#it... makes... sense...... holy mew...........

[cornyonmains]

Something I find interesting about Top and Mew as a couple is how they were both written to occupy the two extremes of sexual desirability. You have Mew, the virgin, the bookworm, the honor student, that which society perceives as pure. Innocent in a society that places great value on it. There's even an added layer of value society adds to Mew as he maintained this innocence while being considered physically desirable.

Then you have Top, the top tier, who is handsome, sexually skilled, and also rich. Considered desirable, like Mew, by virtue of these rigid assumptions society makes about sexuality. Where Mew's entire value is wrapped up in his status as pure, so too is Top's value wrapped up in his status of being rich, handsome, and down to fuck.

I see so much conflict in the story centralizing around these two characters reminding the people around them that they aren't sexual ideals, that they're two fully fleshed out humans beings with flaws, and a desire to interact with the world on their terms, and not the terms society has made for them based on the expectations people have of them.

Mew strikes me as someone who has a great deal of trouble connecting with people. That's at the core of his innocence, not some holy virtuous nature. Top's getting through, and Mew's probably happy to let him, because he's a person, not an idea, and people get lonely. This is similarly the case with Top. He's not a top tier. He's a rich man. He grew up in a developing country where the realities of wealth have a completely different context, because in America, most rich kids don't have to be driven to school by bodyguards in armored cars, and he's probably spent his entire life being preyed upon by the people around him. Top's savvy enough to realize that someone like Mew, who has so, so much trouble connecting with people, could only possibly be sincere, be real, if he decides on Top. And I imagine that's something someone like Top would want.

So you have two men, challenging the assumptions of everyone around them, and this is really shaping up to be at the core of the conflict. Top made a huge mistake when he slept with Boston, but I also think it was motivated by a hugely fucked up relationship with sex, and what losing what Mew represented in his mind did to him at that moment. He lost something real, so why not embrace the cold comfort Boston offered, because at least it's comfort. But away from Boston, without his pressure, without the heat of the moment, it's clear he deeply regretted his actions, because Top is more than a top tier. He's not a rich predatory monster. He's just a lonely, fucked up dude learning how to not be that way. This is something I also think he senses in Mew.

But the people around them are failing to see their complexity as people. They're still seeing the labels, and man is Jojo seeming to build up to these dumbass college kids getting their first big life lesson as adults about how much more complex human beings are.

This is how you do a fucking college BL. Jojo, you glorious fucker, keep doing what you're doing and bury these blushing maiden BLs. This has been so long coming.

[dead-dove-product]

CW: Spoilers for Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Series + Movies)

Pokemon teams for the Holy Quintet (help wanted)

This was initially meant to be a fun little thought exercice, but I ended up being really dissatisfied with some of the teams, and wondered if anyone could help? I'd appreciate any assistance given. Thank you 🎀

(Below are the teams I came up with, with Pokemons who don't fit as well as the others in bold.)

Madoka :

Arceus: In the Pokemon universe, Arceus is pretty much a god. It created the universe, created the first Pokemon (Mew) and overall fulfilled a role similar to the one of a deity, which I thought was fitting for Madoka, as she herself becomes a "god" (or at least is referred to as such by Homura).

Audino: Audino is an extremely sensitive Pokemon, able to hear people's emotions, and sense when an egg is about to hatch. This last part, in my eyes, made Audino an extremely interesting Pokemon to give Madoka, as I assume it would be able to sense when a Soul Gem is about to turn into a Grief Seed. Audino's normal form also match Madoka magical girl design, while its mega evolution pairs well with Ultimate Madoka's design.

Another Pokemon that could fulfill a similar role and fit Madoka just as well would be Blissey. Audino or Victini could be switched with Blissey to give Madoka a team more representative of her character.

Decidueye: The only Pokemon I could think of that uses an arrow.

Jirachi: The Wish Pokemon.

Sylveon: The Intertwinning Pokemon. According to its Pokedex entries, Sylveon can't stand fighting, and will use its ribbons to calm fights. Considering how many times Madoka tried to stop fights among her fellow magical girls to take place, Sylveon felt like a logical pick. Additionally, it matches her color scheme and overall them, and it only felt appropriate to give Madoka a Pokemon with ribbons considering the emotional value her little hairbows end up taking (Sylveon's ribbons also remind me of the Incubators' second pair of ears).

Considering that Madoka spends most of the series not as a magical girl, but as a normal girl, considering whether or not to make a wish and what wish could be worth it, Sylveon could be switched with a simpler Eevee. This would allow Mami to get a Sylveon of her own. However, because a lot of Madoka's team is meant to fit her magical girl aesthetic, I do still think Sylveon might be a better pick for her.

Victini: The Victory Pokemon. It doesn't matter how many times Homura had to go back in time for it to finally happen, Madoka finally ended up winning against witches for good. This could be seen as victory (Victini) being on her side.

Other Pokemons that would fit the last spot of her team nicely would be Blissey (mentioned earlier) and Cherrim, the Blossom Pokemon who looks like a Sakura flower, Madoka's motif.

What the current team would look like (a size chart tool was used to make sure the scale used was correct, based on production notes for Madoka and Pokedex entries for her team):

Homura :

Dialga: The Time Pokemon.

Espeon: While Umbreon might seem like a better fit for Homura, both need to reach a certain friendship level to evolve which fits Homura perfectly considering that Madoka was her only friend, and this is what motivated her to go back in time to save her in the first place. What makes Espeon a better fit than Umbreon in my eyes (on top of its Psychic type which makes sense for Homura) is how much of its Pokedex entries actually focus on its unwavering loyality to its trainer. One of said Pokedex entries even says that Espeon developped precognitive powers in order to keep its trainer from harm which perfectly parallels the relation between Homura and Madoka.

Espurr: Espurr might look stoic and expressionless, but according to the Pokedex, an Espurr is constantly franticly fighting to keep its own psychic powers contained. It not only mirrors Homura's behavior throughout the series/ first 2 movies really well, it can also mirror her struggle to keep her Witch form contained at the end of the Rebellion movie.

Iron Valiant: Iron Valiant is the Paradox form of Gardevoir/Gallade (it's from the future).

I considered giving it to Kyoko due to its appearance and the fact it has a spear, but ended up deciding against, considering Homura having a Paradox Pokemon made more sense in my eyes.

Gardevoir: To protect its Trainer, it will expend all its psychic power to create a small black hole. Additionally, like most of Homura's team, it can see the future. Need I say more?

Xatu: Xatu is said to be able to see the future without ever being able to change it, which is a fate shared by Homura in the previous timelines, as she tried to change things without ever managing to change the final outcome.

Overall, I think Homura's team might be the most accurate to her character out of all the girls. This is what the current team looks like (same as Madoka, I used a comparative chart tool to determine their sizes, but I had to size Dialga down a little, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see Espurr at all):

Mami :

Blastoise: The only Pokemon I could think of with "guns".

Leavanny: Leavanny is a Pokemon with motherly instincts, that seems to enjoy taking care of smaller Pokemons, similarly to how Mami seems to enjoy taking care of younger magical girls. It is a Pokemon who makes clothes for younger Pokemons, and in the Rebellion movie, Mami made Bebe's clothes by hand. Leavanny also has a gentle dispositions, safe for when you attack younger Pokemons (which, once again, is reminiscent of Mami).

Ribombee: Ribombee just... Looks like Mami. That's all the reason there is, they just work so well together.

Cinccino: Considering I gave Madoka a Sylveon, I couldn't give Mami one as well, so I decided Cinccino would have to do ribbon wise. Cincinno's furr also defflect attacks and is remarkably soft, but unfortunately, this is a pretty weak argumentation.

Any member of Flabébé's evolutionary line could easily replace Cinccino, as they have access to Vine Whip which could serve as a sort of substitute for Mami's ribbons. They also have a flower motif, like Mami herself (transformation scene + Soul Gem).

Polteageist: Mami serves tea to Madoka and Sayaka upon meeting them, so I guess a tea Pokemon could make sense?

If you have any suggestion for a Pokemon to replace Polteageist, I'm listening, it is far from a perfect fit for Mami.

Slurpuff: Charlotte/Bebe/Nagisa is the Dessert Witch, and in the Rebellion movie, her and Mami are very close. It makes sense for Mami to at least have a Pokemon reflecting this.

Other Pokemons that could fit this idea would be Tandemaus, which could serve as a reference to Charlotte's familiars, Banette, who vaguely ressemble Bebe, or Hatenna for the same reasons.

Once again, here's how the team look:

Sayaka :

Alomomola: To my knowledge, Alomomola is the only Water type Pokemon with the Healer ability, and I really wanted Sayaka to have a Water team. According to the Pokedex, Alomomola is also covered by a special membrane that heals other Pokemon, and it likes to heal the weakened. Considering Sayaka's wish, I thought it made sense.

Another ability that would fit Sayaka would be Water Absorb, which is an ability Pokemons like Vaporeon or Quagsire can get, and either would fit Sayaka's team.

Gallade: Gallade has a sort of knight theme going on, with his Mega Evolution even getting a cape, like Sayaka.

Keldeo: Keldeo as a Pokemon reflects Sayaka's journey fairly well. To get to its resolute form, Keldeo is said to need to endure hardship, but before that, Keldeo is described as an enthusiastic learner. Once in its resolute form, the description (in Sword and Shield) are more focused around how strong it now is, which reminds me of how Sayaka viewed herself: at first excited to become a magical girl, then a little less, then not at all, she only saw it as a duty and completely drowned herself in it, and I think Keldeo is a good Pokemon to reflect that.

Primarina: Primarina reminds me of Oktavia, with the music theme and mermaid tail.

Samurott: Another Pokemon with swords, who protects order and is insistent on rules being followed.

Kingdra: I just needed a last Pokemon for Sayaka

Both Kingdra and Samurott could and probably should be changed, however I don't really know what to put in their respectives places. Any recommendation or direction would be appreciated.

Kyoko :

Blaziken: A Pokemon with powerful legs, and blazing punches, because I couldn't think of a Pokemon with a spear.

Pokemons holding a spear or with spear related moves could and probably should replace Blaziken.

Garchomp: While I couldn't think of a Pokemon with spears, Mega Garchomp has scythe like wings. It's also a Pokemon who is said to hunt (and thus eat) a lot, and who tends to have a feral nature. Some media describes that a strong bond with the Pokémon and their trainer is needed to Mega Evolve, so I think her having a somewhat feral/distrustful Pokemon to get along with would be the kind of challenge she'd enjoy for some reason.

Morpeko: A constantly hungry Pokemon, who WILL become mad if hungry, which I thought was fitting.

Rapidash: Rapidash is canonically a competitive, brave and proud Pokemon with a fiery temperament. That sounds a lot like Kyoko (to me at least).

Volcanion: A Fire-Water type Pokemon, to symbolize her relationship with Sayaka. It's also a Pokemon that self isolates.

Volcarona: The Sun Pokemon (at least one of them). Considering how many cultures associate the sun with divinity, and that Volcarona, in Pokemon, was depicted as a deity of fire, I think it fits her backstory. On top of that, some people think Volcarona scatters burning scales to start fire, while others think it's to rescue those suffering from the cold. Considering Kyoko's view on helping others and how this is reflected in her actions, I think Volcarona is a great fit for her: you can't be sure of its intentions, all you can observe is how it acts. Similarly, while Kyoko hunts witches, you can't be 100% sure of the reason why, because despite her words, she doesn't act like she doesn't care about others.

Sorry if this was a (especially) long post, and thank you to anyone who reads and/or has suggestions to help improve their teams.

[respectthepetty]

Yooooooooo, your theory of Playboyy as an Only Friends AU is absolutely brilliant!

Your brain just, holy fuck, wow!

If you're hitching a ride, can I hop on this theory train with you?

Because if so, I'm dropping the following baggage:

First and Soong as Ray and Sand

I mean... let's take a look at the list...

- rich kid thinking money can buy anything and everything, check

- rich kid finds a partner he pays first and then starts a fwb, check

- first there is the issue of mutual exploitation before it becomes more; we can't quite say yet, so we'll leave that open, but the signs are pointing to check.

- then the issue with addiction (with Ray alcohol and drugs, with First sex)... yep. Check.

I am not connecting anything rn because we also just had an EP Playboyy, but holy CRAP... there really could be something to your theory.

(Yes, we have more couples than in OF but seriously, if the writers had crammed all the stuff that's supposed to happen into 8 characters... Good night, I think the thing would have exploded0.0)

Anon, it's not my brain. @lukaherehelp has been hyping up this show since Earth was created, and the writer, Den, stated in a few tweets that Only Friends and Playboyy were basically the radio edit versus the album version but as television shows. One was Disney channel and the other was Cinemax.

Between the two, I already like that unlike Mew, who was shown to view his virginity as a prize to be won, Zouey seems more touch averse, which could also connect with a desire to remain in control. As a self-identified slut, it makes sense to me that he would be more open to giving than receiving, so he could remain in control of the situation. But I really don't want to compare hotdogs to hamburgers.

However, know that I also see Ray and Sand in First and Soong, and I also wanted Sand to be a sex worker in Only Friends much like I wanted Top to be.

I had theories for days for Only Friends! I wanted sex workers. I wanted a dead body. I wanted police involvement. I wanted the poor stealing from the rich.

I WANTED IT ALL!

And I just might get it in Playboyy.

First calls Soong a "whore" when?

