#if you're in any of those photos please let me know! i'm gonna post them on instagram and twitter too

[canmom]

NieR Orchestra Concert 12024 [the end of data] (London, 15/2/2024)

NieR concert was incredible just as expected. Honestly, from the moment I got there - the cosplayers, the general atmosphere, it was just a good place to be surrounded by NieR nerds lmao. So many people happy to chat with the stranger next to them, kind of a con vibe.

But of course we were there for the music! And it was fuckin amazing. The emi evans/j'nique nicole duets😭These were special orchestral arrangements specifically for this concert, and the way the sound of the orchestra fills the space, how you can see a phrase physically ripple across the orchestra... I don't get to go to a lot of concerts but I really should try to go more often, because it's something else to hear orchestral music.

below: further comments on the concert, lots of cosplay photos.

The multimedia elements also worked really well - every piece was accompanied with backing videos using either demosceney abstract visuals or images from the games, along with text that told a short story over the course of the concert, with some segments voice acted by the English voices of 2B and 9S (Kira Buckland and Kyle McCarley, who have previously made their own performances of the original Japan-only concert readings). I won't spoil the story in this post since there are still concerts to come, but it was... not that substantial I'll admit, but sweet, and a nice framing device to create a flow through the songs and various moments from the games.

Hearing J'nique Nicole's voice live though, that was incredible. Emi Evans was there just as last time, and just as amazing as always - but this time we had both of them on stage together, and it was absolutely sublime. We all went wild. They performed duets in several songs, with the standouts naturally being A Beautiful Song, Ashes of Dreams, and of course Weight of the World. I think we all thought that was the end because we gave it a standing ovation but then Emi came back out to perform Kainé. After that we got into the groove of standing up and stood up again like three more times lol.

Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito showed up at the end and made a bunch of rapidfire jokes in Japanese that the translator couldn't keep up with, bless her. But we got to give them like the fourth standing ovation of the night, and made a lot of noise when Yoko Taro suggested it would persuade the president of Squeenix to fund a sequel. I'm sure they appreciated it lmao. I think it must be so weird for Yoko Taro to go from someone with a career of niche, unsuccessful games to being internationally renowned to the point that a massive auditorium full of people in multiple countries will go absolutely nuts just to hear him speak a language we mostly don't speak.

Good mix of people who were at a NieR concert for the first time and people who'd been to the last one. There was a guy near me who had apparently been to the Berlin concert just a few days before, and snagged a ticket for this one literally yesterday just to get it again with better acoustics. I respect it lol. Everyone I spoke to was remarkably friendly - last time I went to one of these things I felt really nervous about approaching anyone but it seems I've gotten better about that kind of thing in the last few years. Anyway, people had come from all over - I chatted with a pair of Americans from Boston all the way down the merch line.

Here are some pictures, mostly of cosplayers. I am still getting used to shooting with the DSLR my friend gave me, so not all of these came out perfectly steady and some of them the exposure wasn't right,, but there are some nice ones in here...

bokeeeeehhhhhhhhh... I spoke a bit to the owner of this 9S doll. Her mum was there too, and it turns out she's a haberdasher who makes cosplays for her daughters and has now done over 70. That's a legendary mum right there.

The 9S cosplayer here gave me his instagram. he's a pro photographer so I feel a little embarassed at the quality of the photos I took of him ^^'

I got some merch too, since I understand it's the main way events like this support themselves.

That Kainé thing isn't a print, it's a vinyl record with a few arrangements of Kainé. Though I was totally prepared to buy it as a print because it's a lovely drawing. I don't actually own a record player, but one day I'll surely listen to it ^^'

I was too fatigued to make a cosplay this time, but I'm sure there will be another concert and next time, for sure, I will go as Devola or Popola. Unless Yoko Taro comes up with another redhead character in the meantime lmao.

[mysteryshoptls]

2024-2025 Player Birthday Login Message Lines

These are all the messages that you get from the boys when you log in on the birthday that you set in-game from 18 Mar 2024 to 17 Mar 2025! For those that want to hear them, you can find them in the Archive, under the tab その他　→　監督生バースデー④. (This will not be in your game archives until the birthday you set passes.)

You can find the 2021-2022 Birthday Login Message Lines here! You can find the 2022-2023 Birthday Login Message Lines here! You can find the 2023-2024 Birthday Login Message Lines here!

HEARTSLABYUL

Riddle

Happy Birthday, [Yuu]. Thanks for always looking out for those two dorm students of mine. Actually, we're planning on hosting a reception this weekend at our dorm. I would like to invite you, as part of your birthday celebration. Heh. My apologies. Looks like that has caused you a little anxiety. No worries, I'll be beside you teaching you the proper manners the whole time.

Ace

Yo, [Yuu]. Happy Birthday― Mmkay, so let's get started on the birthday party. I'm just gonna pop on over to this one restaurant in town and nab some tasty-lookin' stuff! Just chill and wait here at Ramshackle... Hey, c'mon, I ain't tryin' to pull anything over on ya. Sometimes I just want to have a normal celebration too, y'know!

Deuce

[Yuu], Happy Birthday! Let me take you to go buy a prese... Eh? You're saying that I've already given you a present because I fixed the broken lights in Ramshackle the other day...? No way, you don't gotta hold back like that! I want to go all out for my pal's special day. That's what makes me happy.

Cater

[Yuu]-chan, Happy Birthday―☆ Did ya post on Magicam that it's your birthday? Oh, not yet? Then, let Cay-kun here with all his power and wisdom write a post for you! We'll attach a cool photo and some slammin' hashtags... Whaddya think? A perfect gift from me, or what?

Trey

Happy Birthday. So, about your present... I do have one. It's just... I was asking around for what to gift you and in the end, I couldn't really figure out what I should get... So in the end, after being at a loss, I ended up getting you this shirt. I look at it now and wonder what possessed me to pick this pattern... Yeah, I know, it's just laughable.

SAVANACLAW

Leona

Yeah, yeah. Your birthday's come 'round again, hooray. ...What're you doing, setting up a chessboard on the floor like that? You practiced just to win a game against me? Oho, so you're challenging me, then. Look at the pluck on this herbivore. So, what're you willing to bet, then? No way you're gettin' away with just a simple game after throwin' down the gauntlet at me like this.

Jack

So, it's your birthday today. Have you set up any new goals yet? What, you're going to surpass me in our classes? Heh, that's a hilarious joke. You really think you can beat me? But I'll take you on. If you get a better score on our next test, I'll get you some kind of present.

Ruggie

Happy Birthday―! 'N that means, I got you somethin' that's fittin' comin' from an upperclassman like me. Ta-da! A homemade fishing rod～ ...Ah, you totally just thought it's a cheap gift, didn'tcha! But this totally works! I know what it's like to go hungry too, y'know～ You're probably always goin' through things, so if you're ever in a pinch, make sure you use this!

OCTAVINELLE

Azul

A very Happy Birthday to you. Have you thought of a gift you'd like to get for yourself? Please, allow me to procure it for you... ...Oho, you have a keen eye to request something of that caliber. It may be considerably difficult to just anyone to acquire. HOW-EV-ER! If I were to handle it, that is a different situation altogether. I shall definitely make sure to retrieve it for you. Please wait expectantly.

Jade

Happy tidings for your birthday. I do hope this year will be another fruitful year for you. By the way, [Yuu]-san. Have you eaten yet? Oh, not yet, how wonderful. As a matter of fact, I thought I would treat you to something in my own little way. I only offer this with the best of intentions, of course. Fufu.

Floyd

Oh hey, Shrimpy-chan. It's your birthday today, huh. Mmkay, then I'll give you some snacks. I got these strange tastin' gummies, these wicked hard cookies, and some squishy jerky. Awesome, right? I got a ton, but all of them expire today, so. These are my presents to you, so you better eat them all without wastin' any, 'kay?

SCARABIA

Kalim

[Yuu], Happy Birthday! Here's your present, from me to you. Ahaha, did that surprise you? I tried making a pop up birthday card just for you. I also tried making a ton of paper flowers that we use during celebrations back in the Scalding Sands. Don'tcha think they came out real pretty?

Jamil

Happy Birthday, [Yuu]. It isn't much, but here's your present. Ramshackle is a fairly old building. I'm sure there are bugs that will find their way in and try to settle down here. However, if you use this, you can rid yourself of all of them in an instant. I can vouch for its effectiveness. Use it as soon as you can.

POMEFIORE

Vil

Happy Birthday, [Yuu]. ...You wish for me to come to your party here, at Ramshackle? And to top it all off, you've prepared a healthy menu just for me... Heh, how considerate of you. Very well. I suppose I can make an appearance out of respect for your enthusiasm. I do hope you're honored that I'll be there to celebrate with you.

Epel

Happy Birthday! I put in a lot of thought picking out a present for you. Here ya go, fingerless gloves! Nice design, right? Makes using your phone a lot easier, too. It'll make you look super cool, and the more you use it, the more comfy it'll feel. I hope you use it tons!

Rook

I've been waiting, Trickster. Waiting, that is, to celebrate your birthday with you. A spectacular day requires a spectacular memory. That is why I've come up with a wonderful plan of my own. First, we watch two back-to-back theater performances, then attend a poetry reading, and finally, watch a movie in the evening. There will be no time to rest. Come, we must quickly fly towards the theater!

IGNIHYDE

Idia

Kk, time to pretend we all get along and celebrate a birthday again... Eep!? D-Did you hear that just now...? Uh, so... Happy B-day, I guess... Soz, I don't have a present for you. Didn't even know it was your birthday... What, you're seriously just happy hearing me wish you a happy b-day? [siiigh] Nah, I'll order something small online and have it shipped to Ramshackle sometime later.

Ortho

Happy Birthday! Here's your present. Go ahead and open it! Hehe, you see what I did? I used a laser to engrave a birthday message on a glass tumbler for you. It was a little difficult fine tuning the power adjustment for the more detailed parts, but it came out pretty good, don't you think? I really hope you like it!

DIASOMNIA

Malleus

Child of Man, I see today is your birthday. ...Hm? What's the matter? You look a tad glum. Ah, I see, you are struggling to carry all your presents. Well, allow me to deliver them to Ramshackle with magic in your stead. No need to protest, this is an effortless task for someone like me. You should enjoy your special day to the utmost.

Silver

Happy Birthday. You're curious about this braided cord? It is your present. Lilia-senpai explained it to me thusly... If a string wrapped around your wrist or ankle snaps off on its own, then your wish will be granted. I strung this cord together in hopes that you may have your wishes come true. It may be a tad ill-shaped, but if it pleases you, it is yours.

Sebek

As I recall, today is your birthday... Hm? You want me to come to your birthday party? What poor semblance of a joke. I don't have the spare time to waltz into some human gathering like... WHAT!? MY LIEGE HIMSELF WILL ALSO BE THERE!? THEN SAY THAT FIRST! For goodness' sake, humans like you are just... so thoroughly thoughtless. Hurry and provide me the location and commencement time!

Lilia

Ooh, nice. So today's your birthday. Just look at how big you're getting. ...Khee hee hee. Don't look so downtrodden. It's just me pretending to be a doting gramps. The other guys in my dorm don't ever let me joke with them like that. And so, I have a present for you. Here, a CD of my performances, specially made! Take this and enjoy my raging screamo music with your whole heart and body.

OTHERS

Crowley and Rollo do not have new lines. Theirs are repeated from last year's.

Grim

Today's your birthday, huh. Happy Birthday to you! ...Huh? Do I got a gift for ya? What're ya even saying? Shouldn't ya be happy enough that you're my number one favorite henchie? Fiiine. Guess I can use my paws to pad you a massage sometime. Wouldn't want to hafta sit in a hard and uncomfy lap, after all!

Crowley

Ta-daaa! What do you suppose this could be? That’s correct, it’s an exchange coupon for use at the Mystery Shop! You have been a consistent helping hand, so… This is a special gift for you. Happy Birthday. Incidentally, that is only worth 500 madol (5 Thaumarks). It cannot be exchanged for something pricier than that. Please don’t hold it against me.

Crewel

It seemed rather rowdy in here, but now I see it was just you, pup. Are you excited simply because its your birthday? I see, well, in that case, I have a special present just for you. As for what it is... It is a special alchemy homework assignment. You should be happy; you'll be able to improve your skills even further with this, don't you think? Haha, Happy Birthday.

Rollo

Whatever is the matter, [Yuu]-kun? There is a strange glimmer in your eyes… ...Ah, I see. Today is your birthday. A present? Hmph. I hardly think that it should be something you request of others… But no matter. Indeed, birthdays should be treasured. However, what would be an acceptable gift…? I am afraid I’m rather unaccustomed to this. I would hope I do not disappoint you with a poor gift choice.

Fellow

Oh, my, hello there, my learned scholar! I've been searching, and finally, I've found you! I was fervently hoping to wish you well for your birthday. Here, your present. ...As fellows lacking in magical abilities, we should get along together, don'tcha think? Happy Birthday! Fwahaha!

Requested by Anonymous.

