#i’ll talk more about them soon i just want to get the other guys’ visuals up too haha

[astererer]

Aster and Vernon’s parents!! They first met when Francis was a student at Motostoke University, and Bram, as a cabbie, happened to give her lifts frequently. Over time they got to know each other better and upon runnng into Francis at a cafe, Bram shot his shot and asked her out on a date. Rest is history xx

[coral-melon]

Heya!! CM! (Get it your user!)

Its 🍓 again :3

Would you be able to write imagine/hc thingys how they would react to seeing your human form for the first time when you go to the human world with them! Im thinking along the flustered fluff/ possibility suggestive thoughts about mc =^=

Any of the brothers/dateables u want! But if your looking for specific just mammon & levi as personal preference :3

(AFAB preferred but No description of gender js cool too :3 )

Aghhh sorry this is worded so weird I’m not the best leaving suggestions i feel too askyy ;^;

Your writing is lovely and i can’t wait to see more!!

- 🍓

Hello again -����! Love the ‘CM’ nickname! And by all means, ask whatever you want and however much you want! I’ll always make the time to write any requests~

Also sorry for taking so long; I really wasn’t too sure how to write this, and I’m sorry but I kinda tweaked it and lil bit.. ^^’ I was going to make everyone but I ended up only doing Mammon cuz I thought it would’ve been a very long post. BUT! I can most definitely make separate posts for each of the brothers if that’s something you and others want!

A and as always, if it sucks just lemme know! Constructive criticism is always welcome >;)

Cotton Surprise

Obey me! Mammon x Sheep!MC

Genre: Fluff, crack/shenanigans, slightly suggestive

What’s it about?: Seeing your human form for the first time!

Not that many but They/them pronounce; mainly AFAB

A throwback to Lesson 19 from the original game but tweaked it as well

Edit: ((There were minor changes cuz someone made a comment that pointed out to me how maybe some people didn’t understand what I was telling. Totally my fault ^^’🙏))

None of them ever understood why you turned into a sheep. It happened as soon as you first arrived to Devildom. But the more time they spent with you, they got used to it — some even forgetting you’re a human all together.

One day, most of the Brothers were sitting together in the living room. It was mostly quiet until Asmo brought the question: “Hey, What do you guys think MC looks like if they weren’t a sheep?”

It left them a bit dumbfounded that they hadn’t even thought about it. They got so used to you being a sheep so it kinda just slipped their mind. It also got them to start bickering a ton of what they thought you’d look like.

— “What’s with all the commotion?” A voice interrupts their conversation. Lucifer walks in with you in his hand, talk about perfect timing!

— “We were just talking about what MC looks like if they were in their human form.” Beel explains.

— “Oh right.. none of you have seen them.” Lucifer remarked, chuckling softly under his breath.

— “What does that mean?” Satan says with already irritation in his voice.

— “Well, it’s only right that I know what MC looks like. I was the one who picked them, after all.”

This got many of them heated! Jealous that Lucifer was pretty much the only one that knows. Mammon, Levi and Asmo were whining about how that’s not fair, Satan was gritting his teeth, and Beel along with Belphie just sat quietly watching the scene. They quieted down once you said, “I could just describe what I look like, y’know.”

All of them gathered around like a bunch of kindergartners getting ready to listen to a story book. They payed such close attention to every detail you said and tried to visualize it in their head to the best of their ability. It only made them even more eager to see you for themselves.

And it didn’t happen until the very last moments before you had to go back to the human realm..

… With a true loves kiss! >;D

Cliché, I know. - -’

Mammon

After dipping the House of Lamentation, he ends up in who knows where but more importantly, away from Levi. After he was done huffing for air, both of you start laughing from the absolute fun of stupidity you guys had. You couldn’t help but think about how odd it must’ve look from someone else’s perspective.

You two eventually eased off and took the time to catch your breaths. And then realize the beautiful view you guys have of Devildom. He sits you down gently on the thick stone fences while he rests his body on it. There was a short, soothing silence between the both of you — a soft, cool breeze blowing while you watching the city lights together. Mammon eventually brakes the silence and says,

“Y’know what? It’s always fun whenever you’re around.. I’m always smilin’ and laughin’ when we’re together. There’s never a dull moment..” he says softly; when you look up at him, he’s not looking at you but can tell he has a blush decorating his cheeks.

You smile at him warmly, before looking down at your tiny trotters. You were a sheep till the very end.. you had fun, but you can’t help but get a little sad thinking about it. Like just now, you would’ve been able to run away with him instead of being carried like a pillow.

“W-Who needs the human world, eh? You don’t gotta go back! I want you right here in Devildom, I want you here with me, all the time..!” Mammon looked straight at you, you perked up at him once he said that. He looked at you as if you were the greatest treasure he’s ever had. He wasn’t kidding around, such an unusually serious and determined face…, you felt butterflies in your stomach.

There was a silence again, you looked at him with in awe eyes. He slowly leans in, you leaning slightly forward.. letting whatever was going to happen, happen. Until finally, his lips reached you.

☁︎ —Poof— ☁︎

Light clouds suddenly surrounds you, Mammon was completely taken aback; and then he just freezes. When the clouds disperse, it revealed you.

You felt.. different. Blinked a couple of times before you looked down again. And to you completely surprise, the troopers you looked at but merely a few seconds ago were replaced with hands! You touched your face, your hair, your legs.. they were all back! You give a yell for joy, your curse has been broken! But then you also realize how you didn’t have any clothes on… you looked at mammon — who had his face completely red and eyes glued on you, completely frozen in place. Which made you freeze for a moment.

(Him)→ ╭( ⸝⸝๐_๐)╮ (○□○) ←(you)

— “AAAAAAAHHH!!!”

— “AAAAAAAHHH!!!”

You tried to cover yourself to the best of your ability; but first of all, you can’t really cover much. Second, he already saw everything! Both of you were very flustered, embarrassed, and still shocked by what just happened. You weren’t a sheep anymore! What’s up with that?!

Thankfully, Mammon at some point finally snaps out of it and covers you with his uniform’s blazer. You grip onto it tightly and covering yourself to the best of you ability. You mutter him a ‘Thank you’ under your breath. But both of you were still quite frantic, looking at each other with wide eyes while huffing to calm you nerves.

“Aha! …Found you!” A voice suddenly says from a short distance. It was Levi!

“Oh shit..”

“Mammon, Give me back my moneeey!!”

“Yikes! Time to go!” He says, lifting you up into his arms and making a run for it. And man did he run! He probably ran faster than when he was being chased by Lucifer. Levi didn’t see it coming’.

You were in a daze, you’ve been carried by him countless times.. but today you felt like a princess that’s been swooped by Prince Charming — a very peculiar one, but still charming.

He — at some point — stops running and hid in whatever corner he thought was good enough so that Levi wouldn’t find you two. With his back to the wall, he collapses to the ground. With you still in his arms but making sure you didn’t fall. You can’t help but laugh and pull him into a tight hug.

Mammon felt like his face was going to explode any second now, he just couldn’t believe that he was holding the actual you — and naked at that! But whatever was going through his head completely perished once he heard your lovely laugh. You were so happy.. embracing him with all your new found excitement. It felt like it was only the two of you in the whole word, so nothing else mattered.

“You broke my curse, Mammon!” You say. When I say this guy’s ego got inflated, I mean it. He felt like nothing could stop him now. That’s right! The great Mammon just did that! No one else!

He takes a closer look at you face; he always kept in mind all of the details you said that day, but you looked way better than what he had imagined. He couldn’t believe his eyes…

You suddenly pull him in and give him a passionate kiss; and oof, was he over the moon! After that one, he starts feeling greedy. Just one kiss isn’t enough..!

—☁︎

Later on, he bought you a few clothes since, of course, you didn’t have any. And decide to go back home.

When he went back to the House of Lamentation, he wanted nothing more than to just sneak in without his brothers knowing. But much to his dismay, Levi was already waiting for him at the gates. And when he realizes that the person he’s holding is you, he goes hysterical and now the rest of his brothers know..

“Oi, that’s enough! Step aside! Can’t ya see MC needs to get to their room??”

He’s always looked out for you.. from beginning to end. You felt like you were falling in love with him all over again. It was hard to believe that life here was coming to an end.. You want to make the most of it before having to go back home. But at the moment, you just wanted time to stay still, just for a moment..

End

I had a lot of fun writing this! So tysm for requesting it -🍓. Tho again, I’m sorry for not really completing what you asked for.. I still hope I was able to put a smile on your face! Take care~

[burnthoneydrops]

Luckiest Man on the Planet (g.d. x fem!reader)

pairing: graham dunne x fem!reader

word count: 2.9k (whoops, had fun with this one haha)

warnings: talk of having children, use of "she/her" pronouns, Billy (if he counts as his own warning)

a/n: I miss when djats was popular on here so I decided to hopefully help the revival by adding the to the graham fic collection! hope everyone enjoys, this one's just cute. also REQUESTS ARE OPEN

You wanted-no needed- this moment to be perfect. You were not going to be happy if the money you had spent on plane tickets was going towards a ruined surprise, so you absolutely needed this to be perfect. It felt weird complaining about your long distance relationship when it wasn’t long distance all of the time and you knew other couples had it worse, but you’d be damned if your heart didn’t sink a little every time you thought about how far away Graham was, and would continue to be, for the next few months. That distance wouldn’t last forever though, thank the universe, as the people at the gate’s front desk were announcing that your flight to New York would start boarding shortly. 

“Ok, they’re about to start boarding, but I’ll call you when I land ok?” You hugged the phone to your ear, peering over your shoulder to make sure you weren’t missing anything and twisting the spiral cord with your finger. 

“Yeah, sounds good. I told Rod that we’d need an extra car to be sent to the airport so you won’t need a cab or anything,” Eddie replied through the phone. 

“Oh, you didn’t need to do that,” you laughed, flattered by the effort. 

“Oh yes I did. I-We’re not having you come all the way out here just to get stuck in New York traffic”. 

“Anything that gets me to Graham faster. And you guys of course,” you quickly added before saying your goodbyes, noticing the boarding line was getting smaller. 

The plane was incredibly boring, and the baby two rows behind you did not shut up the entire time, but you realised you managed to make that about Graham too, wondering how you two would handle it differently if it was your child screaming in a crowded plane. Luckily you had brought a book with you to zone in on, but nothing holds more power than the lungs of an upset child. You couldn’t stop your knee from bouncing, meaning you accidentally bumped too hard and kicked the seat of the person in front of you, earning some not so polite stares from the elderly man who sat there. Relief flooded over you when you heard the pilot announce that you would soon be landing, so much so that you kicked the seat once again, gaining another dirty look. 

As you stood up to exit your row, you looked across the plane, making eye contact with the previously screaming child. The little girl stopped wriggling around in her mother’s arms, staring at nothing but you as you gave her a little wave with the hand not holding your carry on. You smiled before the man behind you got impatient and cleared his throat as an indication that he wanted to move forward, so you only widened your smile with one last wave before hearing the baby laugh as you left the area. You and Graham hadn’t even had the talk about whether you wanted kids, not to mention how you would raise them or what kind of life they would lead. You had no doubt he would be a great father, but with the band already raising Julia, you figured you could push that thought out of your head for a little longer. 

When you were able to escape the gaggle of people who were standing in the boarding area you had just entered, you visually located the nearest phone, putting your backpack and suitcase aside to call Eddie. You glanced at the hotel’s phone number you had scribbled on the back of your boarding pass when you called from L.A., and started tapping your foot once again as the phone rang aggressively in your ear. 

“Hey, you made it,” you sighed in relief when Eddie answered the phone. 

“The most boring cross country flight of my life, but yes I made it,” you chuckled. 

“The only cross country flight of your life if I’m not mistaken. You rode in the van with us from Pittsburg, remember?” 

“How could I forget the bumpy roads and almost running out of gas in the middle of nowhere Missouri?” 

“But it was more enjoyable than what you just went through?” 

“Well yeah. Anytime with you is more enjoyable than by myself,” you glanced out the window at the line of planes waiting to take off as there’s an awkward pause on the line. “I mean, the band makes everything more fun,” you continued, hoping the conversation hadn’t died. 

“Right, yeah for sure,” Eddie came back to life, informing you soon after that there’d be a taxi driver waiting for you. He shouldn’t be hard to spot, you had been promised, and with how much you just wanted to run into Graham’s arms right now, you hoped for everyone’s sake that that was true. The taxi driver was easy enough to spot, holding a white sign with your name scribbled on it and an uncomfortable look on his face in the crowded area. He reached out his arm to you, which made you chuckle in response before shaking his hand, trying to keep your backpack atop your shoulder. 

“Your bag, miss,” he gestured to the suitcase you currently were wheeling behind you, and you realised that he really didn’t want to shake your hand and now his sweaty palm was awkwardly entangled in yours. You quickly let go before clearing your throat in embarrassment and handing him your bag, after which he quickly made his way to the exit doors so you two could finish this journey as quickly as possible. You used the time in the taxi to take in all the sites of New York. You had been as a kid, but it felt different now, like there was something new in the air. The hotel crept into view as the traffic was touch and go, but soon enough you were informing the lady working the front desk that you had a reservation and picked up a spare key to Graham’s room. You and Eddie agreed that you could use the time the band would be soundchecking at the venue to settle into Graham’s room for after the surprise, and you had thanked him again profusely when you heard Billy yelling down the hallway that they were all going to be late. Billy’s yelling was not something you missed while they were on tour, but if it came as a side effect of being in Graham’s arms again, you would listen to it again and again. 

The buzz in the venue was palpable when you walked in through the side entrance, trying to keep yourself hidden as much as possible given your mission. The bar at the back of the venue seemed like a great place to hide, and you kept yourself occupied by browsing the alcohol choices and chatting with the bartender until you heard three familiar voices making their way over. Warren, Eddie and Graham had decided to come up to the bar and you quickly ducked down under the bar, hoping the bartender wouldn’t expose you while they were there. You kept your back against the main island, facing the wall of bottles and mirrors, just being able to see the top of the familiar head of curls from your angle. The thin bottles distorted him a little bit, but your heart swelled at the sight of Graham just as it did every other time. 

“Tonight’s gonna be great man,” Warren commented, the bartender sliding a glass over to him. 

“Yeah, the fans aren’t even outside yet and the energy is killer,” Eddie replied, and you thought of the line of people you had passed out front on your way around the building. Thankfully no one had recognized you, and it only filled you with pride to see everyone who was there to support them. 

“Yeah,” Graham nodded, sounding more sullen than usual. 

“Come on man, lighten up. You’ve been acting weird since we got in the van this morning,” Warren nudged him, and you heard a leg kick the supporting wall of the island. 

“He’s just upset that his usual good luck call didn’t go through,” Eddie added. 

Graham got in the habit of calling you before every show as a nervous tendency, as the sound of your voice usually calmed him down better than whatever cheesy peptalk Billy wanted to give. 

Warren whistled when Graham didn’t reply, and you figured he made a face of some kind, exposing that Eddie was right. “Man, she has got you hooked, lined and sinkered”. 

“And what if she does? She always answers, so I feel out of sorts I guess. When you guys find people to love, you’ll understand,” Graham replied, trying to keep it light hearted at the end. 

“Hey, that was personal”. 

“Woah dude, what was that for?” He had set the boys in a defensive spiral. 

“We get it, you think she’s the one or whatever,” Warren teased. 

Your cheeks heated up, and it took all of you to stay in your crouched position, hoping nothing was going to squeak or hiss and give you away. The boys finally decided to walk away when Karen called them, saying they had to clear out before they opened the doors. You let out a loud sigh of relief when the bartender gave you a thumbs up to say they were gone, as being able to move your legs from their cramped position was a god send. 

“That kid seems to really love you,” the bartender commented as he gave you his hand to help you up. 

“Yeah well, I really love him too,” you said, not looking at him but at the stage where your boyfriend and his band would soon be standing. 

As the crowd shuffled in, you tried to stay relatively in the middle, hoping that whatever part of the stage Graham stood on he would be able to see you eventually. There was a hushed sensation in the crowd as people chatted and got drinks, but as the lights dimmed, the excitement grew, and a few people started whooping and cheering prematurely. Pretty soon the band was running on stage to an enormous eruption of applause, and the smile on each of their faces made you smile even bigger. From Chuck’s garage in Pittsburg to selling out venues across the country, you could not be more proud of the people in front of you, and you hoped all your efforts today proved that. 

“Well hello there everybody,” the familiar redhead greeted the audience, gaining even more shouts and cheers of joy from the people in front of her. “We’ve got a very special performance for you tonight, so we hope you’re ready to rock just as much as we are. How’s everybody feeling tonight?!” She yelled into the microphone as people clapped and hollered back. “Alright well, let’s see what you’ve got!” She smiled as Warren counted everybody off from his spot on the back of the stage and it was like the gates were opened at the Kentucky Derby. The energy radiating off of the band members and the audience was infectious, but you had your sights set on one person. Graham always did look his happiest on stage, getting to do what he loved with people he loved, and you were always excited when you got to witness that pure, unbridled joy on his face. 

A few songs in, you noticed Karen scanning the crowd, and as she landed on your section, you gave her a small wave. Your hopes that she noticed you were answered as a large smile broke out on her face, glancing back at the keyboard in shock before looking back to make sure it was really you. You laughed and gave her a big thumbs up in confirmation, and she was quick to call Billy’s name, nodding her head in your direction. The second band member to notice you, Billy’s eyebrows went up in shock when he spotted you, a smirk and an eye roll being his secondary reaction before he turned back to the microphone. After you had confirmation that at least half of the stage knew you were there, you kept your attention on the other half, staring at Graham as he shredded the guitar. A light sheen of sweat had gathered on his forehead, and as he wiped his curls back with his sleeve, Billy took a few steps back to get his attention. You saw him whisper something in Graham’s ear before his eyes went manic, scanning the audience with intense feverency.

Once his eyes landed on yours, everything stopped. The people around you seemed to be dancing in slow motion, and the music sounded like blurred-together lines of nothing as you saw the biggest smile form on your boyfriend’s face. Everything might have stopped a little too abruptly, as you saw Daisy look back at him in confusion when there was suddenly no guitar part being played. He shook his head and started playing again, quickly making eye contact with you again; a state he would remain in the entire show. 

When the show was over, security scurried over to you as people filed out, informing you that you were to be taken backstage. You got a few odd looks from a couple of girls who had been standing around you during this invitation, but all you cared about was that the moment you had been waiting for was finally here. You followed behind them until you could see the group of familiar people chatting and packing up their equipment. Graham had his back turned to the door, but Eddie had spotted you first, shoving Graham’s shoulder and pointing to the door. It was then that you couldn’t contain your excitement anymore and you brushed past the security guards, breaking into a full sprint as Graham waited with open arms. He wrapped his arms around your waist as you jumped to wrap your legs around his, his grip tightening with every second as if you’d disappear when he’d let go. He laughed as he leaned his forehead on yours, the shock from your appearance having not quite worn off yet. 

“Oh my god I can’t believe you’re here,” he mutters, leaning his neck further back to actually see your whole face. 

“You didn’t think I’d miss seeing my favourite guitarist did you?” 

“I thought that was me?” Eddie teased from his spot against the wall, which earned him a slap on the bicep from Karen and a strict instruction to shut up. 

“How did you even? What? How are you-?” 

“Eddie and I arranged it all. I missed you too much to be stuck in L.A. all by myself”. 

“Oh my god, I’m so in love with you it’s not even funny,” Graham let out a breathy laugh and your heart almost stopped. Even though you two had been dating for a while, you had said that you wanted to take things slow, given that your last relationship didn’t end so well. This meant that even though you and Graham were both in agreement that you loved each other, this agreement had been almost exclusively nonverbal. Neither of you had said anything yet, partially in fear that you’d take things too quickly and someone would feel pressure (at least that’s what you felt when your ex wanted to take things at what felt like a million miles an hour). So, in an effort to keep things calm and relaxed, neither of you had said anything close to the L word, and this moment took you by surprise. 

Silence fell between the two of you, as Graham was waiting for you to say something and you were frozen. As if just realising what he said, Graham’s face fell into one of panic as he gingerly placed you down on the ground. “Oh no, I didn’t mean-. Please don’t take that to mean you have to say anything back I just-” 

“Graham?” You stopped him rambling as you saw Karen and Daisy corralling the boys out of the room. 

“Yeah?” 

“I love you,” you said without looking at him, mostly because you were scared he would bolt the other direction and you would fly back to L.A. in tears. 

You felt two fingers gently grab your chin, and Graham tilted your head up to look at him. “You sure? Cause I don’t want you to say it just because I said something”. 

You nodded, “I’m sure”. 

He smiled and let out another airy chuckle as he leaned down, grabbing both sides of your face before capturing your lips with his. The electricity between you started buzzing as it always did in moments like these, and he was quick to tap his fingers on your lower back, signalling you to jump up and wrap around him like you had previously. The two of you laughed in between kisses until you heard a gagging sound from down the hall. 

“Get a room!” Eddie yelled. 

“Where do you think we’re going?” Graham yelled back, causing you to laugh in embarrassment and bury your head in his shoulder. 

“I love you Graham,” you commented, though muffled from his shirt fabric. 

“What was that?” He teased. You knew damn well he heard you the first time. 

“I love you,” you said a bit louder, still in his shirt. 

“I’m sorry, one more time. I couldn’t hear you”. 

“God damn it Graham, I love you,” you finally lifted your head and said it while looking directly in his eyes. 

“I love you too, I just wanted to hear you say it again,” he laughed. “I’m the luckiest man on the planet!” He yelled for everyone to hear, gaining groans and yells of embarrassment and annoyance from his bandmates. Not that he cared though, he was just telling the truth.

[theladybarnes]

DON’T YOU WANT ME, BABY? : CHAPTER ONE

“Do you wanna be normal? Do you wanna be just like everyone else? Being a freak is the best. I’m a freak!”

▸ summary: tomorrow is halloween, but your scare comes early this year ▸ characters: dustin henderson, steve harrington, jonathan byers & special guest ▸ word count: 4.1k ▸ warnings: none ▸ series masterlist

“Are you sure you can talk to him?”

 “Tina! I can do it.”

 “Because I totally understand if you don’t wanna talk to him. He’s kinda a freak.”

 You stood in the now empty hallway of Hawkins High School. The bell that ended the school day had rung an hour ago, leaving behind a few faculty members, and a couple of students that either had clubs or projects. 

 “He’s just a guy.”

 Tina raised a brow at you, gum smacking in her mouth as she became wary of your confidence. “He’s literally in a metal band. Aren’t you at least a little worried he might be a creep?” The noisy chewing seemed honestly worse than meeting up with the school’s local drug dealer, but you held back that comment to give your friend a smile.

 “Tina, we want the party to be good. If this guy can bring in the good stuff, I can handle a quick meeting in the woods.”

 “Fine,” she sighed, waving you off. “You’ll call me tonight and let me know how it goes?”

 “Definitely.” Turning your wrist over, you adjust the gold watch on your wrist, noting the time. “He should be there by now. I’ll see you tomorrow!” The two of you waved off again, blowing an air kiss to each other before parting ways.

 The walk to the clearing was thankfully more quiet. You honestly could use more peace like this. 

 After these past few months, you couldn’t wait for winter vacations to begin. The new year had been pretty weird to start. After all, how does one go back to normalcy after fighting off a monster with her friends?

 Correction, her friend and two ex friends. But that was all in the past. At least that’s what you’d remind yourself. 

 Jonathan couldn’t help but bring it up once in a while, mostly when he had his own fears of that night that came haunting back. But you were quick to bring him back to earth, reminding him that the world was going to move on regardless if he was ready to get over it or not. 

 Even if you felt the same way sometimes. 

 Cool air met your person once you exited the doors of the school. The parking lot was nearly void of cars as you walked past them towards the woods. To be fair to Tina, this whole meetup was a bit worrisome. Mostly because up until this point you hadn’t even come across Eddie Munson.

 Drugs weren’t really your thing and ever since the previous year, you don’t really drink that much anymore. Especially after Barb went missing. Drinking seemed to lead to bad nights and you didn’t want to come across one any time soon. Despite the fact that you were about to meet up with a guy who could hopefully help supply both of those.

 You barely took a step past the thicket when a voice spoke out to you.

 “I wouldn’t expect even the most popular student to understand that other people have lives. But I would have figured that you had some sort of punctuality.”

 The sight of the dealer was something you had been curious about since Tina asked if you could speak with him that morning. She described him as a greasy, long haired, freak with bad taste, but it was surprisingly more normal than what you were led to believe.

