forward, the sword now inches away from the queen. She laughed. 

“You don’t have the guts,” She smiled. “You’re soft and weak. Never once have you ever fought back.” 

“Ever since I was born, you’ve hated me. You’ve exploited me, broken me, destroyed me. All of this I could’ve found within myself to forgive, but the moment you laid a hand on my children was the moment you signed your death certificate,” Lena stepped forward. 

“And yet you’ve never retaliated,” Angelina was still holding onto her pride. 

“You’ve taken everything from me,” Lena didn’t regard that comment. “I used to think there was hope- I was foolish, a child even. But now I know you’re nothing but a selfish monster. A monster who I will never let hurt me or my family ever again.”

“You foolish ingrate-”

“Goodbye, mother.” Lena said, before stepping back and stabbing the sword through her. 

Her mother’s body hit the snow, and she was dead without another word.

Good Riddance. 

Lena went back to her family.  

She gave Yakko a hug. 

“We can still fix this,” Lena said. Yakko sniffled, confused. Lena helped him up, Wakko too. 

“William,” She said softly. Her husband looked at her, and she gestured toward the star. He nodded, picking up Dot, and standing. 

Lena took in a deep breath, squeezing both of her boy’s hands before walking towards the Wishing Star. When they reached it, Wakko silently asked for her permission to touch it. Lena nodded, and Wakko reached forward, and the star shined brighter, a burst of light shooting through the sky. 

Wakko closed his eyes and made his wish. 

The star’s glow increase, as it expanded, sending a refreshingly warm breeze through the air until it disappeared completely, leaving only grass behind from where the star had melted the snow. Everyone held their breath. 

“D-dad..? M-mom? What..?” Dot opened her eyes.

“Dot,” Lena smiled, tears of relief and joy now flowing. 

Quickly, everyone wrapped Dot into a big, sobbing, relieving, and loving group hug.

Dot was alive, and everything was okay.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

[foilfreak]

BEAUTY AND HER BEAST: Chapter 8

WARNING PLZ READ BEFORE CONTINUING: This fic is rated NSFW and contains graphic depictions of things some people may find disturbing or alarming, including, but not limited to: violence, gore, unhealthy family relationships, Oedipus complexes, gratuitous amount of pornographic literature, ableist language, physical, mental, and emotional abuse, etc. If you are someone who does not enjoy fiction with these elements in them, then I suggest you refrain from reading this, because this fic will have all that, and probably a lot more. So, this is your first and final warning to turn around and go somewhere else if stuff like this just isn't your vibe, because from this point forward, your emotional wellbeing is in your own hands, and I will not be accepting blame if you disregarded my warnings and ended up reading something you didn't like. Idk why I feel compelled to write one of these despite this being Resident Evil fanfic, but I figured I'd cover my ass just in case.

(AO3 Link Below:)

Several days had passed since Salvatore had sought out both his younger sisters, requesting items like jewelry or clothing they’d be willing to part with that Salvatore could gift to Nadine, as a sort of soft and informal introduction to ease the young woman’s mind and prove he meant her no harm.

The plan seems to be going rather well, as far as Salvatore can tell. Nadine found the gifts he’d laid out for her rather easily, and even correctly wondered if the person who lived here had left them for her purposefully. She seemed wary of the items for a time, though she seemed pretty wary of everything in the reservoir at the moment, but eventually she deemed them safe enough to accept, throwing the long white nightgown Salvatore had procured from Donna over her petit azure frame, and strapping the delicate golden locket Alcina had graciously donated around her neck.

Salvatore practically drooled when he first saw Nadine, slightly sheer satin nightgown flowing elegantly in the gentle afternoon breeze and golden chain glittering beautifully against her white speckled, ocean blue skin. She looked like a goddess, a true figure of pure ethereal power and beauty. Even the biting cold of winter wasn’t enough to touch the young woman, shielded and protected by her own glowing radiance.

Despite looking every bit like an other-worldly deity worthy of unending human devotion and worship, Nadine’s face held nothing but fear, anxiety, and loneliness as she aimlessly wandered the seemingly empty docks and windmills surrounding the reservior’s watery interior. An occasional dejected “hello?” still echoes out throughout the reservoir every few hours, growing less and less hopeful with each passing round of silence Salvatore spends hiding away from view.

The disfigured man’s heart twists and stabs in pain every time he cowers away from Nadine’s soft, anxious calls, desperately wanting to comfort the young woman in her moment of confusion and fear, but still so terrified of her inevitable reaction to his appearance that he finds himself unable to do anything but skitter shamefully to his room beneath the surface and try to drown her out with one of his old romance films.

How pitiful.

Salvatore spends much of his time lamenting and pitying himself over his soul crushing loneliness and his intense desire for a love of his own, and yet here he is, taking refuge in an old romance film while he hides himself away from the real woman he could be making his own romance film with, were he not a massive coward and a horrific freak of nature unworthy of anyone’s love and affection, of course. What a cruel irony it is, to have the one thing you want, more than anything else in the world, dangled just inches in front of your face, and yet knowing, before you’ve even tried, that it’ll never be yours.

Salvatore knows that no matter how much of a romance story this whole situation might seem like, Nadine will never be able to love him in the way the gorgeous women in the movies love their tall, dashing, dark-haired lover men. Not only was Salvatore the exact opposite of tall and dashing by literally everyone’s standards, but his patches of dry, greasy dark-hair did little to salvage the violent wreckage that was Salvatore’s whole appearance.