[ms-demeanor]

I hope someone steals you art with ai and doesn't credit you for it

It's hard to steal something that I'm giving away, and it's nearly infinitely easier to just right click on the image so you've got a clean copy instead of attempting to duplicate it through prompt generation. Feel free. I'd love to see what you do with it. You're absolutely 100% clear to use any of my art for any purpose as long as you're willing to let people use the results of that creation in the same way. @ms-demeanor-art-blog is where i keep most things so you won't have to scroll forever - I think the moving eyes illustration is probably the coolest thing I've drawn in a while and it would be really cool to see remixed and shared but i'm not gonna lie, it would be very funny if someone used AI to claim credit for my Venom/Eddie pornographic miniature dollhouse.

If you want a clean scan of any of my zines to distribute please let me know - i've made some of them printable but a lot of them were made since I lost access to my scanner so they just got uploaded as photos.

While you're at it, please feel free to "steal" the de-googling pamphlet, the death book, and the college-level guide to writing an essay in my pinned post. Gosh it would be just horrible if somebody widely disseminated those things without my name on them and gave free copies to everyone they knew and took credit for it. And I don't know what I'd do if people started pretending that they'd come up with my gluten-free recipes while baking them for friends.

Please for real though i actually do want as many people as possible to see the death book and i do not give half a shit if i get credit for it, if you want to strip out all of the formatting and find that last "fuck" that i forgot to delete and remove it and just print it out as a word document to give to your grandma and you tell her that you made it for her I do not care please just talk to your loved ones about end of life planning.

[jennay]

You were Wearing Converse

Request: Hey bestie! So I have an idea for a request and you can write it however you see fit (I trust you). Maybe reader is a new assistant for Bryan to help takes photos for the shows and Noah starts getting feelings as the tour progresses and gives reader little smiles and goofy faces when she’s taking pictures of him? Maybe it can lead to him getting the guts to ask reader out and they go on a date on an off day.

An: ok first of all I'm nervous. Second of all I love this and I hope you all enjoy. I had pictures for imagination of the photoshoot but the links weren't working 😭 thanks for bearing with me. If you want to be added to the tag list let me know.

Heres the picture of the duck drawing that was mentioned ( I don’t know who originally did it but I love them for it)

Noah Master List

Words are about 3600ish

"You've got to be kidding me." You sigh as you browse through the photos on your laptop.

Bryan leans over to see what you're looking at. He compares his shots with yours. He settles back on the couch and crosses his legs. "Do you think he's doing it on purpose?" He wonders, his eyes studying the image of Noah making a face at you. "He never pulls that crap in my photos."

You keep scrolling, hoping for a decent one. "Every single one." You exclaim, getting frustrated. "This guy."

Bryan chuckles and shuts his laptop. "Damn it, Noah."

You shake your head and smile despite yourself. "If he does this tonight, I'm done." You joke. "I'm just walking off stage, and that's the end for me." You stand up, setting the laptop on the table of the tour bus. "I'm gonna go talk to him about it."

Bryan's eyebrow raises as he watches you head to the door. "Please be good. I don't want to fire you. We've done so good together on this tour, and if you piss Noah off, I'm gonna end up firing you!"

You swing the door open, smirking at Brian, "I'll be me…and we'll see how that goes. It's been nice working with you, just in case." You joke, "I'll wait till the show's over tonight...maybe that's a better idea." You sigh, "I guess I can stay and check the rest of these pictures and see if there's at least something good from the other three."

That night, you felt adrenaline coursing through your veins as you followed the boys on the stage with your camera, capturing their every move as they rocked to the music.

The crowd was roaring, the lights were flashing, and the sound was deafening. You loved every second of it. You crouched low, zoomed in, and angled your shots to get the best views of them.

You moved swiftly and skillfully, dodging the wires and the fans. You made your way to Noah, standing at the edge of the stage, singing passionately. His voice was raw and powerful, sending shivers down your spine.

You snapped a picture of him, and he looked up at you with a grin. He flashed you the cheesiest smile he could manage, showing his teeth. His eyes sparkled with mischief and joy. You couldn't help but smile back at him, feeling a warm flutter in your chest.

Noah fucking Sebastian was a different person when you were behind the lens. He put on a show for Bryan's pictures, acting tough and cool. He flipped him off, smirked at him, and glared at him with dark eyes. He wanted to look badass for the photos, fans, and image. He played the role of the rebellious rock star perfectly.

But when it came to you, he let his guard down. He was more relaxed and silly. He made faces, winked at you, and stuck his tongue out. He didn't care about looking perfect for you. He just wanted to make you laugh. Half of your pictures were too goofy or blurry to be used for Bryan's Instagram posts or the Bad Omen's official account. But you didn't mind. You cherished those moments of genuine connection with him.

You shook your head, moving out of the way and to Jolly's corner. You could usually get pictures of him without any sass. He was more serious and focused than Noah, but he still had his charm. That was until tonight.

Tonight, he seemed to be in a playful mood as well. He joined Noah in making funny faces and gestures at you, trying to distract you from your work.

You looked across the stage to Bryan, who motioned for you to come closer to him. He had a smirk on his face that told you he had something planned. You wondered what he was up to.

Your eyes met Jolly's again, and you got the perfect shot of him and Noah standing beside each other. They looked like brothers in arms, ready to take on the world with their music. The only downfall? Their tongues were out of their mouth once again.

They looked like two kids having fun, not two grown men performing for thousands of people.

"Fuckers." You muttered as you jogged over to Bryan.

He pointed to Folio, and you nodded without asking questions; you knew Bryan would test your theory. He stayed closer to Noah and Jolly while you stayed near the drummer and bassist, snapping some of the best pictures you've taken the whole tour.

When you turned around, Noah was standing somewhat beside you. He winked in your direction, making your heart skip a beat. You felt entranced by him as he walked closer to you, melting with each smile he gave you. You took that as an opportunity to snap a few pictures of him up close.

For once, he cooperated and gave a fierce look that matched his voice and attitude on stage.

In the pit of your stomach, you felt a weird fear like Noah suddenly turned into a fire demon, brown eyes now black as he danced around the flames. His back faced you as he gave deathly growls into the mic, sending chills down your spine.

As the night ended, you felt better knowing you had a few shots that Bryan could use for his social media posts and promotions. You could save these for your portfolio and some personal memories of this fantastic night with Noah and the rest of the band.

You smile as you watch Noah address the crowd of people who have gathered to see the show. He thanks them for their support and tells them how much he loves them.

The house lights flip on as he and the rest of the band walk off the stage, leaving behind a trail of cheers and applause. You and Bryan are waiting for them at the back, ready to pack up and head to the next city.

Noah quickly walks over to you, his face glistening with sweat and his chest heaving with breaths. He still has that adrenaline rush in his veins, making him look more alive than ever.

"What did you think?" He asks you, smirking as if he already knows the answer.

"I think I'm happy you finally let me get some good shots and let me do my job." You say, playfully pushing his chest with your camera. "You're kind of a pain in the ass, you know that?" You tease him back.

Noah laughs, pushing his hair out of his face with his hand. His brown eyes sparkle with mischief and charm. "So I've heard." He says, leaning closer to you.

You can smell his cologne mixed with his sweat and feel a flutter in your stomach.

You want to be mad at him, but you can't. You've only known him and the band for this tour, but you feel a good connection with them. They're honest and genuine, unlike other artists you've worked with. They don't live off the drama of the industry; they just love making music and sharing it with their fans. And Noah... he's something else.

He's talented, charismatic, funny, and sweet. He always makes you laugh or blush with his jokes and compliments. He's also incredibly handsome, with messy hair, a stubbled chin, and muscular tattoed arms. You've caught yourself staring at him more than once and noticed him doing the same.

You give him one last smile before turning around to leave. You have a lot of work to do before the next show, and you don't want to keep him from his friends or fans.

"See ya later, Noah." You say over your shoulder.

As you turn around, you feel a gentle tug on your wrist, stopping you from moving forward.

"Wait," Noah calls out.

You turn around again, looking up at him with curious eyes. What could he possibly want? You wonder.

"Go out with me tomorrow." He stammers out anxiously, his eyes darting around the room. His face flushes with a deep crimson as he realizes what he just said. He looks at you with a hopeful expression, waiting for your answer.

Your eyes widen with surprise, your mouth dropping open. He was flirtatious with you, but you thought that was part of his charming personality.

You never expected him to ask you out on a date. "Me?" You gasp in disbelief, pointing at yourself. "No." You nervously laugh, covering your mouth with your hand. Your eyes widen even more when you realize what you said and quickly correct yourself. "I mean, yes. Sorry." You laugh again, feeling awkward and embarrassed. "I'm tired. I'm gonna go now. I'll see you tomorrow." You say, holding your camera close to your chest and rushing away from him.

You were getting bored waiting for Noah to return. He wasn't late, but you were growing impatient, wondering what he had planned for the night. You had been on tour with him for a while now, and you were looking forward to spending some quality time together.

You looked around the room, trying to find something to do. Your eyes landed on a little yellow duck beside a Sharpie on the coffee table. You had an idea, one that might keep you entertained till Noah got back.

You sat on the couch inside the tour bus with your legs up to your chest, drawing on what you assumed was a toy duck a fan had probably thrown to one of the guys. You wanted to make it look as much like Noah as possible. You swiped on some scribbles for hair and his tattoos. You didn't consider yourself an artist, but you felt like it would get the point across.

As you drew, you thought about all the fun times you had shared with Noah. You remembered the first time you met him and how he had made you laugh with his silly jokes. You thought about all the adventures you had been on together and how much he meant to you.

You hear the bus door open and footsteps closer to you before Noah stands before you. "Whatchya got there?" He asks while pointing to the duck.

"Oh," you laugh, "I was just drawing." You set the Sharpie down and toss the small rubber duck to Noah.

He chuckles, turning the duck around to observe all the markings. "Is this supposed to be me?" he holds the duck up to his face and smiles softly. "Pretty much twins."

You both laugh as Noah sits down beside you on the couch. "Have you been waiting long?"

"No, I just got here a few minutes ago. Long enough to do my art project." you smile brightly. "So what's the plan, Romeo?"

"Well," he drapes his arm over your shoulder, "Matt's letting us use his rental for the night. I signed up for a cooking class, so there's the food part. Anything you want to do?"

You shrug. "I'm bringing my camera," you say, pointing to the table. "Maybe a little photo shoot is in order because with all the bullshit photos you've given me…. I deserve at least that." You giggle.

He nods knowingly, "OK, but I get to take some of you too. It's only fair."

You roll your eyes at him, "I don't know about that. Maybe if you're lucky, should we head out or?" You stand up, looking down at your casual clothing. "Am I dressed appropriately?"

Noah leans forward, a smile on his face. "If you aren't dressed appropriately, then I sure as fuck need to change."

You shake your head and let out a giggle. "You look good. You always do."

He stands up and follows you to the door, "Stop it." He blushes and tries to hide his face in his sweater. "Let's get out of here."

The drive to the cooking class wasn't awkward like you thought it would be. You spent a significant amount of time laughing and giggling like normal. Noah let you choose the music that surprised you, mainly because he made fun of everything you listened to. He listened with a smile, promising he wouldn't criticize your singing voice. He encouraged you to dance with him and act like an idiot.

As you both arrived at the cooking class, you felt a sense of excitement and anticipation. You were both eager to learn something new and have fun together. Noah was the perfect partner for this adventure.

He was charming, witty, and always knew how to make you laugh.

Throughout the class, you worked together, chopping vegetables, stirring sauces, and tasting each other's creations.

Debating which was better, you swore it was his, but he denied it, claiming yours was better. You were the more experienced one, after all.

You were thrilled to get your chance to shine finally. You had been waiting for this moment for so long. Photos. Photos that he promised you as compensation for all the crappy shots he forced you to take on stage.

"Oh, I see. You just want to keep a collection of my photos to stare at when I'm not around." He jokes as he follows you down the street.

"I want photos to show that I'm a damn good photographer and I didn't waste a year taking lousy photos of the lead singer," you retort, chuckling. "Come on." You gesture to the dim alleyway.

Noah stays close behind you and rests against the brick wall. His eyes drift to your side, and his jaw drops slightly. "A cat." He points under the fire escape, and instantly, you lose his focus.

You observe as he approaches the cat, making some sounds to attract its attention, and the cat seems fearless, allowing Noah to lift it without any mistrust of humans.

You grin as you witness the two, who have hit it off right away. "How did you-" You hoist the camera and capture a quick shot of Noah and the cat he names Layla. "I can't believe it just let you snuggle up. Noah, you're like a fairy tale hero." You tease, clicking another photo, this time nearer to the two.

Noah smiles from ear to ear, petting the cat. He inches closer to you, leaning in; he lets you pet his new pal. "She's adorable."

You reach out gingerly, "How do you know it's a she, could be a he, maybe it's Leo, not Layla…" You joke while peeking at him, smiling and concealing the grin that wants to show.

"He or she…is very adorable." He corrects himself, making the adorable part sound ironic. "OK, Snow White. It's getting dark can we get a few more shots?"

He looks at you with sandness, letting the cat down. He walks to the brick wall next to you and gazes at you with curious eyes, "Here?" He says, halting in front of the area of the building that has red and green vines crawling across the walls.

You nod, looking while raising your camera. "Take your sweater off." You say, squatting down.

"Trying to undress me now?" He chuckles but follows your request and flings his sweater at you.

"Noah!" You gasp as the sweater softly lands on your face. "You almost made me drop my camera." You fling the sweater over your shoulder, catching a whiff of his cologne. You back away a little, pressing the button to take the photos. "You're really loyal to the band, huh?" You point to his shirt that displays his band logo.

