#its my favourite outfit of his and i think pat could rock it

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enough wallowing, pat in this for a Halloween costume

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camellia

Prince! Shinwon x Princess! Reader | royal kingdom AU fluff | 3.8k words

synopsis: you were never big on parties, the loud music, dancing, unwanted attention from the hundreds of guests. they were simply not your thing. when you find yourself forced at yet another masquerade however, you meet a masked stranger who shows you that maybe you can find something enjoyable at these gatherings.

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The bells chimed loudly, its grand sound resonating in the vast halls to signal the start of the royal ball. The castle you stood in was located in a far away forest and you were told that it was one of the Ko family’s many properties. Though their name wasn’t the most popular of all time, you had to give kudos to them for being able to invite almost all of the royal families to the ball — on a Monday no less. Behind you, an endless number of masked people rushed into the spacious ballroom, excited to meet new people and maybe even find a special someone to take home with them. You too, as the eldest amongst your siblings, were tasked with the responsibility of searching for a possible candidate to marry and strengthen your family’s name, as per your father’s request. It was a grim responsibility as you weren’t really sure how you felt about having to chose someone that very night — you’d much rather meet them naturally, as opposed to the forced dances you’re bound to go through in the next few minutes. Taking one last glance at the mirror you stood in front of, you had to admit that you were stunning in your outfit nonetheless. The colours of the dress complimented your features perfectly and your hair was done to create a lavish charm to your appearance. You made a note to thank your maids for dressing you up so well. With a final adjustment to the sparkling mask resting on the bridge of your nose, you turned to enter the ballroom yourself.

You were instantly met with glaring lights from the chandeliers above, and laughter and chatter danced in the air from every direction. All around you were people of all ages dressed to the nines in almost every colour imaginable. It was a breathtaking sight and you had no idea where to start. There were so many people out there, how could possibly select just a single person out of the hundreds milling about? As you stood around in a daze you felt a tap on your shoulder and turned around to face a man dressed in royal blue bowing down to you. When he rose back up, you held back a small gasp, even with a mask on, you could tell he was extremely attractive.

“Feeling a little lost, princess?” His honey-like voice questioned. “You look beautiful tonight, I would be grateful if I was able to accompany you for the next few dances. You can call me Kino, by the way.” He finished with a hand reached out to yours, which were frozen in midair out of a mix of awe, confusion, and surprise. You really didn’t know how to respond to his advancements, it would’ve been so much easier to judge his intentions if you could’ve seen his entire face. At least, you would’ve felt a little more assured when it came to the dances and inevitable kisses later in the night as everyone got a little bit more tipsy.

Kino seemed to have noticed your hesitation and glanced up from his slightly bowed position to see you meekly staring back at him. “Not feeling up to it, my princess?”

“N-no, I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m really ready yet. But you look very handsome tonight, Kino, I’m sure it’ll be easy for you to find another partner.” You replied as you watched him stand up straight and dust off his outfit a little bit, showing no signs of embarrassment. You feared that he would’ve been upset about your rejection, but instead, he shot you a dazzling smile.

“Understandable, and thank you for the compliment. May you have a wonderful night.” And with that, he and his royal blue suit disappeared in a wave of people. Feeling a little fazed by that encounter, you made your way to the buffet tables as discreetly as possible. The smell of sweets filled your mind and you wandered towards the long table filled with almost every single dessert imaginable, and you happily found your favourite in a flash. You made a beeline towards and was just about to grab one when a hand slipped underneath yours and grabbed it right from you. Sure, there were almost hundreds of the same dessert laid out right in front of you, but you still looked up in shocked at the thief’s audacity to take the precious food from you.

The man in front of you had his orange dyed hair brushed back and was wearing a matching orange-toned suit. His plump lips smiled cheekily as he shoved the dessert into his mouth, all while staring straight back at you. You felt your eyebrows twitch as you stared back at him, appalled. He was the first to speak, and you were at most, grateful for that, because you weren’t sure what exactly you would’ve said to him if you had the opportunity to speak first.

“I’m sorry, were you planning on eating that?” He held his hand out after carelessly wiping it on his pants. “I go by Hui, though Lee Hwitaek might sound more familiar.” It did, the Lee family was a household name, especially when it came to riches.

“Well, Hui,” you started, putting your hands on your hips childishly, refusing to shake his hand. As high and mighty his family may have been, you were still going to give him a piece of your mind for stealing your beloved dessert. “That dessert was supposed to be mine until you stole it. How are you going to repay for that?”

Hui smirked and smoothly maneuvered around the table towards you, wrapping one arm around your hip as he pulled you closer. “How about I repay you with a dance or two? I promise you’ll have an amazing time and it’ll make up for my little mistake.” He whispered into your ear.

Your ears burned as you tried your best to remain polite when you pried his arm off your body and shimmied away from him. “I’m going to have to decline that offer, thank you very much.” And with that, you scurried away to another table, trying to find peace in the covers of the crowd.

Letting out a sight in relief, you leaned on the wall near you. Why does finding partner have to be so difficult? And how in the world am I supposed to do this all alone? You thought to yourself, looking at your empty hands disappointedly. I didn’t even get to eat some good food in peace.

The burning feeling of someone staring at you brought you out of your trance and you tilted your head up, making eye contact with a very tall man staring back at you, drink in hand. Is it just me, or is everything unsettling in this atmosphere? You shuddered to yourself as you once again, ran away, but this time to the gardens which you knew would be much quieter than the loud music that was being blasted to cover the entire hall.

You finally found solace in a little rock garden in the midst of some trees (though the definition of ‘little might be skewed, it was ‘little’ in comparison to the rest of the Ko’s massive gardens). Taking a seat on one of the benches, you looked back wistfully at the bright lights coming from the palace. As much as you wanted to have a good time, you couldn’t help but feel so alone and misunderstood in the unfamiliar environment.