There was absolutely no way Nadine would ever be able to love someone as hideous as Salvatore, so perhaps the best thing to do would be to contact Miranda and inform her that, while he greatly enjoyed his gift, Salvatore didn’t feel he would be able to appreciate her in the way she deserved to be appreciated in all her beauty and wonder, and that perhaps it would be better for Mother Miranda to find better arrangements for her elsewhere.

“I-it’s for the b-best… i-i think… a-after all… Nadine… d-doesn’t want t-to live i-in a d-dingy place… l-like this for… for the r-rest of h-her… l-life… m-much less with… w-with someone l-like me… s-she’d hate th-that… im c-certain” Salvatore laments aloud, dipping his head downward as tears of painful realization and sorrowful acceptance pour down his face like waterfalls of lonely depression, already fully set on contacting Mother Miranda as soon as morning came.

“While it's very kind of you to keep my best interest in mind, I do think I am more than capable of making my own decisions regarding what’s the best place for me, thank you very much” a soft voice responded suddenly, causing Salvatore’s head to whip in the direction the sound was coming from in startled shock. “This place is a little rundown, sure, but the windmills still stand tall and the water is always just the right temperature, so I don’t think this would be the worst place to live, if I had to… so long as I wasn’t alone, at least.”

Even in the dimly lit area located at the end of the hallway, Nadine still looked so gorgeously stunning and elegant. It was incredible how she managed to sound so casual and yet look so ethereal.

In the brief moment before his panic set in, Salvatore couldn’t help but pause and marvel at the spot down the hall where the young woman stood, her gaze locked directly onto him and yet she showed no signs of having seen him. She even went as far as to begin moving about behind the large boards that blocked her from entering the room, clearly trying to get a better look at the room and, more importantly, the person she suspects is in it.

After a surprisingly large jump that launched Nadine all the way up to the ceiling, just narrowly avoiding hitting her head, Salvatore’s eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open in stupefied shock as the sight of Nadine, moving the way she was at the end of the hallway, brought to Salvatore’s mind a scene from one of his favorite romance films. In the particular scene Salvatore is thinking of, the actress’ character is an aspiring prima ballerina, and she’s having a brief moment of bonding with her fellow ballerina’s after a long, but successful performance. Dressed in a nightgown not too unlike the one Nadine is currently wearing, the ballerina is showing the others how to do other kinds of dance, like polka or Irish step dancing, but by the end of the scene the group of ballerinas are all merely jumping about the room excitedly, laughing and cheering while carelessly throwing themselves into the air, only to land gracefully back on their feet.

While not exactly the same obviously, the resemblance between Nadine and the absolutely stunning ballerina in the movie, in both silhouette and style of movement, was almost uncanny.

Stretched out as high as her short legs would allow, strong and gorgeously defined muscles flexed almost instinctually with every rapid twist, curl, bend, and jump of the young woman’s tiny body. Her lucious silhouette was only aided by the feminine aura of the long, sheer nightgown as it trailed after her with every movement. The delicate satin material caresses the sharp ridges of her muscular back and shoulders with the same tenderness and love as it does the weight of her breasts or the pillowy layer of protection atop her midsection. The lower half of the nightgown, cinched just below the breasts, twisted and jerked in whatever direction was necessary to keep up with the speed at which Nadine was fluttering and jumping about upon the tips of her toes. Her legs were hidden by the ferocious speed of her movements, but Salvatore did not need to see her legs to have some idea of what they were, or perhaps merely could be, capable of.

Whether or not Nadine was actually a ballerina herself, or if Salvatore’s delusions were merely that realistic now, the young woman appeared to move with nothing but effortless grace that hides the raw power and physical strength it takes to float as carelessly and as quickly as the young woman was, clearly growing more and more frustrated the longer her search failed to reveal what she was looking for.

Still paralyzed by the sudden presence of Nadine in his personal space, Salvatore could do nothing but hold his breath and hope that the light at the end of the hall didn’t reach far enough to reveal his presence in the room. The TV was still on, but the movie playing on it had finished running long ago, meaning the only thing being displayed now was a static filled screen that proved someone had been here at some point in time, but thankfully wasn’t a dead giveaway from the start.

“Helloooooooo… I heard someone talking on my way in, so I know that someone is down here. Please… just come out, ok… I won’t hurt you… honestly” the raven haired woman begs softly, her movements slowing a bit to allow more of her air to be used for speaking rather than jumping to look over beams over and over again.

Salvatore’s heart ached at Nadine’s desperate tone, knowing all too well what the mutant woman is going through right now, but trying his best to remain strong, since giving in means dooming this perfect young specimen to a life of bitter misery and unending terror, regardless of the best effort he’d try to put in. Whatever short term gain Nadine could get from being with him would only come back to bleed her dry once Salvatore was sufficiently attached, and therefore unable to allow her to leave once she inevitably decides that she’s had enough of pretending to love a disgusting freak of nature.