"Always loyal." He mockingly rolls his eyes, "It's not like I have a lot of options, y/n." He turns his head as if to spot something on the far horizon, and you seize this chance to snap a few more photos. He looks intense, and this man claims he doesn't have good angles; what a joke that was.

Suddenly, you hear a loud siren and see flashing lights bouncing off the walls.

A police car pulls up next to the alleyway, and a cop steps out. "Hey! What’re you doing here?" He shouts, walking towards you.

You freeze in panic, clutching your camera. Maybe the alleyway was a little suspicious at this time of night.

"We're just taking some photos, officer. Nothing illegal." He says, trying to sound calm.

The cop looks at you suspiciously, then at the cat under the fire escape. "Is that your cat?" He asks, pointing at it.

You and Noah exchange a glance, then shake your heads. "No, sir. We just found it here. It's very friendly." You say, hoping he won't ask any more questions.

The cop nods, then looks at your camera. “What do you got there?”

Noah steps in front of you as if he knows what will happen next and feels the desire to protect you from something happening to you. "We're not doing anything wrong here, right?" He questions.

The cop frowns, then looks at Noah's shirt. "Are you in a band?" He asks curiously.

Noah nods, smiling slightly. "Yes, sir. I'm the lead singer of Bad Omens."

The cop's eyes widen in recognition. "Bad Omens? My daughter is a huge fan of yours. She has posters of you guys all over her room." He says enthusiastically.

Noah laughs nervously, then looks at you. You smile back at him, feeling relieved.

The cop seems to have forgotten about the photos and the cat. He pulls out his phone and shows you a picture of his daughter holding an album of Bad Omen's from 2016. "Can I get an autograph for her? She would be so happy." He asks eagerly.

Noah agrees and signs his name on a piece of paper, writing a nice message, "Thanks for being a fan otherwise your dad might have arrested me."

The cop laughs at what he's written and thanks him profusely. "You two have a good night. And be careful around here." He says kindly, then gets back in his car and drives away.

You and Noah let out a sigh of relief, then burst into laughter. You can't believe what just happened.

You look at him with a mix of admiration and disbelief. "What the hell just happened?" You whisper, your voice is still shaky from the adrenaline rush. "That was…I don't even know what to say. That was insane."

Noah's eyes are wide with shock. He grabs your hand and pulls you out of the dark alley, away from the scene of your mischief. "Let's get out of here." He says, his voice urgent.

You nod wordlessly, following his lead as he walks quickly to the car. You feel his hand warm and firm in yours, and you squeeze it for comfort. "Noah?" You murmur, looking up at him.

He turns his head to you with a gentle smile, his eyes softening. "What's up?"

"You're holding my hand…" You point out, lifting your linked fingers. You feel a flutter in your stomach as you see him blush.

He clears his throat, "Oh, right, sorry. Do you mind?" He asks, looking nervous.

You shake your head, "No, it's sweet…" You say, smiling back at him. You spot a bench near the lake and point to it. "But I think we need to talk about this and what it means." You say, feeling serious.

He nods and follows you to the bench, sitting close to you. He wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you closer. "OK," He says, crossing his legs casually. "Let's talk." He says, grinning at you.

You take a deep breath, "Well, what happens after the tour ends? We live in different states and I travel for work just like you do for different musicians. I'm never in one place." You say, feeling worried.

He sighs heavily, "I've been thinking about this before I asked you out… How about you become a full-time member of the crew? You and Bryan are amazing and you don't disrupt our show. You do your work and you don't cause any trouble." He says, sounding hopeful.

He tilts his head to gaze into your eyes, anxiety flashing in his. He waits anxiously as you press your lips together and nod. "OK, well, I love that idea but, I have anxiety and I need to know this is realistic with us living in different states." You say, feeling uncertain.

He shrugs, "I think we can make it work if we really care. We can communicate and see each other. It's not hopeless." He says, sounding confident. "I've thought about this since the first time I met you." He admits.

"You don't remember the first time you met me! Lies." You giggle.

He smirks as he stares you in the eyes. "You were wearing converse and that cute ass summer dress. You came in to the studio and I almost had a heart attack."

You look at him with a shy smile, feeling your cheeks heat up. He leans in slowly, his eyes locked on yours. He brushes his lips against yours softly and gently. You close your eyes and kiss him back, feeling a spark in your heart. He wraps his arms around you and deepens the kiss, making you melt in his embrace. You run your fingers through his hair and pull him closer. He breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against yours.

"I really like you, Noah." You say, feeling happy. "But I'm terrified."

He smiles and kisses your nose. "I really like you too." He says, "I'm terrified, but at least we can feel like this together." He teases. "We'll make it work. I have a good feeling about it."

You snuggle with him on the bench allowing his arms to wrap around you and watch the stars twinkle on the lake. You decide to follow your heart and see what happens. In the long run, you knew this would be worth it. Noah was worth it.

Tags: @thisbicc @yumikitten @lma1986 @chemicallady @a-villain-vying-for-attention

[seaurchin0]

MAKE A FULL GUIDE BRO PLS PLS PLS PLS PLS I WOULD EAT THAT SHIT UP!! /nf

oh man, this gonna be a long one but ty for letting me infodump about my interests </3 my overall advice would be to be creative, and DON'T underestimate how intertwined social media is with everyday life. Experiment, see what works, and good luck <33

so a lot depends if you know the person in question irl or online and i'll go over both but first, here are some things that help in both cases: -names are not necessary to find people, useful af but info like what school they go to, class they're in, clubs they're in etc do better -look at their friends, their friends' friends, family, tagged photos, followers and following list (if they're active online), info doesn't just come from them, if you can't get in contact with them you can learn a lot from family, friends classmates etc

-intelius.com

-please PLEASE keep track of what info you found out and what they told you, don't accidentally drop that bombshell

-i have a folder where i keep my fp's information saved, all the "useful" images they sent me, link to their social medias, school website and more so i'd suggest making one of those

if you only know them online, here are some cyberstalking tips that don't rely on being close and location (all this assuming they're active online):

-look up their username(s) and variations everywhere. literally every platform you can think of, i had to sign up to 3 platforms i never used just for that

-look up their friends' usernames

-look at tagged photos, mentions and interactions they have with others in the comments under their posts to find out who they're friends with

-if you can see previous usernames (like on instagram) look up those too

-you might get lucky with wayback machine

-if you can find their reddit, twitter or any social media that shows their post and comment history study that shit

- if they haven't shown their face but have photos including any other part of their body that isn't usually covered up, even in colder climates (like hands most commonly) save those too, if you manage to find a school website or something later on that might have photos of their face you could match them up. it's difficult af but never give up, if there's a will there's a way

-reverse image search all the images they posted

-try images on geoimgr.com. photos taken on phone or camera will sometimes have GPS coordinates stored in the metadata of each file, but there are some websites that encrypt this

-anaylze the background of images, especially if they're taken outside

-trying to pinpoint a location (town or country they live in) would be good but not necessary: • if they posted screenshots that aren't cropped and include the time, it will be easy to figure out the general area because of timezones • use google maps to match up the background seen in images

if you wanna figure out an email or number: • log out of your account, put their username in in the login section, press "i forgot my password", the next part may vary from platform to platform but select the option for their the recover of their password to be recieved through email and it will display the first and last characters of their name, as well as what domain they're using. same with the phone number

next, in real life, i'm not really an expert in this since i've never stalked anyone irl for as long and as much as i have online but hope these help too!:

-eavesdrop

-if you're not close or to them (as in not in the same class, school, workplace etc) look for someone that knows them in any way.

-assuming you found that person, don't directly ask about them. let's say, your fp likesa art, so you ask that person about art clubs. chances are, they'll mention the one your fp is in. very vague example but it works with almost everything

-ask your parents about your fp's parents, works well if you're younger and still in school

-VERY carefully try to glance over at their phone's screen as much as you can, it could make finding social media accounts 10 times easier

-use all the info you manage to get for cyberstalking. don't follow them around, especially don't follow them home, you don't need to do that to figure out more about them. again, don't underastimate how ingrained social media is in our lives. Cyberstalking is much more easier and safer.

[dirtybg3confessions]

UPDATE/INFO POST!

Hello my lovely sinners - it's hot on this blog but not as hot as my top floor apartment, I hope you're all staying cool and hydrated!

Here's what's up: Anon Rule, Double submitting, Mod status, Old post style and Alternative Confession blog!

Please send in asks anonymously!

I know sometimes you can forget, it's fine. But sometimes we get rows of asks off anon send to the inbox all by the same person, so i just want to make sure that old and new people keep that rule in mind. Asks will only be posted anonymously. If they are off anon, we will have to delete and re-submit the asks on anon with the current posting system. It doesn't matter if you are okay with being off anon, we will always ONLY feature anonymous confessions! (any off anons posted are slip ups on our end)

No doubles!

If you're confession hasn't been posted yet, please don't re-submit. Your new confession won't make the process faster, it will just take up a slot for another person and slow down the process.

Also, despite having around 2000 asks in the inbox, i recognize doubles (for some ungodly reason) and if i catch one, i'll just delete the double, so save all of our time.

No shaming/harassment/being pushy in regards to mod activity!

I, Bug, am not the owner of the blog. I carefully added another person to the blog recently who has been a big help in keeping the blog active these past weeks (?) while i'm currently juggling multiple irl events.

I don't know how much freedom I have and I personally do not want to be in charge of adding Mods and keeping everyone in check.

This blog has rules regarding tagging and posting and if I were to add more people, I would have to oversee everyone's activity for a while to make sure no bad actor has been added. I know first hand how easy it is to accidentally start a riot on here and nobody wants that.

So yes, things are slow. But the two people active right now simply do not have a say in who can be added and any of that so PLEASE stop asking. We are not oblivious to the waiting times and all that stuff. We are doing what we can.

About the fancy screenshot posts

As some of you know, I love making ungodly edits with beautiful screenshots. I want to make these posts again, but as you know, it will take time. It takes a surprisingly long time to make one of those posts, and I recently had an unfortunate thing happen, which resulted in all my save files braking - meaning I have NEVER finished the game and now have no save files to go back to for taking screenshots. I will have to replay the entire game.

I probably will make some fancy posts soon-ish, but i will most likely be forced to re-use old shots. I could offer for those interested to submit their own screenshots to @bugbreach (NOT TO THIS HERE BLOG!!!) if you are okay with me using them for this blog. I could try to sneak in a credit to the people who send them, but i cannot promise that yet (i guess you can just let me know if you want credit or not) also highly recommend Otis_Inf's photo mod on patreon, it's what i'm using)

But again. Just to be absolutely clear

CHECK OUT OTHER BLOGS!

I am gonna declare this one an exception, so don't go and start flooding the inbox with self promos pls.

I never checked myself, but I am fairly certain that there are other BG3 confession blogs out there - one of those is sharess-festhall, so if you like, do check them out as well!

[ughgoaway]

happy (late) halloween omg ace! i am so glad to see we are all in shambles over the halloween show i swear matty chose violence (quite literally) with the patrick bateman costume like..... will instantly be imprisoned if I voiced my thoughts about those photos bye-

also the halloween blurb???????? mainly just sending this to scream ab how it literally killed me bye this is so stupid but it instantly made me so happy to read after work and oh i am weepy and weak at the idea of annie masterminding a group costume 😭 even the simplest or ur writings i absolutely adore (still not over the massive list of pre reader dad matty blurbs oh that made my DAY i tell u...)

can we just.... the idea of annie begging u to join them trick or treating,,,, and reader meeting mayhem and mayhem holding the candy bucket in his mouth while annie shows u how well she can walk the 'massive horse dog' 😭😭 and the way u just fit in their unit together so well... oh matty absolutely can feel his heart bursting at the sight gn (and also u getting mistaken for being annies mom/his wife multiple times and the way he just cannot handle how oddly right it feels.... bye!)

(bff anon hopes ur doing better ace! just know basically anything u post..... ive basically read bye need to stop lurking like an insane person 💀 xx)

HAPPY VERY LATE HALLOWEEN!!! It is my fault this is so late, I just couldn't stop talking… are we shocked tho? Jail is calling my name with some of the things I said in dms… let alone my thoughts FUCKING HELL. it was too good-

Stop I'm so glad you liked it, I just love them on Halloween so much. The fact that it made you happy after work actually just added 20 years to my life I'm so glad!!!! I made your day?!?!? Please I'm gonna vomit. You are so sweet and kind. Those ideas were all so fucking good, a google doc has been created bc I loved them so much. You are a genius truly.

Literally, this idea has been living in my mind rent-free in my mind ever since you sent it. MAYHEM HOLDING THE BUCKET YOU'RE KIDDING. Any mayhem content and I am obsessed (hence the mayhem reference in the actual fic), but this image has me sobbing.

(lots more insanity below the cut)

I am gonna alter what you said so slightly bc teacher girlie is PROFESSIONAL and she has work/life boundaries… sometimes… let's say Annie does BEG you to come trick or treating with them and you have to break it to her that you definitely cannot do that but you hope she has the best time ever. “But miss y/n I want you to meet my doggy, he's coming with us. He's gonna be scooby doo! My daddy is shaggy, and I’m Daphne. He's trying to get my uncle George to be Fred, but he wants to have a party with my auntie Charli. They are gonna be-” You have to cut in before Annie gives you a detailed list of everyone she knows costumes (but also, isn't the Scooby gang iconic for them all?!). 

