#i often think about how a certain somebody *cough cough if you see this you know who you are* who has probably spent more time working on

[yawujin]

Hello!

I liked your DRV3boys snoring post, may I request that with the THH girls?

request | trigger happy havoc girls x a reader who snores

type | imagine , react , light hearted , non killing game , gender neutral reader

kyoko kirigiri ♡

kyoko doesn't sleep much, so it's always nice when she can finally get peace and quiet, relax and fall into deep sleep. on a night where it's particularily hard to sleep, she'll listen to your semi quiet snores, the rhythm of them making her more tired by the second. it's at least nice to see you able to sleep well

toko fukawa ♡

as an extremely light sleeper, toko often finds herself listening to you as you snore. whether it be while she's about to fall asleep herself, or she's working overtime and writing her novels, toko finds your snores comforting...unlike SOMEBODY'S *cough cough* genocider jack

aoi asahina ♡

takes it as a sign that you are sleeping well and that you are comfortable enough around her to completely fall asleep. she's happy to cuddle you while you are asleep and lets the sounds of your snores coax her into sleeping.

celestia ludenberg ♡

"oh my, asleep so soon?" she would be petting her cat, interrupted only by the sound of your snores. she figures it's time for her to get to bed. she would prefer it if you don't wake up before her so she has time to prepare to look her best while you're here.

sakura ogami ♡

doesn't allow you to feel self concious about your snoring if you are. "i'm sure most people do it." assures you that you deserve the best rest of your life after training the day away alongside her. "i'll be here when you wake up, goodnight now." and she keeps her word.

sayaka maizono ♡

although she thinks your snoring is quite loud, she cannot blame you. she's almost certain that she snores when sleeping after she spends the whole day practicing her routines for her next stage performance. she's not one to judge you for it, and won't say anything about it to anyone else. you can count on her!

junko enoshima ♡

junko on the other hand, would definitely tell everyone about how loud your snores are. you told her to keep it a secret, but she wants to see you all upset now that people know. she's definitely exaggerating about it, too. "if despair had a sound, it would be your snores." she smiles

mukuro ikusaba ♡

being a light sleeper came with the job of being a soldier. she wishes she could get even an hour of good sleep like you. she contemplates on firing a shot into the air to wake you and interrupt your deep sleep just for the fun of it. she watches your sleeping figure in the dark with admiration, and jealousy.

[fromtenthousandfeet]

The Goose That Laid the "Golden" Egg

When Jungkook's Golden album came out I have to admit I was really confused about exactly who the songs were supposed to appeal to. The explicit lyrics in Seven and 3D really didn't fit with your average BTS fan. The collabs were strange, too. Usher and Justin Timberlake? Was this album geared towards old Millennials? Jack Harlow and Latto (who, by the way, is hardly a household name here in the US) - rap enthusiasts? DJ Snake and Major Lazer - EDM fans? Was the album geared towards men or women? Young or old? Like who the heck was the target market?

And then one day it hit me. I was asking the wrong question! The target market didn't matter one iota. The right question was cui bono? Or rather, who stands to gain? This got me started digging into the song credits on JK's album. And here's what I discovered - every collaborator has writing credits.

Let's break it down.

3D featuring Jack Harlow. Harlow has writing credits. Justin Timberlake has writing credits on the remix.

Closer to You featuring Major Lazer. Diplo, a.k.a. Thomas Pentz, has writing and producing credits.

Seven featuring Latto. Latto, a.k.a. Alyssa Stephens, has writing credits.

Standing Next to You Usher Remix. Usher Raymond IV has writing credits.

Please Don't Change featuring DJ Snake. DJ Snake, a.k.a. William Grigahcine, has writing and producing credits.

The features are paid up front for their collaboration, and then, because they have writing credits, they will continue to earn royalties from streams and sales. Not a bad deal for the folks listed above. The same goes for the well-known song writers and producers on the album, like David Stewart, Andrew Watt, Jon Bellion, Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran, and many others. Here's an article about how royalties work for those who care:

I shudder to think how much was spent on marketing Seven/Golden. I assume HYBE America paid for marketing expenses since Scooter was the one doing A&R while leveraging his extensive web of contacts in the music industry. I don't know this for certain, though, without seeing HA and BH's expenditures. Either way, someone paid iHeartRadio (among others) for media play and radio airplay. And then there were paid advertisements all over social media platforms, including forced adverts on YouTube that counted towards Billboard charts.

So much money was spent on Spotify. Paid playlists, paid playlist positions, Spotify Discovery Mode. I know Spotify also modified the search algorithm so JK's Seven would pop up first in the results when one searched for Jimin. If I remember correctly, this happened in YouTube as well (such a dirty move). Like, somebody got paid to rewrite code to override the search function.

More money was paid for media play with Billboard, Rolling Stone, Forbes, and I'm pretty sure NME and Consequence of Sound, too. There were probably many adverts I didn't notice. And then there were performances, awards, and his ad campaign which I won't discuss but I've definitely wondered who paid whom for that endorsement deal.

I don't need to go on and on rehashing 2023, but what I want to point out is that BIG MONEY was spent on the roll out of Jungkook's first single and subsequent album. Was Seven the most expensive single in pop music history? And cui bono? Not Big Hit, since essentially none of the in-house writers and producers were involved. Streams don’t yield big payouts and the digital singles and albums were often sold at a discount. Jungkook didn’t make huge bank since he had zero writing or producing credits. But Scooter Braun's clients and industry friends seemed to do pretty well. And just about every company that's related to the western music industry received payments for pushing and playing the songs from Golden.

So, I see two potential scenarios here.

Number One! HYBE used Golden as a means to, shall we say, line the pockets of the western music industry (cough...bribe...cough) so that releases from HYBE labels will get treated favorably in the future. Also, given the scope of marketing, media play, playlisting, and radio play, Golden could have been used for market research to determine where the company gets the most return on investment in terms of reach and charting. I think you can see this with the rollout of Illit's Magnetic, which has heavy Spotify Discovery Mode and a huge focus on TikTok, but very little standard media play via the traditional music media outlets. And no posters.

Number Two! Scooter Braun saw this album as an opportunity to financially enrich his friends, colleagues, and the companies he has investments in, like Spotify. Was he siphoning money out of HYBE by promising to make Bang PD's dream of western validation come true? Can't you see Scooter whispering sweet nothings into Bang's ear? "Mr. PD, give me a big budget and I will make you the biggest music mogul in 1,000 years!"

Whatever the grand scheme was behind Golden, one thing's for sure, the western music industry and social media platforms made out like bandits.

FYI:

HYBE America lost more in 2023 than Big Hit earned.

HYBE America Sales: 226.3 billion Net Profit: -142.4 billion won

Big Hit Music Sales: 552.3 billion Net Profit: 140.3 billion won

142 billion won is just under 105 million USD. Yowza.

In other news, HYBE Corporation was designated a conglomerate today. I'll try to unpack the implications of this if anyone is interested.

[aweirdkindofyellow]

In depth comment time😂❤️

Ok so new chapter!!! I have to say I love how simple yet interesting the way you write is! To explain: you turned a simple and normal day about Jack joining Alex at the studio into such a crucial moment. And I love that! 🥰

THOUGHTS:

1. This struggle Alex has about writing about “she” and not them made me so sad. Like he just wants to be free and write about what he cares about and he can’t… like he has been burying his true self so deep for so long he doesn’t know how to just be Alex (in a professional sense)anymore

2. The simple fact Alex was just like “Hey come to the studio and just hang out with me please?”is really proving Jack is Alex’s comfort person… like Jack encourages Alex to be himself more than anyone… and I think Alex sees that and I think it will be a crucial part in their future relationship.

3. The way that Jack just naturally takes care of Alex. Like forcing him to eat to feel better, telling him he is allowed to be himself,it is just so cuuuuute.🥰

THE way that Jack specifically planned an event at his house so that Alex could specifically come made me melt🥺🥺🥺

I really think you sprinkled in little nuggets of Jack feeling a deeper connection/feeling for Alex that he can’t quite explain.

Love ya always!

Ahhh it's a great Saturday!!!! The amount of effort you put in these comments ❤️

I guess reacting to this could be spoiling the story for someone... but it's all out there already, so... I'm too impatient.

I do like writing 'mundane' events. I feel like they can often be more important than the big gestures. It's the subtle things that are the basis for life.

Now, reaction to your thoughts.....

I know, right 😭 he's fully accepted a second personality in the form of somebody the industry forced him to be. I guess we should be happy that despite that, he still has somewhere he can be himself.

That somewhere in my previous point is definitely Jack 🤣 It's definitely important for how their friendship has been developing. It probably would have fizzled out long ago if not for Jack's acceptance.

Mary did call Jack a sweetheart in the beginning... Now that natural selflessness is being extended to Alex.

I'm so glad you noticed this ❤️ I wasn't sure if it was obvious enough even though Jack literally says it.

You can be certain that everything I write is for a reason 👀 Okay, maybe that's a bit optimistic. Some chapters tend to have a life of their own and go off plan a little (cough cough, the chapter I just finished writing, cough cough). But, I do usually go for vibes instead of being obvious.

[unknownjpegs]

bar

Bunny is used to being approached in bars. Not a thing of ego to admit, just a fact. She tends to attract women more often than not, and prefers it that way. Most of the time.

So, in a shitty little pub in Boston, at the end of a boring conference with the usual dry-coughed, gray-haired crowd, she’s pleasantly surprised when a man sidles up to her. Annoyed too, because it’s a man.

She can feel him at her left and continues watching the hockey game on the television — but lets her eyes slip along the bottom lash line to catch a peek. 

He’s young, clearly, and that has her mouth scowling up towards her nose in distaste. Far from her type. She can accept the aesthetic pull; his prettiness is the softly arrogant boy sort of attractive. Like he’s been plucked off a Manhattan street in 1998, like someone had put a twinks wanted sign outside an American Apparel. This, Bunny thinks as she turns to eye him up and down, is what you’d get if you reached in and plucked one of them at random. 

He’s not the way Bunny usually likes men. Or likes people, rather. There’s a certain untrustworthiness about somebody that beautiful. They always think they can get away with whatever they’d like.

Maybe that’s just her own issues though. 

Anyway, he’s not her type. But he is the alcohol’s, and that is goddamn unfortunate. Otherwise she would be able to ignore him as he moves closer. The totally unsubtle crawl of a man at a bar about to make a move. It’s almost endearing.

 “Hey,” he says, and flashes a smile. The way he does it tells her that this is all it usually takes for him to be successful.

Bunny is sure that, if he’s asked, he’d tack on a charming to that smile. She has been around her fair share of those — men and grins alike. And, to be fair to him, it is a decent one; toothy and wide, a bit wild at the edges to betray that there’s something else going on under the surface. But she knows, just from looking at him, that he thinks this lopsided smirk is more effective than it actually is. That alone makes her want to swat him aside, bruise his ego.

“Are you even old enough to be in here?” Bunny glances left-right over his shoulders, as if she might find a parent standing behind him. 

He pouts, pink lips twisting nice and pretty, and she thinks for just a second what he might look like under her, doing that. Rolls her eyes to clear the image, because — Christ, he really does look young. She’s three tonics in and that’s enough to bubble her stomach in distant disgust. 

“Yes,” he says a bit petulantly. If she weren’t tipsy, she might just get up and walk away. The only time a man should sound that pathetic is in bed, as far as she’s concerned. 

But just as the morose shade falls across his face it lifts, everything loose and bright and joyful. Like he’s just fucking happy to be right where he is. 

“More importantly, I’m old enough to buy you a drink.” He leans against the bar, propping himself with an elbow by her glass on its napkin. He’s holding his head up with a big hand pressed to his temple, mop of red hair nearly falling in his face. 

This close, Bunny can see how absolutely massive his pupils are blown. They’re big, black voids swallowing up each of his green irises. Oh, she thinks, mouth twitching, that’s why he looks as if he’s fucking happy to be here. 

“What sort of issues are you trying to work through?” She asks, peering over the rim of her glass as she drinks from it. Gestures, when he only shakes his head, at the length of her body in the barstool. 

His smile falters a degree. “I just think you’re hot.” He’s got a local accent.

“Yeah, I get that. It’s why I asked.” Bunny says, edging very close to bored the longer the interaction drags. 

He only blinks at her, and the fidgety energy of him as he tries to stand calm and normal before he overrides some of the disgust. He seems nervous, not just high. That’s blood in the water for Bunny.

Regretfully exhausted with herself, she says: “All right. Follow me.” 

She stands from the bar, gathers her coat from the seat next to her, and heads towards the door. She’s already closed her tab, and she does not need to look over her shoulder to know that the man is following her. Right at her heels, maybe his hands shoved in the pockets of his tellingly military pants.

She doesn’t look back until she’s rounded the edge of the building, stood under one of the streetlights. They’re near the mouth of an alley and it’s a nice autumn night, cool and crisp but still early enough in the evening that some of the warmth lingers. 

Bunny turns briskly to face him. And yes, he’s there. His eyes snap up, having been staring somewhere near the direction of her ass, and it’s flattering enough for her to smirk. Then his cheeks go pink, and her fuzzy, alcohol-sodden brain goes: oh, why not?

“What’s your name?” He breathes as she takes several steps towards him, that grin on his face again. Like he thinks he can charm personal information out of her, like she’s not been around this block and it's new territory. “Mine is —“

“Nope.” Bunny says, slapping a hand over his mouth. Those big eyes go wider for a split second and then flutter half-shut, heavy lidded. Beneath her palm, the grin twists a little filthy. “I don’t have a name and neither do you.”

She drops her hand to his chest, shoves very firmly until he has to retreat backwards or fall on his ass. He whines a little when he hits the brick wall, but it doesn’t sound pained. Just excited. More fucking catnip, more blood in the water. 

In the center of his chest, Bunny fists her hand and drags him forward. He’s only a few inches taller than her, but he still bends eagerly at the waist like he has to accommodate a larger height difference. 

He’s not a bad kisser, she thinks when their mouths meet. Too enthusiastic, too wet, but his hand comes up to rest on her shoulder and he makes a tiny, content noise so it’s fine. It’s good. 

Until she pulls back for a breath and looks at him, anyway. 

Young, the remaining sober inch of her mind screams. Abort abort abort. 

“How old are you?” She asks, despite her better judgement, dreading the answer. His eyes flutter open. 

“Huh? Oh,” that grin as he reaches for his back pocket. Fishes out an ID from a beat to hell leather wallet with duct tape wrapped around the outside, and holds it up for her to examine.

The ID is vertical. Bunny’s eyebrows pull tightly diagonal in dismay, her mouth curling.

“Jesus fucking Christ —“ she starts, and takes a step back from him. 

“No, no! Don’t worry,” he tucks it away, holding both hands up. “We can keep going! I just haven’t gotten it renewed in a few years. I’m twent—“

“Eugh.” Bunny interrupts with a revolted huff, feeling her stomach give a little. There’s a deep grimace on her face. “Oh, shut up. Shut up. Ew.”

She turns away, face warming with a mortified flush, and begins to walk down the street. Behind her, the heavy patter of long-limbed feet.

“Do not follow me. Go home, kid.” Bunny calls without turning back, slinging her coat over a shoulder and fixing the suspender back into place. He’d brushed it aside during the kiss, and she thinks very seriously about throwing the pair away when she gets back to her hotel room. 

Alone.

“Fuck, Sullivan,” she mutters to herself. “Get it together.”

[tunemyart]

Please, Amy, please write the Xena-is-actually-Sappho crackfic! I could think of no one better suited 😁

I've been saving this bc I don't think I'll ever be able to provide in prose format but can absolutely write as a bullet point list.

In S1, Xena doesn’t accompany Gabrielle to the Academy, though she volunteers to take her “at least as far as Athens.” Why would Xena not volunteer to accompany her all the way to the Academy if she’s gonna go all the way to Athens anyway? Could it be… because everybody knows her there and would be like “oh hey what’s up Sappho?”?????

Xena won’t read Gabrielle’s scrolls until S5! Which is also really sus!!! WHY NOT SAPPHO?? Already too much hero worship? Can’t stand ur girlfriend’s early writing? (She’s working on it!!!) Don’t want to end up turning every cuddling and canoodling session into a writing tips session?? (Okay valid, but - )

Which is another thing!! There’s a certain point at which it’s gone on for so long that there’s no way Xena can possibly reveal she’s Sappho, simply bc Gabrielle would never believe it. Like can you imagine - hey, Gabrielle, I just came back from the dead/we’re about to be crucified together/you just delivered my child and now we’re moms, I have something to tell you.