Salvatore had never been very good at accurately predicting the outcomes of situations, but he knew for certain that Nadine was in no way deserving of the hellish punishment that living in the reservoir with him would undoubtedly become, if it didn’t start out that way from the beginning, that is. Perhaps the young woman could convince herself to accept her situation and play into his affections as a means of survival for a short time, but based on what he’s heard of Nadine thus far, Salvatore doubts such a strongwilled and dangerous woman would allow herself to play wife and sex slave to anyone for very long. If she didn’t somehow successfully murder him in his sleep within the first 48 hours of her “slavery”, it would only be a matter of time before she finally ran out of patience and unleashed... whatever the hell it was she did back in the labs, upon him.

For a brief moment, Salvatore entertains the question of whether Nadine could potentially be strong enough to take him out with a single hit, as well as whether that thought should be something he finds arousing or not. His thoughts are quickly interrupted however, by the sound of shuffling and grunting, and upon turning his head toward the sudden racket, Salvatore is horrified to see Nadine, just small enough to fit her tiny body between the thin cracks of the boarded up wall, attempting to climb through the barrier, and enter the TV room.

Body shaking and voice beginning to tremble slightly, alongside his already labored breathing, Salvatore unsteadily backed his way further into the room, putting his hands out in front of him as if to try and stop Nadine from entering, though he makes no move to physically eject the invading woman himself, oddly enough.

“N-nooo… p-please… don’t come i-in...” Salvatore stutters helplessly, shrinking further in on himself in fear as the young woman effortlessly slips through the wooden boards like a slippery eel, quickly and easily landing on her feet before turning back to the mostly darkened room.

“H-Hello?” Nadine calls out again nervously, taking a tentative step forward, both hands extended outward beside her until her left hand made contact with the wall. Gaining some purchase on the vertical slabs of wood, Nadine slowly turns her head to look about the room, carefully inspecting everything from atop the surface of Salvatore’s messy desk, to the very dark corner in the back right of the room that Salvatore himself was currently shoved as far into as physically possible.

Nadine stuck her arm out in front of her and began slowly walking toward the opposite wall, eyes open, but unfocused, and right hand waving aimlessly in the air for a brief moment, as though trying to feel around for the other wall despite it clearly being right in front of her. The hooded man had no idea how she hadn’t seen him yet, he could practically feel how absolutely ridiculous he looked, his bony, weathered, turtle-esque body hunched as low to the ground as possible with his chin tucked between his knees and hands covering the rest of his face, leaving only the smallest bit of space through which he could observe Nadine’s inevitable reaction to him. And yet, despite the amount of time the young woman spent glancing over Salvatore, back and forth across the room, her bright golden eyes resembling that of a ravenous alligator in their intensity and ferociousness, no scream left her plush lips nor did fear and horror suddenly mar her supple face. In fact, not only had the mutant woman not seen him yet, but it was in that exact moment that the reason why Nadine couldn’t see Salvatore, obviously shoved into the corner, just to her bottom left, became immediately clear to him.

“Y-You’re blind...”

[khaleesiofalicante]

HI, IT'S ME! YOUR LOCAL CHAOTIC WEIRDO!!!!! I'M BACK AGAIN LIKE I AM TWICE EVERY WEEK

IT'S MY BOY DAVID THIS TIME! WHY AM I SO HYPER! MAYBE BECAUSE THEY KISSED! AND I HAD TO SUPPRESS MY SCREAMS BCAUSE IM IN CLASS AND THE REST OF MY FAMILY IS OUTSIDE MY DOOR (NOT LITERALLY OFC)

OK OK OK OK OK OK

MAX AND DAVID ARE AT THE LONDON INSTITUTE YESYESYESYES

He rather liked that part in a story – when the hero fell, and everything seemed bleak. It always meant that hope was just around the corner. Because darkness never lasted. It was always followed by light. There was nothing more beautiful than that kind of sunrise.

THIS

I literally live my life by this analogy

AHHH DAVID IS ON HIS TRAVEL YEAR AND MAX IS WITH HIM

SCREAM

well i can't scream because my mom is sitting right there and I have class in 4 minutes so imma smile really wide

“Are you planning to read the entire library during your travel year?” Max chuckled.

“Of course not,” David replied. “I will need longer than a year to accomplish that goal.”

Me.

Wait

does max not being able to make portals have something to do with his lineage?

like

demon parent

ok so my programming class started 2 minutes early but screw programming I'm gonna be studying minds not this shit

ok that's a very bad attitude for someone who needs good grades in this year

Max was always hungry.

this is so me

KIT

KIT

KIT

KIT

KIT

KIT

TY

THEY MENTIONED TY

also if David doesn't become an institute head in the future THEN WHAT'S THE POINT

“Where is the kitchen?” Max interrupted.

max is such a mood

He had told Max that he had centuries to perfect his magic, that there was no need to rush it. Max had given him a noncommittal nod and nothing more.

HE'S GONNA MAKE THE BEST PORTALS YOU'LL SEE

“I won’t tell the Consul,” Kit winked.

At the mention of the Consul, David straightened up. He had been trying to get into Alec Lightwood’s good graces for years now. He didn’t think sharing a room with his son would do him any favors.

DAVID UDUCDFUHKDUHVUHSDH

PLEASE IF WE DON'T GET A CUTE ALEC AND DAVID SCENE SOON

KIT CALLED TESSA MOM

oh my god

Word was that Mr. Herondale had gone back to his obsession with brewing tea.