[pampushky]

Creature (Both Haunted & Holy)

Vinsmoke Sanji/Reader - Chapter 28 - 4.2k

Two and a half months after the events of the last chapter, you adjust to Robin joining the crew, while coming to a decision after learning about exactly what your grandfather had done to Arlong.

ao3 | series masterlist | masterlist | next part

“Look me in the eyes, Luffy, where did all the fish go? They were set out on the deck to dry on the special racks I bought,” Luffy withers under your gaze, unable to meet your eyes, even when you squat to look at him. Sanji stands behind you with his arms crossed, angrier simply because you had explicitly told your captain to wait until they were fully dry. Luffy keeps his nervous stare firmly away from you and waves his hand in front of his face, trying to shoo you off.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,”

“I can smell it on you, Luf. It’s not like I’m adjusting to my senses coming back again.”

Sea Mother, you sound just like your gram when she had caught Toha and yourself sneaking dried squid from the racks outside her hut. Sion had apologized fervently to her mother, while the old woman held both of you by your scruffs, looking almost amused by her mischievous grandchildren. 

“That’s not fair-ayYE– Sanji! ” Luffy whines as he gets his ear pinched by your partner, and dragged off to help with chores to make up for this latest incident. From her spot on the deck, Robin laughs. Her giggles send a chill down your spine, and your ears flatten down to your skull, a warble unwillingly bubbling past your lips after you hear it, 

You’re not certain why you’re so unsettled by her. You’ve shot up in height, gaining two inches, You’re looking more and more like a proper leopard seal every day, arms and legs growing thick with muscles. But something about Nico Robin startles you. 

Maybe it’s her morbid humor. Or how she stares right through you. Sanji likes her well enough— something about her having “the vibe of childhood trauma” as he does. The only one who is as wary of her as you are is Zoro. So the two of you always tend to sit back whenever she says something, prickling like two startled cats as Luffy drapes himself over her shoulders. Which, speaking of… you hold one of the new crew cats tightly, enjoying the comfort he brings.

Chowder is an overfed tabby that had been one of the many parting gifts from Alabasta. That, along with three other cats named Curry, Miso, and Gumbo. All named lovingly by Luffy, who had insisted on being the one to name them, regardless of how you had been the one to request them, to deal with pests on the ship. 

Not that you were complaining. At least they had some consistent theme. You just croon softly to yourself, while Roux lets out a squeaky meow. Zoro stands beside you, frowning at the archaeologist, who doesn’t notice, or doesn’t care, that you’re both wary of her. Luffy tries to hide behind her chair as Sanji barks an insult at him, and you watch as your poor captain is dragged across the ship by his stretchy ear, whining the entire way. Usopp just sighs and follows after, making a speech of what sounds like Luffy’s obituary.

The tanned ravenette makes eye contact with you and smiles, making your ears flatten to your head while Chowder lets out another pathetic mew, wriggling in your arms before settling himself half on your shoulders, laying like a baby waiting to be burped. Gracefully, Robin walks down to join you, closing her book as she does so, looking down at the two of you as she leans on the railing. 

“Your captain is an interesting one, to be certain,” her mouth quirks up into a partial smile. “But a good one, nonetheless.”

“Guess you don’t have much else to compare to, besides Crocodile,” Zoro says dryly, and she laughs, covering her mouth with her hand. 

“He was alright when it came down to it. Never forced me to do anything I didn’t want to.” She shrugs, and you shudder. 

“That’s. Basic etiquette, I fear,” You mumble, and squeeze Chowder a bit tighter. The cat mewls, and presses a soft paw against your face, as if to say That was rude, Mom. “Sorry— I—” 

And she just laughs again. Leaning over the railing with one hand on her chin as she watches you, before sauntering into the galley to likely watch whatever chores Sanji is making Luffy perform to make up for eating the only partially-dried fish. Zoro just gently grips you by your elbow, leading you away and towards the front deck of the Going Merry so the two of you can spar safely, and hopefully help you get more control over Tide as the two of you fall into a rhythm, fighting hand-to-hand rather than using your weapons of choice. 

Tide groans from where it’s leaning next to Zoro’s katanas. You’re not sure if you imagine it, but two of the swords seem to rattle in response to it, distracting you just enough for Zoro to land a solid hit as he tackles you. The wind gets knocked from your lungs for a second, and it’s utterly freezing around you, too cold for you to just be winded—

The loud yelp from Zoro yanks you from your panic into an entirely new spiral. Half of the front deck is covered in frost, with several large chunks of blue ice pointing out to sea from where they’re frozen to the railing. And Zoro’s staring at you, not frozen, thank the Sea Mother , but still startled, with blue lips and frost in his hair and along his eyelashes.

“That’s,” he breathes out, and his breath forms a cloud in front of him, “Huh. That’s new, seal.”

And then he promptly slips on the ice, when he tries to step towards you, which makes you start to wheeze as you recover from being winded, causing yourself to slip on the ice. The thump of you both hitting the deck attracts Nami, who just stares at the two of you with a mildly concerned expression until she hears you both laughing. However, she is less amused by the chunks of ice on the ship, making it resemble an iceberg.

“As funny as it is to you, this is concerning,” Nami places a hand on one of the chunks, watching as it starts to steam from how warm the air around it is before she looks back at you. Tide shudders in your hand, while you frown down at it. “Your tuning fork has been acting weird ever since we left Alabasta,”

“It’s not a fork,” you blurt out, and Tide goes still, almost appreciative that you're defending it. 

“ Threek , then,” Nami counters, grinning at you as you try to hold in another laugh before her gaze turns serious again. “You should call your grandfather on the ship’s snail. He could be able to help,” 

The deck falls into silence, save for the sound of the chunks of ice starting to crack and fall from the boat. You’ve brought your knees up for your chest and held them there, gazing down. You seem to be refusing to look at your weapon now. 

“I don’t wanna bother him,” you mumble out, “….he’s probably not able to call, being on the run and all.”

“He did that for you. I think he’d be happy to hear from you.” Zoro snorts, and you bite your lower lip. 

This isn’t the first time this discussion has come up. Ace had been the one to bring up how ‘Pops’ had been grumbling over an old friend stirring up trouble, the flame-man just hadn’t realized who this old friend had been. One News Coo later, and you’d suddenly had a very odd day placed firmly in your hands. 

On one hand, Arlong was dead. Shattered into pieces on the floor of his cell, terror written on his mangled face. He would never be able to hurt anyone again, would never be able to so much as breathe the same air as you because, well, he wasn’t breathing anymore. 

But he still haunted you. The shadow you’d seen was mostly gone, yes, but that didn’t mean his touch was totally erased. A rather awkward session of dry humping with your partner on the galley’s couch had revealed that when you’d frozen up when Sanji went to suck a hickey into your neck.

You wanted to cry. To celebrate. To scream. The man who’d destroyed your life, who had taken away everything you once were, was dead. Dead and gone and likely rotting in a garbage heap, with your grandfather to thank. Pell had every right to do it, you supposed. He’d lost his daughter and her wife because of him. Lost four grandchildren, and countless old friends. Yet you’re conflicted. Part of you had wanted to be the one to kill Arlong. The other part wanted to curl up deep in a blanket and never so much as hear his name mentioned, or you felt like you’d puke.

How do you celebrate the death of your abuser when you can’t even bear to look at his face on old wanted posters without getting the strong urge to flee?

More so, how do you talk to the man who’d done it? How do you thank your grandfather, who you hardly know? Do you thank him?

“Or. You can continue to struggle with the threek,” Zoro’s bluntness startles you from your thoughts, and you scowl at him. “You have a chance to ask someone who wielded Tide before you, and who can help you control your other selkie issues. You’d be an idiot to not take advantage of it.”

Nami smacks the back of his head the moment the words leave his mouth, and you stare blankly at the swordsman just as Chopper scurries up the stairs to see what the commotion is about. He looks overjoyed at the ice on the deck, flopping down on it happily, and letting out the most adorable sigh, and effectively throwing off any serious discussion as you all look down at the little reindeer rubbing his face in the quickly melting ice. You look at Zoro, trying to decide how to answer him, before leaving to go give yourself some space in the storage room. 

When you get down there, the calendar almost seems to stare at you. Next week, blocked out in bright blue highlighter, is your cycle. You huff and turn away from it, knowing it’s just a piece of paper on the wall, but at the same time, it’s more than that. You’re fully matured now, you’ve had a real cycle— this will help, with a more steady pattern to follow, but it’ll also be a nightmare, with… certain aspects. 

The ladder creaks above you, and you rub your face, getting ready to tell Nami that no, she can’t use the money to buy more clothing when Zoro comes down, looking a bit embarrassed.  

“I was being a dick.” He scratches the back of his head and refuses to meet your gaze. “You don’t have to talk to your grandfather unless you want to.” 

“Thanks,” you stride forward and pinch his cheek, making him grumble, “I know it’s alot for you to apologize,”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zoro pushes you away by your face, but he’s grinning now until he looks at the calendar again, face falling. “Oh shit, that’s getting close again. You have like… two weeks?”

“Don’t remind me,” you groan, and sit against the wall, letting your head hit it gently against the wall. “Privacy would be nice.”

“So… you and the cook can…?” Zoro trails off, raising an eyebrow, before hissing when you smack him in the arm. “Ow! Okay– fine! You don’t fuck!”

“You’re a pain in the ass,” you grumble, before stretching out to start to sort out the shelves and looking back at him with a scowl, just as Curry winds himself around his legs, meowing pathetically before darting under one of the shelves, scurrying away with a rat in his mouth, which is followed by a familiar shriek from a certain cook, who appears to have finished whatever chores he’d set Luffy on. 

“But not as big of a pain as your curly-eyebrowed boyfriend,” Zoro sighs, as the two of you make your way out of the storage room. 

Sanji has the rat in his hands, cradling it to his chest while Curry meows pathetically at his feet, attracting Miso, Gumbo, and Chowder, all meowing to see what is in Sanji’s hands. He’s never hidden anything from him, not unless it’s their dinner, which then turns to the four cats trying to claw their way up his legs. 

The moment you poke your head out of the door, and see what’s going on, you start to laugh, making Chowder turn to look at you, leaping off of his pants to prance towards you with a rather long mew. You scoop up the cat, watching as she sways slightly, completely limp in your arms, still meowing.  

“Sanji? You take the rat from our boy Curry?” You tilt your head, gently pulling the aforementioned cat off of your partner. 

“Yes— he nearly killed the poor thing,” Sanji peeks at the animal in his hands, cooing softly at it. 

“That’s… what they’re supposed to do,” Curry and Chowder are both now crawling over you, the most recent rat-catcher of the two balancing on your shoulders, purring happily and headbutting against you. “That’s why I asked for them.”

“They’ve been hunting rats this whole time?!” 

You blink in surprise at just how upset he sounds. “Yes…?”

The noise Sanji makes as he hurries to find Chopper makes you and Zoro share a glance, before you gently brush the cats off of you, following after him. When you find Sanji, he’s watching as Chopper is inspecting the little creature as you come up behind him. His worry about the little animal hits you through the bond, and you let out a surprised cough, to which Sanji turns to you with wide eyes. 

“Are you okay?” You ask him, as you walk towards him slowly. 

“Yeah— yeah, Parsley will be okay too,” Sanji says softly, and you pause. 

“...who’s Parsley?” 

“Our new pet,” Sanji gently takes the rat into his hands, and you hate how your heart squeezes over how it scurries to sit on the blond’s shoulder.  “Usopp said he’d help me build a proper cage for him too! With enrichment and hammocks,” he gently scratches under the rat’s chin, and you again, feel your heart squeeze at just how cute the image is. “Isn’t he cute?” 

But then the logic hits you, and you look from the rat, newly named Parsley, to your boyfriend. “...where’s the cage gonna go, Ji?”

It’s comical how blank his face goes, processing your question while Parsley manages to crawl up to sit on the top of his head. 

“Because I’m not gonna let them go back in the storage room.”

“I didn’t expect you to,” Sanji mumbles, bringing his hand up to his chin, still thinking very hard about the problem he’s created for himself. “Hm.”

“.... would it count as the storage room, if you split it in half?” 

Zoro’s input makes the both of you jump. On your part, you'd forgotten he'd been behind you when you went to find Sanji. Parsley squeaks in terror, from how the swordsman is holding Curry in his arms. The cat looks indifferent, having already been given a treat to reward him for his catch. Sanji scowls, and holds a now trembling rat in his hands. 

“You could make it into a room. Then we don’t have to leave when the seal’s on her cycle,” Zoro grunts, and you both look at each other. 

“I didn’t know you were capable of such logical thinking,”

“You were shocked that the cats were hunting rats! ”

"Don't you bring my innocent children into this! Curry is no murderer and I won't have you slandering him!" Sanji looks at the cat in Zoro's arms, cooing softly, "You didn't know, no you didn't, right my boy?" "Oh, forgive me, the cats that were doing their job, y'know, acting on their instincts,"

“How dare you say that, Mosshead, when the last two things that could be considered instincts are fighting actively for third place in your empty skull!”

You push yourself between them after that last insult, with a small sigh on your lips, leading them pair up to the galley where you can discuss the transformation of the storage room with the rest of the crew. When you present the reasoning behind the privacy for yourself and Sanji, it's a unanimous decision, to say the least. 