I mean, consider the fact that when we do see Xena writing, she writes Gabrielle actually beautiful and poetic letters. I mean, can you even believe some of this stuff: [upon the occasion of their being merged into the same body] “In the same way that the world shares day and night, and never sees the same two together” [and all our personal favorite, upon going to the Norselands by herself] “Whatever happens, know that my love for you is endless.”

Does this sound to you like somebody who is not good at writing? Bc it does not to me!

I know, I know, now you’re gonna ask me - but what about all those sold out Sappho concerts? It’s hard to hide from your wife that you’re THE rock star of the ancient world. Au contraire! They split up often enough, sometimes we don’t even get a reason for why they’ve decided to do so.

Salmoneus is absolutely her stage manager, and it’s a running joke how often he’s 1) almost given it away to Gabrielle and 2) how oblivious Gabrielle remains despite that, probably bc she quite logically thinks there’s only room for one famous bard in her and Xena’s relationship.

Which leads me at last to: Many Happy Returns.

We're to believe that Xena went to all the trouble of not only a) buying tickets to a Sappho concert for Gabrielle (for which she, a detail-persnickety long-con-runner, forgot the dates? twice???) but b) getting an audience with her? and c) commissioning a poem from her??? which Xena then d) very unconvincingly playacted not knowing what said poem contained???? The poem was clearly the intended gift all along, sure, but I’m twirling my mustache re: why…

(*cough* it’s bc she was actually in cahoots with Aphrodite during Many Happy Returns to both plant the idea of meeting Sappho as a plausible thing Xena might have done and then distract her from the dangerous idea fact that there’s a suspicious connection between Xena and Sappho *cough*)

Also insert your Xena(Sappho)/Aphrodite headcanon here all “Ode to Aphrodite” style

In conclusion! Xena: Warrior Princess is actually the story of one bard who writes about the woman she loves and one poet who finally wrote a poem for the woman she loves in the triumphant series finale.

#lovewins!!!!!

[caramelcal]

You can’t sit

Request:  Anonymous said:omg Can I Sit? was so cute sofmsmfmadmandma can a make a lil request based on it? like it’s their usual thing sitting together since that day, BUT one day nat arrives and somebody sat on her seat? retired assassin mode activated? 🥴

Word Count: 1.3k

a/n: OMGGGG, THIS!!!! this request, wow. amazing. i literally wrote can i sit back so long ago but yes, of course you can make a request! i’m definitely going to be taking more nat requests now omg, also wanda?? steve?? eye- oh lordy just anyone tbh 

Also, just to clear something up, at the end it speaks about y/n waiting for nat to do something, that’s cause you’re too scared even though you know nothing bad would happen. (Trying to keep this ague but informing, it isn’t working)

Natasha walked towards the small coffee shop with a smile on her face, maybe a slight bit too excited to see you. You both had been meeting up at the coffee shop ever since, but the excitement buried in the pit of your stomachs never seemed to go away no matter how normal the meet-ups became. It was a nice feeling, talking into the late hours of the day, talking over the phone, and sending each other little flirty and joking messages.

The other avengers found out two months after you and Natasha exchanged phone numbers. Natasha, who was normally void of any emotion on her face couldn’t help the smile erupting on her face one time as she checked her phone during a break from training and, as usual, Tony felt inclined to ask. Despite Natasha shrugging it off, after a lot of careful watching, it became pretty obvious as to why Nat was suddenly 'too' smiley.

“So Nat,” Tony had asked, a sly smirk on his face as Natasha’s green eyes broke away from her phone and up to the billionaire, “Who’s the lucky guy?”

Clint tried to hide the laugh that traveled up his throat, it was very obvious that Natasha was not into men. Sure, she hadn’t outwardly said so towards anyone but Clint or brought a girl home, but you could just tell. Natasha placed the phone down on her lap, crossing her arms over her chest, “Why would you think there was a guy?”

“Come on,” Tony drawled, sassily rolling his eyes before he pointed towards the phone in her lap, “The smiles, constantly checking your phone. Sure, you didn’t really participate in conversations to begin with but at least you acted like you were listening. We’re pretty interesting people y’know, Natalia, but clearly, the guy on your phone is much more interesting.”

The rest of the avengers watched on, some sitting silently awaiting Natasha’s answer, Peter with wide eyes at the semi-interrogation and Steve with a raised eyebrow, completely oblivious to what was going on.

From the corner of her eye, Natasha saw Wanda’s eyes flash red briefly before she let out a small snort, “Oh this is going to be good.”

“There isn’t a guy,” Natasha shook her head, sending Wanda a sly smirk as Tony’s eyes furrowed and he opened his mouth to interject. Yet, before he could, Natasha continued to speak, “There’s a girl though. If that’s what you’re asking.”

Silence filled the room. Tony’s mouth dropped open, eyes wide as he stared at the redhead, many of the other avengers copying his movement.

His face was a picture that Natasha wanted permanently tattooed on her brain, Tony’s jaw practically dragging on the floor, eyes wide and stuck like a statue in shock. Natasha knew you would love the story and would find him finding out just as funny as you would, so as she pushed the door of the coffee shop open, an eager smile was on her face.

However, her smile dropped when she caught onto your figure. You were still as beautiful as ever, hair in a hairstyle she has often seen on you, yet it still blew her away every time she saw you in it. You had comfy yet stylish clothes on, and Natasha wished you’d wear it more often but her mind didn’t stay on that long; she was too busy trying not to snap the person’s neck that was sitting beside you. In her seat.

Your hand was grasped on the back of your neck, rubbing it awkwardly as you tried to get the boy in front of you away. You were shrunken against the seat, almost like you would rather the chair swallowed you whole than being in this position and hoping that Natasha would have come sooner. Because then he wouldn’t be in her seat.

He looked about your age, and from what you had heard from himself as he ranted on, he was in university too. He maybe would have been cute, but you didn’t like people that were full of themselves, and so far all he had talked about was himself, not even letting himself take a breath in between his sentences. Maybe he would have been more attractive if he was a certain redhead assassin, too...

The coffee shop was practically empty anyway, a few people dotted around, some studying, some on dates but there were still plenty empty tables. Natasha knew that you didn’t want him there, and she certainly didn’t. She would be damned if she let this boy ruin the time you guys spent together before your next class.

“Excuse me,” She coughed, arms crossed over her chest and tone clipped when she interrupted the boy. She saw the way you looked up at her, letting out a sigh in relief and letting a smile cross your face but the boy didn’t seem as pleased. He rolled his eyes, glaring up at the assassin.

“What?”

“That’s my seat,” Natasha stated bluntly, arching her eyebrow at the way the boy was talking to her. She would be damned if she let a little boy talk to her like that, especially one that was hitting on you.

He let out a short laugh, pretending to look around the seat before he looked back up at the older woman, “Don’t see your name on it, sweetheart. Plus, me and this lovely lady are having a great conversation here so if you could hop along that’d be great.”

His sarcasm definitely wasn’t welcomed by Natasha and you knew that, letting out an involuntary wince as he started to try and get Natasha riled up. However, Natasha kept her cool a lot better, at least she didn’t snap the boy’s neck, that was a plus.

She cocked her head to the side, sending the boy a sarcastic sweet smile, “Might not have my name on it, kid, but my girlfriend was keeping it for me before you stole it.”

It took him a few moments before his mouth fell open, letting out a stutter of shock before looking over at you. You, awkwardly, watched the two of them and seen the smirk that rose to Natasha’s lips as he looked over at you, “Y-You? Her?”

You nodded with a smile, tucking hair behind your head as he watched the two of you. Natasha, rolling her eyes, continued to speak, “Kid, get out my seat.”

He didn’t waste much time before he jumped up, shaking his head and grabbing his jacket. Instead of sitting at another table, or ordering something, he simply walked out of the coffee shop. His gaze was on his shoes, maybe trying to hide the blush on his cheeks either from the embarrassment that he was trying to chat up someone who had a girlfriend or in rejection. Probably both.

Natasha slid in beside you, taking you into a hug; one that not many people got to experience. You both held smiles on your face, glad to see each other and get to talk to one another in real life and not over the phone. It had been over a week since you guys had gotten to do that, so you both missed each other a lot more than you’d say.

“So girlfriend, huh?”

Natasha simply hummed into your neck in reply, making you let out a small giggle in reply, playing with the ends of her hair fondly. Even if you guys weren’t officially dating, everyone knew that neither of you would be against it.

You were just waiting for the day that Natasha would ask.

[matthewtkachuk]

mistaken identity - jj maybank

jj mistakes you for a touron, despite the fact that he’s been copying your test answers for years and pined after you just as long. will you let him take you on a date to make it up to you and win you over?

warnings: none i don’t think

pairing: jj maybank x reader

word count: 1.9k

a/n: hello loves, despite a rude anon’s best efforts i’m still here. wrote this little something on the plane ride home yesterday night to distract me from 1) the terrible turbulence and 2) the feeling of my heart literally breaking. i’ve missed my little klepto baby, hope yall enjoy this cute lil jj fic. also 10/10 i will be calling my future sig other ‘bud’ and yes i literally wrote @girlsru1eboysdroo1into this, sue me or w/e feedback makes my heart happy.

You don’t quite know how it happened. One moment you were just the girl JJ cheated off of in math when Pope wouldn’t let him, a member of the math team and all around nobody at Kildare High. Sure, you had friends you sat with at lunch and no one really had a bad thing to say about you. Though, if one really thought about it, no one really had a thing to say about you at all - good or bad. You were the definition of a wallflower, content to sit on the sidelines, observing but never interacting fully. The next moment, you were somebody.

Contrarily, you know exactly where it happened. The same place where residents of both sides of the island come together alongside the hapless tourists with only a few goals in mind: drink, dance and find a warm body to cozy up to for the night. This location is, of course, a boneyard kegger at the beginning of summer (one of the first in fact), and those activities are, of course, not quite in line with your typical Friday night. 

It’s your best friends fault you’re here, you muse, hand wrapped tightly around a red solo cup containing three quarters of the warm beer you were handed nearly half an hour ago. You didn’t have anything against drinking, or anyone who drank, your parents were just a little more present than your classmates. You were staying over at Pen’s that night, her mom was really cool, but you couldn’t shake the imaginary hand of your parents and found yourself looking over your shoulder, prepared to drop the cup in the sand and run. Pen had been the one who was adamant that the two of you make an appearance, “you didn’t come to a single kegger last summer, and it’s our last summer before college, c’mon live a little!”. She was nothing if not persistent, and so you agreed if only to get her to let it go.

She had promised she would be by your side ‘the entire night’, but of course fifteen minutes in and she was nowhere to be seen. Also suspiciously missing, despite his two cronies still standing within your peripheral vision, was one Rafe Cameron. You didn’t know what Pen saw in him, she was the literal sweetest person in the entire world and he was... well himself. Of course no one is perfect, she did ditch you after all, and no one is entirely bad either. Since whatever was going on between them started, Rafe hadn’t been bothering you at all and you considered that a win in your books. 

Girl code and euphemisms about female friendships being more important than romantic ones aside, you couldn’t stay mad at her for long and wanted her to be happy. For some unknown reason, he made her happy and you had to support that.

You just wish she had supported you a little and been upfront about you. That way you could have been home, maybe with a book, maybe with netflix. Either way, you wouldn’t be sitting alone on a piece of driftwood slowly sipping on a warm beer as some of your classmates chatted up a group of tourons. You weren’t alone long, however.

You felt his presence before you saw him. JJ Maybank of all people sidled up beside you on the log, toe tapping and hand fidgeting with his rings as he sat silently for all of thirty seconds. Having been in the same class as the boy for more than a decade you recognized his antsy antics as ones that he often acted on in class. If you took a moment to think about it, you could admit that he was conventionally attractive, his whole devil-may-care attitude and golden surfer tan only made him all the more appealing. However, you had known the boy (or at least known of the boy) for so long, you never let that feeling grow into anything tangible. Besides, you were going to leave the small island in the fall and you were never looking back.

The silence only lasted for a minute longer before he broke it. “First time in the outer banks?” the messy blonde boy beside you asked, and you felt the scowl overtake your face.

“JJ we’ve been in the same class since the first grade, and you’ve been cheating off of me in math the entirety of our school careers,” you rolled your eyes and downed the almost full cup before throwing it to the sand and walking away. JJ stared after you with his brow furrowed, brain trying to connect the dots and reconcile you with one of his many classmates. It wasn’t entirely JJ’s (or the six beers he had consumed)’s fault, one could also blame his tardiness and absences for his lack of recognition. And of course there was the fact that you had let Pen dress you up, slap some light makeup on your eyes and curl your hair. Ordinarily the only products you bothered with were sunscreen and lip chap and you couldn’t remember the last time you’d worn anything other than a baggy t-shirt over ripped denim. So maybe you should have given the blonde some slack. 

Or not. “Y/n?” Pope asked confusedly as you stormed past him. The two of you weren’t friends, not exactly anyway, but you were both on the math team and that leant itself to a certain amount of camaraderie. At the very least, Pope remembered your name and that was more than his best friend could say. He reached out with a hand to lightly grasp your bicep, pulling you back towards him and scanning your face to see if he could figure out what was going on. “You okay?”

“Never better,” you bit back, feeling bad instantly. “Sorry Pope, your friend is just kind of an idiot.”

“What did John B do now?” Pope sighed. John B hadn’t had a lot of luck in the ladies department lately and Pope was worried about what his latest gaffe had been. Judging by the look on your face it was bad, like call you by the wrong girl’s name bad. 

“Not Routledge,” you rolled your eyes before continuing, “JJ. It doesn’t matter, Pen ditched me and I'm going home.”

Pope let you go this time, turning toward the aforementioned blond who was slowly making his way over to him. 

“Who was that?” JJ asked with narrowed, red rimmed eyes. Pope laughed out loud, knowing his best friend was about to be incredibly mad at himself. 

“How high are you? The girl you just offended was y/n,” Pope told him, causing JJ’s wide eyes to widen even further 

“Wait, y/n y/l/n? The girl of my dreams y/n y/l/n?” JJ smacked his own forehead in frustration. So that’s why you had looked so familiar. He had never seen you look so put together, and he had definitely never seen you at a kegger or under the influence of any substance before. When Pope nodded, JJ patted him on the shoulder before rushing after your retreating frame. 

He called your first name, watched as you stopped walking and stood in the sand with your back facing him. “I’m sorry, let me make it up to you.”

You turned to look at him, resting your hands on your hips. “High schools over JJ, you don’t have to pretend to be nice to me so that I’ll keep letting you cheat off me in trig.” 

“That’s not-“ he paused, eyes downcast before they flicked up to look at you. You took note of his slightly dilated pupils, the way they were rimmed with red and recognized he was under the influence of something. Gathering courage, he quickly spit out “go on a date with me.”

“I-“ you sighed deeply, eyes rolling up toward the night sky as you contemplated his offer, “you know what? Fine, one date. You better knock it outta the park and blow me away cause it’s your only shot.” You began walking away, back turned to him so he couldn’t see the small grin on your face or the way your hands shook a little. Every girl with two eyes and a heartbeat had to admit to at least a tiny crush on the reckless boy, and you had both of those things. To be asked out on a date by him made you feel special, but he didn’t need to know that. 

“Not that I need it, but you don’t believe in second chances?” he shouted at your retreating back. Without missing a beat you turned to look at him over your shoulder, “this is your second chance bud.”

A few days later had you sitting in shock and disbelief as JJ Maybank admitted his years long crush on you. 

You laughed so hard that you almost snorted, stifling the instinct with both of your hands before the sound could betray you. “You’re trying to tell me you’ve had a crush on me since we were kids? And you couldn’t recognize me because of a little bit of eyeliner?” you asked skeptically, brows raised at the boy who sat beside you on the blanket in the sand. 

“Not my finest moment,” he admitted, grabbing a grape and tossing it in the air before attempting to catch it in his mouth. It bounced off his nose and rolled into the sand, causing you to giggle. He brightened up considerably with the knowledge that he had been able to make you laugh, even if it was with his stupid antics. 

“So, your idea of flirting was what? Copying my test answers and never actually speaking to me?” You laughed at the look of indignation on his face. “You’ve got no game, bud.”

“I’ll have you know I have plenty of game, you should hear what the tourons-“ he began to brag, stopping only when you threw yourself at him, covering his mouth with your hands as you had done to yourself only moments earlier. It was only when he shrugged that you pulled back from

his personal space. 