JACE

I have so many emotions right now but all I'm gonna say is that I'm so so proud of Rafael

“Do you not want to sleep with me?” Max asked.

UH-

WELL-

DAVID STOP THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE AND ALL THE SHIT

STOP IT

OH MY GOD THE ONE BED TROPE

MAX IS IN HIS ARMS I'M ABOUT TO-

takes a deep breath don't scream. everyone outside this door thinks you're taking programming class

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY

AWW JULIAN PAINTED PORTRAITS FOR THE INSTITUTE

The one of Will Herondale and Tessa Gray – A love that had transcended reality and lasted a lifetime.

The one of James Herondale and Cordelia Carstairs – A love that had started with a lie and then blossomed into nothing but happiness and devotion.

The one of Lucie Herondale and Jesse Blackthorn – A love that had been so powerful that it rewrote the past.

The one of Jace Herondale and Clary Fairchild – A love that had walked through hell and shaken up the heavens.

And then there the final one. The one of Kit Herondale and Tiberius Blackthorn – A love that had survived distance and darkness and doom.

This omg...

He wanted a love story. The kind he read in the books. The kind he saw in these portraits.

But he wasn’t a Herondale. He wasn’t sure if he was destined for that kind of love.

HEY

DON'T THINK LIKE THAT

The first part though

same

He might have been a little too excited. It was biologically impossible to control yourself when you find a stranger reading your favorite book in the whole world.

SO TRUE

“I see you already made a new friend,” Max said.

He sounded a little…odd. As if he was not pleased that David had made a new friend.

honey...

take a guess

can I jump in and bash their heads together?

“You are thinking of conjuring chocolate syrup, aren’t you?” David chuckled.

“How do you always know what’s on my mind?” Max chuckled back.

Because I know you, David wanted to say. I just wish I knew what’s in your heart too.

OH MY GOD I CANT WITH THIS

“You get chocolate syrup! You get chocolate syrup! You get chocolate syrup!” Max was yelling, standing on the chair.

They residents laughed harder, and David shook his head fondly. He hoped one day Max would pursue a career in theatre. He was a born showman.

can I have chocolate syrup?

also, the way David is just so fond of him like DYUSDGYJCDYUJM

“By the angel, do you have to be a drama queen about everything?” the boy next to them muttered – not so quietly.

David blinked. That was uncalled for.

But Max being Max was completely unfazed. “Of course I do. My Bapa would be personally offended otherwise.”

exactly you rude little shit

Max often pretended like people’s words didn’t hurt him - just as he pretend that fire doesn’t burn or wounds don’t bleed.

wow ok stop calling me out

Is max jealous??????

is he??????

how are people so good at languages like damn

TY

TY

TY

TY

“Oh my god,” Max groaned. “Is he already telling people to check on me?”

LMAO

using mundane medicine...

that's risky

but it's also something that WILL help

can't warlocks tamper with the blood samples?

A part of him wondered if that’s why he had agreed to send Max away to London – at least for a week. Because sometimes you didn’t want other people to see you were hurting.

alec I really goddamn hope you're dealing with this well

some of whom had even decided to die than get help from a warlock.

alright then gets my knives but you chose this :D

Nobody brought a book down for breakfast if they didn't like to read.

yes but sometimes also to seem busy so people won't bother you or you won't look alone.

“I know,” the boy said as he walked past them to the gate. “I sat on the stairs and thought about life for a few good minutes.”

his family is the one who took over David's previous institute (i can't spell that. marse- marselli- wat??) methinks.

The gang always visited whenever all of them were in the city together. They would have so much fun! Of course, the 'fun' mostly entailed Rafael stopping Georgia from drinking random potions she found in the stalls, Selena stopping Lexi from opening a psychic booth to help people talk to Raziel and of course David stopping Max from running to the gambling booths.

LMAO, I CANT WITH THIS-

Rafe: I am anxiety.

me at any given moment

EW TESTICLES HE'S EATING THOSE-

ok maybe I'm the only person who's really picky when it comes to food and doesn't eat the majority of things

“Anything on Magnus Bane?” Max asked.

“No,” the woman snapped and shoved some of the letters into a bag and hide it under the table. “Leave Magnus Bane alone!”

“Appreciate your loyalty,” Max winked at her and started examining a diary.

I like her.

"Everyone should be participating in this" -my programming teacher

me, an intellectual: participating in what?? goes to the class web THE FUCK IS THAT

“Something for the shadowhunter?” the woman smiled. “Perhaps an unpublished snippet from the Beautiful Cordelia?”

“Do you have any love letters?” David asked.

“Hmmm,” the woman went through the pages. “I do have a correspondence between an Iblis demon and Christopher Lightwood? Would you be interested in that?”

if u don't mind I would love to see both of those-

you know I just remembered I have a computer assignment I need to submit by the end of this week fml

“Never fall in love with an immortal,” she giggled again. “We don’t like staying in one place.”

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

MAX WHERE ARE YOU

why are we using x and 3 in programming class what the heck is going on

“I’m not just some warlock,” Max said, his voice low. “I’m Magnus Bane’s son.”

GIVE HIM THAT NECKLACE BACK

we usually have programming once a week on our physical school days and those are fun because my and my friend are continuously passing notes and talking to each other through writing

The scene where Max fought off all the evil people who tried to steal his valuable belonging. He would fight without breaking a sweat and throw magic fireballs at everyone and then get his necklace back. And then he would kiss David in front of everyone and it would somehow rain all of a sudden.