“Is this seat taken?”

Oh god, here we go again.

You faced the unfamiliar voice, “I’m sorry, but if you’re looking for a dance partner, you’re not going to find one here...” you told him defeatedly, sinking your head into one of hands supporting it.

“O-oh, I was really just asking if I could sit here, but if you don’t want that, then that’s alright too, I can find another place.”

Genuinely surprised at his reaction, you took another glance at the person in front of you. He was dressed in all white, a red camellia propped in his chest pocket, and had a fluffy mullet falling down to his neck. His shoulders were noticeably quite broad and he looked manly, though his hunched, polite posture urged otherwise. You shifted in your seat for a moment as you considered you options, before finally shifting over to your side and patting the seat beside you.

“No, no one’s sitting here, you can go ahead.”

He shot a small smile at you and gratefully took the seat, stretching his long legs immediately afterwards. “This party is quite something huh?” He sighed. “I don’t know if it’s just a me thing, but I can never find the appeal of events like these. I’d much rather sit outside and watch the stars with some friends. Though, I’ll agree the food is probably worth it though.” He rambled quietly.

You didn’t plan on saying another word to him after the initial reaction, but his attitude towards the party intrigued you. If you were to solely judge based on his appearance, you would’ve thought he was some sort of player that enjoyed parties. His features would’ve definitely attracted a lot of people towards him.

“Is that so? I didn’t even get to try the food because of the commotion there.” You sulked childishly back. You were already so tired out from the party, but this stranger seemed to be feeling the same way, which was a nice change, and you felt a little more spirit enter your body.

His mouth curved into a small ‘O’ as he looked up at the sky, deep in thought. “The buffet tables will probably be clearer towards the end of the night, when everyone’s more focused on dancing, so you could try going then, if you’re up to it.” He speculated.

“I guess so, I’ll try again later then, and if it doesn’t work out, you know where to find me.” You chuckled.

“And maybe,” he added “I could accompany you there? People will probably avoid you if they see that you had me, er, a date already.” He put air quotations around the “date” and you examined him curiously, he looked a little shy from his offer and it was a little difficult to tell with the mask on, but he seemed sincere.

“I’ll take up on that offer, actually.” You decided, putting your hand out for a handshake. “I’m Y/n from the L/n family, may I know your name?” The mysterious man took your hand but simply shook his head. “How about we save that introduction for the mask reveal?” He smiled, and your heart melted at the sight. Though you really wanted to know his name, you knew you couldn’t force him to spill and just went along with it.

The two of you sat in the cool night talking about this and that, from what it’s like at your towns to the way the formal clothing made you feel constantly uncomfortable to ranting about your identical distaste for these balls. The chirps of the crickets and the hums of the cicadas accompanied your quiet conversations that were filled with laughter. You’ve never bonded with someone so easily in a setting like this, and you felt yourself falling for the masked man with every word he said. You talked until the moon shone brightly above the little rock garden and the bells chimed to signal that it was midnight — meaning that the final dances and mask reveals were happening very soon.

The man took notice of that and got up from the bench, stretching his tall body from the hours of sitting. “Shall we leave now, m’lady?” He turned to you, who was still seated, and offered a hand to help you up, which you gratefully took. Your hand lingered in his for a while once you were up, and a part of you wished that you could hold his hand for a little longer. Unfortunately, he was the one to let go first and began heading back towards the palace. With a quiet sigh, you followed behind him.

Wait... what am I sighing for? Am I actually falling for a man who hasn’t even told me his name? But at the same time, he understands me... and he’s undoubtedly very handsome. You shook your head, trying to sort out your thoughts in vain. 

When the two of you returned the ballroom, you were met with the loud music once again and it was a disappointing contrast from the quiet of the garden. Clearly, the party was just as lively as it was when you left, if not, livelier. The man in white was right though, the buffet tables were quite empty as everyone was busy preparing for the final dance, and you spotted the last few servings of your favourite dessert sitting in a tray nearby. You gasped excitedly and rushed over to the food, unknowingly pulling the man with you by the arm. Upon arrival, you looked up to him and smiled brightly, “Would you like some? We can split what’s left in half.” You offered happily. All you got in response was a slight stutter with a nod and you saw his cheeks were tinted red, like the flower in his pocket. You looked down to see that your arm was still tightly hooked in his. Realizing your actions, you were quick to detach yourself from him. Soon, he wasn’t the only one who was blushing as you felt your cheeks burning in embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry about that, I have no idea what went on in my mind when I decided to —” You were cut off with the sweet dessert being plopped into your open mouth. Chewing slightly you looked up to see his familiar bight smile looking down at you, and you couldn’t help but return it with a little laugh. You felt an unusual sense of comfort from him as the two of you gladly finished up the last few pieces of the dessert. By then, almost everyone had already gathered to the centre of the ballroom, eagerly waiting for the music to begin. You felt a slight pang of jealousy in your stomach at the number of happy couples you saw. You wished you were able to enjoy these events the way they seem to, but you always ended up plagued with the feeling of unwelcomeness. As your eyes continued to scan the crowd, they locked onto a pair that was staring straight back at you. Taking a closer look at the person, you recognized the fluff or orange hair and immediately turned back to your masked friend.

Why is Hui staring at me again?? You frantically wondered to yourself. Do I look unpresentable? Is it because he’s going to ask me to dance with him again?

A white glove entered your vision, tilting your head back up to face that comforting smile once again. “Is everything alright, princess? Is there someone that’s bothering you?”

You blushed and looked back in Hui’s direction, head still resting lightly on his fingertips. The orange haired man was nowhere to be seen. “No, just people I may or may not be trying to avoid. I rejected a couple of dance requests before I met you.”