“Pro tip for Mr ‘plenty of game’, girls don’t like to hear about other girls on first dates. Especially not girls you’ve...” you fake coughed and raised your eyebrows hoping he would get the meaning. 

“Right, sorry. You just make me nervous.” He admitted, rolling his pink lips into his mouth briefly. 

“What, why?” you asked, sitting up on your knees and tucking your hair behind your ears. 

“Are you kidding? You’re smokin’ hot and really smart. Like maybe even smarter than Pope smart,” he paused, “don’t tell him I said that.”

You laughed again, face hot from the compliment as you mimed zipping your lips, “Your secret’s safe with me, I’ll take it to the grave.”

You sat in a comfortable silence, staring at his strong side profile before he turned to you, eyes darting down to look at your lips. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, lip darting out to lick at his bottom lip. 

“Depends,” you giggled, sitting up further and wrapping your arms around his neck before whispering into his ear, “Do you remember who I am this time?”

He laughed, cheeks reddening as he returned your whisper, “I could never forget you y/n y/l/n.” 

“You better not, bud,” you replied, grinning up at him before you captured his lips with yours, eyes fluttering shut as you relaxed in his embrace. 

everything taglist: @velyssaraptor @danicarosaline @copper-boom @x-lulu @prejudic3 @rekrappeter @downbytheouterbanks @ilovejjmaybank @bricksatanakinswindow @jellyfishbeansontoast @sunwardsss @rudyypankow @im-a-stranger-thing @alexa-playafricabytoto @hoodpankow @girlsru1eboysdroo1 @sortagaysortahigh @socialwriter @euphoricmalfoy @anxietyandtacos @diverrdown @stargazingstarkey @rae131415 @rafej-cambanks @stfukie @obxmermaid

[hatboyproject]

This is very long, but it might be of interest to someone, somewhere. I was asked recently about the direction I'm taking this romance in and whether or not I'll be addressing certain disability specific subjects within it. The answer, of course, is yes - I have always planned to do this in one form or another. Whilst no single piece of media can address everything I'd like to say on the subject, and I am working within the bounds of a larger story with its own pacing and focus to consider, there's still room to touch on some of these things.

I'm aware that my interpretations won't always be the same as others'. They are my interpretations, coloured by my experiences and feelings, and ultimately, this is my mod - I'm writing it for everybody who 'wears the ballcap,' so to speak! But, it's my interpretation of this character that I'm trying to share with everyone. Different people "took the helm" (laugh, I'm hilarious!) on writing Jeff across the trilogy, and as time has gone on I've been trying to convince myself that it's okay to have my turn at doing that, too - albeit in a non-professional capacity. So... Let's get into my interpretation of Jeff, where his stuff comes from on my view, and how things went to get him to where we are at the beginning of ME3, where the romance can occur.

A lot of how I interpret him comes from experiences in my own life with my own issues, and with those of my loved ones, some of whom are physically disabled in similar (but not identical) ways to Jeff. Some of this carries an element of catharsis for me.

Mechanically and narratively speaking, what draws me to writing this romance is the contrast between how these two characters are strong. It's this core idea that strength doesn't have only one manifestation in a person. That loving somebody doesn't have to be done only one way, that it can be beautiful and passionate and fulfilling - even if, when it gets physical, the headboard can't exactly be made to shatter with the force of it all. For me, it's also an exercise in insecurity and dealing with feelings of frustrated inadequacy - something that has plagued me my whole life.

Yes, yes, he's fictional - but the only way for me to really get into a character is to think about them as if they're a real being. When I look at Jeff as a person, I see many things... Some very positive, some pretty negative... I try to see him as a complete person with strengths and flaws.

On the surface he is often defensive, dismissive, sarcastic, and emotionally avoidant. But why is that? He is highly skilled, dedicated and capable, and knows it, but at the same time is a person who is constantly overlooked, underestimated, and asked to work thrice as hard to get the same considerations. Even then, his validity is questioned often by almost everyone around him. Over time, combined with the realities of living with his physical condition, this has given him some deep-seated insecurities. He feels the need to brag about his skills because they are, ultimately, the one thing about himself that he is absolutely certain has real worth. He overcompensates for this by abusing rules and technicalities wherever he can, because I think he knows that if he played life by the rules, he'd never have gotten anywhere. It's a stacked deck, so why not hide some aces up his sleeve? When you don't fit in the box provided, you question the value of every box you see.

When a person lives with this long enough, it can get hard to swim against the tide of society's expectations and still remain chipper about it, let alone not internalise some of it. It can cause a person to create a shell constructed out of distrust and untruth.

Living with a disability can really suck sometimes, and the suck is compounded when having to deal with your own frustrations plus those of others. In my personal experience, that happens a lot.

There is a certain sense of alienation that it can create, and it can become a kind of Sword of Damocles. It can be easier to anticipate rejection and others' assumptions, inabilities to understand or relate than to keep reaching out, only to have the same tired conversations about being different. I see a lot of this in him. I understand the chip he has on his shoulder.

I also see an extremely sensitive, empathetic, devoted and boundlessly loving person under all that. In fact, it's because of these things that I think he actively tries to distance himself. At the core of his being, I see Jeff as somebody who loves quickly and completely. I think he sees that as a vulnerability, incompatible with what he's learned he has to do to survive... and also with the machismo thing that comes with being a pilot. I think on some level he's terrified of that about himself, but he also can't help it. Jeff is ride or die. So, he tells himself he doesn't care and never lets anyone in. Any time anyone showed interest, he'd shut them down, alienate them, distance himself, and get in the seat of something that flies.

I think up until now, (ME3) he's seen intimacy both as a thing he longs for, but is also afraid of because of his fundamental knowledge that he is different. He thinks he can't "measure up" to what he sees all around him. He sees romance as something that will lead to his inevitable rejection and being crushed, emotionally - and if he's not careful, physically, too. I think he's embarrassed about that as well. He's very interested where it comes to all that, but the things he likes to watch, he knows he can't do like that. His only experience is second-hand as a voyeur, so some of his perceptions about that are unhealthy for him. I think any kind of attempt by the medical professionals in his life to broach the topic and offer support on, he's angrily changed the subject, or stopped listening to, because of the entire mess above. I think Jeff is kind of a lonely person, and some of it is self-imposed, though the reasons for him thinking it's the right thing to do aren't all within his control.

All this is difficult for him to reconcile with, because he has been desperately in love with his commanding officer since almost the moment s/he met him, but entirely unprepared to face it.

I think at first it was easy for him to dismiss it as a stupid crush. Everyone gets them when cramped up in close quarters in stressful situations and the Commander's magnetism was hard to ignore. But then it became clear that Shepard really hadn't read his file and really hadn't made any assumptions at all about him. S/he just wanted to know him, and as time progressed and that actually bore out, it got hard not to really feel something powerful, even though s/he was the Commander and it wasn't strictly appropriate to think that way. But, then there was that thing about not fitting in the box provided...

I think he agonised over coming to Shepard with it, but ultimately decided it would be selfish with everything they were going through. I think there was a part of him that decided s/he'd never be interested anyway, not when there were other, healthier people to choose from... People who didn't have these hangups or need special accommodations made for them. I think he decided to keep it to himself, for what he felt was both their sakes.

If/When the Commander quietly hooked up with someone else, I think he had a lot of feelings all at once. On the one hand, the person he cared for most was finding some peace in all the craziness. On the other, he wished that particular brand of peace was shared with him. Most of the time there were more important things to worry about, but during downtime, I think it was on his mind a lot.

I think he feels very sheepish about it, but occasionally his jealousy got the better of him and he interrupted Shepard at moments that got too hard to watch on the security cams. He watched the cams around the ship lot, and listened in on all the others a fair bit. I think because he saw himself as being at a remove from most people in a lot of ways, it was easy to justify that to himself. I think he saw it kind of like listening to a podcast or a soap opera or... Nature documentary, almost, or something. He got to know all of them in this way... Parasocially at first, but gradually, socially too. He felt better about trying, because he had this secret edge. Not the greatest stuff he's ever done, but... Complete person. Strengths and flaws.

And then, the unthinkable happened. He couldn't accept that the ship was dying. He was sure he could save it... But when Shepard's hand touched his shoulder, when s/he'd come back for him, he knew it was over. And then, it really was over. Shepard paid the price for his arrogance. The person he wanted to protect the most spun off out into space. The communicator between his mask and that helmet was still in range for long enough that he could hear the choking. For a long time afterward, even hearing people cough made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

The Alliance grounded him. I don't think he even had the capacity to be mad about it. I think that was a hard time for Jeff. I think between being burdened with the knowledge of the Reapers, the loss of Shepard, and the weight of his guilt, he was pretty close to the very, very edge when Cerberus knocked on his door and made him a bunch of promises. Pretty sure those promises had nothing to do with leather seats and everything to do with Project Lazarus. I'm very sure that the promise of Shepard coming back is the reason he even let Cerberus pay for the surgeries he agreed to undergo, because I don't think he valued himself much at all at that point. I'm pretty sure it was being ready to help Shepard that he was thinking about when he was learning to walk on his painful legs without crutches for the very first time. When Cerberus offered him a big shiny reset button I think he took it without hesitation because there wasn't anything else to hope for. I think seeing Shepard in the docking bay galvanised him and without ever telling them so, he pledged his life to them even harder than before. I think he told himself that he would support Shepard in every way he could. He would go wherever, do whatever, and when dealing with him, try to give them what he knew they needed; a goddamn break.

So, fast forward again, and now we are here. With all of this in mind... Shepard might have had a dalliance with someone else, or might've been too damaged by their previous love interest on Horizon, or whatever. Either way, I think Jeff saw it as not his business to even dream about that. I think the guilt tore him up every time he looked at Shepard. I think he felt like on some level, he deserved the pain of unrequited feelings which only ever got more intense. If he didn't think himself worthy of it back then, doubly so now. I think during the six months of house arrest, he tried to visit, but the Alliance denied his every attempt. Then the attack on Earth happened.

And so now we have Jeff, who, just like other humans is confused and groping about for a sense of what's up and what's down. Fortunately for him, Shepard is part of that sense of stability. He's just better at hiding it, because avoiding it and telling himself to focus elsewhere is second nature to him by this point. But things are a little different, now. Shepard seems looking around for a connection too. Future days seem short in number and the rulebook less and less important by the minute. Denying it to himself becomes impossible, and even EDI prods him about it. Shepard won't stop being so goddamn nice to him and even responds with things that if he didn't know better, he could interpret as... But then all the old insecurities come rushing back and he's walking on his own damn eggshells again. Fuck it. It's time to admit it. To come clean. S/he has to know.

So he asks. And s/he accepts. He's equal parts thrilled, stunned and terrified. He's even on some level, suspicious. Is s/he setting him up for a fall? Are they angry about his responsibility? What do they want out of this, actually? He hasn't explained what it'd be like. That what they're doubtlessly expecting of him is unrealistic. That he's completely inexperienced. I think at this point, he's a bit pissed off with himself and feeling a lot of dread because he's pretty sure how this is going to go. He realises he's got so caught up in it that he's done things in the wrong order. Damage control. He has to talk with Shepard and explain what s/he should expect from him, because it will be different. Manage expectations because he's had to manage his own. He goes in steeled.

But s/he knows it will be different, it turns out. As ever, Shepard has made no assumptions whatsoever. S/he only wants to get to know him. Wants him for everything he is, and accepts what he is not. It was never an issue for them beyond understanding how to work with it, because he is worthy just as he is, and has worked hard enough. He has to teach them about his limitations, about underestimating and overestimating... But where there's a will, there's a way. Time for a few shared moments of peace before the end of days, and through all the craziness, something feels right at last. He feels safe enough to let Shepard in properly. Thus begins his reassessment of himself and reckoning with letting go of the insecurities he has that aren't actually his own, but come from outside.

Also he totally gets to sext the Commander now when s/he's on missions. Nice.

So. There's a lot more I could say and expound upon but it's been hours and I have stuff to do. That's my direction. It's not going to suit everyone, and I doubt I can get everything across... But I'll try. I'm just one person, with just one perspective, with just one version of this story. But I hope people like what I come up with surrounding this framework, because I have lived a lot of it myself. Just a few less Reapers in my version. Not everyone's experiences and responses will be the same.

[writingssummit]

𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢'𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

song listened to while writing this: line without a hook.

an aone x g/n reader

content: aone and tackling new feelings towards reader, fluff.

warnings: small amount of angst if you squint.

word count: 1.6k words

a/n: i heard this song play on spotify at like 2am, felt compelled to write for either aone or asahi, and went with our kind, gentle giant <3 it’s slightly different from the actual meaning, but the song was just what made this idea pop into my head. i started but fell asleep at 3 LOL, so I finished it up just now :> i hope you enjoy !

aone isn’t good at expressing himself, and he doesn’t often speak. settling for stiff hand movements or staring, bowing, you get the gist. respectfully silent.

you’re both friends, mostly by chance, because you ended up being seated next to him in class.

you were the talker, he listened.

you’d even walk with him to his practices and just ramble on and on about whatever interested you that day.

you’d even stay during those practices if his coach allowed it.

it was at a point where koganegawa asked aone if you both were together.

now, he’s inexperienced with love, very very inexperienced. 

so when he was asked this, he froze in his spot. thrown off, if you will. like, baby doesn’t know how to respond.

but there’s obviously something there.

your friendship with the very tall middle blocker was something unexpected and unlikely, those around you both could never really wrap their heads around the idea. the height difference for one, why weren’t you intimidated? and it had all started with a seating arrangement.

you both were complete opposites. while aone preferred to stay quiet, you liked to talk. you filled the silence between you both, which was just fine with him. if anything, he was somewhat used to it, since he was around koganegawa a lot. not to mention he was friends with a certain #10.

“and it’s amazing to think he did it like that! don’t you think, aone?” you hold a fist in the air, clenching it for dramatic effect. he gave a small nod, and you grinned. “i thought so. say, you have practice again today, right? do you think i could stay and watch? it’s always so cool to see you block the balls like this!” you mimic the blocking motions you occasionally saw when they were in their gym. while you knew little of the game, the plays and games were intriguing enough to you to hold your interest. you even started to pick up on a few things here and there. not to mention that aone was also there. it was force of habit at this point, you were almost always around with him.

a quick glance down at you was all you needed. despite his intense looks, you had a vague understanding of what they meant. you had to be somewhat able to read him if you were to have communication of sorts. you felt your heart swell with happiness. all that was left was to get his coach’s permission, and then you could spectate again!

“haven’t you been neglecting your club?”

you cringe at coach oiwake’s question, fingers twitching as you stood by the entrance with your white haired friend. 

“w-well..you see-”

. . .

“fine.” 

“thank you so much!” you thanked the coach profusely, you thought for sure that he would’ve just sent you well on your way.

koganegawa was already inside the gym at that point, like many of his other teammates, noticing that you had come again. he slapped aone on the back with a face that could only be described as his signature look.

“l/n-chan is back again, huh? this is the third time this week, right? right? that’s a lot!” aone only looked back at you, who was settling down off to the side to watch them all, and then back at his friend.

“is it..? a lot.” he didn’t think much about it, but it was true. you did stay longer just to be here, and quite frequently, too. his coach had also mentioned that you were skipping club.

“mm, yeah! l/n keeps missing their own club, i heard. weird, right? i know we’re cool but that’s what games are for!” the energetic boy clenched and un-clenched his fists at shoulder height, sparkling. he paused, and then there was a shift in his energy. he gave aone a side eye, something new to him. 

“is l/n your s/o? is that why they’re always here? that would make a lot of sense!” 

and that was when aone froze up.

completely empty, besides the new thought that just entered his brain. he flushed unbeknownst to him, causing his own teammates to freak out. aone never blushed, this was strange for those witnessing.

and this continued throughout practice.

aone was unfocused, head empty at that point. every time he tried to shake it off, he was back at square one not long after. he was constantly apologizing to the people he was teaming with, all while you watched, oblivious to whatever was going on inside of your friend’s head.

because even though he seemed to be off today, aone was always talented in your eyes. always would be. he might’ve read those blocks wrong here and there today, but everybody makes mistakes. 

by the time practice was over for the day, it was late. you were dozing off against the wall, snoring a little because you had gotten a little tired after the day. 

which left somebody to have to wake you up. 

and aone of course did it himself. you woke up, blinking lazily when you felt a gentle nudge at your shoulder. you blinked up at him with sleepy eyes, and smiled softly when you saw it was him.