Reorganizing the storage room is shockingly easy when you have someone who can spawn a near-infinite number of arms and hands, shifting the room around with ease, while also moving the furniture around the ship. Robin laughs softly, head in her palm as you watch her do this in a matter of minutes. 

“You’re… mildly intimidating, do you know that?” You whisper, which makes the woman look at you again, an oddly warm smile on her lips. “And so are you, Enesidaon,” she leaves with a small pat to your head, who looks absolutely amazed by the newly created bedroom, setting his chin on your shoulder while wrapping his arms around your waist. “And here I thought we’d be working down to the wire,” Sanji mumbles, pressing a kiss to your cheek, before looking around the room, opening drawers, and looking at the newly built cage, with a very happy Parsley lounging in a hammock. You don’t miss the way he smiles at the rat, sticking his hands through the wire of the cage to stroke his head. Your stomach flutters, suddenly imagining him standing over a cradle with a gurgling pup in it. 

He turns to look at you, with a raised eyebrow, a dusting of blush along his cheeks. “Someone has baby fever,” Sanji teases, and you let out a low warble of annoyance, flopping onto your bed with your hands over your face.

“It’s not baby fever— my cycle is coming up, so it’s making everything all hormonal,” You mumble, looking away from him as he crawls over you on the bed, grinning with amusement at your excuses. “So that little pinch in the bond…?”

“ Maybe it’s baby fever,” You admit, and he kisses your cheek playfully. “But not anything I’ll be acting on for a while.” 

“I agree. We have a son to take care of already,” Sanji says rather solemnly, and you frown at him. 

“Three sons, two daughters. You better include the cats, even when you’re mad at them,” You pinch his cheeks and he concedes, laughing and reaching to tickle your sides, quickly devolving into breathless laughter as the two of you squirm on the bed. The normalcy of it all appeals to you, especially with how Sanji looks at you as though you’re the most precious thing in the world to him. How he’d sworn he’d never let anyone hurt you again. 

Pell would be happy to hear about that, you think. He’d want to know about how your life has changed since you’d seen him nearly seven months ago. 

You come to a decision rather quickly after that, snuggling into Sanji’s arms with a contented trill. 

Pell had never been one to read much. He’d keep track of the news, just to see if his old crewmates were up to anything. But he’s skeptical as to what exactly is true and what’s not. He’d started doubting the News Coo the moment that they’d changed Roger’s name. 

And just as he’s sipping a warm cup of cider, the usual seagull drops the paper beside him with a squawk, catching the coin that he tosses upwards without so much as a second look at the old selkie. Pell sighs, and unrolls it all with his free hand, reading through the front page in a bored manner only to find your crew staring back at him.

The cider sprays all over the deck, the mug dropped on the wood as Pell tries to stop himself from choking, looking down at the front page in utter shock. 

After his activity at Impel Down three months ago, infamous Gold Roger’s helmsman, Blackfin Pell, has returned to hiding. His current whereabouts are unknown but with the arrest of Portgas D. Ace, it’s thought that he’s taken refuge with the Whitebeard pirates. However, his bloodline appears to share the same sentiments for piracy, with his last surviving descendant, only known as The Blackfin Enesidaon, who is thought to have been a crew member of the Arlong Pirates. It is unclear if she has any ties to her grandfather, but she has been seen wielding her grandmother’s weapon and has inherited the rare Earth-Shaker ability that Rippled Coth possessed, as well as the Storm-Bringer ability that her grandfather was named for. 

Along with those abilities, Blackfin appears to be in alliance with the Straw Hat Crew, gaining a bounty of 35,000,000 berries, alongside the crew’s first mate, Roronoa Zoro, 60,000,000, and captain, Monkey D. Luffy, 100,000,000. 

The crew was last seen fleeing the Kingdom of Alabasta. It is unknown what part they played there, but it can only be thought to have been a part of the chaos that the former Warlord, Sir Crocodile, created. Any known whereabouts should be reported to the World Government for possible county collection. It is advised that no one under the level of Captain try to bring these pirates in.

You’re terrifying in the picture on your wanted poster. Tide is stuck in the ground, with a crack going towards the camera, and Pell can see the unconscious body of a…. sea-urchin-like woman tossed to the side alongside a man with oddly shaped…. nearly numerical, hair. Your eyes glow, and the scars on your arms seem to match the ethereal nature of it all. He can almost hear the rumbling of thunder based on the gray clouds hovering above. 

The article doesn’t paint you as the rather awkward pup he knows you are. No, this is not the quiet selkie that had wandered into his hardware store, flinching when he moved too suddenly. It paints you as the next Storm King, and Pell doesn’t know if he should be proud or horrified about that. 

A drought had been ended because of your anger. Rain that had stopped a civil war. Waves of rainwater sweeping through the streets of the capital city as you roared your anger for Baroque Works. And you’d passed out, he guessed, knowing how much of a toll that amount of work would have done on your still-recovering body. You’re alive, that much he knows, from the blurry picture of your crew’s ship in the distance. 

Back to the camera. Left arm in the air. All next to your crew mates.

He wants to shred the newspaper and give Morgans a piece of his mind for claiming you were a part of Arlong’s crew. That bastard of a bird needed a reminder of just how seals dealt with waterfowl, for making up those facts. Perhaps he could even get a good meal out of it— pan-seared albatross breast with capers sounded lovely , now that he thought of it. 

Should he call you?

He scratches at his beard, biting his lower lip just as he’d done whenever he was anxious about something. He’d wanted you to be the one to reach out. And he’s not entirely sure where you are at the moment– the paper made no mention of your current whereabouts, which is good! But the protective grandfather side of him wants to know where you are, and if you’re doing well. You look as though you’re doing fine— growing into a proper leopard seal, and learning how to wield Tide as well. 

Whitebeard leaned over his shoulder to read the paper, using a giant hand to take it from Pell, who’s stopped reading it altogether, too lost in his thoughts. “Pah. They don’t mention where they put Ace. Bastards.”

“They also implied my grandpup was a willing accomplice in Arlong’s tom fuckery.” Pell grows, and crumples the paper, tossing it onto the deck. “I should pluck that bird.”

Edward reaches over and carefully uncrumples the paper ball, reading the article. He raises an eyebrow, looking at the picture of you, as well as the new wanted poster.

“But did you see her debut bounty?” Whitebeard cackles. “35,000,000! That's a fair bit more than yours was! Nowhere near Coth’s, though.” He sighs, leaning back on the deck. “What a woman she was!”

“Adjust to the inflation, you old bastard! And don’t talk about my wife like you had a chance!” Pell barks back, leaning against the railing as he looks out onto the open water. Coth would know what to do. She’d know exactly what to say to you, and he misses her now more than ever. The familiar pur-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru of his transponder snail interrupts his thoughts of his late mate. 

“Hello?” He holds the little creature up to his mouth with a sigh, still looking out on the waves.

“Uhm. Hi…. Pop? It’s me.” 

Pell nearly drops the snail the moment he hears your voice.

[tricktster]

so i’ve been baking bread pretty regularly since sayyyy april 2020. you know, when we were waiting for this whole kooky covid thing to die down in a few weeks, but in the meantime some people had taken the very rational step of buying out every store’s supply of EXTREMELY PERISHABLE goods, including the extremely sad 100 calorie sandwich rounds favored by my parents.

now me? I’d read enough zombie very serious survival books to have ventured to the co-op on March 10 to stock up on dry bulk ingredients, and I’d included yeast and bread flour among the necessities - not because I thought that they’d ever get used, really, it just seemed practical if things got a lot worse than anticipated. And then? Well. You know.

So I joined the club of the tens of thousands of americans who had always viewed leavened dough with a healthy skepticism and the deep sense that these things were best left to the professionals. With the circumstances now unimaginably altered, we were now very cautiously dumping yeast into bowls of warm water, all the while doubting that this would actually work. So, obviously, that sense of accomplishment I felt when, after all the proofing and kneading and rising and punching down and rising again and venting and egg washing and etc etc etc, I actually pulled two relatively respectable loaves of bread out of the oven? Fucking intoxicating.

I’ve gotten medium good at bread over the intervening years, insofar as I can produce a sandwich loaf without needing to find a recipe, I’m pretty comfortable with adding cheese or garlic or raisins and nuts or whatever if I’m feeling like an Interesting Bread, i’ve forced a few loaves of sourdough into existence (though both I and the dough were kicking and screaming the whole way), and I recieved the ultimate tool of convenience for my birthday last year, when my parents gave me the dutch oven that finally permitted me to finally skip kneading altogether (if I so desired).

Except like.,. I didn’t ask for a dutch oven. I actually asked for something much cheaper and by all accounts more convenient: A bread machine. When I did, though, my mom (who has baked precisely 0 loaves of bread in her life) said “oh, you don’t want a bread machine.”

“I don’t?” I asked, already halfway swayed by her confidence on the matter.

“oh, no, nobody ever actually uses bread machines, they just take up space on the counter.” my mom, a woman who owns two instapots, assured me.

I considered her reasoning, and very firmly replied with a defiant “oh, okay, yeah. that makes sense, and I guess I’ve gotten this far without one, so like, it’s silly to get one now.”

I know. I have a will of steel.

So like, another year has passed since that exchange, and a week or two ago i finally decided that since counter space is no longer at a premium at my new place, i could at least try out a cheap bread machine? I went on ebay, got an open box deal on a decent entry level model, and took it for a spin yesterday.

And, for what it’s worth, uhhhhhhh HOLY FUCKING SHIT IT COULD HAVE BEEN THIS LOW EFFORT THE WHOLE TIME?????

LIKE I COULD HAVE BEEN JUST DUMPING INGREDIENTS IN A PAN AND WALKING AWAY THIS WHOLE TIME?????!?!?!?

it’s making brioche for me right now. It’s almost too easy. I’m actively furious.

This feels exactly like the day I finally bought a game genie so i could get Mew to finish out my red dex. I’ve been grinding and learning helpful strats from youtube and there was a fucking cheat code that would have let me skip the bread making side quest while still gaining xp this whole goddamn time.

[comidyye]

HAIII HI IM ASH !!! im a TEENAGE brain surgeon FANARTIST whoo Also likes to make SH🥩Tposts and Edits here an theRRe !!!

they / He ★ minor ★ neurodivergent ★ excluusivly english Srry!!!

I USUALLY ONLLY REALY POST stuff about my CURENT HYPERFIXATION !!! My twitter IS pretty Dead rn And On tiktok (SAme @) I uslly post edits / memes!! CONTENT ⚠️ : ART MAY INCLUDE (TAGGED) GORE /BODY HORROR /BLOOD /EYESTRAIN .. anything suggestive is highly UNlikely However

ART: #doodle ★ RANDOM: #rambljngs

HERESSZ SOME OF my Strong Recent / curent fixations! ALSO : WHen i Fixate on a series i Usually have one character Im Obseszed w/.. I wil List them 2 !

★ resident evil ( rebecca, leon, hunk, stars wesker) ★ slashers/slasher adjacent (martin (77), billy lenz, leslie vernon, henry barrow)

★ spooky month ( bob / dexter) ★ yu-gi-oh [ s0 & dm ] ( ryou / s0 yami yugi) {reoccurring} ★ fnaf ( glitchtrap, vanny, funtimes, springbonnie) {reoccurring} ★ wii deleted you ( henry morris) {short} ★ kirby ( marx) {reoccurring} ★ animatronics - All kinds!! halloween/scary, old kids bands, theme parks ( rockafire explosion, circus playhouse band) ★ smile for me ( dr habit) ★ childs play franchise [ 1-2, 7] ★ super paper mario ( dimentio) {reoccurring} ★ welcome home - eeh... ( wally / eddie) ★ madness combat ( tricky)

"SO WHATS WITH THE CLOWNS">!>???????/

CLOWNS ARE PROALY MY BIGEST SPECIAL INTEREST! I KEEP A RUNNING LIST OF ALL THE FICTIONAL CLOWNS I KNOW. i have a google doc with MOST of them However the list is originally made/updated in Discord so the doc is likely an inaccurate count of the clowns. LAST CLOWN COUNT TOTAL: 178 CLOWN DOC If you know a clown not on the list send me their name thru The ask box Please! Fictional clowns from established series only - no ocs or anything !