But life wasn’t a movie or a book. Life was just life.

life's boring

fuck life

I just heard a student ask "why are we not taking out the values of b and c" BESTIE I THOUGHT WE WERE DOING PROGRAMMING AND NOT ALGEBRA?????

“I know there wasn’t anyone to protect you before,” Magnus Bane had said. “But we are here now. We will protect you. This will protect you.”

He hadn’t wanted it back then. He didn't even want it even now.

He didn’t want something to protect him. Most importantly, he didn’t want to cover his scar. He didn’t want to hide it. He wasn’t ashamed of it. It wasn’t a mark of a victim. It was the mark of a survivor.

So, David had smiled and given the bracelet back.

“I never wanted to be protected,” David had replied. “I only ever wanted to be loved.”

The warlock had smiled at that and given David a hug. It had felt different than other hugs he had experienced since he had come to New York.

It wasn’t just the magic. Magnus Bane carried so much love inside himself you could literally feel it through him.

I'm gonna cry during my programming class (where we're doing variables apparently all of a sudden??)

this is so beautiful

“I wasn’t talking about Bapa,” Max said now. “I was talking about the other one.”

David chuckled at that. “Oh, yeah. He is definitely going to kill you.”

what flowers would you like at your funeral?

so Jackson has family troubles

I've definitely got that

yeah I know what it's like to be jealous of someone else's perfect family

JACKSON WTF

Is he trying to ruin max's relationship with his family???

oh hell no

JACKSON THE AUDACITY

“One stolen necklace, One broken nose and One bruised cheek,” he said. “And you’ve been in London for less than a day.”

kit seriously? but is he wrong though?

“This is what I get for falling for a Lightwood-Bane,” David sighed and walked through the portal.

WELL AT LEAST HE'S SELF AWARE

Jackson...

in some ways, I can empathize with him. my younger self anyway. but Jackson this is not how you do things

There was a moment of silence and then Magnus Bane giggled.

“I do love it when the quiet ones go feral,” the warlock grinned.

MAGNUS

NOT.THE.TIME

(me too)

“David!” Mr Herondale gasped. “Is your hand okay?”

yup that's Jace y'all

David hated violence. He hated fighting – which he was often not allowed to say out loud considering he was a shadowhunter.

But it was the truth. He hated hurting people – or even things. It made him feel sick.

“It’s alright, Chouchou,” Mr Herondale ran a hand through David’s hair. “Next time, just-”

“Use my words?” David asked.

“Just don’t get caught,” the man winked.

and that is why I would never want to be a shadowhunter.

I know saying that doesn't do anything but when I first read tsc I wanted to be a shadowhunter really badly and damn that was some time ago but now...violence of any kind is my biggest trigger idek why. and I hate that so much because what kind of a person gets triggered by loud voices and fighting EVEN ON SCREEN??? I usually just push myself to watch stuff because it's dumb. I refuse to see trigger warnings before reading a book or watching a show because damn it, I should be able to stand those things I'm, not a child. and it may be doing me more harm than good but I shouldn't feel like this in the first place

okay...that was long

ANYWAY

“David, I appreciate you standing up for Max,” the Consul said. “But next time, please try not to punch anyone in the face.”

“Yes, sir,” David nodded. “Because it’s wrong.”

“Because it means more paperwork for me,” the Consul groaned and then straightened up. “But yes. Absolutely. Very wrong. No punching people!”

LMAO ALEC

Jackson...

oh

oh

oh

I was wrong then

He was grinning. Magnus Bane must have raised hell in the shadow market.

that must have been fun

Max was doing that thing where he was not trying to pout but he was mostly definitely pouting. It made David want to kiss him. But then the Consul spoke, and David reminded himself he didn’t want to be the third person to get punched in the face this evening.

well-

“I understand that Jackson has been through a lot. But that’s not an excuse for him to hurt those around him. I learned that lesson the hard way. So, you shouldn’t excuse his behaviour.”

someone's trauma and pain is never an excuse to hurt others

but that doesn't mean we should invalidate their trauma either

“You can stay back and try to help him. I won’t stop you,” the man got up now. “But if he tries to hurt you-”

“You will unleash hell?” David chuckled.

“Worse,” the other man grinned. “I will unleash Lexi.”

that is much much worse

Books brought him comfort in so many ways. Just holding one in his hands automatically made him feel better.

oh my god

he gets it

I always have a book with me when I'm out even if I'm not gonna get the time to read it because just the weight and comfort of it in my hands or in my backpack brings me so much comfort and helps with my social anxiety so much

no one understands when I try to tell them that

you get it...

someone gets it finally

AYYY IRENE

“David, it’s very sweet that you want to protect Jackson,” Kit pointed out. “But literally no one is buying that. Not even Irene.”

The lynx purred on his lap as if she agreed with Kit.

“I could break into a liquor cabinet,” David said a little indignantly.

David is the nicest you can get

David wouldn’t. Apparently, everyone already seemed to know that - even the lynx he had met five minutes ago.

we are solving something in class and it's really quiet because we're all doing our work (I'm reading the fic so-) and this one person had their mic open and they kept on whispering their steps and it was so weird I cant-

BUT YES DAVID IS A CINNAMON ROLL. EVEN THE LYNX KNOWS

“We were talking about shitty fathers,” Jackson pointed out. “You’re welcome to stay.”