“aone, is it over?”

“Mm.”

“ahhh, dang. i missed a lot. let’s get going then, if you’re all ready.” you get yourself up with the help of his hands, patting them in appreciation once you were standing.

nothing went unnoticed by aone anymore when it came to you now. koganegawa’s words were on loop whenever he just so much as looked in your general direction. he would catch himself looking away now when you looked back at him, too nervous to hold any form of eye-contact. which was very much unlike him.

you thought that he was mad at you, which made you nervous in return.

a week or so went by, and then another.

now you were quiet when you walked with him to practice.

and he didn’t know why. 

it was when he saw you talking to futakuchi with that beautiful smile of yours that he felt something even newer than whatever he was feeling around you.

he had locked onto you both, watching as you laughed at whatever his teammate was saying, and blinked when he felt a hard clap on his shoulder. it was once again koganegawa.

“mm, what’re you looking at??” he glanced over, and then pursed his lips. “ohh, i see.”

aone broke his stare away from you both, looking sulky somehow.

“jealousy?? from aone??” koganegawa was shook, to say the least. aone had a visible question mark above his head. is that what this was? must be. he didn’t like how it felt at all.

another revelation for aone, but he didn’t do anything about it.

more time went by as the two of you started to drift apart, you of course still went to practices to watch, but you had stopped going to aone as soon as they had finished up. you went to futakuchi.

he must not be good enough, if you stopped talking so much around him. he missed it, he missed being able to listen to you talk about anything and everything. 

and you didn’t even know that the reason he’s been so off around you was because he liked you too. it had never even crossed your mind as a possibility with a good ending, because you were sure there was no way that he just happened to return the same feelings.

withdrawing just made it hurt, on both ends. 

the miscommunication was getting to be troublesome, because aone wasn’t playing his best, distracted by who and when you were watching, the sadness he felt when you weren’t talking next to him, and his teammates noticed. who wouldn’t?

and you were the reason, the team knew that. it was obvious to them even before this awkward time period.

on a particular day, you were talking with futakuchi again, he was just recalling some of the plays and rules, it was a bit easier to ask him instead of aone, because he wasn’t as quiet. which wasn’t any issue, you liked him no matter how much he spoke. but this was convenient at the time for you.

you wanted to understand it more, maybe if you knew more about volleyball, aone wouldn’t look away anymore. maybe he would say more.

but he stopped midsentence and looked behind you, his face plain. with a sigh, he waved a hand. “alright l/n, looks like somebody wants to talk with you. we can continue later, yeah?” you tilt your head, but nod. 

“oh, okay-”

you felt a hand on your arm, and you turned to look over your shoulder. and there aone was.

“aone? what’s up?” you ask nervously. he had approached you this time, instead of the other way around. a welcome thing, but it kept you on your toes.

he stared you down, and you sweatdropped.

“. . .”

“I like you.”

your soul left your body right then and there. it was gone. what?? huh? your body felt a rush of relief and anxiety leave it, because oh my god, he just said that to you. 

“l/n.” he looked off to the side, and you finally realized what that was all about. he didn’t hate you.

“you don’t hate me? oh thank god, i thought you hated me, you stopped looking at me and i got so worried, i-”

“never would.” he coughed into his fist, a small tint of pink dusted across his cheeks. your eyes soften, and you hold you hands up, making grabby hands at his face. he blinked, and then leaned down towards them.

you held his face gently, stroking his cheek with your thumb, before planting a small kiss on his nose.

“i like you too, aone.”

[imaginesbymonika]

The 36 year old bachelor | Simon Dominic x Reader

Prompt: Jay is done with Simon complaining about being single, that’s why he decides to introduce him to his celebrity crush.

Warnings: fluff

A/N: I read almost every single SD Imagine, so I decided to write my own

Song to listen to while reading:

Jay cares for Kiseok. He truly does. They’ve known each other for so many years- Jay absolutely couldn’t imagine his life without him. But sometimes... he disliked his friend with everything he got.

“It���s like as if my relationship status is more essential than my work as an artist.”, Kiseok exclaims. Whenever he got frustrated, his Busan accent became more notable - and right now it was more prominent than ever before.

It was an accessory sentence.

“ “As one of the most crucial and thriving rappers of Korea, his heart is owned by to none other than the music.” ”, Kiseok reads out loud:” “It seems like, there is no room in his life for love, but-.” First of all, who says I don’t have time for a girlfriend?-.”.

“You do?”,Jay asks, and wrinkles his forehead:” You declare that in nearly every single interview.”.

Without paying interest to his friend's statement, Kiseok proceeds to rant:” Second of all, it isn’t my fault that I’m single- I just haven’t met the right woman yet.”.

Jay massages the bridge of his nose:” That’s because your standards are not only high but whenever somebody asks you about them you say - “look at Y/N, then you know what I want.”.

At the sound of her name leaving his lips, Kiseok turns his head around to face his friend. He stares at him for a few seconds, before he tosses the magazine into the bin next to the couch in Jay's office, before he storms out.

A few seconds later, Gray enters the room, his eyes are wide open:” What’s wrong with him?”. Jay simply makes a hand gesture, before standing up from his spot behind the desk:” He is constantly complaining about being single- but when he has the chance to date, I mean the line is long-“.

Gray nods. “He doesn’t make a move, I promise you- even if the perfect woman would stand in front of him. He would still not make a move.”.

“We need to get that man out of his shell.”,Gray says while sitting down on the couch. He looks at his friend. “And I feel like, I already know who to call.”.

Y/N debuted three years ago with a girl group under SM Entertainment. As the lead rapper, and oldest of the group she quickly had a specific reputation. She was admired by many, but she also had a few more haters than the rest of the girls due to her confidence and taste in fashion.

“Wait- I’m supposed to do what exactly?”, the young woman asks and her eyes widen. She sits on the opposite side of Jay’s desk and stares at him in confusion.

Jay and Y/N had met two years ago, backstage at an award show, and became friends nearly immediately. She told him, no matter what- she would always answer his calls. And she kept her promise.

“You’re like his ideal type.”,Jay explains:” I want to wake him up, from whatever bizarre trance he’s stuck in. Also, Y/N... Sources told me that you find Kiseok quite attractive as well.”.

“Oh shut up.”,Y/N mumbles softly while her cheek turns red. Jay let out a high pitch laugh, while his friend runs a hand through her hair.

“Okay, so we will go into the main area of this building-.”, he turns on his phone to check the time:” Right now, he’s probably eating with Loco and Gray.“. As they wander through the hallways he proceeds to clarify his plan:” Act like this-.”, he makes a hand gesture pointing from him to her:” is natural and no staged at all. Okay.”.

Y/N chuckles:” Sure.”.

“And that is why I truly believe-.”, Kiseok who takes a sip of his water stop talking and starts coughing. Gray and Loco both stare at their friend in surprise while Hyukwoo is the first one to react. He turns around and when his eyes land on Jay and Y/N he softly slaps Grays shoulder:” Would you look at that.”.

“Is that-?.”

“Y/N.”,Kiseok finishes his sentence before he takes another sip of his water: “This-.“.

He watches how Jay points at him as if he notices him for the first time and makes his way over to their table. Closely followed by the young musician.

„Hey.“.he says and smiles at Kiseok: “I wanted to introduce you to my good friend Y/N.”. She smiles and bows at him. He feels how his throat becomes dry, as he smiles back. He holds out his hand:” I’m Kiseok.”. “It’s nice to meet you, I am Y/N.”.

Later that evening, Kiseok drove to the small traditional restaurant Jay made a reservation at. He closes the door and thanks the Uber driver before he steps into the small building. When he can’t hear his friends, he furrows his forehead but continues to make his way towards the back room.

As soon as he walks through the door a sigh escapes his lips when he notices that only Y/N is sitting at the table.

“They’re not showing up, are they?”, he asks, making the young woman look up from her phone. She smiles softly but shakes her head. He nods and sits down in front of her.

“Can I be honest with you?”, she asks and Kiseok, who lays his jacket to the side nods. “I’m just here because Jay wants to prove some ridiculous point of his.”. Simon Dominic looks at her in confusion. “He said, that you’re often complaining about being single- but even if somebody like me, who is supposedly your ideal type comes along, you would still think twice. Because at the end of the day, you’re the one standing in your own way.”.

Kiseok stares at her, he opens his mouth slightly, but when no words leave his lips he closes it again. “If you want to take off, I get that. I truly do.”, she once again smiles at him, and grabs the menu card. After a few minutes, she puts it down again and when she sees that the rapper is still sitting in front of her she chuckles:” You’re not leaving?”.

“Why would I? A beautiful woman is sitting right in front of me. I would be a fool if I didn’t take that chance”.

Y/N’s eyes widen. “Don’t tell Jay, but he is right. I guess I’m just frightened. You see, I’m almost 37- the media characterizes me as some old bachelor. I don’t wish for that. I’m nothing like that. I’m simply terrible at dealing with rejection, so before anyone could do that- I’m dismissing every woman that comes my way. And well, there is another aspect, that he has right- you are my ideal type. So, I feel like I’m winning tonight.”.

Y/N chuckles. “But I’m serious, don’t tell Jay. He will never let me live that down.”.

[overdhse]

Hello!! Can I ask you 15 with all the members but they are actually not confident because s/o is shy to show her affection? Hope I'm clear enough... thanks!!

a/n: hello! sorry for the late reply ㅠㅠ after finishing studying for my previous exam, i’m now busy with another one so i took a break from writing... i hope it’s not a problem. thanks for requesting! i chose to change “wasn’t” to “isn’t”, i think it suits the scenarios better. i hope you’ll like this☺️

Golden Child reactions - 15. “Which part of me isn’t enough?” 

Daeyeol

Daeyeol is definitely good boyfriend-material. When you two started dating, you felt like you were dating a modern-days prince: he’s always really polite and sensitive, always worrying about you rather than himself, taking you out on romantic dates (when he has free time, obviously), cuddling with you under the sheets and showering you with his love. Too bad you’re not as good as him at showing affection. Even if you had never talked about this before, it was clear that at a certain point he had started developing some insecurities about that, so you aren’t really surprised when he stands in front of you asking: “Which part of me isn’t enough?”.

“Huh?” You say, blinking more than once. He looks at you with a sad gaze.

“Is there anything you don’t like about me?” He asks, biting his lip.

“No...?” You reply, while your heart starts to beat faster.

He sighs. “Are you sure? You don’t have to be with me if you don’t like me.”

“Actually...” You start. “Actually you’re the best thing that could ever happen to me. Really. It’s just that I’m really bad at showing how much I care about you. I’m so sorry.”

His eyes grow wider as a smile appears on his face. “Oh. I feel so much better.” He says, while hugging you. “I couldn’t get myself to stop thinking that you dislike something about me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you.” You reply, caressing his cheek. “You’re perfect to me.”

Y

Sungyoon isn’t usually the kind of guy to worry about his own irrational thoughts, but having to deal with a person who finds it hard to show affection is making him change his mind.

“I’ve been worrying about you for a few days.” He says, putting an arm around your shoulders. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”

You rest your head on his shoulder. “I don’t think so. Why?”

“Uh.” He replies, touching your cheek with his fingers. “Nothing.”

You put yourself to sit in front of him and look at him in the eyes. “Are you worried about something?”

“Not really...” He says, before looking away and suddenly asking: “Which part of me isn’t enough?”

You blink twice. “Which part of you... isn’t enough...?” You ask, giving him a confused look.

“Yeah.” He says. “Am I lacking something?”

You pat his head. “No, you’re not. I’m the one lacking something, and it’s the ability to demonstrate that I am crazy about you.” You explain. “Please, bear with my flaw, okay?”

He holds your hands. “It’s okay. I am crazy about your flaws too.”

Jangjun

Considering his bright personality, you had never thought Jangjun would ever be the kind of guy to develop insecurities about anyone surrounding him. He had a particular way of showing his insecurities: he would bring them up by asking rhetorical question.

“You don’t like me, don’t you?”, “You think I’n not good enough for you, don’t you?”, “You’re into somebody else, aren’t you?”, these are only some of the dozens of questions he has been asking you for the past few days.

“So, which part of me isn’t enough?” He asks, making you roll your eyes.

“Actually...” You say, and he looks at you with a worried gaze. You smirk, realizing that he’s believing it. “Actually, there’s something.”

“W... what?” He asks. You had never seen him so insecure.

You point at his head. “Your brain.” You say. “You aren’t clever enough to realize I’m crazy about you.”

He pinches your arm. “You thought you could prank me?” He asks, pinching you harder. “Don’t do this ever again. And I want you to know this: I wasn’t believing in you. I knew you were kidding.”

You move your arm, sticking your tongue out. “Yeah, sure.”

TAG

Youngtaek gets easily flustered when it comes to people he cares about. He has always been into you, and he has shown it in various ways: sending you pictures of something that he saw and reminded him of you, buying you all the sweets that you said you like, taking you to his favorite places... you feel bad thinking about the fact that he has been able to show his affection to you in so many different ways, while you struggle to even just say “I love you” back.

You are at the café in front of his company. You’re taking a sip of iced tea when out of the blue he asks you : “Which part of me isn’t enough?” 

You didn’t really expect him to ask you that question.

“What do you mean?” You ask, coughing.

“What should I change about me? I want you to be more interested in me.” He explains, with a serious face.

You smile and reach your hand out to caress his cheek. “You don’t have to change anything. Just because I don’t tell you I love you so often, it doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”

“You can just tell me if something is wrong with me. I am willing to fix it.” He says, holding the hand you were caressing him with.

“There is nothing I would change in you.” You say, just before kissing him. “You’re the best to me.”

Seungmin

Seungmin is usually quiet but when he’s worried about something he becomes even quieter. It didn’t take you a lot to realize that something is making him flustered.

“What’s going on?” You ask, out of the blue.

“Huh?” He says, giving you a confused look.

“You’re so quiet.” You explain. “You’re thinking about something.”

He looks away and stays silent; after a few minutes, he asks: “Which part of me isn’t enough?”

You raise your eyebrows. “What?”

“Nevermind.” He says, taking his phone out of his pocket. You take your phone out of your bag too.

You send him a text. “You’re more than enough for me.”

You wait for his reaction, but it seems like he hasn’t read it yet. Your phone vibrates.

It’s Seungmin’s reply. “I love you even if you make me worry too much.”

Jaehyun

Jaehyun always worries about making sure you’re comfortable with him. There hasn’t been a single time ever since you started dating that he hasn’t asked you if everything is okay or if you want to talk to him about something in particular. You are really thankful for the way he is, but you know that sometimes you’re not good at showing him how much you love him; so you weren’t really surprised when he texted you asking: “Which part of me isn’t enough?”

You read the text more than once, to be sure that you’re not getting it wrong.

“Nothing?” You type. After a few seconds, you get another text.

“Are you sure?” He asks.

“I am.” You reply.

“Alright. I’m sorry.” He quickly replies. “I love you a lot.”

You smile. “I love you a lot too.”

Jibeom

Jibeom isn’t really the type of guy to share all of his thoughts with you, but you can feel that something is off only by taking a look at his gaze whenever he’s talking to you. At first you thought it would be something temporary, but after a few days you realized that it was kind of serious and that you had to find out what was going on. So that’s why you have now called him over.

He is as quiet as usual, but you can see that his eyes are hiding something.

“So... is there something going on?” You begin with an unsure voice. He shyly looks away and blushes.

“No.” He murmurs.

“Are you sure?” You insist. “ I can see it in your eyes.“

He sighs. “Which part of me isn’t enough?” 

“Huh?” You give him a confused look.

“”I feel like you’re not into me.” He explains. “Is there anything wrong with me?”

You blush. “No. I’m sorry.“ You look away. “ I should show my affection to you more, right?”

He smiles to you. “It’s okay. You don’t have to force yourself.”

Donghyun

“Which part of me isn’t enough?”

Donghyun’s question flustered you. You know you aren’t that good at showing your affection to anyone, especially to him, but you didn’t think this would lead to him feeling insecure about himself.

You scratch your head. “Uhm... well, do you really want me to say it?” You ask.

Donghyun puts on a sad face and shrugs. “Whatever.”

“It’s... your confidence.” You hurriedly reply, before this leads to him feeling really bad. “Why are you asking me such stupid questions? You should know better how much I love you.”

“You never say it.” He shyly explains, looking away.

