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readerinsertfanfiction · 3 years

Text

Love Deduction

Fandom: Ikemen Vampire

Character: Arthur Conan Doyle

Prompt: Arthur is smart, but also a giant dumbass, case #93478123238. Written for the birthday of a certain @tsubaki3192. WERE YOU EXPECTING A HIDEYOSHI FROM ME? HAH. Happy birthday, I’m not that predictable.

Warnings: Mentions of coffee, a lot of coffee. Some of his general insecurity and some mansion bullying.

Length: +1K

If Arthur were to be a superhero his superpower would be: deduction; the distillation of a conclusion, an answer, based on the facts presented and observations made. It was quite a handy little power, he would assume. The glance of an eye of interest, the press of a pair of lips seduced. If one opened their eyes and read a lot there was little the world had to hide, he found. All answers were presented one way or another if one just sees it. And so Arthur Conan Doyle found himself to be quite the hero at figuring out the lusts and wiles of a person, picking up those attacked by the enemy named boredom.

This was no story of a superhero, however. Arthur was far from a superhero, or even anything as interesting as a villain. No, Arthur found himself to be much more boring than that; a mere presence in the world with too many dreams and ideals and a fragile heart on top. He just happened to possess a good amount of logic and some wit, but nothing to make his deductions appear as a superpower, nor with the ability to make out what you were thinking. In fact, if Arthur Conan Doyle had to call himself anything, he would name himself a side-character. Which was perhaps why he related to Watson so well rather than Sherlock.

“Now, I predict that there will be cake tomorrow,” he had casually announced, a not-so subtle hint to what tomorrow was going to be. The house had been in a bustle, with everyone buzzing around to ensure that the preparations for such a special day were all set into place. It was not everyday that a mortal they had grown so attached to was to celebrate growing older. With the amount of personalities housed within the mansion it was also quite hard for any of them to keep their secrets their own and so Arthur found little reason in discretion.

“Cake, what cake?” Sebastian had repeated after him, playing the fool when all in the room knew that to be fruitless. The author left the butler to be, not missing the signs of fatigue lining the ever-busy man’s face, or that of anyone else, and he knew that his showed as well.

“Apple or caramel, perhaps both, Toshiko?” Dazai was ever so quick to distract you, making sure that he was within hearing distance of a certain scientist who scoffed and mocked the man scornfully for the apple caramel joke.

It did indeed distract you, but with the attention turned towards the wrong individuals rather than his who was looking for yours so intently.

“Just so you know, there won’t be a dog. Having one of you is more than enough,” Theo had followed up with a smirk, this time earning a huff and puff from your side as you tried to argue that you were not a ‘hondje’ as the Dutchman liked to call you. A dreadful nickname, Arthur could tell, knowing full well that it was in bad taste in several ways.

But still your eyes never turned to him, not even addressing him in the room. The author felt quite ignored by now, as he wondered if you were avoiding him or just not interested in him in the way you interested him.

So Arthur started to deduce, sipping his umpteenth cup of coffee that day as he tried to make eye contact with you, counting the times that you broke it off, or tried to break it off, or maintained it.

Unfortunately, all he counted were missed opportunities, for your eyes were occupied by anything but him.

“Cara, I found the pigments you were looking for,” Leonardo had said, sweeping in when you had a bit of a breather between your job and the other men vying for your attention.

“Do you prefer the white accent, or to mute it a bit more?” Comte questioned, busy in his own preparation for your birthday.

“Are you still working on that paper? I can help,” Isaac offered when he finally managed to declaw himself from the ever so cumbersome Dazai, followed by a quiet Jean and Mozart that tried to inquire to you about some other details about the various hobbies you maintained and the day to come.

“Do you want to come out with me?” Vincent asked you so sweetly at some point when you were finally done with work. And with the summer season fully blazing the sun was up longer as well, allowing for a beautiful sunset dyed in romantic colours that the artist loved to catch with you by his side.

All Arthur could conclude from that was the fact that he deduced plenty of missed chances whilst he was drinking away his cups of coffee and racking his brain for a pretty story to pen down for you. A time he spent observing without growing any the wiser about what he meant to you.

“Arthur?” You were suddenly in his face, eyes blinking and hand waving, earning a start from the author who realised that he had let himself be caught off guard. It was followed with a frown and your hands pulling the cup of coffee out of his hands before Arthur managed to press a ‘love’ out of his throat, his breath still caught and hitched while he watched you tug at him.

“Off to bed with you,” you had told him in slight annoyance and Arthur wondered if he had done something wrong, still trying to observe you, his deductions still whirring as he felt his mind fog up, the caffeine doing its job as his heart started to race when he was set in bed.

“I bet you haven’t slept a wink since you started preparing,” came your accusation and the author wondered how you had managed to figure out that he was working through the nights to work out one particular plothole in his story.

To this the man had an answer, his smile falling easy on his lips as he pulled you closer. “Are you offering yourself between my sheets?” he teases, earning a flush in your eyes as you peel yourself away from the man, “how bold of you,” he sings, but he allows you to move away nonetheless as another huff escapes you, adorably annoyed as much as you were flustered.

“Don’t mind this old chap, I’m fine once I figure out how I figure out the little confession scene.”

And there he shot away his own chance, handing out a golden opportunity as he let you go once more. For why would you want to spend more time with him if there were so many others whose love you could indulge upon? Arthur had long since made amends with the fact that you wouldn’t ever be his alone, not needing his deductions to know that he stood no chance.

“But I do,” you counter him, suddenly stubborn, or rather, you always had been. Stubborn in the most inopportune times as Arthur feels hope flare up while he watches you with his eyes, reading you, or trying to read you. It was a bad habit of his, he knew, but one he couldn’t stop as he continued to observe the way you moved, sitting down at his bedside as you pressed a hand onto his.

“I care, because I like you,” you bluntly state, earning a look of surprise from the man. Arthur wondered if you knew what your words meant, how they could be read, but you pressed on undaunted.

“Is it wrong of me to care?”

For once he had no answer for you, blue eyes wide as a flush of pink spread across his face. He knew what he looked like and Arthur cursed himself and his heart for actually blushing. Observation could be easily misunderstood, but logic told him that you were clueless as ever, whilst his heart was what betrayed him the most.

“My dear,” he forces a smile on his face instead as he muffles away his many thoughts and forces himself to deduce further, “how do you so easily solve all of my problems?”

And with that Arthur would have flown to the table, to write out the exact scene to solve his little problem in the logistics of a story, dismissing your flustered and surprised expression as something of overwhelm from his own passion and excitement if it wasn’t for that hand holding onto his rather firmly followed by the most surprising combination of words:

“You are an idiot.”

If Arthur was a superhero his highest stat would be intelligence, maxing out the bar of logic, to which the special ability of deduction came free. However, with that great strength there was a reasonable weakness. Arthur alway supposed that it was because he was the biggest ‘loser’, never meant to be a main character of sorts. But what he never deduced was that he might actually play the role of the clueless love interest instead, bad as he was in recognising or acknowledging your confession to him.

#ikevam arthur #ikevamp arthur #ikemen vampire arthur #ikemen vampire #ikevam #ikevamp #ikevam x reader #ikevamp x reader #ikemen vampire x reader

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kuroken-lovechild · 3 years

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How haikyuu characters would play genshin impact:

//featuring me nerding out about mbti types 😔

Karasuno

Hinata

As an ESFP he would probably choose his main based on who feels good to use

Quick movements, lots of jumping, strong = XIAO MAIN (probably finds the flashiness and edginess cool and enjoys the button mashing too)

would aggressively compete with kageyama on who can beat spiral abyss the fastest and with the shortest time

unfortunately they’re both not very good (initially because kenma helps him out after)

Would try to follows the plot but dialogue goes over his head

Does not understand stats other than attack at first

Wish impulse is real and never has any primos

would attempt to talk to every npc

Kageyama

META SLAVE

Has no idea what wishing/gacha is at first and builds his starters really well

Then he found out and currently mains Ganyu, Zhongli, Hutao for the big numbers

gloats about his first 5 star to hinata

Does not talk to NPCs at all and barely digs into the story

only there for spiral abyss and to make his characters stronger

Tsukishima

Didn’t wanna play until yamaguchi dragged him in to have someone to co op with

Appreciates the story and lore more than the gameplay aspect

Eula, razor (cv uchiyama kouki) main—easy to build, easy to use

Doesn’t care about wishing either

Got Eula by accident and now holds it over kageyama’s head

Has really good artifact RNG that it infuriates kagehina (gloats about it to fan the flame 😚)

Yamaguchi

he’s infp he chooses based on characters he likes 🥺

Diluc, albedo, ayaka main

(i can’t explain why I think he’d like those three, it just Makes Sense)

Co ops with tsukki and yachi, plays both dps and support

Spiral abyss makes him anxious but he pushes through anyway!!

Daichi

Starter team king 😩

Feels bad about switching his regular team out FJDFJDJJDDJ DAICHI

Probably a casual player though

Plays to coop with suga and tanaka but they carry him through domains

he’s trying his best

Suga

Mains based on whoever’s fun to play too!!

but enjoys more of a challenge

Childe main

Waiting for Scaramouche to drop hAha 🥲 and harbingers in general

Appreciates the plot and is very interested in lore!!

Diligently does spiral abyss

Doesn’t quite wish on impulse, but if theres a character he likes he’ll spend everything on their banner

Asahi

Does not play, got too scared (see: haikyuu ova)

Nishinoya

Rolls VERY much on impulse

Similar to hinata in that he also likes playing playstyles that feel good

Xiao and/or yoimiya main

(xiao because he’s short jk)

Probably raised Rosaria and planned to use her

Plot who???? we only care about world exploration and fighting in this house

Tanaka

wished for all the women, raised all the women, uses all the women

valid

Primarily mains Rosaria, ningguang and Lisa though

sorry beidou you remind him of his sister too much

waiting for signora like many of us are

Coops with noya and has INSANELY bad rng luck

Yachi

Also chooses based on characters’ personalities

gay, mains sucrose and jean

isfj child and probably feels bad about the underrated characters :(

uses amber, xinyan and qiqi too!

Raises all characters but hasn’t raised anyone to 90

Coops with yamaguchi and uses jean (as healer, support, damage dealer)

Talks to NPCs and sympathizes with their sad backstories

Gets too anxious to do spiral floors 9-12 too (mood)

Seijoh

Oikawa

Oh boy

this ENFJ 3w2 guy? you KNOW he’s gonna be the best

As long as it doesn’t clash with volleyball of course

Very VERY competitive in abyss

Has one character hed get attached to but doesn’t limit himself to using them only

Incredibly focused on team synergy, carefully crafts teams to bring out the best in each character

Tests best damage output too

But also he’d probably use meta characters and secretly raise the ones he actually likes?

Current fave: Yoimiya

Uses strong characters for coop but uses his faves for single player domains (or coop with iwaizumi)

Likes characters but surprisingly wouldnt be too invested in the plot

does not whale out of pride

Iwaizumi

Geo user

Uses characters he finds respectable in the storyline + hard hitters

Razor, klee, jean main but unaware of the family relationship

Sometimes uses beidou although her burst takes too long sometimes

Pretty casual player, only started because of Oikawa

Hanamaki

obviously he and matsukawa would make zhongli pillar dick jokes

Kaeya and beidou main (he thinks they’re cool)

Not that impatient to wait for bursts to charge or has a lot of energy recharge

whale

Matsukawa

……. Hutao main

funeral home

Would use qiqi and hutao together for the meme then grows to genuinely like qiqi

Saves up for a really long time then spends it all at once

Kindaichi

Doesn’t play much tbh

Offline for a week, comes back to do commissions for one day, leaves

Kunimi

Hed be pretty good

but lazy and forget to do dailies

then buy welkin moon instead

Focuses more on the story too rather than gameplay and points out loopholes

Mains whoever he has in his team with good synergy (like chongyun xingqiu xiangling)

Kyoutani

Rage quits 5 minutes in after hearing paimon’s voice 😔

Throws his phone at the wall

Yahaba

Simps for jean

Mains jean

Dedicated to dailies and spiral abyss

But doesn’t wish that much

Was the one who tried getting kyoutani into it and suffered the consequences

Nekoma

Kuroo

ENTP king raises a whole arsenal of characters for spiral abyss

I cant see him really getting attached to one in particular ?

makes zhongli pillar dick jokes every chance he can get

but also uses him for utility

Wants to try using a whole bunch of characters and wishes on every banner

But uses the meta ones with good team comps

sparks twitter debates with ….. interesting takes

“_____ is completely shit”

Kenma

OH BOY HES A GAMER GAMER

Whale whale whale whale

He’s tony to

Best synergy teams, understands the value of elemental mastery, REALLY values good supports, calculates possible damage numbers

Kazuha, zhongli, bennett, venti are a staple in his teams

Helps hinata and kuroo until kuroo teases too much by deliberately playing horribly

mildom and youtube streamer like murase ayumu

Appreciates story and lore very much too

Yaku

he’d LOVE the children

Probably would use characters that remind him of family members and friends

Klee, diona, qiqi, chongyun, xingqiu, razor, bennett

does spiral abyss but not obsessively

Lev

KENMA-SAN!!! LETS PLAY TOGETHER!!!

I’m sorry he would not know how the game works

Doesn’t do the ascension quests and gets stuck at AR 26 with 500k extra points

Thinks he’s amazing but it’s because he’s stuck at world level 1

I’m sorry lev ily but ……. its the truth

Tries pulling for everyone too and mains the first 5 star he got

(childe because he’s russian AKSHDKDHSKSHS /j)

Wants diluc and xiao because they look cool but gets Mona instead (doesnt understand how to use her)

Yamamoto

Also raises the women like tanaka but + kaeya

Lev complained to him about getting Mona while he’s wanted Mona for months

Not really a dedicated intense gamer EXCEPT for during those battle events

Fukurodani

Bokuto

WANTS THE STRONG AND COOL LOOKING 5 STARS

Eula, zhongli, diluc, xiao

but doesn’t know how to build either

doesn’t understand stats

would feel really bad for qiqi

Wouldn’t like signora for hurting venti :(

Wouldn’t like childe too :( until he plays the story quest and sees the ruin guard cutscene

then starts sobbing because of what a good brother he is

“AKAAAASSHI I wanna do that too!!!” then he dies

Tries to use childe but doesn’t understand the cool down management

Mispronounces and misspells tartaglia (タルタリア)

for more info on how bokuto plays genshin see Kimura ryohei’s YouTube channel ✨

Akaashi

the true childe main (just like me)

Uses characters based on utility

but mains whoever reminds him of bokuto FJDHFJFJDKSJ

Very good supports but unlike Kenma, he chooses and builds supports around his main

also uses very good supports so people won’t realize he’s using childe for the cv kimura ryohei (everyone knows anyway)

Literature nerd appreciates the plot, writing and deep lore too

Konoha

Tries pulling for everyone but has REALLY bad luck

Has really good characters but never the one he wants

loses all 50/50s and has a c4 qiqi

Ends up maining qiqi as dps

sorry konoha i didn’t mean to slander you

Shiratorizawa

Ushijima

does not know how to play or build

Uses whoever he has (aka starters)

Only plays because tendou downloaded and made an account for him

Doesn’t know how to ascend characters or farm

Forgets about talents (me)

Weirdly good RNG and doesn’t realize it 😩

“Let me look at your account wakatoshi-kun”

“Sure”

“You didn’t tell me you had 6 of jean’s Stella fortuna???”

“What’s that?”

Tendou

this man pulls for the seiyuus

Mains childe, hutao, mona for 5 stars

childe and hutao’s instinct based quickswap playstyle works so well for him!

jokes about cosplaying mona then actually does

Knows how to build, grinds, and manages ushijima’s account for him

Probably whales too

Shirabu

Meta meta meta meta

But f2p meta

Loves setting up reactions

More into the lore too and researches theories

Remembers actual names of boss drops

Semi: so how many of those buttplugs do you have again

Shirabu: 💢stop calling them buttplugs, they have actual names 💢

VERY diligent with battle pass, dailies, achievements and spiral abyss full stars

Until he //SPOILERS gets into med school and has no time for shit

Inarizaki

Atsumu

Would have a crush on a character I just know it

Invests heavily on his faves and is great at utilizing each of them

fussy . complains about a certain unit and how they can improve

or complains about how the game can improve to osamu

Osamu: yer just saying that cuz you couldn’t get a high score

Archons main (already saving for the tsaritsa)

Wouldn’t have a main dps but several hard hitting supports

Whale and falls victim to the weapon banner

Osamu

More casual player than Atsumu but still tries to get higher than him in events and spiral abyss

If atsumu’s a whale, osamu’s a dolphin

Great at dodging

Catalyst user!!

Mains ningguang, klee, yanfei + other catalyst supports

Also uses keqing

Kita

the man appreciates routine aka VERY diligent with dailies, battle pass, farming

“if you do things properly results will follow” or whatever quote he said ✨

Starter team but raises other characters for abyss

Reads dialogue and appreciates the plot

Barely gachas

Aran

will defend TO THE DEATH the underappreciated characters

Has empathy for noelle 🥺🥺

Noelle, Barbara, xinyan, bennett, children user 🥺

Talks to every NPC and loves the backstories and lore

also would feel really bad for qiqi

Suna

Uses the tall men and women and builds them all as dps (childe zhongli diluc kaeya beidou ningguang jean lisa rosaria eula)

He’d probably make a support character a dps tbh

Disregards team synergy for the shits but somehow manages to do domains and abyss

Itachiyama

Sakusa

c6 everyone

leaves

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quirklessidiot · 4 years

Text

aoba johsai’s sport’s journalist (h/c’s)

just crack+ fluff + platonic-ish relationship (gn!y/n) (w: language!) a/n: this has been bugging me for awhile now since i havent seen headcanons of this yet (if their are do send them on my ask box) and since im on a slump, i decided to write this down. this is completely fun, easy-going, and self-indulgent, really perfect for someone stuck on a slump ksks. idk if i should make some for the other schools but oh welp enjoy! happy 900 btw werkwerk uwu so weird to reach this when im not even very active.

Now let’s be honest here, it’s no surprise that the volleyball team of aoba johsai has their own sports journalist. Like, c’mon, they’re one of the best in the prefecture.

But let’s start with the basics here, shall we? Let’s start with you, how this all goes through, and how you got into this heaping pile of mess.

Yep, you.

There you were in high hopes to get into journalism for college so what better way was it than to apply for the school paper? It would definitely look good and pretty in those college applications *chef’s kiss* you’re a second year btw idk if that matters but yeah..

Much to your surprise no one was applying for the news section which was kind of sad since you wanted a buddy there.

but-but it turns out though everyone was applying for the sports section completely understandable, next to feature, it was the most exciting thing to write because there was going to be a special section and writer for the volleyball team.

You knew that volleyball was kind of a big thing around your school?? you just didn’t expect it to amass like that much people.

The editor in chief is obviously surprised, you were the first person on that day to come in there and actually apply for something else.

and guess where that led you to?

Yep, the sport’s section, specifically the volleyball team’s personal sports journalist. Your brain goes brrt brrt because you were not a sports writer at all and you were, ironically, scared of ball games.

VOLLEYBALL WAS COMPLETELY NEW TERRITORY FOR YOU.

Your editor in chief laughs it off and says, “you’ll do fine… its like news bUT SPORTS! IT’LL DEFINITELY LOOK GOOD IN YOUR APPLICATIONS!”

You’re not sure if you should be terrified or terrified?

It doesn’t help that on the first day when you enter the gym you look terribly constipated and panicking a lot because of all the stray balls being spiked and tossed around.

It also didn’t help that you crash course the terminologies and the member’s name a night before and you were just running on iced coffee that day.

Yeah, way to make a first impression, huh?

When you approach the coach, you’re not exactly sure what to say and you were this close to chickening out until you saw one of the players come up to you and ask if you were alright and if you wanted to talk to oikawa.

you’re loading for a second there.

and the poor guy who asks you if you were alright, starts looking actually worried because you weren’t responding at all.

“OH, oH IS THAT THE CAPTAIN?”

the guy literally looks very confused?? because what kind of rock were you living under that you didn’t know Oikawa???

so you go ahead and introduce yourself and say that your name was Y/N and you were the new sports journalist for the team.

“....soooo you write?”

“...”

at this point on, you’re also confused too

and idk man, first impressions do indeed last because you ended up (unknowingly) sharing the same brain cell with Matsukawa Issei.

you both were just confused there, straight up looking like two kids who got left behind by their mom in the grocery check-out line.

anyways...

He tells you the team’s pretty chill and you should stop looking like they spiked a ball on your puppy or something.

Basically introduces you to the whole team after,

no questions asked, just go with the flow.

You basically just click and vibe???

Not only because you crash coursed and related to whatever they said,

you literally all shared the same brain cell together.

Kentaro was another story though, kid basically hated your guts at first, it felt like if you were to say one sentence to him that day, he’d literally spike a ball at your direction.

“we’re basically the same year tho :(” -Y/N

“lmao well do i’ve got news for you, y/n-chan.” - Oikawa and basically everyone on the team.

you gradually start to understand the coolness of the sport since you had to incorporate visiting them once or twice a week during practice.

but suddenly it becomes almost a daily routine after a month because they’re just really friendly people??

like wow, they’re all friendly giants.

You’re literally just there to write about them but they’re really patient and kind, they even invite you to practice games so that you could practice out your skills in writing since you mentioned that you’ve never written for sports yet.

they even give you some added key terms that aren’t found in books and online.

you’re def closest to iwaizumi and matsukawa.

iwaizumi because he makes really funny fish jokes about oikawa (yes you arent supposed to be laughing but man theyre funny af, oikawa would usually call you and iwa corny because the jokes aren’t even that funny) and yes its canon that whenever iwaizumi sees an oikawa fish in textbooks, he starts laughing and joking about it.

no explanation needed why you ended up being close to matsukawa.

its obvious after that first meeting ya both would be besties.

same brain cell bros go brrt brrt.

incredibly!! supportive!! I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH

like when you release a new write up about them, Oikawa would usually go, “It’s such an honor to be apart of your first steps, can you sign this?”

dramatic but hella supportive, we stan the gr8 king

“oh, wow, i thought you said you didn’t write before? how come you sound like a professional already?” - Hanamaki

another dramatic best boi.

akira + kindaichi getting shy because they’ve never experienced this yet. So whenever you try to interview them about stats or something for a special issue, they usually end up a stuttering mess

“w-well, L/N-san...”

kentaro slowly warming up to you but still looks like he wants to spike a volleyball at your face 90% of the time but unlike before you’re used to his whole thing already.

“Move, extra.”

“You were great, by the way. That was a powerful spike!”

you may or may not be included in random ramen nights with the team

yes, oikawa buys you your own bowl of ramen

itadakimasu.

he doesn’t mind tho, he really loves how you write them.

so its sort of a thank you for giving the team justice when you write about them.

team says you’re technically part of the team so they make you your own jersey. Now when you watch your games people ask if you’re like the manager or smthng.