 He had his back to you, giving you a visual of that long rocker hair. The bottom of his jeans and boots were scuffed as well, possibly from walking in through the woods. You couldn’t quite figure out why someone who looked like any other rocker had such a small notoriety. 

 “You think I’m the most popular student?” you grinned, fluffing up your hair a bit.

 The answer caused him to turn around swiftly, giving you a confused look before he chuckled. Stepping away from the tree he had been leaning on to meet you in the middle.

 You stepped down the pathway, moving over towards Eddie. Slowly letting your eyes wander over his features now that he fully faced you. The hairstyle wasn’t really your thing, but the eyes. The dark brown eyes seemed to be piercing through you.

 “What do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?” he asked, extending a hand out to you towards the wooden lunch table. You swatted away some dirt from the bench before sitting down, watching he chose to simply plop down across from you. 

 “Well, you read the note. I’m interested in making a deal with you.”

 “Right,” he nodded, putting a black metal lunch box on the table. “What exactly were you interested in buying?”

 You frowned at that, shaking your head for a second as you glanced over at the metal lunch box. “Whoever said anything about buying?” Returning to his gaze, you smirked a little bit. “I wouldn’t be so dumb as to be caught buying anything on school grounds.”

 He shyly reached over for the box, hiding at his side before he laced his hands together on the table. The glint of his rings shined with the setting sun, his adorned fingers making you distracted.

 “If you weren’t here to buy, why bother with all this?” he waved. 

 “To put it simply, I need you.”

 Astonishment flashed over his face before he cleared his throat to return back to his former composer. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard that from a Hawkins girl before.”

 “Well I'm not exactly from Hawkins, aren’t I?”

 He shook his head, slightly amused again. “No, you’re not, Princess.”

 The name nearly threw you off. It was said in a neutral tone that had you questioning if you liked it or not.

 “Back to the point,” you clapped, resting your hands on the table. “Tina’s hosting a Halloween party this year. Her parents are out of town for the week and she’s gonna make sure it’s a party no one forgets.”

 “And you want to personally extend me an invitation?” he asked sardonically. 

 “Yes!”

 The downfall of entering a school without knowing it’s on going social cliques, were moments like this. Where you were left not knowing previous vendettas, rivalries, or in this case, Eddie Munson’s social pariah status.

 “..Really?”

 “Well, an invite with a bit of a purpose.” 

 He crossed his arms over, looking at you curiously. “I’m guessing you’re inviting me to come over and give out, what? Freebies? All for the pleasure of being able to attend?”

 “I won’t lie, that was Tina’s original plan. But I’m a woman of business and can’t see myself screwing you over like that.”

 “How thoughtful of you, Princess.” he sighed. 

 Ignoring his jab, you lean in close enough to rest your chin on the palm of your hand. Hopefully giving him a more friendly disposition. “You come to the party, sell to whoever you want for whatever price you want. All we ask is that the hosts get freebies, and that you get us a keg.”

 He scoffed slightly, leaning in to the same as he returned a more forced smile. “I suppose I’ll have to pay for that too?”

 You popped your hand up from your pocket, holding a crisp twenty dollar bill between your fingers. “On us. Just want anything that gets people drunk enough. If you find a deal you can keep the change for yourself.”

 Eddie seemed slightly taken as his dark eyes looked at your hand. “I suppose you’d call that a tip?” 

 “Sure, if that convinces you to do it.” 

 Gently, he reached out to take the bill from your fingers, brushing your hand slightly with his calloused fingers. Possibly rough from having been playing guitar for some time.  “I’ll do it.” he murmured, having gotten closer while you were distracted by his hands yet again today. His brown eyes looked bigger than ever as he leaned in. 

 “Perfect!” you smiled, “I promise you’ll have a great time.”

 He chuckled a bit, eyes narrowing at you slightly. “You’re different. You know that?”

 “What do you mean?”

 The tip of his tongue flickered over his lips briefly before he shrugged at you. “I just pegged you to be exactly like your friends.”

 “And just how are my friends exactly?”

 “Bitches.” he said simply, making you coil back a bit. “All they do is make this school an uncomfortable place to attend.”

 “Some of them don’t make the place terrible, you know.” Leaning back you crossed your arms against your chest. “We go to school just like everyone else.”

 “Yeah, you go to school. But you also call people names, throw exclusive parties, take reign over certain lunch tables, and let’s not mention what happens during gym class.”

 “Hey, in case you haven’t noticed. I don’t do any of that.”

 “I never said you did.” He chuckled. “But your friends sure love to do that. In fact, I think they thrive on it.”

 You stared at him hard for a moment, trying to see just where he was trying to make this conversation go. For a second he seemed sort of into you. Now it seemed like he had come to some sort of realization.

 “This conversation seems very pointed.” you shrugged, not wanting to parley in a debate about high school ethics. “It’s getting late and I really should get going.”

 Eddie didn’t say anything after that, but he did watch you get up and dust your pants off. Letting his gaze linger on you far more comfortably than you’d like. You turned back to him one last time, raising a brow as you pointed over to the lunch box at his side. “So, Halloween, see you there?”

 He gave a small smile, patting the box with his hands so it gave off a slight clinking noise. 

 “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  You let out a content sigh as you stepped out of the steamy shower. The hot water had thankfully washed away most of the day’s stress and left you feeling rejuvenated. Not to mention it helped get off some of the woodsy smell that hit at your hair when you had to leave from your encounter with Eddie.

 It was safe to say the meeting left you a bit perplexed. 

 While you were happy with some of the aspects of your life, you didn’t like the way a stranger like Eddie saw you. For the most part, you had been hopeful that breaking off your friendships with people like Tommy and Carol would have made things different. But he seemed to see you just the same.

 Thankfully, regardless of the unreasonable wariness he had towards you, he agreed to come to the party anyway. Making you and Tina happy later on when you called her. It was really her party, not something you cared to have credit for, but you did want to help out in some way.

 It was nice to have a friend that did normal things. And what was more normal than a high school halloween party?

 Stepping out of the bathroom, you tugged your bathrobe against your body tightly as you quickly dashed down the hall towards your room. A shiver running down your spine made you excited to just jump into your warm pajamas and work on finishing up your nails for tomorrow. 

 Though Tina begged you to match up with her in dressing up as one of the many looks of Madonna, you opted out for dressing up as something a little bit spicier.

 Especially since your dear friends gifted you with a new set of clothes after your birthday had passed, you couldn’t help but pick out some of the dresses they found for you.

 “God, I know she has a treasure trove somewhere.”

 Frowning at the mysterious voice in your room, you quickly push your way inside to find Dustin going through your dresser. Flinging various pieces of clothing behind him as he tried to find something that you sure he probably wasn’t supposed to have. 

 “What the hell are you doing in my room?” you asked, voice booming as you rushed inside to stop him from making an even bigger mess. 

 “I need quarters! It’s an emergency!”

 “Then call the police! Stop going through my stuff, shithead!”

 Slapping him away from the furniture, you try and push him towards the door, holding tightly to your robe. “Look at all this mess. Now I have to clean up everything.” you whined, moving to grab some pieces of fabric that laid by your feet. 

 “Please! I just need a dollar, tops. Anything. I can’t show up empty handed.”

 You gave him the stink eye, urging him to continue his way out as you picked up around the place. “I’m glad to know you’re capable of asking for things considering I just caught you in here attempting to steal from me.” 

 “I’m desperate.” 

 “Should have thought to ask before you came in with your thieving hands.” you frowned, looking down at the boy now. He rolled his eyes, obviously already annoyed with your lack of cooperation before he focused in on your face. Something of a smirk formed on his face suddenly. 

 “You wouldn’t happen to be in such a crabby mood because of that pimple growing on your chin, right?”

 The gasp fell past your lips before you could compose yourself. You raised a hand up to cover your chin from his judging eyes. “Aunt Claudia! Dustin’s being a pervert!” you yelled, needing to get him away from your sight. The younger boy gasped, pointing an accusatory finger at you while his Mother came down the hall.

 “DUSTIN HENDERSON! You give that girl privacy this instant!” Her hand instantly reached over to grab hold of his ear, dragging him out of the threshold while he sputtered out curses. “Sorry, sweetie. He’ll get out of your hair now.” 

 The last thing you see as you close the door is Dustin’s middle finger aimed at you as he’s dragged away. 

You woke up the following morning with a little pep in your step. Tomorrow night was the Halloween party, meaning today would be the day Tina passed out invites. You had suggested she send it off as a word of mouth party, having done it that way back home, but she simply brushed the tip off, wanting to filter the crowd that would be attending.

 Which clearly meant, no losers.

 It didn’t feel good at the time, but you convinced yourself it was at least a way to keep in crowd control. 

 But that didn’t stop you from giving a few people from your other classes her address anyway. The party would not be ruined if a nice kid like Robin Buckley from homeroom got an invite. 

 The morning air was crisp, making you take a big inhale as you rode your bike into the school’s parking lot. Most kids had begun to arrive and you were thankful to be early for once. That gave you more time to try and convince Jonathan in on the festivities the next day.

 You rode past Tina, Vicki and Carol on the way in. The other two gave you a friendly wave while Carol pretended to spot something on the hem of her shirt. Thankfully the fight from before seemed to leave the two of you at an awkward stand off whenever the two friendships seemed to collide. 

 The hill began to slope downward, causing your bike to go a lot faster than you planned. It wasn’t until the sound of a honk came in that you found out you almost collided with the car that had just turned in.

 Embarrassment hit your senses as you nearly fell over on your bike. Thank God you had Jonathan recently fix it up or else you would have ruined the paint job on the burgundy car before you.

 “Whoa, didn’t see you coming there, trouble.” 

 Shit.

 Out of the car window poked out Steve Harrington. Giving you the pleasure of seeing not only his gargantuan head of hair, but beautiful ember brown eyes that looked at you with such worry. 

 It made you sick.

 “I’m not surprised.” you scowled, fixing up your footing on the pedals. “Probably had all that hair on your face.” you shrugged, not really bothering to look him in the eye. “Next time check your mirrors for others and not just for your face.”

 “That’s not what happened.” he sighed, already feeling you cut the conversation short like you always do. You stole a quick glance inside, noticing a very just as worried Nancy Wheeler. “Nevermind, I can see you were distracted by something else.”

 He tried to call out to you, shaking his head quickly, but you simply rode past him. Not really up for the debate.

 This was really how most interactions were with these two nowadays. Despite it being months since your fight with Steve, you still could never shake off the animosity that you had towards him. Even if he did gift you back the jacket you loved months later. 

 The feelings you had towards him were too strong. Too hurt. Never again would let yourself be caught up in the mess that was Steve Harrington. Even if that meant throwing in Nancy along with your avoiding. Really, had she chosen not to get back with him, you could possibly make a friendship with her. But the idea that she’d trust someone again that easily didn’t sit right with you.

 Not to mention the idea of them being cute and cuddly made you want to hurl.

 “It’s about time you showed up. I figured you’d come around late again.” hollered Jonathan as he waited for you at the bike stands. He had shown earlier to make use of the photography class’s dark room and said he’d meet you out front.

 “My Mom does say that while I’m always running late, I’m at least consistent.” you smirked, parking your bike into a slot. The boy extended his hand out for your bike lock, doing you the favor while you adjusted your scrunched up clothes from the ride.

 “I saw you talking to Steve. What happened there?”

 The two of you looked over towards the parking lot, noticing that the two lovebirds were still sitting inside as they looked down at something together. “You mean when I was almost publicly executed?” 

 Jonathan rolled his eyes, brushing his hands off from dirt as he waited for you to join him into the school. “I think that’s the longest interaction you’ve had with him this month.” 

 “It was barely a minute, Jonathan.” 

 “Had your heart racing though.” 

 It was unfair how easily Jonathan had figured out your harbored feelings towards Steve. Something he picked up on from just a photo really. Thankfully he wasn’t one to spread gossip. 

 “I feel you’re only pushing the notion that I like him because you want to have the excuse to keep your crush on Nancy.” you huffed, handing over your bag for him to hold. You quickly carded your fingers through your hair, while walking over towards the front entrance of the school.

 More kids would be coming in closer to the first morning bell, meaning you two should beat the crowds. 

 “You already know what I think of Nancy. I’m just glad to be her friend.”

 He stopped you from walking towards the door, giving you the lecturing face he usually saved for whenever he wanted to give Will a pep talk. Just mentioning her name should have let you know the conversation would lead back to this. 

 “It wouldn’t hurt to try and talk to her again either.”

 “Jonathan, trust me. If I didn’t feel so awkward about it all or hated her boyfriend, then I would.”

 “So ignore, Harrington.” The sound of a loud car rumbling in the distance made the two of you pause, trying to crank your heads in the direction of whoever was causing such noise pollution. For a second you thought you recognized the car but zipped by too fast for you to really notice.

 “I’m just saying I have just as much reason to hate on him but I’m over it.”

 Sighing, you gave him a small glare. “Jonathan..You know why I can’t do that.” It was only a little while ago that you actually told Jonathan everything that happened. It naturally brought back some dislike he held towards Steve again, but he was ready to make peace and move on from that day. Signs of the horrible pacifist that lived inside your friend.

 Thankfully, he seemed to notice how uncomfortable the memory was and instead gave you a smile. Patting your arm awkwardly. “Alright, if it bothers you so much I’ll drop the subject.”

 “Good, because this year is going to be great. No monsters, no shitty friends, and definitely no more boys!”

 “HEY, HENDERSON!”

 The sound of a familiar voice yelling your name from across the lot causes everyone around you to freeze. At first you thought it was in your head. But this time the voice calls out your full name and you’re suddenly struck frozen with fear.

 Jonathan turned around to notice who had done the yelling before he worriedly glanced at you. “Hey, I think that guy’s calling you.” he said softly, poking at your arm. Slowly, you turned on your heel to confirm your worst nightmare.

 Sauntering across the lot was none other than Billy Hargrove. The man that you vowed never to speak with or see again. He was supposed to be back home in California. Miles away from you and your new life. 

 You could even remember asking him to leave you alone the day you left for Indiana. The way he angrily picked up the bouquet of roses you chucked at his head. It was a parting gift and you thought that would be the last time you’d have to ever face him again. 

 What a joke.

 “Babydoll.” he cooed, moving to pull you into his arms. The thick smell of his Aramis cologne flooded your senses and you felt like you were back to being this lonely Freshman that hung on his every word. “I knew I’d recognize that ass anywhere.” he smirked before he gripped the bottom of your chin, tilting your head up to look at him. 

 Before you or anyone else can react to the whole thing, he’s pressed his lips against yours. Almost possessively claiming you in front of everyone. It’s how he always used to greet you in front of your friends. But instead of feeling like a special prize, it made you feel used and dirty.

 It turned even worse when you tried to pull yourself away from him, earning a small pout from the boy as he tightened his hold. “Miss me?” he grinned, showing off his bright smile. Back home it used to make you weak in the knees. Now it reminded you of a killer shark’s grin.

 On top of the close proximity of your ex, all around you the students gawked and murmured to each other. The worst being the worried looks of Steve and Nancy from the parking lot. For once in your damn life you did not want this attention on you.

 “Let me go.” you said growled.

 “Oh, but babydoll, we’re back in the same school again.” His blue eyes wandered over your body, making you feel practically naked with how his gaze was. “I think we deserve a second chance. Don’t ya think?”

 “I think you should get bent.”

 Pushing away from his hold finally, you take a step back. Not giving him the chance to try and pull you in to speak again. Jonathan stepped closer towards you, helping give enough distance between you and Billy. Hooking your arm through his, you drag him away from the scene and into the school. Dashing past everyone that could ask questions.

 “Should we talk about what just happened?”

 “No, we shouldn’t.” 

 Students began to part ways for the two of you as you sped down the hall. Wanting to avoid being under your angry gaze or being hit with your fast steps. Emotions swirled inside you, making your mind go completely frazzled.

 “Are you going to be okay?” Jonathan asked, turning you down the hall to your homeroom. The area was thankfully with less students, giving your racing heart a minute to calm down. But really, you didn’t have an answer for him. Not when too many other questions flooded your mind.

 Why was Billy in Hawkins, Indiana of all places? How did he manage to be here for less than a minute and completely turn your new world upside down? And most importantly, how the hell were you going to get him to leave you alone?

A/N: Bit of a rocky start but I’m so excited to get this story back on! Do we all hate billy or is it just me?”

[ananke-xiii]

Don't mind me, ranting about "Sex and Violence".

I have a bone to pick with the episode “Sex and Violence” because I find the writing dishonest and confusing. It’s the infamous “siren episode” and I specifically want to talk about sirens because what the fuck?

FIY, I've tried to limit myself to figurative language but sometimes I'll get quite specific so be warned because I'll touch upon controversial themes in SPN.

Let's talk about sirens.

The episode tells us that the siren has targeted at least three husbands who are all in jail because they’ve killed their wives (we actually see one of them brutally murdering his wife) and who were all clients of a club named “Honey Wagon”. It’s pretty soon established that these men had extremely high levels of oxytocin in their blood and that at least one of them has confessed to Sam and Dean that he had killed his wife for “Jasmine”, an exotic dancer he had met at said club, because she represented everything he has ever wanted. So it’s not about the money and not about the sex, it’s about desire.

So far so good, I like that the club is called “Honey Wagon” because it makes me think that the writers know what they’re talking about since the sirens’ song is also called the “sound of honey”. What’s more, the siren seems to use the names of Disney princesses as their aliases such as Jasmine and Belle. Sam refers to them as “Dream Barbie”. In other words, the writing is telling me that the siren plays on their preys’ fantasies. Okay, cool.

I also vibe with the introduction of the high level of oxytocin as a symptom of the siren’s contact with their victims. Oxytocin is connected with sex, yes, but also with childbirth and its aftermath and breasts are a symbol pertinent to the siren-related imaginary. It also makes me think that what these men are desiring (which is apparently not sex) is bonding. Also, as a FYI, sirens can also be men. With beards.

But the episode is indeed called “Sex and Violence” so we gotta talk about the sex part, too.

We literally see on our screen the siren having sex with a man named Larry and we know the siren also had sex with the first guy who we saw at the beginning of the episode killing his wife. We also see the siren kiss Larry and Bobby is wearing an apron that says “Kiss the Cook”, thus we’re visually given a little hint that it’s not gonna be about sex. Or is it?

At the risk of sounding pedantic, I’ve gotta ask: is it the sex or the kissing? How exactly is this siren making men do what they want? The big plot-twist of the episode is founded on the discovery that the established assumption (the siren uses sex to lure their victims) is incorrect: it’s not the sex, it’s the saliva. And I mean, I guess cool for the siren, do your thing Belle, but, like, why did the siren need to have sex with the three men if all they needed was kissing them? Crickets.

The siren tells Sam and Dean that they like to watch when someone kills for them and we have seen it TWICE that this is just not true. Then there’s that thing, you know, that thing where they called whatever the siren is doing as spreading a “supernatural STD” and then Dean gets it because he shares a bottle with the siren. And THEN Sam gets it as well because the siren literally spits into his mouth what we’re supposed to think it’s saliva, but it really, really, looks like when a snake sprays its venom towards its prey and also when… there’s a sex-related subtext blank we’re expecting to get and I’ll get back there in a moment.

I just wanted to note how confusing the episode is: first the STD implication, then the saliva, and finally the seed imagery. Writers, honey, you gotta pick your battles because you’re sending very mixed and harmful signals out here and I’m not following you anymore.

So the (queer) sex subtext. I must state that the siren goes for both Sam and Dean. Dean goes alone to the club with Nick (this is the siren’s name in this scenario) because Sam convinces him thinking it’s a good idea while he stays at the lab with the hot doctor. Here is where I think the dishonesty lies.

The scenes are structured in a way where we have Sam/Dr Roberts and Dean/Nick and both are bonding scenes between the characters. Via these scenes we’re heavily inclined to think that the siren is Dr Roberts because hey, women are evil bitches, you know? So the writers are being a little cheeky here with their “gotcha” moment and seriously? No, it’s 100% not me having mysoginistic ideas about women and femininity, it’s 100% you and I know it’s you ‘cause you’re desperately changing your cards to write something edgy an shocking when it’s mid at best.

Before the “wow, shocking” reveal that the siren is Nick we’re led to think that the siren’s Dr Roberts because of the hyacinths. Nick told Dean that he had found hyacinths petals on all crime scenes and these are the same flowers that Dr Roberts has in her office. Dean calls Sam to tell him this important piece of info and says something like: they’re from the Mediterranean, from the same island where the siren myth comes from.

Now maybe I’m missing some siren-related symbols that have to do with hyacinths but, to my knowledge, there’s none. Is Dean confusing the island Zakynthos (to my ear the two words might sound similar) with the myth of Scylla (Scilla bifolia being the name of the blue hyacinths in the episode which has nothing to do with the sea-monster Scylla) and Carbides? What the hell is going on here?

I think that’s again the writers being “ihih we're so smart” ‘cause what hyacinths are most famously associated with is the myth of Hyacinthus himself, a (male) lover of Apollo who got killed by Zephyrus because he was jealous of their love and because Hyacinthus didn’t choose him. From the blood of the dead lover Apollo created the name-sake flower.

So this is a story about jealousy! So if we want to draw a parallel with the info that the episode has provided us so far who’s otherwise engaged with Dr Roberts with the pretext of looking for missing vials of blood while they’re happily having sex while Dean is left alone and unchosen? What the writers are telling me, basically, is that Sam is Hyacinthus in this story. All "signs" point there and the siren has targeted him.

Except not! Because Hyacinthus is a gay love story and Nick is a man! Don’t you see? See it! It was a ruse!

After calling Sam, who doesn’t believe that Dr Roberts is the siren (by the way, Sam does have a passion for new-in-town doctors with supposedly dead husbands), Dean tells him he will handle things by himself only to call Nick, like, not even two seconds later. Please let’s all remember that Dean is not a real federal agent and he’s calling one for help (Nick’s not a fed but Dean doesn’t know it yet). This isn’t a smart move Dean, like at all. So is he already been infected? Well, we don’t know! By now we have zero idea how the siren actually operates, all because the writers wanted to be smart and knowledgeable about Greek mythology and hey, since we're here, let’s also insert some queer subtext with incestuous undertones, why not?

Because this is the crux of the matter: if we don’t understand the queer subtext and/or if we take the episode at face-value, we’re left with a confusing half-assed episode where 1. the real plot-twist is that the plot has literally changed to serve the parallels with the theme of the episode (it’s Dean’s jealousy over Sam and Ruby, let’s face it, this is what they were aiming for) and 2. A metaphor for getting STD is connected with sex with strippers, with direct contact with saliva via kissing and via spitting or whatever the siren does to Sam and with indirect contact via sharing of the same bottle. If we do get the queer subtext we have to understand Nick and Dean’s sharing of the same bottle as code for them having dub-con sex (like all the previous men we’ve seen on screen), consequently Sam also is forced into decidedly non-con sex with the siren via his “turned” brother (hence the seed imaginary).

I mean, I know I’m watching Supernatural but this is bad writing on all levels. You can’t just masquerade this stuff as mythology, you need to own up to your writing choices and commit to them, otherwise I feel like you’re cheating and you’re being deliberately confusing to hide your dishonesty. No, thanks, I'd much prefer "Ouroboros" where Greek mythology is used cleverly and with precise intent, where it's 100% clear how the MoTW operates and where the writers were not misleading us but wrote a coherent story that wasn't dishonest at all, rather open to multiple interpretations that make sense within both the plot and the themes of the episode.

[fukuokanodivision]

Yuno’s Thoughts On Division Leaders

Ichiro Yamada

“Yamada? Yes, Of course I know him. ‘The super-famous delinquent of Ikebukuro’ as they say apparently. Labels aside, Truly he’s a good brother figure to Jiro-san and Saburo-san, That makes sense considering they’re very attached to him, Like 2 heavy magnets if you will. It’s nice to be able to cross paths with him whenever I visit sometimes, Just seeing him makes my worries mostly dissolve into nothing. Other than that, He’s a great person to rather be around and I hope the DRB comes along soon so I can battle him someday…”

Samatoki Aohitsugi

“Aohitsugi, Here we go…I’m on the fence to be completely honest. Yes, He often resorts to violence, but he’s also ‘calm’ If somebody doesn’t ‘trigger’ him? Talk about a short/long fuse dynamic we have here. Anyway, Eko rather knows more about him than I do, Take all of M.T.C for that matter. Not only is the team very ‘edgy’, But so is Yokohama (I shouldn’t be surprised.) Crime running for hours on end, I could never survive a position like that, even if my own life depended on it to tell the truth. Overall, Aohitsugi’s a big mystery to me, So I’ll ask Eko more about him instead.”