You, of course, have a pumpkin out and are waiting for trick-or-treaters and have the full-size chocolate bars because you always wanted to be that house. A knock at your door happens, and you come running to it in your Wizard of Oz costume. Who is behind that door but the whole Healy family? Matty just makes a noise of shock that he later over-thinks massively, “but Ross, it was such a weird noise. I basically choke-coughed at her. No stop laughing-” Ross eventually assures Matty you didn't notice. 

You did and later tease him about it when you finally get together, “I swear I had to actually bite the inside of my cheek to not laugh, it was so ridiculous” and Matty is like “Can you blame me?? You were in that cute little dress, and you had those plaits with the bows on the end. You were asking me to choke on thin air when you dress like that, sweetheart.” And you're like… “well I think I still have that costume in my wardrobe upstairs if you'd be interested in-”. Immediately, his face lights up, “WHICH ONE? THE BIG WARDROBE OR THE SMALL ONE?” he shouts whilst dragging you up the stairs as you giggle uncontrollably.

Anyway, sorry I got distracted, HALLOWEEN! They're reasonably late in the night, and somehow Matty gatherers himself enough to talk to you, “ohmygod hi!” he says and awkwardly waves, another moment he thinks about far too often (“Why couldn't I do anything normal around you.” and you reassure him “dont worry, babe. it was cute, I swear”) 

Annie perks up and shows you mayhem who just adores you, wagging his tail and you bend down to his level and he's licking all over your face and you just can't stop laughing, matty is mortified. “Oh god y/n I’m so sorry he isn't normally this friendly, very weird actually… but please just- oh mayhem please can you stop-” and he's tugging at the lead trying not to die of embarrassment.

You insist it is fine, and Annie begs you to walk him “Just for a little bit miss y/n! Because then you can see how strong he is and then how strong I am because I walk him all by myself” This comment has you looking at Matty behind her who just shakes his head, confirming that this, in fact, is not true and just another Annie exaggeration.

You agree, grab your bag and come to walk with them for a bit, only after confirming with Matty about 30 times that it's really okay, “are you sure I do not want to intrude” you ask and Matty just dies at your kind eyes looking up at him whilst cuddling mayhem.

“Of course! I'm sure Dorothy would be good friends with the Scooby gang. Please, walk with us” and he offers his hand to pull you up. It's the first time you've really touched, and god, the spark flying thing may seem like a fairytale, but you both swear in that moment that you actually get a shock from the touch. Of course, his hand lingers a little longer than necessary as you stare at each other just vaguely holding hands. Your brain catches up, and you start moving, but god, you wish that moment could've dragged on forever, as does Matty.

As soon as you and Matty get properly talking, you end up walking with them for a longgg time. One house in particular though makes a mistake that lives on in infamy in your relationship in the future.

“oh god, that one house that thought we were together, that moment was on replay in my head for weeks after. The idea that someone else could see us together just confirmed to me I was head over heels for you, and then sadly solidified that it couldn't happen after you corrected her and I was sharply reminded you were my daughter's teacher”

Maybe it's an older woman who opens the door and jumps at mayhem originally but is soon cooing over him and giving him milk bones, “What a pretty boy” and Annie is giggling and telling the woman all about her “horse dog” (nice reference btw bff anon I love u).

Soon, she looks up and actually addresses you and Matty, “Sorry! You must be mum and dad. What a lovely little girl you've raised, and what a beautiful couple you are! Reminds me of me and my husband, constantly talking and laughing” You and matty just stand there open-mouthed like fish for a good few seconds. Annie is, of course, laughing hysterically. You both stutter out explanations, “Oh no-” “Oh I'm actually her teacher. It's a funny story so they knocked and i was like-” Of course, the woman apologised profusely, but the comment haunts you and Matty for WEEKS.

Perhaps a few more people coo at your “lovely family” and perhaps you just… stop correcting them…

Cut to Matty talking to himself (and mayhem) at 3 a.m. in the kitchen whilst making tea, “No it's totally normal people thought that. Man + woman + child + dog = family. and so what we stopped correcting them?? That's normal too… We just got sick of it. And it's also fine that it made me feel weird. It was a weird situation. Anyone would get butterflies at someone saying they're a nice couple. Right, mayhem?” and Mayhem somehow gives him a look that says “Really?” and Matty sighs and nods.

I think this might be the moment he goes “fuck.” and realises he really does like you. And he just… freaks out. Calls Ross and talks a million miles an hour.

I'M SO SORRY I LITERALLY CANT SHUT UP, WHEN WILL I STOP?!

I am doing much better and I literally cannot believe someone likes my bullshit enough to read my posts, I am genuinely obsessed with you?!?! KEEP LURKING I LOVE IT! I LOVE YOU!!!

blurb masterlist here!!

[awordsmith]

Secrets and Liars

Chapter Five

----

I think we were all a little freaked out, and after that cop, I just wanted to go to sleep. Instead of heading to Spencer's after the funeral, we all took the day to process. I went home... But it wasn't home, not without him. Why–why won't he just...

Tears.

I cried myself to sleep last night, so I wasn't looking forward to getting up this early. I find Aria, Hannah, Emily, and Spencer at a table inside The Brew. I take a deep breath and push open the door.

Spencer spots me first, waving me over. I pull my hoodie's sleeve further down my wrists, taking a seat at the head of the table. "Why was Jenna there?" Aria looks between us.

"I guess she's back," Spencer mumbled.

"I'm more concerned with these messages," I state, pulling out my phone and sliding it in the middle.

"Do you think it could be here?" Emily frowns.

"How?" Hannah scoffs, "She's blind."

"Someone could be helping her–"

"Uh–Like who?" Hannah cuts Aria off.

"Her brother," Spencer looks up as if she's just caught onto something. "Let me see that." She takes my phone in her hand, flipping it to face her. "Do any of you guys remember what Jenna sounded like?"

"Like–her voice?" I quirk a brow.

"Guys, this is crazy," Hannah shakes her head, full of skepticism, "Jenna is not texting us!"

"Can you–lower your voice?" Spencer looks around the coffee house, making sure no one heard Hannah's loud statement.

"Ugh–never mind," Spencer slides my phone back to me, holding her head in her hands.

I hesitate a moment before deciding to ask the girls, "Did you guys know Petra Li was back?'

"No way," Hannah leans back in her chair, taking a longer sip of the tea she'd ordered, eyeing me expectantly.

I avert my eyes, but Aria responds, "Yeah, no I think I saw her in the courtyard Monday."

"No, I didn't," Spencer rolls her neck, trying to message it slightly."

"I don't know why she'd even want to come back. It's horrible–what happened."

"I mean, it is kind of her fault though," Hannah frowns at Emily, to which I agree. If she had never rigged that competition, I would never have gone out of my way to get back at her.

"I just can't believe it turned out to be true, though," yeah, and how was I supposed to know it would turn out to be true!? It's not like I did research on her sexual history before deciding to spread those rumors!

"Yeah–but–you have to agree, whoever posted those photos of her is seriously twisted." Emily points out–to which I find my eyes rolling.

"Maybe they're the ones texting us."

"It's something Alison would have done," though it was me, what I said still rings true, I see them accept it with both their silence and averted eyes.

Spencer sighs and stands, "I'm gonna go get another coffee, do any of you want anything?"

"Iced White Mocha please," I say, happy to switch the subject.

"Add another shot?"

"And make them blonde, pretty please?" She half laughs and shakes her head at me batting my eyelashes.

"Hannah!" Aria whisper-shouts.

Hannah shrugs, "it's medicinal," Aria rolls her eyes, "cramps."

"Yeah, right," I snort, pulling my phone back to me.

"It is!"

"No offence Han, but it's quite literally, 7:00 in the morning."

A notification makes my phone go off. I feel the air around us tense. The girls watch as I type in the password on my phone. A sigh of relief falls from my lips, "it's just Romeo." I wave it in the air so they can see.

Sighs float around the table as Spencer sits back down, "what's I miss?"

"Nothing," Hanna takes a sip of her now-alcoholic drink.

"Yet," Aria scoffs.

"Okay, I still don't get it," Emilt leans into the table, "how does A know something about me that only Alison knew?"

"Ali knew all of our secrets but–" Aria frowns, "–we never knew any of hers."

"I knew some," Spencer eyes the table.

"Go on," Aria urges.

"Talk," Hanna presses.

"I can't," she says and I wonder if I should say anything.

"No–you're not gonna drop a bomb like that and just clam up!"

"She'd so kill me if I told you." My heart drops and I look away, trying to focus on the breathing techniques Dr. Kierson taught me.

"She's dead–"

"Hannah." I glare.

Spencer sighs, setting her cup down, "Ali was seeing someone that summer."

"I knew she was keeping something from me–from us." We all glance and Emily.

"Well, why didn't she want us to know?" Aria asks.

"Because he was an older boy and he had a girlfriend." Spencer shrugs.

"Who was it?" Emily again, but I'm more curious as to Spencer's answer. Did Ali really tell her more than she ever told me?"

"She never told me his name."

"Okay, that's only half a secret." Hannah clarifies.

"Well, it's more than you ever got from her."

Out of nowhere, I find myself blurting, "Ian." The girls spin to me, I avoid their eyes, "That's why she was interested in field hockey. She wasn't there for the sport, she was there for the coach."

"Okay–what?" Spencer asks, "No–there's no way."

"Spencer, "I hold her eyes, "Ali was seeing Ian that summer."

----

The sky ahead of me is still blue. I'm so over summer, autumn can't come soon enough. We still went to school today, had an awkward conversation with Jenna during lunch in the cafeteria, and Aria got another message from A.

As soon as the bell rang, I hopped in my car and started driving, At first hadn't a clue as to where I was headed, but then the streets started fading, and the city I'd known so well just a year ago started appearing before.

I needed to find home one more time–and no–this isn't exactly home but it's as close as I may ever come to it again.

I park outside the stone building, watching strangers come and go. I miss him. I think it's selfish, but I do, and I don't know why.

I don't think it ever occurred to me that I could lose him. I grab my phone, purse, and keys, open the door when it's clear, and step onto the sidewalk.

I wonder if any of these people recognize me. I wonder if I hold a place in their mind. I wonder what's on his...

I pull open the doors without hesitation, instantly feeling calmer. I want to hug the air around me. It's so quiet, so unlike the street bustling with noise. I've always loved the city, but I'll always love the quietness of The Piece.

This is where Jason would take me when I needed to get away–an art gallery. Any small issue, argument, or fight, he'd pull on my arm, and say, "TP?" and I'd always play fight him on it, "Could you clarify? Use it in a sentence, please."

This was our place. No one can ever take that away from me, not even him.

My smile tugs downward at the memories that race across my mind. So many scattered across this small gallery. I approach the sign-in sheet, the owner should be around here somewhere, at least someone might remember me.

I pause, the pen almost dropping as I read the last name that was signed.

"Katherine?"

My heart speeds to a stop. I spin on my heels, using the desk behind me for support, "Jason?" I barely get the name out without my voice wavering.

He wears a sad smile, "hey, Kitty Kat."

----

Chapter Seven

Hello again, I am pleased to announce Jason has finally entered the chat! I'm feeling like I might post two chapters tomorrow! Keep reading!

[rainbowninja00]

title pending!

so there's this idea that's been bonking around my mind for... years? I'm not sure how many but it's been a while. so, it started with the idea of characters based on the 7 deadly sins (original I know) and grew into a whole false tv show in my brain. first off, LONG POST WARNING!!!!!!! just letting yall know. second, there is some inspiration from Ready Player One here, if you haven't seen it, dw you dont need the context of the story, just the idea of a VR kinda thing for the internet, EXCEPT your body ceases to exist outside of it when you arent in the internet (tm) so no bullshit someone's gonna get you while you're in there! I can and will go into the intricusies of how the internet (tm) works but there are other things I wanna expand on. mainly, our main characters!!! there are 8 main characters: one for every sin and the protagonist. (some images included to show off the general vibe/colour palette of the characters all from pinterest) starting with our main character, she doesn't really have a name cause i cant think of a good one, but she's 14-16, new to high school and experiencing the internet (tm) for the first time, she's been online, but never in the actual world before. I like to think she wears mainly black and white with hints of red or other colours in the beginning and gains more colours as time goes on and she learns more about herself and the world around her. she is heavily inspired by moon girl from marvel's moon girl and devil dinosaur

next, Pride! she is the general leader of the group since she's the most commanding and takes no shit. she tries to keep the kid safe and out of trouble, she has her own in securities and such that I can go over in a stand alone post about the specific characters. she is kinda inspired by garnet from steven universe but only in a design way.

then we have the most developed and a literal self insert: lust! he's the resident "heart throb" of the group and is probably the silliest of the group, also the one the protag meets first. he is the insighting incident in many a misadventure cause its easy to use him for that. I will go into this more later, but he's lust cause he lusts for a relationship, he's a sad boy (like me) inspiration is angel dust from hazbin but only in personality.

envy and greed are twins, identical within the internet (tm) and fraternal outside of it cause oh yeah, the 7 are all real people too. they work together very well and put on a show of wanting what the other has to outside observers. the only inspo I can think of is the general aesthetic of grossology and mammon from helluva from a design stand point.