“ no :’) “

When they lost against shiratorizawa and karasuno, you were bawling too like you were apart of the team.

this pretty much cheered everyone up despite the loss because your crying face was apparently very funny and memable.

oh right, your article was passed on to the town’s newspaper

it was literally like 7 am on a saturday and your notifs went zoop.

they added you to their group chat and spammed you with pictures of the articles that you wrote.

“...wOW I CAN’T BELIEVE IT?? YOU GOT FRONT PAGE FOR SPORTS???” -Oikawa

“we didn’t even win the tournament but we still get a feature?? thats so cool?? holy shit?? CONGRATS KSKSKS” -matsukawa

lmao idk matsukawa looks like a keyboard smasher tbh idk why

pretty much its normal for you to even start hanging out already outside of the court and after practice to get steam buns.

more chaotic mess and clumsy you running around.

your volleyball sports writing experience wouldn’t be complete until someone accidentally spikes a ball at the back of your head amaright?

ironically, it’s yahaba who does that to you. poor smoll bean.

“wow, you’re dumb.” -kentaro says to you

“ :’)” -you.

“y/N-SAN I SWEAR IT WAS AN ACCIDENT.” -yahaba

overall, you found yourself in a safe haven with the volleyball team and yes, you also cried when the third years graduated.

the third years have a picture with everyone on the team + you with a very red face from all the crying?? once again, you’ve proven yourself to be a meme.

continued to write for them up until graduation.

and its def obvious you kept in touch with all of them after, duh.

#haikyuu!!#haikyū!!#haikyuu imagines #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu aoba johsai #haikyuu scenarios #aoba johsai x reader #haikyu headcanons #haikyu scenarios

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rpgmgames · 5 years

Photo

November’s Featured Game: Grimm's Hollow

DEVELOPER(S): ghosthunter ENGINE: RPG Maker 2003 GENRE: Indie RPG, Adventure WARNINGS: Discussions of death, losing a loved one, grief SUMMARY: Grimm’s Hollow is a spooky, freeware RPG where you search the afterlife for your brother. Reap ghosts with your scythe, explore haunted caves, and eat ghostly treats on your journey through death.

Download the game here! Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! *BB: My name's Bruno and I did some of the music along with Nat! I’m super happy to have participated in this game! *NW: I’m Nat Wesley, a.k.a. Natbird! I’m a composer available for hire with a few projects in the works. I’m honored to have had the chance to work on the soundtrack to Grimm’s Hollow! *GH: Hello! I go by ghosthunter online; I started developing RPGs with a friend in school when we found out that we both enjoyed RPG Horror. I enjoy art, webcomics, cartoons and narrative-driven indie games a lot. I bought RM2K3 on sale and started pouring pixel art into it, before learning how to do things like chase scenes, cutscenes, etc. I used to fantasize about making my own game, drawing dungeons and ghosts in the back of my sketchbooks, before I finally started Grimm’s Hollow. Now I’m near the end of high-school, and I’m hoping the best for uni!

What is your project about? What inspired you to create this game initially? *GH: Grimm’s Hollow, originally, wasn’t as ambitious or personal. It was simply just going to be “my first game”, something that I could finally put my doodles and RM2K3 skills to. I wanted a game that a younger me would have enjoyed, back when I first discovered the classic RPGMaker games and replayed them constantly for those endings. That was my initial inspiration. It eventually evolved into an action turn-based RPG that relies on timing, yet it’s mostly narrative-driven. You traverse death in search of your sibling, and try to make an escape. There are unexpected pieces of me that ended up in this game, some of which I’m still noticing even now.

How long have you been working on your project? *GH: Since the summer of June 2018.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *GH: Standstill Girl, OFF by Mortis Ghost, Undertale, Over The Garden Wall, and the animation medium in general.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *GH: Many! Making your first game is such a giant learning curve, that the list of challenges goes on. I would say that the most difficult issue I encountered (and that, in some ways, I am still facing after release) is working around the limitations of the game engine I am using. I wanted to see whether creating an engaging but simple 1-party RPG in RM2K3 (without going completely custom) was feasible, and I experimented with quick time events as part of that. I worked around the engine’s built-in formulae so players could see progress when they upgraded their stats - although the game might display as defence as “10”, in reality the game stores it as 40 since the engine splits defence by 4. Since I did not want to create an RPG which was too complex for my first game, I also scrapped traditional staples such as armour or weapons. There were also issues such as having an appropriate “game over” handling event which wouldn’t shoot you back to the title screen after you lost a battle; getting RM2K3 to play a small cutscene where you faint and respawn somewhere else was tricky. I felt that if the player had to reload after a loss, it would disrupt the game flow.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *GH: Like I mentioned before, the game started off impersonal. I just had a soft spot for a spooky cute aesthetic, and I wanted to indulge in that. It was (and in its essence, still is) meant to be a short story, to keep the player invested for the short game length - nothing grandiose. The original draft did not have Baker play a role in the narrative - he was just an ordinary shopkeeper NPC. For a long time during development, Lavender did not even have a name. In the very first draft, she was a silent protagonist the player could name and customize. But she played a very active role in the final outline, so it was hard not to give her own unique voice when one emerged from the narrative naturally. I am glad I did; she grew on me quite quickly! Grimm was virtually unchanged from beginning to end. The only difference was that a close friend suggested that he seemed like he would be into drinking Oolong tea - so that’s what he offers you when you meet him. Timmy also did not go under massive overhauls like Lavender and Baker did, but his relationship with Lavender became much more fleshed out as I wrote the narrative. In other facets of the game’s design, there were not many changes to the original prototype.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *GH: It was just myself, doing the art, writing, programming, etc. But halfway through creating the second cave, I realised I would need a very specific sound for Grimm’s Hollow. So, I contacted Nat for music, but I also created a post on tumblr calling for a composer since there were many tracks to make. I met Bruno as a result! I am very happy with their work and I am so grateful I’ve got to work with them! (Some players are asking for an OST release, which is in the works).

What is the best part of developing a game? *GH: I really enjoyed the early stages of development: creating new tilesets, sprites and maps and piecing them together in the editor, then taking a small screenshot and sharing it with my friend over summer vacation … It was nice to see the game’s world slowly come together. I think that’s what I enjoyed the most from beginning to end: that sense of world-building, that sense of relaxation from making a small cosy game. The latter started to disappear as work and other responsibilities started to intrude, and pressure began to seep into development time - but I never stopped loving making the world and characters. I also want to say that, by lucky chance, I have met a lot of kind people from making my first game. I’m very grateful for that, so thank you to everyone.

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *GH: All the time! Other RPG Maker 2003 projects are great inspirations for pixel art tilesets, as well as how to code harder features such as custom menus. They’re also just fun to play.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *GH: Lavender and Timmy are relatable to me in multiple ways. I can’t elaborate on Timmy since that would go into spoiler territory, but I somewhat relate to Lavender’s insistence on managing her life on her own - sometimes to her own detriment. I’d say the most fun character to write for was Grimm. He can be unintentionally silly while speaking in the most formal way, but also very caring too. Everything he does and says was easy to write, whereas I had to think harder for the interactions between everyone else - especially for very crucial scenes regarding their development. That being said, my favourite is still the game’s central two siblings. I can not pick between them for the life of me.

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *GH: I wish I started testing even earlier! Not only does it give you a good sense of what’s missing, but seeing people enjoy what you’ve made yet get hindered by bugs is a very strong incentive to fix your game immediately. When I was lacking motivation or was stuck, I found that good feedback and support made me motivated again. I also wish that I could have pushed the deadline a little further, or perhaps released the game on Early Access since it will take me a while to refine post-release bugs - but as it is, the 31st of October really was the deadline for my game due to external circumstances (no, that deadline wasn’t just because it was Halloween!). Other than that, I wonder if using an updated version of RPG Maker would have produced the same game …? It’s hard to tell, but I hope people enjoy it for what it is - I will be working on that post-release patch soon!

Do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *GH: There are no current plans, but I would be happy to have the opportunity to improve and expand on the game. As it is, the game’s released for free and done as a hobby, so I would struggle to do that by myself.

What do you most look forward to now that you have finished the game? *GH: Earlier on, I was really looking forward to players’ reactions. Games are made to be fun, and I would have felt distraught if my game didn’t achieve what it was set out to do. Yet it was not just about the gameplay; it was about the narrative. I hoped that what I found funny, the player would too; what was heartfelt to me, was heartfelt to the player as well. Like sharing a laugh, or just a good experience together. I hoped they would enjoy the feeling that went into it, despite the struggle of making it against circumstance and limitations. Now, I look forward to resting and sleeping once this over. I want to explore my other interests, improve, and explore new media. I want to relax, and refocus again like I was before the heat of development.

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *GH: Bugs! Some are easy to fix, but others are harder due to the limitations of the engine (e.g an error in one ending is caused by an overflow error).

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *GH: Show your game as early as possible, to as many people as possible. As soon as you have something playable, it’s ready for feedback. You’ll see if that game mechanic you spent hours refining works, or if it doesn’t work and why. You’ll understand what players enjoy and what they want more of, but also what they don’t like or don’t enjoy. And you will definitely encounter bugs. You’ll be able to pinpoint and fix minor problems early on that can easily become a larger issue later. You’ll be able to fine-tune your game so its best bits shine, and the difficulty is just right.

Question from last month's featured dev @dead-dreams-dev: Is there anything you’ve added to your game for no other reason than because you’re hoping fans will get a kick out of it? Fanservice, fourth wall breakage, references to other games, jokes, abilities that are just ridiculously overpowered and badass, etc? *GH: It’s hard to say; game design is trying to find the intersection between what’s good for the player, what the developer enjoys, and what’s feasible to implement. Every decision made should be conscious of that … I think a lot of the game’s early light-hearted jokes was not only made because I enjoyed it, but I hoped the player would “get a kick out of it” too. But more so, I think it’s because I would struggle to write a story which is serious and bleak from beginning to end. The game is a little self-indulgent in the narrative that way.

We mods would like to thank ghosthunter & team for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Grimm's Hollow if you haven’t already! See you next month!

- Mods Gold & Platinum

#rpgmaker #rpg maker games #indie games #pixel games #rpg #adventure #cute #grimms hollow #grimm's hollow #gotm #game of the month #gotm 2019 #2019 #game of the month 2019 #november #november 2019

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sickcyclist · 3 years

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This is the story of my day. It actually starts yesterday, when a heaven-sent rain swept in and cleared the smoke and cooled the air and tamped down the dust on the trails. I went on a bike ride because days like that are a gift. I have exercise-induced hypoxemia, which basically means that my oxygen drops when I exercise for reasons that we still don’t understand. Exercising with oxygen helps, but I still drop into the mid-80s. I knew I was too sick to ride and that doing so would make me much more sick, but I needed it for my mind so I was willing to sacrifice my body.

So that’s the first lesson of being sick. Everyone tells you that you have to be active and it will make things better and all you have to do is just push yourself hard enough. We’ve internalized this message to the point that many people believe sick people could get better if they just PUSHED. But that’s not always true. Sometimes pushing makes you worse. Sometimes it makes you much, much worse. And that can be true even if being active and pushing hard is something you love so much that it feels like it’s core to who you are.

I knew I would have to sleep for 12+ hours to make up for the ride, and I knew that I would have bad oxygen saturation stats because of it. And since I don’t have a real job, it should be easy to just take a lazy day (or week, or month) and get better, right? But actually I do have a real job and that job is to keep myself alive. It’s the job of a lot of us who are chronically ill, and it’s not a profession I would recommend. It’s not fun and it’s not rewarding and no one admires you for it and you’re not asked to speak to 5th graders on career day and you rarely get to move on to a newer, more interesting project.

Here’s what this particular day at work looked like for me. I woke up to a voicemail saying that my pulmonology appointment for Friday had been cancelled. I’ve been waiting to see a pulmonologist since March and was supposed to have an appointment weeks ago, but that was cancelled because the doctor quit two days beforehand. The other doctor in town couldn’t see me until the end of October, so I looked for a doctor in a bigger town hundreds of miles away. She comes highly recommended and in a way I’m happy because I strongly prefer female doctors, but for whatever reason she had to “clear her morning.” My new appointment is five weeks from now. I got off the phone and sobbed, which is not a good thing to do when your lungs don’t work. I probably could have toughed it up and avoided crying if I hadn’t worn myself down so much biking yesterday, but such is life.

I emailed my primary care provider asking for a note saying I could travel with my portable oxygen concentrator. I was supposed to get this letter from my pulmonologist, but now I won’t have a pulmonologist before I travel. The letter has to say that I use oxygen for sleep and activity, but it also has to specify that I won’t use oxygen on the plane. Which is a little funny because airplanes have extremely powerful oxygen-producing systems for emergencies, but they don’t like people who need oxygen because they don’t like the risk that comes with having sick people on board (think emergency landings). So people who need oxygen all the time need their own oxygen concentrator and battery power for the equivalent of 1.5x the time they will be in the air. I’m going on an 8-hour flight and it would cost about $400 to get strong enough batteries for that length. So I need them to let me carry my machine, which has lithium ion batteries that are otherwise prohibited. But in order to carry my machine I need to prove that I won’t be needing it.

I have a great primary care provider. I knew she would write the note. Easy peasy.

My next voicemail was from the specialty pharmacy that my insurance provider uses for certain drugs. I am allergic to a hormone all women produce as part of the menstrual cycle. This allergy is so severe that it has been responsible for 5 miscarriages, and it also means that I’m more miserable than usual for half the month. The good news is that all you have to do to stop it is take out your ovaries, but when you do that you go into full menopause. Which is not desirable because it increases your risk of cancer and osteoporosis and just overall mortality. Like not even from one thing. Just people who go into menopause early die early from all causes and we don’t know why.

That gives you some perspective on what the benefits have to look like in order for the cost-benefit analysis to still auger in favor of ovary removal. But since it is such a serious choice, you have to be sure. And the way you make sure is to stop your ovaries from working with a drug. The drug has hideous short and long term side effects, so if you feel better while taking it, that’s a pretty strong sign that an oophorectomy is the choice for you.

Approval for me to receive this particular drug was in limbo because the provider accidentally entered the wrong diagnosis. I have, as you can imagine, a lot of diagnoses. Entering the wrong diagnosis in this case was particularly funny because I’ve spent the last 6 months fighting with Blue Cross to get an expensive medicine that helps with my allergies. This medicine (Xolair) is approved for chronic urticaria (hives). It is not approved for progesterone hypersensitivity. I have both, which means I itch a lot for two weeks of the month and itch so much that I want to peel my skin off for two weeks of the month. Blue Cross argued that I wanted the drug for progesterone hypersensitivity. No medical provider said that, but it was the diagnosis they could use to deny the drug. Xolair costs $4000 a month. At that price it’s worth it to them to grind people down and hope they give up. It took four appeals and my lawyer (husband) to get the drug approved because I do indeed have chronic urticaria. It’s worked wonders for me, especially being allergic to the sun. You have no idea how easy it is to descend into madness when you are itchy all the time.

I went over all this with my new OB. I explained that, while the allergy shot solved the itching, it didn’t fix any of my systemic problems, which is why I was still interested in removing my ovaries. And because the conversation focused on how this ovary-suppressing drug (Lupron) specifically wasn’t for urticaria, it’s perhaps not surprising that she accidentally listed urticaria as the reason for the prescription. It’s like when you’re afraid you’ll mispronounce someone’s name. You tell yourself, “Say Kee-a, not Ky-a,” so many times that you’re basically guaranteed to call the person Ky-a.

So my ovary medicine was denied, of course, but I contacted my doctor’s office last week explaining the problem and they were very quick to apologize and resubmit. I returned the call from the specialty pharmacy but apparently they had just wanted to let me know that they were sorry for the delay. It was very polite of them but maybe didn’t require a phone call.

Then I got an email from Blue Cross Blue Shield. I logged in to read that coverage had again been denied (no reason stated) and that if I wanted to appeal the decision I would have to appeal through their specialty pharmacy. They gave me the name and number. Of a different specialty pharmacy than the one I had been dealing with for the past month. The one that I had already wrangled account numbers and diagnosis codes and special customer service phone lines out of. I typed up a polite response inquiring why I need to change pharmacies. And then I cried, but only just a little this time.

Then I called Walgreen’s because my medication for muscle spasms had been delayed and I received a note saying the pharmacist needed to speak to me. I am hypermobile so my connective tissue is just a little too bendy. My joints slip in and out all the time and my muscles have to overwork to hold my body together. Frequently they overwork so much that they lock up. This happens much more frequently in the progesterone-dominant phase of my cycle. Physical therapy is the best treatment, but sometimes I need muscles relaxants before I can even start physical therapy.

The man I spoke to at Walgreen’s told me I didn’t have a prescription for that drug. Then he told me I had a prescription but it had expired in March of 2020. I knew that wasn’t true because I hadn’t used it for years but had to start again when I got COVID. So I had no prescription in March of 2020 but I definitely did in March of 2021. No big deal. Just a simple computer error. Totally understandable in a pandemic, and I knew my doctor would refill it anyway. But he apparently felt that it was a big deal and wouldn’t submit the refill to my provider. I have no idea why. Maybe he thought I was engaged in drug-seeking behavior. Or maybe he was having a bad day. But he wouldn’t submit the refill. I hung up the phone and screamed. Loudly. Which really is not a good thing to do when your lungs don’t work.

Murry came up and rubbed the spasm out of my shoulder and listened to me vent and offered to be my medical power of attorney so he could deal with these people for me. But he’s the one with the real job that earns real money and when I’m sick he also cooks and cleans and does the shopping and walks the dogs. I may not be any good at the shitty job I had, but there’s no way I’m going to make him do it.

I switched tactics and chatted with someone through the Walgreen’s app. He was lovely and had no problem submitting my prescription for a refill. Easy peasy.

My final task for the day was calling to find out about the status of my CPAP prescription. I don’t have sleep apnea but while I’m asleep my breathing does slow down significantly enough that my oxygen drops (hypopnea). I need a special CPAP that adjust the pressure to my breathing, but it will get me off of oxygen at night. I’m very excited for it.

My insurance does not require prior authorization for CPAP prescriptions. However, St. Pete’s has its own prior authorization department that I guess makes sure you are not lying about not needing prior authorization? This department is, apparently, understaffed. I called my oxygen “rep” to find out how it was going. She very kindly bypassed the prior authorization department and called Blue Cross directly. Blue Cross informed her, as had I, that a prior authorization was not necessary. She could officially get me a CPAP.

Except that there is a national CPAP shortage. So she will try her best to get me one as soon as they get more. Hopefully this month. Even the rare, wonderful people who try to help you are sometimes as helpless as you.

I didn’t cry this time. Crying doesn’t fix anything and I can’t risk losing more oxygen. So I turned to writing therapy instead.

This was a bad day at work, but there are rarely good ones. It sucks to be sick, but I’m smart, articulate, overly educated, wealthy, and white. It could suck so, so much more. Someday I’ll turn all of this knowledge that I never wanted into something that helps people other than myself. Until then maybe someone will read this and know they are not alone. If being sick is your job, I see you. I would give you a hug—or a bonus!—if I could.

#lupus #chronic illness #hypermobility #connective tissue disease #exercise hypoxemia #progesterone hypersensitivity #health care efficiency #health insurance navigation #immunocompromised #biking with oxygen #care coorination

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curedeity · 3 years

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Gasher's Dilemma

Summary: Madoka and her struggle to be happy as support. (I described this to a friend as: I decided to write a fic on the intersection between beyblade, sports, and feminism. My friend laughed so hard they may have died, and I can’t blame them.)

Madoka thinks she used to like battling. Maybe she didn’t love it, but she certainly didn’t hate clashing beys in the arena with someone else. Watching sparks fly had never failed to bring wonder into her childish heart.

And Madoka thinks she used to hate battling.

Madoka had never been very good at battling, if she had to rank herself, she’d say she was middling. She’d known how to put a decent strategy together, and she knew the basics of beybattles, but she was always just off.

She lost a lot.

She remembers once a kid--- she can’t even remember if she knew him--- kicking her bey out of the ring after a loss. He told her to quit battling because she was obviously never going to be any good at it, she didn’t have the stuff for beybattles.

Madoka thinks she cried that day.

Madoka loved her bey, Mad Gasher. She hadn’t made it from scratch, but with the help of her parents. She’d worked on most of its modifications alone, and loved watching her improvements spring to life in the arena.

She still didn’t win much.

The training centers had begun to feel oppressive, it always felt like everyone was watching at her, waiting to laugh at her failure. She felt heavy everytime she entered, like chains were weighing her down.

Madoka decided one day it was best to just focus on her mechanical skills.

She’d nearly forgotten about her old interest in beybattles after a while. Mechanics was just really fulfilling for her. She loved helping out all the bladers that would come to her store, and loved it even more when a little boy had returned and thanked her.

It wasn’t until she met Hikaru that she began to think back on those days she’d used to battle.

Hikaru was a great friend. Madoka hadn’t gotten to know her that well prior to Battle Bladers, but as Hikaru took on a job at the WBBA, Madoka started to see her more and more. They met up for lunch at least once a week, and Hikaru would stop by the shop when she got off early in the evenings and join Madoka, and whoever else was hanging around, for dinner.

Madoka hadn’t had another female friend for years. Most of the bladers who came into her shop were boys, most of the mechanics she met at the WBBA were boys. Everyone she really got a chance to interact in her domain was a boy.

She shouldn’t mind it--- really! It’s not like she disliked her friends, Gingka and Kenta were both great and she loved talking with them. Gingka had so much energy, and Kenta was always eager to learn!

So why had she nearly cried when she got home after her first lunch with Hikaru? Why did Madoka love talking to Hikaru so much, and feel so at ease around her?

Madoka felt terrible--- shouldn’t she appreciate Kenta and Gingka this much?

Madoka felt amazing, and she set up to meet Hikaru again and again.

It was during one of these lunches that Hikaru began to complain about the environment around competitive beyblading.

“It’s a dick club Madoka, honestly,” Hikaru complained, and Madoka almost snorted out the milk she was drinking, Hikaru sighed and laid her chin in her hand, a sparkle of laughter in her eyes. “They were always like you can’t be that good of a blader, you’re just a tiny little girl, girls don’t have any muscle mass. God did it feel amazing to finally get good enough to start kicking their asses.”

“Beyblade is, statistically, overrun by male competitors.” Madoka didn’t need a stats chart to tell her that, she’d been to tournaments, Hikaru had been the only female competitor she’d seen at many of them.

“Mhm, it was rare for me to meet another female opponent. It was disheartening, I would always get shit for being a girl, and there was no one there to support me. Makes sense given the harsh atmosphere, I can’t blame them for not wanting to stay,” Hikaru sighed, and Madoka found herself shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

“It does seem like not the best environment for any girl to feel safe in,” Madoka added in, but her heart was only half in it. What was this pressure she was feeling on herself?