Ramuda Amemura

“Amemura, Amemura, He’s also a big mystery. From my time in Chuohku, He just seemed ‘lonely’ or ‘captive’ around the place, Like a lonely ghost wanting to return to the living so badly he’d give up his own soul to be reborn…It’s a unsettling feeling to feel. But as he’s out in Shibuya, He’s something else completely. Like Eko, One thing most of the time and another thing the next and switches between them for the situation. Aside from that, He’s an entity I’m unaware of and I don’t have too much on him.”

Jakurai Jinguji

“Jinguji-san, I know him yes. At first glance, I didn’t know what to expect. I get it, a genius doctor wrapped in an aura of mystery? Wasn’t expecting that. But, He’s greatly a good figure. I’m very happy that Mai-Mai has taken a liking to him. He’s like an elder brother to them almost, Old as time, but has a heart of gold wherever he goes. I’m also glad both of them find solace together, but I’m a tad bit jealous of that to be honest. All in all, Jinguji-san is a good person and I will stay on great terms with him.”

Sasara Nurude

“Nurude-san, Where to start here…Ah, I know. Back on OverDrives ‘Big Escape From Chuohku’ years ago, Osaka was strangely our last destination. Eko may have already told you this, But he by total accident met Nurude-san. I didn’t know any of the sort while Mai-san and I were waiting outside the theatre and he was in there for a while. As we were walking back to the next train, He randomly started tirading on him. He seems interesting enough, So I guess I’ll have to meet him sometime…”

Kuko Harai

“Lastly…Harai-? Like Eko and Mai-san, I barely know him. Honestly, I don’t know what to say about this guy at all. He’s a monk, but has the mind of a tweenager? That’s a strange piece of character for me. His team is, Okay I guess. Visual-Kei musician and a ‘50 looking’ Lawyer…Interesting. There’s not much to say here, He always looks like he’s wanting a fight with somebody, So I guess I can return that favour at least.”

[lovebvni]

hi! i thought i’d ask if there’s any messages i need to hear, especially for reality shifting!! a nickname of mine is yemi so i’ll use that :)) thank you in advance, this is really kind of you!

You guys and these amazing names!! Stop it!! And of course!! I’m a guide, after all. I would want nothing less than to see people who love others and want to change for the better get what they want <3

Messages You Need To Hear — Reality Shifting Specific.

“Of all the looking down you’re doing, things are really looking up.”

I see the universe is almost saying that you’re looking at the glass half-empty instead of half full. So, basically, the universe is telling you to change perspectives and see the good — even in the bad.

I feel like maybe in your dr, a lot of bad things happen (or in your cr, things are looking hopeless right now). Maybe some sort of fight, war, or just negative energies in general. The universe is literally saying find something, no matter how small, that can be like a flower in the pavement. Your hope and will to keep going. I’m hearing if you have a partner or comfort character you’re interested in or excited to see {again} think about them. Make them your flower.

“How is this it? How is this all I’ve been working for?”

Hopelessness, again. Do you have a support group? Try talking to them. Although, I’m hearing you’re more of a loner, you have someone you can talk to — and if they are here physically, here’s something I used to do.

I’d sit in the shower and speak to the universe + my guides. Speaking about the things I want, the things I worry about, cry about things going wrong, or the things I wanted. I know and I would trust some spirit was listening. One of positivity and love. Ones that are on my side, but would call me out for my bullshit through dreams or any other means of signs. So, try to speak to the universe about your fears, because this isn’t it.

“What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish kept coming to mind during this part of the reading.

That’s all I have for you, darling. Be like Barbie, do everything and accept it — but never settle for less than you’re worth. Yemi, you are worth more than you ever know. Break out of this shell, you are not a snail, you are a beautiful, wonderful soul that will soon emerge and experience so many things. Just sit with your thoughts silently [no music, no commotion, just running water], you will find all the answers within yourself.

I got a visual of a snowball rolling up a hill instead of down. Change directions. Change is big here. Also the new.

I pray this blesses you and you experience the light you have desired for so long <3

[moonchild-things]

Chapter Thirty-Four: Townsperson B

Summary: Shōyō Hinata loves volleyball! There is no doubt that all he really thinks about is volleyball. His sister, however, isn’t the same way. Sakura is ready to start her first year of high school at Karasuno with her twin brother and doesn’t really want to do anything, unlike Shōyō. Though she can’t help it when she gets dragged into the antics of the volleyball club.

Word Count: 6817 

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A/n: Hope ya'll are doing well ^-^ I've got a bit of a promotion at work and have been working a lot. It feels like I never have time to write anymore. I've also hit a writer's block for certain stories recently, but nothing new lmao Though I caved the other day to get Baldur's Gate 3 and OML I AM IN LOVE. The story, the characters, the visuals, the endless choices, I just love everything about the game. I've streamed myself playing it a few times on Twitch and that is quite fun. Though here we go with this chapter!

---

BY THE TIME NIGHT CAME, SAKURA CAME out of the school to meet up with her brother and Yachi at the gym. It was dark out and her own club had finished quite some time ago, but she used the time after that to study some more. With exams coming soon, there was always a need to keep up on her studies for it. Though now with night finally shadowing over the school, and just about every club finishing up, Sakura needed to meet up with her brother to go home. Also check in with her friend to make sure that the practice went well.

“Yachi-chan,” Sakura said as she moseyed over to her friend. The blonde jumped at her sudden voice, being dragged out of her own thoughts abruptly. “How was it?”

She laughed nervously, “It was… a bit overwhelming.”

“That’s understandable.” Sakura pursed her lips, “None of the guys gave you a hard time, right?”

Yachi smiled a bit at the worry that her friend had for her, “No, no, it was okay.”

“That’s good.” If they did, she would certainly be first in line to reprimand them for it. The absolute last thing that she needs is for them to scare Yachi away from her. If Yachi decided to not be friends with Sakura based off of a bad interaction with the team, Sakura wouldn’t know what to do. Then again perhaps she was overreacting a bit with the possibility of Yachi just leaving her because of this.

As the two were talking, the goddess of a manager came out as well, “Oh, Hitoka-chan. Are you done changing?” Kiyoko said, changing her shoes and noticing that Sakura was also there. “Sakura-chan, how was your day?”

Sakura shrugged her shoulders, “fine, nothing too special.” 

“I’ll walk with you both, so hold on a sec.” Kiyoko said politely, “I’m going to change, too.”

Yachi jumped, “No, it’s okay. I actually think I should be walking with you, or something, or…”

“Don’t worry about it.” The older girl then walked off to get herself ready to go, leaving no argument to be made from Yachi.

Sakura chuckled lightly at the conflicted expression on Yachi’s face. “Kiyoko’s really nice, you’ll have to get used to it.”

From the open window, Yachi and Sakura could hear Ukai and Takeda talking in the gym. “What’s wrong, sensei?” Ukai asked, “Why the serious face?”

Takeda sighed heavily, “Oh, well… Apparently, the bus we were supposed to take for the away games in Tokyo was booked by another club, so it doesn’t look like we’ll get it. It looks like it’s going to cost us a lot more than expected, so I was trying to figure out what to do.”

“I’ll try talking to a few more alumni.” Ukai thought out loud, “I’m sure this problem’ll come up again in the future.”

“I apologize. I’ll try reaching out, as well. Well, if all else fails, I do have some savings.”

Ukai jumped at that, “No, no, no. You need to save that for your future wedding, or something. And don’t do that with your hand!”

Yachi and Sakura shared a look with each other. In a seeming telepathic moment, the two came to the same sort of wavelength. There had to be some way to raise some money for the club, but where were they going to start?

“Yachi-san!” Shōyō suddenly shouted as he came over to the two girls. The poor blonde jumped at the shout of her name, “Yachi-san, are you gonna be our manager?”

“Uh, um…”

Shōyō smiled at her eagerly, “You will, right?”

Sakura stepped up to save Yachi from her brother, becoming a barrier between them, “Don’t pester her, Shō-nii. It’s only been one practice.” As if Yachi would have made her decision after one proper day with the team. The last thing she needed was for her brother or any of the other volleyball idiots scaring Yachi off. No need for Yachi to start worrying too much and have a panic attack right now.

Though it didn’t seem like the other boys were going to help the matter either as the two-year idiots were coming up to the group. It was Tanaka who started by saying, “Hey, first-year girl, hey!”

“We hope that you will join the Karasuno High School volleyball team.” Nishinoya said seriously.

Yachi blinked, “Huh?”

Tanaka continued on with a smile on his face, “When you’re around, Kiyoko-san talks a lot.” 

Sakura shook her head and muttered to herself, “of course that’s why.”

Daichi and Suga then came up from behind them, the majority of the boys having finished changing. The captain bonked the two idiots on the head with a reprimand, “What kind of invitation is that, you idiots?!”

Suga attempted to amend any offense, as usual,  “Sorry these guys are so stupid.”

“No, not at all!” Yachi exclaimed, “Um… I’m flattered. I’ve never tried to do something on my own, or had someone need me for anything… Even in drama club, I’ve only been an extra. Like Townsperson B or a tree.” Everyone tilted their heads at that. Though she continued on, “So when Shimizu-senpai worked so hard to recruit a Townsperson B, like me, who has no experience or knowledge of volleyball, I was really happy. But I’m sure I’m not much-”

“I totally get how you feel.” Tanaka started, a passionate expression on his face, “Even if Kiyoko-san said, ‘I’m going to steal money from you, so follow me.’ I’d still follow her.”

Nishinoya gaped at his heroic friend, “You’re so manly, Ryu!”

“That’s definitely not healthy,” Sakura stated with a slightly concerned yet disgusted expression.

Endo commented with a hum as he passed by with Asahi, “Toxic, even.” 

“Uh, I think that’s a bit different.” Yachi commented.

Though that didn’t matter or register to Shōyō or Nishinoya as the orange-haired decoy exclaimed, “That sounds sorta awesome!” Suga just stared at his bald friend in disbelief, how can they really be this stupid?

“Looks like Tanaka’s saying something again.” Asahi said, amused by his friends.

“Oh, that reminds me…” Shōyō started as he rummaged through his bag for his phone. He held it up for them to read and saw that it was a text from Nekoma’s setter, Kenma.

To: Hinata Shōyō From: Kozume Kenma Subject: None We made it through the first round. This week is round two of prelims.

“Damn!” Nishinoya just about screamed, “Nekoma’s so awesome!”

Tanaka joined in as the trio started jumping around, “I’m getting fired up!”

Sakura leaned over to Yachi who watched the boys shouting with a bit of concern. She stated, “they get like this most of the time, well… all of the time.”

---

With it now being the next day, Sakura was nervously tapping her fingers on the crook of her elbow. Ever since school had ended, and she decided to walk Yachi to the gym for the second day, she had been nervous. She had to talk herself up to what she had wanted to do right now. Though it should be simple, she just had to ask Yachi something, what was so nerve wracking about that?

She cleared her throat as they made it to the gym doors, “Um, so Yachi.”

“Hm?” she hummed, turning to her friend.

Sakura pursed her lips glancing away for a moment, “I was wondering if you wanted to study a bit this weekend.”

“Oh,” Yachi nodded her head, “yeah of course!”

Sakura let out a relieved sigh, “Nice, okay. Is your house okay? It’s probably closer to the school than mine.”

“That’s perfect! How about this Saturday, is noon a good time?”

Sakura smiled happily, “That works.” The giddy feeling that came over her about finally having a friend to hang out with out of school. She’s never had anyone to do that with. She hung out with the photography club a couple times to get snacks and boba after club, but hanging out with someone at their house seemed different to her. “Shōyō will probably tag along, since he needs all the help he can get.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” Yachi nodded her head, not having an issue with others coming. “Kaygeyama might come too, him and your brother have been working well enough together to study.” Yachi explained happily. Which she found more than inspirational since the two were determined to do their best to get to Tokyo.

“Sadly.” Sakura let out a sigh, before turning to leave, “I’ll see you later then.”

“See you!”

Now sitting around the tables of the club room, the photography club all had their attention on their president. Shimada stood with a broad smile on her face as she presented to them with an air of whimsy around her. Thankfully, since her friends were used to it, they weren’t choking on it at the moment, but if she kept this up, they would soon. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, “Well for the next big gallery I was thinking of doing something on Heroes and leaders!” Shimada exclaimed, more than excited to share the news with the club. Though she���s always excited to share any news with her club.

Wada blinked at her as she stared at them expectantly, “Meaning…?”

“I would think it means people who are heroes and leaders, duh,” Ito explained, as if she were talking to a toddler.

“So you want me to take a photo of the Prime Minister and call it a day.” Wada asked dully, thinking of the prompt shallowly. It didn’t seem all that interesting to him, not too much artistic style to it like he usually includes. He’s not the type of photographer that loves adding more artistic styles to his work. He finds portraits boring, not necessarily wanting to work with people for such work.

“You could if you want.” Mori explained, “We were thinking more of people you idolize in your own life who are your hero or a great leader, not just people who are in power like the Prime Minister.”

So not just a leader in position and name, but a leader in inspiration, or a philosophical aspect. Sakura thought to herself.

Wada pursed his lips and shrugged after a moment of thinking, “Hmm, I could work with that.”

Yokoyama teased with a sassy tone, “You can’t take pictures of yourself.” They all know that Wada may not be exactly the cockiest person out there, but he has his moment, and they would definitely think that he’d take a photo of himself and say he’s his own leader. Though they supposed that could work, still goes against the idea of going out of your way to find something to photograph.

He seemed more than offended that the comment was pointed in his direction, “I wasn’t gonna do that!”

Ito deadpanned, not believing him as far as she could throw him, “Really?”

“Shut up.” He grumbled at the playfully scrutinizing stare from his friends.

Shimada laughed at the banter before saying, “You’ve got time to figure it out, since we’re not doing the gallery until after exams. Focus on your academics for now, then we’ll finish up the planning for the gallery.”

Sakura paused for a moment as the thought circled in her mind. She wouldn’t say she definitely considered someone to be a hero of hers. A leader she might consider would probably be Takeda or Ukai, since they do quite a good job of wrangling the volleyball club. Even Daichi is quite a good leader with how he keeps them in check but also has a tight friendship with everyone. A hero is a different story to her. If someone saved her life then they’d be her hero, but she’s never been in danger of that sort so there wasn’t anyone to consider in that regard.

Wada’s face suddenly appeared in front of Sakura, startling her slightly. He poked her cheek, which earned him a slap, “You’re thinking quite hard, I can see the smoke coming from your ears.”

“Leave her alone, Wada!” Ito groaned from her seat, “Don’t bully the poor girl.”

He raised his hands in surrender, “I’m not bullying, just concerned for her brain, must be overthinking something again.”

Sakura scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, “I’m not overthinking.”

Yokoyama leaned down with a wide teasing smile, “Sounds like something someone overthinking would say.”

“No doubt you’re overthinking the gallery topic, don’t sweat it.” Wada continued on, not backing down despite Sakura’s light glare, “You did amazing for the first one, the pictures you’ve shown us lately are amazing, and we’re not even focusing on the gallery until exams are done, so you’re fine.”

She just sighed, “Yeah, yeah.” Perhaps she was overthinking it a bit too hard. She has to focus on exams coming up, that was certainly the most important thing at the moment. Sakura knew that she has a tendency to think too hard about something, especially when it’s something outside of her comfort zone. Photography, while it’s a hobby she enjoys, is not something that she has full confidence in. She was getting there, slowly but surely, though it would still take a bit of time. Though she’ll focus on something that she is confident on, and that’s her studying.

---

Now that school was over, Endo had joined up with his clubmates to head to the clubroom. His day had been agonizingly boring, nothing too entertaining to give him life during his classes. As always, the only highlight of his day was getting to hang out with Asahi during break time, but nothing else was exciting. So now he was walking into the club room with his friends

“Kiyoko seemed more than excited earlier,” Endo commented as he changed into his practice clothes.

Daichi nodded his head, “She’s excited to have a new manager around.”

Finishing putting his shirt on, Suga laughed lightly, “I think most of the team is.”

“When we saw her the other day, she was quite adorable, no?” Endo asked, “Skittish, but definitely cute.” He’s not really the type of person to talk to anyone outside of his grade, the only exception being the team. So he’s never heard of this girl before. Still on the first meeting, Endo didn’t think there was going to be any issues with her. Besides maybe her being a tad bit… scared about meeting the team. Though who knows.

With his brown eyes hardening to look at his friends, Daichi made sure to state firmly, “No one scare Yachi-san off, okay? We have to make her feel welcomed.”

Endo chuckled, “Better tell that to Thing 1 and Thing 2, they might scare the poor girl away.”

“Which ones?” Asahi asked with a tilt of his head, “Nishinoya and Tanaka or Hinata and Kageyama?”

Endo pursed his lips, “Nishinoya and Tanaka. Hinata and Kageyama are tweedle dee and tweedle dumb. Though at times it can change.” They all laughed a bit at that before finishing up. With all the boys now dressed up, they headed down to the gym and started their warm up. They set up the net, got the balls, and anything else that was needed.

Eventually, the two managers came to the gym as well. “Ouginishi will arrive in four and a half hours.” Kiyoko called out to the boys while tying up her shoes.

They all shouted in response, “Right!”

Noticing the skittish new girl, Endo decided to walk up to them. He has to make a good first impression, after all. If this girl was going to be coming onto the team as a new manager, it would be best to get in her good graces. He approached and saw that she was fiddling with her fingers nervously. He plastered a charming, disarming smile on his lips and leaned down to her slightly. 

A shadow loomed over Yachi as she finished. Yachi jumped at the tall boy leaning over her with a devilish looking smile. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she stared up at his illuminating eyes. To be honest, it looked as though a devil was leering at her, analyzing her every movement. Like any slight movement she made was being recorded into his mind to use for later use.

“You look familiar,” he muttered smoothly, “I can’t put my finger on it.”

Yachi’s wide eyes stared at him, “O-Oh.”

“Yachi, Yachi.” Endo tapped his chin in thought, the girl’s name ringing bells in his mind, “What does your mother do for work?”

The girl answered a bit hesitant with the attention of Endo on her, “She’s a graphic designer.”

“That’s where I know your name from!” He exclaimed, causing Yachi to jump up in surprise at the shout. “Your mother has worked for my father’s company before. She does amazing work. No doubt you are the same way.”

Yachi laughed nervously, now realizing that this third-year was expecting a lot of him now. “I-I hope so.” She wasn’t sure what company his father has, but she’ll probably find out at some point. She was just a bit too intimidated by his height and sharp eyes to ask. Yachi was already overwhelmed by all the chaos that was starting to ensue due to the boys warming up, so she didn’t think she’d be able to work up the courage to ask Endo at the moment.

Endo just winked at her and marched off to help finish setting up. That devilish smile now haunting Yachi as he left her to her thoughts. He had met her mother once before at a social function for his father’s company some time ago. She seemed like a nice woman, very much focused on her work and proud of it and Endo loved her style. What a small world, he snickered to himself. What were the odds of her daughter being at his school and also joining his club?

“That’s Endo Joji,” Kiyoko explained, since he hadn’t done it himself.

“Endo?” Yachi tilted her head. She’s heard plenty about the third-year boy from other students. She knows that he likes gossip and drama, instigating it sometimes, though she never has seen it in person before. Yachi wonders if she’ll see it today. 

Kiyoko gave her a kind, reassuring smile, “don’t mind him too much, he isn’t all that scary.” Yachi bristled, having realized that her fear and hesitation about him was able to be seen so easily. So she apologized to Kiyoko, quickly trying to explain herself for her slight. 

“Thank you for having us!” The team that was going to have a practice mat was here. A formidable enough looking team, no one too extraordinary appeared to be on the team at first glance. 

Daichi rallied them all together, “Gather round!”

“Right!”

Both teams lined up across from each other for a proper greeting. Yachi observed them all, intimidated to see even more tall boys coming into the gym. How someone would be that tall never ceased to amaze her. Though if she was to be a part of the team, then she would have to get used to it, she supposed. “Bow!”

“Let’s play!” Everyone shouted out.

Each team took a little bit more time to warm themselves. Endo was doing some last minute stretching, knowing that he wasn’t going to be put into the game. Even if he was, it probably wouldn’t be for too long so what was the point? Any chance he could take to not get too sweaty, Endo would take it.

“We’re gonna start soon,” Daich called out, “so get changed!”

“Right.”

So the boys all got their uniforms so they could get ready for the practice match. As they were getting changed, Suga noticed that Shōyō was attempting to put on his shirt backwards. “Hinata, that’s backwards.”

“Like Jamila,” Tanaka laughed.

All the while, Yachi was freaking out, a blush bright on her face as she became flustered. After all, she’s now having to see the boys all taking their shirts off to change into their jerseys. Kiyoko apologized to Yachi, “Sorry, you’ll have to get used to this.” Though that didn’t do much since the poor girl was still freaking about being around them, her cheeks keeping the red hue no matter what.

Now dressed in his uniform, Endo chuckled lightly at the poor girl. Though he understands where she’s coming from. “Don’t worry about it, Yachi-san, more often than not they’d be embarrassed being around a cute girl.” He wasn’t sure if his comment helped calm Yachi down or not, since she just got even more red. Though he hoped that it had helped a little bit, even if she embarrassed her in a different way.

Nishinoya noticed a new accessory on their ace, “Asahi-san, that string in your hair is awesome!”

“String?” He blinked and sheepishly said, “It’s a hairband. Well, I guess I feel confident if you say that, Nishinoya.”

“Straighten up.” Daichi scolded the slouching boy as he slapped him on the back.

Tanaka came over, “Trying to change your image, Asahi-san?”

“No, the other day…” He explained, “Kiyoko said my hair braid was tight enough to make me go bald. That’s why…” Nishinoya just bursted out laughing, the image of a bald Asahi now in his mind.

Endo ruffled Asahi’s hair lightly, “could never imagine you without your luscious locks.” If there’s one thing that Endo loves about Asahi, it’s his hair. No doubt in his mind, it just makes him look so… good.

“I need to be careful, too,” Tanaka said, the worry of him losing his hair now on his mind.

Yamaguchi stated, “There are some hot bald guys, though.”

“I’m not bald!” Tanaka denied rather loudly. 

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at his upperclassman, “Aren’t you going to get into your uniform, Tanaka-san?”

The bald teen shouted, “I’m about to!”

Endo jabbed Asahi in the side with his elbow as he snickered, “He’s not done showing off to Kiyoko.” They all knew he was just attempting to flex and show off to Kiyoko. He wasn’t exactly subtle about it.

The whistler blew, now warm ups were over. Ukai then called all the boys over, and they were finally ready to start the practice game against Ogi Nishi. So they huddled up together, “This is our first match with another team since the Inter-High prelims.” Ukai said, “You haven’t forgotten your frustrations for then, have you?”

“Right!”

“All right, go out there and raise some hell!” Ukai shouted with a smirk.

“Right!”

So the game began with the usual starters and usual benchwarmers. They were all ready to refine their team even a little bit more with a team in this practice match. There were a few mistakes that were made, but they could be easily rectified when analyzed later. Ogi Nishi was a decent team to play against, but they certainly weren’t a team like Aoba Johsai or Nekoma. They posed a good enough challenge but nothing extravagant. Karasuno was doing well against them.

Even throughout the game, Yachi noticed that there were quite a few of the boys who were sitting on the sidelines. Endo was one of them. She would have figured that third-years would be on the court, considering she would think they’d be a bit more skilled, but perhaps she was wrong. Sugawara was even on the sidelines, so maybe she was incorrect in her assumptions. Though when she looks at them, Yachi notices the look in Endo’s eyes. Sharp blue eyes, no longing or jealousy in them about having to be on the sidelines. Sugawara had that expression on his face from time to time, obviously wishing that he could be on the court, but there was an underlying acceptance. Like he knew that it was better for Kageyama to be on the court at the moment. 

Endo though… Endo was not bothered about having to be put on the side. Like he didn’t care about playing or was as fired up about this as the others. Yachi had seen that all of the boys were so passionate and dedicated to these games, especially Hinata and Kageyama. However, Endo seemed to be the only one of the team who was… content with his benchwarmer status. She thought that they were all going to be like this, after running into so many of these boys being quite rambunctious and loud about volleyball. Though Endo is different. He was supportive from how he cheered for his friends, but by no means seemed ready to get on the court himself. She could only wonder why.