This time, it was his turn to look away. Rubbing his head sheepishly, his eyes moved back to you “Actually... I was going to ask you if you wanted to perhaps be my partner for the final dances. But from what I’m getting, you might not be interested in that, so I’ll gladly back down from that offer if that’s what you prefer.”

The blush never left your cheeks as you thought of your reply. “Well, if it’s with you, I think I’ll be up to it.” You answered, luckily sounding much more confident than how you felt on the inside.

He beamed at that, and swiftly grabbed your hands into his, pulling you into a less crowded section of the ballroom. He maneuvered between the dancing people bumping into him from left to right as if he’s done it many times before and it made you wonder just who this mysterious man really was. When you reached your destination he gently placed on hand on your hips and clasped the other into your hand.

“You know how to dance?”

“Well of course I do,” you shot back playfully, easily falling into position. “I’m a princess, it’s not like I can avoid the ballroom lessons, as much as probably would’ve liked to.”

He laughed at that and the two of you danced gracefully on the golden floors. You would’ve been lying if you said it didn’t feel nice to dance in your luxurious dress with such a handsome man. As if you two had met long ago, your moves matched each other perfectly with every step and spin you took. By the time the current song finished, you found yourself leaning slightly into his firm chest, smiling to yourself. The band quieted and the people around you began to whisper to each other in hushed tones as the Kings of each kingdom, your father included, gathered on one of the balconies, ready to make a statement. Cheers arose from the crowd as they looked down upon you guys and raised a glass of champagne.

“I would first like to thank you all for being able to make it to this lovely night. From the preparations to the actual partying, a lot of effort was put into making this night go wonderfully.” One of them, who you recognized to be head of the Ko family, said. Another round of loud cheers emerged from all around you.

“I’ll keep the speech short,” he continued, “because I know all of you are eager to get to the unmasking, and to finally see your partners face in all its glory.” You glanced up at the mysterious man at that, but he kept his eyes glued on the Kings, face set with a serious gaze.

“We will have one final dance after the unmasking, but please, feel free to stay longer, for the night is still young and does work really need to be done tomorrow?” He joked. “Music will continued to be played, food will continue to be served, and of course,” he raised his glass, “more booze will arrive to be drunk!” You thought the cheers couldn’t get any louder before, but the cheers that resonated in the ballroom at that statement proved you wrong.

“I will thank you one last time for attending this event, it means much to my family and I’m sure it means a lot to yours too. Why, some of you guys might have even met your future partners! And what a lovely thought that is. So now, we will begin the unmasking!” His voice boomed over the chatter of the dancers. Gasps were held back and even a scream or two could be heard from across the room as partners unmasked themselves one by one. 

Nervously, you turned to face your own partner who once again, was only offering you a smile. “Would you like to take it off on a count of three, Y/n?” You nodded, and began to count.

“1... 2... 3...”

You closed your eyes as you slipped off your own sparkly mask and when you opened them again, your jaw almost fell to the ground. He was stunning, his features were all so perfect in your eyes and you almost couldn’t stop yourself from wanting to stare at him all night long. As your eyes scanned his face one more time, something clicked in your mind.

“You-you’re—“

He bowed deeply introducing himself. “I am Shinwon from the Ko family, it’s a pleasure to meet you tonight.”

You were at a loss of words from his reveal — you were dancing with the host’s son the entire time? You’ve heard many rumours of him before amongst the maids and townspeople who just loved to gossip about his beauty and popularity. But the masked man you met today was the complete opposite of what you’ve heard. Minus, of course, the beauty part. That, you were able to confirm was very true and his beauty probably surpassed the way it was described by others.

Shinwon rose from his bow and looked around nervously at your lack of response. “I’m sorry... was it wrong for me to want to hide who I was at the beginning? I just wanted to get to know you without having the burden of my status. It was really nice to have company that actually enjoyed me as who I was.”

You shook your head in denial. “No! It was just, it was just very surprising.” You replied sheepishly. “I would’ve never imagined that I would end up dancing and shoving desserts into my mouth with the King’s son of all people.”

The music began playing and you both naturally ended up swaying softly, hand in hand. “Tonight actually ended up becoming really fun,” you admitted. “And I don’t think anything has really changed, now that I know who you really are. Though, I guess it’s a little easier to address you.” You giggled.

Shinwon sighed in relief. “I am so glad to hear that. Do you know how worried I was about the reveal? At my own party, even.”

“Hm... you’re even more handsome without the mask, I can give you that.”

“And you look fascinating, with or without the mask.” He smiled and pulled the red camellia out from his pocket to rest it on your ear, decorating your hair. “But I think I prefer without the mask — I like seeing your eyes.”

The music grew louder and you held each other even tighter. “I know we’re already half way through the song, but are you alright with me taking this last dance?” He asked, a sliver of doubt still hinted in his voice.

“Yes, of course.” You squeezed his hand. “I don’t think I would’ve wanted to have this last dance with anyone else, but you.”

“That’s good to know.” And with that, he swooped down and softly placed his warm lips into yours. You returned the kiss, leaning further into him. It felt like everything around you had melted into a mix of colours. All you could focus on was the feeling of his lips on yours and his hands grasping you tightly. You would’ve kissed him forever if you could.

As you broke for air, you found a smile painted on both of your faces. “I hope this isn’t the last time we will see each other.” He said breathlessly.

“After all that just happened, plus the kiss? I think there’s going to be an issue if we don’t get to see each other again, Prince Shinwon.” You exaggerated his title jokingly.

“Then I’ll make sure to send another personal invite to you sometime soon, Princess Y/n.” He smirked back. “Do you know how happy I am to have found someone who dislikes these formalities just like me? You’re amazing, Y/n.”

“Says you, you looked like a sun amongst stars when I first saw you. It’s like you came to save me.”