“I remember this one little girl running up to me one day and saying she wanted to be as good a blader as me. I felt really good then, like I had inspired someone. But now, I just…” Hikaru trailed off.

“Feel what?” Madoka prodded, and hated herself for it. She didn’t even want this conversation to continue.

“I feel like I’ve betrayed all those little girls that looked up to me, like I’ve proven all those assholes who talked shit about me right. Look at me, I can’t… I can’t battle anymore.”

Madoka left the cafe that day feeling worse than normal, rather than better.

Madoka was enraptured by Mei Mei. The girl was very powerful and kind, and always seemed happy to see Madoka. Madoka wished they weren’t on different teams, that the tension of who would win didn’t exist, she would’ve loved to get to know the other girl better.

And Madoka was never one to not act on her wishes.

They didn’t leave China immediately after the first round, they still had another two days left. So Madoka set the boys up with some food, a training plan, and yelled a quick goodbye before she set off for Beylin Temple.

Mei Mei welcomed her with open arms and a cup of tea. She was invited into what she believed was Mei Mei’s room, and they sat together as Madoka asked about Wang Hu Zhong.

Apparently they were planning to win the wild card tournament, which was the only path they could take now other than quitting the tournament. Madoka found herself listening entranced as Mei Mei talked about all the new strategies she was coming up with, and the training regimens they would be going through.

“I can’t believe how dedicated you all are, you’re just the sub Mei Mei and yet your training regimen sounds so much harsher than what even Gingka is doing. It's no wonder Wang Hu Zhong is so good if you all hold yourselves to those standards,” Madoka praised the young woman.

“It’s no big deal, we’ve always been this hard-working! It takes constant practice to become the best and live up to everyone’s expectations,” Mei Mei flexed her impressive muscles.

“It seems like all of you have really put the time and effort in to improve,” Madoka nodded.

“We have,” Mei Mei smiled, but Madoka could detect a twinge of sourness in it. A note of discontent. A glint of sadness.

“I wish my team had that amount of dedication, they all love beyblade but can’t seem to focus on any of the training I give them, and their egos always make them clash,” Madoka sighed.

“Your team probably didn’t need to dedicate themselves that much,” Mei Mei mumbled, balling her fists, and Madoka found herself immediately going on the defensive.

“Listen my team may look disorganized but all of them have worked hard to get where they are-” Madoka began, determined not to let anyone minimize the accomplishments of her friends.

“Sorry, wait, that’s not what I meant, honest!” Mei Mei waved her hands in surrender, and Madoka felt herself immediately backing down. Why had she gotten so defensive, Mei Mei was a friend and had only been nice to her. “Most of my team didn’t have to be as dedicated as me either.”

Madoka frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Mei Mei shifted, but with a look up at Madoka she seemed to calm down, and Madoka found herself giving the other woman a reassuring smile. “It’s, well, you see, it’s pretty obvious I’m the only female trainee in all of Beylin Temple.”

Madoka thought back, and found she couldn’t think of an example to prove Mei Mei wrong. Mei Mei was the only girl she’d seen in this giant temple.

The thought made Madoka want to cry.

“I’ve always had to work really hard to earn my place here. Every time I mess up, it feels like they’ll just kick me out. I have to be perfect to stay, because it feels like I’ve already messed up just for being a girl, so if I mess up again I’ll just be out. No one else has to worry about that, Da Xiang and Chi Yun have never had to feel that way. They don’t even seem to notice I’m the only girl here.” Mei Mei looked close to tears, and Madoka scooted closer so she could rub circles on her back.

“I thought--- I thought I was finally good enough. That I’d finally earned my place here for good. I worked so hard, I practice most nights, and I’m the best at almost any training exercise. I might not be very smart, but I never give up. I thought maybe I’d finally be good enough, but then Chao Xin had to show up and beat me like it was easy. Like, no matter what I did, I still couldn’t measure up to just some random boy.”

Madoka found herself giving Mei Mei both her own and Hiakru’s phone numbers before they left the next day.

Russia sure was a trip for the team. After days on the train, bored out of her mind, Madoka thought that was how the rest of the trip would be. Of course, Masamune had to then go missing, and Madoka had to stay up every night communicating with the WBBA and trying to find him.

Her eyes burned with tiredness, and she wanted to fall asleep for days.

But there were only 2 days remaining in Russia, and she still had so much she wanted to discuss and learn from the Russian team. As much as Madoka was involved with beyblade, her side had always been more mechanical and scientific. She knew she could learn a lot from a team that straddled both her side and the side of her team.

She emailed Aleksei ahead of time, asking if she could come over to talk. He responded nearly immediately with the address of where Lavushka was staying, and Madoka made her way over.

It was a nice enough conversation, once Madoka got Aleksei to stop apologizing. They had a really good system, and Madoka found her head spinning with the amount of scientific knowledge they buried her in.

She got tips on her training plans, and ways to create new moves in regards to the mechanical properties of each bey. They all had unique perspectives on it, and Madoka found herself hanging off every rare word from Nowaguma. His insight on how to create more powerful attacks would be really helpful.

Lera offered to walk her back to the hotel where she was staying when night began to fall. Madoka couldn’t help but feel grateful, she hadn’t been looking forward to being alone in the dark. Her parents had always told her to never be caught outside after the sun set, and Madoka kept that advice buried deep within her instincts.

Madoka hadn’t gotten along with Lera that well when they first met, most likely because Lera had been trying to trick them, but Madoka still felt bad about that.

She also felt bad about disliking how loud the girl was, especially when 3 out of the 4 members of the team she had were even louder boys.

Lera was incredibly intelligent. She talked about rocket physics in such a colloquial manner that even the boys might’ve even been able to understand her. Madoka knew from experience how hard it was to explain stuff simply for other people without as much expertise in the field to understand, and Lera seemed to do it naturally.

“So you think that by changing the bey’s weight like that it would almost get rid of friction?” Madoka wondered.

“Yeah! That’s what I’m going to be testing out first when we reach the labs. I have most of my prior research already completed, and it’s a good topic for my thesis. I might need Aleksei or Nowaguma to agree to test it out for me…” Lera trailed off at the end.

“Do you need them to test it so you can take the data?’ Madoka asked, but knew that wasn’t the answer. She could take her own data perfectly well while in a battle, even though she hadn’t done so in a while.

“Nah, it’s just that to test it out I’d want to try it against a variety of opponents, which means going to a local bey club,” Lera screwed up her face in mockery.

“You don’t like the clubs?” That was fairly obvious, but the question was more serving as a why.

“They’re completely filled with boys, and none of them will take me seriously when I ask them to battle. And if I win they get mad and call it a fluke. It’s like none of them can just take a loss from someone without a dick,” Lera complained. Despite the jokey tone of her voice, Madoka could still hear the undercurrent of anger beneath it. Anger at how society dared to treat her.

Madoka thinks she felt that anger too.

“That does seem to be one of the few similarities in the countries I’ve visited so far. Boys being scared if they even are slightly shown up by a girl that they’ll suddenly lose all their masculinity and never crawl out of the deep pit of despair,” Madoka added in, and found herself remembering the boys who used to mock her when she was a child.

They were always boys. The clubs were always full of boys, and there was no space for her there, no room for her to mess up, because she was already an outsider.

But Madoka had messed up, so much.

“It’s not like I got anything to prove to them though, they can die angry, I mean, look at me! I’m on the Russian team!” Lera did a little twirl and Madoka found herself giggling at the girl’s overdramatics. “I’m never going to be able to do anything to make those boys respect me, or make them happy with me, so why should I try? I know who I am, I’m a scientist, and I’m fucking great at it.”

When they arrived at Madoka’s apartment, she accepted a quick hug from Lera. Maybe from that hug Lera could pass some of the willpower she had to Madoka, because Madoka could use it.

She ordered some flowers for Hikaru that night, and added a little note to them. There are people you will never live up to the expectations of, and people who will accept you just the way you are, because living up to the standards is impossible, you can only live by your own.

Madoka wasn’t very good at writing notes, but from the two hour long call she and Hikaru had the next day, Madoka thinks Hikaru understood.

Madoka had a lot of time to think on the flights they were constantly taking. Even with all the work she was taking on, it couldn’t take up all the time.

Had she given up on battling not because she disliked it, but because the environment was so unwelcoming? Had she let a ton of sexists bully her out of it? Was it her fault? No, of course it wasn’t, so why did she still feel like a failure.

Madoka wanted to love mechanics, wanted to love being support, but how could she when it just seemed to prove what everyone said right? Why did all this have to be so complicated, she just wanted to live her life however she wanted!

And why did it feel like there’d never be a right choice?

Because no matter what she did, the words Lera told her and she told Hikaru were correct. There was no way to live up to their expectations.

Why was that so hard to deal with though?

Wild Fang didn’t have any women on its team. Madoka tried not to feel personally about it, but she couldn’t help but remember when she had watched matches as a little girl, and asked her parents why there weren’t any girls playing.

She wondered if there were little girls at home watching this match and seeing that there was no space for them here.

Madoka didn’t want to be thankful for the injuries her team suffered, but at least they took her mind off this. At least they gave her something else to think about than how much of a failure she might look to other girls watching from home.

Mei Mei texted her at 1 in the morning after her loss saying that she was glad that if she had to lose it was to another woman. At least then one of them could move on.

The match between Excalibur was stressful, and Madoka felt ready to shatter at any moment. Tsubasa had lost control again, and Gingka had battled looking almost as battered as he did in his last match against Kyoya.

Yet they all pulled through the challenge, they all rose to meet it, and came out victorious.

And Madoka had never been able to rise enough to pass the challenge of sexism.

Madoka hoped that Excalibur won the chance to battle Galaxy again, she hoped that Sophie was able to stand on the winners podium, if only to show young women that they could.

If only to show Madoka that she could.

It was afternoon in the hotel they were staying at. Madoka was making a quick lunch for the team. Yu had joined her in the kitchen this time, and Madoka took to teaching him some basics about chopping vegetables and using the stove. She didn’t expect a kid as young as him to be able to do complicated cooking, but she had learned after Kenta that it was worth it to give these children some basics otherwise they’d just live off fast food whenever they were journeying alone.

Tsubasa, Gingka and Masamune were all watching matches on the TV. It was a junior tournament, with some beginners getting their first taste of a proper tournament scene.

Madoka wasn’t paying that much attention to it, but she found herself suddenly doing so at a comment from Masamune.

“Kinda weird that there are no girls in this tournament, huh?” Masamune mentioned as he munched on some popcorn.

Gingka nodded in agreement. “There aren’t many girls at tournaments I suppose, I’ve never really noticed before.”

“I wonder why that is? Maybe not as many like beyblade, or are as good at it, or as competitive. They just aren’t into it I suppose.” Masamune said that so… so… casually! Like he just couldn’t understand why there wouldn’t be any girls in a tournament. Like it was just fun food for thought for him.

Like he just hadn’t suggested that girls didn’t enter tournaments because they just weren’t as good as the boys, like there was something wrong with them.

Madoka couldn’t hear if anyone agreed with him, or if anyone argued. Maybe that was for the best. She was out the door within a second.

Madoka walked, and walked, and she was going nowhere. Was this always how it was? No matter how much she improved, she’d always be stuck right here in her square of being a failure. And why was she a failure when she just wanted to be herself!

She wished she could make it so Mei Mei would never cry again feeling like there was too much pressure on her to be perfect or she’d be kicked out. She wished she could make it so Lera felt safe doing her research rather than only being able to rely on Aleksei and Nowaguma because she couldn’t ask anyone else for help without it being seen as her being unable to carry her own weight. She wished she could make it so Hikaru didn’t feel guilty about having to retire from battling so she could mentally recover.

She wished she could make it so that she felt ok just living as she was.

Madoka didn’t know where she was, but that had been normal for the past few months. Madoka had been travelling so much, not only externally but internally. She felt disconnected from everything she’d thought she was.

She was drifting.

She just needed a safe harbor to dock at, one that could tell her it was ok, one that would tell her she was enough.

That’s when she spotted Excalibur exiting one of the shops. Excalibur, which had Sophie as one of its members.

She was walking over to them before she’d had time to think, before she’d had time to be rational. Sophie was just so regal every time they met. The woman seemed completely confident in her own abilities and skills. She was almost radiant in the comfortability she exuded.

“Oh, hello Madoka,” Wales greeted as she neared them, and the entire team turned to lock their eyes on her. She found herself shriveling a bit inside from their intense glares, of course they wouldn’t be that friendly to her, they were still enemies in the tournament.

But…

Madoka wasn’t a fucking coward, and she wasn’t one to back down once she’d started something. “I was wondering if I could talk to you, Sophie?” She hoped her voice came out loud, confident, like the woman she wanted to talk to, but her voice just sounded small and broken.

“Listen, we’re enemies, we don’t have time to-” Konzern began to lecture her, and Madoka found herself ignoring him. She didn’t actually care what he thought.

“How are you able to be so confident, and, and just keep battling despite the fact you're the only girl there? How do you deal with it and look so unbothered, because it’s obvious to me already that Europe is just the same as everywhere else, so how are you able to keep going?” Was Madoka making sense? Madoka thinks her thoughts had stopped being coherent a long time ago. She stopped understanding things, stopped understanding herself.

A warm hand was laid on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Sophie smiling down at her. It was a soft smile, full of understanding. It was like all the other girls Madoka had met on the way here, the mutual experience they all shared with one another. “There’s a park just a few blocks from here, why don’t we go there so we can talk somewhere less busy?”

The park was quiet, and mostly empty. There were a few joggers running on the paths winding through it, and Madoka could hear the faint laughter of children, but for the most part, she and Sophie were alone.

Sophie led her to a bench and handed Madoka a handkerchief. Madoka couldn’t even argue the gesture, she felt like she might start crying at any moment.

“So then, do you want to tell me about it?” Sophie asked, and Madoka looked into the eyes of this near stranger and found that she trusted her to understand the flurry of emotions that had been building inside of Madoka for weeks, so she let it all out.

She doubted what she was saying made any sense to Sophie, but more and more words just came pouring out. The way she was realizing that her bullying as a child had been influenced by sexism. Her love for mechanics but her guilt at not being more proactive. The things Masamune had said. Her want to be a role model for other girls, but how could she be a role model when she was always in the background?

Madoka told Sophie everything, and Sophie sat and listened, and when she was done, after asking for permission, Sophie reached over and hugged her.

The handkerchief was soaked by the end.

“I think we all feel that way sometimes, as if by not being everything and more that we’re letting someone down. That we’re letting other little girls like we used to be. That’s who we’re trying to live up to the expectations for, that imaginary little girl. But in the end, all we can be is ourselves. That’s how I make it through each battle, each loss, each remark thrown at me. I think that just by being me I’ll inspire someone, because if I wasn’t myself I’d just be lying to all those young girls. I think I can be a role model just the way I am, and maybe one day they’ll be even better role models than me, and more and more girls will be able to flourish in beyblade. I don’t know what the future holds, but in the end all I can be is myself, and hope it’s enough for those girls. Because it’s also the only way I can ever be happy.” Sophie answered Madoka’s questions from so long ago, and Madoka finally felt ready to take those words to heart.

“It’s just, hard, not to try to take any responsibility about the institutions running society. Because I am a part of society, so shouldn’t I work to change and revolutionize it? But you’re right that if I were someone I’m not, I’d just be unhappy,” Madoka sighed.

“I think all women are inspiring just the way they are, doing things that make them happy. I just wish society didn’t make us doubt it, and push us away from what we want.”

All the girls Madoka had met were very inspiring. Hikaru with her determination to continue making others happy. Mei Mei with her pure love for battling and her crazy training. Lera’s incredible scientific genius and confidence in her abilities.

Madoka didn’t want to change a single one of them, they should all get to be happy the way they were.

And Madoka didn’t want to change herself, she wanted to be happy being her.

It was society that had to move over and make way for her.

Sophie ordered a car to help get Madoka back to her hotel. Somehow, Madoka had wandered halfway around the city, and it was starting to get late.

Sophie gave Madoka her number before she went inside, and Madoka found herself smiling as she added another woman to her ever-growing list of friends.

She hesitated a bit before the door to their shared room. She had left her team suddenly, they must be worried about her. But she couldn’t bring herself to regret her decision, not when she had managed to talk to Sophie.

She entered the room quietly, but that still didn’t stop everyone from noticing her entrance. Tsubasa was on the phone with--- that sounded like Hikaru? Gingka and Masamune seemed to be arguing over a map, and Yu had been pacing until he spotted Madoka.

“Madoka! You’re back!” Yu cried as he launched himself into Madoka’s arms. She stumbled backwards as she caught him, bracing herself against the doorway. Madoka may have been small for her age, but carrying around mechanical parts everywhere had made her rather bulky, and she held Yu easily.

“Madoka!” Gingka and Masamune cried at once, coming to hover around her. Tsubasa followed at a more leisurely pace, but Madoka could still see relief flooding his eyes.

“I’m sorry I worried you all?” Madoka managed to get out. They were all so close to her, and looking at her with such a range of emotions. How was she supposed to explain what had happened? And what had happened here?

“We’re just glad you’re back,” Tsubasa said softly, giving her a tiny smile. Madoka returned it gratefully, and put down Yu, who had finally stopped clinging to her.

“Where did you go?” Yu demanded, crossing his arms.

Madoka floundered for a second, but Hikaru on the phone came to her aid. “I’m sure Madoka is tired right now, she can explain what happened whenever she wants to.”

Madoka thanked her and then returned to her room. She needed time to center herself, to figure out how much to tell her team.

After ten minutes a knock sounded at her door, and Madoka figured her time was up and she would have to tell everyone. With a sigh, she pushed herself up her bed, and let them enter. To her surprise though, only Masamune was standing outside the door, holding a tray loaded with food.

“Gingka made the food, the rest of the team is eating around the table right now, but Tsubasa said you might want to be alone. Well--- he also said that I might need to talk to you alone to apologize,” Masamune laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head, and Madoka led him over to sit on the side of her bed.

“I don’t really understand what happened, but Tsubasa explained to me a bit why my comments were wrong and might’ve hurt you. I really didn’t mean to do that, honestly! I might not understand but you’re a really cool friend Madoka and I wouldn’t do anything on purpose to hurt you,” Masamune apologized.

Madoka… knew all that, deep in her heart. She knew her friends were nice people that would understand and listen to her. They didn’t understand because they’d never had to think about it, not because they were purposefully cruel.

It was nice to be proven that with an apology though.

“I know you didn’t mean to hurt me Masamune,” Madoka began, giving him a kind smile. But she also needed him to understand where he was wrong, because it had hurt. “I just want to tell you why you were wrong.”

“And I’ll listen,” he promised.

So Madoka explained to him how he was blaming women for not being able to handle a hostile environment, and how discouraging and harmful it was to be surrounded by men all the time. She told him about her own experiences, and how his comments had made her feel like she wasn’t doing enough by just being herself.

Masamune wasn’t as good a listener as Sophie, he interrupted a lot, and didn’t seem to understand everything Madoka was saying. But he stayed there and tried, and apologized again when the conversation was over.

Madoka would know her words had made an impact on him just a few months later when she saw him cheer on a little girl in Dungeon Gym. He seemed perfectly focused on making sure she received the support to succeed. He was honestly going a bit overboard… and Madoka loved it.

After the conversation with Masamune, she didn’t really see anyone else for the rest of the night. The next morning, Tsubasa nodded a good morning to her as she started making breakfast, and asked if she was ok. Gingka also apologized to her and asked if she wanted to talk about anything. Yu gave her another quick hug before moving on.

Hikaru called later that night, and stayed up to chat with Madoka as she worked on maintenance for all the beys. The conversation was very relaxed, the silent understanding still existing between them.

“I think I want to try battling again, just for fun, not in competitions,” Madoka mused aloud.

“Well, you got a wide array of friends who’d be eager to be your opponent. And maybe… I’ll battle you someday,” Hikaru responded.

“I’d be honored if that day ever came,” Madoka smiled at the phone, and hoped Hikaru could hear it.

Madoka stayed in contact with all the women she had met, and put them in contact with another too. Lera and Hikaru seemed to have bonded about complaining about their bosses, and Mei Mei and Sophie were constantly passing battling tips.

Madoka loved being a girl. It was like a warm blanket that fit comfortably over her shoulders, like a happy dance in an apartment with low playing music. It just felt right, it felt serene, it felt like who she was.

And she loved working at her shop. She loved helping bladers find the perfect combination of parts and improve their strategies. She loved watching them test out her modifications in the small stadiums they had, and the way occasionally they’d thank her when they left.

And she loved it when a young girl entered her shop asking for repairs to her bey, and Madoka fixed it up, offered some advice, and watched the same girl return again and again, with more girls following her each time as they took the world by storm. She was enough, just being herself, and so were those girls.

#beyblade #beyblade metal fight #beyblade metal fusion #madoka amano #fanfiction #fanfic #gasher's dilemma #girls! i wrote the girls!#anyway here is my promised feminist piece about beyblade i hope you enjoy #i would reccomend reading it on ao3 if you can #i had a lot of fun and emotions while writing this and its very melodramatic #takes place during season 2 #i hope you enjoy

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theyreonlynoodlesmike · 4 years

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The Rant My Bestfriend and I Had Last Night...

I watched the Lost Boys beginning to end for the first time in a minute last night and this was the first time that I realized how fast-paced this movie is. Like something is always going on or always happening. Which is good! But it leads to characters like the other vamps (besides David and Star) not getting a lot of lines. I really think it would've made the movie better if, as a break to how fast-paced the movie was, we just got some scenes of the characters interacting more. And if we got some more female characters. (And if those female characters were poc then even better)

If they had aimed to hit the two hour mark instead, we literally probably could've added two more female characters! And have succeeded in not only fleshing them out, but the boys as well! That's thirty more minutes of movie time! It would've been easy!

I have my own OCs that I think would've been cool to see in the film, but overall I think the new characters should've been a foil to Star. They should've embraced vampirism just as much as the boys did, and, as the girlfriend's of two/one of the boys, they should've represented what Star could've been if she had accepted David. Like, show these girls being treated well by the boys. Show that they matter to the group, and actually have a standing within it. Make it so they show a "perfect image" that Star could've originally wanted, explaining why she joined the group in the first place.

We also think that the girls should've contrasted the boys and Star. The boys and Star are all pretty alternative. Punk/metal was obviously a counterculture, but Star is wearing hippie clothes in the 80s. That's like if someone was still wearing scene clothes in 2020. It's not a popular style, and is a form of counterculture in its own right. So, give us two vamp girls that fit in. Give us vamp girls that fit in so well, Sam likes them. Have them target Sam because they fit his aesthetic. Have them try to pull him away from the Frogs, and have him be happy because "two older girls are talking to me and think I'm cool". Have them be unassuming, so even the Frogs write them off and only consider them when they go after Max. Have Max's plan actually shown to be more strategic.