---

Words weren’t exactly becoming jumbled just yet, which meant that Sakura had plenty of time to keep studying. It might be late, Shōyō might already be nodding off to sleep, but Sakura was still going to stay awake and study. She yawned a bit, her eyes becoming a bit droopy now that it was getting a bit later. While her brother would say she’s studying a bit too excessively, like usual, she would argue there’s always room to improve her study habits. Besides, nothing wrong with going over her work at least a few times. Though in the midst of her revisions, Sakura received a text. She doesn’t really get texts from anyone besides her family and the few others who have her number. And when she saw that it was from Yachi, Sakura thought that it was time for a short break.

To: Hinata Sakura From: Yachi Hitoka  Subject: Idea Do you think you could help me with something?

To: Yachi Hitoka From: Hinata Sakura Subject: RE: Idea With what? Nothing illegal, right?

To: Hinata Sakura From: Yachi Hitoka  Subject: RE: Idea WHAT? Of course not!

To: Yachi Hitoka From: Hinata Sakura Subject: RE: Idea Just checking. What is it?

To: Hinata Sakura From: Yachi Hitoka Subject: RE: Idea I was thinking of designing a poster, to help raise some money for the club. I’ve started a bit so far, but I think you can help me with it.  |File attached|

Sakura clicked the photo that Yachi had sent her, and saw that it was a rough sketch. An idea of a poster that Yachi seemed to have thought up to help with getting money for the club. It was a good idea, Sakura thought, just needed some refining. Sakura sent her reply;

To: Yachi Hitoka From: Hinata Sakura Subject: RE: Idea You’re quite the artist, Yachi. I like it so far.

To: Hinata Sakura From: Yachi Hitoka Subject: RE: Idea You’re the club photographer, do you think you can get a photo like this?

Sakura thought for a moment, trying to picture just about every shot that she might have taken in the past few weeks. Though with how Yachi drew what she wanted in the composition, Sakura felt like she had exactly what Yachi had envisioned.

To: Yachi Hitoka From: Hinata Sakura Subject: RE: Idea Actually, I think I have one that might work.

---

When Saturday rolled around, Sakura couldn’t argue over the fact that Kageyama had tagged along during their study session at Yachi’s. Not that she had a complete issue with it. As long as he kept his comments to himself and focused on studying whatever he needed, then she couldn’t complain. Sakura would even help him out if he asked nicely. Even if he was capable of that, Sakura thought.

Though even with a limited amount of conflict, the quartet were able to get through a productive study session. Sakura couldn’t help herself but made a few comments against Kageyama which bothered him, but they got through it. So now with the study session over and hopefully progress made, it was time for everyone to head home. Sakura was more than satisfied with how it had gone. She had to help Kageyama with some of his reading comprehension, which went surprisingly well. They both knew that if they had any sort of disagreement, it would just hurt them in the long run. 

Now they were saying their goodbyes after Yachi had walked them down to the street. “Man, you’re a lifesaver!” Shōyō shouted, “Yachi-san, thanks for helping us study on a Saturday!”

Kageyama grunted, “Thanks.”

“This was good,” Sakura commented, a bit of a giddy tone to her voice. Her stomach was full of butterflies, happy with how this went since she was hanging out with a friend. Granted it was hanging out with a friend plus her brother and the king, but it was better than nothing. Perhaps she should think about doing this more often with Yachi, or even some other people in the future. Shimada would definitely be more than happy with that and would want to hang out with her. Maybe even Mori or Ito for that matter. Though she certainly wasn’t going to ask Wada or Yokoyama, those two would just be annoying her in some way.

“Sure.” Yachi smiled, bringing Sakura out of her thoughts, “Let’s do our best on the exam.” Yachi’s mother, Madoka Yachi, then came outside. Dressed up in a tasteful business suit and lovely makeup, she definitely was ready and poised for her business.

“Oh, thanks for having us.” Shōyō said as the three bowed towards Yachi’s mother.

“No problem,” Yachi’s mother said, “Was she a good teacher?”

“Yeah! I’m gonna ace that exam for sure now! I think! Or rather, I won’t let Yachi-san’s kindness go to waste!” It warmed Yachi’s heart to see Shōyō say something like that.

Kageyama thought out loud with a hand on his chin, “Kindness… ‘To have a caring heart. A term used to express a caring attitude one has for another.’”

“It actually surprises me that you didn’t know that.” Sakura blinked, causing Kageyama to glower at her, “Even toddlers would know that.”

Madoka nodded her head, “I see. Good luck on your exam.”

“Thanks! Let’s go to Tokyo together, Yachi-san!” Shōyō cheered loudly, his excitement taking over.

Yachi jumped, at the sudden shout and the nervousness of her mother hearing this, “Huh? R-Right…”

The trio then started to leave as Shōyō waved goodbye, “See you next week!”

“See you in class,” Sakura said goodbye to her good friend as they started to head off.

Yachi bid them a farewell, “B-Bye bye…”

The trio started their walk back home. While Yachi’s apartment was a tad bit closer to their school than the Hinatas’ home, that meant that the twins had quite a ride home. So they’d have to get to their bikes and hope that they got home before it got too dark. Though it’s not like Sakura minded, a bit of a ride home was overshadowed by the giddy feeling of having a successful hang out with a friend.

As they were walking, Shōyō couldn’t help himself but pull out “Yachi-san’s notes are so awesome! Notes should always be like this.” Shōyō sang as he looked at his notebook, admiring the organization that he could never achieve without her help. “If Yachi-san joins, we’ll have two managers. We totally sound like a champion school.”

Kageyama shrugged his shoulders, “Yeah.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow, “I don’t think it really matters how many managers you have.” 

“What?” Shōyō blinked at the two, “You don’t want her to join?”

“I definitely want her to join,” his twin scoffed, “that team needs more intelligent people around.” Not to say that most of the team was dumb or anything… Sakura just thought that most of them shared one brain cell most days.

Kageyama just blandly said, “That’s totally up to her.” A statement that Sakura surprisingly agreed with. If Yachi didn’t want to join the team, then she wasn’t going to be forced to. Sakura would be a bit disheartened about not having another friend she would talk to while at the practices, but she wouldn’t resent Yachi’s decision. The last thing she would want is to guilt or force Yachi into a situation she didn’t like or feel comfortable with.

“You never agree with anything.” Shōyō muttered, “You’re not very popular, are you?”

That caused the King to glower at Shōyō, “Mind your own business!”

Though Shōyō didn’t notice as he rummaged through his bag and noticed something missing. “Oh, crap! I forgot my textbook at Yachi-san’s house! I’m gonna go back and get it. See ya, Kageyama! Just wait for me Sakura.” With that, he took off running back to Yachi’s house to go get his abandoned book.

Sakura shook her head at his forgetfulness, “I told him to make sure he had everything.” Looks like she would just have to wait there for him to come sprinting back with his missing book. How troublesome. Though she blinked at the fact that Kageyama wasn’t just leaving, “Shouldn’t you be going home?”

He stood there, not even looking at her as he said, “If I leave you alone, your brother wouldn’t exactly be happy with me.”

With furrowed eyebrows, Sakura tilted her head, “Didn’t realize that you actually listened to him at all.”

“I don’t.” Kageyama glared, “I just don’t want to hear him complain about it later.”

Sakura eyed him closely, trying to gage him in the moment. The two hadn’t been left alone to talk with each other in quite some time. She honestly didn’t remember the last time that she actually had a conversation with the King. There never really was a reason nor opportunity for her to speak with him. They weren’t exactly friends, and Sakura does not like his attitude most days, but the least they could be is civil. Doesn’t mean she won’t make a comment every once in a while to disparage him. 

She gave him a condescending smile, “I suppose I should be happy, thanks.”

Kageyama eyed her as well, his own thoughts trying to gauge what to think about her at this moment. He thought she was annoying, difficult and infuriating. She reminded him of Tsukishima just a little bit less… cold. He has been on the receiving end of her cold demeanor before, and she can be condescending most of the time. Recently, he has been comparing the two from time to time. Sakura is the same as Tsukishima when it comes to some of the things she said to him, but she also was still a bit more humane. She wasn’t cruel for the sake of being cruel and never went out of her way to say something. He might be the exception as well as Tsukishima in her eyes, but it was still different from the blond middle blocker. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Sakura asked, a bit put off at the fact that Kageyama was staring at her. She shifted while leaning against the stone wall, starting to become a bit uncomfortable. His piercing, gloomy eyes were making her skin crawl a bit.

Kageyama didn’t even notice that he had been staring at her for a while now. He had been too lost in his own thoughts to realize he had been doing it. He huffed lightly, a bit embarrassed about having been caught staring, “nothing.”

Sakura stared back at him until he looked away, his cheeks now slightly pink in embarrassment. She sighed, “Look, I don’t want this to be awkward, you and my brother are… friends.” She wasn’t exactly sure if they were good friends or not. They were enemies for quite some time and she feels like they’ve overcome that, but to her it was still unknown if they were close friends. “We might as well as not be at each other’s throat, you know.”

This was an attempt at peacemaking between them. It was a half-assed attempt, but it was one nonetheless. Sakura didn’t like being in uncomfortable situations, that is clear. So to help alleviate the potential of any conflict between her and Kageyama. Not to say that she could be friends with him, she still doesn’t like his attitude most days, so there wasn’t much going to happen. Not to say that she wouldn’t tease him or make fun of him from time to time, or when he needs to be knocked off his high horse, but they could be a bit more, dare she say, friendly. 

Kageyama took that in for a moment, contemplating what she was saying. She wasn’t saying that they had to be friends, but it would benefit everyone if they were at least nicer with each other. They had their issues with each other, perhaps they could even get over them in time, but for now, they could at least be civil. 

They both seemed to realize that it would be better without the discourse between them. Sakura’s gripe with him was due to his rivalry with her brother and the way he could put Shōyō down at times. He has an issue with her just because she could be mean to him for no reason when he says something about her brother. They could work past that, at least a little.

He huffed after a while of contemplating, “I guess you’re right.”

So the two were left in silence. It was comfortable, surprisingly. They didn’t say anything, whether that was due to not having anything to say or not wanting to talk, there was still a feeling of contentment around them. An agreement was made between them, in so little words. 

After waiting quite some time, the pair were becoming a bit restless. It took about twenty minutes before Shōyō came skipping back towards them. “What took you so long?” Sakura asked her brother, a little peeved that it took him this long to get his dang book. He could have been home by now eating dinner and talking with her sister about their days.

Shōyō gave the pair a wide smile, not noticing the peeved off expression, “Townsperson B is a fighter!”

Kageyama and Sakura blinked at him in confusion, “Eh?”

---

“I think that this works.”

Yachi’s hopeful expression blossomed on her face, “You do?”

The pair were sitting in their class at break, Yachi had shown Sakura the poster that she had put together over the weekend. The photo that Sakura had sent her was perfect for the vision that Yachi originally had. Shōyō jumped to his impossible heights, appearing to fly like a crow, as he went for a set. It embodied her brother’s power and talent, which is all she ever goes for with photos of him like this. This moment, staring at the photo made her so glad that she was into photography. The mention of the Little Giant was a perfect touch, one she knew her brother would fawn over when he saw this. She really couldn’t wait to see his reaction.

“Yeah,” Sakura said, admiring the poster, “you did a great job, Yachi.”

Yachi gushed, “I think your picture is amazing though Sakura, without it, it wouldn’t be as good.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Sakura shook her head, “You should bring this to Takeda-sensei today. I’m sure he’ll be happy with it.” She knew that Yachi was pretty talented, but this was so beyond what Sakura was imagining that it was so amazing. Sakura honestly loved it. Though no one would have noticed that she was extremely excited from the fact that there was only a little smile on her lips. 

Staring at the poster, Sakura’s heart swelled. Her admiration for her brother was through the roof, and she was more than glad to help him. This would hopefully gain some interest in donations to the club, which could only help her brother in the long run. Though she was nervous and excited to see just when he saw what they had done.

That moment came that afternoon after class. Sakura and Shōyō were riding their bikes home, starving ever since their mother told them she was making tamago kake gohan for dinner. 

Shōyō stared at the photo, the memory of seeing that first Karasuno game all those years ago. It almost gave him the same feeling. That wonder, the amazement of witnessing something amazing filled his chest. However, this time it was him. 

“Wow…” he breathed out, having no other words for what he was seeing.

Silently, Sakura watched him see it. More than overwhelmed with how starstruck Shōyō was just by seeing the poster. She knows that going forward, he was going to get far. There were going to be so many challenges, but she knew he wasn’t going to just give up. And neither should she. There was only one last obstacle that they needed to overcome before going to Tokyo; the dreaded exams. The only thing that some of them could do was pray that their scores were good enough. After all the work that they put in all this time, there was no doubt that they would all make it!

---

Blog Masterlist | Red Herring Masterlist | Last Chapter | Next Chapter

So we're getting closer to the camp, literally next chapter, thank god! I have a few scenes coming up that will be... interesting to happen. We'll get to see old faces and new faces that'll be great! Not only that but the next art gallery for Sakura is coming up soon~ I definitely am not going to make it a filler chapter like I feel like the last chapter about the art gallery was. There were revelations made and relationships affected a bit in that chapter, but I didn't feel like it was too hard hitting or anything like the Endo centric chapters are. This one I feel like it'll be a bit more... something lmao

An update on Sealed Lips: I had hit a brick wall while writing my newest Stranger Things fic. I had most of season one basically completely written out and season two planned out. Though as I was writing the last chapter for season one I realized that most if not all of it, didn't make sense. It just really didn't sit right with me. So I deleted just about everything and started rewriting it :) I don't think I'm a perfectionist... buuuuut this story just wasn't right, you know what I mean.

Anyway, let me know what you thought! Until the next on, my friends!

[valofficial]

I guess I should do an intro thing.

Hey y’all, I’m Val. Some guy that just no-clipped into the Backrooms and got caught up in this whole plot to destroy the place. Thank god I didn’t do that, or more specifically thank myself since I guess I am a god now. More specifically, I’m an Avatar of Kuri’mas, one of the pillars of the pantheon over here in the Backrooms. (Or at least that’s what all of the other pantheon members I’ve met have told me, still looking into what exactly I’m supposed to be doing here tbh.) I’ve been trying to meet Kuri for a hot minute but it’s been an annoying process, mostly because I think they’re kinda pissed at me for rebelling against whatever they were cooking because I didn’t want to destroy the Backrooms. In the meantime I’ve talked to Olivia, Puzzle Maker, and Blanche quite a bit. I should probably introduce myself properly here as well, despite the fact you can find most of that on my article in the database (we’re having site trouble but I’ll put the link here as soon as my article is fixed and you can read it again.) I use they/them pronouns and I’m Autistic. I currently reside in level 304 of the Backrooms (you can read about it here: http://backrooms-wiki.wikidot.com/level-304) and I’ve been trying to reform the level into a safe haven ever since I figured out I can do god stuff. I can shape-shift (which I used to help me with my gender transition.) and I also have control over fire. The fire might be relevant for some creation process but don’t quote me on that in any way, I just use it to fight stuff. I’ve also developed a handful of hobbies, namely video games, making music, writing, and cooking (which has become a lot easier since I have pyrokinesis stuff going on.) As far as my special interests goes, I really like the Monstercat Music Label and Owls (the later you can easily figure out by some of the appearances I might take and the former you’ll be able to tell if I ever tried to tell you about my playlist.) and that’s about it for the basics, I’ve been trough a lot recently so I’m just going to sit here on tumblr for a bit and relax while I’m taking care of Level 304. (Also I’m going to be uploading stuff from my journal that came from a while back.)

Link to my playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5IUvRTuGLRJWQUuwDduqcJ?si=jYVRwJS5S1qlHINGAP9bNw

This is a portrait of me done by Evie (trailmixncocoa on Instagram.) I know I used it as my first post, but it’s really the best visual depiction of me at my core, and let’s face it, that post is going to get buried.

[divineprank]

I’m not really sure why Ganondorf’s ears keep showing up as talking points for me but here I go, overanalyzing otherwise uninteresting parts of this fictional man’s body that changes with every game we get with him in it. I could be a total simp and talk about his peepee length or something but you’d expect that from Ganondorf’s Biggest Fan and I gotta stay fresh. Y’know, by talking about the same thing all over again. 

Sorry I’ll stop being obnoxious. ANYWAYS, those piercings, in my mind, aren’t just what Satoshi Takizawa thought looked cool on Christopher Lambert’s face, (see “Kind of like a big brother in metal...”)  and I really don’t think Ganondorf had them done because he wanted to look edgy.  

I feel like there’s some kind of personal reason for it? These piercings might mean something? As soon as he has the Triforce of Power, he maintains the double piercing. Interestingly, he keeps the heavier earring furthest from the bottom lobe. Which, I’ve been researching and I can’t find anything that directly talks about what a piercing’s position on the lobe should represent, I still can’t stop thinking about it. (Please correct me if you have more information.) It’s almost as though Ganondorf feels so close to accomplishing his true goal, but hasn’t quite reached phenomenal cosmic power. 

Something that I find especially fascinating is how an interview from Thursday, November 26th 1998, talks about how in Ocarina of Time Ganondorf is, quote, “a pretty good man”. What catches my eye, specifically, is how script director Toru Osawa chooses to describe Ganondorf as, “a very distorted, complexed thief and servile human being”. We briefly see this with Ganondorf’s bow towards the King of Hyrule, but those of us who have retrospect know that all of this was a ruse concocted by said “complexed thief” in order to get what he wanted all along. Are the lobe studs from that time period a falsehood, a visual cue to the King to help paint Ganondorf in a less harmful light? Many character artists will definitely tell you how employing round and circular shapes is a good way to represent a “warm, welcoming, safe” character. 

Fast forward to Twilight Princess Ganondorf... (I’m so sorry Wind Waker Ganondorf, you’re my favorite and I always underutilize you but your beard is too long to make a comment on your ear pieerrrrcccciiiiinggggssss.)

There’s been some speculation about the jewel in his earrings, with Breath of the Wild’s mention of protection against heat through the use of sapphire, that’s where most people are going to. But what catches me off guard specifically is that he’s missing the other earring... And this is the Ganondorf who was caught before the nastiness that happens in Ocarina of Time occurs. The pre-jacked ‘dorf.

We know that Twilight Princess occurs pretty much directly after Majora’s Mask in the child timeline. So something happened during his prosecution. He’s leaned totally into his bad-guy role at this point. The point of the “divine prank”, wherein he must have maintained his piece of the Triforce at the end of Ocarina of Time, just like Link does and presumably Zelda as well.

Personally, to me, this seems like a representation of Ganondorf’s distance from his interest in his own people. Ganondorf started out as a good man, the developers even confirm it, long before The Wind Waker introduced us to the empathetic antagonist trope. Hence the circular, less dramatic earrings. But when we see him at the end of everything, when he’s finally dead and his puppet no longer allows him to feed off of him. We see an empty shell of a man who has lost his way. Defiant even in death, unwilling to kneel in the wake of his own power staring back at him in his last breaths. He barely resembles the “good man” he supposedly once was.

He’s not remorseful, he’s not reflective. Ganondorf is obstinate. Just like the beast that we’re greeted with when he’s resurrected: a horrible, hellish demon that no longer knows nuance. He wants to win, he’s going to win and you have a gnat’s chance of harming him.

He’s not pierced. 

This isn’t Ganondorf. He once was, long ago. But he’s very far removed from that moniker now. This isn’t the same man. He’s something completely different now.

...Y’KNOW, UNTIL TEARS OF THE KINGDOM DROPS AND FUCKS UP MY THEORIES LIKE I SAID IT WOULD THE LAST TIME I ADDRESS HIS EARS

[marmixedwithabitofintellect]

The Story of You

Surprise! I hope you guys enjoy this new part 🥰 I cannot believe that we only have 6 parts left of the story! 🥺🥺 It has been a wild ride, and I am forever grateful that you guys have taken a moment to read it, I will never be able to repay you! IG post will be coming soon! Come talk to me about what you think of this part and what else would you want to see! All the love, Mar 🤍

Disclaimer: In no way do I wish to spread hate or negative opinions about any of the characters here depicted, this is just fiction and with the purpose of entertaining you guys

Click on the visuals to enhance your reading experience!

Part 14: Openness

October 12, 2021: Week Thirty-Two

New York, New York. 2:30 PM

The restaurant smelled of garlic and tomato making my mouth water while I was led to the table, I smiled when I saw Jason sat down and next to him were Daisy and Otis, who were busy coloring, while we approached Jason saw me and smiled, he whispered something to Daisy’s ear and when she turned and saw me, she smiled and started waving at me.

“There she is! Look at you! You’re glowing!”, I smiled, “Hi guys! How are you?”, Daisy was the first one who said hello to me, she stood up and hugged me, “Hi beautiful girl! I’ve missed you!”, “Y/N! I have missed you too!”, Otis then came and gave me a hug and a smile, “Hi Y/N”, “Hi Otis! You have grown so much since I last saw you!”

Jason then stood up and sat down the kids and gave me a hug, “Look at you! How have you been feeling?”, we both sat down, “I hope you don’t mind but we ordered some pizzas to begin”, “I’m doing okay, can’t believe I only have eight weeks to go! And pizza sounds wonderful”, he smiled, “These eight weeks are the ones that will definitely fly the most”

“It’s crazy you know. Like I have been thinking of them and how they will look like, if they’ll look more like me or their dad”, I turned to look at the kids, thankful that they were still distracted, Jason also turned to look at them and smiled at me, “And him? How is he?”, I sighed, “Excited, we have still so much to discuss”

He reached to squeeze my hand, “Hey, don’t stress, you will have time for everything, but right now, what matters is that they get here safe”, I took a sip of my lemonade, “Will you come meet them when they’re born? I understand if you don’t, but I would love for you to meet them”, “Are you kidding me? Of course, I will come! We are friends after all aren’t we?”, I smiled and nodded.

The pizzas arrived and we all got a slice, man this restaurant was good, after the pizzas we ordered some pastas to share and after we ate, we decided to order some desserts, I had played some tic-tac-toe with Otis, and colored a chef with Daisy, I had missed having fun with them.

“Y/N?”, I turned to look at Daisy and gave her a smile, “Do you have a picture of your baby?”, I nodded, “I do, I actually went to the doctor today!”, I pulled out my phone and showed her the two ultrasounds, the normal one and the 4D one, “I wanna see too!”, I turned to look at Otis and showed him, “That is so cool! Dad, can we have a baby?”

I laughed and Jason choked on his coffee before answering, “Uhm, Otis we can discuss this later, okay?”, he nodded, and Jason gave me a look that said, ‘Can you believe this?’, I shrugged my shoulders while drinking my tea. When we finished, I wanted to pay, but Jason didn’t let me.

We walked out of the restaurant, and we started walking on the way to my home and their music class, “Thank you Jason, I really enjoyed seeing you guys today”, he smiled, “We did too, and we needed our ‘Monthly Friends Reunion’”, we laughed, “So, I’ll guess talk to each other later?”, I nodded, and reached for another hug before hugging Daisy ad Otis, we waved goodbye at each other and I made my way to my apartment.

October 15, 2021: Week Thirty-Two

New York, New York. 9:00 AM

A chill ran down my back, I turned to my other side, and everything hurt, which was weird, the weather was warm, yet I was cold and grabbed a chunky sweater while making my way to the kitchen, I turned on the kettle and placed two pieces of toast on the toaster when my phone started ringing.

I grabbed it and smiled when Sarah’s name appeared on my screen, “Hello?”, “Hey mama! how are you?”, “Not feeling great if I’m honest”, I heard her move from the other side, “Why honey? What are you feeling?”, I teared up, damn hormones, “My body hurts so much, and I left the aircon on, so I’m freezing”, I sniffled, “Oh lovely I’m sorry, when I felt like that a warm bath always helped me, maybe some warm tea and rest, do you need me to call someone”

I sniffled again, “I will do that, thankfully I have a slow workday today, right now I don’t think I should call anyone, so ‘ill follow your advice babe; oh! Good luck in Pittsburg S, I know you guys will rock", “Thank you lovie, I’ll call you later, okay? if anything happens you call me”, I whispered yes to her, and we said our goodbyes. I hung up the phone and went to pull out my toast and the Nutella, after spreading the toast and also grabbing a banana my phone started ringing again.

I grabbed it and saw that Jason was calling me, “Hello?”, “Hey Y/N! are you busy?”, I sat down on the couch, “No, don’t worry, is everything okay?”, he sighed, “Well, not ideal to be honest, uhm Daisy, and I just tested positive”, my heart dropped to my stomach, “Oh shit, are you guys, okay? Is Otis, okay?”