“Well, you’re like the most beautiful flower I’ve ever seen. And I don’t plan on letting you go anytime soon.” He replied, pulling you closer to spin you around.

When you came to this party, you had no hopes or plans on finding a perfect partner the way you father wanted you to. Even though the party had an uneasy start, meeting Shinwon definitely turned things around for the better. And now, maybe you can find a bit more happiness in events like these, if it meant that you would have him by your side.

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i’ve honestly never been the biggest fan of kingdom AUs but for some reason the idea for this plot just came to me one night and i had to write it out.

i hope you enjoyed it! it was a joy to write.

~tiny

[irrlicht-ghostfront]

yellow

It can’t be all dark if there’s a light, right? So it’s all you paint nowadays. If you keep trying, maybe the light would just come back.

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It’s fifteen.

It’s always fifteen that you can see. They’re there even when you close your eyes. You wonder what’s behind them. You wonder what’s inside them. There would be people living inside, you think. There may even be a few that look over here right now, and they condemn you all to insanity.

Well, they wouldn’t be wrong, you think. And yet, the people here don’t like that word. It has too many bad annotations, they say. Maybe they’re right. It doesn’t really change anything, though. You never thought of yourself that way, and here you are still. Maybe you shouldn’t leave. But you would. In less than a month, you would leave. Maybe they think they fixed you. You don’t feel different, but it was nice seeing them happy.

“Yeah, I think you should stay.” You don’t react. They don’t know about Dream-Dean, and you believe it’s best if it stays that way. He’s not really a dream anymore. He got mean; and he got too real. But it’s still a Dean all of your own, so you’re not giving him up. You can’t see Dean again. After what you did to him, it’s a miracle he ever came to visit. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since last he came here. Perhaps he’s busy. Perhaps he finally realised what a waste of time you are. You lied to the people here; telling them you had a place to go to. But you can’t go back to Dean. You can’t do that to him; but you can’t go to anyone else either. They’re not your friends, and why would they want to take you in? By now, they all must know what you did to Dean.

You wish you could open the window.

 “Castiel? Lunch’s about to be served”, a voice interrupts your thoughts and you stand up. The food here’s nice, although you never really cared about that. However, Dream-Dean commented on it, and you simply took his opinion. The other people here rarely talk to each other; the newer they are, the lesser they’ll talk at all. Some play games together, in their free time, and some others watch, but it’s all rather timid.

You grab a serving – broccoli soup, today – and find a chair. “Stupid hair, just look at it, it looks so stupid, why do you even try”, you hear as you take your first spoon-full. You look up and see Bell sitting a little ways away from you, muttering to herself. “And did you see these claws you call hands? Better chop them off, be rid of ‘em.” You’re not sure what Bell is suffering from – you never asked and don’t really care either way – but she’d mutter these things all the time. You think it might be similar to Dream-Dean, but you wouldn’t know. Dean doesn’t say untrue things. “I think your hair looks pretty nice today”, you tell Bell just loud enough. “And I could hold your hand, if you want.” Bell looks up and you think she should shave her beard. It would probably help her self-esteem a bit. But then again, you know she’s got some nasty things to say about her chin. “Castiel”, her deep voice is a bit louder now. “You really think my hair is nice?” You smile at her and slide down, so you sit opposite of her. “Yes”, you say and pat it gently. “You’re taking good care of it, Bell. It’s always so soft, no matter what.” She blushes at bit at that and looks down. She’s fondling her nails. “What about my hands? They’re so big. I’ve seen the girls in the magazines, and how delicate they are and –“she starts to fuss a bit. “You are a perfect human being, Bell.” You take one of her hands and make her cup your cheek. “Look how perfect they fit. How could you call something horrendous if it cups my face so perfectly?” She does look. You done this a dozen of times, but every time it feels like the first time. You don’t know if you make her situation worse or better, but nobody told you to stop yet. You didn’t ask. You can’t be told no if you never ask, after all.

She caresses your face a bit, staring at her hands. “I’m perfect”, she whispers. “Yes”, you say and she starts to cry. She doesn’t let go of your face and you don’t think they’re sad tears. She looks at your eyes, looking for something, you think. You don’t know what, and you don’t know if she ever finds it. “My ex-wife was here the other day”, she whispers. You tilt your head in question. You’re not sure why she tells you. You’re not friends, after all. You’re just being nice – why wouldn’t someone say nice things to her? “She called me disgusting again.” She’s still fondling your face. You don’t care. You think that it calms her a little, so you won’t make her stop. “I think she comes here with the sole purpose of making me miserable every time I feel a bit better, so that I never leave.” Bell’s crying now. It’s sad this time. “I want to see her; and I want her to accept me. But I don’t know how to do that.” You frown. You’re not sure why she tells you this. There are doctors here who could tell her what to do. What do you know? You think of 13-year-old Sophie, who was told to let her feelings go. Maybe Bell should do it too. “Let her go”, you say and Bell looks at you, utterly shocked. “She won’t take you for you, Bell. She hurts you; and you shouldn’t be hurting. The only one who needs to accept you is you, right? But if you make it about her, you’ll never get there. You’re perfect, Bell, and I can’t tell you more than that. If something hurts you, you have to let it go.” Oh, if you could follow your own advice. Dream-Dean cackles behind you. He knows what’s up, but you stopped caring. This hollow ache will forever remain in your chest and you came to accept it.

“How?” she whispers and you shake your head. “I don’t know. You don’t need her anymore. I need you to remember that you’re a beautiful, bright star in the sky. You shine so brilliantly, and I won’t allow you to go out. I love you, Bell, and you need to tell you ex-wife no. I know you can. The nurses will get you your best outfit and you’ll go meet her as the beautiful woman that you are.  Courage comes from trying, after all.” She simply stares at you. Your soup’s gone cold by now, you think, but it’s not that bad. Her hands slide from your face and she stares at them. You get up and leave. You don’t know if you helped or made it worse, but spoken words can’t be taken back. You have art therapy now. It’s not your favourite.