But show that the boys bring out a wilder side to the girls. Show them in the cave with them. Have Michael be so comfortable going to the cave because "they're not gonna do anything in front of their girlfriend's, right?" There's three girls, four boys, and one kid. Obviously the boys aren't gonna do anything too bad if those are the stats he's looking at. Show the boys only hazing Michael when he's alone with them. Maybe even make it ambiguous if the girls even are vampires. Have them be nice to Michael, but laugh along with Davids tricks. Have one of them say that David is just teasing. Have them make Michael feel safe through words, even if they don't do anything to stop the boys behavior.

Show them having a good relationship with Max because they're more "normal". Show that this is what Max would've liked to have as children. Have them be "daddy's girls", and have Max use the fact that he has daughters to relate to Lucy. She has two sons, he has two daughters. He knows exactly what she's going through by being a single parent, because their situations are mirrored. This simple fact alone would build their relationship so much and make it make sense why Max chooses her. Have the girls talk to Lucy, making the movie pass the Bechdel test. Have the girls like Lucy. Have the audience write off the girls and say they can't be vamps if Max isn't. Have the audience think the reason Max doesn't like the boys is because they're dating his daughters. Use them to make it even more of a reveal that Max is the head vamp.

Show the boys in love. Not in lust, in love. Humanize them. Show them being good boyfriend's, even if they get in trouble and are a bit rowdy. Even if they're killers. Use their relationship to show their personalities more. Have the boys and their girls talk in the background. Have them show affection in the background. Have them have scenes where it's just them messing around and being teens. Freaking develop their personalities. And have the girls be devastated when they die. Show them sobbing, reacting with rage, whatever. Make it so they're not just vampires, but people. Teenagers.

Have the girls talk to Star. Show the vamp girls as closer, but show that they're willing to accept Star. Show that they want to have a relationship with her, and have them express anger/annoyance over Stars' refusal of vampirism, and them, in the final battle. Have them feel betrayed over Markos death, and think that she outed them. Have them express that they just wanted Star to be one of them. That she was supposed to be Davids and then they all could've been the best of friends. Have them state that they turned Laddie so she could be happy. And, most importantly, have Star reject them. Have her stand up for herself and tell them that this isn't what she wanted. Then, have the girls turn mean. Have them reveal their vamp faces, and have them decide that if she's not with them then she's against them. And have the audience see that these girls are killers just like the boys. Make Star have a kill count.

Overall, just develop the boys and add some more female characters.

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987

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winryofresembool · 4 years

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Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 15

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Leo and Calypso talk about Leo's fear a bit (and get dorky).

A/N: Sorry for the wait! Here's finally a new chapter. I know it's a short one, kind of 'fillery', but that's because I am extremely lazy at editing. Originally this whole chapter was supposed to be 4000+ words long but then I decided 'nope, not gonna edit all that at once', so I cut it in two parts. That's also the reason why this chapter ends a bit abruptly. But don't worry because you'll see the rest of the silliness in a week and I promise there will be a lot of Caleo goodness in it (before some drama goes down, dun dun duu).

I hope you guys enjoy!! And I really, really, really do love all the comments I get!

Characters in this ch: Calypso, Leo

Words: 1300+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / next chapter / AO3

...

You… what?” Calypso asked, genuinely surprised after hearing that Leo was considering quitting his studies. “I thought mechanical engineering was your dream career? And you’ve been doing well at the university?”

Leo turned to her. Calypso didn’t remember seeing him this upset, not even when he had told her how he had ended up living with his adoptive parents.

“For the most part, I guess I have,” he sighed. “Okay, I’m not the best at writing essays and I’m a slow reader because of my dyslexia and I get distracted easily, but I don’t have trouble remembering formulas or solving some mathematical problem. The problem is I’ve been skipping lab classes because I can’t…” His gaze flicked towards the candle in a glass holder on the sofa table that Calypso had burned earlier.

“Because you don’t want to be in contact with fire.” Calypso understood without Leo finishing the sentence.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I really tried this time but I ended up panicking. I ran away when I was supposed to use the gas burner.”

“I’m sorry,” Calypso said, genuine sympathy in her voice. She squeezed his shoulder briefly.

“Nothing I can do about it anymore. Tomorrow I’ll probably get a phone call saying they don’t want to see me anymore.” Leo couldn’t look at Calypso, instead taking some random machine parts from his toolbelt and starting to twist them in his hands to try to calm his nerves.

“Don’t you think that’s overthinking it a bit?” Calypso asked. “Surely there must be something you can do.”

“Not unless I can show that I am capable of doing lab work. And soon we’ll start doing welding and all that stuff. No way I can do it in my current state.” Leo sighed.

“But there are ways to fight the fear, remember,” Calypso tried to encourage him.

“What do you know about that, anyway?” Leo snapped suddenly. “You are not afraid of fire.”

“I know more than you realize,” Calypso said, her voice getting cooler and her eyes gleaming angrily for a moment. “I may not be afraid of fire but I had to fight my fear of driving a car. It took a few months but eventually I did it.”

“Which goes to prove that you’re a way better person than I am,” Leo shot back.

“Oh, stop it with your inferiority complex!” Calypso raised her voice. Leo seemed surprised by her outburst but he didn’t protest. “Listen,” she said then, this time quieter. “I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s a long process and sometimes painful too. But based on what I know about you, you don’t seem like someone who gives up that easily.”

Something about Calypso’s words put Leo back on the right track. He was quiet for a while as he took them in, clenching his fists a couple of times.

“Yeah. You’re right. I’ve gone through too damn much to give up now. Do you think that the thing we started – you know, with the candles – would help in the long run?”

Calypso realized something about Leo’s incident at the university. “Today in the class when others were using their gas burners… did you pay attention to them?”

“No, not much,” Leo admitted, surprising himself. “Was too busy panicking about my own.”

Calypso seemed encouraged by that piece of information. “But that’s good news; it means that distraction does work.”

“So you’re saying it’s worth trying again?” Leo asked.

“Yes.” Calypso nodded. “But it alone might not work. I should remind you I’m not a professional but based on my own experiences you also have to come to terms with the reasons behind the fear. Which means, talking about it – with family, friends, a professional, even me if you want to - would be helpful. When you’re ready, of course.”

“I can’t really afford to spend any more time waiting,” Leo said. “I’m already this close to failing everything.” He put his thumb and index finger so close to each other they almost touched.

“Remember that you shouldn’t push it, though. That won’t help you erase the negative association.”

“Right,” Leo nodded, and Calypso had to admit he seemed surprisingly attentive in that moment, even if he was still fiddling with his toys. Usually he gave her the impression that his mind was in several places at the same time.

“Based on your story you’ve had enough contact with fire for one day, so maybe we’ll continue with that another time” Calypso decided, “But I have one question: how long has this been happening?”

“Since I was a kid. Probably eight” Leo answered. Calypso counted 1+1=2. Like she had suspected, the fear must have gotten its start when that fire had happened. Calypso couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more that had happened that day, something that Leo wasn’t telling.

“I see,” Calypso said. “That’s… a long time to be dealing with that fear.” She bumped her knee lightly against his as a sign of affection.

Leo seemed surprised by Calypso’s reaction. She wondered if he wasn’t used to people expressing sympathy towards him.

“Yeah,” he said, focusing on his fingers that had started to tap a certain rhythm against his legs.

“Listen,” Calypso said surprisingly softly. “I believe you can do it. In your language, you can kick the fear’s ass. Just… be nice to yourself.”

Calypso’s comment made Leo smile slightly.

“I can’t believe you just said the word ‘ass’ because of me,” he teased, making Calypso puff her cheeks.

“You’re such a kid sometimes, Valdez. And maybe I am not quite as sweet mouthed as you think I am.”

“You so are.” Leo nudged her leg. Calypso stuck her tongue out at him, making him chuckle. “Who’s the kid now?”

“Speaking of kids,” Calypso said, “ I was kind of thinking that since a mental break would probably do good to you, we could do some Pokémon team preparations for the game night? Saturday is soon.”

“Oh, yeah!” Leo said, sounding a lot more confident than a few minutes earlier. “We’re gonna build the most badass team ever! Lightning Boy and Beauty Queen won’t know what hit them.”

Calypso was happy that at least on the surface Leo seemed to be recovering fast. “If you say so,” she smiled.

…

A little bit later the flatmates were scrolling through Bulbapedia, an online Pokémon encyclopedia, as they were trying to choose which Pokémon would be the most suitable for their team. Turned out their opinions differed quite a lot from each other. Calypso liked grass, psychic and fairy types while Leo seemed to be drawn to steel, and perhaps ironically, to some fire Pokémon.

“Everyone knows Charizard is better than Venusaur! It even has two mega evolutions! Venusaur can’t do a lot of damage in one hit.”

“Yes, but look at its defense stats. It can tank a lot of hits Charizard can’t,” Calypso argued.

“Fine, why don’t we have both on our team then and see which one does better,” Leo suggested and to that Calypso agreed.

The rest of the choosing went without bigger hiccups as the two decided to give each other two more picks. Leo was already feeling a lot better when Calypso told him that the dishes don’t do themselves and they ended up doing them together so they could get back to catching and training their Pokémon faster. Calypso was amused to see how seriously Leo, who usually was all about jokes, took that task. He seemed particularly into the damage calculator that told him how many hits his Pokémon would need to take down Jason and Piper’s. When she pointed that out, he said:

“Uncle Leo always has a plan, Sunshine. I won’t be doing things the conventional way.”

“Of course you won’t,” Calypso snorted, wondering if the plan would end up working.

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

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petri808 · 4 years

Text

Hauntober prompt Ghost (sort of lol)

Bakudeku requested by @nona-inc Angst w/happy ending, AU modern times. Longer than I’d planned to write but stories go where they wanna lol.

Got the idea here

A Second Chance

In his adulthood, Izuku Midoriya did quite well for himself career-wise. He had a nice home and lived comfortably even though it was alone. Relationships had never really crossed his mind, which he chalked up to the turmoil of his childhood. It wasn’t a terribly horrible one but coming from divorced parents is never easy on young child minds. Why get close to anyone if they’ll probably leave eventually? That was a lesson bolstered by the end of primary school when his best friend ditched him for the popular kids.

It was Halloween night, and Izuku’s simply followed his normal routine after work consisting of dinner while watching a bit of television. Trick or treaters were a rarity in his neighborhood, so there was no sense in celebrating the holiday. As he waits for the news, he lets the current show drone on in the background while he scrolled mindlessly through his social media. He didn’t pay a lot of attention to what acquaintances posted and mostly looked for interesting or funny posts instead.

“Deku...”

Izuku’s brow furrows slightly at that ancient nickname. He looks at the television characters on the screen, had one of them said it? But instead of the tv show, he finds a fuzzy, staticky screen. He grabs his remote assuming something had gone wrong with the channel or service when...

“Deku, I’m sorry...”

“What the?” Izuku starts clicking the buttons and getting no response. The screen stays stuck, yet that voice... it was a familiar voice from long ago...

“...I’ve watched you from afar for all these years, because I could never admit how much I loved you and now it’s too late. I’m so sorry Deku. You’ll always be my only true love.”

Silence. Dead silence for a flash of a second when the television loudly blares back to life and startles Izuku out of his seat into a standing position. “What the fuck is going on?!”

The show had ended, and the news is now on in its regular-timed slot.

‘Breaking news, a major four car accident on the I10 highway has left 3 people dead and one in a critical condition. The victim identified as 37-year old K. Bakugou had been transported to the hospital for treatment. Police have closed off the highway in both directions, so anyone traveling in that area should use alternative routes...’

As he watches the footage of the accident story, Izuku’s hand unconscious covers his mouth and tears gather in his eyes. “Oh my gosh....” That was the voice he’d just heard! Of course, Katsuki was the only one who ever called him Deku.

He quickly calls one of the nurses at his hospital and they confirm that the man had in fact been transported there 15 minutes ago.

“Oh! Dr. Midoriya! We were just about to call you! Yes, patient Bakugou was brought in unconscious, lacerations to his arms and chest, broken leg, possible punctured lung, internal bleeding, concussion, and brain swelling which is why I was just about to call you in.”

“I’ll be right there.”

The entire way there, Izuku struggles to rationalize the message. If Katsuki was unconscious, how could that have been his voice? Then again that’s if you believed his television had somehow sent the message in the first place! Oh, this was entirely crazy! Izuku didn’t even know why his logical mind was allowing him to believe it had happened if not for the coincidence of the news coverage.

But as a neurosurgeon, he had to put all those questions aside and focus on the task at hand. The description the nurse had given him already indicated major problems, but it wasn’t until his own physical examination that determined the true extent of the damage. Primary surgical nurse Uraraka already had set up the operating room by the time Izuku arrived.

“The patient was revived once by EMTs in the ambulance and a second time in the ER after his heart stopped. Right now, the patient is intubated and prepped for emergency surgery.”

“Thank you, nurse Uraraka.”

Along with a fellow doctor, Izuku switched into a hyper focused mode. He works to repair the damage to the patient’s brain while the other doctor simultaneously focuses on internal chest injuries. Time was of the essence to stem the blood loss and mitigate further damage if they had any hope of saving the man, because even if he made it through the surgery, only a miracle would bring him back at this point.

It was now a waiting game. They keep Katsuki in a medically induced coma for the first three weeks as his body worked hard to repair itself. Once he was brought out of the induced coma, he still didn’t wake up, was breathing with the assistance of a machine, but at least the man’s heart was functioning normally. Surprisingly, Katsuki’s parents remembered Izuku and were grateful their son was in familiar hands. They’d initially flew in after the accident, but the cost to stay for such a long length of time would be too steep. So, after they returned home, he kept them up to date.

Each day that passed by, Izuku would check in on Katsuki’s progress like a normal doctor would, but at night he’d go home and ponder the ghostly message that had come through the television. He’d told no one about it because who would believe something so crazy? It just didn’t sound like the man, or rather child he remembered. Never once was there any indication Katsuki had romantic feelings for him, especially considering it was him not Izuku that ended their friendship. They saw each other in passing though middle, then high school and still nothing. So why is he now being told this?

Some say that when you die, any regrets you have must be released or your soul cannot ascend to the next plane. Izuku wasn’t religious or spiritual and before that Halloween trick he would have said he didn’t believe in anything beyond what he couldn’t see, touch, feel, and analyze. Ugh! Maybe that’s why this was all driving him so crazy. He wanted answers but the one person who could give it to him was stuck in a coma.

“Everything okay doctor?” One of the LPN’s asks Izuku. “I just need to check on the patients vitals.”

“Do what you need to nurse, I’m just visiting before I go home for the night.”

“Yes, doctor.” The woman makes her chart notations and leaves them alone again.

Because of Izuku’s standing at the hospital, he’d gotten Katsuki a private room. The man was taken off the breathing machine a week earlier and this way he could monitor the man without being pestered. There were times he would spend a few hours just watching the man sleep, trying to study what had become of his childhood friend. Through research, Izuku learned Katsuki had moved here around the same time that he’d started his internship at the hospital. Before that the man lived in the same town as the medical school he attended. It appeared Katsuki really was keeping track of Izuku, never married, and just worked in the marketing field.

Izuku squeezes the man’s hand with his eyes closed in a silent conversation. The only sounds being the beeps and noises of the machines to break the stillness. Lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t know what to think, what to feel, just that this man was dredging up long buried emotions that part of him was afraid to open up. Hadn’t he built up a good life, albeit a lonely one, it was still by his own wit and merits whereas Katsuki always had it so easy. The man was a smart, handsome jock, popular, and had been on track to do great things. While he was the geeky kid with freckles and wild green hair who the popular kids teased.

They were so close as little kids, all through preschool and the first years of primary. Katsuki was the extroverted one pulling him along on make believe adventures to emulate a shared love of a comic book character. In fact, it was with Katsuki’s help that he’d weathered his parent’s divorce. He idolized the stronger boy and wished he was Katsuki, not a weak like little nerd... perhaps having his child’s heart broken, really was the reason he swore off ever caring about anyone else again.

Did he just?! Izuku’s eyes pop open when his hand squeeze is returned by a weak one. Katsuki’s eyes are still closed and nothing else seemed unchanged. Perhaps it was just a nervous tremor, they happen sometimes. But no there it is again! Izuku stares down as the weak squeeze slowly turns into a grasp of his hand.

“Katsuki?”

A third squeeze. That meant the man was alert enough to hear and understand! Friend or not, it was the kind of thing to get a neurologist excited! Izuku quickly moved into doctor mode again and starts checking all the stats as well as alerting the nurse on shift.

“Welcome back Mister Bakugou.”

The man squeezes his hand.

“I’m your doctor, Midoriya. You might remember me...”

The man squeezes again and tries to talk, but after being intubated for a long time the throat tends to be dry, sore, and the muscles weakened. All that comes through is so faint it’s barely audible.

“Mister Bakugou, you’ve been unconscious for almost two months now, please try not to talk just yet, everything will be fine.”

But that only makes the man angrier. Furious red eyes flashing, Katsuki grips harder to Izuku’s hand using what little strength he has to try and pull him closer. So, Izuku leans in. “Calm down, it’s gonna...”

“Ma—y...” angry growling noises. “Mar...”

Obviously, the man wasn’t going to stop until he gave in, so Izuku leans in even more until his ear is practically next to Katsuki’s mouth. “I’m sorry?”

“Marry me damnit!!”

Izuku shoots straight up. “What?!” Is the guy serious?! The first words out of his mouth is that?! Wow... Katsuki really hasn’t changed, feisty as ever even after almost dying.

“Pa-pa—per pen!”

“H-hold on, just try to calm down please! I don’t want you to strain your heart!”

Midoriya grabs the chart, flips the paper over to the blank backside, and puts a pen in Katsuki’s hand. He holds it steady as the man scribbled shakily. ‘No waste 2nd chance marry me Deku.’

“Mister Bakugou, this is...”

The man pounds his fist on the bed then scribbles more. ‘Stop call me that! nickname!’

Izuku sighs and squeezes his eyes closed for a second. He hadn’t used that name since primary just like he’d hadn’t heard Deku all these years. “Kacchan. Happy now? I-I can’t just say okay. You—y-you ditched me remember and now you suddenly pop up and expect me to marry you?! Kacchan you almost died, I get it, that’s a scary thing to deal with, but you just need time to process...”

Katsuki writes, ‘Nothin 2 think bout. No more regrets,’ Then he mouths out the rest in a whisper, “I love you Deku.”

Izuku sighs, “I’m not saying yes or no Kacchan. Just get well first okay, then we’ll talk about everything.”

“Fine.” The man closes his eyes again seemingly satisfied with the answer.

He squeezes Katsuki’s hand. “I’ll see you in the morning Kacchan.”

When Izuku leaves that evening, he couldn’t help but walk out with a flutter in his chest and a pang in his heart. There really was a lot he still needed to get off his chest, but... he felt the honesty from Katsuki. If his dying regrets had been strong enough to reach him via spiritual mail, and the first thing he wanted to talk about was love, then... ‘take the second chance Izuku.’ Not everyone gets one.

#hauntober #bakudeku #prompt ghost #Bakugou katsuki #Midoriya izuku #bkdk #bakudeku fan fic #bakudeku fan fiction #katsudeku #bnha

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trashy-croud · 5 years

Text

Home Sweet Home 🏠

So this is it, the final level. I adored this level as a child - well, watching my dad play it at least. It was always stuck in the back of my head that this level was a “bonus” level for getting all of the secrets, it was what I used to think constantly and I continued to think that to this day. So you can possibly guess my surprise when this level popped up all of a sudden because I knew for a fact I missed a few secrets. But this was a nice level, it truly added to the story.

We begin in Lara’s house with her admiring her newest addition to the collection. She’s sat on her bed by (what I suspect to be) a nice toasty fire and then the nice times are ruined. Even from beyond the grave, Bartoli seems to follow us everywhere as his men have broken onto the estate, their cars pulling up in the long driveway. I thought the instant this happened, I could perhaps use the dagger, I mean, it seems like a wild chance but a great opportunity, a bit sad we didn’t see a Croft Dragon, but nonetheless, we would try to get rid of the last few who continued to pursue to treasure.

Before we did so though, I went downstairs to the main hall, which was at one point the training room, and would press the button for some music. Oh, how I have missed this music. It was from the Venice levels, oh Venice Violins, it was absolutely perfect for taking down some people and drowning out the eerie silence. It did make the task of finding people more difficult, sure, because now I had to really listen for the footsteps, but I will not deny that I enjoyed the music. I don’t honestly understand how I found it, I was literally just running around the house to try and find some people as they had scattered absolutely everywhere when I came across the button. And I’m ever so happy that I did!

It was a pretty easy level overall, wasn’t too bad at all to deal with, though me using a shotgun? That had to be the worst part purely because I am useless with the shotgun in these games. My aim with them are shocking and it always will be. There was a lot of darkness, purely because it was night time and we managed to get some outdoors-time with this level. This was pretty much the only level where I had flares, or at least enough flares to survive. I kid you not, I was so happy when I picked them up in the weaponry cupboard. I managed to survive the darkness outside with the help of some flares and with the help of my mum pointing out the enemies that I couldn’t see. Then we were up against the last guy, the one whom we have met before in the opera house and he had unfinished business with us. Either that or it’s his twin brother. Either way, it was take two on the fight and I have never cheered so much when I have beaten an enemy. He wasn’t difficult to deal with, it just felt like the perfect wrap-up. The last grunt to finish the job that his boss had left him to do, and we foiled it yet again. Ah, the joys.

After it all, it was the final cutscene, or better yet, the famous cutscene. We all know this cutscene too well as it was one that broke the third wall. After you have been shot for being a nosy pervert, in roll the final credits and oh my god, I never fell in love more with a game. It had been a long journey and terribly long from the looks of the final stats. Oh, how @jaybird1306 would be ashamed of me for not collecting them all! But I am happy with all of this, I wasn’t aiming for a full secrets run or anything, this was more of a trip down memory lane game for me and I have fallen in love with every minute of it.

Final Overview

This game is my childhood, and coming back to it was an absolute pleasure. It really sparked some memories for me of times when I would watch my dad play it in my childhood home. He would sit at the computer and I would watch in awe, sometimes running around and unable to sit still, sometimes even copying some of the moves Lara did in-game because I just adored her. This was the game which started my absolute adoration for such a video game icon and Queen. I have absolutely fallen in love again and I highly doubt it will stop any time soon. Now, for some of the features I loves the most.

The use of darkness. It was absolutely phenomenal, especially in the later levels such as the China levels and some of the underwater levels, as much as I don’t want to remember them ones specifically. But that draw distance truly made each level seem much bigger than it was, it also made you wary of what could be in front of you and to think before you act, something I rarely did to be honest. But as I mentioned before, the way they used it in levels such as China, more specifically the Floating Islands, was incredible. I was basically wary of every step and it made you fear the darkness all around you. It gave you a sense of the void and the unknown, a constant theme which I enjoyed greatly.