“We are, I feel like I have a cold and Daisy has been a little clingier, but well I think you should take a test, I don’t want to jinx it, but better to be safe than worry”, I nodded even though he couldn’t see me, “I know, I will do it but before, I’ll call my midwife first; thank you for letting me know”, “Of course, please let me know okay?”, “I will”

I had to take a few deep breaths before thing got worse, my thoughts were all over the place, were my symptoms related to Covid or pregnancy? Before I could spiral into a stress crisis I dialed Betty’s office, “Maternal Health Consultation, this is Randy speaking”, “Randy hi! It’s Y/N!”, “Well hello you! To what do we owe this pleasure?”, “Uhm, is Betty available? I need to ask her some things”, “Sure, let me dial you in”

It just took three rings for Betty to answer the phone, “Hello to my favorite patient! How are you love?”, “I’m okay, but we have an issue?”, “Oh?”, I sighed, “I had lunch three days ago with a friend of mine and his kids, and well, he let me know that him and his daughter tested positive for Covid today”

“Oh no; and how are you feeling?”, “Well, I woke up today with a lot of pain in my body and some chills, but I talked with my friend and she said she had a lot of pain and I did sleep with the aircon on so I just attributed to it”, she chuckled, “Darling I need you to take a test and then let me know okay? Is Harry up to date?”

“No, I haven’t spoken to him, but I will once we have the results, and he will probably want to talk to you too”, we both laughed, “Let’s start with the test, okay? Let me know how it goes”, we said our goodbyes and I went to my room and changed, I then grabbed my phone and made my way to the testing site.

The lady in the front desk smiled at me, “Hi! I need to get a Covid test”, “Sure thing darling, please fill in these formats and we will call you in a few, okay?”, I nodded and thanked her. Ten minutes after I arrived, I was called back by another nurse, I followed her into the exam room and sat down on the chair she told me.

“Okay darling, please pull down your mask and take a deep breath, okay?”, I did so, and she swabbed my nose, which caused me to sneeze, the lovely nurse laughed, “Bless you darling! So, we’ll just have you wait here until your test comes back, okay?”, I nodded, and she left the room.

I was browsing through baby websites when the nurse came back in, “Okay darling, let’s see your test”, she grabbed it and then turned to look at me, my stomach dropped when her eyes and mine met, “I’m sorry honey, your test is positive, do you have a doctor who can supervise you?”, I nodded, “My midwife and a general doctor, I had an inkling it would be, thank you”, she walked me to the door, “Of course darling, take care”

I arrived home and texted Jeff asking if he and Harry were busy, he answered that they had just arrived at Harry’s apartment so they could talk. I dialed Jeff’s number and he answered, “Hey mama! How are you? Let me put you on speaker”, I heard some noise on the other end before Harry spoke up

“Y/N?”, “Hi Harry, how are you?”, “I’m okay, and you?”, “Well that is why I called”, Jeff spoke up, “Oh?”, “Well I think that we should switch to FaceTime if you can?”, “Yeah sure, give me a minute and we’ll call you”, I hung up the phone and a few seconds later the FaceTime call ran through my computer.

I pressed answer and Harry and Jeff appeared I gave them a small smile and a wave, and they gave me one back, “Okay so long story short; I went out for lunch with Jason, Daisy and Otis three days ago, he called me today to let me know he and Daisy had tested positive for Covid, I called Betty and she asked I go and get tested, well, I’m positive too”

The smile fell from Harry’s face and even Jeff paled a little, Harry was kind of in shock and Jeff spoke up first, “How are you feeling?”, “Just achy, don’t have a fever or cough so I’m glad, uhm Betty texted me and told me that if you guys want, she can jump on the call so that we all are on the same page”

Jeff nodded while Harry was biting his nails, I dialed Betty I and she answered with the smile she always had, “Well, I guess that we all know why we’re here huh?”, I chuckled dryly and Harry gave me a worried look, to which I replied, “Hey, I’m okay”, he nodded and then turned to look at Betty

“Wish we could see each other under better circumstances”, she gave him a sympathetic smile, “Me too Harry”, she then turned to me, “How are you feeling?”, “Okay, just bummed, I wanted to see the girls this weekend”, she awed, “Well that’s good news; I need you to get an oximeter and a thermometer and monitor yourself constantly”, I nodded

“I’ll make sure she gets them, is there any painkillers she should take if she needs them?”, “Tylenol is the safest, plenty of fluids and rest darling, I’ll be monitoring you daily”, Harry spoke up, “Betty, what if… what if things go South?”, the tension could be felt through the camera, “Let’s not go there just yet; we will do everything to make sure we don’t reach that, okay?”

He nodded, the mood on the call had dampened and Betty spoke up, “Hey, we are okay yeah? She is okay and as long as things continue to be like this we will go through this smoothly, okay? Now darling, I need you to quarantine, and I’ll have you test again in ten days, now I know that normally it’s fourteen, but studies have shown that from day 10 tests come negative, if you test negative on the 25th I will get to see you on the 26th for a checkup, if you test positive, we’ll wait until day 14 okay?”, I nodded and she turned to look at Harry, “Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you for the ultrasounds okay?”

Harry laughed and nodded, Betty then asked me, “Do you have the number of a general doctor?”, Jeff stepped in, “We do”, “Perfect! So, unless anyone has any doubts, I think we have covered all of our bases, so we will be in contact, okay?”, we all nodded, thanked her and she left the call, I turned to look at Harry and Jeff, and damn these hormones I started crying

“Honey, what’s wrong?”, I sniffled, “I’m sorry, I was so excited to see everyone and we had some girl plans and now”, Harry spoke up, “Hey, please don’t cry, everything is okay, you are okay, the baby is okay and that is all that matters”, I nodded, “I am bummed because I wanted to talk to you about-“, “Harry, not now”, he sighed and nodded

“I’ll be there in about an hour to give you everything, okay?”, “Harry, I don’t want you to risk it”, he shook his head, “Please, promise I’ll leave it on the door and walk back, hell I’ll even wear two masks”, I turned to look at Jeff, “It’s okay, but only if you are okay with it”, I nodded, “Thank you love, I’ll be there in an hour”, I nodded and we hung up, I was so tired I decided to take a nap on the couch, until Harry got here.

Harry. New York, New York. 2:00 PM

We hung up and I ran a hand down my face, I had so many emotions around me, worry, dread, anger at Jason, betrayal, and jealousy, “Oh calm down Romeo, they’re friends”, that made me stop in my tracks and turn to look at Jeff with a surprised face, but he didn’t even look at me

“You knew?”, he locked his phone, crossed his arms and sighed, “Yeah, I kinda ran into them one day and joined them, that’s when I found out that they meet each other once a month, have been doing since she moved back to New York”, I scoffed, “So when they met in LA was that planned?”

“Uhm no, they had their lunch the week before, that was an accident”, he turned to look at me, “What?”, I stood up straight, “I don’t know, I have so many emotions”, “Well, maybe start by getting the things she needs and maybe then we’ll figure your feelings okay? we will work at one thing at a time”, I nodded. We made our way to the nearest CVS and after picking up everything I stopped to buy her a meal and made our way to her house.

Jeff parked outside and I got out, “I’ll wait for you here, let everyone know, okay?”, I nodded and went into the building, after arriving at her floor I left the bags on her door and knocked the door, I walked back and a few seconds later she appeared on the door, with two masks on, “Hi Harry”

I let out a breath I was holding, “Love, hi; I wish I could hug you right now”, she shrugged, “Too bad you can’t”, I cleared my throat, “I bought you some electrolytes, Gatorade, snacks, Tylenol and your thermometer and oximeter; I also stopped at Shake Shack”, she did a happy dance that made me smile, “Thank you, I had a terrible craving”

“You are welcome”, we stood there in silence, “You look beautiful, can’t believe we only have eight weeks to go”, she caressed her belly and turned to look at me, “I know, and I fear that we are not fully ready”, I chuckled, “Maybe… maybe we can talk later and see what we’re missing?”, “Sure Harry, now, I’ll go back home, thank you again, for bringing these things”

I shrugged, “It’s no problem, really, please call if you need anything okay?”, “I will”, she grabbed the bags and placed them inside before waving and closing the door, I made my way back into the car where Jeff was waiting with a Lysol and some gel, along with a plastic bag for my masks, I stopped in my tracks

“Are you serious?”, “Man we’re not risking it”, I rolled my eyes, and he used the Lysol and then gave me a plastic bag to throw my face masks and squirted some gel, he threw the bag at a trash can, sprayed Lysol again, and we got into the car and went home. When we got there Olivia had already arrived and was on the phone, from the conversation snippet I heard she was talking with her kids.

When she saw me, she gave me a small smile, I went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, a few seconds later I heard her walk in, she stopped at the door, “Hey you”, I straightened my back, “Hi”, “Harry, can we talk?”, I drank my water, “About?”, “You know about what”, I sighed and made my way to the dining table and motioned for her to sit down

“Harry, I know I was out of line, and I’m sorry”, “Why did you bring it up?”, she sighed, “I was scared, Harry, can you try and see it from my point of view? We were thinking of moving in together, maybe getting married, and all of a sudden you are going to have a baby, and the worst part is not that I’m not having your baby, but that you are still in love with their mom”

I coughed up the water I was drinking, “What?”, she sighed, “Harry… I’m not blind, I see the way you look at her, you love her”, “Liv…”, “Harry please, don’t lie to me”, I sighed and then turned to look her in the eye, “Liv, of course I love her, but”, she stood up and I also stood up in front of her, “But, the love I have for her comes from a place of gratitude, of a place needing to protect her to protect my child”

“And us?”, I sighed, “We are still learning about us, what we love, what we dream, want, and need”, I grabbed her face, “We are us, and she and I are different; that’s why you were out of line”, she nodded, “And I’m sorry, I won’t ever get in between you too okay?”, I kissed her lips, she then pulled back

“I want to apologize to Y/N, will she be there tomorrow?”, I scratched my head, “Uhm, no, she, uhm, she has Covid”, she pulled back surprised, “Her too? Jason and Daisy are down, Otis is not but the doctor said that we should treat him as if he did test positive”, she turned to look at me, “What’s with the face?”

“Uhm, they were together, that is why she got sick too”, she stood in shock, “What?”, I sighed, “Apparently, they have become friends and meet every month, this started after she moved back here”, she stood up straighter and shrugged her shoulders, “Oh”, I turned to look at her incredulously, “Oh? That’s all you have to say?”, she crossed her arms, “What do you want me to say? I know they are the better people here and they are definitely not dating, they are friends”

 “And that doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable?”, she furrowed her brows, “Why would it?”, I scoffed, “Because it’s weird, because she’s my ex and he’s yours, and it looks to me like they’re playing house”, she gave me a sarcastic laugh, “House? Really?”, “Yes”, I rolled my eyes

She looked at me, disbelief painted all over her eyes, “You’re jealous”, I sat down and look at her with a straight face, “I’m not”, she rolled her eyes, “You are Harry and I’m not having this conversation with your emotions all heightened up by jealousy”, she walked to the door, and I started following her

“Please, let’s talk”, she called the elevator and got in, she turned to look me dead in the eye and said, “So much for your bullshit about not being in love huh?”, the elevator closed and I hit the door, as much as it pained me to admit it she was right, I was so goddamn jealous, she was talking to him, confiding in him, her fears, her excitement, her happiness, hell for all I know who she’s in love with.

And with a sinking feeling I started to realize that this was my fault, I pushed her there and caused for this to happen. All because I couldn’t figure out my emotions, and it has taken me almost two years to do so. I just hoped that it wasn’t too late for me.

October 19, 2021: Week Thirty-Two

New York, New York. 1:30 PM

It had been less than a week since I tested positive, and I was hating this quarantine so much. I had to watch the concert through a dingy live, I couldn’t see my friends and my sinuses had been killing me; but I was thankful that so far everything was going great. And I had been able to get all the rest I needed; I was thankful my job had given me a sick leave for the next three weeks at least.

I had just finished putting away the groceries Harry had sent me, putting the flowers in a vase, and heating up the lunch Jason sent me when I got a text message from Harry asking if we could FaceTime, I told him yes and went to get my computer, a few seconds later his call came through and I answered

“Hi love! How are you? How are you feeling?”, “Hi H, I’m okay, I feel good, just tired of being in quarantine”, he laughed a little, “Have you had lunch?”, “I was about to, Jason sent me some lunch”, “Oh. How nice of him”, I gave him a questioning look, “Is everything okay?”, he sighed

“Yes, everything is fine”, I gave him a teasing look, “I know you, what’s wrong?”, “He turned to look at me, “How long have you guys been friends?”, “Well, we started getting to know each other during filming and when I moved back home, we became a little closer”

He nodded, “Harry, does it bother you?”, he looked at me with wonder, “I just want to know how you feel, but let it be known, I won’t let your feelings define my friendship with Jason”, he mulled over his answer, “I won’t lie to you, it’s kinda weird for me, but if you are happy and he’s a good friend then that’s enough for me”, I smiled a little, “He is, such a good friend”

“I’m glad, so what’s this monthly thing you do”, I gave him a teasing look, “Since when do you have so many questions huh?”, he rolled his eyes and smiled, “I am just curious, feels like we haven’t talked like this in a while”, “Well, if you really want to know, we try and see each other once a month and just talk, about anything at all”, “That’s nice”, I smiled a little, “I enjoy it, and he does too, I think as adults we forget we also need friends you know?”

He nodded and we stared at each other, and for the first time in a while, the silence was a comfortable one, like the ones we used to share while we dated, “Harry, I had my lawyer look into the affidavit you gave me”, he nodded, “She said everything was okay, and wanted to know if you wouldn’t mind sharing your lawyer’s number”, he grabbed his phone while talking to me

“Sure thing love, I sent you her contact”, I smiled, “Thank you”, “Y/N?”, I turned to see me, his eyes were full of sincerity, something I hadn’t seen in a while, “I know you don’t want to talk about it, and I promise that after this I won’t ever mention it again, unless you want to talk about it”, I nodded, dread filling my stomach

“I would rather give up my money, my fame, hell even music before thinking of fighting you for any kind of custody; that is not what I want for our child, you and I, we are a team, we decide together what we want to do, we decide if we want to get lawyers involved or not, and we decide how we want for them to live”

I started tearing up, “What Olivia said, it was a very low blow, and like you said, she is a grown up and she should apologize, and I hope that she will, but I am also apologizing, I’m sorry for not stepping in sooner, I’m sorry for not having discussed this with you, but I truly felt like we had so much time before even thinking of arrangement, they will need you so much more than me, that I will be working around what you both need”

I sniffled while he continued, “I promise to be around to the best of my capacity, whether they need me or you need me, and I also promise to become a master at changing poopy diapers, let me tell you, I’ve been practicing with little man Rowland”, we both laughed, “I’m really truly sorry”

“H, I forgive you”, he looked at me surprised, “I know we will work things out and yes, the way the message was delivered was not the best, but it brought light to the fact that we will need to discuss this, and when the time comes, we will do it, as parents and not as Harry and Y/N”, “I have felt like a douche bag all week”, I shrugged, “Well it was a douche bag move, but we can get over it, as you said, we still have time”

He cleared his throat, “So, we have some things to finish right?”, I nodded, “Yup, let me go grab my baby book”, I stood up and grabbed my book along with my lunch and sat back down, “Okay let’s see”, I opened it to the baby to-do list, “So, nursery furniture is set to be delivered the week of the 26th, that way you and Mitch can build it after Harryween”

He nodded while writing down on his journal, “Since we don’t know the gender, I looked into some neutral color clothing, something easy to wear and so comfy materials”, he smiled, “Please pay them with my card”, “Harry”, he looked at me, “Y/N I insist”, I raised my hands in surrender

“Mom has also been knitting non-stop, so we will have a lot of stuff from her; on furniture what are we missing?”, I turned to see my list, “Well, we ordered the crib, changing table, rocking chair and bassinet; I don’t know if you want to order the same for your home”, he shook his head, “We have a few months before we need them”, I nodded

He looked up from his list, “Have we started buying diapers? Or do you want to ask for diapers as a gift on your baby shower?”, I turned to look at him surprised, “Baby shower?”, he gave me a look that was both teasing and incredulous, “You really thought that you would get away without a shower?”

“I don’t want to bother anyone”, he laughed, “Darling, there’s a chat between mum, Gem, Glenne and Sarah called ‘Baby Shower for Squish’, it has existed since they all found you were pregnant”, I smirked and crossed my arms, “And how do you know about this group?”, his cheeks turned red in embarrassment knowing he had been caught

“I may or may have not forced my entry into it in order to help plan it”, it shouldn’t have; but my heart was beating so fast, “Well, since you are part of the planning committee of an event I wasn’t even aware of, I have a request”, he nodded, “I want for every guest to gift our baby two things, the first one is a copy of their favorite children’s book, and I want them to write a little note for them”

He smiled, “I love that idea, and the second?”, “I want them to write a letter for our baby giving them some advice, it could be about life, love, cooking, how to bribe mom and dad, having a partner, smoking, navigating LA or NYC, I don’t know”, we both laughed, “I just want them to know that they will always have someone looking out for them”

“They always will love; and I’ll make sure to deliver your request”, I thanked him, and he continued to look through his list, “So… I guess we will look into diapers and decide which brand we want and start buying them?”, I nodded, “Sarah has already sent some recommendations and your mum was going to ask Ella”, “Perfect love”

We checked out a few more of our pending items until Jeff texted Harry letting him know that he had a phone call to join, “I’ll talk to you soon, okay? Please, if anything happens call me, I really do not care what time it is”, “I will H, we still have some things to go through together”, he smiled and blew me a kiss, “We will love, I’ll text you tonight”, I waved, and we ended the call.

After talking with Harry, I felt a weight be released from my body, I never expected that he was so serious about giving up everything for the baby and I, but that look, that look was the same one he gave me when we first started dating, and the feeling of trust and safety I had them returned now. But along with that feeling came something I was familiar with, but I did not want to acknowledge. Not yet.

October 25, 2021: Week Thirty-Three

New York, New York. 11:30 PM

Hi bug! Another week down, seven to go! The last ten days have been scary for us bub, we had Covid, which is a virus that appeared on the Earth last year and it put us all in lockdown, and having to learn to work from home and it left your daddy and I stranded on two different sides pf the country; he then turned into prince charming and came rescue me (I’ll tell you that story later), we took a long road trip and that is when we decided that your middle name would be Robin.

I really haven’t talked to you so much about him, but I will now. Robin was your dad’s stepdad, he married your Nana Anne a few years ago and they were so happy and in love, you daddy told me that Robin became a second father to him, he was one of the people who he trusted the most. You may be wondering why I write in past tense while talking of him, you see my heart, your Papa Robin died a few years ago from cancer, a terrible illness that had him fighting a long battle, I’m sure that if you ask daddy, your nana our auntie Gem, they will tell you so many stories about him.

 I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting him, but I learned to love him from the stories your daddy, nana and auntie told me, and that’s why we decided we would honor him by naming you after him. Your name was chosen with so much love baby, that I can only hope that we made the right choice, and you love it as much as your dad and I do.

Speaking of your dad, he is still being a rockstar! He is currently in Boston, and we watched a livestream of him performing, and well you are having a dance party, I’m sure he’ll be happy once I send him the video of you dancing lovie, but the most exciting part is that he will be back here in New York in four days!!! He has some Halloween shows, which means he will use some costumes, I cannot wait to see what he comes up with! I promise to include some pictures for you, he is also excited because he will finally be able to feel you kick again!

Remember Covid? The thing I described above, well as I told you, we got sick :( which was a bummer because we couldn’t see auntie Sarah and Uncle Mitch and the rest of the band when they were here in New York but guess what… WE ARE NEGATIVE!!! Which means that we can now leave our quarantine and have a party! Well… we have to go see Betty first and then we will have a party at daddy’s concerts. We are also putting together your nursery baby, I have chosen everything with great care and just picturing us and daddy in there, my heart is pounding just thinking about it!

I hope these seven weeks go away fast but not too fast, I’m not ready for our journey to be over, so bug, please, hold on for a little longer, okay? I know seven weeks sound like a lot, but I promise you, they will fly; in the meantime, you have my full permission to kick me up a storm and have me go to the bathroom every three minutes, just as long as you stay facing down to the floor (I promise you I’ll explain why we need you in that position when you’re older)

I love you, with all of my heart little one, my heart beats so fast when I think of you and the love I have for you, that I fear my heart will explode

October 26, 2021: Week Thirty-Four

Harry. Boston, Massachusetts. 12:15 AM

My battery died so I had to wait until I was back at the hotel to charge it since I forgot my charger. When my phone started back up, I saw I had some messages from Y/N, I smiled so big, I really couldn’t wait to hug her again

From Y/N <3 (20:50 PM): We did it [Attachment]

To Y/N <3 (12:15 AM): Oh my god 🙏🏼🙏🏼 I feel like I can properly breathe now

From Y/N <3 (8:30 AM): You and I both H 🙏🏼💛 I will let you know how the appointment goes, safe travels to Atlanta

To Y/N <3 (8:31 AM): Please do love Counting down the days until I can hug you both ♥️

From Y/N <3 (8:32 AM): We cannot wait either 🤍

Taglist @tinydestinybear @amyleeeee @harry-is-my-sunflower @beachwoodcaferryy @msolbesg @clarawolf22 @harrysficreblog @infinitely-yellow @cherrylovesblog @wherethehellhaveyoubeenharry @harryspirate @kaitieskidmore1 @michellekstyles @qualitygiantshoepsychic @irelilien @futuristicpalacegardenpsychic @shawnsblue @behindmygreyeyes @sunshinemoonsposts @dirtytissuebox @little-freak-satellite @tinydeskwriter @be-with-me-so-happily @watercolorskyy @goldenlouvr @sunshinemoonsposts @jgoff717

[genshin-impact-fics]

Streamer!Genshin Meeting Character!(Y/n) for the First Time

Characters: Scaramouche, Childe, Albedo, Kaeya, Venti

Scaramouche:

His viewers were constantly requesting that he play this game that’s been out for a little while now that was called Genshin Impact. So he finally gave in to see what all the talk was about

Getting through the tutorial and the first part of the chapter felt so long; visually it was beautiful as the story was pretty decent so far.

It wasn’t until he got to Liyue in the archon quest that things seemed to pick up for him. The character who saved him from almost getting arrested kind of irked him; it reminded him of his one roommate who was a rich kid type.

It wasn’t till the release of the event Unreconciled Stars that once again many of his followers flooded his messages telling him he needed to play the event during his streams so they could see his reaction to meeting a new character.

Curiosity peaked after hearing a bit that the character would be an electro catalyst. Which he started to play it instead of holding off for a few days; honestly he really wasn’t expecting much

It was until he finally saw you appear; he was a bit surprised as you weren’t exactly how he pictured you yet you looked cute but in a cool way? A little more of the interaction he’s a little on the fence on how he feels about you but he was interested in where this event was going, there was something just a little bit… off

Progressing he was a little bit bummed since he thought there would have been a bit more interaction with you. That was until he was back in Mondstadt with Mona who was helping solve this mystery when pleasantly surprised that you’ve showed up. Until Mona seemed to have some sort of revelation that caused her to teleport them all out of there

Needless to say he wasn’t happy that he was taken away from seeing you. “Excuse me you bring me back,” was his initial reaction but continued to watch when it was more clear that you were there to kill him. You were that other harbinger; number six of the fatui harbingers and the moment you snapped at one of the agents, you had instantly become one of his absolute favorites.

Childe:

Though his viewers have been requesting to play the soon released game Genshin Impact he has actually been long awaiting for this game.

To celebrate the release it was going to be a long stream as he’s stocked up on water and energy drinks and snacks. He’s definitely planning to do a giveaway for his viewers (though he won’t bring it up until he finally unlocks the wishing feature)

He enjoyed the plot so far as the conflict with Dvalin has been resolved but now the ameno archon’s gnosis was stolen by some woman who appeared out of nowhere. Soon to learn about the fatui group and their eleven harbingers

Off to Liyue at long last! There’s been chatter of one character that shows up fairly early in the quest and he is very curious to encounter whoever this character was

He was finally at the part where Rex Lapis came crashing down from the sky dead and now was sneaking to get to the exit. Definitely took him a couple of times and in the process of it all he was certainly singing the whole “Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious” song

Finally getting the cutscene where his character gets chased after unfortunately making sound. When things looked like it was going to turn into a fight he was surprised when hearing a new voice say “I got this one sweetie”. His mouth has dropped in pure awe of watching your character flip from above appearing out of thin air as you handled the Millelith with ease

Hearing you say follow me he had such a grin on his face; “Don’t gotta ask me twice I’ll follow you anywhere”. Of course his viewers in chat were raving and just spamming the laughing emote as the cutscene continued in a safe place

Looking at your character model admiring you as the reveal that you were a part of the harbingers but seemed to be rather friendly. “You guys I’m in love. (Y/n) better be a playable character at some point… I’ll be sad if I don’t get to travel the world with them” he says as when he finds out you're rich his initial thought was “So are they going to spoil me or do I get to spoil them? Cuz I really want it to be the second one” He hadn’t known you for long but he already wants to give you the world

Venti:

He was mainly known for his streams where he’ll sing or perform some of the instruments he enjoys and many of the games he’d play were a lot of rhythm games or one of the hilarious simulator games; so for him to pick up Genshin Impact it’s a little outside of the typical games he’ll usually play

He really loves the music so far, if the music wasn’t to his liking he’d probably drop it. Will probably take a moment to just listen to it and talk about what possible instruments used to compose it

After running around the world and looking for chests and whatever materials he saw along the way. He suddenly saw the big dragon fly over head and now making his way to the whispering woods to look for the feathered looking dragon

The cut scene started and there was the dragon on a rock but then he saw you; he doesn’t know anything about you but having seen you in some of the images that the company released he’s been interested in your character!