At the beginning, they told you to paint whatever you wanted. You should paint whatever you felt. You watched the others for inspiration, and when they were new, they would draw angry things. They were angry, and confused, and sad. They didn’t give you any inspiration, so that was fruitless. Not wanting to disappoint the teacher, you did paint something. You weren’t sure what it was supposed to be, and you hoped you’d never have to explain it to someone.

Oh, how lucky you were.

In your next therapy session, there it sat, in all its sad glory. The doctor was looking at it and you weren’t sure if this had been a test. Did you fail? You’ve always been average at tests. He smiled at you and asked if it was a ball, perhaps. You didn’t know, but you knew; if it wasn’t, he’d try to coax an answer out of you – an answer you simply didn’t have. So you lied and said yes. You said it was a ball you used to play with when you were a child. You quite liked the ball, you said – it was your favourite, after all – and luckily, the others didn’t care about it, because it was all grey. You don’t why the colour would make them like it less – while playing, the ball would get dirty anyway. But as things stood, the ball was only for you and you liked playing with it. One day, it rolled onto the street, though and a truck ran it over. Thus, the ball was utterly flattened, and you have been forced to throw it away. You’ve been quite sad about it at the time, but in the end, it was simply a ball.

The doctor nodded and then proceeded to ask you about your feelings towards that situation. At the end of the session, you got quite attached to the story of a ball, even if it had never been real.

It took you three sessions to realise it wasn’t a ball. In the next art therapies, you painted the same thing, thinking of it as a ball, only to realise the truth in that little office.

It had never been a ball, even if the story felt so real.

It was simply a pebble.

 So here you sit, drawing the ball-pebble again. You haven’t told anyone it’s a pebble. You don’t really want to explain your feelings towards such a tiny, useless piece of rock. You wonder what made you paint it the first time. You remember thinking a round shape would probably the easiest, so you did that. And besides, it was a nice, repeating motion.

“Hey, Castiel”, says a voice behind you. You turn around and there sits Jonathan, clearly posed to whisper. “Can I have your black?” You don’t want to give it to him. Jonathan paints nothing but black canvases, over and over again. You know why he’s here – all the scars are hard to overlook. You wonder how many more he has, in places you can’t see. You wonder how many of them are inside. You sigh and hand over your tube of black. He takes it quickly and retreats. One time, he wasn’t given an extra tube of black and he threw a tantrum. He’s been gone for two weeks, and you thought maybe he got fixed up, but he still only paints black. You wish he would ask for green, or blue, or orange. You think it’d be nice if his life was more colourful. But you don’t know what to do. It’s not like you could ruin his painting. You don’t want him taken away again. Jonathan is nice, and his smiles are rare, but they are very beautiful. You’d wish he’d smile more. He rarely gets visitors, you know that; and if someone comes at all, it’s his daughter. They love each other, but they have forgotten how to interact with each other. Jonathan confessed to you he couldn’t look at Susie anymore. You saw her once, just as she was leaving. Her hair was a bright orange, and her dress was a lovely yellow.

You tried to paint Susie, very abstract, but it came out looking like a monster and you decided to not show it to Jonathan – or, for that matter, you decided not to show it to anyone. “I don’t have to see anything when I close my eyes”, he said to you. “I thought about it – butchering my eyes, but I’m afraid. I wouldn’t be able to see Susie anymore. But I still think it’d be better if it was all dark forever, you know? She probably hates me anyway. I’m such a shitty dad.” She loves you, you want to say, and you love her. But you don’t say it, because you think he knows already. He just doesn’t want it to be true. You wonder why.

You stare at your canvas. There sits your pebble, but this time you want to scrap it. So you do. You get your yellow and your orange and you paint. Maybe that’s all he needs. Just a little light and the darkness would be no more. The doctor asks you later, because it’s not your ball-pebble. “It’s not for me”, you say and he waits for you to continue. “It’s for Jonathan. It can’t all be dark, if there’s a light, right?” You ask the doctor to give it to Jonathan. You don’t know if he does. But from this day forwards, it’s all you paint. As tiny as it might be, it could be enough. And maybe he would look at Susie again and see the light in her.

 You have free time the next day. You find it rather boring, to be honest. Most people here spend this time playing games or looking out the window. If you got privileges, some even went outside to the gardens. You used to do that until recently, wasting time away staring at flowers. The bees were pretty fuzzy and you wished you could give them a hug. They got such a tiny pair of wings and still they were defying gravity. You wonder if you get something out of that. You’re sure someone already got some motivation speech out of that.

Five weeks ago, there had been someone new. It was a girl, and she was very thin, and still so young. You thought she couldn’t be older than sixteen. She looked miserable, even for the standard of here. The girl had been withdrawn in herself and she was looking in direction of the window. She was not looking outside. You wondered what she saw. There was a chair opposite of her. You could take it, or leave her alone. You wonder what Dean would do. Dream-Dean was quiet, but Dean would probably sit down and try to talk to her. He could do that, he was so charismatic. You however? You were as charismatic as a rotten carrot. Still, you could try. So you sat down in front of her, but she didn’t react.  That time, you just sat there, looking outside the window. When you left, you’re not sure if she ever noticed your presence.