You pinch his cheek. “Just because I don’t say it it doesn’t mean you’re not “enough” for me. Actually, you’re way too much for me. I don’t deserve you.”

Joochan

Joochan usually acts like he’s full of confidence, so his sudden question (“Which part of me isn’t enough?”) sincerely flustered you.

“There’s nothing wrong with you.” You reply. “I am sorry, this is all my fault. I am way too cold.”

He quickly pats your shoulder. “Don’t apologize. I was kidding. Really!”

“No, you’re right. I should be much more affectionate to you.” You say, biting your lip.

“I was really kidding!” He insists. “But still... thanks for the compliment!” He adds, winking.

Bomin

Bomin usually holds everything in when it comes to his worries. It’s not like you were expecting him to tell you how he is feeling every single time, but you wanted him at least to tell you when something was wrong; since he never did, as soon as you realized that something was worrying him, you asked him about it.

“I am okay, really.” He replies.

“Are you sure?” You ask again.

He stands there and looks at you in your eyes. Before you can say anything, he asks: “Which part of me isn’t enough?”

“What?” You say, raising your eyebrows. “Are you crazy?”

He gives you a confused look. “Why?”

“You’re way more than enough to me. Don’t ask me no stupid questions!” You say, leaving him with a warm smile on his face.

[bunnys-beetlejuice-blog]

some kind of loud, attention grabbing noise that lets you know ITS FIC TIME, BABYYYYY you could start here, but the context... the build up.. the hours of worldcrafting, you'd miss it all... so start here, instead, then circle back.

These last two weeks have actually been nice. She and Adam had both mutually agreed that, despite not being the kind of person either of them would intentionally seek out on their own, Beetlejuice (she still has a hard time believing that’s what BJ stands for, but okay,) is fun. Not just fun, but funny, and seemingly often in the mood to laugh, in that overblown, Vincent Price horror movie way he does, which earns him multiple shushes in the library.

Drama club has gotten better. Barbara has a private theory that what most people need is to just get used to BJ, to spend enough time with him that he stops looking like an outsider, and it’s coming true, slowly, but finally. BJ had mentioned off-handedly he played ukulele, and when the other kids had expressed interest, he’d brought it with him the next day... Though she’s not quite sure where he kept it, the entire day. She’s seen that mess of a locker he’s got. She doubts it fits in there. And it can’t have been in his backpack, either, because every time he sets it down, she can hear what sounds like glass and rocks settling. She’s even seen him, after school, pick up a rock and shove it in one of the pockets. She has to assume his bag weighs a hundred pounds, or so.

His instrument, almost predictably, was painted with black and white stripes, but he’d played the little thing like a pro. She had never taken him for someone who enjoyed the mellow, soft sounds the ukulele was known for, but clearly, she doesn’t know enough about the boy. Miss Larson, the drama instructor, had clapped, and learned that BJ could read music, too. “Maybe while we’re practicing, you can accompany us?” She’d asked, clearly trying to work a way into getting more participation out of their newest member. BJ had been flustered, but had agreed, easily.

The wildest thing had been hearing him sing. They’d moved from being in the drama room, most days, to being in the auditorium, working on lines and practicing their singing. No one’s been officially cast, yet, but it’s mostly to get used to being on stage. Miss Larson had insisted that BJ sing a few lines for them, and he’d sort of made a face, ducked backstage, and had appeared with his ukulele in hand. Barbara didn’t even know he’d put it back there.

“Uh, so, sing what?” He’d shuffled awkwardly, and Miss Larson had smiled. “Whatever you feel,” to which BJ just snorted, and rolled his eyes, but then he plucked a few notes on his ukulele, and started to sing.

“There’s a camp, there’s a camp, by the frozen lake, wa wa ooh. With every belly starving and every finger numb, but up on the hill there’s a red, red rum, somebody’s always cooking something in the lean-to.”

It wasn't a song she’d recognized, but it was clearly morbid. She shouldn’t have expected anything different. The real focal point was his voice, his strange, scratchy pitch, because despite sounding like he gargles sandpaper and nails, he’s got a strong, clear tone, one that carries well, and as he sings, he doesn’t hit a single sour note. She also noted that his enunciation is much clearer when he’s singing, oddly enough. He sang as much as he decided he needed to, and clung to his ukelele as he finished, like a lifeline. “So. Yeah.” He’d said, and then flinched when the clapping started, from all members present, but especially her and Adam. He’d stood looking around at them all, utterly baffled.

“You didn’t tell us you would sing!” Jeremiah, the student director, was the one who looked the most enthused, and BJ balked. “Didn’t think it mattered. M’just gonna be a stagehand.. Right?”

“Maybe he could play the dentist?” Miss Larson had looked at Jeremiah, and they’d begun talking amongst themselves, ignoring him, as he strummed nervously at his instrument.

“Oh, wait, check this out!”

And he sings again, another verse from that same, oddly morbid song, which she’d started to pick up is definitely about cannibals, but his voice is.. Different. The grit is gone. It’s like he’d ran his vocal cords under some hot soapy water, and washed all the grime and gravel out of them, because he sang like an angel, like a normal person, and then, suddenly, devolved into a hacking cough, doubled over.

“Sorry, can only do that so long. Hurts my throat,” he said, after a moment, all the grit back in his voice. He waited. There had been a soft laugh, and then it grew louder, coming from each of the members watching him in turn, because the idea that speaking like THAT somehow hurts, and his normal tone doesn’t, is just so outrageous and silly, and he’d stood there proudly, grinning in that way he does, because his joke had landed, and he might, for the first time since he was forced into their club, be enjoying himself.

So, yes. The last few weeks have been good. Very good.

All that club progress aside, looking back makes her a little flustered, because at this point, she’s gotten the hint that he’s not gay. What he is, is incredibly flirty, not only with Adam but with her, and she finds herself... enjoying it. He keeps his ukulele tucked into the bottom of the cart in the library, and sometimes, when he’s certain he won’t be interrupted, he grabs it and sings little songs about them, laying on top of the cart like a drunk lounge singer on a piano, as she or Adam wheel it along. The songs are made up on the spot tunes that often start dirty, and end sincere, like he can’t even help it. It’s embarrassing, and endearing, and just very… Beetlejuice.

There’s just the problem lingering overhead, the one she’s desperate to solve, of Kevin. BJ doesn’t talk about him, abruptly changes the subject when she tries, or just goes silent, and gives her a hard glare with those amber eyes, which is the worst of the three options, because silence on him is unnerving. He can do this thing where he goes deathly still, and she swears he doesn’t even breathe, just stands there, totally unmoving, like a corpse.

She thinks if she could just go to his house, and talk to his mother, she might get a better understanding of the entire situation, but despite him inviting them, he’s never followed up, and both Adam and herself are too polite to push.. Directly. But then, he doesn’t show up that day, not for library duty and not for drama club, and she makes the decision for him, that today is the day they’ll be coming over. She gets his address out of the guidance counselor, easily. “It’s so sweet you two want to go check up on him,” Mrs. Birch says, sliding his address across her desk to Barbara. “I knew the drama club would be a good fit for him! He’s already making friends!”

Adam’s mom is nice enough to drop them off, and Adam, adorable, sweet Adam, stares delighted at the house, as they walk up the front steps. “It’s a tudor!” he tells her, and she sort of nods, not really knowing exactly what that means. “I’ve never seen one painted black and white, before. Usually those accents are a natural wood color,” and she rings the bell, as he goes on. The outside of the house matches BJ’s stripes, and she wonders if that’s coincidence, or if his parents just really, really love him. The door swings open, and then a chubby blur jumps away from their line of sight, startling her from her thoughts. “Beetlejuice?” Adam calls, concerned, and it takes a moment for their friend to reappear in the doorway, with a croaked out, “Sup?”

He looks terrible. He always looks a little terrible, as mean as that is to say, too pale and with purple spots under his eyes she chalks up to exhaustion, but he looks worse, today. It hadn’t occurred to her that he’d actually be sick.

“We just wanted to come by and see if you were okay,” she tells him, and BJ cocks his head so far to the side, he looks like he might fall over. “Why?” “Because.. We’re your friends,” Adam says, cautiously, which causes BJ to stare down at the checkered entryway tile.

“Oh.” He packs a lot of emotion into that little noise.

“Can we come in?” She asks, and he doesn’t look sure, rubbing at the back of his neck, but then next to him, in the doorway, appears what must be Mrs. Deetz. She’s on the tall side, slim, with blonde hair past her shoulders, and she’s wearing all black with lace accents. Even her stud earrings and the rings on her fingers are that same dark hue.

“Well, hello! BJ, invite your friends in!” She urges him, and then, to them asks, “You kids hungry? We’re just sitting down to dinner. It’s grilled cheese tower night,” and then she turns, and leaves them there, like that needs no explanation.

BJ fidgets a moment, but relents. “Come in, I guess,” he moves aside, and Adam and Barbara take a collective step into the Deetz household. The house is dark, not for lack of light, but for lack of color. The walls are paneling which Adam, delighted, says must be original, but they’ve been stained a dark shade of coffee, and it takes a moment for her eyes to adjust. When she does, she takes in how strangely eerie the place is. It’s less like someone’s home and more like a haunted house ride.

“Oh, you guys haven't taken down the Halloween décor, yet?” Adam asks, noting a cracked vase full of black roses on a side table as they follow BJ further in, and BJ snorts. “That crap? It's up in th’ attack. This is what passes for normal around here.” Barbara stops to stare at a picture of a distorted figure cannibalizing a smaller one. “Saturn Devouring His Son,” BJ says, briefly putting on a voice like a tour guide, high pitched and peppy, and both she and Adam wince. “What’s with you and cannibalism?” she asks, which only earns her that haunted laugh in response.

The kitchen, at least, looks a little more normal and bright, but Barbara learns quickly that’s not to be trusted, because sitting on the counter is what looks to be a lasagna made from sandwiches and sauce. “You guys are here on a night Emily had to cook. Bad luck,” BJ tells them, and it takes her a moment to realize he’s talking about his mother. Does he use her first name?

Emily, or, Mrs. Deetz, her mind corrects politely, busies herself with dishing them both a plate. “So, you kids must be.. Adam and Barbara,” she says, knowingly, and BJ, perhaps embarrassed, shuffles his bare feet at nothing. He’s been talking to his mom about them… aww. She notices then that he’s in his pajamas, which are, like everything else he wears, eccentric. He looks cute. She realizes she’s staring, and BJ catches her eye, and wiggles his eyebrows at her. Oh, god.

“We’re sorry for dropping by unannounced, Mrs. Deetz,” Adam says, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and Mrs. Deetz waives that off. “It’s totally fine. BJ’s never taken a sick day, before, I bet you probably thought he was faking. You kids can call me Emily. And that, of course, is Lydia.” She gestures to the nine year old scrutinizing them from the kitchen table.

“Hello again,” Barbara says, and Lydia gives her a smile, at least, but it's wary, it’s very, “I’ve got my eyes on you.” It’s strange to see from a little kid.

They all sit down to eat, all five of them, at the kitchen table, she and Adam settled across from BJ and Lydia. Adam squints, trying to read what’s on the other boy’s shirt. “What does that say?” he asks, and BJ glances down, and pulls the top taught, to make it easier to read. “Least exciting hole I’ve ever been in,” both boys say, at the same time. “Grand Canyon National Park.” Barbara and Adam both blush at that, and Mrs.. Emily, Emily just laughs. Lydia looks annoyed. “No one will explain to me what that means,” she tells Barbara, leaning closer to her, and almost looking hopeful. Barbara avoids that look. “It’s a dirty joke,” is all she says, and Lydia, clearly not satisfied, just takes a bite of her grilled cheese abomination. “Chuck hates this shirt,” BJ tells them. “Chuck?” “Chuck, Chuckster, Chuckles, Charles.. My dad,” he grates out. Barbara can’t imagine calling her father by his first name. She’d be in a world of trouble for being “disrespectful,” if she tried. “Is Mr. Deetz home?” Adam asks, and Lydia is the one to reply, mouth still a little too full.

“He’s at the office. He’s always working so fucking late,” Lydia says, and then lets it settle in the air, like she’s waiting for something. Barbara balks, and it feels like her eyes are bulging out of her head, because she’s never heard that kind of language from a nine year old. She glances at Emily nervously, waiting for her to blow up, to be angry, but Emily just seems to be in deep thought.

“I dunno about that one, Lyds,” Mrs. Deetz finally says, and Lydia puffs up her chest and tries again. “He’s always working so god damn late?” She looks to her mother, and Emily, finger on her chin, nods. “Yeah, alright. I hereby decree that Lydia Deetz, at the age of nine and a half, is allowed to say god damn.” Lydia pumps her fist and then takes another huge mouthful of grilled cheese casserole. “Bout fuckin’ time,” BJ grunts. Barbara thinks the Deetz family might all be whack jobs. there's more, a lot more, but tumblr can't handle it all, so read this chapter in full over on Ao3!

[toothpastecanyon]

Noie's Friends, Chapter 3

A collection of oneshots about Noie's years at college.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

_____________________________________________________________

“Hmm… what should I have today? What, should, I, have?”

Tapping on the counter. Noie stretched her shoulders a bit, and tapped the register to stop it going to sleep.

“Huh. You know, I just don’t know any of these teas.” The man scratched his stubble. “You guys sell an awful lot of them, don’t you?”

“Yes. We’re a tea shop, sir.”

“Oooh, sir. I don’t get sir’ed very often…” he peered at her name tag. “Naomi. Oh, that’s a pretty name. Where’s it from?”

She shrugged.

“You don’t know? Oh, I know where my name comes from, John’s a good English name, you know? There was a King John once. In fact, how’s about I write it down on this napkin…”

Noie found herself glancing over his shoulder. If only she could tell him there was a line.

“You can call me up anytime, little lady.” He passed it to her with a wink. “Anyway, where was I… Oh, do you guys have Dr Salt? I think I’ll take that over your weird teas.”

“Okay, we’ve got them in the back.” Noie stepped away. “They’re kind of expensive here, though.”

“Aw, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Hey, don’t forget my napkin!”

Noie headed to the back, which was a small tiled room with an asphyxiatingly-strong stench of various spices. Even after a week she still hadn’t gotten used to it; her eyes watered a tiny bit as she headed to the tiny soda fridge in the corner of the room.

“Somebody wants another soda?” A voice - Sara stepped out from behind a column of spices. “They know there’s a restaurant right next to us, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t think he’s here for a drink.” She tossed the napkin at her. “Check out what he passed me.”

Noie opened the fridge and picked a soda out. She heard a sniggering from behind her.

“Why did he…” Sara snorted. “Why did he write ‘King John winky face’ on it?”

“Oh my god, did he? I didn’t even look at it.”

“Yeah, look at it there. He sounds like a real catch.” She shook her head. “You want me to go out there? I can always chase off a creepy guy.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Thanks, though.” Noie heard the front door jingle. “Oh, sweet, new people!”

“Now you can tell him there’s a line.”

“Hah! Did you read my mind?” She winked at Sara as she opened the door. “Seeya.”

“Silver!”

Noie recognised the group strolling into the shop - and especially the woman in pyjamas making hre way to the counter. “Bea! Isn’t it Magic 101 for Gus and Mina right now? I thought you guys were coming after that.”

“Hey,” The man glanced between them. “About my order-”

“What, you dreading us?” Bea winked at her. “Nah, there was - heh - a little accident in the labs.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She stabbed a thumb back at Gus, who seemed to be missing his eyebrows. “You should get the story from ol’ fire fingers over there. I hear primary sources make the most engaging narratives.”

The man cleared his throat. “Excuse me-”

“Oh, I’ll ring your soda up for you, it’s five dollars.” Noie grinned at Bea. “Did he blow himself-”

“Five dollars?!”

“-up?”

“I’m not saying nothing! You’ll have to-”

“Excuse me kid, I’m still ordering!” The man shoved Bea a little back. “Hey, what’s the big idea? I could go down to the gas station and get this for a fifth of what I’m paying here! What kind of stupid fucking-”

Bea tapped his shoulder, and he stopped midsentence with a choking gasp. He grabbed his throat gasping for air, eyes bugging out, and started coughing up leaves and loose soil. She pushed him aside, and leaned an elbow on the counter.

“Okay, so what’ll we have today?” Bea slid the soda away. “Obviously not that - jeez, five dollars? Does anyone actually buy those?” A pause. “What?”