During your moment with your old friend had was making this face 🥺 but then that was when the snapping sound echoed causing the dragon to freak out and leave in a gust of wind. “Noooo I’m so sorry” he’s shouting at the screen when he watched the expression on your face turn sad before you seemed to just vanish

Has been bummed out since he hadn’t seen your character in a while until he saw you running with a lyre in your hand, he only fell in more love with you as he was running around with you trying to get the holy lyre from the church

Albedo:

It had been a while since more of the story was out but of course he’d play to do his commissions and gather materials he needed, but when his viewers showed him the announcement of the newest section of the map will be released; oh there was a new temperature mechanic that if it was too cold that his characters could freeze to death

Generally that would be fine… but he enjoys stopping and admiring the scenery which he easily gets distracted so he’s probably going to keep forgetting to stand by fire a lot

But the best part of all: they were introducing you, the chief alchemist of the Knights of Favonius. The one that was talked about by so many characters in their voice lines he finally was going to get a face to the name

He was already not liking that the so called ‘nun’ was insinuating that you weren’t trustworthy; the AUDACITY! Sure he hadn’t known your character long but he will defend you wholeheartedly, you have this charismatic to you that he’s just smitten

“If one day, I lose control… Destroy Mondstadt… Destroy everything… Can I rely on you to stop me?” After hearing that last line he needs a minute to take a double take to make sure he heard that correctly. “I swear if this is some sort of indication of something bad happening and I have to fight (y/n) I will not be happy,” he’s saying of course looking to his camera

Kaeya:

So many of his viewers were requesting that he play Genshin Impact as of course it would be a little different from the games he’s played in the past (Ya can’t tell me he wouldn’t have played Huniepop and doki doki literature club), but the idea of attractive characters in the game? He’s sold as the few characters he saw pictures of it seemed promising.

So he starts streaming it and all is going smoothly so far… Until it was time to learn about gliding right before Stormterror attacks and the mini flying fight happened

Once the cutscene starts he’s watching leaning back in his chair a bit until a clapping sound starts and that’s when everyone in chat was losing it and spamming the heart eyes emotes. Seeing you come into the shot he’s got a small little smirk; you were hot. He only seemed to love your character even more after hearing that you were the cavalry captain

When it came time to do your trail quest (which of course was the first one he went to do) he’s very much looking at your design and admiring your charming features. He asks his viewers if he leaves the domain if he gets to keep you or if you were one of the five stars that he’d have to wish for, spoilers don’t really bother him if he really wants to know what happens.

Seeing your summon art once he left he’s ecstatic that you will be forever in his team and once he’s able to he’s going farming so he can build you up

[sagurus]

Regarding a Common Misconception of Hakuba Saguru

Lately I've been doing some reflecting on Saguru & the various ways I've seen him portrayed, as well as the ways I've portrayed him in the past. And then I was rereading some MK manga, and had some realizations. I've been feeling like rambling about them! So here I go, rambling.

[Disclaimer: I'm not personally taking issue with anyone's interpretation or impression of Saguru - just sharing my own impressions! This is just for fun <3 ]

Misconception: Saguru is constantly accusing Kaito of being KID

It’s a generally accepted fact in a lot of fics I’ve read (and honestly, maybe some fics I’ve written -- I used to hold this belief too!) that Saguru just unendingly insinuates that Kaito is KID--alone, in front of other people, always.

I won’t cite any here, but I’ve seen nods in fanwork to Aoko feeling a little stressed/frustrated about the fact that Saguru thinks Kaito is KID and makes it known. I’ve also seen fanwork where Saguru explicitly calls Kaito KID, presses Kaito for information, or otherwise makes his beliefs clear, even when others are around.

There are only five scenes in the Magic Kaito manga where Saguru makes direct indication toward his knowledge of KID’s identity.

First, of course, we’ve got chapter 17 - the first chapter where Saguru puts together that Kaito is KID.

For a long time, when I’d consumed more fic than MK canon, I recall an image born in my head of Saguru singling Kaito out in class and making the claim that Kaito is KID in front of everybody. I don’t know if I ever read any such allusion in a fic, or if it’s just an assumption I drew based on portrayals I read, but imagine my surprise when he does nothing of the sort.

Now, to be fair, Saguru is A LOT in this chapter. MK is still heavily in gag manga territory, so his behavior is extra extra played up. But if we take away the visuals, the dialogue between Saguru and Kaito can be summed up thusly:

[First scene where Saguru makes direct indications as to KID’s identity]

Kaito: You look so tired. Haven’t gotten enough sleep after chasing KID for three nights In a row, huh?

Saguru: Hmph. Aren’t you tired as well?

And then, a few beats later in the conversation:

Saguru: I’d like to invite you to the Ochima Art Museum tonight, where KID’s declared his next target. Kaito: Eh? Saguru: Then, you’ll understand why I’m so tired. Or, do you have other plans tonight? Kaito: Okay, I accept your invitation. It’ll be great to see your work in action!

And that’s it, that’s the big class confrontation. Aoko is present for it, but she’s more interested in joining in on the fun, and while I do think Aoko pieces together that Kaito is KID, she prefers to live in willful ignorance of it until it becomes impossible for her to ignore. She’s bright enough to pick up what Saguru’s implying, but because he never brings it past implication, there’s no reason for her to look at it too hard. Anyway, I digress. That’s conjecture and headcanon talking. My point is that Saguru never makes any explicit claims, just invites Kaito along to the heist.

Another neat thing about this scene is that--while certainly not motivated by mercy in this case, Saguru does give Kaito an out: “Or, do you have an excuse not to go tonight?” Of course, if Kaito took it, it would be rather damning, but I do think it would have been enough confirmation for Saguru. I don’t think there would have been any arm-twisting to get Kaito to agree.

But Kaito and Saguru are competitive bastards, so here we are.

Let’s move on to the heist!

Once again, the manga certainly plays up the whole ordeal. Saguru is intense and waiting for his moment, and Kaito’s being, well, Kaito.

At the heist, there are a few points where Saguru has opportunities to make allusions to Kaito being KID in a way others would pick up on, or otherwise make his suspicions known, but he doesn’t.

First of all, is this exchange:

Nakamori: Why are you guys here? Aoko: Hakuba-kun invited us! Nakamori: What’s the meaning of this, Hakuba-kun? Saguru: I thought she might like to see if KID is arrested tonight. Nakamori: You’ll fail if you’re too cocky! Saguru: We’re well-prepared. Besides, who knows… KID may already be here.

Saguru does imply KID could be present, but he makes no indication that he means Kaito. His next opportunity to hint at Kaito being KID or otherwise make accusations is when Nakamori asks him to consult as a magician.

Nakamori: Kaito, since you’re here, do you want to use your magic against KID? Kaito: [laughing sheepishly] Saguru: Oh, I want to see that fight, too. If you really can do it.

Needling, yes. Saguru knows what he’s saying and so does Kaito. Accusations, no. This is well within the realm of something Saguru would have said even if he didn’t suspect Kaito, considering their dynamic up until this point.

And then, the most explicit Saguru ever gets in terms of literally calling Kaito out as being KID, beginning when Kaito excuses himself to go to the bathroom right before the heist:

[Second scene where Saguru makes direct indications as to KID’s identity]

Saguru: [handcuffs himself to Kaito] Kaito: Huh? Saguru: I won’t let you do that, Kuroba. Kaito: What do you think you’re doing?! Saguru: I got the report back from the lab. The hair I got from KID indicated that he’s a high school student. After I compared KID’s data with other high school students’ data in the database… Kuroba Kaito came up in the final list. Kaito: That’s a coincidence. Saguru: Really? We’ll see soon enough. Let’s wait until the time KID is stated to come. [Some heist hubbub occurs as officers get into position even though KID hasn’t arrived at the heist time] Aoko: What? KID’s not coming? Saguru: Ha! It looks like I win! You’d better confess who you really are.

And from there, of course, ‘KID’ (Akako in disguise) swoops in and takes care of the heist. That more or less wraps up chapter 17, the first chapter where Saguru understands that Kaito is KID. And I would argue this is the most aggressive Saguru ever is. In fact, rather than persist in trying to accuse/capture/implicate Kaito as KID, he straight up vanishes from the narrative for several chapters.

Saguru doesn’t show up again until the Chat Noir heist, in chapter 25, when he calls from France.

It’s also important to note that at this point, Magic Kaito’s narrative has experienced a slight tonal shift. At the very least, while still often comedic, it reads less like a gag manga. Between the last time we saw Saguru and now, we’ve learned the apparent motivation behind Toichi’s murder, we’ve met Snake (an albeit rather incompetent villain) and Kaito has faced down gunfire and the danger posed by Snake and his men.

The way Saguru is portrayed has also shifted to reflect the shift too. Instead of a hulking antagonist-like character in a Holmes cosplay, he’s dressed primly and presents more as a cheeky but polite character. He’s also more effectively emulating the charm that the story tried to imply he had early on (“Hakuba Saguru, at your service!”, the girls in class fawning over him, the newspaper calling him out as a famous detective making a long-awaited return to Japan).

The interaction is entirely less antagonistic, too. For reference, I’ll paste the exchange (sans Saguru’s massive info dump) below.

[Third scene where Saguru makes direct indications as to KID’s identity]

[At the heist for the golden eye] Kaito: [Hiding in a bathroom stall while putting on a disguise] [His phone starts ringing] Hello…? Saguru: Hi, it’s been a while. Are you still alive? Kaito: [Thinking] This sugary yet obnoxious tone of voice is... Hakuba?! Saguru: You’ve made quite the stir in Paris. They’re all talking about how France’s Chat Noir is going to go up against you in Japan. Kaito: Idiot! It’s not me. It’s Kaitou KID! Saguru: Ha… it doesn’t really matter. I’ll share some information that I gathered over here. [Info dump cut from dialogue] Well! That’s about all I have to say. Do your best. I don’t want to see you lose to anyone until I capture you myself. Kaito: Like I’ve been saying, I’m not KID! Saguru: Oops, it’s almost time for the Paris Fashion Week. See you! Kaito: H-hey…

The only part of this conversation that I could consider to fall into the territory of antagonistic is when Saguru says “I don’t want to see you lose to anyone until I capture you myself.” And more than anything, I think this is less reflective of a real desire to capture Kaito, and more reflective of his competitive nature. Not to mention, within the context of the conversation, it feels much more like teasing than anything.

Saguru’s motivation for making the call is clear: He doesn’t want Kaito to lose, and he wants to help ensure Kaito’s success.

And most interestingly (although I’d like to see the raw manga to confirm this, or otherwise a more literal translation) he never explicitly calls Kaito KID either. Outside of alluding to KID’s actions, Saguru doesn’t explicitly say Kaito is KID or mention KID at all. It’s Kaito who does that.

When Kaito points out that he is not, in fact, KID, Saguru doesn’t argue. He simply brushes off the denial and shares the information he’s collected.

So, to summarize what we’ve covered so far: after Saguru failed to arrest Kaito during chapter 17, he stopped troubling Kaito so thoroughly that the next time he features in the story isn’t until he’s calling from overseas to try to lend Kaito some helpful information. He’s not even playing a part in trying to capture this thief he allegedly wants to catch.

And then, Saguru dips back out of the narrative, although for a shorter period this time. The next arc he appears in is a few chapters later--the Nightmare Heist which he arrives in the middle of. But, there’s not any interaction between him and Kaito, nor any allusions made by Saguru about KID’s identity, so we’ll move on.

The fourth time Saguru makes any indication that Kaito is KID is during the Corbeau arc, when KID is being challenged by a clad-in-black KID lookalike.

Before jumping into that specific scene, though, there’s another interaction I’d like to call attention to--between Saguru and Nakamori. Not because of something Saguru says, but because of what he doesn’t say.

Nakamori: Hahaha! Looks like you let your guard down because you thought I was at home with a cold! Saguru: Our plan succeeded, it seems. Nakamori: But I only told Aoko I had a cold, so how does KID know…? Saguru: Hm...

If Saguru were wanting to make some kind of accusation, even a non-explicit one, he would have made some remark. Instead, he doesn’t say anything at all, which continues to speak to the fact that he isn’t really interested in implicating Kaito.

Anyway, the next time Saguru makes any sort of implication that Kaito is KID he is, once again, trying to help. Last time it was over the phone, so the conversation was private. This time, the conversation is in a classroom, although based on the panels, it seems like Saguru and Kaito are alone at the beginning--or at least, no attention is being paid to them.

[Fourth scene where Saguru makes direct indications as to KID’s identity]

Kaito: [Talking to himself] It must be the case, there’s no other way. There must have been some trick with the case.

Saguru: [Eavesdropping, apparently alone in the room with him] The case didn’t contain any hidden mechanisms. Kaito: Eh? Saguru: No hidden doors or things like that, as are often used in magic tricks. Kaito: W-what on earth are you talking about? Saguru: A new notice from Corbeau arrived this morning. ‘I’ll come and take the real Midnight Crow tonight.’ My name is Hakuba--so I don’t want a ‘white’ person to lose to some ominous black crow. [From here, Akako and then Aoko jump into the conversation.]

Surely a classroom is a risky place to have a conversation about KID, but the nice thing is that Saguru--once again--doesn’t bring up KID at all beyond saying that he doesn’t want the ‘white[-clad] person’ to lose to the black crow. From the outside looking in, all he’s doing is sharing information about the case with Kaito. It may also seem unwarranted from that perspective, but not at all implicating.

Also, another thing I’d like to call attention to is that when Akako joins the conversation (and seemingly blindsides Saguru, as if he wasn’t expecting anyone else to join), Saguru stops talking. He continues to be quiet when Aoko chimes in, and he doesn’t have any relevant dialogue for the rest of the scene.

Once again, Saguru’s clearly motivated to share information in the interest of helping Kaito. He has to share with Kaito’s civilian identity, since he can’t exactly arrange a conversation with KID, and this is likely the easiest way for him to do it. He makes no accusations, and this time he doesn’t even imply he wants KID caught.

So--Saguru is a part of the narrative again, but since rejoining the narrative he seems less interested in actually catching KID and far more interested in helping Kaito. And no accusations or incriminating allusions have been made since chapter 17, before Saguru’s first hiatus from the story.

The final time Saguru nods to Kaito being KID is from the Sun Halo arc. This is probably the interaction that’s closest to what fanon tends to depict when it comes to Saguru making subtle accusations that Kaito is KID. And even then, I tend to take this arc with a grain of salt if only because it felt less like Gosho was trying to add to the story and more like he was just trying to make a Magic Kaito addition that hit various fan expectations while still being wildly disappointing, lmao.

[Fifth scene where Saguru makes direct indications as to KID’s identity]

Saguru: [approaching and commenting on Kaito’s motorcycle] I see, a Suzuki GSX 250R. Akako: Ah, Hakuba-kun… Saguru: You’ve shown me something interesting. Perhaps this might help the police tonight. And could it be that you’ve forgotten… that the only motorised bikes we’re allowed to ride to school are scooters? Kaito: Eh?! For real?!

Once again, Saguru doesn’t explicitly mention KID at all--and segues from his mention of the police to pointing out that Kaito is breaking the rules right now, actually, which helps blend this teasing comment into the conversation.

Yes, later in the chapter Saguru does show up with a team of motorcycle experts. But that also means there’s more disguise opportunities for KID and more factors to account for, thus complicating things for, well, everyone--not just KID.

Also, I tend to dismiss that as Gosho throwing in some comedy, and as less to do with Saguru’s character. Call it cherrypicking if you like :P

To recount--there are five times where Saguru implies Kaito is KID.

The first two are in chapter 17, when Saguru first puts it together, and it is during this chapter that he gets the most explicit about calling Kaito out as KID, as well as the most aggressively he behaves about it. And he backs off so hard after that doesn’t work, that we don’t see him for several chapters.

The next two times he implies Kaito is KID are both in order to help him. No aggression or accusations, just the sharing of information. Even when teasing or suggesting he’s interested in catching KID, he’s good-natured about it, and when he realizes there are potentially people witnessing the conversation, he stops participating.

The final time he implies Kaito is KID is a tiny comment about finding something Kaito has shown him ‘interesting’ and ‘helpful for the police’ before smoothing into gently teasing Kaito for bringing an illegal vehicle to school.

In conclusion, Saguru may start off apparently aggressive in part thanks to early Magic Kaito’s overall tone, but rather than persevering in trying to catch Kaito after cornering him in chapter 17, he actually seems to back off. Once he’s playing a part in the narrative again, when he interacts with Kaito it’s almost exclusively to help him. Yes, he is on the task force and participating at heists, but where it matters, he’s less interested in catching the thief and far more interested in those the thief is opposing (excluding the police force).

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Wishmaker

Goddamn it... 

It's bad enough Astruc tastelessly axed Lukanette, but now he just had to show up to give a sarcastic eulogy at the funeral.

Let's get into the fourteenth (chronologically the eighteenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Wishmaker

Right out of the gate, we get a “Chloe bad” joke with her insulting Marinette for being poor or whatever as she hands out flyers for an upcoming career fair. Chloe doesn't have much of a role in the episode, but she will be important towards the end, trust me. We also get a funny “Marinette stares lovingly at Adrien” joke while she sees him, so it's good the writers are at least trying to get their strange habits out of their systems now instead of later.

While reading over the flyer in his room, Adrien ponders a possible career as he doesn't want to keep being a model.

(The episode came out in English first, so I'm just going to be using quotes instead of screenshots of subbed scenes for this review)

Plagg: Don't you wanna continue to model?

Adrien: I don't think so, Plagg. I'm doing it now because my father asked me to. But now I realize I don't know what I'd want to do. I've never asked myself that question.

This is a really interesting dilemma for Adrien. Unlike other episodes that just have him feel sad for entirely superfluous reasons like Ladybug turning him down or generally moping about his mom, it feels like something you can really understand. He genuinely isn't sure what he wants to do with his life because he's had everything chosen for him before. I also like the use of the English dub saying Adrien modeled because his father asked him to, as if he couldn't actually say no. I also like how Adrien is still starting to lose faith in Ladybug for giving out Miraculous to everyone, which makes even more sense after his view of her was shaken in the previous episode chronologically, “Rocketear”. I also like how Plagg suggests ideas for a career for Adrien, like the two of them opening up a cheese shop together, which shows how Plagg cares for Adrien and wants what's best for him, ultimately highlighting how healthy their relationship is. He's almost like a big brother who gives advice to Adrien, even if it isn't the most sound advice at times.

On the other hand, Marinette already knows what she wants to do with her life, but the Kwamis start to argue over what she actually means by it by saying they know what she wants to do, a painfully accurate metaphor for the writers dictating Marinette's actions no matter how inconsistent they are.

Pollen: What's a career, dear Guardian?

Marinette: Oh. Well, it's... your job! Something really important that you do and gives meaning to your life!

Roaar: Oh! So, your job is being the Guardian of the Miraculous!

Mullo: Of course not! It's being a student!

Xuppu: Not at all! It's making presents for Adrien!

Marinette:Well...

Longg: She said “something important”, like when she crafted the big doll house to hide the Miracle Box!

Wayzz: Or when she designed the alarm for this room! What a masterpiece!

Marinette: Sure, I love crafting but—

Ziggy: You guys don't get it! What gives meaning to her life is to be in love with Adrien, or Luka, that's her job!

Fluff: Luka's the one with the guitar, right?

Kaalki: Her real career is being Ladybug and carve her name in history by her glorious deeds, of course!

Of course, their bickering somehow makes Marinette realize she isn't sure what she wants to do in the future after all.

We then cut to a reality show hosted by TV personality, Alec Cataldi. He's generally an asshole to the people on the shows he hosts and takes pleasure in humiliating or just being a dick to them, making you wonder how he still gets work with that attitude. Basically, he's the Alec Baldwin of the Miraculous Ladybug universe. The current show he's hosting is one where he roasts people for their jobs, making Andre a target by pointing how counterproductive his “business” is.

Alec: Here's a perfect example: Andre, the Ice Cream Maker, the ice cream man that is never around! Let me remind you how this goes: Andre doesn't have a shop, no one knows where he is, it takes forever to find him, and he gets to pick a flavor of your ice cream! You've gotta be kidding, Andre! Give me one reason why I should bother to chase after you when I could get my choice of ice cream in any corner supermarket!

Andre: Well, people don't just come for ice cream when they find me. They come to share their love and experience of magical moments! A supermarket cannot do what I do! I am a creator of magical moments!

Alec: “Creator of magical moments?” You've gotta be kidding!

I'm pretty sure that's what a lot of people thought of Andre when they first saw “Glaciator”. The idea behind Andre is that he chooses ice cream for you representing something about yourself, so he gives Alec a scoop of lime to represent his sour exterior and chocolate cinnamon to represent the dreams he still has within. Alec flinches a little at the ice cream, presumably because of how terrible of a combination that is, and decides to go to commercial to think.

Marinette talks to Andre about what he does, and he explains he used to be an office worker, with the only highlight of his days being making ice cream for himself after work. It eventually inspired him to quit his job and start making ice cream for everyone. It's a nice backstory, and I think a lot of people watching who are struggling to think about their future can relate to this like with the earlier scene with Adrien. It's also a nice touch for the flashbacks to reveal Andre has served ice cream to some of France's most famous couples.

(Jean Coutau and Jean Marais)

(Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin)

(Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet)

Granted, I'm wondering how old Andre is to have even met some of these people given Jean Cocteau died in 1963, but seeing how Master Fu is 186, I'm guessing the Miraculous Ladybug universe just has really good healthcare. Either that, or the people in this universe take Jay Kordich's diet very seriously.

Andre gives some ice cream to Marinette, who is soon joined by her ex-boyfriend who she never loved according to the writers. Actually, judging from her face when Luka talks about the very first guitar he made, the writers made another 180 regarding Marinette's feelings for Luka.

Of course, because the show wants to remind the audience Alec still exists, he makes fun of Luka for taking two years to perfect the delicate craftsmanship it takes to sculpt any instrument when you can just download an app on your phone. Your inner boomer is showing, writers, even if you were born after the time period for that generation. Luka retorts with some vague philosophical line he's known for that's one of the reasons why people are so mixed on him as a character

Luka: Musical instruments fill the space and space fills the instruments. No phone in the world will ever be able to do that.

Despite it being incredibly confusing, it gets to Alec, causing him to run off in tears. Luka and Marinette continue to talk, but it turns out that's Adrien decided to sit down nearby because of course he did. Though, like the last scene, it's a pretty interesting one as the three discuss what they want to do with their lives. There's also a really nice visual of a blimp with an ad Adrien was in passing by while Adrien talks about his father dictating his life, a really nice symbol. Of course, the scene is somewhat ruined by Luka suddenly deciding to be an Adrienette shipper.

Luka: You two will eventually find what's already in front of you, but you can't hear it clearly. Just let the melody flow.

He's referring to their uncertainty of their futures, but earlier on, Luka wanted to help Marinette be honest with her feelings about Adrien, and even before that, Andre was saying that Marinette and Luka didn't have to be in love to enjoy his magic ice cream. It's here when I realized this episode is subtly trying to end any chances of Lukanette still happening with so many little details. Right when the two spend time together, that's when they decided to help Adrien who showed up for no reason, preventing them from potentially coming to terms with their feelings for each other or at the very least discuss how hard it is to be friends with their history. And things only get more frustrating towards the end, where you'd swear someone decided to smother Lukanette with a pillow in its sleep.

Back to Alec, he's roasting a wig salesman (does he even have permission to film any of these people?) for his job, but as soon as the salesman puts a wig on him, Alec immediately gives us his life story.