(pretend there's an image of a big ol oversized hoodie here, almost all those photos have people in them and I dont feel comfortable with that) wrath was one of the hardest for me to pinpoint initially, his thing isn't being angry, he makes others angry by being goofy and messing with them. Like kel from omori, also his design SOMEHOW ended up being cowboy esque in my head??? so like clover from undertale yellow.

sloth is actually my favourite, she loves hyperpop, all things pink and pastel, loves performing songs with lust, but she's sloth because she doesn't do anything unless it interests her, no chores, no responsibilities, she leaves the internet(tm) the least out of them all. I saw an artist on twitter once and was like YEAH THATS THE VIBE but I forgot who they are TwT. she is also based on moon girl design wise. BEE AND PUPPYCAT AESTHETIC MY GOAT!!!

(idk if this is fan art, if it is and someone knows who made it lmk)

last and sadly least is gluttony, I don't really have them super developed, and if anyone has any ideas for them I would love to hear it!

If anyone wants to see or hear more I will happily yap about it for hours, PLEASE I AM BEGGING ON MY HANDS AND KNEES FOR PEOPLE TO REBLOG THIS I just wanna know if anyone would be interested on hearing more so I know if I should bother typing up more posts on these guys! (also id appriciate help w/ the title)

[mrs-monaghan]

Honestly, I think payola is happening for JK because it’s nearly impossible to make it onto Hot100 “organically” now. (No doubt he’s being pushed, with Scooter, BPD, radio stations, everybody and they mama posting and hyping Seven.) But we have to remember that Seven only has Itunes, Amazon, Qobuz buys, and no D2C, which was our most powerful tool in getting our JM the #1 he deserved. Without the company stepping in to support it with radioplay, the #1 on Hot100 would be impossible. Now the question is whether or not they will support PJM2 the way they’re pushing Seven. I’m withholding judgement until we see how the company treats PJM2.

Still, this doesn’t negate how LC had INSANE potential to be HUGE, and HYBE completely fumbled the fucking bag. And by fumbled I mean they just about dropped it over the rooftop of the building that JM and BTS built. Kicked it to the curb like it was worth nothing. And that pisses me off and it always will. But Jikookers, please try to tone back the hate towards JK. He doesn’t deserve it. I know the main question is “how can JK accept all this help knowing that JM was snubbed and didn’t get any?” I don’t know, but we do know that Scooter is involved. This man is a toxic snake. We have no idea what’s going down behind the scenes. Really, we have no fucking clue. We can only guess. So please, support Seven if you want to, don’t support it if you don’t want to. But don’t be so quick to jump on JK and accuse him of not caring about JM. Are you kidding me? You’ve really forgotten how much JK loves and takes care of JM, everything they’ve had for the past ten years, everything in the past few months even.

I promise you, there will be a day when we’ll get a tell-all, be it leaked emails or JM himself addressing the issue, perhaps even JK will do/say something. Nothing shady stays hidden forever. Until that day, let’s be patient and kind.

Oh, and for those accusing JK of plagiarism, are you serious? Like, look in the mirror and say that to yourself. “JK is stealing JM’s creative work without his permission.” Yeah, do you realize how fucking dumb you sound? There is undoubtedly glaring similarities between their style and concept choice. Do you ever think for one second — okay, since it’s obviously not plagiarism, what could it be? Could it be that JK is trying to send a fucking message? Or did you ever think for one second that JK could have gone to JM and said, hyung, I really liked what you did, do you mind if I do something similar? They could be laughing and giggling together about the photos literally as we speak, meanwhile people are going after JK with pitchforks saying he’s stealing JM’s story. Fuck off.

Now the question is whether or not they will support PJM2 the way they're pushing seven

This special treatment is for JK and JK only. When we say he is the golden goose that's exactly what we mean. They had plans for him, from day one. He is who they will use to pave the way for BTS and Kpop ig. Idk. Is this for BTS or for themselves? Who tf knows?

Jimin could have done this too. Was doing this. But he isn't who they banked on. Invested in. His success continues to shock them. They had a plan and they refuse to deviate from it.

We saw it coming y'all... why are people mad? Guys, I'm not gonna lie, I'm as as cool as a fucking cucumber. This is my only option. Its either that or join everyone else and be fucking pissed and what good does that do? 😂😂😂

Jimin solos already tagging BH to ask why LC didn't get pushed for radio play like that's gonna do dick. There is a plan in place and there ain't nothing nobody can do to change it.

.

JK didn't steal shit. You're bonkers if you think Jimin wasn't aware of what JK was going to do. And was perfectly okay with it. They are matching on purpose. It's on purpose. Period.

[koffing-time]

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

I will no longer be alone running Koffing-Time! Meet Olivia! He's a friend of mine, but that's not really why he's working here with me.

First off, because it's something he wants to be known: Olivia is genderfluid, and his pronouns are changing quite frequently. We have discussed it, and since he's feeling most comfortable with it today, i'm using he/him in this post. In other posts, i'll use whatever pronouns he has that day/moment. However, i would like to ask you to check for his pronoun pins or bracelet when you visit.

Second: He won't be around every day. Instead he'll be helping me out mostly on weekends, but that's also not set in stone. If he's not here, he might be at the Gym in Striaton City, helping out as a Gym Trainer, or he might be at the Trainer School (since that is also a requirement from the Gym).

Third: His Pokémon might also be around at the Café. If you see a Lotad, a Darmanitan, an Alolan Exeggutor an Escavalier or a giant 7 feet tall Gible, those are his. Their names are Hans, Grill, Marbles, The Kalosian and Beach Ball respectively. They are generally friendly, though Beach Ball and Hans are quite timid. If you would like to pet them, please ask first.

Also here's a quick photo of him.

Picrew Link

(quick ooc below)

Olivia will be just a minor character on the blog, and it's still mainly gonna be Tix posting. However, you're welcome to ask him any questions if you'd like. If he's directly participating, he'll be writing in blue. Tix will be colourless, as it's always been. Future ask games might be directly answered by both of them, or I'll put something in the tags.

Also, you don't actually have to ask for pronouns everytime you want to interact, just use any of the standard 3 pronouns (he/she/they). If you wanna use something more fancy, i'm generally open, but in this case i would like to know first :)

Otherwise, his Pokémon obviously also get their own tags. If I forgot anything, let me know.

[icemasquerade]

The Boys Preference In Bed

CW: sexual themes and kinks

⟭⟬ ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ ⟭⟬

Jungkook wanted you all the time. He was on you if you even got a moment alone together. Whether it's sloppily eating you out or having a quick fuck with his fingers, he needed you. He loved when you were in skirts and dresses, giving him easy access to get to you. Sometimes he couldn't even wait til you were alone. Even if there were one or two other members in the room, he'd pull you onto his lap and help grind your hips against him. You acted like you couldn't see their stares as your boyfriend used you to get off.

"Your cunt is practically sucking me in."

"Been waiting all day to fuck you."

"Your outfit is so slutty today, hard to control myself."

Everyone would assume TaeHyung's cold demeanor would transfer over in bed. It was furthest from the truth. TaeHyung's main focus was you. He wanted to figure out how to get you off with the most pleasure involved. He wanted to know all your kinks and turn-ons. He didn't care if he could never reach another orgasm as long as he got to see the way your toes curled and the face you make as you cum at least once more.

"I'm gonna eat you out now."

"So pretty for me."

"Tell me how good you feel"

YoonGi was possessive. As long as you were his girlfriend, you were his. It definitely showed in the bedroom. He loved when you submitted to him, loved when you told him how much you belonged to him. When he told you what to do, he expected you to listen. The only time you didn't was when you were begging for a punishment. He always made it hard for you to sit during the next few days.

"Your pussy is squeezing me so fucking tight. Cum for me, Princess."

"I own you."

"Look at me when you do it."

NamJoon liked to show you off. He liked the idea of the boys looking at you and wanting you. He knew at the end of the day you were his and they could have their fun by looking but they would never touch. He happily watched you parade around in tight revealing clothes, watched as the others couldn't take their eyes off you. He fucked you extra rough those days, dirty talk featuring the various names of the other members. You've cum more times to the idea of his friends than you can remember,

"Don't act so shy. Everyone knows you're a slut."

"Show me how pretty your cunt is."

"Shut up, whore. Do you want the boys to hear you?"

Jimin loved to praise you. Seeing your embarrassed face was better than any other expression you could make. He wanted you to know just what you were doing to him. He loved whispering in your ear while inside you, loved feeling you tighten up and try to cover your face. He never let you hide, knowing that was his favorite part.

"Doing so well for me."

"Good girl."

"God, you feel incredible."

HoSeok loved the memories. Being on tour meant there wasn't a lot of time to be with you and he preferred not to have quickies in cramped spaces. He really didn't want anyone walking in on him or you. So he treasured the moments, taking videos and pictures whenever he could. He kept them in a locked file on his phone, only pulling them out when he was lonely and knew he was alone.

"Gonna cum to this later."

"Smile, Baby."

"Just one more photo."

Jin was more of a submissive than he'd like to admit. The first few times you guys had sex, he had put on an act, playing into a dominant mindset. It wasn't until he had accidentally begged for you that you guys actually sat down to discuss your kinks. You'd never tease him for anything he likes, willing to try anything for him. You were surprisingly into it once everything was settled.

"Please let me cum."

"I love when you ride me."

"I've been such a good boy."

⟭⟬ ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ ⟭⟬

I do not usually post on tumblr so I hope this fits in on here

[laffy-taffy-creations]

Whumptober day 28!!!!

This fic was cross-posted on AO3 here

Copy That, Copycat

Bloody Knife | Sacrifice | "You'll have to go through me first"

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Words: 885

Warnings: kidnapping, manipulation/lying, implied/referenced torture

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey uh… Vee?" Izuku asked.

"Hm?" I said, looking up from my homework.

"I know that you are busy and came to the common room for a sense of relaxation but uhm… We're gonna need one of your special skills…"

"Midoriya."

"...Yeah?"

"Just spit it out."

"Jirou, Mina, and Tokoyami were kidnapped!" He blurted. "The only lead we have is a photo, and I remembered you saying you had a knack for tracking stuff without your quirk so uh… I was wondering if you'd-"

"Why the fuck is that even a question, show me the photo." I looked him dead in the eyes. It shouldn't have been a question if I would at least try to track them.

He slid over a printed picture of them being dragged unconscious off to someplace in whatever building they were currently in.

"It's from an anonymous source, I managed to swipe a copy of it cause when you track successfully its usually quicker…"

I scanned it for every detail in the environment then pulled out a scrap of paper and wrote down the address.

"Woah, that was quicker than I thought…" I heard him whisper.

"It's a more zoomed out shot than most so there's a lot more environment for me to analyze and pinpoint."

"Okay, thank you, I'll, uh-"

I folded and pocketed the paper. "You won't do shit. I'll take care of it, they'll be back by tonight."

He looked at me stunned.

"Just trust me on this one alright?" I said.

He nodded and walked away, letting me return to my homework.

The villains who took them were the LOV, who else, and luckily I had a separate persona for dealing with them.

I finished my homework and made my way to the base.

"Hello Copycat."

"Heyo Shigs! Quick question, I heard about some new hostages in our grasp…"

"Hm? Oh, they're all in the 4th room."

"Nice. Are we perchance trying to get any info out of them? Or…."

"Leverage."

"Ahhh, I see. Well then, you don't mind if I pay them a quick visit, do you~?"

He shook his head. "Go on in. Should I get you a drink in the meantime?"

"Just vodka! Regular amount, please and thank you~," I said, and skipped on into the interrogation room. "Hhhoooo-kay, there you 3 are."

Mina perked up instantly. "Wha- WHO ARE YOU‽" she screamed.

"Chill! Chill, I'm an agent on the inside okay? I work with the villains to benefit the heroes. Now, you three are in kind of a tight spot so we're gonna figure out how to work around this okay?"

Had it not been for the handcuffs looped around a bar I'm certain all 3 of them would be backing as far away from me as possible. I noticed a bloody knife that had been used on them was laying on a nearby countertop. Probably Toga's.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do, first I'm checking you all for injuries." I approached slowly and checked as quickly as I could, mentally noting every laceration and wound I saw.

"Now for the fun part," I murmured to myself. I got out my lockpick set. "Once you give me your wrists, we're all in agreement that you follow my instructions until we're out, is that clear?"

"I don't think you'll have much time for that, Copycat."

I turned around. Toga. Of course.

"Oh, won't I?" I challenged, picking up her knife and lunging.

While they were all distracted and it seemed I was preoccupied with fighting Toga, I broke the handcuffs from a distance using one of my quirks. Using my birth one, I sent a telepathic message, 'you three need to run NOW, I broke the cuffs, get out of here.'

Toga seemed to notice but that's where she faltered, giving me an opening.

"You're not gonna touch those fucking kids, you understand me?"

She nodded, and somewhat afraid expression crossing her face.

I left and went to find the others, in time to take a hit for one of them from Shigaraki, whose quirk did not work on me. Not when my others were active and negating his.

"You'll have to go through me first, bitch," I said.

"Why are you even helping them‽" he demanded.

"They're my friends. And the real Copycat looks a little something like this." I removed the illusion surrounding my body.

The revelation was disorienting enough for me to kick him back and herd the others out the door.

"Welp, looks like I can't use that disguise anymore around them…" I muttered to myself leading them to a public area so we could take the transit back to campus.