OTHER INTERESTS NOT PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED CAUS holy moly thhrz a LOT

IN GENERAL : obscure, surreal, crreepy stuf !!! ... I <3 HORROR. ONE OF MY favorite things ever is cannibalism !!! Its super neat how versatile it is in media fiction-wise, and i like learning history and stuff around it too. i only think its a really cool thing in fiction though, dont.. im not weird <3

GAMEZ : DAY SHIFT AT FREDDYS(!), rhythm heaven, Klonoa, NiGHTS, um jammer lammy, splatoon, Omori, Balan wonderworld, undertale, deltarune, needy streamer overload, dropsy, FAITH: the unholy trinity, league of legends(ONLY FOR FIDDLESTICKS AS A CHARACTTR-I DONT PLAY), killer frequency, happy hills homicide, 1996 resident evil

SHOWS/SERIES : dont hug me im scared, the walten files, BUGBO, Ena, My little pony, kaiba(2008), tokyo mew mew, devilman ovas, milky way & the galaxy girls, the amazing digital circus, bee & puppycat, over the garden wall, infinity train, garfield & friends, gloomy bear, tokyo mew mew, wordgirl! MOVIES/MUSICALS: ride the cyclone, mean girls(musical), rocky horror picture show, trick r treat, re-animator, killer klowns from outer space, inu-oh, benny loves you, day of the dead(for bub), house of 1000 corpses, behind the mask: the rise of Leslie vernon, black christmas (1974), martin (1977), texas chainsaw franchise + chucky franchise CONTENT CREATORS: MARRKIPLIIER, JERMA! failboat, Dougdoug, dead meat, wicked masters, dawko, ANDY LAND, Itemlabel, CHRBRG, j-gems, lumpy touch, matt rose, planet clue, RTGAME, ooftroop, astralspiff, vernias MUSIC ARTISTS: WILL WOOD & LEMON DEMON . ... Chonny Jash, tally hall, CREATURE FEATURE, ROB ZOMBIE, KMFDM, icp, that handsome devil, oingo boingo, nero's day at disneyland, rusty cage, maretu, the stupendium, MSI(....Eeh..), duran duran, mcr, american murder song, s3rl, stolen babies(!). i am a hereditary connoisseur of 80s new wave/alt

DNI UHHH JUST DONT BE A BIGOT?!?! + FUCK PROSHIPPERS .. Dont piss on people 4 Their Interests n OH Sfw interactions Only Please SO nsfw dni Thannkz.. Just puting that out there Just in case.

BOUNDARIES:? Just Use common SEnse i would Think !! i dont think im crazy chronically online - school comes First Unfortunately . But if yurr that inntreseted in becoming Friends juuss lemme know howevrr You want .. Even with my own friedns I don't talk a lot however so dont expect full convos from me All the Time

ASK BOX..? anything related to me Just dump in there !! questions r whatevaa ... art requests about my fandoms r on the table, but dont expect me to do them!! low chance but still, shoot your shot COMMISIONS? if yur interested Ask and im sure we can work something out somehow : o)))! i do have a cashapp, but i dont have set pricing and i wont accept all requests SHIPS/OCS N SHIT? i generally dont really have any ocs n dont Really selfship unless like Platonic - I'm not a big shipper but may have a rarepair here and there - Real chill shit REPOSTS/USING ART? tell me if Yoou want to repost something somewherer - even if i do give the thumbs up Credit is required!!!! Feel free 2 use my stuff as a pfp just don't claim it as Your own -- Give Credit if someone Asks . Bare minimum Stuff

FUN BLINKIES/ STAMPS/GRAPHICS N SHIT

WOWOAOAOWA YOU MADE IT THIS FAR WHO EVEN ARR YOU >!>???!?>??

WELL thank You 4 Coming By < 3333333 SEE U AROUND!!!!!!!1

[misscorn]

Day 4 AU/Free Prompt

It’s time for: t-t-t-time travel bullshit @takaritsuweek hehehe

**

This had to be a nightmare. Or maybe Takano Masamune had been kidnapped in his sleep (unlikely)  - or somehow sleepwalked all the way here (even less likely). He was even willing to believe that this was some sick and twisted punishment from a deity that he had accidentally angered during his time on Earth. What other possible explanations could there be? The only real logical option was the first: nightmare. However, no matter how hard Masamune tried, he could not wake himself up. 

No, instead of opening his eyes to his beloved, official boyfriend, Onodera Ritsu, he woke up alone and in a familiar, yet nauseating room to a very loud and repeated buzzing. It sounded like his old alarm clock, the one he used in high school. He had smacked it to make it stop and it then took several moments for it to sink in that it was his old alarm clock from high school. He sat up quickly once the realization struck him and he basically fell out of bed in his panicked attempt to stand. Once he managed to actually find his balance he stood frozen with his hands out in front of him, as if this were some kind of illusionary mirror maze that he would smack face first into the second he took a step forward. 

“Ritsu?” He called out, still unmoving. The silence that responded was unnerving. “Ritsu?” He repeated, more urgent this time, finally willing his body into action as the fear of being alone outweighed his caution of his surroundings. He navigated the piles of books on his bedroom floor (freaky how they seemed to be in the exact spots he remembered, was this some kind of elaborate prank?) and rushed out into the hallway, calling out his lover’s name as he haphazardly threw open doors to search for him on the upper floor. 

“Shit…what the fuck…” Masamune said under his breath, anxiously running a hand through his hair as he came to the conclusion that the house was currently occupied by no one else but him. 

“Mew?” 

Well, apparently not no one else.

Sorata stretched and curiously approached Masamune, apparently having just woken up himself. He meowed again, louder this time as he reached up to paw at Masamune’s leg. Sorata was used to being fed his breakfast by now, but Masamune had been running around the house in a tizzy. 

“Sorata?” Masamune said in confusion. “How are you here…why are you so small?” He said, shaking his head.

Sorata merely let out a little ‘mrrp’ and walked past his legs to rub against them. 

“No…no, there’s no fucking way. I’m crazy. I’ve gone crazy.” Masamune said as he started to rush toward the bathroom, getting in front of the mirror and staring in both disbelief and horror. 

Masamune hadn’t just magically appeared in his old house and that was it. That would be too easy.

He raised a hand slowly in front of the mirror, watching as the reflection of his teenage self did the same. Holy shit. What the fuck is going on?! Where the fuck is Ritsu?! Masamune only became more panicked, rushing back to his room in a vain search for his cell phone - which of course he did not have yet as that model didn’t even exist in this current time. 

Despite this, he still ripped his room apart, going through drawers and dumping them empty, not bothering to put anything back as he moved on to the next. He yanked his comforter and sheets off his bed, shaking them in the hopes that by some miracle he had fallen asleep with his phone in hand or on his person and had taken it with him through this cruel time jump. He looked under the bed, under his nightstand, even under his piles of books even though that made as little sense as a smart phone time jumping. 

“Fuck!” Masamune cursed. Wait, house phone!

Masamune hurried down the stairs to get to the house phone - which was practically ancient by his own standards of ‘current’ technology - and got halfway through dialing Ritsu’s number before he realized what an idiot he was. Ritsu’s number in high school wasn’t the same as his adult cell phone number, obviously…and Masamune didn’t know Ritsu’s home phone number. 

“This can’t be happening…” Masamune said miserably. He and Ritsu had finally gotten somewhere good, somewhere comfortable and happy. And now this bullshit decides to come out of left field and wreck it all?! 

Of course, there were times that Masamune wished he and Ritsu had never broken up in the first place and could have gotten the whole high school sweetheart experience, but not at the price of losing his current relationship with Ritsu!

I guess this means we’re starting over…again, Masamune thought with a big sigh, I’ll have to do things right this time…unless he already left for England! Another wave of dread flooded over Masamune and he rushed to check the calendar hung up by their door. His parents used it in order to keep track of their busy schedules (and Masamune suspected also to align their schedules in a way that meant they could avoid each other) and he prayed that the month was accurate because if it was then that meant Ritsu was still in the country. 

Shit, I don’t know what day it is today…when I went to sleep yesterday it was Sunday, so is it Monday here? Masamune rubbed a hand over his face, feeling overwhelmed and underprepared to handle this timeline shattering event. 

Masamune then felt a paw at his leg again.

“Meow!” Sorata exclaimed in displeasure. 

“Right.” Masamune sighed. “Crazy time traveling or not, I guess you still need to be fed.” He said. “Come on, we can talk theories on what the hell is happening while I get your food.” He scooped Sorata up into his arms, carrying him off to prepare breakfast for them both. 

-

Masamune found himself unable to eat much and his frantic efforts to figure out what the hell was happening had set him behind on what was once his high school morning routine. Again, he wasn’t even sure if it was Monday, but he hoped that his alarm waking him up at least meant it was a school day and that he would be able to see Ritsu. He ended up getting started on his route to school a little later than he typically would have and he didn’t see Ritsu stalking him in the background at any point, much to his disappointment. 

What do I even say when I see him? Should I tell him what’s going on or will that absolutely break him? I don’t want to cause my boyfriend’s mind to unravel. Or more likely he could think I’m insane and break up with me, Masamune could feel his blood pressure going up from the stress, I guess I’m just going to have to act like everything is normal. Besides, maybe at the end of the day this really is a dream, he thought, attempting to cope with the reality in front of him. 

Masamune was a bit relieved to see other students flooding into the school building, meaning that it was in fact a school day and Masamune had a chance at seeing Ritsu. 

Damn, did he ever tell me what class he was in…I really don’t want to wait till the end of the day to see him, but I might have to, Masamune thought, though as he approached the entrance he caught sight of a familiar head of brown hair in the corner of his eye. He looked toward Ritsu, the younger teen jumping at the sudden eye contact - apparently, he hadn’t been expecting to get caught in his staring. Ritsu stood there, face slowly turning red and mouth gaping open like a fish as he briefly froze under Masamune’s gaze.

Masamune’s breath caught in his throat and his palms started to sweat, his heart picking up pace and thumping in his ears. He looks just how I remember…I’m so glad he’s still here, Masamune thought, a smile unconsciously tugging at his lips. The relief at seeing his lover was enough to nearly make Masamune collapse and cry, but he held it together enough to take two steps in Ritsu’s direction before Ritsu suddenly turned tail and rushed off. 

Masamune opened his mouth to call out after him instinctively, wanting to chase him down and glue him to his side so that nothing (not even time travel) would separate them ever again, but then he remembered that he needed to be acting ‘normal’. Unfortunately, in this time period, it was not normal for Masamune to chase Ritsu down. 

Hopefully if I can get things right this time, I’ll never have to try to chase him down again, Masamune thought, unhappily shuffling his way toward his classroom. But, if he had to, then ‘Saga’ would slowly have to transition into the kind of boyfriend who did do that. Because regardless of if he was a teenager or adult, Saga or Takano, dreaming or time traveling, Masamune was not letting Ritsu go. 

-

Classes had never been so brutal. Masamune had much more important things to be worrying about than his calculus class. Not to mention he couldn’t remember the last time he had done calculus. Those several hours of waiting to escape so he could go to the library and see Ritsu were agonizing. He’d never wanted to yell at someone to shut up more in his life (and he yelled at people to shut up all the time) than when he had to sit through his physics class working in pairs. 

Masamune rushed out of the classroom once they were dismissed, pretending as though he didn’t hear when some other student called his name to try to talk to him - he didn’t care, he wasn’t interested, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to pretend to be for the next ten to fifteen minutes. He went to the library as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself, only to deflate in his excitement when seeing that the table he and Ritsu always sat at was empty. 

Maybe he’s just not here yet, Masamune tried to reason, heading over to sit down. He didn’t even bother getting a book to fake read, instead staring at the door anxiously, barely blinking. He’s definitely going to come, right? It’s a little hard to remember where exactly we’re supposed to be in our relationship right now, but there’s no way he won’t show up. Masamune tapped his foot and chewed his thumb nail as he started to desperately wish he had a cigarette. 

It felt like hours had passed, but Masamune’s frequent glancing toward the nearest clock told him it had only been a few minutes when the doors finally opened once more. Masamune moved before he could think, standing from his chair the second he spotted Ritsu and making strides toward him. 

Fuck acting ‘normal’, Masamune decided as Ritsu met him halfway. 

Ritsu appeared confused and nervous, looking at Masamune with a slightly furrowed brow. “...Senpai?” He said cautiously, carefully studying Masamune’s expression. 

Masamune took in a sharp breath at that and grabbed Ritsu’s hand, leading him off wordlessly, ducking into an aisle of bookshelves that had no other students browsing.

“What-?” Ritsu started as Masamune gave a cursory glance to double check that no one could currently see them before he cupped Ritsu’s cheeks and swooped in with a kiss, desperate to ground himself with Ritsu’s touch. 

Ritsu, however, pulled away before Masamune could even fully enjoy it, making Masamune all the more desperate to have his lover close. Though, the familiar shade of red on Ritsu’s cheeks was certainly a welcomed sight as it made Masamune feel warm - even as Ritsu started to scold him. 

“H-Hey, we’re in school right now, and there are still other students in the library!” Ritsu whispered. 

“Don’t care.” Masamune said, wrapping his arms around Ritsu to pull him into a tight hug. 

“I do!” Ritsu wiggled a bit against his hold, but really didn’t try that hard to escape. 

“Well, don’t.” Masamune said, as though it were that simple. “You should just care about me.” 

“W-What is that supposed to mean?” Ritsu asked, wondering if he detected a bit of possessiveness. “You’re acting a little…strange today. Is everything okay, S-Senpai?” He continued, stumbling over the honorific just slightly.

“Everything’s just fine.” At least, it is now that you’re here, Masamune thought as he finally released Ritsu and opted for ruffling his hair instead. “I don’t feel like staying at the library today. You should come back to my place.” 

“Eh? R-Right away? But I just got here-”

“I know, but I want you to myself. Where other students can’t see.” Masamune said. 

Ritsu turned red and looked away. “You’re being more forward than usual…”

“Do you not like it?” Masamune asked. 

“It’s not that, I-I…wasn’t expecting it.” Ritsu said. 

“I just missed you is all.” Masamune said. That made Ritsu look toward him again, eyes wide and jaw dropped, as if he couldn’t comprehend the idea of ‘Saga-senpai’ missing him, let alone saying it out loud. “Come on, let’s go.” Masamune insisted, walking off. He quickly grabbed his bag that he had left at the table before leaving the library with Ritsu right beside him.

“Will you spend the night tonight?” Masamune asked, pleased that Ritsu was actually next to him instead of behind him. 