Now, you brought board games. She wouldn’t play with you, but you think she saw you. That’s okay. You can play with yourself. If you’re playing Sorry against yourself, you could only win, after all. Three weeks you continued this spiel, and you did miss the bees a bit, but you didn’t want to give up. “Why are you here?” she asks in a weak voice, and she sounds so unsure. “I tried to hang myself with a rope”, you say casually and ponder over your next move. You don’t look at her; you’re not sure if she could take that. “No”, she says. “I mean, here, right now.” You frown. Your moves backed you into a corner. “I’m playing a game.” She sighs, and she sounds frustrated. “Why don’t you go outside? I know you can.” You look at her then. “But you’re not outside.” Her eyes are sunken in, and they’re brown and they look so frightened. She quickly turns away. You wonder if she is scared of you. You say no more to her and keep playing. You’re losing against yourself. What a stupid game.

“What’s your name?” she asks in barely a whisper. “Castiel”, you answer and this day, you talk no more. It still feels like a mountain climbed.

She grabs the box of your game one day. “Do you know the rules?” she asks and you say no. You look at the board, and you know she’s looking at you. It feels like she’s waiting for something, but whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to come. “I’m Leah”, she says and you look up and smile at her. “Hello, Leah. It’s lovely to meet you.” She doesn’t look away. You think, maybe, she looks a little bit less afraid than before. “Can I play?” she asks and you nod. You don’t bother with the rules and you think you almost hear her laugh. Small steps climb the mountain, and you’re ready to crawl.

You know she wants to tell you. She wants to tell you why she’s here. And you also know that she’s afraid of telling you. She might think it would change your opinion about her. It won’t, but she doesn’t know. She’s fidgeting in her seat and you’re afraid she’s going to slide off. “Why don’t you ever ask me questions?” You know that’s not what she wanted to say, but it’s okay that she got cold feet. “I just asked you if you wanted red or yellow.” She groans and rolls her eyes a bit. It’s nice to see that she’s still a bit like a teenager. “No, I meant, about why I’m here or what happened or some shit like that. Don’t you care?” You look at her. “You’re here because you are. If you want me to know, then you have to tell me. I know that because you’re here, whatever it is that brought you here is over now. I don’t know what else I’d have to know.” She stares at you and then advert her eyes. You make your next move and you win the round. Oh, that’s nice. You usually lose. “I lost it”, she starts to sob and you know she isn’t talking about the game. You pack up anyway. “It was my only reason of living, and I lost it, and...” She loses herself in sobs. You don’t know why she tells you. You’re just being nice; like a decent human being, and you’re not friends. You wonder if she told her doctor. “I think”, you say and you can hear her trying to quieting her sobs to hear you better. “I think your reason for living is yourself.” She wails and jumps up. It’s the first time you see her standing. She jumps you and grabs your shirt to shake you. “You don’t understand!” She shouts and you know nurses are coming. “You just don’t understand...” She’s quieter now and she sinks onto your chest, crying like a child. You put your arms around her awkwardly and don’t know why she needed you to know. It’s almost like it’s important to her. You wonder why.

 Surprisingly, you receive a visitor. Dean hasn’t been by in quite a while, so you wonder. Maybe he’s come back? Still, you follow the nurse to the visitation room. It’s Sam who you spot there. He’s never visited you, and he looks a tad bit uncomfortable. You think you can understand that. It’s not exactly a nice location that you’re in. When he sees you, he stands up awkwardly and starts reaching out his hand, stops midway – clearly wondering if he’s allowed to touch you – and moves to hug you, before he stops that too, instead rubbing his neck nervously. You tilt your head and sit down, waiting for Sam to follow. He’s fidgeting in his seat, and you wonder why he came. You hope everything is alright with Dean.

“Is Dean okay?” You ask and Sam jumps a bit, clearly not expecting to be spoken to. “What? Err, yes, he’s fine, don’t worry. I, uh, I came, because, uh... you – you’re gonna be out soon, right?” You furrow your eyebrows.  “Yes”, you answer, but you’re unsure what Sam wants. “That’s, that’s good! That means you feel better, right? Right. That’s good, yeah.” He’s looking everywhere but you. You want to be happy that he came at all – “You would have preferred me, though” – but you’d wish he’d say what he wants to say. “Sam”, you say. “Why did you come?” Sam stops his fidgeting. He still doesn’t look at you. “I, I just... Cass, you can’t come back and stay with Dean.” He looks at his hands. You knew that, of course. After what you put poor Dean through, how could you expect to go back to him? Still, hearing it made the pit in your stomach worse. Maybe that’s why he didn’t come anymore? Maybe just seeing you made his life worse? How selfish of you. Every time, you have eagerly awaited his visit and coaxed the next one out of him before he would leave without ever thinking about how it might make him feel. He must be traumatised by what he saw, by what you made him see. Maybe he even felt responsible? Oh, why did you never consider that? Good, kind, perfect Dean and you just had to come along and destroy him. Oh, just how could you?

Sam looks at you now. “You do understand that, right?” You have the strangest feeling Sam might’ve been talking. Oh, how selfish of you, having a mental breakdown while someone important was talking. How could you? You couldn’t ask him to repeat himself. “Yes, of course”, you reply and something akin to a smile flies over Sam’s face. Oh. Your answer made him happy. Still, you couldn’t smile back. You simply nodded and got up. As far as you were concerned, you were done. You should’ve enjoyed Dean’s friends more. None of them ever came to visit. You think they must hate you for what you did to Dean. “Farewell, Sam”, you say as a good-bye and leave the room. For everyone concerned, it was a nice visit. Only Dream-Dean knew the truth, and he wouldn’t let you forget. “Just think of what you did to me.” He turned around and left. Maybe he went to see his girlfriend.

 You get released a day early – they’re very sorry, but they need your room – and they ask if they should call someone for you. You decline politely; take your things and leave. You don’t say good-bye to Bell, or Jonathan, or Leah. You’re not friends, after all.

You walk until the hospital is out of sight. You stop then. What are you going to do now? You have no job, no money, no home and no friends. And even if you would go back to your family, they live three states over – and you don’t have money for the bus fare. So you turn towards the park. Maybe there will be flowers, and with them, bees.