"OV? Is that actually you? Or are you still that Copycat person posing as them?" Jirou asked.

"It's me alright, I was posing as her to get info. I don't have the time to explain, let's just get back to campus please," I told them.

"I'm sending you a list of all my questions and I expect some answers," Mina said playfully.

"Yeah, that's fair…Nobody tell Deku. He'd be all over me."

"You mean because you kicked ass or because of the ability to sneak into the villian's team?" Jirou joked, breaking the tension for me. I laughed, managing to relax on the train ride back.

[pennylanewrites]

＊Smile＊

minors dni!

description: Armin Arlert loves sweet, innocent things, especially when he can ruin them with his very own sickening sweetness.

pairings: Armin Arlert x gn! reader

word count: 2.4k

contains: smut duh, modern au, private college richboy armin, mild obsession with reader, oral (male receiving), use of the word ‘whore’, like one slap, unprotected sex (nothing spills inside dw), lowkey manipulation (what else y’all expected from armin?)

!!reader is afab(assigned female at birth), gender neutral and of legal age (around their 2nd year of college)!!

)^o^(

Whatever Armin Arlert wanted, Armin Arlert got. Cars, VIP seats, answers to exams, anything you can imagine. Being one of the most well-respected alumni of Paradis Institute's only son definitely had its advantages.

Girls and boys begged for a chance to be noticed by Armin Arlert, who wore his Prefect pin proudly and monitored the halls with his head high, but to no avail. Armin had long forgotten about sex, he found it appalling and unnecessary, unless it was with you.

You, who walked with your head high just like him. You, who would talk with classmates and wonder why they sprinted away as soon as the Prefect turned a corner. You, who could swear you heard a few camera clicks every time you used the communal showers. You, who despite being beautiful and charming, could not get a significant other for the life of you. Yes, your classmate, Armin had made sure the only person available to you would be himself; the handsome, smart and rich Prefect.

"Can I help you, Arlert?" Were the only words you spoke to him when he entered the science lab you were trying to work in.

"Am I bothering you, ___ ? I can leave." You took one look at his big, ocean blue eyes and sighed, taking your glasses off.

"No, sorry."

"Rough day? I'm sure it's nothing a massage can't solve." He offered, walking around the table you were working on and immediately placing his hands on your stiff shoulders. You shrugged them off quickly and faced the other way.

"Are you sure you don't want a massage from the person paying for your scholarship?" He whispered in a low voice, which would be very attractive if you weren't intimidated by him. You gulped and nodded, allowing him to happily massage your shoulders and upper back.

"I heard you're having a hard time with the new lecture."

"I-I do." You tried withholding a pleased sigh. The massage was definitely working.

"Be at my dorm around seven. I'll help you with it, ___." Armin left with a polite smile and bow of his head, leaving you to wonder how he looked so sweet yet acted so bitter.

At seven sharp, you stood outside of Armin Arlert's dormitory, patting your hair down, fixing your shirt underneath your uniform pants and looking around nervously. With a deep breath, you finally knocked on the wooden door, which was opened almost immediately.

"Come in, ___!" Armin's face lit up the moment he saw you and he stepped away for you to enter his room. A kitchenette, a double bed, a desk and a bookcase filled all the space, just like every other dorm on campus. And as you set your books on the desk, you could have sworn you caught a glimpse of tiles, running water and a nude person as the lock screen on his laptop, which he was quick to close before you took another look.

"Would you like a coffee, ___?"

"Yes, please."

It was getting past ten and your head could barely stand up on its own. You leaned back on the chair and stretched your arms out, yawning into one of them. Armin noticed and closed your book, his hand lingering on it.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" ,he exclaimed and opened a drawer, "I have some flash cards for you!"

"Oh, it's not necessa–"

"I insist." He said firmly and looked through some neatly filed papers. Once again, your eye caught a few pictures of someone's back profile and you could swear they had the same lower back tattoo as you. You, however, dismissed it once again. Boys tend to have pictures of pornstars, right?

Flipping through the flash cards, a picture fell out and Armin rushed to pick it up before you could. This time, however, it was loud and clear that the person in those photos was you taking a shower. At the time, you didn't know that all those pictures were set up on purpose. For you to see and become vulnerable in front of Armin Arlert.

"Armin, what's that?" Your voice came out in a hoarse whisper instead of the clear and stern tone you were planning on.

"Just something I'm planning on posting on the college's site tonight." He grinned.

"Wh-what? Why would you–"

"I don't know, ___. You tell me." He leaned closer to you, holding his weight on the arms of your chair. His blond hair fell over his eyes, making it the perfect shade of dark blue under the shadows.

"I have to go." You said sheepishly and started picking your books up, but an arm around your waist stopped you.

"Why do you keep on resisting me, ___?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I want you. And you want me too, right?"

     You were confused. Heartbroken. You always thought of Armin as nothing else than your classmate. So, what was this sudden urge to lock your lips with his?

     Looking up, you were met with a dark look in his eyes and a grin that seemed almost evil. You knew deep down he had dark intentions, but at the same time, you needed to know what those intentions were.

“I’ve never seen you wearing a skirt or a dress...you always act so modest, but the way you touch yourself so desperately in the shower...” his hand ghosted over your clothed thigh and stopped at your hip, “you just want to get fucked like a whore, right?”

“A-Armin...”

“Why don’t you put a little show for me? Undress yourself.” He sat on his chair and opened his legs, shamelessly showing off the tent in his uniform pants.

With a blush decorating your cheeks and a trembling bottom lip at the embarrassment suddenly hitting you, you slowly unbuttoned your white dress shirt and let it drop on the floor. Kicking the Oxford shoes your school required off, your hands made way to the side zipper on your pants. This time, your eyes locked with Armin’s as your pants dropped on the floor next to your shirt.

“Those too, doll.” He ordered, referring to your underwear. His demanding tone went straight between your legs, which you rubbed together in an attempt for some friction. You quickly unclasped your bra and removed your underwear, but before you could do anything else, Armin extended his arm and pulled you closer to him. With his arms around your waist, his forehead came in contact with your lower stomach, taking in the sight before his eyes with a deep breath.

“On your knees.”

You did as he said and watched his hands, decorated with a few gold rings and a bracelet, unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants. Pushing his boxers down slightly, his member spurted out and hit his lower abdominals. Chuckling at your wide eyes, he led your hand to his cock.

“Consider this a thanks for your scholarship.” He leaned back on the chair, one hand behind his head and the other gripping your hair. You nodded and brought your mouth closer, licking on the tip that dripped with precum. As one of your hands massaged his balls and your mouth started taking more of his length in, a few groans escaped Armin’s lips and the grip on your hair tightened. But he had had enough. Both of his hands found your hair and pushed your head down, earning a gag at the sudden contact of his tip with your throat. You swore you could hear the smirk in his groans as your tongue worked around his length while he pushed your head up and down rapidly.

“Just like that...good...take it all.” You would be lying if you said his words didn’t make you rub your thighs together, desperate for something, anything to fulfill your need.

Before you could lead one of your hands between your legs, warm ropes of cum hit the back of your throat. Armin thrusted in your mouth a couple more times, milking his orgasm and overstimulating himself enough that a few more drops of the hot liquid joined your saliva. Removing himself with a squelch, he grazed his thumb over your bottom lip.

“Good. Swallow like the whore you are.” You did as he said, your eyesight blurry and your head dizzy from the facefucking you just went through. Without wasting another minute, Armin got up, pulling you with him and leaving a rough, needy kiss on your swollen lips. With a knee spreading your legs and rubbing right at your core, he kissed down your neck and collarbones, allowing you to let out the most quiet moans.

“Look at you. At this rate, you’re gonna get off using my leg.” You could only respond with a hum as he tackled you on his bed, not wasting any time in taking his clothes off before getting on top of you. His hands roamed your curves and yours stayed around his neck, fidgeting with the gold chain around it. A sudden moan escaped your lips when two of Armin’s fingers scissored your slit open and entered with ease. His eyes fixated on your face; the way your lips trembled and your eyes rolled back with every pump of his slender fingers, oh how he wished he could spend every second of the day looking at you like this; so sweet, so vulnerable, almost too innocent, yet so perfect for him to ruin.

“Please, Armin...’m gonna-”

“Aww, too bad.” He removed his fingers and laughed at your disappointed face, which soon turned into a surprised one when he grabbed both your legs and placed them over his shoulders. You both let out a gasp when his pink tip entered your hole. Armin was not like anyone you’ve been with. He didn’t care about letting you adjust to his girth, thinking it was much more pleasurable to see you struggling not to make a sound.

“Armin...”

“Yeah, say my name, love.” He thrusted harder into your walls, hands gripping your hips to ground you in your spot. Another thrust from Armin and another moan from you, each time the thrusts getting quicker and your soft voice louder, not even beginning to think that there were people on the other side of the thin walls.

“Why so quiet, love? Do you not...like...the way I’m fucking you?” He said between quick thrusts, not giving you the time to make out a single word. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as the knot tied low in your stomach was ready to come untied.

“Answer me.” He ordered, the grip on your hips now almost painful. You opened your eyes to see him leaning down, your legs now almost next to your head on the pillow. Armin hovered over you, now fucking your hole with more ease. You noticed he let out soft, needy whines every time your walls clenched around his cock, to which you grinned slightly. Bad choice.

“Do you think it’s funny? The way you let me fuck you so easily?” A hand now met your hair, pulling your head back into the pillow a bit.

“A-Armin!”

“That’s right. Say my name, whore.” He closed his eyes, taking in the sound of his name coming from your mouth. Your walls clenched around him as the knot finally came undone, and you were sure your juices were spilling on the sheets.

“Please...too sensitive...I can’t-” Your words came out in stutters, your legs closing involuntarily only for Armin to push them open again every time.

“Say my name.” He moaned out, thrusting inside your cunt now almost inhumanly fast.

“Armin!” Your second orgasm was on the way and your legs were starting to shake from the overstimulation. Armin didn’t fail to notice it and he wouldn’t lie if he said he wasn’t close as well, but he had learned to control himself. He couldn’t let it be over so soon. Not when he finally had you where he wanted you all along.

In the heat of the moment, it took you a few seconds to notice a stinging on your cheek, but when you did, you looked up at the blond, who was smirking down at you, hand still on your red cheek.

“Who’s fucking you? Huh?”

“You! You’re fucking me, Armin!”

“Louder.” He grunted, finally giving some attention to your nipples by slapping them teasingly.

“Armin! Armin! Fuck, I’m gonna–”

“Cum on my cock...fuck, ___.” Armin couldn’t take it anymore when your walls clenched around him once again as you orgasmed for the second time that night. Between moans and gasps and whispers of his name, you felt a wave of air hit your core and you realized Armin had pulled out.

He was now rubbing his swollen cock over your stomach, the other hand desperately massaging your breast. To help him, you led his hand to your other breast and took his cock in your own, thumb grazing over his red tip to make the beads of cum coat the rest of his length. Armin tilted his head back, not shy to moan loudly at the way your hand rubbed his length so...perfectly.

“Fuck, just like that. Just like that, love.” His legs shook slightly as his warm cum drew on your stomach and breasts, shooting almost up to your neck due to the overstimulation he went through. Exhausted and out of breath, Armin fell on the pillow next to you and planted a rough kiss on your lips.

“Let me take a picture of you. Don’t move.” Shocked, you couldn’t even blurt out a word at what he suggested, but something deep inside you made you nod in agreement. Maybe that tiny crush you had on Armin for one month on your first year finally decided to come out and play.