The use of sound. Oh god the sound and the music, I could honestly gush over it all day. Music truly makes the game and although all games have music, none have struck me as hard as this game did. Right from the menu screen alone, it struck a cord with me. It was beautiful and I almost found myself humming just the menu tune by itself just whilst I was at work or doing chores around the house. They have always impressed me with their timing for sounds or music. The use of silence was just as good as well as they keep you on end when there is utter silence. And then, all of a sudden, BAM, you are hit with some intense music and you have no idea why or what because whatever it is is still in that darkness! It’s just great, it even makes these games seem very thriller-esque with the jumpscares (at least in my eyes) that the music produces.

The graphics and colour palettes. Bring it all back in because I’m about to gush some more. I adore colour palettes and the contrasts they used in the levels, more specifically, as everyone may know, I adored the colours they used in the Temple of Xian, the Tibet levels and lastly, the underwater levels. Although I did not like the underwater levels, the colours used absolutely caught my heart, the contrasting colours made my heart leap a little. The bright colours of the Temple of Xian level was beautiful as well, they were so fancy and beautiful, much like the colours used in the Barkhang Monastery and they started to introduce to us in the Ice Palace and the Catacombs of the Talion. The snowy peaks of the Foothills though were just as nice, although bright on the eyes, they certainly used it as a way to hinder your view of particular enemies or even rolling boulders. Although the graphics, as some would say, are quite outdated, I enjoyed the blocky graphics. They helped to give me a better idea of what to do and where to go, to become more calculated with my jumps and actions to take. It may also just be me having a moment and being a bit biased, but I adore these graphics. They are perfect to me. Although I do enjoy a lot more realistic graphics for games, the ones for these games were just perfect to me. The graphics suited the game itself and I understand they will change over time the more I progress, but I believe I will still fall in love with these graphics time and time again.

Lastly is the story. As a child, I took not much notice to the story, but replaying it now, I have started to understand the story a bit more. It is beautifully written and is clear, so long as you pay attention to cutscenes or any sort of dialogue, which I made the mistake of missing during the diving area, but nonetheless, I watched back the scene and was able to catch up to understand properly what was happening and why we were collecting particular relics and items. The enemy himself, Marco Bartoli, was a formidable foe, continuously sending enemies to cover his tracks but sadly, he made it too obvious for us to follow after and foil his plans. He was a very interesting villain, and he got his wish in the end, to become the dragon of his dreams. Just bad timing on his part that we were also aiming for the dagger at the same time. But the story was fun to watch unfold and was, in all honesty, quite new to me, bearing in mind, I thought it all as just a “shoot-em-up”, adventure game. How naive I was as a child, but at least now, I properly understand it all.

This game has certainly left its mark on me and I’m glad it did. It got my mum more involved as she told me what she thought I'd need to do whenever I was stuck. My dad, on the other hand, would only chip in with comments such as "that's not how you do that" and then would quickly try to go back to his little cat nap afterwards. Two completely different types of help, one more so than the other. But overall, I have enjoyed this game and I hope you guys have enjoyed watching me play it as well, or at least have enjoyed hearing my thoughts, opinions and what I encountered. This has been Tomb Raider 2, and this ends the chapter on my favourite Tomb Raider game, whether that changes though is another story. But we’ll have to see. I will now begin playing the third instalment and boy, we are starting with a clean slate this time because I barely know anything on this game, save for the first level (which I never finished) and a couple of cutscenes. Otherwise, we are about to trek into new territory and I hope to write about the next game to come. Now I leave you all with a song and want to thank you all for joining me on this bumpy ride! See you all on the next one!

#croud's playthrough #tomb raider 2 #tomb raider #classic lara #lara croft #home sweet home #tomb raider 2 medley #classic tomb raider #long post #thank you for everything and for the childhood memories

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mattygraygubler · 5 years

Text

our campus: chapter 4 (tom holland fanfic)

summary: frat!tom and reader go to the same college and y/n is tasked with being his tutor, they don’t really get along at first (because i love reader and tom hating each other trope)

warnings: none ?????

word count: 2.1k

a/n: so many texts and so much dialogue fuckin kill me also texts are bold

for a list of characters click here

to be added to the tag list send me an ask !

masterlist

✰✰✰✰✰

“I don’t know what you did to get her to give you a second chance, but I need to warn you.” Ally said. Tom turned to look at her, they had only ever spoken when necessary for theater stuff.

“Warn me?” He asked.

“Y/N can make your life either very, very good or very, very bad. She has most of the professors in this school wrapped around her pinky. And she doesn’t make it obvious, but she’s the smartest person I’ve ever met. She can really help you if you let her.”

“Well, thanks.” He said awkwardly and turned back to his stuff.

“One more thing.” Ally said. Tom turned again and raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you dare catch feelings.” “Seriously? No need to worry about that.” Ally scoffed.

“I’m serious, Tom. Don’t. She doesn’t need that right now.”

“Yeah, fine, I get it.” He said.

“Alright guys let’s get started.” Gigi said, signaling rehearsal was about to start.

* * *

It was finally Friday, and your phone was blowing up as you walked to the library. Class had gotten out late, so you were walking as fast as possible so you wouldn’t be late to your meeting with Tom.

if Y/N is ok with it its fine with me

i still dont know how i feel about this

pretty pretty please guys i really like this guy and he really wants me to go

You

what are we talking about i was in class

harrison invited em and all of us to the delt party tonight

and i said we shouldnt go bc of what happened

plus isnt tom a delt? wouldnt that be a bit awk?

You

honestly i couldnt care less. after the week ive had im gonna too blacked to even realize where we are

lets take it to a vote

aye

nay

You

im abstaining

the ayes have it! delt BABEEEYYYY

ill have harrison put us all on the list

You

glad we got that sorted ill see u guys at mine at 8

You walked into the library, checking your watch and seeing it was 4:02. You bit your lip. Hopefully he didn’t give you any crap for being late.

You walked quickly into hlab, and you knew you looked like a crazy person. Your bag was falling off your shoulder, you had a coffee in your hand and your water bottle tucked under your arm, and your phone in your other hand.

You scanned the room and saw Tom sitting across from Max, both of them had books out.

“Hi,” you said breathlessly. Max slid over a seat so you could sit across from Tom. “So sorry I’m late, crazy day.”

“No worries dar-” You heard him start to say darling, but stopped himself. “No worries. It’s only 2 minutes after.”

“How long have you been waiting?” You asked.

“Max and I have been hanging out for a while, not a big deal.”

“Speaking of, I’m on alc duty for tonight so I better go.” Max said, did his stupid handshake with Tom, and walked out.

Hlab was almost empty except for some freshman. Most people don’t like studying on a Friday, who could blame them?

“So I got a copy of your lectures from this week. What do you want to start with?”

“I don’t care.”

“Ok, what is currently confusing you the most?” He thought for a second before saying “Astronomy.” You nodded.

“Great, grab your notes and your textbook.” He pulled out a notebook and his laptop, opening the online textbook. You pulled out your laptop and a pen and highlighter.

“May I?” You asked and pulled his notebook to your side. You went through his notes, circling certain things with the pen and highlighting others.

“These are really good, Tom. I like how you put question marks next to things that confused you.” He laughed.

“Do I get a gold star?” He joked. You rolled your eyes.

“So phases of the moon.” You started.

“Wait a second,” he said after you had been talking for a while. “You’re telling me that the moon doesn’t actually, like, change?”

“It’s all shadows.” You replied. He nodded and seemed to finally be getting it.

“The phases will most definitely be on your next lab, which isn’t open note, so make sure you memorize them.” You said. “Let’s move onto stats.” He groaned. “What?” You asked.

“Statistics is so stupid. Letters and numbers shouldn’t go together.” You rolled your eyes.

“Stats is easy, I promise you. This is the first unit, all we’re doing is descriptive statistics and graphing. Let’s start with some vocab.” You said, highlighting certain words in his notes.

Once you could see his brain was about to explode, you moved onto writing.

“There’s not much to talk about, just email me your most recent paper so I can go through it and look for themes we need to discuss.”

‘“Themes?” He asked.

“You know, on going issues that need to be addressed.” He nodded and emailed you his paper, which you would read tomorrow. You heard your phone buzz and took a quick glance.

al dont be upset

then dont give me a reason to get upset

what is it

……….. It’s themed

are you kidding? were not freshmen, i dont wanna go to a stupid themed frat party

its blackout !!!! itll be fun i promise

You turned your phone back down and didn’t realize you had an upset look on your face.

“Everything ok?” He asked.

“Just arguing in the group chat.”

“Do you need to go?” He asked.

“No, no, just arguing about tonight.”

“What’s tonight?”

“Tonight is not related to political conflict, which is what we should be talking about.” He laughed.

“Do you ever have fun?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m serious, do you ever have fun, or do you just go to sleep surrounded by planners and textbooks.”

“That’s not funny. There’s a lot more about me that you don’t know.”

“Clearly.”

“So we’re starting off with socioeconomic issues over time and the class strugle. Did you read the Marx chapters?”

“Yup. Didn’t understand a word of it.”

“Ok, let’s get into it.” You said and began rambling about the bourgeoisie and the communist manifesto. Politics was your favorite subject, you could talk about it for hours.

You were having a really good discussion with Tom. It was global political conflict, and he was able to connect the themes to both America and England, which made you really pleased.

You were pulled out of your discussion when your phone vibrated.

pickin up panera anyone want anything

“Jeez it’s already past 6:30, I gotta go.” You said.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He said.

“No it’s not your fault, I get so into politics I lose track of time.” “I can tell.” He said as you both packed up your stuff.

“Wanna grab some food?” He asked.

“Sorry, can’t,” you said.

“Why, got a hot date?” He joked.

“Maybe,” you said.

“At least let me walk you to wherever you’re going.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Well where are you going?”

“Congression Hall?” You replied.

“Wait, you live there?”

“Uhm, yes? Me along with practically every other junior.”

“What floor?”

“8.” You said.

“Should’ve guessed.” He replied as you started walking across the quad.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Honors 8. I forgot you were in hc.” He was referring to the eighth and top floor of Congression Hall, which was reserved for the honors college juniors.

“Yeah.” You said simply.

“I’m on six, by the way.” He said. “That’s why I was curious. I’ve never seen you around there.”

“I’m not usually, I only really use it for sleep.”

“Of course,” he replied.

“I assumed you lived in a frat house.” You commented.

“Nah, next year.” He said with a wink. “Speaking of frat houses, there’s kind of this party going on at Delt tonight-”

“I’m aware.” You said, cutting him off.

“Ah, well, if you want I can get you on the list.” You smiled to yourself.

“No need, I’m already on the list.” You said.

“Oh?” He said, clearly embarrassed. “Because of delta nu?”

“Nope.” You said, not offering any other information.

“Well maybe I’ll see you there then.”

“Even if you do see me there, I will be pretending I don’t know you.”

“Why?” He asked, clearly offended. “I run that house.” He joked, trying to play off the embarrassment.

“No offense, but your reputation would not be good for mine.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well I have a certain reputation in the greek community, and if people see me with you they’ll get the wrong idea.”

“The wrong idea?” He asked as you walked in the lobby of your building.

“Well, see, the thing is,” you said, stepping into the elevator. He pressed the button for six and eight. “I have certain standards. If people see me with you, they’ll think I’ve…”

“Wow, you are really uptight, aren’t you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Certain standards? Jesus christ, you’re not the queen, Y/N. And I don’t have a bad reputation. But god forbid I don’t live up to your ‘standards.’” He said, storming off the elevator without another word, clearly upset. You sighed. Good job, Y/N.

Tom got to his room and threw his stuff on the floor, collapsing on his bed. His head hurt from all the tutoring, and trying to focus on not staring at your lips.

delt juniors

Tom

aight important question guys

Cal

whats up tommy

Tom

do you guys know a girl called Y/N Y/L/N? shes a delta nu

Joey

dan knows her ;)

Cal

fuck, Y/N? what are you doing with her?

Tom

shes tutoring me stop buggin

Max

i know her which u know shes in hc with me

Liam

oh danny DEFINITLY knows her

Will

who doesnt know Y/N? shes a hot commodity

Tom

what do you mean?

Cal

shes like the perfect girl next door, totally hot and so smart which just makes her hotter

Will

doesnt help that shes a huge fuckin flirt AND can hold her alc

Joey

dan is being suspiciously quiet……..

Dan

shut up joe

Liam

care to share with tommy your story with Y/N, daniel?

Dan

i hate u all

fine

i was like in love with her freshman year

and i thought she was into me too

and we made out a couple of times but nothing else

the second she found out i was in delt she stopped talking to me

like complete radio silence

Tom

wtf? Why?

Cal

she doesnt fuck with delts

thats like common greek knowledge

Will

maybe its because shes gonna be dchi sweetheart?

Joey

nah theres gotta be something else

Harrison

well i just put her on the list for tonite

Tom

wait YOU put her on the list?!

Harrison

yeah i invited her friend Emily Gold and she doesnt go anywhere without Y/N and these two other girls

Cal

Ally Park and Isabelle Miller

Harrison

yeah howd u know?

Cal

theyre like those cool girls from high school everyones obsessed with that are just out of everyones league

Tom

wow american high schools are so weird

Dan

tom if u wanna get with her i wont be pissed

Tom

nah like you said she hates delts, and after three tutoring sessions with me i guarentee i am her least favorite delt ever

Liam

theres no fuckin way she shows up tonight

she wouldnt be caught dead at a delt party

Noah

wait you said Y/N Y/L/N may come tonight????

DIBS

DIBS DIBS DIBS

I CALL DIBS

Cal

noah u seriously show up just to call dibs?

Noah

yeah bro have u seen her? if she comes tonight and any of you try to cockblock me i stg ill deck you

Dan

pretty sure tommy has rightful dibs to this one

Tom

nah fam she hates me so fuckin much

let noah try his luck

i doubt she’ll even show

Max

she’ll show.

Tom

what makes u say that?

Liam

max does know her best

Max

she and ally and emily and isabelle are ride or die. they circulate who picks what party they go to and if its emilys turn and harrison somehow conviced her to go, Y/N wont miss it

Dan

she hasnt set foot in a delt house since freshman year, you seriously think she’ll show?

Max

five bucks says she does

Dan

youre on

Noah

i just wanna make it clear

that if she does show

D I B S

#tom holland #tom holland imagine #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fanfiction #frat!tom

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therainroguefanfiction · 4 years

Text

⁂ Let Me In (Masaharu Niou)

Niou #2. MC in interested in him, but is getting very frustrated at his seeming inability to reveal anything about himself. If this is to be more than a crush, please let me in.

@its-been-quite-a-while

Genre: Fluff, Slice of Life, Angst, School, Comedy ☁

Word Count: 2,711 ☁

Pairing: Reader x Niou ☁

World: Prince of Tennis ☁

Author’s Note: This took longer than it should have because I’ve only wanted to play Skyrim lately xD I’m so sorry, but I hope you enjoy!

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You sat at the back of the classroom, watching Niou, who sat a few seats in front of you and off to the right. The teacher stood at the front of the room, reading from a thick red book as he wrote important information on the board as he read it. You didn’t catch a word of it, though, because of all the different scenarios currently playing through your mind. Niou wasn’t paying attention, either, because he was busy working on a new prank to play on Kirihara.

Now, you’ve had a major crush on Rikkai’s trickster since your second year when he pranked the entire class by filling balloons with 90% helium and 10% pudding, then rigging it them to pop as soon as the teacher stood behind her desk. How he managed this and how no one noticed was completely beyond you. It just made the prank seem all the more magical and impressive. Granted, he was in detention for most of the year after that but, in his opinion, it was totally worth and he would definitely do it again.

After suffering from this crush for so long, you decided that you wanted it to be more than just a crush. You wanted your feelings to grow and blossom into something beautiful. You wanted to fall in love with him. You wanted to date him. But there’s a problem with this desire of yours.

Niou Masaharu is an enigma.

He just doesn’t talk about himself at all, lest his enemies find dirt to use against him, and in doing so, he keeps people at arm’s length – both friend and foe. You had approached the regulars before with some false story about writing a paper on the trickster, but they had nothing to offer aside from his tennis stats. They didn’t even know where he lived! You suspected the Yanagi, the man with information on everyone, had to know something but he denied this every time you asked.

You were determined to break through his barriers no matter what it took – your feelings were on the line, after all!

So, when school finally came to a close, you jumped up from your seat and rushed over to his desk, catching him just as he stood up. You smiled brightly, clasping your hands behind you. “Niou-kun, what do you say to seeing a movie after practice today? We can each pick our favorite one!”

“Puri~” he smirked, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “We have a tournament coming up, so we’ll be practicing well into the night, Y/N-chan.”

“Oh right,” you gently knocked the side of your skull with your fist. “Silly me, I forgot. Some other time then?”

“Puri~”

You watched as he left the room, a groan passing your lips. ‘This isn’t going to be easy at all… but I won’t give up!’

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“Niou-kun!” You called out as you entered the school, dragging your friend, Suki, with you. She didn’t look happy, mostly because you had woken her up earlier than usual so she could assist you with your fishing adventure. “Good morning,”

His lips tugged up as he glanced at the two of you. “Mornin’~”

“Would you mind settling a debate for us?” You wondered, motioning between yourself and Suki, who stifled a yawn in response. “See, Suki loves the heat, so she wants to spend summer break at the beach sunbathing. I love the cold, so I’d much rather go to the ice rink. We started fighting over it, so now we’re asking all of our friends which they prefer – the heat or the cold.”

“Puri~”

You sweatdropped, squeezing Suki’s arm tighter. “So, um, which do you prefer?”

Niou pulled a serious face as he rested one hand on your shoulder and the other on Suki’s. “Friends shouldn’t fight over trivial matters. Just go ice skating at the beach~”

You were left speechless, eye twitching as you watched the silver-haired male continue on his way to the school building, getting lost in the throng of students. Suki snorted loudly, clutching her stomach.

“Oh my god, that guy’s great!”

You pouted at her.

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For your social studies class, the teacher prompted all of you to reach out to a friend or family member and learn about their hobbies – why they enjoy it, how they came to try it, etc. – and then write a report on your findings. Naturally, you immediately chose Niou as the subject of your report, but the challenge was still to come. You knew if you asked, he would retort with information about tennis. Still, you have to at least try.

Once class ended, you grabbed a small notebook and pencil from your bag and approached the trickster, sliding into the desk in front of him. “Ne, Niou-kun, can I do my report on you?”

“Sure,” he grinned, leaning forward on the desk. His teal eyes sparkled with mischief.

You smiled. “Well, I know how much you love tennis, but what about your other hobbies? What do you enjoy?”

“Tennis,” Niou’s lips twitched upward when you frowned. “And pranks~”

“I don’t think pranks count as a hobby… and I know you enjoy tennis, but surely you must enjoy something else? Darts, maybe? Solitaire? Reading? Skateboarding? Drawing?” You were feeling a bit desperate. “You gotta give me something or I’ll fail the assignment!”

He hummed thoughtfully, tapping his chin. “Okay,”

You brightened up, thinking he was going to finally tell you something about himself.

“I enjoy -” he paused for dramatic effect, making you lean forward. He chuckled, poking your forehead. “One of the things you listed, but you have to figure out which one, puri~”

“Eh~?” You leaned back, watching him stand up and gather his things. “Wait a minute -!”

“Good luck, Y/N-chan~”

You groaned, leaning your head back onto the desk behind you. Yagyuu’s face appeared above you and he held his glasses up in the center. “Is there a problem, Y/N-san?”

“Yagyuu-kun,” you pouted, sitting up. “You’re his partner, you must know something about him?”

He hummed in thought. “He always gets an A in math class,”

“That’s not helpful at all!”

“Well, I did try. Good luck, Y/N-san.” And he walked away.

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You stifled a yawn as you stepped into the school building on Monday morning, stopping at the shoe locker to switch to your indoor shoes. When you pulled the door open, a small slip of paper slid out, falling to the floor. Blinking, you glanced back and forth, but no one was paying you any mind. You bent down and picked it up, carefully unfolding it. The words were clean and neat and, for a moment, you thought they might be typed out because of how… perfect they were. It read as follows:

‘Dear Y/N-san,

I’ve recently come into some information that may be of interest to you. After school comes to a close, I encourage you to follow Niou as he makes a most curious stop before heading to practice.

All the best,

A friend.’

Your eyes narrowed suspiciously at the note. Was this a prank? You hadn’t exactly been subtle in your attempts to try and learn more information about Niou, so anyone could have written this in an attempt to mess with you. Still… you hadn’t made any progress on your own, so what could it hurt to check into this lead? You decided to give it a shot.

The day moved by at an agonizingly slow pace, but that was probably because you kept glancing at the clock every two seconds, just waiting for the final bell to toll. You already had your bag packed up as the final thirty minutes of class approached, something the teacher did not appreciate it, but he didn’t waste his breath on scolding you. It was the end of the day, and it had been a long weekend for him.

The bell rang out throughout the school and your grip on the bag tightened as you watched Niou pack up his books and sling his tennis bag over his shoulder, lazily leaving the room. You jumped up, nearly tripping when your foot caught on the leg of the desk, but you managed to right yourself and dived between two girls who were leaving the class far too slow for your taste. They cried out, giving you dirty looks, but you ignored them, bursting out into the hall and snapping your head around.

First to the right, and then to the left. You caught a glimpse of silver turning the corner at the end of the hall and you took off, dodging students to the best of your ability. It continued like this for several moments as you tried to chase down the trickster through the school. Finally, you burst through the double doors to the east. You scanned the area behind the school, but the only people out there was the security guard at the gate, and Mr. Iazaki, a second-year math teacher.

There was no sign of Niou Masaharu anywhere.

You cursed, kicking the ground as you headed toward the security officer, an older man that always had a kind smile to offer. “Hello, Shimata-san.”

“Good afternoon, Y/N-chan!” He smiled brightly. “Is something wrong? You seem down.”

“I am,” you answered honestly, rubbing the back of your neck. “Life can be hard sometimes.”

He nodded in understanding. “It can. But you are young and strong. Whatever ails you, you can overcome.”

You offered him a sad smile. “Thank you. May I exit through this gate? I really don’t want to be bothered by the other students right now.”

Shimata hummed, glancing toward the school building. “Well, you know students aren’t permitted to use this gate. It’s for staff only.”

“Yes, sir.”

“But, I suppose one time won’t hurt. You’re a good student, never get into any trouble.” He leaned toward me, narrowing his eyes suspiciously as he reached out, pinching both of your cheeks before pulling.

“Ouch!” you pouted, pulling away and covering both of your cheeks so he wouldn’t do it again. “What was that for?”

He chuckled, offering a sheepish smile. “Sorry, had to make sure you weren’t that darned Niou trying to sneak past me again.”

“Niou-kun?”

He nodded. “I’m not sure why, but he’s been trying to sneak past me for months.”