Noie was leaning over the counter with wide eyes. The man was on his hands and knees, making shallow gagging sounds. “Uh, Bea? Is he gonna be alright?!”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry about the mess. Shouldn’t have done that spell indoors.” She snapped her fingers, and everything dissolved into air. The man gave a gasp of relief, and curled up into a shuddering foetal position. “Now I’m the bad customer, right? There you go.”

“But is he gonna be okay?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s an old elven children’s prank. I don’t know why he’s being such a baby about it.” She nudged his leg. “Come on, man. I’ve seen elflings half your age take this better than you. Stop crying.”

As Noie watched, Sara came out of the back. She saw her peeking around the corner- as soon as she caught sight of Bea and the others, she came wandering out.

“Oh, hey guys! Hi Bea!”

“How’s it hanging.”

“You’re here early, right? Why do I feel like- oh my stars, Gus, your eyebrows! Your hair!”

Laughter erupted across the table, and Gus went red. Bea chuckled.

“Yeah, tell her the whole thing, dude!” Bea turned back to Noie. “Eh, I think we’ll all just have our usual. You know what that is, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Noie turned towards the brewing machines. “Alright, gimme a second…”

She got out a pot, and from behind her she heard the ongoing conversation.

“So what happened, dude? Did you blow yourself up?”

“I didn’t blow myself up-“

“Yeah, cause it was a candle spell.” There was a chuckle from Bea. “First time I’ve ever heard of a human hurting themselves on one of those.”

“No, no, okay, so I had my hands like this, okay! I was rubbing my forehead from all the Latin, and then suddenly my head feels really warm and Mina starts screaming that my hair’s on fire.”

“Your hair was on fire, dude. It looked like a campfire up there for a second.”

“Yeah, and then Mr Jasko grabbed me and basically threw me into the lab shower. How often does that water get cleaned, do you think? It smelled really bad.”

Noie poured the tea, and turned around as it brewed. She saw Gus rubbing at his eyebrows; Jess was patting his shoulder.

“Ughhhh… I look like a damn thumb.”

“No you don’t, dude. You still have… some of your hair.”

“Oh yeah, that’s great, that’s great. Some of my hair.” He ran a hand through it. “Shit, and I have a date this Friday! Do you think it’ll grow back by then?”

“I can grow things.” Bea gave a smile. “Hair is kinda like moss, right?”

“Oh no, you are not touching my hair, Bea. I know you too well.”

“Yeah, you do. But really, that sucks, man. I’m sorry for you.”

“Maybe I’ll just wear a hat,” Noie heard as she placed all the mugs onto a tray. “Hats are cool right? He’ll think it’s cool, right?”

Noie walked over. “I’m sure it’ll go fine, dude.” She carefully placed the tea right next to Gus’ book. “At least you gotta get a good grade on the fire spell thing, right?”

“Well, I didn’t exactly light a candle, did I.” He flipped his textbook to a certain page, and picked up his tea. “The lab’s probably gonna be redone anyway. I gotta study up for it.”

“Heh, don’t go saying it out loud again-”

“No. No, I won’t, Mina.”

Noie started going around the table, but Sara suddenly noticed her and jumped up. “Oh my gosh! Noie, I should’ve been helping! Let me do that!”

“Oh, it’s fine-”

She took the tray. “No, no, you made it, I’ll do the rest. Bea, were you paying?”

“Yeah, it’s my turn.” Bea turned around, digging in her pockets. There seemed to be a lull in conversation as everyone set up their books and magi-orbs; Noie found herself standing awkwardly behind Gus, looking down at his textbook.

Huh. She’d never actually looked inside a magic textbook before; it looked a lot like any other, with dense pages of information cut up by a few diagrams and headings - here, the headings seemed to be the spell incantations themselves, judging by the fact that they were in latin. There was one incantation next to a drawing of someone lighting a candle with their finger; that was probably the one Gus messed up on.

She frowned. How do you even pronounce Latin? She tried sounding it out in her head, flam-mul-a ex stud-

There was a shout. The next thing Noie knew she was on the floor, her hands twisted behind her back. She opened her mouth, but-

“D’arvit!” Bea’s voice was right next to her ear, louder and sterner than she’d ever heard. “The hell are you playing at, Naomi!”

“Wh-what-”

“Don’t let me ever see you trying that shit again! You know better!”

Noie blinked; she could hardly form words. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! What did I do?”

“You don’t know?!” A pause. “You don’t know?”

“No!” Noie tried to move her arm, but it wouldn’t budge. “Agh, ugh, I think you’re twisting my wrist!”

There was a moment of silence, and then Bea let go of her completely. She pulled Noie up, and there was something strange in her eyes as she patted her down. She felt along Noie’s wrist, and Noie couldn’t help but notice the whole table had turned around to stare at them.

Noie shivered at that… shivered. She felt strangely cold, strangely drained. She opened her mouth, but nothing really came out.

Mina was the first one to speak. “Uh, Bea,” she started. “What was that about? What happened?”

Bea’s eyes flitted up to her, and then traced across the whole group. She let go of Noie’s arm, and after a moment, Noie could see her stretch a big smile across her face.

“What was that?” Bea asked, and then gave Noie a light shove. “Pranked! It was a prank! You should’ve seen your face, Silver!”

She gave a great laugh, but Noie could still see that glint in her eyes. She didn’t laugh back; no one did.

“Eh? Prank? Nobody up for some good ol’ horsing around?”

“Seriously? That, uh, wasn’t very funny, Bea.” Sara walked over to Noie. “I think you really freaked her out. You freaked me out.”

“Yeah, me too.” Gus frowned at her. “You really shouldn’t tackle someone like that. That hurts.”

“I see your point, I see your point.” Bea raised her hands. “Guess I don’t know my own strength. I won’t do it again… unless, like, hypothetically, you were standing next to some kind of bomb and I had to tackle you to save your life-”

“Dude. Just apologise.”

“Alright, I was getting to it!” She looked at Noie, and held out her hand. “Hey. I’m sorry I freaked you out.”

Noie glanced down at her hand. She gingerly took it. “Uh, no problem, Bea-”

We need to talk.

She froze at a clear voice in her head - Bea’s voice. Still smiling, the elf nodded once, and let go.

“Alright, glad we reached an understanding.” She dusted her hands off. “Now, what was I doing? Oh right, paying for junk! Sara, get over here!”

Sara put a hand on Noie’s shoulder - it was strangely warm, or maybe Noie was strangely cold. “Are you gonna be okay?” She asked. “You’re shivering.”

“Me? Um,” Noie gulped. “Y-yeah, I’ll be, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“You should go stand out in the sun for a bit. I’ll cover for you.”

“Yeah, that… that sounds good. Thanks.”

Sara gave her a quick smile, a squeeze, and then headed off. Noie watched her go, then looked towards the front doors. She stumbled as she made her way over, and struggled a little to open them.

She stepped out into the sun, into the harsh rays beating down on her face, her shirt, her soul…

And still she shivered a little.

She needed… she needed to sit down. Wow.

_____________________________________________________________

The little study session ended much sooner than usual - only a little after the end of Noie’s shift. It was a bit awkward the whole time, with Gus touching his hair and Sara shooting daggers into the back of Bea’s head. For Noie it still felt like an eternity; she’d managed to warm up, but there was still a strange weakness in her knees, a sluggishness in her mind that was hard to shake.

It was strange. The looks Bea kept shooting her didn’t help either. What was going on?

“I think I’ll be heading out,” Gus said, closing his textbook. “Gonna go hat shopping.”

“Oh, if you’re heading out, I might too.”

“Yeah, it’s getting late.”

As everyone started packing up, Noie felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey,” Sara spoke quietly. “You, uh, want a ride home?”

Noie glanced over at Bea, who was ostensibly cleaning her magi-orb; somehow Noie still felt watched.

“Uh,” she started. “That’s okay, thank you. I think I’m gonna walk home - uh, with Bea.”

Sara frowned. “You sure?”

“Don’t worry,” Bea spoke without looking up. “I won’t tackle her again, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Noie gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah, it’s fine. It’s fine, Sara. Thanks.”

Sara didn’t look entirely convinced, but she hugged her goodbye and left the shop. The rest of the group filtered out shortly after, leaving only the two of them, sitting across from each other.

Bea didn’t immediately talk. Noie tapped her fingers a little on the desk; she made a face, and then opened her mouth.

“Bea-“

Bea stood up. “Walk with me, will you?”

“What?”

“Just follow me.” She reached out an arm. “Take my hand.”

“Why?”

“I wanna show you something.” She flashed a smile. “You’ll like it, I promise. Trust me on this, Silver.”

Noie hesitated… but after a moment, she did take her hand. Bea gently pulled her upright, and led her out the door. Immediately they turned into a back alley, and Noie frowned.

“Uh, where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

“Why are you being so weird about this?” She stumbled as they made their way down the edge of a parking lot. “What happened back there? And, uh, not to be rude, but did you do something to me? I feel kinda weird after you tackled me back there.”

“Hmm?” Bea suddenly turned and lead them through a dead bush. “Oh, yeah, sorry about that. It’ll go back to normal in the next few days.”

A twig slapped her in the face. “What? What’ll go back to normal?”

“Your, uh, magic.”

“Magic? What?” Noie could hardly see her through the greenery now. “Okay, where are we going, seriously? There’s got to be an easier way to-“

She stumbled out of the bushes, and blinked hard. Her eyes went wide.

“To…”

They were inside the biggest forest Noie had ever seen in her life. Old growth trees with trunks wider than a car towered way overhead, up into a canopy of leaves that caught all but little flickers of sunlight. Beneath her feet was suddenly ferns and mulch, and all around her were animal sounds - caws, chirps, cheeps, foliage cracking, woodpeckers hammering. This was… Noie looked to Bea, and found her grinning back.

“This…” she managed. “This isn’t Arizona.”

“Sure it is! Also it isn’t. Don’t worry about it.”

“Did you teleport us?”

“No, no.” Bea let go of her hand. “This is, uh… well, there isn’t really an English word for it - let’s call it the Elfscape!” She snorted. “Stars, the Elders can never catch me calling it that.”

“Elfscape? Like the Mindscape-”

“It’s complicated, it’s, uh… well, kinda, but it’s more physical than the Mindscape. Or maybe it’s the Earth’s Mindscape?” She shrugged. “Look, it’s complicated even for elves, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Oh, okay?”

“Also, uh, if you see anything between the trees, try not to stare at them.”

“What?” Noie followed her gaze, and saw a shadowy figure far in the distance. There was something eerily… angry, there - she could feel it like a pit in her stomach. She looked back at Bea. “Uh, what’s that?”

“Another elf. They’re probably fine - they just get a bit touchy about outsiders coming here.” Bea gave a laugh. “I’m gonna get an earful about it when I next visit for sure.”

Noie frowned. “Then, uh, why’d you bring me here?”

“Because you are gonna test something for me real quick.”

“Test something?”

“Yeah!” Bea touched her hand, and gently lifted it up. “Alright, that goes - yeah, there. And point for me; any finger’s fine. Yeah, that looks good!”

Noie found herself pointing straight forwards. She raised an eyebrow at Bea. “Uh, okay?”

“Now, I want you to say flammula ex studio.” A small flame appeared on Bea’s thumb; she winked when Noie’s eyes went wide. “Can you do that?”

“Are you trying to get me to do magic? I don’t think I can do that kinda stuff; don’t you have to really practice for it? And-“

“Just! Just indulge me for a second, Silver.” Bea stepped back. “Try it. Please?”

Noie made a face at her, then turned to look forwards again. She felt a little ridiculous standing here like this, but Bea shot her another smile and she sighed.

“Okay… fine. Fine. What do I have to say again?”

“Flammula ex studio. Whenever you’re ready.”

Noie grimaced. “Okay, here goes nothing. Flammula ex studio.”

She’d hardly finished the incantation when she felt a rush of heat. One moment she was standing there, the next all she could see was a great ball of fire coming out of her fingertip.

“Wha- oh, shit!” Noie jumped back and instinctively tried to shake it off. “Bea! Bea! Help, I’m on fire! I’m on-”

With a chuckle, Bea walked over and put a hand over the flames. They seemed to extinguish it, and Noie was left standing there, eyes wide, heart thudding in her chest. Distantly she could hear Bea laughing.

“Now that is what you call no flow control!” Bea patted her shoulder. “You really haven’t done magic before, huh? Wow!”

Noie gulped, and tried to steady her breathing. She forced herself to meet Bea’s eyes, and opened her mouth. “W-w-what was that? Why did th-that happen?”

“Why’d you think? Magic!”

“Magic?”

“You better believe it! Seems like you’ve got a bit more juice in your tank than the average human! A lot more juice, but of course,” Bea winked at her. “I already knew that.”

Noie blinked. “You did?”

“Course I did! Magic’s not subtle, Silver. It’s written all over you!” She patted her shoulder. “Honestly, the only thing I’m surprised by is that you didn’t know. Don’t human schools have those little magic exams in elementary school these days?”

“Magic exams?” Noie frowned. “I don’t remember those… but I was exempt from magic stuff as a kid. Dipper has magic sensitivity, so he-” She glanced at Bea. “Oh. That was, uh, his cover when we were growing up.”

“Huh, not a bad cover.” She rubbed her chin. “Well, that definitely clears it up, but that’s still nuts to me that you didn’t know. I guess that’s just me talking, though; I dunno what I’d do without magic.”

Noie laughed a bit at that, but the sound faded away quickly. She found herself looking down at her hands, rubbing her fingers. They still felt warm, and she frowned.

“Bea?”

“Yeah?”

“You said…” Noie clasped her hands against her chest. “You said I had more magic than most humans.”

“I did.” She chuckled. “Gus’d have a way worse day if he could do what you can.”

“But - how? Is it just… random chance? Do you know?”

“Do you know?”

Bea had that strange shine in her eyes again. Noie hesitated as she stepped a little closer.

“I’m asking you seriously.” Bea was studying her face; after a moment, she looked away. “You know, it’s a common joke that humans suck at magic, but you know why they do?”

“Why?”

“Cause of the Transcendence. Or at least, all that time leading up to the Transcendence, living in a world without magic. Y’know, elves were in their forests, mermaids were in the seas, all your city preters kept themselves under wraps.” Bea touched a budding leaf, and watched it open. “Magic follows magic, and for thousands of years, you guys just weren’t having much sent your way. Now you’re playing catch up.”

She looked at Noie with a knowing smile.

“So that leaves us two possibilities,” she said, and pushed off the tree. “Either you’re just a real lucky human - and that happens! - oooor, someone in your family was a little more in touch with their magic, if you know what I mean.”

“More in touch-” Noie started, and then she stopped dead. Oh.

Oh, she knew exactly where she got this from.

“Anyway, you don’t have to say anything. Just telling you what might be going on” She passed by Noie. “You wanna head home? I’m thinking I should probably take you back to your brother before he thinks I trapped you in an alternate dimension or something.”

“But- what do I do?”

Bea raised her eyebrows. “Do about what?”

“I-I nearly burned everyone back at the tea shop without even realising!” Noie stammered over her words. “What if that happens again? I was lucky you were there - I don’t know how to control that on my own!”

“Hey, don’t panic. Panic makes magic explode, I’ve heard.”

“Wh- that’s not funny, Bea!”

“I know, I know.” She chuckled to herself. “Couldn’t help myself, but, uh, if you’re asking for serious advice, I guess you could just make sure you never read anything that sounds like a spell again. Oh, also, since you don’t have to speak it out loud, try not to think too hard about that spell I taught you, flammula ex studio.” She gave a sly grin. “Yeah, don’t even think about flammula ex studio, don’t even think the words flammula ex studio, don’t-”

“Please stop.”

“Okay, or what you could do - and I think this is better - you could maybe learn some basic flow control so you stop going full blast on every random spell you see. It’s not hard to learn, I bet I could give you a handle on it in a couple hours.”

Noie just stared at her. Stared, as she reached out a hand.

“C’mon, Silver. Let’s get you home.”

After a moment, Noie took a deep breath, in, and out. She swallowed, and then she took Bea’s hand. Bea smiled, and then took them through a bush; they made their way through the greenery, through cool leaves brushing past her face, and then came out in the garden bordering Noie’s dorm. She looked behind her, and saw not a forest but a shrub and the corner of a building. There was a chuckle from Bea.

“Yeah, don’t tell the others about that little trick. They’ll be asking me for shortcuts until the end of time.”

“Hah, yeah-”

“Wait.” Bea held up a hand. “Do you hear that?”

“You!”