“Look at the camera, love. Now, smile. ” He ordered, getting on top of you with an old-fashioned polaroid in hand. He took one of your breasts in his big, soft hand and snapped a picture that he’d later pin over his bed, a reminder for himself and everyone that Armin Arlert always got what he wanted.

~~~~~~~~♡~~~~~~~~~~♡~~~~~~~~~~♡~~~~~~~~

Lmao I hope y’all liked this otherwise it’d be embarrassing. Anyway, requests are always open, leave some for me to do while I procrastinate! <3

[golbrocklovely]

revenge of the nerd // sam golbach

A/N: the inspiration behind this fic is the photo below of sam. idk what came over me when i saw them (or the first time he wore that outfit), but i immediately had a whole fic idea when he posted them. i didn’t make this a y/n insert bc… the main character is super unlikable bc she is comically a popular girl, and i highly doubt any of yall want to be put in those shoes lol but anyway please tell me what you think about this fic ! i enjoyed writing it so hopefully you enjoy reading it.

prompt: stacy doesn’t like anyone that isn’t popular, and that includes sam. but when dared to kiss him, will she give into her feelings or win the bet?|| fem OC x sam golbach

trigger warning: SMUT, cursing, drinking/partying, over-the-top popular!OC, think of teenage comedy levels of caring about popularity but set in college, sam is a “nerd”, slight dubcon… but not really??, she actually likes it but won’t admit it at first, but then gives in, so… just be aware of that if that’s something you don’t like

word count: 3091

Being popular has always been my number one priority, ever since high school. I surrounded myself with only popular people; jocks, cheerleaders, - pretty people - and have kept it that way since I was 15. Now I'm 22, about to graduate college, and I'm still popular. I joined the best sorority at my school, cheer for our elite football team, and only talk to and socialize with the coolest fraternities on our campus. The idea of being around uncool people, nerds, is so... gross to me. Do they not realize how low on the totem pole they are? Like, why would you strive to be a loser?

"This party is so fucking lame." Heather, my best friend, sighed.

I nodded. "It's because Jared won't put on the good playlist, the one with all the early 2000s hits."

"What I would do for a Missy Elliot song right now..." Heather groaned.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll go tell him."

"You know he isn't gonna change it." She called back.

"You underestimate my abilities." I winked.

I shuffled through the party, making my way over to Jared who was by the speakers. Before reaching him, I pulled my skirt up, letting it show just a little of my ass, and shifting my bra around so my breasts were up and closer to my chin.

I seductively strolled up to Jared, lightly laying a hand on his shoulder. His eyes remained on his laptop. "What's up, Stacy?"

“Hey Jared, I was just wondering if you were taking some song requests.” I asked softly.

He shook his head, finally looking up at me. “Not at the moment, no.”

I held back my distain of the music playing around us, keeping my voice sweet. “Me and Heather would really appreciate it if you could play some early 2000s songs instead of... whatever this playlist is.”

“I don't know. I haven't heard anyone complaining.” He commented.

My voice dropped, annoyed. “I have. Plus, no one is dancing. If you play, let's say, a Missy Elliot song, people would dance. Girls... would be dancing.”

He glanced up at me, his eyes narrowing for a moment. Then he scanned my body up and down. "Would you dance?"

"Absolutely." I whispered, leaning towards him.

He cleared his throat. “After this song... I’ll play some Missy.”

"Perfect. You're ama-" A loud bunch of laughs cut me off, making me look up. Around a table right near us, were the worst kind of people. The type of people that stick out the most at parties.

Nerds.

I gasped, staring at them. "Who invited them?"

“Those guys? They're cool, Stacy.” Jared responded.

I scoffed. “Highly doubt that.”

“No seriously. I met them in a business class of mine. They're chill.” He replied.

One of them glanced up in our direction, their blue eyes landing on me. He flicked his blonde hair out of his eyes, looking me up and down.

“Who's that one?” I questioned.

Jared stared up at the group. “That’s Sam. He's really dope.”

“A man wearing that colorful of a shirt and khakis can't be dope. It's impossible.” I doubted, crossing my arms.

“Stacy, being friends with people outside of sororities and fraternities won't make you become a loser. Lighten up.” He remarked.

I turned to him, smiling bitterly. “So, are you gonna play that Missy Elliot song or not?”

Jared raised his eyebrows, scrolling over to the search bar on Spotify, and changed the song to 'Work It'. A bunch of people in the party cheered and I patted Jared’s shoulder. "Thank you."

When I looked back up at the party, that Sam guy was still staring at me. But he had a weird look on his face. He looked me over again, rolled his eyes, and took a swig of his drink.

Gross.

!!!!!

"Alright, alright. Who's ready for spin the bottle?" Heather yelled.

The party had been going on for a couple hours at this point, and everyone was feeling a bit buzzed. This was Heather's go-to to keep the party going.

Everyone in the room clapped and laughed, sitting closer to each other as a glass bottle was placed on the floor.

I sat down, smiling up at Heather. I gazed around the circle, looking at who was playing with us. A couple cute guys stuck out to me. I couldn’t help but bite my lip at all the different hotties.

"Okay, Stacy. Why don't you start us off?" Heather chuckled.

"With pleasure." I sat forward, gripped the bottle and spun it fast. It went around multiple times and finally slowed down. The bottle pointed to the left of me. I looked up, hoping one of the cute guys I saw was there, but instead... it was Sam.

Fuck! I didn't even see him!

His friends around him patted his shoulder, congratulating him.

“He's cute.” Heather mentioned, raising her eyebrows at me.

“I think the fuck not. Are you sure there isn’t someone else I can kiss?” I quickly stood up to meet Sam.

“Oh no. But we're gonna give you guys a more private setting to do this in.” Heather shoved me towards the closet, Sam's friends forcing him in as well. Before I could protest, the light to the closet was turned on as the door was slammed shut.

The light thumping of the music mixed with our breathing. I let out a huge sigh and leaned against the wall, trying not to knock over the coats next to me.

"I thought this was spin the bottle, not seven minutes in heaven." Sam mumbled jokingly.

I barked back. “So you know, I will not be kissing you.”

“Hey, that's your choice. I don't mind.” He threw his hands up defensively.

I hummed, my hands resting on my hips. “I'm surprised. I would think you would give any chance to kiss a girl.”

He scrunched up his face. “...Why would you think that?”

“Have you ever even kissed a girl?” I inquired.

“Yes I have. With tongue too.” He mockingly gasped, “I've also had sex.”

“That's surprising.” I deadpanned.

He cocked his head slowly. “Is there a reason why you don't like me? You don't even know me.”

“Look, I've tried my hardest to stay as far away from people like you since I was a freshman in high school.” I stated.

“And who are people like me?” Sam puzzled.

“Losers. Nerds. Non jocks and cheerleaders. You know, people who aren't popular.” I hissed.

He held back a laugh. “Wow. People like you actually exist?”

I scowled at him. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You still care about popularity.” He answered.

I jeered. “Like you don't.”

“No. I’m not still in high school.” He snapped back.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever...”

The silence in the closet was heavy, boring me senseless. I glanced at Sam. He seemed lost in thought for a second, and finally our eyes connected.

“The only reason you won't kiss me is because I'm a nerd?” He asked.

“Yeah. I know how guys like you kiss. It's gross and not worth it.” I retorted, leaning against the wall.

He sassed. “I thought you said you don't go near people like me.”

“Well, you gotta kiss a frog or two before you find a prince.” I explained.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “How about I dare you?”

“Dare me to what?” I glared.

Sam bit his lip, holding back a smirk. “I dare you to kiss me. If you hate it, you can go out to that party and tell everyone that I suck at kissing and that I’m a loser.”

“You already are that.” I spoke, mocking his smile.

“Yeah, but now you can announce it to everyone.” He added, getting closer, “You can embarrass me in front of all your friends… maybe then they’ll realize what a loser I am.”

I paused, humming for a second. Finally, I looked back at him, sitting up. “Humiliating you does sound like so much fun.”

“But what if you lose?” He questioned, his voice low.

I held back a snort, stepping up to him and slowly moving my hands to his shoulders. “If I lose? That’s cute.”

He grabbed my wrists before I could even touch him. “If you lose, I get the satisfaction of knowing you liked it and that I, maybe, turned you on.”

“Right, okay.” I snickered, rolling my eyes.

“I’m serious.” His voice deepened, his eyes narrowing in on my lips.

I shrugged, freeing my wrists from his surprisingly gentle grasp. “Fine. Whatever. Just kiss me so we can get this over with.”

Sam leaned in quickly, his lips connecting with mine. The kiss was soft, sweet. Something I hadn't really experienced all that much with guys. Most guys I got with were rough, which was fine, but this... was a nice change of pace.

I mean, for a nerd.

Sam lightly cupped my hips, his thumbs rubbing my skin. I drifted my hands up to his shoulders, tracing his collarbone with my fingers. His tongue glided across my bottom lip. I inhaled at the movement.

Does he really think I'm gonna let him put his tongue in my mouth?

Suddenly, I felt his one hand snake across every one of my curves as it moved up my body, his hand finally stopping to tangle his fingers into my hair. Then his other hand drifted down and smacked my ass, squeezing it firmly. I gasped against his lips and his tongue slithered into my mouth. He tasted intoxicating, like mint and vodka. As our tongues danced against each other, I pushed my body closer to him, deepening the kiss.

What the fuck am I doing?! Am I really... liking this?

No! Of course not. He's the one that needs to be humiliated, not me.

Before I could even think to pull away, he backed me up until my body was forced up against the wall, taking me by surprise. The hand in my hair pulled lightly on my locks, making me almost moan into our kiss. His other hand massaged my upper thigh, rubbing circles into my almost exposed skin. His hand dipped lower, grazing the back of my knee and bringing it to around his hip.

He pressed his body against mine, forcing my other leg to spread open further. Then suddenly, he began to grind his hips against mine. The slow thrusts made me feel dizzy for a moment, my body flushed with heat.

I must be going crazy... this feels so good.

Sam ripped his mouth away from mine, kissing across my jaw and down my neck. He found my favorite spot, under my earlobe, and began to suck and nibble on the skin. Hearing and feeling his breath so close to my ear made my stomach do cartwheels.

I bit my lip hard, trying to keep my moans from escaping. I knew I shouldn't be liking this, but I couldn't stop myself. I couldn't help but feel turned on by Sam's actions. He really knew what to do to make me wet.

My cheeks turned even more pink as I felt the dampness in my panties grow. I hadn't even realize how turned on I had become. Sam's mouth drifted even further down and kissed the tops of my breasts.

I felt his name leave my mouth in a breathy whisper. His piercing blue eyes glanced up at me for a second, an almost smirk appearing on his lips.

Oh my God, the bet! I completely forgot about it.

One of his hands rested high up on the leg that was wrapped around his waist. I could feel it inching closer and closer to my sex, the pooling heat between my legs. I didn't want him to know how wet he was making me.

“Are you turned on?” His mouth murmured against my skin.

“W-what?” I stuttered.

“I said, are you turned on?” He repeated.

“No.” I muttered breathlessly.

He pursed his lips, squinting at me. “Are you lying to me?”

I huffed, furrowing my brow. “Why would I lie?”

“Because…” His hand swiftly cupped my sex, pressing my damp panties against my clit. I shuddered out a gasp, gripping his forearms from the sudden sensation. “I think your body says otherwise.”

“That d-doesn’t mean anything.” I squeaked.

He pressed his palm against my clit, rubbing circles. “No? Do you get this wet for everybody? That’s pretty slutty if you ask me.”

My cunt throbbed at his words. “I’m not a slut.”

“I didn’t say you were. I just said that if you get this wet for any guy that grinds against you for two seconds… than you’re slutty. But I don’t think that’s true.” Sam uttered, his eyes gazing into mine.

“It’s not.” I whimpered.

“I know, baby. You’re wet because I made you feel this… good.” His lips grazed my skin as he pressed his body against mine. “Just admit it and I’ll actually touch you.”

My hips bucked against his hand, wanting more. The small circles he rubbed into my aching clit were not enough, and I could feel my pussy soaking my panties more.

I grunted, squeezing his shoulders tight. “Jesus, fine. You turn me on, Sam. Now fucking touch me!”

“Gladly.” He narrowed his eyes at me, yanking my panties down to my knees. Then he slid his hand down to my sex again and began fingering me.

I leaned my head back against the wall, my eyes rolling back in pleasure. His speed wasn’t fast enough, and I needed more than just his fingers. My hands drifted down to his pants, undoing the belt quickly.

“What are you doing? We can’t fuck in here.” He protested, pulling away from my hands.

“Yes we can.” I argued.

“We’ll get caught. Aren’t they gonna come back?” Sam puzzled.

“No. Heather usually just throws couples into every closet and bedroom that’s in this house and ends the game. She never actually times it. So, we can fuck and not get caught.” I informed, yanking him by his belt loops back into me.

“Is that what you want?” He smirked, staring me down.

I nodded my head, unzipping his pants and letting his bulge pop out.

He grabbed my hand, keeping his fingers still inside me. “Say it.”

“Say what?” I choked.

“Say what you want me to do to you.” Sam commanded.

I exhaled deeply. “Why don’t you say it first?”

He sped up his fingers, making me bit my lip hard. “Of course I want to fuck you. You knew that the moment we made eye contact a couple hours ago. But now, I need to hear you say it.”

“You already know what I want.” I whined.

“I don’t know… How can I be sure you want me to fuck you unless you say it?” He slowed his movements down to an almost stop again.

I growled, bucking my hips. “Fuck you.”

“I think one of those words is wrong.” He chuckled darkly.

I stared up at the ceiling as he closed the space, his lips running up my neck.

“Come on baby. Use that pretty mouth for me,” Sam whispered harshly. “Tell me what you want.”

“Sam, just fuck me already.” My breath hitched, the desperation dripping from my voice.

His fingers picked up their pace again, going faster than before. “Is that what you want? You want me to fuck you?”

“Yes, please.” I begged.

“You want me to make you cum around my cock?” As his fingers slid in and out, his thumb began to massage my clit.

I moaned loudly. “Oh my God, yeah!”

“Are you close?” He asked, gazing into my eyes.

“Mm-hmm.” I panted, unable to form words.

He kept his pace until suddenly he slowed his fingers down, pulling them out hastily.

“W-what are you doing?” I stammered.

“I won the bet.” He muttered, his eyes meeting mine.

My heart stopped. “The bet…”

“Yeah. Did you forget about it?” His mouth twitched, a smile almost appearing.

“No, I remember it.” I cleared my throat, wrapping my hands around his waist. “But so what? You were right. You turned me on. And now you get to fuck me. Congratulations.”

“I don’t want to fuck you.” He moved my hands off him.

“That’s a lie.” I let out a short laugh, glancing down at his hard cock.

He licked his lips, zipping his pants back up. “Yeah, it is. Actually, I don’t think you deserve to fuck me.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” My face dropped, realizing he was serious.