Alec: When I was a kid, I used to have long hair, but everyone made fun of me. That's why I shaved it all off. I've been making the wrong choices my whole life. My TV shows are nothing personal. I make fun of people when they make fun of me when I was a kid. (Starts to tear up) I should've been the person I always wanted to be, trying to change the world instead of mocking it! (Falls on his knees) I've wasted my life!

I didn't paraphrase this at all. This is seriously what happened. He goes from mocking everyone he meets, to slightly doubting himself after seeing an ice cream vendor and a young musician, and then he starts having an existential crisis about his tragic backstory. It's not a bad idea, but if there was some more buildup in previous episodes, I'd understand. But this goes from confusing to straight out insulting towards the end. I'll get to that later on.

Shadowmoth notices Alec's emotions and akumatizes him into Wishmaker through his microphone.

Wishmaker has a pretty cool design. The grey skin color coupled with the mostly black outfit really highlights Alec's broken heart, and he looks pretty sinister. His powers... leave a lot to be desired.  Like the name states, Wishmaker has the power to make everyone's childhood dreams come true, like this one guy's dream is to be Santa Claus, so he transforms into Saint Nick without any hitch. Wouldn't it make more sense if Wishmaker twisted the dreams of his victims like a genie and made them miserable while they ironically lived out their fantasies by twisting around their words? Instead, all of his “victims” seem pretty happy, which doesn't really do much to make him a threat in my opinion.

So the aforementioned Santa starts dropping presents like bombs near Marinette, Adrien, and Luka, and they're separated by a giant robot. Marinette quickly transforms into Ladybug, and gets Luka to safety, though as soon as she leaves, Luka goes to check on where he told Marinette to stay for safety, and doesn't see her there. Instead, he sees his deadbeat father (transformed into a crocodile) drowning and goes to save him.

Ladybug meets up with Cat Noir (who transformed off-screen) and the two easily incapacitate the robot before engaging Wishmaker, avoiding his blasts. Apparently, they'll get their secret identities revealed if they get hit, so Ladybug goes to get Luka to help out as Viperion while Cat Noir holds off Wishmaker. Ladybug goes to get Luka, leading to the funniest joke in the episode.

She gives Luka the Snake Miraculous and he transforms into Viperion, immediately activating his Second Chance. For newcomers, Second Chance allows the user to set a point in time when activating it and if something goes wrong, they can go back to that checkpoint in up to five minutes. Ladybug also summons her Lucky Charm, a stuffed dinosaur toy.

Back with Cat Noir, as he engages Wishmaker, the Akuma starts to tempt him with the idea of living out his childhood dream, because he genuinely doesn't remember his. As Shadowmoth orders Wishmaker to use his powers on Cat Noir, Ladybug and Viperion show up, but in the chaos of the fight, Ladybug gets hit by Wishmaker, revealing her childhood dream as the “Knitting Fairy”, and exposes her identity to Viperion, who uses Second Chance to undo the timeline.

In the new timeline, Cat Noir's vulnerability gets to him, so he willingly lets himself get his by Wishmaker, not only exposing his identity as Adrien, but tragically reveals his childhood dream, to be whatever his parents wanted him to be. I feel like this works a lot better than some of the other moments where Cat Noir defied orders or screwed around on the battlefield because it's clearly framed as a moment of weakness on his part, and it was naturally built up over the course of the episode. The reveal of Adrien's childhood dream is a real gut punch too, as it shows just how much Adrien's life has been controlled by his family.

In the third timeline, Viperon deflects Wishmaker's blast meant for Cat Noir and redirects it toward a man whose childhood dream was to become a giant stuffed dinosaur. The stuffed dinosaur in question goes to give Wishmaker a hug, restraining him long enough for Ladybug to steal for Cat Noir to cataclysm (It's a microphone, how hard is it to break???) before she de-evilizes the Akuma. Ladybug uses Miraculous Ladybug to force everyone to stop living out their childhood dreams, she gives Alec a Magical Charm, and Luka decides not to tell Ladybug he knows both her and Cat Noir's secret identities. Why did Ladybug expect Luka not to know her identity when the whole reason she recruited him was to make sure nobody else found out her identity?

Now, while it isn't outright said, it's hinted at that now that Luka knows Marinette is Ladybug and Adrien is Cat Noir, judging from his dejected look after finding out the latter, he may be giving up on all attempts at the idea of getting back together with Marinette, and may or may not start shipping the Love Square now, just like how Kagami decided to ship Adrienette in “Mr. Pigeon 72”. I'm not saying the idea of Luka knowing someone's identity is bad, but it feels like this only happened specifically to stop him from having feelings for Marinette because now he knows Adrien loves her alter ego, and vice versa. Maybe it'll be touched upon in a later episode, but this was just a dick move by the writers in terms of ending all chances of Lukanette like this in order to ensure the Love Square has absolutely no competition.

So the episode ends with Marinette and Adrien deciding to focus on their futures while Alec starts a new show where he helps people live out their childhood dreams, albeit dressed like Style Queen for some reason.

Eh, he still picked a pretty cool Akuma to dress up as in my opinion. A lot of people have viewed this ending as evidence Alec is a drag queen with how he dressed up, coupled with the fact that he said something that was very similar to famous drag queen RuPaul.

Alec: And now, we're gonna love one another, starting with everyone loving themselves! Because how are you gonna love other people if you don't love yourself?

Though Astruc, being Astruc, once again decided to be vague when asked about the subject on Twitter, though at least the subtext is better than when he said he didn't make Juleka and Rose girlfriends because of censors while making it seem like a noble act.

Overall, this was a really good episode, though there were some underlying issues that really kept me from actually liking it. For the most part, it had some good drama with the main character, a rare scene where Marinette didn't stammer around Adrien, a creative (albeit flawed) Akuma with some good action, and an interesting idea with Luka knowing everything about the Love Square now.

There are just two big problems that really got to me about this episode. Let's get the obvious one out of the way, Luka. Honestly, he really didn't need to be in the episode. Sure, he gave some sound advice to Marinette and Adrien about their careers, but it felt kind of strange to see someone their age talking to them about their future when Andre, someone who actually had experience struggling to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, was pushed to the side. And like I said earlier, I think the only reason Luka found out about Marinette and Adrien's identities was to discourage him from thinking about getting back together with Marinette. After all, now that he realizes how “made for each other” they are, he can't stand in the way of the Love Square.

The problem is that in the context of the episode, we don't really see what made him see things that way. At least in “Mr. Pigeon 72”, Kagami consistently viewed Marinette's attempts to get her and Adrien back together as a subconscious desire to be with Adrien. It was dumb with how she decided to go to Team Adrienette at the end of the episode, but it was something. I'm glad the episode didn't force in too many Love Square shenanigans, but I think more should have been done to contextualize Luka's feelings towards the reveal. I get the writers wanted to make sure Lukanette had no chance of coming back, but this just feels rushed.

And then there's Alec's redemption arc. While it's not a bad idea in concept, the problem is that it flies in the fact of a recurring theme this season, that being redemption. Because, here's the funny thing: Alec blatantly said he became an asshole TV personality because of his history of bullying, and decided to retaliate as a result, but he eventually saw the error of his ways and turned over a new leaf. For long time readers of this blog, I apologize for bringing this up yet again, but what exactly makes this different from everything Astruc said about Chloe? You know, when he said that you make your formative choices when you're fourteen? Just like how Alec decided to become a reality TV host making fun of people after a troubling experience from when he was a kid?

Let's say that I agree with Astruc's views about Chloe. How is Alec different from what Astruc's said about Chloe for almost two years at this point? What makes Chloe, someone who was the victim of a troubled childhood who never got help, an irredeemable monster while Alec, someone who also had a troubled childhood and had even more time to get help while never getting any, capable of change? I thought he Alec made a formative choice when he was young and stuck with it, just like how Chloe started to fully develop at the age of fourteen. I mean, Astruc, you yourself said that Chloe's troubled childhood “was no excuse to treat people like shit”, according to you.

I'm just saying, dude, if Chloe can't be redeemed because of the stuff you yourself said, then that shouldn't apply to Alec either. When you really think about it, it's almost like Astruc either made up a bunch of excuses to not redeem Chloe, or he's a massive hypocrite for going back on his word. You can't really justify this kind of hypocrisy relating to Alec's redemption when you remember just how much of a hardass Astruc was when explaining why redemption was impossible for Chloe.

This coupled with the treatment of Luka really drags this episode from really good to blatantly insulting to certain viewers. Then again, these two choices just got to me personally. I feel like if those two things weren't there, things could have made this episode a lot better for me personally. I can see why a lot of people in the fandom still like this episode, but I'm honestly not a fan of it.

[thefanficmonster]

All The Colors

Corpse Husband x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: Colorblindness, Swearing

Genre: Fluff, Romance, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: The colors are not always seen but rather felt. Just like Y/N feels the colors through their best friend and boyfriend Corpse. That’s how they realize that what they can’t see is the most beautiful and genuine feeling in the world. The feeling of knowing something and someone so deeply.

Requested by my dear friend Lulu, who you might have known as greenieofshield. Unfortunately she’ll never get to read this fic and I’ll never forgive myself for not putting it out sooner but I’ll also never forgive the universe for being so cruel as to take her away so early. She was one of the best people I’ve ever met, always so full of optimism, always there to brighten up my day and make me smile. Always so strong and brave, never falling victim to the hate she received despite not being deserving of it. The world lost an angel the day she died and I as well as so many other people will forever miss her.

Love you and miss you with my whole soul and hear, Lulu. Hope they’re treating you right in heaven ❤

For what it’s worth, Y/N has never asked people to describe the colors to them. In their eyes that seemed like the equivalent of poorly patching up a wound: they could hear thousands upon thousands of descriptions of each color and still wouldn’t be able to imagine it. The descriptions would only make that worse to them. So to avoid feeling even more like they’re missing out they never asked.

However, that doesn’t mean they haven’t developed their own way to ‘visualize’ and imagine colors throughout the years. They’ve tried loads of different methods, few of which stuck around and not for long either. That is exactly why they frequently used to tell their friends: “You can’t paint me a rainbow with black and white and shades of grey and expect me not to feel like I’m missing out on something. Paint me the gloomy sky on a rainy day and only then we’ll be even cause you’re seeing the same greys I am.”

Little did they know how drastically their logic was about to change in the following years.

Speaking of said following years - they met Corpse who became one of their best friends in practically no time. And within just a few months of that friendship’s blossoming, a romance sparked. A romance their friends would jokingly refer to as ‘romance of a lifetime’. Maybe it was said jokingly but Lord knows they weren’t wrong in saying so because the two were completely head over heels for one another -s till are to this day - and never shied away from showing it.

Y/N and Corpse met through Rae who Y/N was staying with while on a little vacation to Los Angeles. To be even more specific here, the two met through a game of Among Us, the game responsible for many wonderful friendships since its release.

“Guys, guys, guys.“ Y/N said after sparking up a bickering session for falsely accusing ‘blue‘ of faking a task in Navigation during the final round for the day, “Here’s a little rule of thumb for whenever we play together again: don’t trust me if I accuse a color instead of a name.“ It’s safe to say that statement rose a few eyebrows in the Discord call, the confusion serving as amusement to them before they explained themself, “Oh, why that is? Hm, I don’t know, maybe cause I’m colorblind.”

Rae who was in on the scheme the whole time and was struggling to hold in her laughter finally snapped while the rest of the players were left processing the information that had been dropped on them.

“But you practically kicked our ass every single round?!“ Corpse said, amazement and confusion in his tone.

“Expect the unexpected from this schemer, take it from someone who’s known them for a decade now.“ Rae said, winking at her friend from across the room. Not failing to notice the blush on their cheeks while doing so though.

“Corpse, are you calling me a good liar?“ They poked a stick at him teasingly, desperately avoiding Rae’s gaze which widened the second she realized why her friend was so flustered by Corpse’s remark.

“Practically a con artist.“ He replied to them with a laugh, earning one from them in return.

And so they practically conned him into falling in love with them with their quick wit, sarcasm and cuteness. If someone is to ask Corpse if he expected to fall for Y/N, he’d probably say yes.

“They were like a magnet the moment they entered the lobby and started talking.“ He said once on a live stream in response to a question he received in the chat regarding Y/N, “It wasn’t hard at all, falling for them. What took me a while was realizing it. While I was referring to them as ‘best friend’ all my friends were rolling their eyes and going ‘Sure, bud.’ Just took me a bit to realize why.”

Luckily, it didn’t take him too long to grasp what his heart was actually screaming at him. Good thing they came to terms with it so soon too, otherwise they would’ve driven their friends insane.

Anyway, enough about what happened and what could’ve happened under one circumstance or another, what matters is the ‘here and now’ of their relationship. And trust me when I say it has never been better and it keeps getting better every day.

The beauty of what those two have is in the tiny every day things that they do for each other, the good morning texts even though the other person in probably just in the kitchen making breakfast while the other cannot find it in them to get out of bed; or it’s laced within the calls between them when neither of them are home or at least one of them is out and about, busy with a task they’ve probably been putting off for far too long. Don’t get me wrong though, the romantic gestures aren’t rare either. Random gifts are exchanged by them on regular intervals but one consistent and super romantic gesture that repeats a few times every year (of the two years they’ve been dating) is Corpse giving Y/N a bouquet of flowers.

A detail Y/N couldn’t help but take notice of was the fact that the bouquet was always made up of the same flowers with only small changes to the arrangement of them and maybe some tiny ones added too. Unfortunately, they aren’t artificial so they couldn’t have kept them thought they wish they could’ve. That being said, it goes without saying that those flowers mean the world to Y/N, the gesture actually - they know flowers are a common gift to give but anything they receive from Corpse is so special and makes them feel like the only person who’s ever received such a gift.

And so they got curious, they had to ask. They had to ask the question they never thought they’d actively ask considering their view of the topic. But they still did.

“Hey Corpse.“ Y/N spoke up out of the blue, breaking the silence that had fallen over them while they watched the movie they were only partially interested in given how exhausted they both were from devoting themselves to their respective tasks and responsibilities throughout the last few days.

Corpse hummed in response, the arm wrapped around their waist doing a little motion as if encouraging them to continue, his gaze immediately traveling down to his partner.

“What color are the flowers?“ They asked, gazing at the bouquet - a gift they had received from him for their birthday a few days prior - in the vase on the dining table.

They waited a few seconds but when they didn’t hear nor feel any sort of response from him they couldn’t help but look up at him. Upon doing so, they saw his small smile as his eyes too remained on the bouquet. “They’re black and white.“ He replied eventually, “Black roses and white daffodils.“ His gaze wandered away from the vase and down to meet theirs, “I don’t want you to think I’m seeing them in their ‘full beauty’ while you only see them in black and white. You are seeing them in their full beauty and not missing out on anything. They are absolutely beautiful black and white as they are.“

As a response to his answer, Y/N couldn’t suppress the growing smile on their face no matter how hard they tried. So they didn’t try at all, they let the smile lighten up their face before speaking up: “You’re a wonder, Corpse.” They said, pushing themself as upright as they could to be able to kiss his cheek. “However, you’re wrong.” They say when they pull away, smirking up at his confused expression, “My world was black and white until you came into it. You’re all the colors, Corpse. Your love’s red, joy’s yellow, sadness blue, chaos green. Love red. You’re all the colors and out of all the people that have tried to describe to me how they look, you have managed to do that just perfectly without even trying.”

Little did they know that’s exactly what he thinks of them - their world is black and white because all the colors live within them. Because they are all the colors.

And maybe they both are, seeing as how they came into each other’s lives exactly like the rainbow after the pouring rain.

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[path-of-my-childhood]

Musicians On Musicians: Paul McCartney & Taylor Swift

By: Patrick Doyle for Rolling Stone Date: November 13th 2020

On songwriting secrets, making albums at home, and what they’ve learned during the pandemic.

Taylor Swift arrived early to Paul McCartney’s London office in October, “mask on, brimming with excitement.” “I mostly work from home these days,” she writes about that day, “and today feels like a rare school field trip that you actually want to go on.”

Swift showed up without a team, doing her own hair and makeup. In addition to being two of the most famous pop songwriters in the world, Swift and McCartney have spent the past year on similar journeys. McCartney, isolated at home in the U.K., recorded McCartney III. Like his first solo album, in 1970, he played nearly all of the instruments himself, resulting in some of his most wildly ambitious songs in a long time. Swift also took some new chances, writing over email with the National’s Aaron Dessner and recording the raw Folklore, which abandons arena pop entirely in favor of rich character songs. It’s the bestselling album of 2020.

Swift listened to McCartney III as she prepared for today’s conversation; McCartney delved into Folkore. Before the photo shoot, Swift caught up with his daughters Mary (who would be photographing them) and Stella (who designed Swift’s clothes; the two are close friends). “I’ve met Paul a few times, mostly onstage at parties, but we’ll get to that later,” Swift writes. “Soon he walks in with his wife, Nancy. They’re a sunny and playful pair, and I immediately feel like this will be a good day. During the shoot, Paul dances and takes almost none of it too seriously and sings along to Motown songs playing from the speakers. A few times Mary scolds, ‘Daaad, try to stand still!’ And it feels like a window into a pretty awesome family dynamic. We walk into his office for a chat, and after I make a nervous request, Paul is kind enough to handwrite my favorite lyric of his and sign it. He makes a joke about me selling it, and I laugh because it’s something I know I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. That’s around the time when we start talking about music.”

Taylor Swift: I think it’s important to note that if this year had gone the way that we thought it was going to go, you and I would have played Glastonbury this year, and instead, you and I both made albums in isolation.

Paul McCartney: Yeah!

Swift: And I remember thinking it would have been so much fun because the times that I’ve run into you, I correlate with being some of the most fun nights of my life. I was at a party with you, when everybody just started playing music. And it was Dave Grohl playing, and you...

McCartney: You were playing one of his songs, weren’t you?

Swift: Yes, I was playing his song called “Best of You,” but I was playing it on piano, and he didn’t recognize it until about halfway through. I just remember thinking, “Are you the catalyst for the most fun times ever?” Is it your willingness to get up and play music that makes everyone feel like this is a thing that can happen tonight?

McCartney: I mean, I think it’s a bit of everything, isn’t it? I’ll tell you who was very... Reese Witherspoon was like, “Are you going to sing?” I said “Oh, I don’t know.” She said, “You’ve got to, yeah!” She’s bossing me around. So I said, “Whoa,” so it’s a bit of that.

Swift: I love that person, because the party does not turn musical without that person.

McCartney: Yeah, that’s true.

Swift: If nobody says, “Can you guys play music?” we’re not going to invite ourselves up onstage at whatever living-room party it is.

McCartney: I seem to remember Woody Harrelson got on the piano, and he starts playing “Let It Be,” and I’m thinking, “I can do that better.” So I said, “Come on, move over, Woody.” So we’re both playing it. It was really nice... I love people like Dan Aykroyd, who’s just full of energy and he loves his music so much, but he’s not necessarily a musician, but he just wanders around the room, just saying, “You got to get up, got to get up, do some stuff.”

Swift: I listened to your new record. And I loved a lot of things about it, but it really did feel like kind of a flex to write, produce, and play every instrument on every track. To me, that’s like flexing a muscle and saying, “I can do all this on my own if I have to.”

McCartney: Well, I don’t think like that, I must admit. I just picked up some of these instruments over the years. We had a piano at home that my dad played, so I picked around on that. I wrote the melody to “When I’m 64” when I was, you know, a teenager.

Swift: Wow.

McCartney: When the Beatles went to Hamburg, there were always drum kits knocking around, so when there was a quiet moment, I’d say, “Do you mind if I have a knock around?” So I was able to practice, you know, without practicing. That’s why I play right-handed. Guitar was just the first instrument I got. Guitar turned to bass; it also turned into ukulele, mandolin. Suddenly, it’s like, “Wow,” but it’s really only two or three instruments.

Swift: Well, I think that’s downplaying it a little bit. In my mind, it came with a visual of you being in the country, kind of absorbing the sort of do-it-yourself [quality] that has had to come with the quarantine and this pandemic. I found that I’ve adapted a do-it-yourself mentality to a lot of things in my career that I used to outsource.  I’m just wondering what a day of recording in the pandemic looked like for you.

McCartney: Well, I’m very lucky because I have a studio that’s, like, 20 minutes away from where I live. We were in lockdown on a farm, a sheep farm with my daughter Mary and her four kids and her husband. So I had four of my grandkids, I had Mary, who’s a great cook, so I would just drive myself to the studio. And there were two other guys that could come in and we’d be very careful and distanced and everything: my engineer Steve, and then my equipment guy Keith. So the three of us made the record, and I just started off. I had to do a little bit of film music - I had to do an instrumental for a film thing - so I did that. And I just kept going, and that turned into the opening track on the album. I would just come in, say, “Oh, yeah, what are we gonna do?” [Then] have some sort of idea, and start doing it. Normally, I’d start with the instrument I wrote it on, either piano or guitar, and then probably add some drums and then a bit of bass till it started to sound like a record, and then just gradually layer it all up. It was fun.

Swift: That’s so cool.

McCartney: What about yours? You’re playing guitar and piano on yours.

Swift: Yeah, on some of it, but a lot of it was made with Aaron Dessner, who’s in a band called the National that I really love. And I had met him at a concert a year before, and I had a conversation with him, asking him how he writes. It’s my favorite thing to ask people who I’m a fan of. And he had an interesting answer. He said, “All the band members live in different parts of the world. So I make tracks. And I send them to our lead singer, Matt, and he writes the top line.” I just remember thinking, “That is really efficient.” And I kind of stored it in my brain as a future idea for a project. You know, how you have these ideas... “Maybe one day I’ll do this.” I always had in my head: “Maybe one day I’ll work with Aaron Dessner.”

So when lockdown happened, I was in L.A., and we kind of got stuck there. It’s not a terrible place to be stuck. We were there for four months maybe, and during that time, I sent an email to Aaron Dessner and I said, “Do you think you would want to work during this time? Because my brain is all scrambled, and I need to make something, even if we’re just kind of making songs that we don’t know what will happen...”

McCartney: Yeah, that was the thing. You could do stuff -  you didn’t really worry it was going to turn into anything.

Swift: Yeah, and it turned out he had been writing instrumental tracks to keep from absolutely going crazy during the pandemic as well, so he sends me this file of probably 30 instrumentals, and the first one I opened ended up being a song called “Cardigan,” and it really happened rapid-fire like that. He’d send me a track; he’d make new tracks, add to the folder; I would write the entire top line for a song, and he wouldn’t know what the song would be about, what it was going to be called, where I was going to put the chorus. I had originally thought, “Maybe I’ll make an album in the next year, and put it out in January or something,” but it ended up being done and we put it out in July. And I just thought there are no rules anymore, because I used to put all these parameters on myself, like, “How will this song sound in a stadium? How will this song sound on radio?” If you take away all the parameters, what do you make? And I guess the answer is Folklore.

McCartney: And it’s more music for yourself than music that’s got to go do a job. My thing was similar to that: After having done this little bit of film music, I had a lot of stuff that I had been working on, but I’d said, “I’m just going home now,” and it’d be left half-finished. So I just started saying, “Well, what about that? I never finished that.” So we’d pull it out, and we said, “Oh, well, this could be good.” And because it didn’t have to amount to anything, I would say, “Ah, I really want to do tape loops. I don’t care if they fit on this song, I just want to do some.” So I go and make some tape loops, and put them in the song, just really trying to do stuff that I fancy.

I had no idea it would end up as an album; I may have been a bit less indulgent, but if a track was eight minutes long, to tell you the truth, what I thought was, “I’ll be taking it home tonight, Mary will be cooking, the grandkids will all be there running around, and someone, maybe Simon, Mary’s husband, is going to say, ‘What did you do today?’ And I’m going to go, ‘Oh,’ and then get my phone and play it for them.” So this became the ritual.

Swift: That’s the coziest thing I’ve ever heard.

McCartney: Well, it’s like eight minutes long, and I said, “I hate it when I’m playing someone something and it finishes after three minutes.” I kind of like that it just [continues] on.

Swift: You want to stay in the zone.

McCartney: It just keeps going on. I would just come home, “Well, what did you do today?” “Oh, well, I did this. I’m halfway through this,” or, “We finished this.”

Swift: I was wondering about the numerology element to McCartney III. McCartney I, II, and III have all come out on years with zeroes.

McCartney: Ends of decades.

Swift: Was that important?

McCartney: Yeah, well, this was being done in 2020, and I didn’t really think about it. I think everyone expected great things of 2020. “It’s gonna be great! Look at that number! 2020! Auspicious!” Then suddenly Covid hit, and it was like, “That’s gonna be auspicious all right, but maybe for the wrong reasons.” Someone said to me, “Well, you put out McCartney right after the Beatles broke up, and that was 1970, and then you did McCartney II in 1980.” And I said, “Oh, I’m going to release this in 2020 just for whatever you call it, the numerology...”