“I’m gonna need something stronger than red wine for this conversation,” Kit chuckled.

I remember that bitch

David used to do it when he was a child. He used to pretend his life was a story. He used to pretend everything that happened to him was happening to some other boy – a boy who wasn’t real. A boy who lived inside a book. Because it hurt a little less when you pretend like it wasn’t happening to you.

But the pain was still very real.

OK YOU CAN STOP CALLING ME OUT NOW

“I fucking hate ogres,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Was your father an ogre too?” Jackson asked.

“He was more like a harpy,” Kit snorted. “He was always flying and fleeing. I didn’t know how deep his talons were in my head until it was too late.”

you really like traumatizing all your characters, don't you?

I really fucking hope the ogre got what he deserved

and if the angel is dead then fuck everyone

“I mean, there was that time when Sebastian Morgenstern turned my father into the endarkened, and then he went around killing people. So, I would say he was more like a zombie,” the man was explaining now. “The zombie father tried to kill me but my brother killed him first.”

“Good lord!” Jackson said in shock.

Kit chuckled softly. “Boy do shadowhunters need therapy.”

they really do

He knew about those from New York. He knew Mr Herondale and Miss Fairchild went for one together.

YES GET THEM THERAPY

“Yikes,” Kit chuckled. “I’d prefer something classier. How about London Boys?”

“None of us are from London though,” Tiberius pointed out.

“The Beatles are not actually beetles, Ty,” Kit chuckled. “It’s just for pizazz.”

damn guys

Then the idea of a band turned into a possible YouTube channel where they would react to cute animal videos.

YS DO IT

“When people do awful things, really awful things, at one point we stop being surprised. Like what Valentine did to his children or what our fathers did to us or what those women did to Rafael. We might have been shocked or disgusted. But it wasn’t unrealistic, was it?”

“I guess not,” the boy said.

“Even when they did the most unimaginable acts of cruelty, it somehow managed to fit into our imagination. We accepted that the world can be unrealistically cruel. The kind of cruelty we will never understand. But why isn’t it the same for kindness? Why is that when someone is too kind, we automatically feel uncomfortable? We judge their intensions or think they are just pretending to be nice. We think they are being unrealistic. Why is that?”

we get so used to cruelty that kindness feels weird

“But that’s how our life works, doesn’t it? It’s a giant ball of what ifs and could have beens and if nots. What if my father had loved me instead of hurt me? Could I have been kinder if I was hugged instead of being abused? Would have I been a different person if not for my trauma? Our lives are an endless collection of theories about our real selves. The one didn’t we never had the chance to become.”

THIS

I used to spend a bunch of time on the what-ifs but those are useless. so screw the what-ifs and live in the present

“I guess we’ll never know, Jackson. None of us will never know how we would have turned out if things had been different for us. We never got the chance to be who were meant to be. Instead, we became who we had to become to survive what we went through. We will never know our true selves. We only know the version of us that made it through all the trauma.”

“Christ, that’s depressing,” Jackson said.

“It is,” David nodded. “But we made it through. We survived. I think we should focus on that.”

you survived. that's what matters

“There is nothing wrong with wanting to be rescued,” David smiled.

I wish I had heard this before...

maybe I don't always have to be strong. maybe it's ok sometimes just want to be saved.

I'm so happy that both Jackson and David found each other

David had learned Gaelic. Jackson had learned how to play the piano.

They had laughed and lived and loved and learned.

And they had survived – one day at a time. The London Boys.

they survived.

I know I'm always key smashing and screaming but these words, these lines, all these chapters mean so so much to me.

“You’ll write to me, won’t you?” David asked, hugging Jackson closely.

“No,” Jackson replied. “I will FaceTime you like a normal person, you weirdo!”

David laughed at that. “I prefer letters. They are more emotional.”

“I’ll text you,” Jackson countered. “With emojis.”

oh to have someone write me letters.

I love writing letters

once at the end of a school year, I wrote little letters to everyone in my class anonymously. even the people who had been mean to me. that was like 1-2 years after my transfer to that school and everyone practically hated me but I wanted to do something nice because who knows what someone is going through. I ended up not putting them in people's desks...

I threw them all away :)

but writing letters is superior

I often write my feelings down and give the letter to someone rather than talk to someone

if you receive a letter from me or a custom-made gift...you have reached my ultimate friendship

oh my god. THIS IS HOW I SHOULD TALK TO ONE OF MY FRIENDS ABOUT MY FEELINGS

It's kind of been a mess between us and I want to talk to her but I didn't know how to.

this is why i shouldn't send asks-

JACKSON CATCHING UP ON MAX AND DAVID

“You know what it means,” Jackson grinned harder. “Also, if that wanker tries to break your heart, I will break his face.”

“You know he is the Consul’s son?” David giggled.

“I’ve done it once and I will do it again,” Jackson shrugged. “He better treat you right.”

"wanker"

I HAVE A BRITISH ONLINE FRIEND AND THEY CALLED OUR AMERICAN ONLINE FRIEND A WANKER

AND OUR OTHER BRITISH FRIEND JOINED IN

WHILE ALL THE NON-BRITISH PEOPLE WERE LIKE "huh"

Lexi had cut her hair even shorter. Her girlfriend apparently got something called an undercut.