A thought suddenly popped into your head and you leaned forward, grabbing the man’s arms. “Which way did Iazaki-sensei go? I need to… talk to him about a grade he gave me!”

“But… you’re a third-year…”

“Yes… the grade has been bothering me for a while, sir!”

Shimata sweatdropped, lifting his hand to point to the left. “He went that… way…”

But you were already gone, taking off through the gate and making a hard left, following the stone wall that separated the teacher’s parking lot from the school grounds.

Mrow~

You slid to a stop as you reached the end of the wall. Was that a cat? Stealthily, you approached the corner, peering around. What you saw made your eyes widen and your heart soar with warmth.

Niou was squatting down, holding his hand out to a small orange kitten that was eating something out of his hand. The index finger on his free hand was gently rubbing the cat’s head between its ears and the smile on his lips was genuine and soft. You had never seen Niou smile like that before and your heart skipped more beats than should be possible.

It was something small that you had learned about him, but it filled you with renewed vigor. You wanted to know more about this man.

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The next day, you caught up to Niou just as he entered the school grounds, his hand ruffling his silver hair. Seeing him filled you with warmth like it never had before and you just wanted to talk to him, to hear his voice, and be close to him.

“Niou-kun, good morning.” You smiled, falling in step beside him.

He glanced at you and smirked lazily. “Morning, Y/N. Where’s Suki?”

“She has a doctor’s appointment in an hour, so she’s missing school today. Why? Did you need her?”

“Nope~ Just expected to solve another argument between you.”

You huffed, lightly smacking his upper arm. “You make it sound like we’re constantly arguing,”

“Puri~”

Silence fell over the two of you as you followed the ocean of students up to the school building. All this time, you had been dancing around trying to get answers from him by indirectly asking questions or proposing scenarios that might elicit the response you were looking for, but you had yet to just… ask him.

“Niou-kun?”

“Hmm?”

“What is your favorite color?”

He raised a brow, surprised that you had directly asked him. His lips curved up, eyes shining under the fluorescent lights of the hallway. “It’s part of the rainbow,”

You scowled at him. “Why can’t you just give me a straight answer? What are you so afraid of?”

His eyes flashed with emotion, but it was gone as quickly as it came. His smirk dropped, face wiped free of any emotion. “You think I’m afraid just because I won’t tell you my favorite color?” he scoffed.

Okay, that hurt a bit. You shook your head and folded your arms over your chest. “It’s not just the favorite color. You won’t tell me anything about yourself, not even your favorite things or what you spend your time doing. Do you not trust me?”

“Why do you care?” he frowned. “Why are you so obsessed with finding out these things about me?”

‘Obsessed?’, you frowned. ‘Am I obsessed? Oh god, he must think I’m just some crazy fan trying to stalk him…’ The thought broke your heart and you felt the urge to cry rising within you. You took a few, deep breaths to keep yourself calm. “I’ll be honest with you. I’ve had a crush on you since that prank you pulled at the start of our second year. Without realizing it, my feelings have grown, but… how can I bring myself to continue liking someone that can’t even share their favorite color with me? I wanted this to be so much more than just a crush, Niou, but you won’t let me in. I guess I’m just wasting my time.”

You stepped around him, continuing down the hall which had emptied as students filed into their classrooms. Honestly, you just wanted to run to the bathroom and cry, but maybe the teacher’s lecture would distract you. Maybe it would even put you to sleep again and you could forget that this ever happened.

You hadn’t made it far before arms wrapped around your body, pinning your arms to your side and preventing you from continuing forward. Niou rested his chin on your left shoulder and hummed.

“Did you just confess to me, Y/N-chan~?”

‘Crap, I did, didn’t I?’ You remained silent, not trusting your voice.

He chuckled, his warm breath fanning over your neck. “It’s about time~”

“Heh?”

His arms tightened around you. “You took forever to confess. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to give up.”

You stared at the linoleum floor blankly as the pieces clicked together in your brain. “Wait a minute… did you… did you brush off all my questions to try and get me to confess to you?”

“Puri~”

“You – I – ugh! You’re so frustrating!” You scowled, trying to pull yourself free from his grip. He obliged, releasing you and you turned around, hands on your hips as you met his insufferable smirk. “You’re such a jerk!”

“But I’m a jerk you like~” He grabbed your hand, lacing his fingers with your own before leaning down and lightly pecking your lips. You hated to admit it, but the annoyance you felt slowly dissipated as he tugged you down the hall toward class.

You smiled, gently squeezing his hand. “Niou Masaharu, you’re a total jerk but… you’re my jerk.”

“Blue,” he responded, sending you a soft, genuine smile – much like the one he had given to the kitten but filled with more love and warmth.

“Blue?” you repeated, glancing at him curiously.

“My favorite color. Make sure you remember it,”

“I will!” You laughed.

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📜 Read more by checking out my masterlist 📜

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andrewdz · 5 years

Text

Favorite Albums of 2019

2019 was a big year for me in music. According to my Last.FM stats, it’s the most music I’ve listened to in one year. That played a big role in why I have a top 50 albums list for the year. There was a lot of stuff I really enjoyed.

I tried to find new bands this year because I’m over 30 now which they say is around the time you stop seeking new music and I want to prove that wrong. 14 out of my top 50 were brand new artists to me, which I wish was higher, but that’s a goal for next year now.

I also reignited my love for some bands. I got really into the Go-Betweens in 2019. I bought a documentary about them, a book about the two founders of the band, and got a box set of their last three albums that is now one of most prized music possessions. I also found some Deerhunter records in Nashville that I listened to quite a bit. I also got to see them live this year which was a real treat. Other artists I got really into this year was Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Bombay Bicycle Club, Chris Isaak, Hightide Hotel, The Brave Little Abacus and Titus Andronicus (who I was already into, but got almost all of their albums on vinyl now).

It was another terrific year for live shows as well, as I got to see a lot of artists I loved as well as ones on my bucket list. Kacey Musgraves, Sharon Van Etten, Priests, mewithoutyou (2nd time), Tigers Jaw, Titus Andronicus (2nd Time), Angel Olsen (3rd Time), Deerhunter, Trampled by Turtles, and Miami Horror. The best month was late April to late May when I got to go to five amazing but very different shows. It was one of the most fun months of my life. I got to see the Drums (2nd Time), PUP, Ratboys, Doomsquad, Operators, Desire, Chromatics, and Passion Pit! All of them were some of the best shows I’ve ever been to.

Now enough about my music year, let’s get to the list. I only wrote things about the top 30 but wanted to highlight some other ones so expanded the list to 50. Like I mentioned earlier, it was a really great year of music. Not sure if I will release a list of favorite songs this year, but we’ll see. I’ve lately become more of an album fan instead of singles. Let me know what you checked out this year!

50. Chromatics – Closer to Grey

49. Hatchie – Keepsake

48. Nilufer Yana – Miss Universe

47. Denzel Curry - ZUU

46. Pedro the Lion - Phoenix

45. Proper. - I Spent the Winter Writing Songs About Getting Better

44. Turnover – Altogether

43. Jay Som – Anak Ko

42. Big Thief – Two Hands

41. Jimmy Eat World - Surviving

40. Titus Andronicus – An Obelisk

39. The National – I Am Easy to Find

38. Priests – Seduction of Kansas

37. DIIV – Deceiver

36. Mildura - Mildura

35. Jamila Woods – LEGACY! LEGACY!

34. Doomsquad – Let Yourself Be Seen

33. Charly Bliss – Young Enough

32. Operators – Radiant Dawn

31. Black Marble – Bigger Than Life

30. The Get Up Kids – Problems

I was late on the Get Up Kids (I know, I know, I’ll turn in my emo card after this article), and I’ve been trying to catch-up these past couple years. And what perfect timing because it’s the first album in eight years (They also had a terrific EP in 2018). It’s a really good return album from them. They can still write amazing pop punk anthems, and few bands leave songs stuck in my head as often as the Get Up Kids do. It’s interesting that the early wave of emo are now elder statesmen of the scene and they touch on that a little in this album. Reflecting on the past and what it means to be a band in 2019. It’s always good to see a band not only not just rely on nostalgia to tour on, but still release relevant music that stands up with some of their best material.

Favorite Track: Satellite

29. Bon Iver – i,i

It’s interesting where Bon Iver has gone in the past decade. First bursting on the scene with the perfect story of going to a cabin and recording a heartbreaking breakup album. Since then he’s won some Grammys, been featured on Kanye West songs, and embraced the synthesizer. For some reason, however, this album reminds me more of “For Emma, Forever Go” than his previous couple albums despite still using the more electronic approach. It has that same raw honesty that his debut had. He’s not alone in the woods anymore. He’s commanding a large group of musicians now, creating this huge sound without losing any of his heart. He also sounds more assured in himself. It’s seems like the beginning of a new era for Justin Vernon and the last song “RABi” sounds like his “riding off into the sunset” moment. Awaiting the next adventure.

Favorite Track: Faith

28. Yola – Walk Through Fire

A really strong debut album from singer/songwriter Yola. It’s really soothing with a nice wall of sound production that just sweeps you away. It also helps that she has such an amazing voice. Songs like “Faraway Look” & “Lonely the Night” feel like songs I’ve known my entire life, but was just waiting for Yola to record them. Really excited to see what she does next.

Favorite Track: Lonely the Night

27. Prince Daddy & the Hyena – Cosmic Thrill Seekers

“Cosmic Thrill Seekers” is an ambitious album, like “The Monitor” level of ambitious. It’s written almost entirely by Kory Gregory about his cycles of struggling with mental health with allusions to Wizard of Oz. They take you on a journey on this album. The feelings of self-destruction, to wanting to escape from people who aren’t even your friends, and not quite fitting in with rest of the world while also playing the most anthemic guitar riffs and crashing cymbals. I can only imaging what the experience is like seeing this album performed live. It would have to feel like a sonic tornado, and you would wonder what just happened after you’re walking away on the street. This album didn’t make it number one on any charts, but this album is going to mean so much to so many people. Also, the last track goes right back into the first one to begin the cycle again.

Favorite Track: Lauren (Track 2)

26. Strange Ranger – Remembering the Rockets

It’s amazing how much this album reminds me of 90’s indie rock. It is so easy to picture Strange Ranger playing this album in between sets of Mazzy Star and Teenage Fanclub. I had not really clicked with Strange Ranger’s earlier stuff, but this album just seemed to make sense to me. It sounds like a fully formed album with a band that is confident enough to be more adventurous. There are some incredibly poppy hooks, but also some interesting synth beat choices. Also the switch of singing songs about the end of the world to being excited to go on a date gives the album a little extra something. A good mixture of despair and hope.

Favorite Track: Leona

25. Lost Under Heaven – Love Hates What You’ve Become

I love when a band just says “F*** It! Let’s make songs meant to be heard in a stadium,” even though they will never get a chance to. This is one of those albums that is meant to be turned all the way up with you screaming along to every chorus in your car. They are definitely wearing their hearts on their sleeve on this one, encouraging you be the best version of ourselves so by the time the album reaches it’s colossal closer “For the Wild,” you are ready to take on the world. It’s fun when a band decides to be super sincere on an album. You actually feel like rock and roll will save us, just like you did when you were a teenager and first found music for yourself.

Favorite Track: For the Wild

24. Mark Ronson – Late Night Feelings

I think my favorite thing about a Mark Ronson record is how much they seem like an awesome compilation album, and this one lives up to its name and is a perfect soundtrack for late night out on the town. He’s got a great ear for collaborators creating the perfect songs to best suit their voices. Lykke Li, Angel Olsen, Alicia Keys, and even Miley Cyrus have some terrific showings on this record. There’s no super hit like “Uptown Funk” on this album, but it is a fun listening experience, and I cannot get enough of Angel Olsen’s “True Blue” on here (Which really should have ended the album. It’s a perfect end credits song).

Favorite Track: True Blue

23. The Drums – Brutalism

The Drums are a group that has had quite a decade. They’ve released four albums, and every member but Johnny has left the group. “Brutalism,” however, is still a strong album in one of the best indie rock discographies of the past 20 years. There are some throwback songs to the early Drums days (Body Chemistry), a rare acoustic ballad (Nervous), and one of the catchiest songs they’ve ever written (626 Bedford Ave). The Drums get overlooked, but they’ve quietly created an impressive catalogue that is just begging to be reevaluated with “Brutalism“ adding a lot to that conversation. Not many indie rock bands make it to five albums, let alone having songs on that fifth album that fit along their biggest hits.

Favorite Track: 626 Bedford Ave.

22. Brittany Howard – Jaime

When I first heard this album was coming out, I thought it meant that Alabama Shakes were done as a band and Brittany was going to be an exclusively solo artist now. However, after listening to this album, I understand why it was not an Alabama Shakes record. This is a very personal record that just wouldn’t sound right as a band collaboration. This is Brittany’s story. She’s singing about life on the road, her faith, first crushes, family, and making sense of what it’s like growing up in the south. This solo record also gave her a chance to explore some different sounds than she would have on an Alabama Shakes record. You can hear some Prince influence, especially on the final track “Run to Me.” Not sure if she plans to release more solo records, but I hope this isn’t the last.

Favorite Track: History Repeats

21. (Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar

“House of Sugar” has probably got my favorite Side A of any record this year. It just gives a chance to showcase what I love about (Sandy) Alex G so much. You’ve got the psychedelic drone style and that fast almost folk-punk style. It’s just filled with this fun eclectic sound and his voice, while probably viewed as limited in sense of range, just captures so much emotion in the music. I found this record to be one that rewards you the most the more you listen to it. I feel like I’m always discovering something new with each listen. I always enjoy checking out the latest (Sandy) Alex G record because his albums are always adventurous, and “House of Sugar” is definitely that. I would have a tough time describing this album. It’s like when you’re in a dream and there are those moments that completely change the scenario and location, but for some reason it makes sense to you in a way you can’t explain. That’s what this album is like for me.

Favorite Track: Gretal

20. Angel Olsen – All Mirrors

If I had to describe this album, I would say it’s Angel Olsen’s “Nebraska” if she had Bauhaus as her backing band. This is a big sounding record, and it’s easy to let the emotional crescendos take you away. You feel every emotion she’s putting on this record, and it is a wild ride. It’s a breakup record, and this album does a good job of capturing that feeling fresh off a breakup that just feels like a tornado of feelings. It’s a storm of emotions, but sometimes there’s a beauty in a storm as well. She said there’s an acoustic version of this album that will come out next year, but I’m glad we got to hear this version first. We get to feel the real raw emotion on this, and then when more time has passed a chance to be softer with a more reflective look back.

Favorite track: All Mirrors

19. billy woods + kenny segal – Hiding Places

It really sounds like Woods is letting it all out on this album; frustrations with music, other people, the current state of things, and his intensity is only amplified by the beats from Kenny Segal. The samples on this album are not catchy, and they shouldn’t be. This is an album that wants you to reckon with what Woods is saying. That’s what makes the final album so impressive. It’s a perfect blend between Wood’s lyrics and Segal’s beats. Complimenting each other in frustration and uneasiness. I was not familiar with either artists before this album, but I’m definitely a fan now, and I hope they will collaborate again in the near future.

Favorite Track: Red Dust

18. Truth Club – Not an Exit

There is something very old school about Truth Club. They’ve got this post-punk nasty guitar riff energy that just make this an album a delight to hear. They sound like a band with something to prove, delivering exactly what you want from a post-punk record. Sweet riffs, monotone vocals, and done in less than a half-hour. Love it.

Favorite Track: Student Housing

17. Helado Negro – This is How You Smile

Sometimes records just feel like a dream as if you can just see the music and travel in it. That’s how I feel every time I listen to “This is How you Smile.” The mixture of electronic and folk makes such beautiful music and Roberto Carlos Lange’s voice is perfect on top of these amazing collections of sound. Apparently he invited a lot of different musicians to play on this record and it really sounds like a group of friends got together and had the perfect jam with Lange’s artistic vision taking the lead. Some songs tackle today’s issues with even some field recordings from an Abolish ICE March in Brooklyn and singing about being proud of being Latinx, but not being confrontational about it. It’s beautiful music with a message.

Favorite Track: Please Won’t Please

16. Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?

You’ve got to give credit to Deerhunter for continuing to make really interesting albums throughout all of the 2010s, and this one seems like a good one to end the decade with. When so many of their contemporaries have disbanded or walked away from music, Deerhunter has kept going. Not resting on their past success, but creating new sounds and challenging their audience to go somewhere new with them. They can still write an amazing hook and the lyrics are as sharp as any previous album. It’s an ode to a world that seems to be on the brink of destruction by its own design.

Favorite Track: Plains

15. Anderson Paak – Ventura

Anderson Paak is on quite a creative streak with this being his fourth album in five years and I think this one may be my favorite. He’s got some amazing guests singers on this album including Andre 3000, Brandy, and the legendary Smokey Robinson. It just sounds terrific too. The 70’s soul-funk inspiration makes for some of the best grooves I’ve heard this year, and it’s a perfect album for a night drive.

Favorite Track: Jet Black

14. PUP – Morbid Stuff

Few bands do “ANGER” as good as PUP, but Morbid Stuff is not the typical angry record either. It’s like “I’m angry. You’re angry. Let’s be angry together” kind of record which is perfect for the general attitude of 2019. PUP inspires a real passionate fan base, and on this record it’s easy to see why. They packed it with cathartic anthems for the disenfranchised. Not getting along with your family? Not quite over your ex? Feel like you missed that turn you were supposed to take in life about four years ago? Get over here and let all that anger out by singing along with us. This album is community even though you can’t be with this group in person. It also helps that this is a band that can PLAY. The musicianship is just fantastic which is probably helped because this is a band. These four guys have been PUP since the beginning and they sound better and better on each album. So let’s get angry!

Favorite Track: Kids

13. Raphael Saadiq – Jimmy Lee

It’s been eight years since the last Raphael Saadiq album, and it’s understandable because this album is dealing with a lot of heavy issues; addiction, incarceration, faith, and losing family. It’s also an album that Raphael Saadiq could have only made after being a bit older with some life wisdom to look back at. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable to listen to, but also necessary. It feels like a very personal album, and you can tell how much work must have been put into producing it. The album sounds terrific, which makes sense for how much experience he’s had producing other projects in-between albums. I also forget how talented of a singer he is. This album is a real showcase of his vocal skills. Some songs sound like he’s pouring his soul into it, and just somehow keeping his voice from breaking. You get swept up in that anger he feels. This album will make you really think about where the world has been, where it’s at today, and where it’s going. A powerful and necessary album for 2019.

Favorite Track: Rearview

12. Orville Peck – Pony

Orville Peck’s music is the kind of music that would sound just as perfect being performed on stage at the Grand Ole Opry as it would hearing it off a jukebox in a dive bar in the middle of nowhere. Peck’s really tapped into that timeless country sound that just seems to sounds good anywhere in any situation. Feeling sad? Perfect. Feeling that freedom you get from just hitting the road alone? Perfect. That baritone voice is so beautiful to listen to as well. It’s a new generations Roy Orbison or Chris Isaak. Beautiful but haunting, and it wouldn’t sound out of place in a David Lynch film. The storytelling in the lyrics are also astounding. I can picture the desert riding while listening to “Dead of Night.” It’s fascinating to know that this is Peck’s first album because it’s so well formed in terms of lyrics, vocals, and hooks. Makes me even more excited for what the next album will sound like.

Favorite Track: Dead of Night

11. Great Grandpa – Four of Arrows

“Four of Arrows” sounds like a level up album from Great Grandpa after their terrific debut “Plastic Cough.” It’s a great example of a band expanding their sound without losing the identity that made their first album special. The band sounds tighter, richer (especially with the addition of strings and synths on some songs), and more ambitious. It also helps to have the amazing Alex Menne vocals. She really conveys an energy that escalates these songs’ emotional payoffs. Especially on a song like “Digger” where she sings (almost screams) “That’s why I hate you,” “That’s why I love you” with almost the same energy. You may not know what each song is about, but you certainly know how it feels.

Favorite Track: Treat Jar

10. Holy Ghost! – Work

Sometimes all you need is great dance album in your life, and Holy Ghost! provided that for me this year. They have a kind of style of dance music that has fallen out of critical favor by the end of this decade, but I still love to hear it. They continued the tradition of Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” of applying their flavor to 70’s dance music, and it’s terrific fun. This album is super catchy, has wonderfully danceable grooves, and features a 7-minute plus dance closer. A perfect dance record.

Favorite track: Do This

9. American Football - American Football (LP3)

With emo revival being a big topic of conversation this past decade in certain music critics’ world, it’s only fair that one of the greatest emo bands ends the decade with a terrific album. After reuniting a couple years ago for an okay album, I’m glad they went back to studio to create an album worthy of comparison to their first album that influenced so many amazing artists. The musicianship on this album is just stunning, with a rich tapestry of melancholy permeating throughout. They also happened to create possibly the best duet of the decade by having fellow emo legend Haley Williams join them for “Uncomfortably Numb.” Just beautiful. #defendemo

Favorite Track: Uncomfortably Numb

8. oso oso – Basking in the Glow

To be honest, I feel invested in oso oso. I remember a few years back he released “the yunahon mixtape” as a pay what you want on Bandcamp and planning to walk away from music. I checked it out, and loved it on first listen. Then the album got some nice shout-outs from critics and other artists and eventually found an audience. So to see not only oso oso stick with music, but to release this terrific follow up record as well, feels like a win for everyone. There is a common misconception that emo=sad music, but this album shows that is not the case. There’s a joy on this album that is super infectious. He wants you to feel a part of his joy. It’s an album of positivity that we needed in 2019, and it helps that so many of these songs are very catchy. This is the “dance around your bedroom” kind of album, and just let yourself go for a half-hour. I’m so happy that this album is getting recognized on so many year-end lists. It feels like a win for the entire emo scene that usually gets ignored. The fact that it happened to oso oso makes it all the better.

Favorite track: The View

7. Big Thief - U.F.O.F.

I always thought of Big Thief as a perfect band for fall. Something about their music feels like the end of something before dealing with something that will be tough but necessary. That they’re the ferryman taking us into the next stage in life, and the cost is you’re going to feel a little sad listening to some heartbreaking tales. U.F.O.F., their first album of 2019, can break you down. In the first track “Contact” we hear lead singer Adrianne Lenker let out these howling screams. Giving ua permission to let yourself go. Be your most pure self as this album takes you on a journey. I don’t mean to make this album sound depressing, because even though there’re numerous allusions to death it is quite hopeful. You get to LIVE because one day you will die. It makes life more important because it has an ending. This album doesn’t have a lot of hooks on it, but it just makes it more important to listen to it as an album. It’s one big piece that feels so right together. It’s hard to imagine anyone having as creatively successful year as Big Thief did in 2019. Kind of apt they got it in right before the end of a decade. A necessary end, I think.