A shout. Someone was stomping over to them - someone with a suit, glowing eyes, and a shadow that sported wings. Noie blinked.

“Dipper?”

“You’re okay!” Dipper hugged her tight, then turned to Bea. “Okay, where’d you take her?”

“Back to her dorm, of course.”

“Don’t play games with me, mortal.” He stabbed a finger at her. “I just spent the past hour tearing through pocket dimensions to see where the hell my sister went. Where’d you take her?”

Noie patted his shoulder. “Dipper…”

“Nah, it’s okay, it’s a fair question.” Bea brushed his finger away. “It’s just a little hangout place for elves, it was totally fine.” She chuckled. “I’m glad that’s the part you noticed - you know, not the part where I totally broke her arm a tiny bit. I thought I was a dead girl walking there.”

“You did what?!”

“You broke my arm?”

“See? She didn’t even notice before I healed it, it was fine.”

Noie watched Dipper make several attempts to speak. He clenched his clawed fists - and then, with some effort, unclenched them, and pinched his forehead.

“You… make it very hard for me to like you, you know?”

“Aww, I try.” Bea winked at Noie. “Anyway, I oughtta be heating out.” She took a step away, and then clicked her fingers. “Oh, you know who else could totally help you with magic? Demon boy over here’s pretty good at it, I’ve heard.”

“Magic?” Dipper looked over at her. “You want to learn that? I could definitely help.”

Noie stared back.

“What?”

“You knew I could do magic too?”

“Yeah?” Dipper frowned at her. “I could always tell, why?”

There came a chuckle from Bea as she walked away. “Yeah, you two have fun now! Bye!”

_____________________________________________________________

“So, you had a bit of a day.”

“Tell me about it.” Noie unlocked her dorm’s door and collapsed into bed. “I can’t believe you knew this whole time. You didn’t think to mention it?”

“I mean, no!” Dipper closed the door; immediately he shed his human form, and floated close to her. “I’m sorry, I just - I didn’t think you were that into magic!”

“Yeah, and why wasn’t I into magic when I was a kid again?” She huffed as his face dropped. “No, that’s not a- you don’t have to feel bad about it, but that’s just the truth. I didn’t know about this because of your magic sensitivity.”

“Yeah…” Dipper looked down. “No, you’re right, you’re right.”

Silence hung there for a second. Noie rolled her eyes, and pulled him into bed.

“Hey!”

“Hey yourself.” She hugged him close. “Stop looking so sad; seriously, it’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m not really ‘into’ magic anyway; I was only annoyed because I’m not ‘into’ accidentally blowing myself up if I read some Latin.”

Dipper snorted at that, and she smiled. Stared up at the ceiling.

“Yeah…” she said. “It’s not important to me, you know? It’s not something I grew up with, or even knew that much about. Even if I had found out earlier… how much would it really matter, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Noie looked at him. “I know where it came from, you know?”

“From where?”

“You don’t know?”

Dipper stared blankly.

“From Pinni, of course.” Noie made a face. “From… my mother.”

“Your mother?” He sat up. “Oh, right, I remember now! She was a selkie, right?”

“Apparently.”

“Yeah, yeah, I see that now. I totally forgot you’re a half-selkie-”

“I’m not a half-selkie, you can’t be half selkie.” Noie cut in, and then stopped herself. “Sorry, it’s just- it's a hereditary enchantment, not a separate species. And I'm long past the age when they were supposed to do the skin thing and everything, so I'm not a selkie, I'm fully human."

Dipper was looking at her askance; suddenly Noie heard how that came off. Her cheeks flushed.

"Not that it'd be bad if I was! I'm not, like, ashamed of it or anything, but it doesn't affect me all that much!” She gave a shrug. “Seriously, I live in a desert. I've never been to the ocean in my life - heck, I don't even know how to swim. Why would I go around telling people 'ooh, did you know I'm half selkie?' That'd be so obnoxious."

Dipper didn’t say anything to that. She rose to her feet.

“It’s just - what do I know about any of this, right? What do I know about magic, about selkies - fuck, what do I even know about my own mom?” She gestured at him. “At least Leon left videos, right! At least you and David met him, right! But who the fuck is Pinni? All I ever got was, I dunno, she’s nice? She’s shy?” An angry shrug. “Apparently she came from the ocean, whatever the fuck that means, so it sounds like I’d have a hell of a time tracking down any family on that side!”

“Noie?”

“It’s just - I’m fine that I never met these people, okay? They’re literally strangers to me, I don’t know why people expect me to feel devastated about them or something.” She stared at her hands. “I guess I just… that everything could’ve been so different, you know?”

A pause. Dipper said nothing, and she sighed.

“I could’ve known about magic. I could’ve actually met my parents. I could’ve been a fucking selkie - how weird is that?”

She chuckled, but then she looked back at Dipper. He had tears in his eyes, and she watched him hang his head.

“You could’ve,” he said, softly. “I’m sorry, Noie. If it weren’t for me, you could’ve had so, so much better-”

“No!”

Dipper glanced up sharply. She ran back to his side.

“Dipper, that’s - that’s not what I mean!” She put a hand on his shoulder. “You know, I think about how stuff could’ve been, a-and it scares me! I don’t want that!”

“What do you mean? You deserved so much better, you deserved to know your parents-”

“And if I had them, I would never have had you!” Noie snapped. She put her arms around him. “I don’t care if it would’ve been better. I don’t want to imagine myself in a timeline where you aren’t my brother, okay?”

Dipper hugged her back - lightly for a moment, but then he squeezed.

“And there’s… it feels like if just one thing had changed, I would never have known you at all, and I hate that… you know?”

There was a thick chuckle. “Oh, you might have known me. You’re still a Mizar, after all.”

“But you wouldn’t have been my brother.” Noie hugged him tighter. “And I’m so glad you are. I’m so glad. I love you, Dipper.”

She heard him say something like “I love you too”, but it was too shakey to make out, and when he buried his face in her shoulder, she felt wet tears on her shirt. She smiled at that, at his wings enveloping her, and just held him for a long, long time.

It was a warm kind of quiet. Neither of them quite let go, but eventually Noie shifted her leg, and Dipper pulled back a little to wipe his eyes. They looked at each other, and laughed a little.

“We’re a pair, aren’t we?” She said, and Dipper gave a chuckle.

“We are, we are…” He cleared his throat. “So, uh, I take it you aren’t up for magic lessons?”

“Huh? Oh, no…. Bea was right, I probably should learn the basics.” She brushed some hair out of her eyes. “You know, just so I don’t go blowing myself up accidentally.”

“Yeah.”

“After that… I dunno, maybe it’ll be fun? We’ll see how it goes.”

“I liked learning magic.” Dipper said. “Of course, my magic’s kind of… different from yours, but I think you’ll like it.”

“What, I won’t be making demon deals? Darn.”

“Oh, very funny.”

“I’m hilarious,” Noie said, and lay back down in her bed. Looked out her window, at the setting sun. After a moment, Dipper laid down next to her, and that warm silence descended on both of them again.

Words were needed no more. They held each other like that as Noie’s eyes drooped, as she drifted peacefully to sleep in her brother’s arms.

[loversamongus]

Friends, Fevers, Family Movies

a/n: first one shot for @fromthewatertribe‘s 1k follower event! This turned out to be A LOT longer than I expected and it was also originally for a whole other prompt??? And then just??? Evolved into this??? I knew I wanted to write something that featured a Sokka friendship (and a Katara one!) but also feature good ol’ Zuko fluff. So here ya go. Word vomit. TO CELEBRATE NINA BEING AWESOME.

Also important: written as a world without covid, but does mention the flu. prompt: go to bed, you idiot.

words: 2k

relationship: Zuko x reader

Sharing an apartment with your best friends has its highs and lows. On the bright side, you truly lucked out between the epic prank wars, overly competitive game nights, and the bureaucratic division of chore responsibilities. However, there’s also the constant paranoia that someone can jump out of your closet in a gorilla costume, the frustrated search for the last blue Sorry piece after a certain sore loser flipped over the coffee table, and Katara’s insistence on hand washing all dishware even though the kitchen has a perfectly good dishwasher. The three of you never experience a dull moment.

And you’re so grateful to be living with them. Sokka and Katara are your best friends but now it’s like having a brother and sister of your own. Due to the smaller size of the apartment, you and Katara share a bedroom but neither of you would have it any other way. Though you both have your own corner of the room, you’ll spend hours laying on the gray shag rug in the middle between your beds just talking.

“Today, at the diner, a man had the AUDACITY to call me ‘pretty girl’ and like, yes I am pretty but I don’t need an old coffee-breathed, wrinkly limp noodle to tell me that so I assumed he was just stating the obvious and that I should also call him by obvious nicknames in order to better communicate with and understand the customer, as my manager puts it.”

“And what did you call him?”

“When I came back with their food, he said, ‘Can the pretty girl also get us some mayonnaise packets?’ And I said, ‘Not a problem, ‘crusty man.’”

Katara tried her darnedest to flash you a severe look but couldn’t help choking on a fit of giggles.

“Suki approves of it and we spent the rest of our shift calling each other different names when we crossed paths!”

The rest of the night would linger on with more work day stories, giggles, and Sokka occasionally pounding on the door for you both to shut up already because he is trying to sleep goddamnnit and can’t do that while the apartment is filled with your shrill girlish squeals.

Finally, when you both struggle to fight off sleep, you wave the white flag and drag yourself into bed. But just before you drift off, you hear Katara whisper your name from across the room. You’re not even sure if she’s awake, you’re both so tired, but you answer anyways.

“Hmm?”

“What do you think of Aang?”

“He adores you (yawn) it’s so sweet. I like him for you.”

There’s a silence and you think you’re free to finally fall into your dreams until Katara speaks again.

“What do you think of Zuko?”

“Hmm? I dunno, he’s our (yawn) friend and I like when he brings over (yawn) fireball for game night (yawn) why?”

Your exhaustion overpowers you before you could hear Katara respond, “Because he adores you, it’s so sweet. I like him for you.”

Although also your best friend, living with Sokka feels much less sweet and much more chaotic. Somehow you’re at each other’s throats more so than he is with his own blood related sister. It may have started when the Sock Battle started, a game in which Sokka made it his mission to hide his stenchiest pair of socks somewhere in your stuff. By now, you’ve found his socks in your pillowcases, in textbooks, in your gym bag, and in a picture frame next to your bed. You deliberately retaliate in any way you can during game night. While these instances often have you second guessing your friendship with him, you and Sokka could both put the bickering aside with a Disney movie and a bucket of buttered popcorn.

You could have killed him though when he gave you the flu. Katara was spared thanks to her daily regimen of vitamins and obsession with cleanliness, and Sokka had even recovered rather quickly. But you were not as lucky. Even though it was only the beginning of October, you had Katara dig out your flannel holiday pajamas to warm you up from the chills. The darling that she is, Katara made you her famous homemade soup and set it by your bedside table before heading out to see Aang. In the meantime, it was time for payback.

“Sokka, I need you to refill my water bottle.”

“Do it yourself.”

“Fine and when I get over to the kitchen I’ll lick every bag of beef jerky you own.”

“Oh my god, fine. Give me your water bottle.”

“Sokka, I need to charge my phone. Give me your charger.”

“No? Yours in your room, go get it.”

“If only my legs weren’t so weak from this terrible flu I’ve contracted from someone I trusted to be more hygienic.”

“Here, take it.”

“Sokka, you need to light a candle in the bathroom. Ooh do the rose petal one.”

“Ugh, no. You know I hate yours and Katara’s girly scented candles.”

“Okay, but then don’t complain about the smell when you go in.”

“It can’t be that bad— OH MY GOD DID SOMETHING CRAWL OUT OF YOU AND DIE?! OH MY GOD IT’S TRAVELLING. IT’S TRAVELLING THROUGH THE APARTMENT.”

By the fourth day of having the flu, Sokka was sick. Not of the flu. Of you. Katara had been spending as much time with Aang as she could to avoid catching anything from you so the responsibility of taking care of you fell on Sokka. And he was finally reaching the breaking point after you left used tissues all over “his side” of the couch. You snuggled into your pile of blankets as you watched your best friend grumble about the living room, every so often glancing at you while muttering incoherently.

After picking up the last of your snot filled, flu infected tissues, Sokka stood in front of you and took a long, exaggerated breath.

“I am leaving this Land of Disgusting to eat at the diner before driving Suki home.”

“Sokka, you had me at ‘I am leaving.’”

“Shut up. You still have a fever so I’ve called in reinforcements to look after you while Katara and I are both out. They’ll be here shortly after I’m gone. Can you handle yourself for 10 minutes?”

“Aye aye, captain.”

Before leaving, Sokka grabbed one more blanket from your room to bring to you on the couch. You realize how lucky you are to be such a pain in the ass and still be so loved by your little family. These happy thoughts, along with the utter amusement over the possibility of Toph being the one taking care of you, lulled you into a short, soft nap.

When you open your eyes next, the living room is dark, save for the small lamp in the corner of the room. As you go to stretch out your legs on the couch, your feet kick into something that wasn’t there before.

“Sokka?” you ask wearily, assuming your friend is back from dropping Suki off home.

“Nope.”

It wasn’t Sokka’s voice. Nor was it Toph’s. Trying your best to sit up under the weight of five blankets, you turn your head to see Zuko’s face illuminated by his phone’s screen as his thumb continued to scroll.

“Oh. Hi.”

He looked over at you. “Hey. Can I get you anything?”

It takes you a moment to get over the fact that Zuko is the reinforcements, the one called to take care of you while your roommates are out of the apartment. But finally you respond, “Actually, my throat is really dry. Can you grab my water bottle for me?”

He reached over to the coffee table to grab your water bottle for you. Then, after handing it you, Zuko went back to looking at his phone.

“Katara says you have to take your medicine once you’ve woken up.”

“Ugh noooooo. I don’t want to.”

Taking pills has never been your been your strong suit. Maybe it’s your irrational fear of choking on them or just your innate ability to be stubborn about everything but you try to put up your best fight.

“You have to. Or else we’ll have to cancel another game night or you just won’t be able to play with us. And then who would kill Sokka first in Among Us.”

“You’ll have to continue my legacy, that’s all.”

“Just take the pills. I already cut them up for you.”

“Fine... thank you.”

After you swallow the last pill, you lay back down on the couch but Zuko gets up.

“Where are you going?”

“Since you’re up now, let’s watch a movie. There’s nothing else you should really be doing in your condition.”

“I have my DVDs on my shelf in my room. Pick me a Disney movie?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Oh my god, please? I am very sick and frail and only the nostalgic joys of my childhood can cure me.”

“....fine.”

You muster up a squeal that quickly turns into a cough as Zuko leaves the room. After a few minutes he comes back with Toy Story 2, a choice that makes you raise an eyebrow considering its heartbreaking song is not something you’d expect Zuko to want to watch. Nonetheless, you hardly protest as the two of you settle in on the couch for the movie to begin.

To your surprise, the animated movie managed to steal a couple chuckles from Zuko. After all the bickering throughout the week with Sokka, it was a welcome and pleasant sound ringing in your ears. Despite your better judgment, you shift closer to him, especially when you know Jessie’s big song is getting closer. He doesn’t move away though and even wraps an arm around you. When a chill runs down your spine, you wonder if it’s due to the fever.

“Are you crying?”

“It’s just SO sad, how could you not, Zuko?! Somebody needs to LOVE HER AGAIN.”

Grinning, he hands you the tissue box, which you fully accept both for your tears and flu-inflicted runny nose. But once the song ends and you’ve let out a good cry, your eyelids start to feel enormously heavy. Zuko must sense this because he scoots a bit closer to you, allowing you to rest your head on his shoulder. You hesitate for a moment, not wanting to pass the flu onto Zuko, but for some reason he feels warmer than the mountains of blankets you’re buried under.

The rest of the movie plays on and you struggle to keep your eyes open, often shifting against Zuko to wake yourself back up. You know there’s more to the movie but Zuko picks up the remote and turns off the tv. Before you could even question what he’s doing, he’s lifting you up and walking you to your room.

“But we didn’t see the end of the movie!”

“You weren’t going to stay up to see the end anyways.”

“But you needed to see Jessie and Bullseye find new homes! With Andy! And Wheezy!! Wheezy gets fixed!!”

He helped you under the covers and sat beside you on your bed for a moment. You still feel enough energy to offer up a few more protests.