“Just in case someone dared to assume we were straight,” she had winked at him.

how many years has this fake dating been going on...

CENTURION SELENA

fterA the twins went to bed, David stepped out of the institute and went looking for his heart.

"went looking for his heart"

OH FUCK I FORGOT TO JOIN MY CLASS

MAX STOP DEPLETING YOUR SELF GODDAMN

And then somewhere along the way, Max’s heartbeat had become the steadiest thing in David’s life.

Max, with all his chaos and drama and danger, had become the steadiest thing in David’s life.

oh my god that's a parallel from canon

“Tell me why.”

“Ain't nothing but a heart break!!"

Max-

Max could make fireballs that killed demons on the spot. He could summon things from anywhere. He could heal people with his eyes closed. He was one of the youngest warlocks allowed to visit the spiral labyrinth.

Max was a warlock in every sense. A good one. A great one even.

he is so talented...

Only idiots would underestimate Magnus Bane’s power.

EXACTLY

He is probably going to be Consul like next week.”

David chuckled. “Next week?”

next week????

“Yeah, his smoking habits,” Max rolled his eyes.

Rafael wasn’t the smoker in the family. He knew who it was, but David would never open his mouth. It wasn’t his secret to tell.

this keeps on getting better

“It’s my hair!” David laughed.

“And you’re my David!” Max argued. “I say you are not allowed to grow your hair.”

MY DAVID

MY DAVID

MY DAVID

“I don’t want to downworld-splain it to you.”

Max blinked and then laughed. “You don’t want to what?”

“Downworld-splain,” David mumbled. “It’s when shadowhunters explain downworlders how to be downworlders.”

they were SO close to kissing

I'm gonna get in there and lock them in a closet together and tell them to FUCKING GET WITH IT

Remember who you are. Remember where you stand.

remember who you are. remember where you stand...

I know this is supposed to be about portals.

OH MY GOD THEY KISSED

THEY KISSED

IM SO CLOSE TO SCREAMING CLASS AND EVERYONE OUTSIDE THIS ROOM BE DAMNED

OH MY GOD DAVID FELL

reminds me of when alec fell down the stairs-

OH MY GOD I'M GONNA SCREAM

WE'RE GONNA GET MORE MAVID CONTENT SOON I'M SCREAMING INTERNALLY UYDRVFY7VSDU7UYVFSDUYGCADUYIGJCDSHJKGDVCSUGISDVHVF

ok, I have a computer assignment to get to and tests to study for. BUT I LOVED THIS CHAPTER SO SO MUCH!! THEY FINALLY KISSED I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!

Also I know I tend to go off track and you can totally ignore that. i just go crazy. BYEE

This live blog gives me so much life you don't even know. I am go glad you enjoyed the chapter. I love hearing you rant about it. It's refreshing lol.

And I looooooove the lil anecdotes you share in between. Also wtf is a programming class like nobody wants to learn programme what kind of hetero nonsense I-

FINISH YOUR ASSIGNMENTS AND STUDY FOR YOUR TESTS I'LL SEE YOU SOON :)

[slythraco]

Julian Albert - SFW ALPHABET

Author’s note: Took a break in my requests to write this ! Might do the NSFW version if you’d like it ! Let me know if you would like to see this with his other characters too 😉 have fun !

Masterlist

————————

A = Attraction (how do they show their attracted to you?)

Julian is not really the expressive type, always preferred to hide his feelings and emotions behind a wall of coldness and anger. So making you understand he likes you was quite a challenge for him. He started by complimenting you sometimes, which surprised you every time.

He would also help you with your work without you asking, then make it pass like a act of kindness because he’s in his ‘good day’ rather then assuming the real reason.

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/why not?)

Yes ! Absolutely, Julian and you always talk about finding a family one day. Even if he’s scared of the idea of being a father, you’re always there to comfort him, knowing he would make an amazing father.

C = Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

Julian is a sucker for cuddles, he just love feeling your body against his. Every time you’re not far away from each other (and in private) he just feel the need to take you in his arms. So when you’re both at work, he take a break just to meet you at your desk who is literally 2 meters away and give you a good hug before going back.

When you’re home, he loves to sit in bed, his back against the headboard, you between his legs while you read a book together. This position gives him room to kiss your neck and collarbones, but he can also touch your thighs or higher if he doesn’t feel like reading.

D = Dates (What are dates like with them?)

It’s all or nothing, he can either prepare the best night ever, Diner with candles, Sky gazing after a good meal, date in a gastronomic restaurant or just share a glass of whine at his home while dance to random musics. But you like these both ways of doing it. A good moment with Julian is always good to take.

E = Emotions (Do they express their emotions? If so, how?)

It was a big problem in the beginning of your relationship, the fact that he didn’t really open up to you to show his feelings. He was still protecting himself from getting hurt. But once he did it one time, and finally realises that you would never in any circonstances, judge him or leave him for what he truly feels. He became the most expressive person he’s ever been, he tells you everything that’s on his mind and it makes him very happy to have found someone to talk to about what’s going trough his mind. And you’re probably the only person that gets to see him like that.