“Ye-wait, no-”

“No?” Masamune looked at him with a frown.

“Not no, no, I’d have to ask my parents first…” Ritsu explained.

“You can call them using my house phone. You should give me your number while you’re at it.” Masamune said. 

“Y-You can’t call my house!” Ritsu exclaimed. “I mean - my mother, if she answered the phone and you said you were calling for me, she’d have a million questions and I wouldn’t know how to explain right now-”

“How about I give you my house number then? And you call me whenever you can.” Masamune said. 

“Oh…o-okay.” Ritsu said with a nod, clearly surprised by the offer, but he didn’t have the same starstruck look on his face that Masamune remembered. Maybe his idolization was beginning to ease up a bit? Masamune certainly hoped so. He wanted him and Ritsu to get back to a comfortable stage in their relationship as quickly as possible. That couldn’t happen if Ritsu was still in awe of the fact that ‘Senpai’ was even looking at him. 

“And I mean whenever, okay?” Masamune reiterated. “You won’t bother me.” He promised. “I want to talk to you as much as possible.”

Ritsu stopped on the sidewalk, turning to face Masamune directly with a slightly furrowed brow. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright, Senpai?”

Masamune gave a soft smile, taking Ritsu’s hand in his once more despite the inevitable protests of embarrassment he would receive. “Never better.”

-

As more and more time passed Masamune began to let go of the notion that this may be a dream that he would be waking up from at any moment. His alarm continued to wake him up for school, Sorata continued to be a kitten, and Ritsu - his Ritsu - continued to be fifteen. Though, the course of their relationship had certainly been altered to a certain degree already. Masamune was getting to experience things he hadn’t been able to in their high school years: secret late night phone calls with his boyfriend, dates other than the library and fast food, and he got to see the personality behind Ritsu’s shy shell quickly start to come through. 

Though, Ritsu still seemed to be having difficulty believing that his previously aloof and unreadable boyfriend was now quite clingy and affectionate. He frequently asked Masamune if something was wrong, if he wasn’t feeling well, or if there was something that he wasn’t telling him. Masamune, however, brushed off his concerns, hoping that eventually Ritsu would accept his behavior as the new norm because Masamune was physically incapable of pretending that he cared less about Ritsu than he did. He had no idea how he did it the first time around, but he couldn’t do it again. 

Now, Ritsu was over at his place and the two of them were actually watching a movie in his room - as opposed to putting on a movie for pretense before having sex. Masamune was surprised when Ritsu was the one to pause it this time around. 

“Something wrong?” Masamune said.

“I have to ask you something.” Ritsu said, taking a deep breath. “I’ve been wondering for a while now if I should ask it at all, but…” He bit his lower lip anxiously. 

“Hey, it’s okay. Whatever it is, you don’t need to be nervous.” Masamune assured. 

“Do you love me?” Ritsu blurted out, sitting up straight and looking Masamune head on, his eyes full of fierce determination. 

Masamune’s stomach dropped and his breathing briefly stopped altogether.

What? Why? Why was Ritsu asking this? Had Masamune really made the same mistake twice and not been clear about his feelings again? But this was different now! The circumstances in which Ritsu was asking were different! And Ritsu didn’t look nearly as bashful as he did the first time he asked it. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? It had to be, Masamune wouldn’t survive being separated again. Oh God, I need to answer him, I haven’t answered him, I have to say yes, I can’t lose him, I can’t let him run away, I can’t fuck this up again, I’ll never forgive myself, say something you fucking idiot before he misunderstands-

“Senpai? I just meant - do you feel anything for-”

“YES!” Masamune exclaimed way too loudly considering how close they were sitting next to one another. “I love you, Ritsu, I love you more than anything in the whole world and if I have ever done anything to make you doubt that I am so sorry-”

“Takano-san.”

“-I will spend the rest of my life showing you just how deeply and madly in love with you I am if that what it takes for you to believe me, please Ritsu, just don’t leave me-”

“Takano-san!”

“-the answer to your question is and always will be yes, I have very intense, staggering, devastating feelings for you, you are my first and only love, you’re the person who taught me what love really is, I don’t know what I would do without you and I-wait.” Masamune took a couple deep breaths after he stopped his distressed rambling. “What did you just call me?”

“I knew it. I knew it!” Ritsu exclaimed, standing to his feet. “Oh my God, it really is you!” He said, tearing up a bit with joy. 

Masamune quickly stood as well. “...Ritsu? My Ritsu?”

“Yes! You idiot!” Ritsu beamed even as he insulted Masamune, throwing his arms around him.

“Wha-but-how?” Masamune asked, hugging him back tightly. 

“I don’t know. I just woke up and I was a teenager in my parents’ house again.” Ritsu said, his voice slightly muffled against Masamune’s shoulder. “But I’m so glad you’re here too. I was pretty scared…” He admitted. 

“How did you know it was me?” Masamune asked, still not quite over his shock. 

“Are you serious?” Ritsu asked, pulling back just slightly to look up at him. “You actually smiled at me when we saw each other in the morning, told me to ‘just care about you’ in the library, and then practically begged for nightly phone calls. If you were trying to be subtle, you did a terrible job.” 

Masamune scoffed. “I did not beg…”

“And the way you answered my question just now confirmed it.” Ritsu said with a small smile. “Sorry to make you relive that, but I knew it was you the second you looked like you were going to be sick.” He added with a quiet laugh. 

Masamune gave him a squeeze, letting out a big sigh of relief. “God, who knew my Ritsu could be so cruel?” He mumbled.

“I had to be absolutely certain before I said anything.” Ritsu insisted. “I didn’t want you to think I was crazy...”

“Well, we’re together now, at least. So, what happens next?”

Ritsu shook his head. “I don’t know.” He said. “It seems like we’re stuck here as far as I can tell.”

“I guess as long as I’m stuck here with you it’s not so bad.” Masamune said. “Damn, now I’m pissed I couldn’t tell it was you. But why’d you run away the first morning we saw each other? Why didn’t you try to talk to me?”

“Well, I didn’t know for sure if it was you yet! I couldn’t just approach ‘Saga-senpai’ first thing in the morning.” Ritsu said. 

“Is that all it was?” Masamune asked with a smirk. “Cause I remember you turning pretty red.”

Ritsu huffed. “What? You didn’t get a little…overwhelmed when you saw me like this?” 

“Of course I did. I get overwhelmed every time I see you.” Masamune’s smirk became a grin as he sat down on the bed and brought Ritsu into his lap. 

“W-Wait a second, the movie-”

“Forget it.”

As it turns out, even across timelines, some things never change.

[soveryanon]

*heavy breathing* Nekkoara vs. Purin.......

[dyketubbo]

okay so. some thoughts on recent lore. disorganized bc my thoughts are disorganized but i want to think about this as rawly as i can rn (all /rp of course) this is very niki and wilbur (mostly niki) centric because i'm sorting my thoughts about techno still and i'm taking tubbo's stream in bits and pieces (i'll catch up on others later)

niki is exaggerating about how terrible wilbur is because she's spiraling and hurting. fans should not take her word as gospel, yes, but she does have points in some things and the fact that wilbur and others have impacted her this badly should be noticed by the fandom as a sign that niki needs *help*.

its okay to want to defend that wilbur was not always a terrible person especially because of how horribly his mental health is treated by the fandom, but please remember to still emphasize that niki is saying this because she herself is mentally ill and traumatized. niki is processing wilbur as a terrible person because not only does she not have his full story, but also because she's undeniably been hurt by him and his revival came at a time where she was recently recovering from misdirected aggression towards others (tommy) and herself.

it's hard to take it all in and it's scary to think about whether or not the characters recent thoughts on wilbur signifies a villanization of him by the writers and narrative, signifies a villanization of mental illness. but these are the same writers who wrote a realistic depiction of abuse, cc!tommy is actively involved in the story and we all know how well he's handled his character's shaky mental health. cc!ranboo is actively directing his story in a direction that disproves the idea that his dissociating and memory loss mean that he's a bad person. cc!wilbur has confirmed bits and pieces of outside things that signify that his character is not a bad person, but is unstable and has hurt others for misguided reasons.

it's understandable to want it all to go quickly already, to want an obvious sign of redemption and a happy ending, but a lot of bad things are happening because unfortunately, recovery is rocky as fuck and sometimes what happens is that triggering things and people are reintroduced into your life and you can't process it correctly. it's hard to see people who have hurt you as good people or people with virtues when you're still going through the effects of the trauma they have inflicted on you. niki was healing and then had to deal with a secondhand announcement about wilbur *not even directed towards or for her* being back when she only recently got done with not blaming tommy for it, now all she has to blame is wilbur and it's understandable that she's blaming it all on him. niki needs someone to help her and talk to her, and she's not going to recover or heal by hurting wilbur, she's not.

yes these characters need therapy, but there's only one therapist and she's going through her own emotional turmoils internally. it's implied that she is genuinely helping tommy and that's good, but it does mean that a lot of these characters are going to be processing on their own, and that's a raw and rocky experience. put some trust in the writers, there's a lot of things not communicated between them, but there's a lot that *is* communicated that we can't see. not to mention that they can see what we're saying, they know there's people who are rooting for their characters to heal. these people are very well versed in tricking us and leading us on red herrings, dream smp is a work in progress that's still developing. they know what direction they want to take this whole story. this is the same story that had a suicidal character save himself and assign his own self worth, who took steps towards therapy and healing and is still in the process of healing and understanding what happened and what is happening to and around him. they can write a redemption arc for wilbur, it'll just take a while.

of course there's going to be a lot of tragedy (l'manburg will never come back, there's a strong possibility that once they sort out what to do about dream ghostbur will move onto a proper afterlife in peace, there will be loose ends never tied up and secrets kept that won't be talked about in canon) because that's how life is. but i don't think it's going to end like a tragedy. these characters have a lot to deal with, and it's unfortunate that wilbur is at or near the center of many characters' troubles, but i trust that they won't suffer forever. niki's stream was scripted, the writers know what she's saying and niki chose the music she did on purpose, many of the people prominent in this main storyline are close friends with niki and it's very clear that they don't want her to fall behind. she's going to heal, we just have to keep in mind that she just got a huge setback in recovery and that it's okay if she takes a while to reconcile all of her thoughts.

niki buried the diamonds instead of getting rid of them forever. she's not burning her bridges completely, she's just trying to figure out if she wants to keep crossing them. eret's still clearly a good person with people who have forgiven him and care about xem, they make mistakes and have people who don't and may never forgive her. but we all know that even if the hurt she spread was big and still impactful, that the narrative treats them well. there's hope for wilbur, i promise. the story knows he wasn't always a big manipulative asshole, it's just going to take some time for the characters who've been traumatized by his actions to know that too

[vxiermoved]

Oh god in the hotel scene when Type said something like "Don't be so easily deceived by manipulation" did he mean bloody mean Lhong? And not Tar??

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure 02 (Blind Watch) - Episode 2

Whew, took me awhile to get to this episode because life got really busy. Excited to have time for anime again. This episode was fun. We’re still in the “introducing stuff” phase and I almost feel like they’re moving too quickly. We got so many new digivolution reveals this episode and I feel like that’s takes the fun out of things. On the other hand, maybe that’s a good thing because it means they won’t be relying on digivolution reveals to make each episode interesting? I guess we’ll have to see...

Digimon introduced: Poromon, Hawkmon, Holsmon, Upamon, Armadillomon, Digmon, DemiVeemon

Notes:

-This seems like a common thing in older shows (the original Tokyo Mew Mew comes to mind) but the narrator dude in the beginning sounds SO bored! Why did they hire some monotone middle aged guy to read the script? I think the dub idea of having one of the kid’s narrate not only makes way more sense but gives more personality to the episode intros. 

-"Kaiser” was a weird choice for the name of this season’s villain. I had to Google where it came from and apparently it’s from the time of the Holy Roman Empire. It just makes me think of sandwiches tho lol

-I get the vibe from the OP that the Digimon Kaiser will have a redemption arc, but rn he just seems like a cringey chuunibyou kid 

-I got culture-shocked (time-shocked?) when the teacher was like “of course I can’t use a computer!” How far we’ve come...(I was 8 when this episode came out btw). 

-The transition to the new “chosen children” seems so weird to me. They’re singled out with their new digivices and only their outfits change when they come to the digital world. It’s like the digital world was like “meh, we don’t need you older kids anymore.” I do like how they’re setting up the OGs as mentors though, that’s cute.

-The fashion sense and hairstyles are baaaaad. What the heck did they do to Mimi!? They massacred my gurl 

-Why couldn’t the new kids have gotten unique crests instead of the same ones as the previous chosen kids? I don’t like how they’re setting them up as archetypes already instead of letting them be their own thing for a bit. 

-Miyako saying “we’re prepared for danger!” and then flailing and screaming 2 seconds later was kind of annoying, but also she’s like 12 so that’s pretty par for the course. 

-Sora reassuring Miyako by saying “I know you’re scared now, but you’ll cherish these memories someday” kinda felt like Miyako was being suckered into a cult lol. Being “chosen” sure is a lot of pressure for an elementary schooler. 

-I noted that Iori, AKA Koushiro 2.0, got the digimon with the funny accent, just like Tentomon. Interesting...

-I like the cheesy early 2000s sequence that plays where the kids get sucked into the digital world. Kinda dated, but in a good way. 