Favorite Track: Cattails

6. Mini Dresses – Heaven Sent

Listening to Mini Dresses’ “Heaven Sent” feels like I found some hidden album demo from the early 2000s that was secretly a masterpiece. I truly do not know why hardly anyone seems to be talking about this album. If it came out in 2008 it feels like it would have been huge on indie blogs. This album is so catchy and a style of indie rock that doesn’t seem to be big anymore, which is a shame because it’s too good to miss. This album reminds me of Blondie if they would have been part of the indie wave of the mid-2000s, which if that sounds cool to you, please check this album out.

Favorite Track: Rank and File

5. Better Oblivion Community Center – Better Oblivion Community Center

After hearing “Would You Rather” on Phoebe Bridgers’ phenomenal debut album “Stranger in the Alps,” I suppose we were all secretly hoping for more songs from Conor Oberst and Phoebe. There are few songwriters that can capture the feeling of loneliness and emptiness, but still have that sense of hope that it can somehow get better like these two can. “If you’re not feeling ready, there’s always tomorrow” on their last song “Dominos” really hits that point home. Their voices sound great together and the production on this album is fantastic. They’ve got the hooks, they’ve got the ballads, and they’re ready to make you cry, but they will be the first ones to help pick you back up. This album feels like an old friend that knows you get sad sometimes, but is always there for you when you need them.

Favorite Track: Dylan Thomas

4. glass beach – the first glass beach album

There’s nothing better than when a band just goes for it on an album. I haven’t listened to an album that has made me think of emo, Disney, Hellogoodbye, and Playstation video game soundtracks all before I’ve even made it to track 5. It’s like they threw everything on the wall and everything stuck. I would not be surprised to find out that this band is around my age. It sounds like an album that only someone who grew up in the 90’s and early 2000’s could make. Just picking sounds from everything in that era and making an album out of it. It’s pure chaos, but somehow completely makes sense. This album is not for everybody, but if it clicks with you, it’s like it’s looking into your soul.

Favorite track: cold weather

3. Slaughter Beach Dog – Safe and Also No Fear

I was a big fan of Modern Baseball, like all good emo revival fans should be, and was super sad to hear they were going on indefinite hiatus. When I heard Jake Ewald was starting a new project as Slaughter Beach Dog, I checked out some songs from his album “Birdie” but didn’t really connect with it. Probably because I wanted something more like Modern Baseball. Then when this album came out, it had some buzz from critics whose opinions on music closely line up with mine, and I checked out this album. Whatever opinion I had on the first album, this one was the exact opposite. I really connected with. Listening to it feels like those times where you visit your old hometown, driving around the old spots you used to hang out. Then you realize these spots don’t mean what they did to you anymore, and they never could. No matter how much old friends want you to be that old person again, you can’t go backwards and you’re fine with that. This is also a beautiful sounding record. It sounds like Jake let the other musicians have a bit more say in the sound, and it does sound like a band collaboration. It’s a sweet indie/folk/alternative sound that just pierces my soul. If we don’t get another Modern Baseball reunion, that’s fine. It sounds like Jake has moved on, and I’m ready to follow wherever his new music takes him.

Favorite Track: Black Oak

2. Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow

It’s always exciting to witness an artist make the album they were always meant to. All of her work has lead up to her masterpiece. You feel her soul on this record. Not one moment feels faked. She’s not hiding anything from the listener. Talking about letting go of your past self (I Told You Everything), making a new version of yourself (Comeback Kid), letting yourself love again (Jupiter 4), and what it’s like to be a mother (Stay). Also, on this record she embraces the synth and it makes for some tremendous production. The anthems have an extra kick to them. Not only is this a terrific album for 2019, but one of the standouts of the decade from an artist who already had an impressive discography these past ten years. I’m not sure where she will go next, but I’m hoping this is a sign of what to expect from her in the 2020s.

Favorite Track: Seventeen

1. Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains

This is my favorite album of 2019, and it’s not even close. I was not familiar with David Berman until I heard the first couple singles before the album came out. His name was one that I heard critics tweet about or referenced by other artists, but had never really checked out his music. However, after hearing “All My Happiness is Gone” and “Darkness and Cold” I could not get enough of this music. The melodies were incredibly catchy, I thought the lyrics were super memorable, and they just felt like they really connected with me. He sounded like a natural storyteller, and I was hooked on every word he said. I’m not usually a lyrics person, but I paid attention when I heard these songs. Then when the album came out, it was a treasure trove of an album that I could really dive into. This heartland country sound with a terrific backing band, Woods, complimenting David Berman’s unique voice. I loved it immediately. Then when the tragic news came out of David Berman’s passing, it hit me hard. It’s difficult to talk about this album without acknowledging David committed suicide shortly after it was released. However, I don’t think of this album as a suicide note. This really felt like an album about life. There are struggles, but there are the good moments too. Find the happiness where you can. Margaritas at the mall, that lovely connection of a child with their parent, and if the snow is falling and it’s looking bad, enjoy how warm it will be inside. Berman’s legacy will be everything he contributed to culture; his poetry, his wit, his dark humor, and especially the music. Every once in awhile now when I hear “All My Happiness is Gone” on the radio or if it comes up on a shuffled playlist, my eyes start to well up. Not because I’m sad, but because I’m happy David shared a piece of his soul with us. That’s the real power of music.

Favorite Track: All My Happiness is Gone

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atsushishelteredinmoonlitjasmine · 4 years

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Fire Emblem: Awakening Thoughts

As of the date May 20th, 2020, I finished my playthrough of Fire Emblem: Awakening on its one year anniversary of when I got it. It is now June 5th of writing this. This post will be my thoughts and feelings on Awakening, much like the KH3 Grievances and Blessings post last year. Let's get into some history between me and Fire Emblem before I go into Awakening.

As I've said before, Awakening was both my first Fire Emblem game and my first Tactical RPG. Smash Bros. was where I had heard of Fire Emblem but it wouldn't be until Ultimate came out that I would start to get interested. It was because of my friend's preference for Lucina that got me into playing as her in Smash and that's pretty much how she became both one of my mains and a favorite. It honestly wasn't till I listened to the Smash remixes of Id, Conquest, and Lost in Thoughts All Alone that I decided to play Awakening and then Fates. So thanks go out to both Smash and my friend Eric for converting me to Fire Emblem trash!

Much like the KH3 Grievances and Blessings post, I'll be going over every aspect of Awakening I can think of, from the graphics to the gameplay to the story. I'll even include a Best/Worst Girl and Boy of both generations because that kind of thing seems to matter to some people, along with my reasons for why X is Y. Keep in mind that whoever I choose as those categories, it is just my opinion and you're free to disagree with me. I say this because I know that, no matter what I say, some diehard fans will get pissed at me and come at me for daring to shit on their favorite character. I already know some people are gonna get mad because they think X should be Best/Worst and that'll be fun to see (You can interpret that as sarcasm if you want).

Listed below are Awakening spoilers, so if you want to play the game and don't want to be spoiled, now's your chance to stop reading. I know Awakening came out in 2013, meaning 6 or 7 years ago, but there may be some people who haven't gotten around to playing it yet so I want to be courteous to them. Here are my thoughts on Fire Emblem: Awakening!

First off, the graphics. I think they looked really nice for a 3DS game that came out in the early 2010's and I believe this was Fire Emblem's first fully 3D game as well so that's really impressive. The in-game models were nicely detailed, the in-game sprites were nice looking, and the prerendered cutscenes were beautiful. This doesn't mean they're not without their faults, though. I wish the in-game cutscenes were more animated because it's easy to tell when an animation's been used over and over again, I feel as if the in-game sprites have some dissonance with official art, and there are times where expressions or animations for the prerendered cutscenes have looked pretty awkward. In terms of the first and last point, I'm giving IntSys some slack because, as I stated earlier, they were developing a game for the 3DS, a powerful handheld device but it's still a handheld, and this was FE's first 3D game so there may have been issues transitioning from 2D sprites to 3D models. I'll explain what I mean by my second point. I've looked at Cynthia's official art and when I see her face, I tend to see what I'd call a baby face, pudgy cheeks and all. Her in-game sprite, however, her face is sharper, more mature, if that makes sense. Maybe it's the pigtails throwing me off or it's just a difference between two art styles, I don't know. I'm not an artist so there's not much weight behind this but I'm just saying there's somewhat a dissonance between official art and in-game sprites.

Secondly, gameplay. I loved how easy it was and how I could switch between a simple and complex UI if I wanted to see which attacks could hit or what the enemy's stats were. This may sound stupid but I honestly thought it'd be way more difficult due to this being a Tactical RPG. I know strategy's a big part of Fire Emblem but strategy's not a big problem if you're like me and you grind to hell and back. Speaking of which, I played on Easy Casual mode so that might be why it seemed so simple from the get-go. Just to give you an idea of how much I grinded, I put in 200+ hours and that mostly consisted of buying a shitton of Reeking Boxes, spawning Risen on some of my favorite grind spots, and fighting them over and over again. I went through the 3 basic classes each character could have, maxed out their default class one last time, promoted them to their advanced class, and maxed out those classes 2-3 times over. I have a video on my Twitter that shows the stats of these characters and most of them are over 220 (The shapeshifters 300). Needless to say, I loved each and every fucking crit I got. Cordelia even got what I call a miracle crit, which means she got 2 crits in one round and after the enemy attacked, she got another 2 crits. Level grind ain't a joke in this game.

Thirdly, the music. Considering it's part of why I got into this game in the first place, I loved it. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to the OST and it sounds so much better when you don't have the ambient sounds and you're not listening to it through the 3DS speakers. The song that hit me the most and just gave me the overwhelming feels was Id~Sorrow as it played in Chapter 21. It fit so well with the tone of the scene and I just sat there for a few minutes, letting it play in the background as I did shit. Other notable mentions are Id~Purpose, Destiny, Conquest, and the song that is just ellipses. If the music is this good in Awakening, I can't wait to see what's in store for Fates!

Fourthly, the voice acting. For a game where most of the voices come in forms of clips, I thought they were good. Each of the actors tried their best to convey their characters in the clips they were allowed to have and I think it shows. The only critique I have, and it's not the actors' fault, is that some of the characters' voices don't fit them. I'm not saying they miscast these characters, it's more like the direction was off, if that makes sense. Let me bring up Cynthia, Kjelle, and M!Morgan as examples. I don't think it's a stretch to say that, sometimes when you look at a character, you kinda imagine what they'd sound like before you hear their actual voice, right? I already brought up Cynthia's looks so I imagined her voice to sound very high-pitched and maybe a little childlike. I hear her voice and, while she's high-pitched and some of her voice clips do go into that childlike territory, she's nasally sounding and more mature. Kjelle is a complicated case in that, her voice fits her appearance (minus the armor) but not her personality. Her personality is similar to Sully's so I figured her voice would sound gruffer and not...cute, if that's the right word. M!Morgan's, I think, everyone can see the problem with. He's supposed to be the youngest of the kids, right? Since he's the only third generation character and all that? I think he just sounds a little too old for the supposed baby of the kids. Again, I'm not saying the voices are bad or that the delivery/emotion was bad, I just think the direction in which they were voiced don't fit some of the characters. Maybe I'm just thinking in terms of archetypes or something.

Now we move on to the story. I can't say as to whether it was good or not, mainly because I spoiled myself on it way before I decided on playing Awakening, so I don't think I can say much to the quality. The least I'll say is it's serviceable. I'll admit, the one thing I was shocked by was the appearance of the Grima Avatar because I thought Grima was inside Robin the whole time and I didn't think he'd have a separate vessel. I straight up thought Grima!Robin was either my mother or a twin I wasn't aware of so I'm giving credit to the writers for surprising me. Anyway, I think the only flaw I have with the story is with the pacing. I thought the first half was fine, it wasn't too fast or too slow. It was the second half that the pacing couldn't find a middle ground. Now I'm going to say that this half was stretched out over months of my playtime so whatever I say next might be exaggerated because of my procrastinating ass so... I feel like the Valm arc was way too slow and the Grimleal arc had so much trouble finding a middle ground. The beginning of the Grimleal arc was quick but Grima himself decided that I had to finish 2 and a half chapters before I finally got to beat him and you have to deal with constant reinforcements before you kill off the target. I think if it weren't for my overleveled as fuck units, I wouldn't have finished Awakening in time for my birthday.

Just for shits and giggles, I'm gonna say what I picked for my choice with both Luce's judgement and Grima's fate. I picked the self-sacrificial choices, which means I accepted Luce's judgement and allowed her to kill me and I dealt the final blow to Grima so Chrom didn't have to. While I knew the outcomes of both choices and them ultimately not meaning anything, I wanted my Robin to reflect what I would've done and I'm a very self-sacrificial person. Because I made Chrobin happen in my playthrough, which meant Luce was my daughter, I believe that, if my child who came from an apocalyptic world told me I was the reason for that happening and that she came back through time to stop that future from happening so she and the others wouldn't suffer, I would've let her kill me. Parents would and should do anything for their kids and if my death possibly gave my daughter the chance for a better life, I'd take it in stride. As for me dealing the final blow to Grima, if it was to save everyone I loved, I would've done it. Although there's some feelings of wanting to give a big "Fuck you" to Grima and to permanently end the problem so any future descendants wouldn't have to deal with it. This section may sound more philosophical and personal than I usually write but I think it deserved it.

Now we're on to Supports and who I chose to be together. I don't think it's wrong to say that this is where the characters really get to shine and it's because of the Supports I love these kids and how much I'm going to miss them when I move on to other FE games. As for the "canon" couples, I mainly went with characters that I thought would complement each other and this was one of the few things I tried to choose for myself. I tried my best to go for pairings that weren't fan favorites but I'm also not very connected with the fandom as of writing this so I may be completely wrong in which ships were favorites or not. So here are the pairings I got for my playthrough!

Chrom-Robin

Frederick-Sumia

Virion-Miriel

Vaike-Nowi

Stahl-Sully

Lon'qu-Cordelia

Ricken-Lissa

Gaius-Maribelle

Gregor-Cherche

Libra-Panne

Henry-Olivia

Lucina-Inigo

Owain-Cynthia

Brady-Nah

Kjelle-Laurent

Severa-Yarne

Obviously, there are some characters missing from this list and I can explain why. I didn't recruit Kellam and Tharja and it's because your girl is a dumbass. Kellam, I thought, was already on my team, he was just labelled as an ally so I didn't need to recruit him. They really should've made that clear. Tharja, on the other hand, was an even bigger dumbass than me because she decided to charge after Robin, who happened to be in front and was way overleveled, and got her ass promptly beaten with a crit. I regret not getting Kellam but after hearing how awful of a person Tharja is and how many fans are willing to put aside emotional abuse and stalker-like tendencies to have a chance to fuck her, she can stay buried in the sand where I electrocuted her ass. Unfortunately, this does means Noire didn't pop up in my recruitment list and that fucking sucks. The only characters left I didn't have a pairing were Gerome and Morgan. I think Gerome wouldn't really care for a romantic partner because he's all about not wanting to create ties in this time and shit and, since I see Morgan as the baby of the kids, I figured he'd be a little too young to be in a relationship. Despite that, I wish I got him and Nah together because I found out after she was shipped with Brady that Morgan's the only S-Support she'll say "I love you" to and I was immediately filled with regret.

Before I move on to the Best/Worst contest, there's something I need to bring up because I can see what sensible fans have shown now. This game is HELLA gay. Like, holy fuck, how many instances are there where you have two characters of the same sex and they have dialogue that seems to have been written with romantic intent but the writers decide it's meant to be platonic? Maybe I just have this weird line of thought on how straights are because there's no fucking way some of these gay moments would be a thing with even the most accepting straights. Maribelle calling Lissa darling and other pet names, Robin blushing from some of the girls and even mistaking Flavia's proposition for a marriage proposal, Severa looking at Kjelle's abs, the list goes on. I'm not straight because I'd be doing some of this shit with a potential girlfriend if I could! Why did it take IntSys until 3 Houses to implement LGBT+ pairings when this game is right here?! At least this game doesn't have the weird student/teacher relationships 3H has and believe me when I say that, if it weren't for the fact I could give less of a fuck for 3H, I wouldn't play that game for that reason! Anyway, Awakening is hella gay and it should've been the first LGBT+ FE game instead of 3H.

The Best/Worst contest... As I said in the beginning, there'll be a Best/Worst Boy and Girl for both generations because that's fun and it seems to matter a lot to some people. Repeating what I said, this is just my opinion and you're free to agree or disagree with me. One rule I'm putting in is I will try my best to not pick fan favorites. Don't get me wrong when some of the crowd pleasers are good but there are other characters that deserve just as much love as the fan favorites so this is why I'm putting in this rule. Without further ado, here are the rulings!

1st Gen

Best Boy-Lon'qu

Best Girl-Panne

Worst Boy-Virion

Worst Girl-Miriel

2nd Gen

Best Boy-Owain

Best Girl-Cynthia

Worst Boy-Inigo

Worst Girl-Severa

Let's see how many people I piss off with these judgements. So, my reasoning: Best Boy for 1st gen was a big toss-up. I kept wanting to choose between Chrom, Frederick, Stahl, and Lon'qu because they really endeared themselves to me but I chose Lon'qu in the end because he's honestly such a dork (I mean, all of them are) and I gotta admire how he tries to overcome his fear of women and try being there for his wife and daughter if he happens to have one. There's also the fact he has to literally psyche himself up to talk to women if you check in with him in the Barracks and I'm just like "Fucking hell, that's adorable and I GET it". Best girl is Panne because believe me when I say that the moment I see this woman and hear her voice, I'm immediately gay for her. Then she transforms into a giant rabbit, kicks so much ass, and I'm in love. Funny story, I'd talk to my friend about my progress in Awakening on Discord and the moment he asks me who best girl was and I answered Panne, he called me out for being a furry. Granted, I would've automatically said Luce but I'm trying not to pick fan favorites so I get his criticism. If a woman like Panne existed in real life, bunny ears and tail and all, I'd probably become a furry for her, no questions asked. As for worst boy and girl, Virion and Miriel are characters I honestly don't give much of a fuck about. Not that they're bad, I just don't care about their archetypes, if that makes sense. Miriel I found to be boring and Virion's of the Casanova archetype and I've always kinda hated that archetype so that's why they're on the ranking.

Oh boy, 2nd gen. So, best boy being Owain. This boy is going to kill me. He's so adorable and sweet and he's just a good boy. There are literally Tweets on my Twitter where I just gush about him and he deserves so much love. He's just a sweet boy who loves his parents so much and is so proud to be their son and how he manages to rope his cousins (Luce and Morgan) into going with his fantasies and how they just go along with it! Owain is a cinnabun and I want to protect him and love him. Anyway, best girl being Cynthia is sorta the same reason as Owain. She's just so bubbly and happy and just adorable. Yeah, she may get carried away with showboating but I just love her earnest desire to be a hero. I think everyone can see why I paired Owain and Cynthia up. Now for the worst. Inigo and Severa are probably the only characters in this whole game that straight up got on my fucking nerves and for different reasons. Outside of his supports with Olivia and Henry, Inigo's constant flirting with the girls and Robin and inability to take no for an answer just rubbed me the wrong way. I actually put out a Tweet saying how Inigo's like an r/niceguy and I still think he is one. Course, this doesn't mean I didn't have my fair share of laughs from him. I fucking died at his and Gerome's A-Support where he ends up pathetically crying after the emo loner got more game than him and Gerome has to comfort his ass, that was hilarious. It also helped the fact that Liam O'Brien, who I've only heard him as the brooding emo loner role, voiced Inigo as the complete opposite of that and I had a blast. Severa, on the other hand, was...really unpleasant. There's a reason I hate Tsunderes with a passion and it's because they're unnecessarily bitchy towards everyone they know, even if they have no reason to be. Severa, however, was somehow worse because she went out of her way to be horrible to people. My dislike for her was cemented the moment I saw her and Cynthia's C-Support and she chose to make fun of her, despite Cynthia minding her own business and Severa just going "fuck it". However, I should express that I understand why Inigo and Severa are the way they are and that's why I'm not being as harsh on them as I could be. They still have their good moments and I can appreciate them while also raking them over the coals.

So that concludes my review/experience of Fire Emblem: Awakening! Despite some moments of frustration and annoyance, I had fun playing this! I mean it when I say I'm gonna miss these kids but I had plenty of time to spend with them so it's time to move on to newer lands. Next up on the list is Fates and I think I'm siding with Hoshido first. It's funny how, despite me spoiling the story for myself 3 separate times, I still can't remember much, if any, of it so that may say something about the quality. I also know Fates is pretty divisive among the fandom but the thing I know it for is the weird pseudo-incestuous ships it has so that's going to be fun! Hopefully, I'll get around to playing as one of my other mains in Smash, my water horse dragon Corrin, sometime soon and I'll be sure to let everyone know when my journey will start!

#fire emblem awakening

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chocoluckchipz · 5 years

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Dance with Me, Chaton - 30

Read it on A03, WattPad, FF.net

Written for @ladynoirjuly2019

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30. Inspiration

Marinette’s birthday marked exactly ten months, two weeks, and three days since Adrien had learned about the mysterious Ladybug and embarked on a journey to find her in exchange for a feeble promise of freedom from his father. What should’ve been an interesting, few-weeks-long experience at its most turned out to be a wild, life-changing ride by no means easy for everyone involved. Still, as Adrien escorted Marinette out to dinner on her birthday, he found himself unable to regret a single thing, no matter how much it cost him. His gains outweighed it all.

The restaurant Adrien had chosen was unusually private for Paris’ dining scene and one of the most serene spaces he’d ever visited. Soft music floating through the candlelit space weaved itself in between the quiet chatter of other couples in the room. The food was delicious and the staff, friendly. The whole atmosphere was enthralling, making this evening an unforgettable one as the pair chatted, laughed, and indulged in a wide variety of delicatessen, enjoying each other’s company more than anything else. For Adrien, however, the best part of the evening was the birthday girl. With her hair down, an elegant red dress, and stylish accessories, including the ruby earrings he gifted her with this morning, Marinette was the epitome of beauty, her smiles alone outshining everything else in his universe, her constant teases ensuring he remained acutely aware of his feelings for her the whole evening.

“Don’t tell Papa, but this chocolate mousse is the best thing I’ve ever tried in my life,” Marinette said, finishing her dessert. “We must come back. I need to try everything else they have on their menu. Maybe pick up a few things for us to savour at home.”

“As you wish, my Lady,” Adrien said, watching Marinette lick her spoon clean. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought he’d be madly in love with a woman who could out-eat him any time of the day and still remain in perfect physical shape. Then again, that could be easily explained by all that training she’d been doing with Tikki. And as far as Adrien was concerned, Tikki could easily give Plagg a run for his money in the intensity of her workouts. He shivered even at the memory. Her training wasn’t exactly more physically demanding than Plagg’s. Not at all. However, it relied on exceptional speed and agility, something that Adrien had suspected his male body wasn’t built for. The few times he’d trained with Tikki, he’d thanked every deity alive he’d been assigned to Plagg because unaccustomed to such extremely quick movement transitions, he huffed and puffed and miserably fell behind all session long, leaving Marinette a giggling mess as she watched him suffer. His forgiveness, though, was easily earned by a few kisses right after the session.