“Only the end of the movie can cure me with its pure, unadultered childhood joy! You can use some, too! Disney fixes all things!”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, but before getting up, Zuko leaned in to kiss your forehead lightly.

“Go to bed, you idiot.”

You didn’t even register when he left your side because you were asleep again within minutes. In fact, when the sunlight from the bedroom window wakes you up hours later, you could have sworn it was all just a fever dream anyways. Disney movies cuddled up with Zuko? Definitely sounds fake. However, later on in the morning, you do begin to suspect it was all real when you find your Toy Story 2 DVD still in DVD player and catching Katara and Sokka trying to discreetly give each other a high five.

[forsakenoathkeeper]

I Am Alive (chapter 17/?)

Chapter 17: The Bridge

Deviant!Connor[RK800] x (fem!)Reader Rated M(18+) for canon-typical violence and gore, medical procedures, and graphic sexual content

Chapters: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • more coming soon

You can also read on AO3 & thank you for supporting me ♥

The following morning, after waddling out of bed to use the restroom, you returned to see Connor waiting for you, flat on his back, arms spread invitingly, eyes looking suspiciously drowsy, despite the obvious fact that he had no need for sleep. You could have laughed at the innocent, adoring look in his eyes, if he wasn't naked and if last night's events had not occurred.

You crawled back into bed, nuzzled your cheek into the divot right beneath his clavicle, and tangled your legs, humming with delight when he pulled the blankets back over you and wrapped his arms around your back, smothering you in the warmth you had created together throughout the night.

"The weather has been warming up," he commented into your hair.

"Mhm," you agreed tiredly.

"I'm tasked with walking Sumo today," he continued quietly.

"Mhm," you hummed again.

"If you would like to accompany me again, I was thinking we could go to that park you told me about: the one you loved when you were a child..."

You leaned back to look up into his eyes, surprised he had remembered that; Connor was an android, so of course he did. But, still... Just because he remembered something didn't mean he had to designate it as important.

"It's a bit of a drive from Hank's place," you commented quietly, peering up to catch his magnificent, brown eyes.

"I don't think Sumo would mind," Connor replied sincerely.

You laughed softly, laying your head back on his chest. His fingers found the perfect place in your lower back to rest and he relaxed against you. Even though he wasn't tired at all, he understood how much you valued sleeping in on your off days, and decided to give you just a few more minutes.

Besides, if he was being honest, he was enjoying this.

...

...

...

Connor drove while you sat in the backseat with Sumo, one hand on the leash and the other on his back to keep him calm. You stared out the window, feeling like a kid again as you relived a drive from a long time ago. Connor had, unintentionally, taken the same route, likely because his GPS informed him it was the most efficient.

You passed all sorts of familiar places: a school that still had the ridiculously hideous orange paint job, a bank that never finished repairing the north brick wall, and a tree in someone's front yard that had grown at a strange angle.

Back then, it was too far of a drive to take often. It was an occasional treat that your grandmother would bring you when she was in a good mood. Hank had taken you and Cole here once or twice for a holiday themed festival.

When Connor pulled into a parking spot, you were amazed to find the place hadn't changed much at all.

There was a lake in the center of the park with a massive bridge that swept over the narrowest point, connecting seamlessly with a path that circled around the park in winding roads. The water was shimmering blue, lily pads along the edges of the water beneath the bridge. Beautiful, towering trees and flowering bushes lined the walkways. There was lush green grass throughout the grounds, and not a weed in sight.

You couldn't help but wonder who maintained the park these days. It was no secret that androids had almost exclusively taken over landscaping jobs in recent years. That would have come to an end with the revolution. Yet, somebody was still taking care of the place.

Connor approached the back door hastily when you stepped out. You were still holding tightly onto Sumo's collar, keeping a close eye on him when he hopped at the car, drooling excitedly.

"I don't think this park is safe for you," Connor warned you sharply.

You looked up at him with a startle, wondering what it was that had worried him.

"I have detected a pollen in the air that you are allergic to. I fear the consequences on your respiratory systems," he explained hastily, looking deadly serious and concerned.

Your worried expression faltered and you coughed out a laugh. "Almost everyone in the world has hay fever, Connor," you explained with a smile. The android's harsh expression didn't immediately dissipate; however, he did appear confused by how lightly you took the situation.

"Come on. Don't worry. All that's gonna happen is some sniffling and sneezing," you insisted, excitedly taking hold of his hand. "I can handle some pollen."

The android was stiff for a second, likely reevaluating his findings on pollen allergies. ‘Sniffling and sneezing’, as you had put it, didn’t seem to be a particularly harmful side effect to air born allergies.

"If you are certain," he replied, seemingly put at ease by your explanation.

Connor took the leash from your other hand and directed Sumo to the path ahead. The vehicle locked with an assuring beep as you walked away and he tucked the keys into his pants pocket.

The android found himself feeling oddly proud of the look you were wearing. Your touch on his hand had loosened as you took in the sights, feeling overwhelmed by nostalgia.

"I'm so glad you suggested this," you breathed as you approached the bridge.

You let go of Connor's hand and started trotting to get a head start. He was patient and let Sumo set the pace before eventually joining you at the highest point on the bridge, the top of the curve, and the very center. You leaned against the railing and looked over into the water.

Last time you were here, you were too small to see over the edge. Now, you easily could look into the shimmering waters below. Sumo came to a halt, as well, and stuck his face through the railing to look below. Connor would have been worried about the dog trying to jump; luckily, he was too wide to fit even if he tried.

The bridge creaked quietly beneath your feet with each step. Connor joined your side and leaned against the railing. The water beneath was almost perfectly clear. He could see a swarm of colorful fish frolicking, splashing about, clearly hoping that you were going to provide them with food.

The sun was poking out of the pale white clouds above, providing some warmth against the slight chill in the breeze. The trees rattled softly, leaves making a beautiful symphony. Some children were playing soccer in the field on the other side of the lake, laughing joyously. Some older ladies were sitting at a bench, reading together in silence. Couples were jogging together along the trails.

He felt more at peace with the world than he had in a long time.

Connor shifted his eyes away from the ambiance and took in your face. You looked as blissful as he felt, staring blindly ahead, the wind brushing through your hair and the sun's warmth tinting your cheeks pink. You took in a deep breath, as if it was the most delicious thing you had ever tasted.

"I love you," Connor said, so softly that you briefly considered that you had hallucinated.

Startled, your head whipped over to look at him. The look in his eyes, the burning adoration as the sun shimmered in his brown orbs, told you that you hadn't imagined his words.

"I wanted to tell you the night that you learned my manufactured purpose," he confessed with a soft smile. "But, I was afraid you wouldn't think it was sincere." You stared at him, eyes stinging and lips parted. "I'm not certain that I know what love is. But, I'm certain it is what I feel for you."

The soft look in the android's eyes morphed into concern when he saw a tear cascade down your cheek. You hastily lifted a hand to wipe it away, sniffling.

"I was supposed to say it first," you teased, trying to ease the emotions bubbling up. You dragged your sleeves across your face, trying to catch the tears as they fell.

"I love you, too," you whimpered, looking up at him with tear-stained eyes.

You felt something big and wet smear against the side of your knee and looked down to see Sumo nudging you with his nose. You huffed out a pathetic laugh. "I'm okay, Sumo."

Connor looked grateful when you looked back up at him, as if he hadn't anticipated you to reciprocate.

"I love you so much, Connor," you proclaimed, sniffling as you tried to hold back tears. You wiped your face hastily when more droplets began to fall.

"Please, don't cry," the android said, almost sadly, stepping in so close that he had to crane his neck to look down at you.

You doubted that he was aware that the face he was wearing was making it nearly impossible to stop crying. He looked so helplessly in love, and that face was looking at you - his brown eyes staring at you, that LED shining stunning gold as he worried about you.

All you could do was wonder what you had done to deserve such a thing - the love and adoration of this android, of this being you held in such high regard. He couldn’t have been more perfect if he tried.

"I'll cry if I want to," you huffed, hoping some attitude would calm you down.

Connor's forehead nuzzled against your temple. "I love you," he said again, and you recognized that tone as one of disobedience. Once, he believed that androids - machines - couldn't feel anything, couldn't want anything. That extended to himself, to what he thought were his own limitations. Yet, in that moment, Connor was strangely pleased that his confession had brought you to tears.

"Connor," you whimpered, scoldingly.

He didn't want you to be sad, to hurt, to suffer; but, these were tears of happiness. They were strangely beautiful, that you could feel so strongly for him. For whereas you saw Connor in a bright light that shined above all others, he saw himself as just another living being in the world, one of millions of androids.

-and, somehow, he found you before anyone else could.

"I love you," he said again, uttering the words against your cheek proudly.

You smacked a hand against his chest harmlessly, huffing, "I love you more."

"That's statistically impossible," he replied softly, apparent tease in his tone. "I assure you, my affections are stronger."

He smirked when you started grinning at him. "I will fight you, android," you huffed pathetically, laughing and crying at the same time.

"You don’t stand a chance against me," Connor teased quietly.

His free hand caressed your cheek and you felt his thumb brush along your skin, smearing tears. "I’ll show you," you retorted softly, eyes fluttering shut as you tried to will yourself to stop crying.

You felt his lips fall onto your forehead, the stubble on his chin prickly against your skin. For a second, you let yourself get lost in the moment, and felt his words repeat, echoing inside your head. It felt like you were living a dream, and you never wanted to wake up.

When you heard a distinctive tapping sound beneath you, you looked down to see Sumo had started walking away, his nails clicking against the wood of the bridge. Connor leaned away from you when he felt the leash tug on his hand. You flashed him a smile and then started following after the saint bernard, glancing at the android over your shoulder.

He followed without hesitation, stepping in so close that his shoulder smacked against yours. You met halfway, hand clasped tight and fingers interlacing, a gesture that had become natural. The moment hadn't faded, but your desire to cry subsided. Connor's hand felt warm and all you could think about was what wonderful things were to come.

"On our way back to Hank's place, let's get takeout," you said, changing the subject. "That man can't use chopsticks and that's simply a crime."

"Nothing that some positive reinforcement can't fix," Connor agreed.

[princekirijo]

BRO, YUKARI. 👀👀

OK HERE WE GO STRAP IN FOLKS IT'S YUKARI TIME! Also a lot of this is kinda salty? I guess? So just a fair warning I just have strong opinions on Yukari 😔

Ok so Yukari. I love her so so much she's one of my favorite characters in the series and one of my trio of comfort characters (the other two being Akihiko and Mitsuru). She's such an interesting and complex character that gets heavily misinterpreted by a lot of the fandom (*cough* cishet men *cough*).

Like ok first off people say that she's mean but while she can be very rude and one of her big flaws is that she doesn't consider others' feelings she's not entirely a bitch either? I think the best example of this that not many people I've seen talk about is how she's the only character who objects to the protagonist and Fuuka joining immediately and wants to make sure they're not being forced into joining. While ultimately both of those characters join of their own accord, Yukari asks them multiple times if they're ok with joining, something the others never do (Mitsuru is guilty of being quite insistent on them joining but that's a discussion for another time). She also feels incredibly guilty for spying on the protagonist at the start, pointing out multiple times that it is a violation of their privacy. Both of these show that she genuinely cares about other people. Pictures are from you lol <3

On that subject when Ken joins Yukari is actually the nicest to him out of all of them, often making sure that he feels welcome and making an effort to talk to him. I think the only other character that does that (if my memory serves me right) is Fuuka. In her social link too she helps out that little kid that was crying in the middle of Paulownia Mall, staying with them until she found their parents or that they were safe. And even in Ultimax her relationship with Ken is just so cute she's so nice to him, she really is like his big sister. So to say that she's just mean and just a bitch is wrong because there's plenty of examples of her being a very nice person.

And actually a lot of people hate her because of how 'easy' her social link is to reverse (I've seen people on YouTube mention this a few times so I thought I'd talk about it). I think it's either rank 5 or 6 there's a scene where Yukari loses her purse and goes back to get it. You find her surrounded by a bunch of guys who are threatening her and are very close to hurting her. The protagonist steps in to stop them and then chases them off. Now I think it's only in the male route this happens (again my memory is bad so sorry about that 😞) but she gets annoyed at you for helping her and then you're given a few options. The correct one is to leave her alone (or something like that) but the one that most people go for which reverses the Social Link is the option to hug her. And people (male youtubers *AHEM*) get annoyed about this because oh yeah of course in this scenario hugging Yukari is a great option and why the hell would she get angry and reject them like that. Like jeez I don't know definitely not the fact that she's very clearly shaken up by the fact that she was almost attacked by three men (who could have done god knows what to her if we hadn't intervened). And definitely not because she's said lots of times that she doesn't like to rely on anyone (particular men) given the whole situation with her mother. The other thing is that I don't think it's outright stated but I really wouldn't be surprised if Yukari was super touch averse given the situation with her mother throwing herself at random men all the time. And (as we discovered lol) there's a very high possibility that her mother was an alcoholic because of this she says in the answer after Junpei's past where he talks about his alcoholic dad:

So like if her mother was an alcoholic there is a high chance she could have suffered some form of abuse which would lead her to being very anti touch. So it really drives me mad when people get annoyed about her Social Link being so easy to break because if you think for a second before doing anything, you'll realize it makes sense that she wouldn't want to be hugged.

But that's enough salt, I love Yukari for a lot of different reasons but the main one is (predictably given that it's me) her relationship with Mitsuru. Regardless of how you want to view it, they are so important and integral to each other's character development. From the tension between them at the start of the game to the end where they're so close, it's honestly one of the best relationships in the game in my opinion. You can really see how much they grow to care for each other. Yukari is the only character brave enough to call Mitsuru out for her bullshit and you can see how Mitsuru grows to appreciate that (because as much as I love Mitsuru, Yukari is absolutely valid to call her out for some of the stuff she does and she needs Yukari to do that). Yukari also ends up being the catalyst to Mitsuru's ultimate persona awakening. At the start of the game too, we're made to believe that both of them are very different. But as the game progresses we're shown that they're actually quite similar. Something I love that the movie does is this scene here (again thank you for pointing this out to me):

The way Yukari finishes Mitsuru's sentence so to speak shows that they actually have pretty similar reasons to awakening to their powers (Mitsuru in order to protect her father and Yukari to protect her father's memory and find out the truth about what happened to him). Yukari also helps Mitsuru open up to others (she's the only other person aside from Akihiko that Mitsuru calls by their first name) and Mitsuru helps Yukari (in a way I can't explain because my brain is failing me) to not judge people as much. They're so important to each other and their character development is so interlinked I just love it so much and it's a big reason as to why I love both of them.

And my other reason as to why I love Yukari is that she's allowed to express her anger in a way that isn't fake or cute (I honestly can't think of another female character who is allowed to do this but I'm sure there's other examples). The best example of this is of course the Answer which I've spoken about before so I'll do my best to keep it brief. I think Yukari's anger in the Answer is a very real response to grief. She's upset over the loss of the protagonist (whom she's heavily implied to have feelings for but I don't think it's outright stated) and she's jealous of Aigis because she inherited his power. She wants to save him so badly because she really cared for him so now that she has a chance and the others are stopping her (in her eyes) she feels betrayed so of course she's going to lash out. Now I fully acknowledge that what she was doing was wrong and she is acting very rude but as I said it's her way of dealing with grief. Something P3 does very well is show how different characters react to grief (eg Mitsuru closing off even more from the others, Akihiko deciding to take it in his stride, Ken having a similar reaction etc). And Yukari's way is no expectation and it's not bad because there's no bad or wrong way to deal with grief. Something people forget as well is that she acknowledges and apologies to the group after the Erebus fight for her behavior and she explains herself (another example of how she is actually a nice person and not a total bitch). I just really related to how she dealt with the whole thing and I love her for that. I also think that some of the other characters in the series (Ann mainly) should have been allowed to express their anger in a more... Real way? Ugly way? I'm not sure how to describe it but I would have liked to see them get angry in a way that wasn't cute (somebody pointed out that the negative reaction to Yukari's anger is probably what stopped future female characters from doing just this and it was an excellent point).

OK so this was super rambling and if you got to the end then wow thank you. I just really love Yukari and it makes me upset how a lot of fans treat her, either as a typical oh this is my persona waifu uwu or she's such a bitch I hate her with no thought process. I honestly understand why some people don't like her but I just ask that people think about how she reacts to certain things and why she acts the way she does before just essentially watering her down to a bitch with daddy issues. She's my emotional support bisexual and I adore how she interacts with the other cast (especially Mitsuru).