-The designs of the new digimon are okay in baby and rookie forms, but I think the armor digivolutions are butt ugly. Unsurprisingly, I don’t see a lot of fanart or nostalgia out there for them. 

-I wonder why some characters have completely black eyes and others have more traditionally “anime” eyes. It gets a little distracting at points when you see both side-by-side. 

-The new battle music is wimpy as heck. I never really loved the season 1 battle music either, but this music is weirdly quiet and not intense enough. I felt like the sound effects were really drowning it out. 

[raineydays411]

Steve Harrington sucks.

Steve Harrington x Henderson!reader

A/N: Yay! My first request done!🎉✨ Please don’t hesitate to request anything, and I hope you enjoy. Sorry it tooks so long, I just started school.

Summary: (Y/n) Henderson has been through some shit in her 17 years. Her father leaving, an overprotective mother, bullies, interdimensional monsters, government conspiracies, etc. Needless to say her life was constantly changing.  There was one thing that will always remain the same though. And that was the hatred she has for the one and only Steve Harrington. 

Request from anon.

Masterlist

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

 You and Steve have never seen eye to eye. You haven’t for a very long time. You two used to be best friends, but that was a long time ago. Before high school and cliques mattered, and before Steve was known as “King Steve.” But once you two entered freshman year, Steves popularity rose and you were left behind. 

Even though you and Steve no longer associated with each other, that didn’t stop you two from fighting any chance you got.

You two argued about everything. If you said the sky is blue, Steve would argue that its actually purple. No kidding, he actually made the argument that the sky was purple. Needless to say, you two hated each other.

“Steve, I swear if you don’t move your feet I’ll--”

“You’ll what Y/n, please tell me what you’ll do?

“ I’ll take your feet and shove it up you---”

“Can you guys not...”

It was always like this. Ever since Steve started dating Nancy it was like he was always there. And because Nancy was your best friend, you got reacquainted with the King of Hawkins High.

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

After everything Will with through with the Upside down and El, you were relieved that it was over. You could go back to your normal life of being a big sister and being top of the class. But then your brother started acting weird. 

It started on Halloween, he came home and was holding his ghost trap thing from Ghostbusters weirdly. You thought it was a rat or something at first but something seemed off.

Then Mews went missing. Mews was given to you on your thirteenth birthday, so loosing her was devastating to you. You still had faith that she just ran out and was lost somewhere in the woods. You spent hours looking for her but no dice so far. You were in your room when your mom called you from the kitchen.

“Yeah?!” you shouted, finishing up some missing flyers for Mews. 

“Can you go find Dusty for me? It’s getting dark outside.” After the incident with Will and Barb, the parents became a lot more wary when it came to being out after dark.

Rolling your eyes, you get up from your small desk and walk out to the kitchen where your mom is. As you get closer, you smell the weird concoction your mother is making on the stove. Your mom wasn’t the best cook.

“Did he mention where he was going?” you ask, scrunching up your face at the sight of the...stew??  

“He mentioned something about Lucas and a code red?? Whatever that means.”

“Code red?” you ask, you weren’t too nervous because code red could mean anything. and Dustin tends to be over dramatic. But still, a small voice in the back of your head is warning you. 

“I’m not too sure dear. Would you like to have a taste before you leave?” aaand that was your cue to leave. You start rushing to the door

“Sorry mom! I better go find Dustin before it gets to late.” 

You start to make your way down the road when a flash of red catches your eye, you walk towards it . You realize its just some pieces of meat. Then you see what looks like a trail. Leading from your basement to the woods. A bad feeling settles in your stomach, and before you go in the woods, you get a hockey stick that you wrapped with barb wire a few months ago just incase. 

Then you follow the trail of meat into the woods.

You follow the trail till it leads you to the junkyard. By the time you got there it was already dark and surprisingly foggy.

“Dustin?!!” You shout, seeing the pile of meat stopping. You step over it as you walk around shouting for your brother.

“Hello!!? Dustin this isn’t funny, moms worried about you.” 

And that's when you heard it. A low growling sound. Right behind you. 

“Y/N!! WATCH OUT”  

You spin around to see what looked like a demogorgon, but on all fours like a dog. And it was slowly walking towards you. Growling as it stepped closer and closer. Your heart was beating out of your chest as you tighten your grip on the hockey stick. Adrenaline rushing through your body. Your senses heightened as you focused on the creature in front of you. You lowered your body into a crouch to prepare for an attack. You slowly backed away slowly as it stalked toward you. You heard what sounded like Lucas or Dustin tell you to run but you knew if you turned around, that thing would pounce on you and you’d be dead. And if you died, what would happen to your brother? To Lucas?  

Then the demodog lunged at you. The muscles in its leg tightened as it jumped toward you. You held your breath as you swung the stick with all your might, hitting the monster in mid air. It yelped as its body was flung sideways. It layed there for a moment them leaped up on all fours again, You backed away but never took your eyes off it. 

“Holy shit what is she doing” a girl?? 

“YEAH THATS MY SISTER!” Dustin

“Y/N THREE O’CLOCK! THREE O’CLOCK!” shit.

You can see another figure moving in your peripheral vison. Another one. You position your body so your able to see both dogs at the same time, but then you hear chirping and growling from all ends. You were being surrounded. 

“STEVE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” 

Then, Steve Harrington runs out of a broke down bus, bat in hand as he settles up behind you. 

“What the hell are you doing here Harrington?”

“Saving your ass Henderson, what does it look like?”

“I had this under control”

“Oh yeah, being surrounded definitely screams under control.” 

You aren’t given a chance to respond as another demodog leaps at you and Steve, forcing you to swing out and hit it again straight in the head. Another dog leaps at Steve, and he manages to hit it with the bat. 

“We’re going to die if we stay here” you say assessing the situation. 

“ No shit sherlock.” 

“Shut up and listen” You shout. “you run back to the bus. You need to protect the kids. I’m going to distract these fuckers. When I say the word, you open the bus door and let me in. These things hunt in packs, so they won’t chase both of us if I run first.”

“Henderson thats--” You don’t hear the rest as you dash from the spot. As predicted the dogs chase you and don’t pay no mind to Steve. You can see Steve reluctantly run back to the bus as you take a lap around the junkyard. You have to hit some more dogs but you manage to get back where you were. 

Then you were tackled. Dropping your stick you scream in pain as the demodog digs it claws in your shoulder. You struggled to get your stick as the other dogs get closer and the one on top of you is lowering its flower mouth to your throat. 

“Y/N” you hear your brother scream desperately. You find the strength to kick the dog off of you and launch yourself off the ground. You scoop up the hockey stick and swat the other dog that was in your way as you sprint towards the bus. 

“NOW STEVE LET ME IN” You screech as you near the bus. The doors slide open as hands wrap around your arms and pull you in. 

You lay there for a few seconds breathless. Muscles burning and ears ringing. You ignore the kids talking over each other and Dutsin fretting over you. You just breath, feeling a bit safer than you did outside. Then something rams into the side of the bus. The kids start screaming and Steve shouts something. You gather your strength once more and stand up, your body screaming at you. You see those demon dogs are trying to get in through the roof. You watch Steve start fighting them as you push the kids behind you. You step forward to help when suddenly they stop. Then they all run away and its quiet. After a few moments you feel weak and slump to the floor.

“Woah woah, Henderson” Steve surges forward and grabs you by the shoulders, you hiss in pain as he grabs the wound, “Shit, this is bad”

“Bad? What do you mean bad? How bad??” Dustin questions, his eyes watering at the thought of loosing his sister.

“I’m fine Dusty.” You say standing up. “ It probably just needs a cleaning and some stitches that all.” 

‘You look like you should be an extra in a WW2 documentary.” Steve deadpans. “You should go home.”

You roll your eyes “ Oh like YOU would know what that would look like, you don’t even show up to history class.” 

“ That's not the point Henderson, your arm is about to fall off.”

“I am not leaving these kids here defenseless.” you say crossing your arms, but wince as you do.

“First of all they have me, and second of all, you can’t even move your arm! You’d be in the way.” 

“ I’m sorry but who was the one that distracted those things? Who came up with that plan to get you back in the bus??” you say, annoyed at the accusation of being useless. 

“she has a point” muttered Lucas, earning him a smack in the arm by Max and a glare from Steve. 

“Listen Harrington” You say poking him in the chest. “ I’m fine, im not going anywhere, and I can kick your ass even with my arm fucked up. Now we’re going to get out of this FUCKING bus and figure out what the fuck is going on. AM I CLEAR?” 

A shocked silence settles in the bus. Lucas and Dustin chuckled and Max smirked in admiration. Steve glared at you, simply saying “Crystal” and turned around marching off the bus. You roll your eyes as Lucas and Max get off as well, leaving only you and your brother.

“That was really badass. The way you fought those demodogs back there.” Dustin said looking up at you. 

You smile and ruffle his hair. 

“ I wasn’t going to let them get my Dusty Bun” You say in a baby tone pulling him in for a hug. He groans at the name but hugs you back. 

“HENDERSONS MOVE YOUR ASSES” Steve shouts. You roll your eyes and nudge Dustin towards the door. 

“Come on, before King Steve blows a gasket” 

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

You find out that Dart killed Mews and are absolutely devastated. Dustin felt guilty as he was basically the reason why your beloved cat died. 

“It’s fine Dustin, now I have even more of a reason to kick their doggy ass.” 

You walk ahead of the group seething in anger and fear. Your arm was still sluggishly bleeding and throbbing in pain. 

“You really should do something about that shoulder” Steve said as he walks up next to you. 

“Sure, let me just stop at the hospital while my brother and his friends chase flesh eating dogs from another dimension.” you reply in an sarcastic tone.

“I’m just trying to help.” Steve says in a soft tione

You roll your eyes and mutter a fine. You then rip a strip of fabric from the bottom of your shirt and wrap it around your shoulder. 

‘There are you happy now?”you ask

Steve is stunned, he never realized how...tough you are.In fact this whole experience has made him realize how smart and resilient you’ve become. Far different from the shy quiet girl you used to be when the two of you were friends. He never wanted to stop being your friend, in fact he even harbored a little crush on you but he just got caught up in the popularity and attention. Then he got with Nancy and started seeing you constantly again, only now you hated him. It hurt him in ways he didn’t understand. And while he’ll always love Nancy, he’s starting to realize that maybe he’s starting to fall in love with you too.

You look at him weird, as he just stared at you with this weird look on his face. You walked past him as the entrance to the lab becomes clear. 

“Hey guys” You shout. “We’re here.”

Then you hear it. Bone chilling roars fill the air. The lights are out inside the lab and you can hear the screams of the people inside. and then rustling comes from the woods. You push the kids behind you and Steve as you tighten the grip on your weapons. 

“Steve?” “Y/n?’

“Nancy?’” “Jonathan?”

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

After finding out El was actually alive and Will’s interrogation, you officially have seen it all. You, Steve, and the rest of the kids stayed in the Byers house while the “A team” went back to the lab. You finally were cleaning your shoulder when you heard the rumble of an engine. 

Great Billy Hargrove.

“It’s my brother! If he catches me here he’ll kill me” Max says, he tone laced in fear. You and Steve look at each other, and then Steve walks out to deal with Billy. 

“Quick hide and don’t let him see you” you say moving toward the door. You open it in time to see Billy knock Steve down and kick him. You flinch and are just glad that it wasn’t you. 

“Oh” Billy coos, “ Are you gonna let me in Princess or am I gonna have to move you?” 

“Moving me sounds fun, how about we try that” you flirt back, hey anything to get him to calm down. 

He chuckles. “Nice try toots but I got a bone to pick with my step sister.” And with that she shoves you out of the way. You realize that you can’t fight Billy off alone, so you run to help Steve. 

“Come on Harrington, up you go” You try and help him up. You hear the kids shouting and some stuff smashing. “Come on Steve, he’s on there with the kids.” You say urgently.

“I’m gonna kill him.” Steve says, finally getting up. You and Steve rush into the house to see Billy holding Lucas up against a shelf. Steve then rushes to the two, as you go to the kids making sure they’re behind you. 

“YOU’RE DEAD SINCLAIR, SO DEAD” 

“No, you are” and with that Steve punches Billy in the face. You pull Lucas away, checking him over to make sure he’s alright. The kids are cheering Steve on as he beats Billy. 

“KICK HIS ASS STEVE” 

Then the tables turn. Billy smashes a plate over Steves head, knocking him down and punching him in the face. They get into the living room and Billy isn’t stopping. He’s punching Steve in the face continuously. 

“STOP YOU’RE GONNA KILL HIM” Dustin screams 

“BILLY NO” 

You rush forward and try to pull him off. “Billy thats enough, he’s already down!” he just pushes you to the ground and resumes his beating. You get up, desperate to help Steve. 

“Y/n!” You hear Max yell.  You look at her and she hands you something. 

Will’s morphine. 

Without a second thought you ripped the cap off the needle and injected the drug in Billy’s neck. He flinched and stood up, giving poor Steve a break from his brutal beating. 

“youbitchwhatdidyoudo” He slurred as he pulled the needle from his neck. He then fell on his back, half unconscious. Max, surprising you all, took Steves bat and yelled.

“From now on you leave me and my friends alone, you understand?!” 

“Screw you.”

She brought down the bat between his legs. Your eyes widened as she slammed the nail covered bat on the floor between them. 