There are flowers and there are also bees. They’re both very pretty. You lose yourself watching them, having missed them for so long. You don’t regret your time with Leah, but you’re happy with the bees. Still, you have to think about what to do next. You could always resort back to your previous line of work, but since this kind of got you into this mess, you’re not too keen to repeat it. Maybe there will be new job offers around town. Yes. You’re going to check tomorrow.

 There is a job offer. It’s at the Gas’n’Sip, and the manager takes you almost without blinking after you tell her you can operate a cash register. It feels odd, being taken so quickly after your last job-hunting disaster. You can start the next day and you look forward to it. She shows you the store and there is a back room. She asks if you would be okay taking the dead-shifts at the morning and the evening and you say yes. She almost kisses you right then and there. You wonder if these strong emotions are normal.

Working here is nice. People don’t know who you are and they don’t care either as long as you get their pump right. You declared the slush machine your enemy and that almost feels like it’s a normal thing. Maybe it is. You never declared something your enemy before. It almost feels playful. It’s odd, and you like it.

You miss Dean, of course. But you can’t dwell on that. You’ve hurt him terribly, and he will live a happier life if he doesn’t have to deal with you ever again. Your manager is shocked to hear you don’t have a phone, and the very next day, she presents one to you. It’s an old and used one, but she says it works and it’s a gift for you. You don’t remember getting gifts before. You thank her and when she smiles, you smile back.

Of course, you have no friends, so there are no numbers saved into this phone other than the store and your manager. But you think of all the possibilities. If ever you would get friends, you could save their number in here and they would only ever be a call away. You could put Dean’s number in. You remember it by heart, but he’s not your friend anymore and you can’t put in his number without his permission. You fantasise about it, though and it’s quite nice thinking about it. You can almost see yourself: you sit in the backroom of the store, in your brand-new sleeping bag and talk to Dean on the phone, rekindling your relationship. He would forgive you for what you did and you would do everything to make it up to him. It feels so real, you can almost hear his voice.

 What you do hear, is the honk of something. You look to your side and there is a truck in front of you. It seems so close, you think. It comes closer still, shouldn’t it stop? You stare up at it, mesmerized. It’s a yellow truck. Jonathan would hate it.

There is something, and then there isn’t. Above you is simply the blue sky with two clouds overhead. It almost looks like they’re hugging. It’s a sound you hear. Maybe something even hurts. All you see are the two clouds.

 Your phone lies on the ground, shattered into pieces.

[reblogggay]

Black and Yellow (A Bumblebee Fanfic.) - Chapter 1

This is my Bumblebee Fanfic and would appreciate if it received some love! I’m only gonna post half of this because its way too long. 

Summary:

"You've got some nerve, Yang."

"And you've got some nerve showing your face at a place like this."

Yang, popular All-star Basketball player, is the reputation of the school. With her outstanding grades, loving family and friends, she was what everyone aspired to be. Stakes are higher than ever before and with only a year until she graduates. It only takes one person to ruin her reputation, and one person to ruin the peace. That's where Blake comes in, and it's up to Yang to clean up the mess.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16290134/chapters/38098526

The door to Beacon Highschool opened with the wind; cold and dry. It rushed through the hallway, with a spirit of a lion banging on every locker in its midst. A bounce, and the sound of rubber skidding onto the reflective floor, stood a senior with thick yellow hair cascading at the back of her muscled shoulders, and purple eyes that looked like the rare colour of sunset shifting into the night. Catching the ball one-handedly, she removed her aviator glasses, placing it inside her adidas bag. Her eyes snapped up, and the students who clung to the walls, were now merging into one big stampede rushing after the girl. Arms raised, with papers flying behind them, the girl couldn't help but feel like Simba from the 'Lion King.' 

"BEACON! BEACON! BEACON! BEACON!" The students shouted, swallowing up the poor girl. She felt like a celebrity, waving and smiling at everyone who saw her, or maybe it felt closer to a god, because she had the ability to divide the students as she walked forward.

"Start with a Yang, and end with a Bang!" They chanted, she waved. 

"Yang, Yang for the win!" Yang couldn't help but chuckle, and raise her hands to the beat. She was soaking up her win with a smug look on her face. "Yang always wins!"

This has become an occasional 'event', since the first year of high-school. It all started out with one game, with her winning a game by 28- 12, then another game 56 - 32, then another 61 - 22. Beacon was a well renown top prestigious school, for their academics, music, and sports in their early years. However Beacon's status for sport was tarnished by none-other than the 'Grimfang Valley College', who called out one of the coaches, Coach Lionheart; for the use of steroids.

Due to this accusation, police investigations took over everything that revolved around sporting activities for the school. By questioning and interrupting most of the student's routines, and calling practice off by drug testing members of the team. It took a hit on the school, and took a bigger chunk when Coach Lionheart was caught with the possession of steroids. The school didn't want to believe it, but the media did, and made it worse by individually calling out members of the faculty. Beacon became a walking target for everyone who attended it or even got involved with it. Other events fuelled the fire causing the spirit of Beacon to die. 

A few years later, Yang awed the crowd by the skip in her step, and the magic flick of her wrist, the moment she stepped onto the basketball court. With her little hops, each shot she flung, was with impressive precession landing inside the hoop almost soundlessly. From then on Yang was the star and leverage of the school. The leverage being the metaphor of the reputation of the school. She could feel the weight she needed to pull for them, literally and figuratively. The constant pats on her shoulders were a a sign of that.

The crowd and the chants had finally dispersed, knowing that Yang had found her way to her locker. She twisted the black knob, opening the locker, to find herself staring back at her. She took a deep breath, before getting the books which she needed to start the class. Yang closed it, and only meters from her, a door opened, revealing Principal Ozpin. 