“I’ve had popular girls before, and from personal experience… they aren’t that good,” he smiled smugly. “And even though you are dripping for me, you don’t deserve to cum.”

I scoffed loudly. “Fuck you!”

He shrugged, almost opening the closet door. Then he turned back to me. “Remember next time, be nice to nerds.”

Sam winked at me and brought his hand up to his mouth. He licked his fingertips, my juices still on them. My eyes widened at his action, watching as he tasted me. Then, he quickly grabbed the door handle and left me alone in the closet.

After a minute of catching my breath, I slid my panties back on, ignoring the uncomfortable sensation of the wet fabric.

Oh my God, what if he told people at the party about what happened?

I rushed out of the closet, searching quickly for Heather. She was by the beer pong table, cheering on a group of guys.

“Did Sam say anything?” I asked, tapping her arm as I reached her.

“What?” She responded.

I groaned. “Did Sam say anything when he left the closet?”

“No. He came up to me, said he had to go back to his dorm, and just left. He didn’t even say goodbye to his friends.” She admitted.

I exhaled. “Oh thank God.”

Her eyes scanned my face. “Are you okay? Your face is so red.”

“Um… yeah.” My eyes made contact with Jared across the room, “I just… need to go do something real quick.”

I walked up to him, moving past the girl that he was talking to. “Hey Jared?”

“Yeah?” He questioned.

I pushed my body up against his, pressing my lips to his ear. “I want you to take me upstairs and fuck me.”

He choked on his drink. “What?”

“Take me upstairs and fuck me.” I stated bluntly, glaring into his eyes.

He nodded his head nervously, grabbing my hand. “Uh… sure thing.”

|| PART 2 >>

[subbe93]

The Roulette of Destiny part 16

It's a wedding day... Can Ran still do something to escape from her destiny? Is Shinichi going to be there in time, or is it a time for Ran to give up on her dreams and marry that stranger?

A/N: Every story has an end. If someone would have told me last March that I'm going to write a fic with sixteen chapters with an end, I would have laughed. Like... never gonna happen.

Yet, here we are. After many attempts to make one-shot of this theme (Shinichi and Ran meeting but not seeing eye to eye, or that they would have met, but Ran didn't want to get now him until the wedding, but at the middle of the party, they would have run away into the city to eat hamburgers xD), those two idiots decided that they would go to the journey around Japan, and I was like: "Guys, please, don't do this to me!!" I knew from the start that if I want to make this story right, it needs to be long, and it made me sad, because how I would do that? I have never finished any of my long fics. Why I can't write something small, something shorter? Something I can finish?

But this fic made me so happy. I got something to do in my dark and lonely days and this made me also remember how much I love writing. I also got a chance to write about characters I love so much, and I have someone to share it with! I probably have told this, but I have written in Finnish too and... Well, maybe I always write about fandoms/pairings that aren't so popular in Finland and I know that the reason why you should write is that you want to make that story because you write to yourself, but when you are excited about your own work, want to share it, but no one reacts to it... It always kills something inside me. Why should I write something I'm so excited about when I don't have anyone to share it with?

But then I came here, shared my first headcanon, and... if I can be honest, I didn't wait for anyone to like it. And yet, it got likes, and I was like... what? Why, how?! xD And when I translated and posted my first fic, I didn't wait much for it either, but yet, you liked it! And I got inspired to try to write more because I have always loved to write stories. Every like have inspired me to write more, every comment has made me feel less lonely (actually they made me feel like I'm having friends), and every share had been like... Wow! I got more than I dared to hope for. If I only could put into words how much all of this means to me... But I can't. And maybe I have said this too many times before, enough that it doesn't have any effects on anyone, but still...

This is for all of you! Yes, to you! To you who are reading this right now, to you who have read this story this far, and hopefully, you're making it to the end ❤ Thank you for being here with me and supporting me ❤ Thank you for inspiring me to continue even when there were times when it was difficult ❤ Thank you so, so much ❤

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

Chapter 16

Ran just stared at her reflection. She really hoped that she could see a happy young woman who would smile brightly, admiring herself through the mirror, thinking how her makeup and hairstyle were so perfect. Maybe she would make a few twirls just to see how her perfect wedding dress look on her, maybe took some photos of her and bouquet for a memory, sending them to social media or friends…

Maybe Kazuha would have liked to see her wedding dress.

But all she could see was a beautiful fiancée with a sorrowful look on her face. The sad young woman who had just cried until the morning light invaded through the curtains. At nine her mother had come to wake her up and after that? Ran wasn’t sure. She just let her parents to took her wherever they wanted her to be. She kinda remembered her makeup artist who was so happy for her. But anything else she didn’t remember. Only that she stared at her reflection and how it had changed more beautiful and made her look more like an adult. But in her orchid-colored eyes, there was that sadness which they couldn’t take away or hide.

Shinichi…

She wondered where he was. She wondered what happened to him.

She wondered if Shinichi would like her dress. God, she really hoped that she would get her phone back. She really would have liked to talk to him before the ceremony. At this point, she would promise anything if she just could get that phone and hear Shinichi’s voice. She would have liked to ask him what happened. She would just like to tell him what really happened, she really wanted to… wanted to…

She just wanted to know if, after the wedding, they could still be friends. It would be enough for her. Just have him in her life. As a friend. Being her only sanity in the middle of this madness, her safe haven if things would go wrong.

Maybe after the wedding…

She remembered how they joked about their weddings. That one of them should do something other’s spouse and take their place just that they could marry each other. Or maybe interrupt the ceremony somehow. How Shinichi would come and steal her…

Ran’s reflection started to blur. Part of her felt so powerless that she almost didn’t want to do anything for those tears, but she also knew that there was mascara on her eyelashes and she didn’t want to destroy her make-up just before the ceremony.

Like she even cared anymore.

Yet she took the tissue on the box and carefully dried her eyes and cheeks. She tried to distract her thoughts with something else, but every time they always get back to Shinichi. About the plan of interrupting their weddings… her wedding…

“I promise, I will do everything I can to make everyone see a reason. I will even come and interrupt your wedding if nothing else works.”

She let out a weak laugh. Yeah, like he would that. Like he would do anything to her groom or like he would interrupt the ceremony. He wouldn’t. He was a gentleman, too righteous to do something like that. She didn’t believe in that.

Still, it didn’t stop her from hoping.

The door behind her opened. Through the mirror, she saw her father.

“Ten minutes”, he said with a big smile. “Are you ready?”

Ran showed him a weak smile but didn’t speak. Only ten minutes. God, how much she just wanted to run away.

“You should look happier, Ran”, her father said while coming closer and laying his hands on her bare shoulders. It probably should have made Ran feel comfortable, but it didn’t. “You’re going to get married to a rich man who can take care of you…”

“I know someone else who would have taken me as I am”, Ran interrupted silently. “And I love him.”

“We have talked about this”, her father said gently. “This is for your own sake.” Then his expression changed determined. “And if he ever treats you wrong, I show him a few goods and painful judo throws…”

She smiled as an answer but didn’t say anything. Well, there was nothing to do about this anymore. She had tried her best, she had tried all she could. She had tried to convince her parents to give up on this, but it had been useless. She tried to be an impossible fiancée, yet it didn’t work either. Shinichi had tried his hardest to come and visit, talk to her parents around, and Ran believed that Sonoko had tried her hardest too since she hadn’t seen her best friend after that day when she visited her. Ran actually asked about Sonoko from her mother, and after that flat answer "I haven't heard from her" was a pretty clear clue to Ran that her mother had heard and doubted that Sonoko had something on her mind and make sure that they wouldn’t meet before the wedding ceremony.

So, Ran believed that they had tried everything they could have. Except… Karate.

Ran closed her eyes. She heard her father babbling about something which Ran hadn’t even listened to. He probably would be too concentrated on his own talking that Ran could just stand up and took him out by surprise and then run away. Maybe she could search Shinichi’s address somewhere and go there safe. At least he was a known detective in Japan, so she was sure that if she would just ask someone, they would probably know at least his agency’s address…

“Ah, it’s our time”, her father shouted. “Let’s go!”

Slowly Ran opened her eyes and stood up. She took her bouquet, took a last fast glance from the mirror to see that sad young bride before with heavy legs and heart she turned and followed her father outside. She looked at the corridor, wondering if she still could run away. There weren’t many people around, probably everyone was in the church waiting for the ceremony to start. If she would take her heels away and start to run before her father would realise… She would get far since her father wasn’t as good shape as he was once…

“There you two are. I was worried…”

Ran looked at her mother who has dressed in her best dress and let her long hair open. She was beautiful, though Ran wouldn’t say it out loud. Not because of this whole marriage thing. Not after what she did to Shinichi.

“What, you didn’t trust me?” her father asked. Her mother looked at Ran before turning.

“Let’s go.”

She didn’t trust me, Ran wanted to say, but didn’t. Yeah, well she had her reasons, and Ran couldn’t blame her. Maybe she wouldn’t trust her child either if she would have been in the same situation.

Well, she wouldn’t command her child to marry someone they wouldn’t want to.

Maybe she could still save herself. Since both of her parents were too concentrated walking towards the church, she could take them out with karate. Nothing too serious, but enough that she could still take the heels off and…

Church’s big doorway was open in front of them. They stepped into the hallway, but Ran and his father stayed on the corner before the main hall while making sure that no one would see them before the music starts to play. How many times they had practiced this? Too many. Yet, every time her father succeeded to do something wrong, or if not, then he was just clumsy.

“Just remember…”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember”, her father answered annoyed.

Then her mother turned and looked at her with a piercing gaze. Ran wanted to answer for it. She wanted to blame her for being unfair, she wanted to ask her if she was happy now. She wanted to know if this was really something she wanted for her daughter. She wanted to ask if she is going to sleep her nights well after this. She wanted to know if she was sure that she isn’t going to regret this later.

But she didn’t. It wouldn’t change anything.

Her mother's expression softened. “Listen Ran, you should try to smile and try to be happy”, she said. “You want to make a good impression on your groom, and…” She kept a little break before she continued: “and you would just do a favor for yourself. Try to enjoy this, so you can reminisce this as a good memory one day”

Ran felt like crying. Like she could be happy when she felt so sad and sorrowful and… and… She just wanted to cry. Cry and shout at her parents. She just wanted to turn around and run…

But she showed her mother a little smile and nodded. She couldn’t do anything else.

Her mother smiled before going to the main hall. And Ran waited.

She still had a chance to run. She could just trip her father and run away…

Well, it was her time to come back to reality. Like she would do it. She couldn’t do that to her parents. And in the end, her mother-in-law had also put so much effort to make Ran look like the perfect bride. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t just leave.

Hah, there it was. Again, she was being that kind and obedient girl who wasn’t selfish enough to do as she liked. Again, she was the girl who would suffer to make everyone else happy. Again, she sacrificed herself and she wouldn’t get anything back from it.

Music started and Ran’s father handed his arm. “Ready?”

No.

Ran took a deep breath before she took his father’s arm and let him lead her to her destiny. She let her gaze down, trying for a moment to focus that she wouldn’t step on her hem. I’m not going to cry. I can’t let them have that satisfaction!

Then she raised her gaze trying to keep a proud look on her face. She could still try to be a brave and beautiful bride, something which everyone could be proud of. They would talk later about how amazing and beautiful she was. And in the end, maybe her mother was right. She could still try to make this a good memory for herself.

Later she could tell all about this to Shinichi, and he would be proud of her.

She found her groom who stood in front of the altar in a white suit, his back still on her. Then he turned around and met his bride.

Ran’s red lips parted. She couldn’t believe it, and yet, when the groom’s surprised expression changed into a bright smile, Ran let the laugh escape from her lips. Even though she promised herself that she wouldn’t cry, she felt tears on her cheeks. But those weren’t for sorrow. They were tears of happiness.

Before she could stop herself, she let go of her father’s arm, grabbed her dress with a free hand, and run towards the man, who had just taken a few steps forward and opened his arms. She threw herself into his arms crying and laughing, squeezing him like making sure that this was real and not some kind of twisted dream, and even if it was, she knew she didn’t want to wake up.

“Well, what a twist of fate”, she heard him say quietly in her ear. “Can’t choose if I’m just lucky one or did you really do something to my bride and took her place…”

“Not sure either”, she murmured on Shinichi’s shoulder. “I’m just… just hoping this isn’t just a dream…”

Ran felt warm hands on her bare shoulders, and she remembered how much she had missed his touch. He made her back off a little, just enough to see her face.

“Me too”, Shinichi said and smiled. Then he took something out from his pocket. “Though”, he continued and the blue handkerchief touched carefully Ran’s cheeks, “I can’t let those tears ruin my beautiful bride’s breath-taking smile.”

Ran let out a weak laugh. “I think it’s a small price to pay for this… for you...”

He lowered enough to press his forehead against her like he did that night when they said temporary goodbyes to each other. Like then, she looked at those beautiful blue eyes. God how much she had missed him. She just…

“Hey, don’t cry anymore”, Shinichi said quietly.

“I missed you”, she whispered and closed her eyes, trying her hardest not just to bury herself into his arms and make sure that she would never have to leave. “I missed you so, so much…”

“Missed you too”, she heard him answer. “I… I thought I lost you…”

Someone cleared their throat. Ran opened her eyes and saw how Shinichi straightened himself before wiping her last tears away. Then he put that handkerchief back into his pocket. Without cutting his eye contact he slowly moved away from a little enough to raise his left arm. “Well, will you still marry me?”

Ran felt her smile just widening. She wrapped her right arm around his.

Maybe God didn’t hate her after all…

“I will.”