F = Feelings (When did they know they were in love)

One day you got attacked by a meta-human, you got harmed a little bit but it was enough to make Julian scared and start freaking out. That’s when he realised how much he didn’t to lose you and how deeply in love he was.

G = Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

Gentle in his gesture, yes. Gentle in his words, no. Hear me out. Julian is the most attentive person, the last thing he wants is to hurt so when he’s hugging you or kissing you, it’s gentle and full of his love.

But sometimes, when he gets angry or is in a bad mood he can get rude in his words or get violent. Careful, he could never lay a hand on you, he would breaks things around him rather then get physical to you. But yeah, be prepared he can get really rude to you but he will always regret what he said and always excuse himself until you forgive him but he would certainly blame himself for the rest of his life.

H = Hands (Do they hold hands? If so, how?)

Yes, everywhere, Julian is not really into PDA but if there’s one thing to steal from it it’s this. When you’re walking outside, arriving at work, sitting next to each other, he always find a way to grab your hand and it’s honestly, adorable.

I = Impression (What was their first impression of you?)

Being his colleague, Joe had to warned him of your your coming in the office. It kinda bored Julian at first, knowing he’d have to share his lab with another person annoyed him but as soon as he saw you, all his bad thinking flew away.

He found you really nice, intelligent and way more punctual than Allen. And also really beautiful, you blew him away by your intelligence also. He really thought you were too good to be true.

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

Yes, Julian is a really insecure person, he’s always scared of loosing you so when he sees you talking to another men he would almost always ask you about him afterwards.

If the person your talking to gets a little bit too touchy for his taste he would intervene and either call you by your affectionate nickname (my love, my heart, my darling,...) or he would kiss you to make it clear who you belong to.

K = Kiss (How do they kiss? Who intiated the first kiss?)

His kisses are always gentle and full of love or passionate, he’s mostly the one to kiss you first just because he can’t contain himself when you’re around him. He could spend his whole life kissing your lips.

L = Love language (What are their love languages?)

Gifts, gifts, gifts. He loves to cover you with gifts. He likes to buy you little things that remind him of you. That’s his way of telling you he loves you.

M = Mornings (Are they a morning person? What are they like in the morning?)

It depends, on day work, since Julian is very focused on punctuality he can gets pretty stressful in the morning. Running everywhere to be ready in time, and make sure he tie is perfect.

But I’m off days, he’s the biggest lazy guy in town. Mostly because he loves just to lay in bed and cuddle with you rather then get up and start the day.

N = Nickel (Do they spoil you? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

Like I said before, Julian loves to buy you things so yes he spoils you A LOT ! And when you want him to buy you something, he can’t resist, always wanting to put a smile on your face.

O = Open (Do they say everything about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or overtime?)

Like mention before, It took a while to Julian to finally open up to you but as soon as he feels safe enough, he tells you everything !

P = Patience (Do they have patience? Are they angered easily?)

Julian has zero patience, he gets mad when he doesn’t have what he wants right now. It amuse you sometimes so you tease him with it but it’s is at your own risk.

Q = Quaint (What’s their favorite non modern thing to do?)

Julian as a disc record player in his appartement, he loves to listen to old vinyl with you. You learns to dance a slow with him thanks to it.

R = Remember (What’s their favorite moment in the relationship?)

It’s hard to choose but probably the day you accepted to be his girlfriend, it was such a magical day. He prepared a wonderful date that night, he made a whole delicious meal for you to to share together in his appartement. You slowed dance in his living-room and then his kisses you for the first time before asking you to be his after admitting his feeling to you. You spent the rest of the night cuddling and kissing like teenagers, it really is an amazing memory.

S = Security (How protective are they?)

He globally trust you so he’s not really overly protective, unless you propose you help to the flash team. Even more since you got attacked by a meta not long ago, this is the only time he can get really protective.

Otherwise he’s just normally protective, telling you to be careful when you come back late from work, etc. But it’s always in a cute and loving way never toxic or anything, he just cares about your safety like any boyfriend would.

T = Talking (what do they like to talk about?)

Obviously, sciences and all of that, but he also loves to talk about you, he always want to know more about you, your past, your family. Every little knew information about you makes him really happy.

U = Ugly (Whats a bad habit of theirs?)

Criticising EVERYTHING and everyone. That’s one of us default he always finds someone to say about something (especially Barry Allen), he can be either funny because we all know how sassy Julian is but it can be annoying sometimes.

V = Vaunt (Do they like to show you off?)

Yes ! He’s always so happy to present you as his girlfriend. He’s so proud to have you by his side. The worst thing is when someone goes to him and say ‘No way, you’re really dating Y/N’ with that, you’re stuck with him for an eternity, he will be doomed to hear him boast of having a wife as brilliant as you.

W = Whole (Do they feel incomplete without you?)

Absolutely, Julian would be lost without you. You’re his everything, all he does is to make you happy so yes.

X = Xylophone (What’s a song that reminds of your guy’s relationship?)

Can’t help falling in love - Elvis Presley

You two danced to this song the night he kissed you for the first time.

Y = Yuck (What’s something they hate that you do?)

Teasing him, you love to make him crazy and angry because let’s face it, Julian angry is the sexiest thing ever.

Z = Zzz (Are they a heavy or a light sleeper ?)

Heavy sleeper for sure, when he finally leaves work and get to bed, you never hear about him again before he wakes up the next day.