“SAY YOU UNDERSTAND. SAY IT! SAY IT!”

“I understand” Billy finally whispered as the drugs took over. After watching that you ran over to Steve. You checked his pulse just to make sure he was alright.

“Alright Harrington, get up” You said. “Come on Steve.” 

“Y/n, we don’t have time.” Mike said. “We have to help El.” 

“How are you even going to the tunnels Mike? It’s too far to walk.” You say as you put Steve's head on your lap. 

Max then walks up to Billy and pulls his keys out of his jacket. “Y/n can drive us.” she says. Then the whole party laughs. “What? What's so funny?”

“Y/n can’t drive us” Dustin said laughing. You glare at him from your spot.

“Why not?” Max asks.

“Because” Mike replies, “ She failed like three of her drivings tests”

“Yeah, unless you want to hit every mail box on the way and get whiplash, y/n is out” Lucas chimed in. 

“Hey! I was not that bad” you yelled incredulously. “ Besides what would we do with Steve?” 

“Leave him here?” Mike said

“With Billy?” You asked

“Yeah we could just tie Billy up or something” 

“We are not leaving Steve” Dustin said. “He’ll be chill when he wakes up, I promise.” 

“We still can’t go” you say. The group groans

“Why not” Mike says

“Because, I can’t drive you.” You reply. Then Max ‘s face brightens 

“I can drive.” She says 

Suddenly, you’re in the backseat of Billy's stolen car, Steve sprawled across yours, Mikes, and Dustin's lap as Max drives erratically to the field. 

And then Steve wakes up. 

“y/n??” He mutters looking at Mike, Mike gives him the side eye as Dustin starts talking.

“Hey buddy” Dustin says “ He kicked your ass but you put up a good fight”

“Dustin!” you shout

“What?” 

‘Oh god” Steve says realizing what was happening “ Oh my god stop the car!!”

“Steve I promised them you’d be cool if we brought you” 

“oh god 

“Make a left here” “you’re okay” 

“Steve relax she’s driven before”

“yeah in a parking lot””That counts!”

“Stop yelling!”

“Stop the car, stop the car” Max takes a sharp turn 

“WOAHH” “STOPTHE CAR”

“Steve calm down” “I told you we should have left him!’“

“AHH SLOW DOWN” “CALM DOWN”

“EVERYBODY SHUT UP! I’M TRYING TO FOCUS” 

Max hits the breaks as she makes to to the field. You all stumble out of the car and head to the trunk, getting ready to head into the tunnels. As you’re putting on your mask and goggles Steve stumbles to the back of the car yelling, 

“HELLO! Do you guys hear me, we are not going down there!” 

“Y/n how could you let them talk you into his” “ARE YOU DEAF? HELLO?

“WE ARE NOT---” 

“STEVE!” Dustin shouted, “The fact of the matter is that a party member needs our assistance. We can’t just abandon her.” 

“...fine” Steve says, and he puts on the bandana and goggles. You walk up to him and hand him his bat. “ Wow Harrington, you’ve never looked better” 

“Ha ha, get in the hole” 

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

After struggling to get into the hole, you finally made it into the tunnels. It was dark and damp in there. Cold as you and the party walked further and further into what could be your doom. Specks of...something floated in the air and the walls were covered in what looked like vines. Steve was at the from of the line while you were at the end.Making sure both ends were covered and there wasn’t any chance at a sneak attack. 

You stood at the back with Dustin as he kneeled down to tie his shoe and then a flurry of that white shit sprayed in his face. He started freaking out immediatly, screming and spitting

“SHIIT! ITS IN MY MOUTH!”  

Steve ran over to him and started asking whats wrong. Seeing Steve so worried about your brother warmed your heart, especially because it’s been so long that Dustin had a male figure who cared about him in his life. Now that you think about it, Steve has been really protective over Dustin these past few days, in fact he--

“Hey Y/n, are you okay” Steve says, interrupting your thought. 

You look at him and nod, “We should keep going”

He nods and take his place back in the front. The group only had to walk a few more steps till they reached the hub, 

“Let’s torch it” Steve said as he stepped forward. The kids spread out, pouring gasoline on every inch of the  cavern.  After you were done, Steve pulled out his lighter and flicked it on. 

“You ready?” He said. You all nodded and prepared to run for your life. Steve threw the lighter and the whole hub was lit. The everyone ran. Mike got caught as a vine wrapped around his leg. Steve struggled to it get off when you came around.

“Stand back!” you yelled and swung you hockey stick down on the vine a couple times. This cut it in half as you heard it..squeal?? You then helped Mike up and urged him to start running. You were almost back to the hole when you were stopped. 

A demodog stood in the way of your freedom. Hunched low and growling as it wait for you to make your move. Thats when Dustin spoke up.

“Dart” “Shh Dustin get behind me” You shushed him, trying to pull him away from the creature but with no luck. He slowly walked toward iy.

“Dustin what are you doing?””Get away from it” the rest of the group whispered as he pulled a candy bar from his pocket.

“yumm nougat” He said, breaking the candy bar into pieces and fed them to the demon dog. ‘There you go buddy, eat up” He then waved to you. 

“hurry up go” He said still crouched down. Carefully, each member of the party passed by. Creeping passed the demodog who paid no attention.

“Bye buddy” Dustin whispered as you and Steve pulled him away. 

You finally got to the hole. You and Steve helped each of the kids up the rope. Rushing as you heard the rest of the demodogs running to find you. You finally got Dustin up the rope when you saw them. The pack of demodogs running full speed toward you and Steve. There was no time for either of you to get up the rope. Steve pulled you into his chest as the pack drew nearer. You tensed up, waiting to get torn apart by these creatures.

“Y/N! STEVE” Dustin cried, being held back by Mike and Lucas. 

The closer they got the harder it was for you to breath. You closed your eyes and dug your face into Steves chest.

They ran past you. The demodogs run right passed you and Steve as if you weren’t there. You feel them run past your legs, bumping into you as they are called somewhere else. 

You sigh in relief . You look around the cavern, realizing you’re not dead. Steve laughs a breathless laugh as you smile, the threat of death gone. You realize that you’re still pressed up against him, and look up. Staring into the brown eyes of the one and only Steve Harrington. His goggles pulled up against his forehead and his bandana around his neck. 

You don’t know if the adrenaline or you not giving a fuck, but you fling off your safety glasses, pull down your bandana ans surge up.

Capturing Steve’s lips in a kiss.

He makes a little ‘oomph” sound in surprise as he realizes what's happening. But then he relaxes and kisses you back, wrapping his arms around your waist. Your hands go into his hair as you wrap your arms around his neck, prompting him to  lean closer. His tongue brushes against your bottom lip and you begin to let it in when--

“OH GOD, REALLY?” 

Dustin. “GUYS THEY'RE MAKING OUT’”

“Ewww, come on do you really gotta do that here” Lucas complains.

“Yeah! we don’t wanna see that” Mike says, frowning in disgust. 

“Come on’ Max says, pulling Dustin and Lucas by the collar of their shirts. Mike following behind them.

You pull away from Steve, giggling as you see the awe struck face he's making. 

“Come on King Steve” You say, starting to crawl up the rope. “Before Max starts joy riding and leaves us here. He shakes his head as he watches you get to the top and starts climbing. 

“Hold your horses Henderson, I’m coming.”

[haunted-xander]

Major NTWEWY spoilers

Just gonna dump some thoughts here real quick so

Nagis "Mermenrnme" @ Sho being Sho lives in my mind rent free. what a simp

The moment I saw "Neku" walk past Rindo during week 1 I immediately knew that wasn't the real Neku. way too buff to be our spindly tuna roll

Love how when Sho left the team everyone just sulked about it like "NOOO PLS DONT LEAVE US YOUR OUR ONLY HOPE ｡:ﾟ(;´∩`;)ﾟ:｡" it was cute lmao

The Deep River Society can fuck off omg they were so annoying like bruh stfu

I can't be the only one that thought "wow that's gay" when Neku saved Beat from Sho right. the fucking holy light as Neku stops Sho, the way Beat looks up at him like "no way... i cant believe it..." and Nekus soft smile as he reaches out his hand and says "believe it" and then they hold hands and stare at each other as Rindo & Shoka go "who tf is that"? fucking gay man i love it

I wonder how Tsugumis soul ended up in Mr. Mew. I mean how did she get Mr. Mew to begin with? Did someone steal it from Shiki? Why Mr. Mew specifically? I have questions

I already knew I was going to love Fret even from just the trailers, but god he fits so perfectly into one of my fav archetypes. that being "acts happy-go-lucky to hide the fact theyre traumatized from an event in their life that made them stop trying". Fret stopped taking things seriously & thought hed be better if he acted like the cheerful one since being sincere didnt work to save his old friend from (what sounds like) su*cide. Fret ily sm pls get therapy

Glad to see Joshuas still as much of a bastard as usual. Came late w starbucks to say "oh btw im basically the God of Shibuya lol" then fucking poofed Shoka away making Rindo think she mightve been erased when, surprise! shes in the RG now

Joshuas convo with Neku was great I love them so much the BANTER

Secret reports/ending stuff

Hanekoma is still the producer, he just cant do anything other than observe due to his actions in the first game it seems

Haz is Shinjukus composer, which means hes the same level as Joshua. I wonder if he has any authorative power in Shibuya since he & his reapers went there after the inversion? It really doesn't seem like it since he said he can't do much to help. The only reasom he could deal with Kubo is bc he overstepped his boundaries and since Haz was the one who sendt him, it's his responsibility to deal with him

I honestly figured Haz would be something like Shinjukus composer. I mean the composer wouldve had to go with the reapers to Shibuya since its not like he can stay in the remains Shinjuku. I guess the composer dying with the city would have been a possibility but I'd image the reapers would've had a lot more troubles then

Kind of continuing the last point, I wonder if Shiba was actually Shinjukus conductor. we know he was high ranking there so itd make sense. I guess he mustve taken up the conductor position in Shibuya since theres currently no one there (as far as I know at least)

[sage-nebula]

Due to the time he spent in Shinjuku, Neku’s extrasensory perception became so powerful that it’s still active even after he returns to the RG.

He’s nowhere near as powerful in the RG, of course. He won’t cause anything to spontaneously burst into flames, and he can’t blast through walls with beams of holy light, either. But he can manipulate small objects with telekinesis, and—more importantly, or at least more relevantly to this post—can still “hear” the Souls of those around him, even when he’s not trying to.

It’s not so much that he hears them so much as he senses them. He can’t hear actual words, for instance—the thoughts of others are still off-limits to him, something he’s thankful for—but it’s like a pulse of sound against his inner ear, a constant throb of awareness in his brain that’s louder the more people that are around. The problem is, there are always people around in Shibuya. Even when he’s not out on the streets, there are people in the buildings around him, animals skittering through the trees, and animals have Soul too (even if it’s different from humans). It isn’t all the same, either, which makes it impossible to tune out naturally. Everyone’s Soul is different, everything mish-mashing together into a disjointed cacophony that somehow makes sweet music despite it. Or at least, it would be sweet music, if his brain could properly focus and process the information, or at least if he could turn it off at will. The problem is, his ESP is strong enough now that it still functions in the RG, but he is not yet experienced enough to know how to tune his powers on his own.

As a result, despite that he learned at the end of his Game that he should take his headphones off and open his ears to the people around him, after returning from Shinjuku that becomes monumentally harder than it was before. He’s fine in crowds, for a while . . . but at the end of each day (and sometimes long before the end of the day, depending on what he’s doing that day) he finds himself with a throbbing headache bad enough to make him feel nauseous. He doesn’t want to feel this way. He wants to open up, to push out his horizons as far as they can go. But even as he lies in bed at night (in the apartment above WildKat that Mr H left to him, Cat Street being one of the quietest in Shibuya and therefore the easiest on his senses), the pulse of the city around him still reverberates through his system. Sleep is already hard due to the Shinjuku nightmares, but this makes it even harder.

Of course, this is something that doesn’t go unnoticed by those who care about him, even though he never talks about it and always assures people he’s fine whenever they ask after him. After some internal debate on what to do, Shiki decides that maybe a new pair of headphones would help Neku. She has heard, after all, that headphones help those who have sensory issues with loud sounds, and perhaps Neku will find comfort in something that always gave him comfort before. Headphones don’t have to be a way to block out everyone, and she knows Neku well enough to know that he wouldn’t use them for that, not now. But maybe they can help him when his senses get overloaded, even if they’re only a placebo.

So she sets to work on designing an exclusive pair of Gatto Nero headphones for him—ones that are blue and white, so they match his new favorite jacket, with Gatto Nero graffiti surrounding a Mr Mew logo on each of the earpieces. What she doesn’t know (or at least fully realize) is that the graffiti that found its way through her subconscious and into her pen as she designed the new headphones wasn’t spontaneous, or accidental. Although he had no way of contacting her directly due to his current holy incarceration, Hanekoma could still observe Shibuya and saw everything that was unfolding—saw how Neku’s newfound growth in power was putting him through the paces, and saw how Shiki had come up with a solution to fix it. But while the placebo idea was a nice one, Hanekoma knew it wouldn’t be enough. And so, despite that he knew it could lengthen his incarceration at best or result in reprogramming at worse if he was caught, he imprinted some graffiti (or more accurately, sigils) into Shiki’s subconscious for her to use, so that he headphones would actually tune down Neku’s ESP when he had them on. Not mute it entirely, but at least tone it down to make it manageable, so that he could breathe and sleep more easily.