Swift: The numerology, the kind of look, the symbolism. I love numbers. Numbers kind of rule my whole world. The numbers 13... 89 is a big one. I have a few others that I find...

McCartney: Thirteen is lucky for some.

Swift: Yeah, it’s lucky for me. It’s my birthday. It’s all these weird coincidences of good things that have happened. Now, when I see it places, I look at it as a sign that things are going the way they’re supposed to. They may not be good now, they could be painful now, but things are on a track. I don’t know, I love the numerology.

McCartney: It’s spooky, Taylor. It’s very spooky. Now wait a minute: Where’d you get 89?

Swift: That’s when I was born, in 1989, and so I see it in different places and I just think it’s...

McCartney: No, it’s good. I like that, where certain things you attach yourself to, and you get a good feeling off them. I think that’s great.

Swift: Yeah, one of my favorite artists, Bon Iver, he has this thing with the number 22. But I was also wondering: You have always kind of seeked out a band or a communal atmosphere with like, you know, the Beatles and Wings, and then Egypt Station. I thought it was interesting when I realized you had made a record with no one else. I just wondered, did that feel natural?

McCartney: It’s one of the things I’ve done. Like with McCartney, because the Beatles had broken up, there was no alternative but to get a drum kit at home, get a guitar, get an amp, get a bass, and just make something for myself. So on that album, which I didn’t really expect to do very well, I don’t think it did. But people sort of say, “I like that. It was a very casual album.” It didn’t really have to mean anything. So I’ve done that, the play-everything-myself thing. And then I discovered synths and stuff, and sequencers, so I had a few of those at home. I just thought I’m going to play around with this and record it, so that became McCartney II. But it’s a thing I do. Certain people can do it. Stevie Wonder can do it. Stevie Winwood, I believe, has done it. So there are certain people quite like that.

When you’re working with someone else, you have to worry about their variances. Whereas your own variance, you kind of know it. It’s just something I’ve grown to like. Once you can do it, it becomes a little bit addictive. I actually made some records under the name the Fireman.

Swift: Love a pseudonym.

McCartney: Yeah, for the fun! But, you know, let’s face it, you crave fame and attention when you’re young. And I just remembered the other day, I was the guy in the Beatles that would write to journalists and say [speaks in a formal voice]: “We are a semiprofessional rock combo, and I’d think you’d like [us]... We’ve written over 100 songs (which was a lie), my friend John and I. If you mention us in your newspaper...” You know, I was always, like, craving the attention.

Swift: The hustle! That’s so great, though.

McCartney: Well, yeah, you need that.

Swift: Yeah, I think, when a pseudonym comes in is when you still have a love for making the work and you don’t want the work to become overshadowed by this thing that’s been built around you, based on what people know about you. And that’s when it’s really fun to create fake names and write under them.

McCartney: Do you ever do that?

Swift: Oh, yeah.

McCartney: Oh, yeah? Oh, well, we didn’t know that! Is that a widely known fact?

Swift: I think it is now, but it wasn’t. I wrote under the name Nils Sjöberg because those are two of the most popular names of Swedish males. I wrote this song called “This Is What You Came For” that Rihanna ended up singing. And nobody knew for a while. I remembered always hearing that when Prince wrote “Manic Monday,” they didn’t reveal it for a couple of months.

McCartney: Yeah, it also proves you can do something without the fame tag. I did something for Peter and Gordon; my girlfriend’s brother and his mate were in a band called Peter and Gordon. And I used to write under the name Bernard Webb.

Swift: [Laughs.] That’s a good one! I love it.

McCartney: As Americans call it, Ber-nard Webb. I did the Fireman thing. I worked with a producer, a guy called Youth, who’s this real cool dude. We got along great. He did a mix for me early on, and we got friendly. I would just go into the studio, and he would say, “Hey, what about this groove?” and he’d just made me have a little groove going. He’d say, “You ought to put some bass on it. Put some drums on it.” I’d just spend the whole day putting stuff on it. And we’d make these tracks, and nobody knew who Fireman was for a while. We must have sold all of 15 copies.

Swift: Thrilling, absolutely thrilling.

McCartney: And we didn’t mind, you know?

Swift: I think it’s so cool that you do projects that are just for you. Because I went with my family to see you in concert in 2010 or 2011, and the thing I took away from the show most was that it was the most selfless set list I had ever seen. It was completely geared toward what it would thrill us to hear. It had new stuff, but it had every hit we wanted to hear, every song we’d ever cried to, every song people had gotten married to, or been brokenhearted to. And I just remembered thinking, “I’ve got to remember that,” that you do that set list for your fans.

McCartney: You do that, do you?

Swift: I do now. I think that learning that lesson from you taught me at a really important stage in my career that if people want to hear “Love Story” and “Shake It Off,” and I’ve played them 300 million times, play them the 300-millionth-and-first time. I think there are times to be selfish in your career, and times to be selfless, and sometimes they line up.

McCartney: I always remembered going to concerts as a kid, completely before the Beatles, and I really hoped they would play the ones I loved. And if they didn’t, it was kind of disappointing. I had no money, and the family wasn’t wealthy. So this would be a big deal for me, to save up for months to afford the concert ticket.

Swift: Yeah, it feels like a bond. It feels like that person on the stage has given something, and it makes you as a crowd want to give even more back, in terms of applause, in terms of dedication. And I just remembered feeling that bond in the crowd, and thinking, “He’s up there playing these Beatles songs, my dad is crying, my mom is trying to figure out how to work her phone because her hands are shaking so much.” Because seeing the excitement course through not only me, but my family and the entire crowd in Nashville, it just was really special. I love learning lessons and not having to learn them the hard way. Like learning nice lessons I really value.

McCartney: Well, that’s great, and I’m glad that set you on that path. I understand people who don’t want to do that, and if you do, they’ll say, “Oh, it’s a jukebox show.” I hear what they’re saying. But I think it’s a bit of a cheat, because the people who come to our shows have spent a lot of money. We can afford to go to a couple of shows and it doesn’t make much difference. But a lot of ordinary working folks... it’s a big event in their life, and so I try and deliver. I also, like you say, try and put in a few weirdos.

Swift: That’s the best. I want to hear current things, too, to update me on where the artist is. I was wondering about lyrics, and where you were lyrically when you were making this record. Because when I was making Folklore, I went lyrically in a total direction of escapism and romanticism. And I wrote songs imagining I was, like, a pioneer woman in a forbidden love affair [laughs]. I was completely...

McCartney: Was this “I want to give you a child”? Is that one of the lines?

Swift: Oh, that’s a song called “Peace.”

McCartney: “Peace,” I like that one.

Swift: “Peace” is actually more rooted in my personal life. I know you have done a really excellent job of this in your personal life: carving out a human life within a public life, and how scary that can be when you do fall in love and you meet someone, especially if you’ve met someone who has a very grounded, normal way of living. I, oftentimes, in my anxieties, can control how I am as a person and how normal I act and rationalize things, but I cannot control if there are 20 photographers outside in the bushes and what they do and if they follow our car and if they interrupt our lives. I can’t control if there’s going to be a fake weird headline about us in the news tomorrow.

McCartney: So how does that go? Does your partner sympathize with that and understand?

Swift: Oh, absolutely.

McCartney: They have to, don’t they?

Swift: But I think that in knowing him and being in the relationship I am in now, I have definitely made decisions that have made my life feel more like a real life and less like just a storyline to be commented on in tabloids. Whether that’s deciding where to live, who to hang out with, when to not take a picture - the idea of privacy feels so strange to try to explain, but it’s really just trying to find bits of normalcy. That’s what that song “Peace” is talking about. Like, would it be enough if I could never fully achieve the normalcy that we both crave? Stella always tells me that she had as normal a childhood as she could ever hope for under the circumstances.

McCartney: Yeah, it was very important to us to try and keep their feet on the ground amongst the craziness.

Swift: She went to a regular school...

McCartney: Yeah, she did.

Swift: And you would go trick-or-treating with them, wearing masks.

McCartney: All of them did, yeah. It was important, but it worked pretty well, because when they kind of reached adulthood, they would meet other kids who might have gone to private schools, who were a little less grounded.

And they could be the budding mothers to [kids]. I remember Mary had a friend, Orlando. Not Bloom. She used to really counsel him. And it’s ’cause she’d gone through that. Obviously, they got made fun of, my kids. They’d come in the classroom and somebody would sing, “Na na na na,” you know, one of the songs. And they’d have to handle that. They’d have to front it out.

Swift: Did that give you a lot of anxiety when you had kids, when you felt like all this pressure that’s been put on me is spilling over onto them, that they didn’t sign up for it? Was that hard for you?

McCartney: Yeah, a little bit, but it wasn’t like it is now. You know, we were just living a kind of semi-hippie life, where we withdrew from a lot of stuff. The kids would be doing all the ordinary things, and their school friends would be coming up to the house and having parties, and it was just great. I remember one lovely evening when it was Stella’s birthday, and she brought a bunch of school kids up. And, you know, they’d all ignore me. It happens very quickly. At first they’re like, “Oh, yeah, he’s like a famous guy,” and then it’s like [yawns]. I like that. I go in the other room and suddenly I hear this music going on. And one of the kids, his name was Luke, and he’s doing break dancing.

Swift: Ohhh!

McCartney: He was a really good break dancer, so all the kids are hanging out. That allowed them to be kind of normal with those kids. The other thing is, I don’t live fancy. I really don’t. Sometimes it’s a little bit of an embarrassment, if I’ve got someone coming to visit me, or who I know…

Swift: Cares about that stuff?

McCartney: Who’s got a nice big house, you know. Quincy Jones came to see me and I’m, like, making him a veggie burger or something. I’m doing some cooking. This was after I’d lost Linda, in between there. But the point I’m making is that I’m very consciously thinking, “Oh, God, Quincy’s got to be thinking, ‘What is this guy on? He hasn’t got big things going on. It’s not a fancy house at all. And we’re eating in the kitchen! He’s not even got the dining room going,’” you know?

Swift: I think that sounds like a perfect day.

McCartney: But that’s me. I’m awkward like that. That’s my kind of thing. Maybe I should have, like, a big stately home. Maybe I should get a staff. But I think I couldn’t do that. I’d be so embarrassed. I’d want to walk around dressed as I want to walk around, or naked, if I wanted to.

Swift: That can’t happen in Downton Abbey.

McCartney: [Laughs.] Exactly.

Swift: I remember what I wanted to know about, which is lyrics. Like, when you’re in this kind of strange, unparalleled time, and you’re making this record, are lyrics first? Or is it when you get a little melodic idea?

McCartney: It was a bit of both. As it kind of always is with me. There’s no fixed way. People used to ask me and John, “Well, who does the words, who does the music?” I used to say, “We both do both.” We used to say we don’t have a formula, and we don’t want one. Because the minute we get a formula, we should rip it up. I will sometimes, as I did with a couple of songs on this album, sit down at the piano and just start noodling around, and I’ll get a little idea and start to fill that out. So the lyrics - for me, it’s following a trail. I’ll start [sings “Find My Way,” a song from “McCartney III”]: “I can find my way. I know my left from right, da da da.” And I’ll just sort of fill it in. Like, we know this song, and I’m trying to remember the lyrics. Sometimes I’ll just be inspired by something. I had a little book which was all about the constellations and the stars and the orbits of Venus and...

Swift: Oh, I know that song - “The Kiss of Venus”?

McCartney: Yeah, “The Kiss of Venus.” And I just thought, “That’s a nice phrase.” So I was actually just taking phrases out of the book, harmonic sounds. And the book is talking about the maths of the universe, and how when things orbit around each other, and if you trace all the patterns, it becomes like a lotus flower.

Swift: Wow.

McCartney: It’s very magical.

Swift: That is magical. I definitely relate to needing to find magical things in this very not-magical time, needing to read more books and learn to sew, and watch movies that take place hundreds of years ago. In a time where, if you look at the news, you just want to have a panic attack - I really relate to the idea that you are thinking about stars and constellations.

McCartney: Did you do that on Folklore?

Swift: Yes. I was reading so much more than I ever did, and watching so many more films.

McCartney: What stuff were you reading?

Swift: I was reading, you know, books like Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, which I highly recommend, and books that dealt with times past, a world that doesn’t exist anymore. I was also using words I always wanted to use - kind of bigger, flowerier, prettier words, like “epiphany,” in songs. I always thought, “Well, that’ll never track on pop radio,” but when I was making this record, I thought, “What tracks? Nothing makes sense anymore. If there’s chaos everywhere, why don’t I just use the damn word I want to use in the song?”

McCartney: Exactly. So you’d see the word in a book and think, “I love that word”?

Swift: Yeah, I have favorite words, like “elegies” and “epiphany” and “divorcée,” and just words that I think sound beautiful, and I have lists and lists of them.

McCartney: How about “marzipan”?

Swift: Love “marzipan.”

McCartney: The other day, I was remembering when we wrote “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”: “kaleidoscope.”

Swift: “Kaleidoscope” is one of mine! I have a song on 1989, a song called “Welcome to New York,” that I put the word “kaleidoscope” in just because I’m obsessed with the word.

McCartney: I think a love of words is a great thing, particularly if you’re going to try to write a lyric, and for me, it’s like, “What is this going to say to that person?�� I often feel like I’m writing to someone who is not doing so well. So I’m trying to write songs that might help. Not in a goody-goody, crusading kind of way, but just thinking there have been so many times in my life when I’ve heard a song and felt so much better. I think that’s the angle I want, that inspirational thing.

I remember once, a friend of mine from Liverpool, we were teenagers and we were going to a fairground. He was a schoolmate, and we had these jackets that had a little fleck in the material, which was the cool thing at the time.

Swift: We should have done matching jackets for this photo shoot.

McCartney: Find me a fleck, I’m in. But we went to the fair, and I just remember - this is what happens with songs - there was this girl at the fair. This is just a little Liverpool fair - it was in a place called Sefton Park - and there was this girl, who was so beautiful. She wasn’t a star. She was so beautiful. Everyone was following her, and it’s like, “Wow.” It’s like a magical scene, you know? But all this gave me a headache, so I ended up going back to his house - I didn’t normally get headaches. And we thought, “What can we do?” So we put on the Elvis song “All Shook Up.” By the end of that song, my headache had gone. I thought, you know, “That’s powerful.”

Swift: That really is powerful.

McCartney: I love that, when people stop me in the street and say, “Oh, I was going through an illness and I listened to a lot of your stuff, and I’m better now and it got me through,” or kids will say, “It got me through exams.” You know, they’re studying, they’re going crazy, but they put your music on. I’m sure it happens with a lot of your fans. It inspires them, you know?

Swift: Yeah, I definitely think about that as a goal. There’s so much stress everywhere you turn that I kind of wanted to make an album that felt sort of like a hug, or like your favorite sweater that makes you feel like you want to put it on.

McCartney: What, a “cardigan”?

Swift: Like a good cardigan, a good, worn-in cardigan. Or something that makes you reminisce on your childhood. I think sadness can be cozy. It can obviously be traumatic and stressful, too, but I kind of was trying to lean into sadness that feels like somehow enveloping in not such a scary way - like nostalgia and whimsy incorporated into a feeling like you’re not all right. Because I don’t think anybody was really feeling like they were in their prime this year. Isolation can mean escaping into your imagination in a way that’s kind of nice.

McCartney: I think a lot of people have found that. I would say to people, “I feel a bit guilty about saying I’m actually enjoying this quarantine thing,” and people go, “Yeah, I know, don’t say it to anyone.” A lot of people are really suffering.

Swift: Because there’s a lot in life that’s arbitrary. Completely and totally arbitrary. And [the quarantine] is really shining a light on that, and also a lot of things we have that we outsource that you can actually do yourself.

McCartney: I love that. This is why I said I live simply. That’s, like, at the core of it. With so many things, something goes wrong and you go, “Oh, I’ll get somebody to fix that.” And then it’s like, “No, let me have a look at it...”

Swift: Get a hammer and a nail.

McCartney: “Maybe I can put that picture up.” It’s not rocket science. The period after the Beatles, when we went to live in Scotland on a really - talk about dumpy - little farm. I mean, I see pictures of it now and I’m not ashamed, but I’m almost ashamed. Because it’s like, “God, nobody’s cleaned up around here.”

But it was really a relief. Because when I was with the Beatles, we’d formed Apple Records, and if I wanted a Christmas tree, someone would just buy it. And I thought, after a while, “No, you know what? I really would like to go and buy our Christmas tree. Because that’s what everyone does.” So you go down - “I’ll have that one” - and you carried it back. I mean, it’s little, but it’s huge at the same time.

I needed a table in Scotland and I was looking through a catalog and I thought, “I could make one. I did woodwork in school, so I know what a dovetail joint is.” So I just figured it out. I’m just sitting in the kitchen, and I’m whittling away at this wood and I made this little joint. There was no nail technology - it was glue. And I was scared to put it together. I said, “It’s not going to fit,” but one day, I got my woodwork glue and thought, “There’s no going back.” But it turned out to be a real nice little table I was very proud of. It was that sense of achievement.

The weird thing was, Stella went up to Scotland recently and I said, “Isn’t it there?” and she said, “No.” Anyway, I searched for it. Nobody remembered it. Somebody said, “Well, there’s a pile of wood in the corner of one of the barns, maybe that’s it. Maybe they used it for firewood.” I said, “No, it’s not firewood.” Anyway, we found it, and do you know how joyous that was for me? I was like, “You found my table?!” Somebody might say that’s a bit boring.

Swift: No, it’s cool!

McCartney: But it was a real sort of great thing for me to be able to do stuff for yourself. You were talking about sewing. I mean normally, in your position, you’ve got any amount of tailors.

Swift: Well, there’s been a bit of a baby boom recently; several of my friends have gotten pregnant.

McCartney: Oh, yeah, you’re at the age.

Swift: And I was just thinking, “I really want to spend time with my hands, making something for their children.” So I made this really cool flying-squirrel stuffed animal that I sent to one of my friends. I sent a teddy bear to another one, and I started making these little silk baby blankets with embroidery. It’s gotten pretty fancy. And I’ve been painting a lot.

McCartney: What do you paint? Watercolors?

Swift: Acrylic or oil. Whenever I do watercolor, all I paint is flowers. When I have oil, I really like to do landscapes. I always kind of return to painting a lonely little cottage on a hill.

McCartney: It’s a bit of a romantic dream. I agree with you, though, I think you’ve got to have dreams, particularly this year. You’ve got to have something to escape to. When you say “escapism,” it sounds like a dirty word, but this year, it definitely wasn’t. And in the books you’re reading, you’ve gone into that world. That’s, I think, a great thing. Then you come back out. I normally will read a lot before I go to bed. So I’ll come back out, then I’ll go to sleep, so I think it really is nice to have those dreams that can be fantasies or stuff you want to achieve.

Swift: You’re creating characters. This was the first album where I ever created characters, or wrote about the life of a real-life person. There’s a song called “The Last Great American Dynasty” that’s about this real-life heiress who lived just an absolutely chaotic, hectic...

McCartney: She’s a fantasy character?

Swift: She’s a real person. Who lived in the house that I live in.

McCartney: She’s a real person? I listened to that and I thought, “Who is this?”

Swift: Her name was Rebekah Harkness. And she lived in the house that I ended up buying in Rhode Island. That’s how I learned about her. But she was a woman who was very, very talked about, and everything she did was scandalous. I found a connection in that. But I also was thinking about how you write “Eleanor Rigby” and go into that whole story about what all these people in this town are doing and how their lives intersect, and I hadn’t really done that in a very long time with my music. It had always been so microscope personal.

McCartney: Yeah, ’cause you were writing breakup songs like they were going out of style.

Swift: I was, before my luck changed [laughs]. I still write breakup songs. I love a good breakup song. Because somewhere in the world, I always have a friend going through a breakup, and that will make me write one.

McCartney: Yeah, this goes back to this thing of me and John: When you’ve got a formula, break it. I don’t have a formula. It’s the mood I’m in. So I love the idea of writing a character. And, you know, trying to think, “What am I basing this on?” So “Eleanor Rigby” was based on old ladies I knew as a kid. For some reason or other, I got great relationships with a couple of local old ladies. I was thinking the other day, I don’t know how I met them, it wasn’t like they were family. I’d just run into them, and I’d do their shopping for them.

Swift: That’s amazing.

McCartney: It just felt good to me. I would sit and talk, and they’d have amazing stories. That’s what I liked. They would have stories from the wartime - because I was born actually in the war - and so these old ladies, they were participating in the war. This one lady I used to sort of just hang out with, she had a crystal radio that I found very magical. In the war, a lot of people made their own radios - you’d make them out of crystals [sings “The Twilight Zone” theme].

Swift: How did I not know this? That sounds like something I would have tried to learn about.

McCartney: It’s interesting, because there is a lot of parallels with the virus and lockdowns and wartime. It happened to everyone. Like, this isn’t HIV, or SARS, or Avian flu, which happened to others, generally. This has happened to everyone, all around the world. That’s the defining thing about this particular virus. And, you know, my parents... it happened to everyone in Britain, including the queen and Churchill. War happened. So they were all part of this thing, and they all had to figure out a way through it. So you figured out Folklore. I figured out McCartney III.

Swift: And a lot of people have been baking sourdough bread. Whatever gets you through!

McCartney: Some people used to make radios. And they’d take a crystal - we should look it up, but it actually is a crystal. I thought, “Oh, no, they just called it a crystal radio,” but it’s actually crystals like we know and love.

Swift: Wow.

McCartney: And somehow they get the radio waves - this crystal attracts them - they tune it in, and that’s how they used to get their news. Back to “Eleanor Rigby,” so I would think of her and think of what she’s doing and then just try to get lyrical, just try to bring poetry into it, words you love, just try to get images like “picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been,” and Father McKenzie “is darning his socks in the night.” You know, he’s a religious man, so I could’ve said, you know, “preparing his Bible,” which would have been more obvious. But “darning his socks” kind of says more about him. So you get into this lovely fantasy. And that’s the magic of songs, you know. It’s a black hole, and then you start doing this process, and then there’s this beautiful little flower that you’ve just made. So it is very like embroidery, making something.

Swift: Making a table.

McCartney: Making a table.

Swift: Wow, it would’ve been so fun to play Glastonbury for the 50th anniversary together.

McCartney: It would’ve been great, wouldn’t it? And I was going to be asking you to play with me.

Swift: Were you going to invite me? I was hoping that you would. I was going to ask you.

McCartney: I would’ve done “Shake It Off.”

Swift: Oh, my God, that would have been amazing.

McCartney: I know it, it’s in C!

Swift: One thing I just find so cool about you is that you really do seem to have the joy of it, still, just no matter what. You seem to have the purest sense of joy of playing an instrument and making music, and that’s just the best, I think.

McCartney: Well, we’re just so lucky, aren’t we?

Swift: We’re really lucky.

McCartney: I don’t know if it ever happens to you, but with me, it’s like, “Oh, my god, I’ve ended up as a musician.”

Swift: Yeah, I can’t believe it’s my job.

McCartney: I must tell you a story I told Mary the other day, which is just one of my favorite little sort of Beatles stories. We were in a terrible, big blizzard, going from London to Liverpool, which we always did. We’d be working in London and then drive back in the van, just the four of us with our roadie, who would be driving. And this was a blizzard. You couldn’t see the road. At one point, it slid off and it went down an embankment. So it was “Ahhh,” a bunch of yelling. We ended up at the bottom. It didn’t flip, luckily, but so there we are, and then it’s like, “Oh, how are we going to get back up? We’re in a van. It’s snowing, and there’s no way.” We’re all standing around in a little circle, and thinking, “What are we going to do?” And one of us said, “Well, something will happen.” And I thought that was just the greatest. I love that, that’s a philosophy.

Swift: “Something will happen.”

McCartney: And it did. We sort of went up the bank, we thumbed a lift, we got the lorry driver to take us, and Mal, our roadie, sorted the van and everything. So that was kind of our career. And I suppose that’s like how I ended up being a musician and a songwriter: “Something will happen.”

Swift: That’s the best.

McCartney: It’s so stupid it’s brilliant. It’s great if you’re ever in that sort of panic attack: “Oh, my God,” or, “Ahhh, what am I going to do?”

Swift: “Something will happen.”

McCartney: All right then, thanks for doing this, and this was, you know, a lot of fun.

Swift: You’re the best. This was so awesome. Those were some quality stories!