“By the way, Alya demanded to make sure you knew this place was her suggestion,” Adrien added once the waiter left with their empty plates.

Marinette rolled her eyes. “I should’ve guessed. She did write that article on Paris’ hidden gems a few weeks back. Though, I don’t remember this one on the list.”

“Somebody suggested it in the comments section under her article,” Adrien explained. “She checked it out last week and said it was better than any of the places that made it on her list. So much better, in fact, that she’ll be writing a new article in a few days… after we had a chance to enjoy the calmer version of what soon to be a highly sought-after place. Her words. Not mine.”

Marinette chuckled. “I love Alya. I’d have to thank her somehow because—” She reached for his hand to hold in hers, “—a quiet evening alone with you was just what I wanted for my birthday. Thank you, Chaton. This was the perfect present.”

“No need to thank me yet,” Adrien replied, his lips already bestowing a lingering kiss onto her hand. “The evening is just starting.”

“Seeing as you’ve asked me to bring my Kwami Kave outfit, I’m guessing we’re heading there next?”

“You’re right as always, my Lady. Kwami Kave is next.”

Marinette lightly nibbled at her lip. “Was it bad of me to hope that on my birthday we could spend some time alone? Just the two of us, without constant interruptions of everyone else.”

Adrien chuckled. “We can do that if you don’t mind me being mugged around the corner by a mob of our angry friends tomorrow because apparently,” he playfully bemoaned. “Even Ladybug’s boyfriend isn’t allowed to have her all to himself on her birthday.”

Marinette cocked her head to the side. “But what if Ladybug herself wants to snuggle in front of the TV with her boyfriend instead of going out? I’m sure if they knew how warm and cuddly, not to mention skilled, my Kitty is, they’d understand.”

Ignoring the rising heat at Marinette’s allusive tone of voice, Adrien replied. “I’m sure we can leave as soon as Tikki and Plagg give you your surprise present because, seriously, I think I was threatened and forced to swear I’ll bring you over just for that.”

“Oh! What kind of surprise?”

“Don’t know. They wouldn’t let even me on it.” Adrien paused and looked at Marinette. “Do ‘Rena Rouge’ and ‘Carapace’ ring any bells for you?”

“No. Never heard of those. What or who are they?”

“Beats me. I overheard those along with ‘Ladybug’s birthday’ when I walked in on Masters Wayzz, Trixx, Plagg and Tikki a few days ago, but when I asked them about it, Master Wayzz told me that water isn’t hot enough to put the noodles in yet. Plagg had the audacity to comment that curiosity could be deadly for eavesdropping kittens, and Tikki bluntly kicked me out after that.”

Marinette laughed. “You know you’re adorable when you pout?”

“I’ve been told,” Adrien grinned. “And also, when I sleep, and when I blush, and—”

“Oh!” Marinette perked up. “Speaking of that and Luka. Have you noticed?”

Adrien grinned wider. “You mean how that new girl Ryuko reduces him to a blushing mess with her every word?”

“Yes!” Marinette squeaked. “I’m so excited! I’ve never seen Luka so flustered. He was actually lost for words last time she sassed him.”

Adrien chuckled. “I’m sorry; he’s a friend, but that was a delight to watch. Ever so cool and composed Viperion melting under the Dragon Girl sharp tongue and narrowing eyes.”

“I know!” Marinette beamed. “There is definitely something there. Can’t wait to see how it’ll go down.”

“Then, we’d better grab some popcorn on our way there,” Adrien said and called for the waiter.

Once the bill was paid and the pair walked into the street, Marinette asked, “Do you mind if we can take a little detour? Tikki asked me to grab something for her for tomorrow, and I don’t think I’d want to go anywhere after the club.”

“Sure. Where to?”

“Do you remember I told you about that apartment she bought for investment?”

Adrien let a smile slip onto his lips. “The one you said you’d love to live in yourself?”

“Yup. That one. She forgot some documents there last night and she needs them for tomorrow.”

Adrien opened his car’s door for Marinette. “Why didn’t she get them herself? She had all day.”

“She said she’d be busy,” Marinette smiled. “I assume with that surprise you say they’ve been preparing for me, so the least I can do is to stop by that place and get her those documents. She gave me the key. Here’s the address.” Marinette opened her clutch and pulled a piece of paper out. “It isn’t far from here. Shouldn’t take us long.”

Adrien opened the paper and read the address. “Love how she drew a little cloverleaf and a ladybug at the end. Is that wishing me good luck on finding the place?”

“No.” Marinette giggled. “Tikki just likes to doodle. That’s all.”

Adrien put the paper inside his jacket, only now remembering the envelope that lay there. “Oh, snap. I forgot to show you this.”

“What is it?”

“The latest poll combined with our stats on Lady Noir and a proposal.”

Marinette pursued her lips. “Talking business on our time off?”

“I promise you��ll like it,” Adrien guiltily smiled.

Marinette took the envelope, letting him close the door and get to the driver’s seat. Once inside, he glanced her way. “So? What do you think?”

“I won’t lie,” Marinette responded. “I love the idea of a physical store, but we’ve opened our online one just a little over six months ago. Isn’t it a little too soon?”

“Not according to those numbers and your clienteles demand.” Adrien nodded to the paper in Marinette’s hands. “I told you you’ll be a smashing success. Here are your first results: your ever-growing crowd of customers demand a physical boutique.”

Adrien let Marinette a few moments to think as he drove off into the street before adding, “I also might have already found the perfect location for it too.”

Marinette closed her eyes and chuckled. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Because you know how much I’m excited for you to take the fashion industry by storm. And when you do, I’ll be proud to stand by your side.” He gave her a quick smile, before averting his eyes back to the road. His hand, though, remained in hers, nestled in her lap, for a few more moments.

“Downtown location,” he added. “An exquisite, historic building in a busy, prestigious shopping alley. Lots of tourists, a couple of established fashion boutiques on either side and a few Metro stations a walking distance away. Perfect for your first boutique to go viral.”

Marinette watched him for a moment. “You serious?”

Adrien nodded, his eyes focused on the road as he drove. “I already spoke with the leasing company. They’re awaiting our decision by the end of the week before releasing the listing to the public.”

Marinette bit her lip, focusing her sight on the road in front of her. She was tempted; Adrien could see it. Her own boutique was her dream ever since she could remember herself, and now it was a hair string away from becoming a reality.

“Okay, even if I wanted to do this,” Marinette said. “There is no way I can afford it. Depending on the rent fee, whatever’s left of that payout your father gave me would cover around six months at most in that area. It won’t work long term.”

“Don’t forget about me,” Adrien said. “I own half of the company, meaning I’ll be pitching in as well. We’ll have at least a year covered. By that time, Lady Noir will be long profiting, so the rent won't be an issue anymore.”

Marinette fell quiet. Adrien focused on the road, giving her time to think, one of the things he’d learned about his Lady. Marinette didn’t like to rush with life-altering decisions.

A few streets down, Marinette started biting on her nails. “Lady Noir is way more successful than I’d ever thought it would be.”

“Yup,” Adrien agreed. “I told you it wasn’t just something for me to play with until I’d figure out what I want to do with my life.”

“Well, excuse me,” Marinette chuckled. “What was I supposed to think when I fleetingly mention to you I was debating between starting my own fashion brand on that Gabriel pay-out money or taking up one of the jobs offers I had, and you immediately jump at the chance, making calls, crunching numbers and giving me at least three different ways to go about it the next day? My best bet was you were extremely bored and had nothing better to do than to play around in Let’s Start a Fashion Empire in your spare time.”

“Well I was bored, I can’t deny that,” Adrien responded. “No one goes from being busy 24/7 to doing nothing 24/7 and doesn’t feel bored. But no, no games. I just saw an opportunity and latched to it. You’re incredibly talented, Marinette, and I dare to say I know how to manage a business pretty well. Years of experience, university and all that.”

“You are really good at it. We’d never be at the level we’re now without you, no matter how genius of a designer you think me to be.”

“You are exceptional as a designer, but thank you for the compliment.” He took an opportunity at a red light to reach for her hand again and smile. “Don’t you see it, my Lady? I’ve been born into the fashion industry and know it inside out. You were born to take it by storm, and I’ll be proud to be by your side when you do that.”

She took a few more moments. “Do you really think we should go for it?”

Adrien nodded. “I know we should. Numbers don’t lie.”

“Alright.” She smiled. “I trust you.”

“I’ll schedule an appointment as soon as possible for you to see the location, and we’ll go from there,” Adrien said, pulling over. “Is this it?”

Marinette looked outside. “Yes. Want to go with me or wait for me here?”

“Do I look like I’m insane?” Adrien dramatically gasped. “Who in their right mind would let a goddess like you walk in that building alone? Someone would surely steal you away from me, and I’m afraid I won’t survive that.”

Marinette laughed. “I see Plagg has been rubbing off on you.”

“Maybe just a tiny bit.” Adrien winked.

He quickly got out in hopes to open the door for Marinette. Yet, when Adrien circled the car, Marinette was already standing on a sidewalk, staring at the building in front of them, her head tilted to the side.

“Isn’t just gorgeous?” she murmured under her breath.

Adrien cocked his head to the side. “I bet you love it for the dance studio on the ground floor and that huge red front door with flower pots around it alone. Your two favourite things in one place.”

Marinette smirked. “I mean you’re not wrong but wait, till you get inside. It has the coziest little courtyard I’ve ever seen, not to mention architecture is just fantastic.”

“Shall we go in then?”

“Absolutely.”

Putting in the entry code from the paper Tikki gave them, Adrien noticed Marinette running her fingers against the intricate door frame. She looked in awe at the small but beautiful courtyard, commenting on a few plant choices she’d never thought would look good together, immediately snapping a few pictures for inspiration.

“So gorgeous,” she whispered to herself as they’ve entered the foyer. “You know,” Marinette said louder to him. “Tikki wants to renovate it before renting it out.”

“Does she? Another chance to flaunt her mighty interior design skills?”

“Hey! She’s good. Just look at her clients, all those rich and famous folks who stand in a line to have her create spaces for them.”

“Isn’t it what I said?” Adrien chuckled. “She is good at her job. I know that. I saw her work. Her taste is unprecedented, comparing to the other designers I’ve seen. What about it, though? It’s not really surprising she’d want to do work on her own place.”

“Yes, but because it’s her place, she has free rein,” Marinette excitedly continued. “She doesn’t have to appease anyone but herself, so she’s very excited. I don’t even think I can remember the last time she was so pumped. I mean, she was just bursting at the seams in there, kept throwing ideas at me, proposing innovative solutions, showing me pictures of furniture and fabrics. It was fantastic to watch her.”

Adrien suppressed a grin, chuckling in amusement instead. “Then, I suppose I should expect Plagg visiting me more often than usual. He always gets grumpy when Tikki pays more attention to her work than him.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Please. He knows she loves him more than anything. He just likes to sulk for her attention.”

“We do like when our women notice us.”

“Really?” Her eyes half-lidded, Marinette turned to Adrien with a teasing smile on her lips and sultriness in her voice. “Then, please, do tell me what kind of attention you like, Chaton? Because, you know—” She stepped closer and torturously slowly ran her fingers atop of his chest, “—I wouldn’t want you to doubt my love and bemoan your fate the same way Plagg does. I’d like to make sure you’re certain of my feelings for you.”

Adrien felt something stir inside. The look Marinette was giving him, the mischievous tone of her voice, the way her lips curled, her touch at his chest… they’d better get to what they were here for, because a few more moments, and he’d be cancelling all plans and taking Marinette home instead, angry Plagg and Tikki and all the others or not. She was already driving his crazy all evening long with her constant teasing, something she suspected she’d picked up from Tikki. Not that he was complaining, but he was a mere mortal man. He wasn’t invulnerable and he definitely had his limits.

Clearing his throat, Adrien averted his sight and pressed the elevator’s button. “What level was it at again? The top one, right?”

“Yup. Lucky her, she snatched a penthouse.” Marinette wrapped her hand around his arm, a smirk on her lips telling him she knew exactly how she was making him feel, and she regretted nothing.

The door ringer dinged and as soon as the elevator opened, Adrien motioned for her to enter. “After you.”

The rode up mostly in silence. Marinette’s hands wrapped around his arm, she leaned onto his shoulder, speaking a short while into their ride, not even hiding the mischief in her voice. “Maybe we should’ve been rude and took our club clothes up here to change. Would’ve been more convenient than at the Kwami Kave’s change room.”

“If we’d done that” Adrien replied. “You know we’d be stuck here for a lot longer then we’re supposed to.”

“Well, maybe that’s what I want?” She said just as the door opened. “It’s my birthday. I should be able to call at least some of the shots.”

Adrien couldn’t keep a smile off his face. Gosh, he loved this woman! There was never a dull moment with her around. Stubborn and fiery one minute, sweet and cuddly the other. She always kept him on his toes, and that was just perfect. Exactly what he needed after the monotonous life he’d been leading before. So as soon as they’d walked out, he wrapped her into his arms and stole a moment for a kiss.

“I promise we’ll make our club visit as short as you want,” he whispered, pulling back. “Wait for their surprise, and then one word, and I’ll whisk you away before anyone would notice.”

“It’s not because I don’t like going there,” Marinette murmured, laying her head on his chest. “I do. I love Kwami Kave. It’s like a second home. It’s just lately, I’ve become fonder of just cuddling the evening away with you than going out.”

“I feel exactly the same way.” Adrien smiled, tightening his hold on her. “A quiet evening with you sounds just about perfect.”

“Then…” Marinette pulled back and grabbed his hand in hers. She bit her lip for a moment before raising her big blue eyes at him. “I know you’ve already given me the earrings as my present today, and I love them. They’re gorgeous. Not to mention the dinner and you’re taking me to Kwami Kave, but… would it be too selfish if I’d ask you for something I’ve been really wanting for a while now?”

Reaching forward, Adrien brushed her bangs away just so a moment later he could lean his forehead against hers. “You know I’ll give you anything you want if I can. So, ask away. It isn’t selfish at all.”

“Well…” she started a bit hesitant. “You know how you’d been living at Plagg’s for a while now, and you’ve hinted you wanted to get a place of your own soon… and how we’d go to each other’s places every so often… well, practically all the time now because, really, I don’t think we’ve spent a day apart in the last few months…”

“We haven’t,” Adrien sighed, his eyes closed. “I know I’ve been too clingy, so if it bothers you—”

“No,” Marinette rushed to interrupt. “It doesn’t. Not at all. In fact, I think… I think we should move in that direction.”

Adrien quirked an eyebrow, opening his eyes to look at Marinette. “What do you mean by that?”

Her chest rose and fell rapidly before that spark of confidence appeared in her eyes again. “Adrien Agreste,” Marinette said quickly as if trying to get it out before she’d change her mind. “Would you move in with me? I know my place isn’t as big as Plagg’s and it’s not as extravagant, but we’ll be living together. I’m kind of tired of figuring out which place we should go to or of scrambling in the morning because we’ve forgotten something crucial at the other place or the worst: thinking that you’ll go home and I’ll be feeling lonely all evening long. Plus—” her voice filled with teasing notes, “—if we live together, that means more private dances for you. Señorita style.”

Adrien’s lips tagged in a smug smirk. “Are you trying to seduce me into moving in with you?”

“I’m not above doing whatever it takes if I really want something, so yes, if it’ll work, then absolutely, I’m trying to seduce you into moving in with me.”

Adrien laughed, pulling her closer. Cradling her cheek, he lightly brushed his lips against hers. “You could’ve just yelled at me, ‘Hey, you! Mangy alley cat! Grab your toothbrush and forget where that Camembert-obsessed glutton lives.’ I’d jumped at the chance that very instant.”

Marinette grinned. “But I really wanted to mention Señorita-style dancing. I know how much you love it.”

“Of course,” he chuckled. “How could you miss a chance to remind me how weak of a man I am, and how you’ve got me all wrapped around your little finger?”

Marinette giggled. Adrien reached down and brought her closer for another kiss. Holding her against himself, he didn’t rush, savouring the lushness of her lips, the sweetness of her touch, the warmth of her breath. The hallway was empty; there was no need reason for haste. Marinette, however, was his. All his and his alone, and the greedy man he’d become when it came to her, he wanted to indulge.

“We should go,” Adrien said, pulling away. “If I have a moving in with you to look forward to, staying alive would be nice. And you know Tikki: she’d never let me live if I’d fail to keep a promise. Today that means bringing you to the Kwami Kave.”

Marinette giggled. “Come on. She loves you. You can’t deny that.”

“Maybe,” Adrien shrugged. “But hard love is a thing, and Tikki is its mistress.”

Marinette laughed. “Okay, you’ve got me there. We probably should go. It’s this way.” Grabbing his hand, Marinette tugged Adrien into the apartment’s direction. The key out of her purse, she opened the door, walked in and froze in the foyer.

The whole place was filled with balloons, some floating at the ceiling, some hovering in midair, with only a few laying on the floor that was covered with flower petals along the walls.

Marinette gasped, her purse falling to the floor.

Behind her, Adrien closed the door after himself. “Surprise.”

She swirled around to look at him. “What’s going on? Adrien, do you have something to do with it?”

“Decorating the place? Yes. That was my idea, but Nino and Plagg helped.”

“Plagg?” She quirked an eyebrow.

“He mostly bossed us around, but yeah, Plagg helped too.” Adrien motioned to the living room. “Would you like to follow the trail?”

Marinette hesitated for a split moment before a smile sneaked onto her face and she walked into the direction balloons and flower petals went. It didn’t take her long to reach a spacious room with a built-in fireplace, huge floor to ceiling windows, beautiful iron balcony-imitating railing on the other side. The room was free of furniture, balloons and flower petals on the floor filling the room in addition to a few rose bouquets that stood sparingly across space. An elegant banner stood on top of the fireplace. It read,

“Welcome Home.”

Marinette spun around. “Adrien?”

Adrien smiled at her. “If you want it to be.”

“But Tikki… She said… Oh my gosh! Adrien! What’s going on here?”

He walked closer, taking her hands in his. “I wanted to ask you to move in with me for a while now, but since I didn’t have a place of my own, I had to find one before I could do that. And I promise I did want to involve you in that search since, hopefully, I was searching for our potential home together, and I wanted you to love it as much as I would. But I also wanted to make it a surprise for your birthday, which made it a little difficult to involve you in the search.” He nervously chuckled. “I hope I make sense now because it sounds a bit confusing to me.”

“You make perfect sense,” Marinette said. “That’s why you asked Tikki to help you? To keep it a surprise for me?”

“Yes. She knows you the best, so she helped me to narrow down to the final five, and then she took you there under the pretence of buying herself an investment. She said you loved this one so much she would’ve had to have been blind to miss it. So, this was the one I’ve got for us. Hopefully. Uh… But you already asked me to move in so yes, I’ve got it for us.”

Marinette chuckled. “Too bad for you I beat you to the asking to move in together part.”

Throwing his hand against his forehead, Adrien dramatically lamented. “Yes! You did. Woe is me! All my hard practice in front of the mirror! All gone to waste. What shall I do? How will I survive this?”

“Awww.” She patted his cheek. “You can ask me if you want. I’ll even pretend to be surprised.”

Adrien perked. “May I?”

“Sure.”

“Okay.” Adrien breathed in and out. He cleared his throat. “So… I’ve been thinking lately. Of us… as in you and me, and how we work together, which I think is great because we do work great together, wouldn’t you say so? In everything. We’re a great team in dancing, and in business, and very much so in life. And I love you, Marinette. I can’t imagine my life without you anymore. I want to share every minute with you, be it a sad or a happy one, and I want to share your moments. All of them. The best of them and the ugly ones. Because I love you and because you inspire me to be the better me. You give me strength and motivation to live my very best life, and I want to spend the rest of it by your side. So, I thought that, maybe… we should… No. Maybe you would… Would you consider moving in with me?”

Marinette’s lips stretched in a smile as she nodded.

Adrien reached into his jacket and pulled a small box out.

Marinette froze, her eyes widening, lips parting.

Kneeling down on his knee, Adrien opened the box and added, “As my wife.”

Glancing briefly at the princess-cut centre stone set in a delicate, white gold band, Adrien continued, “Now it’s me who’s wondering if I’m being too selfish, but I want more, Marinette. I want us to not only be together but to be a family. I promise I’ll cherish you until my last breath and I’ll treasure every minute you’ll allow me to stand by your side. We’ll buy all the hamsters you want, and I think three kids sounds amazing, especially if they are named Emma, Louis and Hugo. Those are great names.”

Marinette squeaked. “How do you know?”

“Tikki and Plagg might have slipped a few too many hints here and there, almost every time you weren’t in the room.”

Marinette groaned. “Those two. I should’ve known.”

Adrien raised the box in his hand a little higher. “Will you marry me, Marinette?”

Marinette gave him one of the lovelies smiled he’d ever seen as she kneeled down and took his hand in hers. “Partners in dance. Partners in work. Partners in life. Till death do us part.”

Adrien forgot how to breathe. “Is that a ‘yes’?”

Marinette nodded. “As if I could ever say anything but ‘yes’ to you, Chaton.”

He tackled her into a hug, both of them tumbling to the ground, with Marinette somehow ending up on top of Adrien.

Laughing, she pushed back to look at him. “I love you, my sweet, handsome dork.”

“Love you, too,” Adrien whispered, reaching for his fiancée’s face to bring her down into a kiss. “More than I can express.”

Once they pulled apart, Adrien tried his best not to disturb their position as he reached for the ring box. Noticing his intentions, Marinette pushed herself off him and sat down. Adrien followed, grabbing the box and pulling the ring out. Her hand in his, he slid the ring on her finger and grinned. “And now you’re stuck with me.”

“And I couldn’t be happier about that,” Marinette smiled, bopping his nose with her finger. ”That’s even a better present than I’ve wanted.”

He pulled her closer, resting their foreheads together. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she sighed against him.

He brought her hand to his lips, kissing her fingers. Then, the top of her knuckles. The inside of her palm. “And I’m sorry to say but we had to be at the Kwami Kave ten minutes ago.”

“They can wait,” Marinette whispered. Her hands reaching to cradle Adrien’s face, she pulled him closer. “It’s my birthday, and I want to kiss my fiancée senseless.”

“You know it doesn’t take much, don’t you?” he murmured against her lips. “You take my breath away just by being close.”

“Then you’d better prepare yourself,” Marinette whispered, placing a kiss on his neck. “Because I’m taking my main present now, and no one can stop me.”

“As you wish,” Adrien barely breathed out and closed his eyes as Marinette nibbled at his earlobe. “Anything you want, my Lady. Just ask.”

“I already have everything I need right here in front of me,” Marinette whispered, silencing Adrien with a kiss.

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#ladynoirjuly2019 #Adrienette #post reveal #fluff #kisses and flirting #aged-up

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