The headphones work like a dream.

Neku is a bit hesitant at first—he doesn’t want to regress to how he was before, shutting the world out and keeping himself locked in. But with Shiki’s encouragement that she knows he won’t fall back into old habits, that she wouldn’t have made these headphones for him if she thought he would, he accepts them. (It helps that they’re a gift from her, designed by her own hands, and that the design on the earpieces reminds him of CAT’s graffiti even though both he and Shiki feel that must just be a coincidence.) Neku wears the headphones (sans music) when they’re out in the city, and at night he falls asleep to soft music playing through the earpieces. Sometimes he lays up on the roof of WildKat, listening to music, feeling true peace for the first time in three years. And from his place in the angel penitentiary, Hanekoma sees this and smiles.

Even if he gets caught, he can safely say it was worth it.

[autumn-foxfire]

What do you think of Pokémon sayings in fic? "Oh my Arceus" "Oh Mew" "What in Ho-Oh's name" "Holy Lugia" "Speak of Giratina" "Tauros Crap" "I don't give a Rattata's ass about-" "Hurricane Kingdra" "They've gone Mankey!" "Jumping Jumpluff!" (Like "Jinkies!") "Into the Seviper's Den" "Don't count your Torchic before they hatch" "Let sleeping Ursaring lie" "Curl of the Aipom's paw" some are so funny I can't take the bad guys seriously if they say these krawfgkkfk 😆

I think it makes sense that people say legendary/mythical pokemon that are known to be gods (or god like) in place of an actual deity in the game and use sayings that include pokemon instead or real world animals but I agree, it can take away the tone from these fics, especially when it's a bad guy saying it. However the game does mention real world animals too as descriptions for these pokemon so I think you can also get away with using the normal sayings too.

Honestly? Just let them swear.

[twstwonderlandstuff]

Octo Love! (Reader x Azul!)

Original song

My cover 

In which [Name] gets a little too tired and goes on a sporadic singing journey.

It always feels like you’ve exhausted yourself to the max limit. Every day, you trudge back to Ramshackle, muscles and back sore from the work Crowley forces upon you, that damned bird. Every day, you collapse into the soft cushions in Ramshackle and fall asleep in 3 seconds, and after an hour-long ‘nap’, you wake up to see Grim sprawled on top of you, snoozing away (you’re always grateful for the ghosts you take their time to spread a blanket on top of both of you). 

But today… today was different. 

No, you’re still exhausted (come ON now, this is school and when does one catch a break from school?), eyebags visible, but this time, you don’t get the chance to go to Ramshackle. 

No-no-no. See, you’re broke. Very, very, broke, and you have to work, and what better place to get models, than working in Monstro Lounge, right?

Well, it depends. 

On good days, working there can be its sort of fun, with Floyd’s unstable mood swings, the business of the place, Azul (with his mafia-like nature) running the place to perfection, and Jade’s butler act, but on other days were simply dealing with that is too much. 

You lose all sense of logic and fear- throw that shit out of the window, dawg, it doesn’t matter.

Say it with me, loud in clear! LOGIC AND FEAR DOESN’T MATTER! Again! LOGIC AND FEAR-

“Shrimpy~?” Floyd asks, and you gasp in alarm, gripping onto whatever you were doing. What were you doing?

Ah, yes, cleaning Monstro Lounge after dark, right, right…

“Yo, Floyd…” You give him a weak grin, tiredly pushing the mop against the tiles. “I’m so… sleepy.”

“But you’re always sleepy.” Floyd points out, lighting up. “Ah, wait here, Shrimpy. I got something for you~” He quickly leaves, leaving you looking like a deer in spotlights. 

“Ehh… ah, whatever…” You mumble, going back to your duties. Oh god, the floor’s beginning to look like something entirely different….

“[Name]? Are you alright?” This time it’s Jade asking, his calm and soothing voice forcing you to rub out the sleepiness from your eyes. You know he’s not that concerned, but the verbalization is appreciated. 

“No, not really. Fuck, I just want-” You don’t get the chance to finish your complaint as Floyd bursts in, holding a sheet of music and a mic in hand. 

“Shrimpy~! You know when you sang that weird song?” Your eyes snap open for the first time, and your cheeks redden. Ahh…

It’s a song from your middle-school years, how embarrassing. You were talking with Floyd- well, to be precise, he was spinning and squeezing you about- and as he was spinning you, you began to hum a little tune. The eel picked up on it, and insistently asked what you were singing about, so you gave him the entire rundown of the song.

He giggled, saying how weird it sounded, but his grin contradicted his statement and before you could realize it, he dropped you on the ground and ran away, doing who knows what- and it seems that he’s…

“You… wrote the entire note-chorus- thing?! Based on what I said?!” You shout, skimming over the notes he’s written down messily. 

“Floyd, this is amazing, holy shit!” You gasp in amazement. “That’s so cool!”

“Hehe, sea otter helped me out! Sea otter’s too nice, it’s kinda annoying.” Floyd pouts, going to sling his arm around Jade. “Whatcha think, Ja-de?”

The twin smoothly takes the paper out of your hands and reads the notes, looking amazed. “Ah.. this truly is spectacular, Floyd. Good job.” He pats Floyd on the head, and Floyd grins at the praise. 

“What’s going on here?” Ah, the man of the hour, the head of the fish mafia himself, Azul Ashengrotto.

You might or might not harbor a tiny, insignificant crush on him. No, you don’t have secret doodles of him and you in the corners of your notebook, of course not! That very notion revokes the idea of logic!

But then again, didn’t you say ‘FUCK LOGIC!’ just a while ago? You did, didn’t you?

…

Well, maybe the crush is bigger than that. There might be a chance that it’s 0.1% bigger than that.

…

No, you most definitely harbor an obvious crush on the silver-haired bloke, and EVERYONE KNOWS, except the bloke himself!

“A-Azul, hey!” He waves you aside, used to the way you stutter when you speak to him.

 “Floyd, I believe I told you to check on [Name], not needlessly wave around a piece of paper,” Azul says, adjusting his glasses.

“But A~zul~ take a look! I, Sea Otter, and Shrimpy made this, you know! And I don’t wanna work anymore! I wanna play the piano~” Without giving Azul a chance to protest, he grabs you (and throws you over his back like a sack of potatoes) and the paper, and runs to the piano Monstro has, leaving Jade to deal with Azul. 

“Jade, set me down at once-” Azul complains as he’s handled similarly to you, looking undignified. 

“My apologies, Azul, but it wouldn’t do good to displease Floyd.” Jade chuckles.  “Besides, don’t you want [Name] to rest? It seems that you were quite worried about their health, fufu.”

Azul stiffens, a light blush adorning his ears. “I haven’t the slightest idea of what you’re talking about.”

“Ah, I must have misunderstood. My apologies.” Jade snickers, setting Azul down on one of the tables in Monstro Lounge, sitting next to him. 

You and Floyd are too far away to hear this conversation, with Floyd getting the piano up excitedly and handing you the mic. 

“Wait, are we going to play a concert? In the middle of the night?” You mutter, taking the mic dumbly. 

“Duh~ you’re pretty dim, Shrimpy!” Floyd snickers darkly, setting the music sheet in front of him and stretching. “What did Goldfish say…? Oh yeah, this spell!” 

After the spell was cast, the piano began to play a tune to what you’re familiar with. 

“Holy shit. It’s playing by itself?!” Floyd pays no heed to your words and began dancing. 

“Come on, Shrimpy, sing!” He encourages you, clearly having fun. 

Well, what’s the harm? You turn the mic on, and begin singing, moving your body for a bit.

“Ooo, we break the laws of attraction

Like you’re sent from above

Got a case of octo love”

Azul glares at the oddly fitting words but begins to slowly bop his head. Jade is smiling, stiffly dancing in his seat. 

“Ooo, we’re like a chemical reaction

Or a code you can’t debug

Got a case of octo love”

“She’s always turning to violence-” Floyd laughs particularly hard at this, and swings you around, leading you to giggle halfway through the song. 

“…’s so determined she’s timeless

And I’m so nervous I’m silent.”

Floyds leaves you be, and you pause in time with the music. 

“What if she finds out I’m lying?

What if she sends me home crying?

Why can’t I just be kawaii?”

“Isn’t that a term Idia-shii often uses…?” Azul mutters. Floyd comes closer to Jade and Azul, picking the latter up. 

“Wait wait wait-!” 

“Too late, Azul~” He plonks Azul, next to you, and you give him a grin. 

“Baby, baby, baby, you’re so fine-” You scream into the mic, clutching it like a madman. 

Mew mew kissy cutie, you’ll be mine-

Crushing, crushing, crushing, on AZUL-” 

The octopus freezes in shock, as you continue with the very, very fitting lyrics. Floyd’s going absolutely ham, doing some sort of ska dance with his twin as he laughs at your mistake. (RIP all the other members of Octavinelle). 

“Oh, did I say that out-”

No, did I say that out loud?!” You, being dramatic, clutches Azul’s hands and shake them, seemingly unaware of what you’ve said. 

The octopus face reddens almost immediately when you swing his arms as children do.

“Ooo, we break the laws of attraction

Like you’re sent from up above

Got a case of octo love”

The poor dorm leader would like to hide under his octopod forever now, thank you very much. 

“Ooo, we’re like an improper fraction

Hope this ship gets safe to shore

Though I’m quite unsure”

“Come on shrimpy, join us!” Floyd grabs you and Azul, and together, the 4 of you began dancing in a circle as the Dance Break ensues, your and Azul’s hands holding each other. Azul just repeatedly wants to die of shame and embarrassment. 

“She’s always turning to violence

I’m always turning to science

She’s so determined she’s timeless 

And I’m so nervous I’m silent.”

You lot stop spinning, dizzy, and out of breath as Floyd takes the mic and sings into it, surprisingly melodious (well, maybe it’s not THAT much of a surprise. He IS from the sea, after all.)

“What if she finds out I’m lying?

What if she sends me home crying?

Why can’t I just be kawaii?

And then I’m like…”

Jade takes the microphone, seemingly knowing the lyrics, and sings into it, making you cheer as you press close to him. 

“Baby, baby, baby, you’re so fine

Mew mew kissy cutie, you’ll be mine-”

You grab the mic back, spinning in place. 

Crushing, crushing, crushing on Azul-”

You point towards the dorm leader, who’s taken to sitting on the floor of Monstro Lounge and hiding most of his face with his hands, excluding his eyes, and come near him, getting your face a little too close to his liking. 

“And so I shout it out!” 

And so I shout it out loud!”

You grab Azul by the hand and drag him towards you, skillfully keeping him balanced. He can’t help but wonder, Where was this energy when you were working?

You began to do a sort of impromptu couple dance, your exhausted giggles and laughs slipping in and Azul sighs at the silliness of it all, but… he smiles genuinely. 

You look so plaintively happy here that he can’t help it, you know?

“Ooo, we’re like a warrior in action

Fit together like a glove-”

You shove the mic into his face, and he, in a low voice, murmurs. 

“Got a case of octo love…”

You gasp dramatically, looking like you didn’t notice him. 

“OOOOH MY GOD HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING THERE?!”

“I’ve been right here the whole time…” He mutters, a little confused. Is this part of the song, or something?

“Ok, now I want to die.” You say, deadpan. The twins, who were back to their own ska dance thing, grabs the mic from you and pulls you and Azul by the arms (again). The four of you began to sing in harmony (as harmonious as you can get, anyway). 

“Ooo, we break the laws of attraction-”

You eagerly grab the mic back.  “A duet will maybe do... cuz I invited Floyd and Jade too!”

“Hehe, of course, you did, Shrimpy~”

“Smooshed together like a bug!!”

“Got a case of Octo love~”

You let out a huge laugh, giggling and snickering as Jade sets you down, catching your breath. 

“That was… fun…! But now, I...holy shit… I’m tired…” You gasp in exhaustion, falling flat onto one of the couches and quickly began to fall asleep, but-

“Ne, Shrimpy?”

With the last bit of your strength, you open your eyes just a tiny bit. “Wha..?”

“D’ya realize what ya said?” Floyd’s grin is wide like he was about to tease the SHIT out of you or use you in some way. He flops on the floor and leans onto your leg. 

“The song, yeah?”

“Hihihi, Shrimpy~,” The twin says. “You’ll see tomorrow~ goodnight.” He says quietly, a quick change of mood. 

“Sleep tight.” Jade laughs, sitting down next to you and putting his head back. 

“Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Azul finishes, sitting a bit further away from the 3 of you. 

“G’night.” Not a second later, and you are asleep, breathing softly.

*

“Ne, ne, Azul~? Watcha think of Shrimpy’s confession?”

“Th-that wasn’t a confession! It was a slip of the tongue.”

“Eh. You’re still gonna deny that. That’s cowardly, Azul~ Even Shrimpy knows better than that.”

“I must agree. Honestly, to think that you were beaten to confessing. And most oddly, too.”

“I...um…”

*The Leech twins grin widely at Azul’s clamming up. 

“Hmm~?”

“J-just leave me be!”

*With a face as red as tomatoes, Azul leaves, assuming to hide in his octo pot. 

[Thanks v much for reading! This is a better version of what I put out yesterday because god damn, that was disgraceful.]