"Miss Xiao Long, may I speak to you please." Ozpin called over, before disappearing behind the door. She followed after him inside, then passed by happy coffee drinking staff members who had completely stopped talking to stare at her. 

"Morning Everyone." Yang smiled. 

"Hello Miss Xiao Long, pulled off a great win last night!" A man at the computer cheered.

"Oh, by my word! You don't credit her enough. What a fantastic win, you pulled off last night Miss Xiao Long! Very very impressive!" Another man gruffed into his moustache.

"Thank you, Mr Verne and Mr Pascito."

"It's good we're not on the chopping block anymore." Mr Verne remarked turning towards Mr Pascito.

"God knows how much Miss Xiao Long, is making an image for the school!"

Yang rolled her eyes at them. Their bickering was nothing new. It use to make her blood boil when they did because Mr Verne would always turn to Mr Pascito and talk about her, in front of her. However as long they were happy, then it was fine with her. She waved off to them out of instinct knowing that they were too distracted in their conversation. She entered Ozpin's office, which unsurprisingly had two chairs in front of his desk and laminated quotes of motivation on the wall.

"Love the new decorations Ozpin." She joked sarcastically, looking at her favourite quote on the wall of a rock-climber, with the words 'Don't give up, Live up. "I think the next time, I'll come in here I'll bring a plant to bring out the colour of your office." 

Ozpin came around the desk and sat down humming to her "Hmm, I do believe that's what this office is missing. Thanks for the thought," Yang sat up proudly, then vibrated her lips. "So how was your win against Sanus? I heard lots of praise from the students this morning, and much more from the teachers."

The moment Ozpin said this, Yang bursted into a boisterous rant about the basketball game. Occasionally she got up from the chair and mimicked the movements she did on the court, since the win was still fresh in her head. 

"...The horn goes off, and the ball lands swish into the hoop," She gushed slumping onto her chair, exhausted from telling her story. "It was amazing." 

Ozpin applauses at her, with a grin plastered on his face "What an interesting story."

"Hopefully that wasn't sarcastic." Yang chuckled while rubbing at the back of her neck. 

 "I can assure you it's not," He said smiling at her. "But that's not what I'm here to talk about."

"Oh, right. Awkward." She said awkwardly rubbing at the back of her neck.

Ozpin chuckled, "No, the issue I'm talking about, revolves around your win against Sanus. I got an email this morning, from a Basketball judge watching the game and they said they're quite pleased with the skills you had to offer.  They wanted to ask you, if they could judge you for your next game, to decide if you're worth the scholarship at their University; Huntress Academy."

"Huntress Academy?!" Yang stood up in disbelief.

"Yes 'the' Huntress Academy.'" Ozpin clarified, emphasising the 'the.'

"But that's hardest school to get into. They accept the unacceptable!"

"I'm not sure what you mean by that."

" What I mean is that, they only accept the best of the best. Only Atlas people get scholarships." Yang stated pacing around the room, and Ozpin hummed stroking his chin in comprehension. 

"It must be, that you're standards meet they're standards." Ozpin explained, comforting Yang who had finally stopped pacing. "They want an answer by next week and if you don't accept it, then I'm afrai-"

"No!" Yang halted, as Ozpin looked at her curiously through his spectacles. "I want to go to Huntress Academy." 

"That's the spirit." Ozpin smiled at her proudly. The conversation continued about what the judge had expected from Yang, and that's to meet the perquisites of the Academy. They demanded good grades, good behaviour and most of all a good performance for each game which was unsurprising to Yang. They urged Yang to maintain a good diet and to meet the required fitness that they expected from her, which meant longer training times for her and less time working on her team. She had a long ways to go and judging from the email, Yang needed to work on the criteria which was all new to her, and fast before the next game which was in 3 weeks. 

Yang was at the door when Ozpin asked if she was okay with it, to which she replied. 

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" 

 Yang had taken her seat in the far corner of the room, closest to the window. Her class being a few stories high, it was hard not to admire the little figures running from one side of the field across to the other. She reached for the window, and opened it, letting the fresh air circulate inside the room. It wasn't as chilly as it was, since the sun was now high in the sky. While staring out onto the field, she imagined herself wearing the Blue Huntress jersey, with the number '1' at the back of it. It was still a long way to go, but it scared her to think that this could be her reality.

The trill of the bell, called for the whispers to die, and before she knew it, Professor Oobleck was motioning for a someone to come into the room.  Doc Martins heels appeared from the door, which clicked at the touch of the floor. Yang's eyes trailed up from their shoes, to the person's endless legs, only to snap her eyes at the girl's face who had looked calm and collected. The girl wore a wore a V-neck zipped up blouse, where the sleeves came 3/4 up her arms. With black high-waist jeans held together by a belt and heeled doc martins. Her black hair fell behind her shoulders shimmering in the sunlight, tying her outfit together with a simple black bow at the top of her head. It was simple yet elegant.

Yang blinked twice at her before tuning into the Professor who sipped at his coffee mug. She now realised that the students were speaking in hushed whispers. A few boys, were ogling their eyes at her, especially a blonde haired boy whose expression was painted all over his face. Yang chuckled at Sun for his admiariabilty. 

"Before I introduce you to the class, I will introduce myself! Yes precisely!" Oobleck said, before taking another sip of coffee. The girl gave him a soft smile, before turning her attention back to the class. "I am Dr Oobleck, your teacher for English Literature. And you are?"

"Blake," she said, her voice sounding crisp and soft. It was the softest voice Yang had ever heard. She couldn't stop staring at her, and so did the entire class. Oobleck was swishing his coffee cup around and continued to look at Blake, which was a cruel habit of his, to pressure the answer out of a student. Blake's eyes had flicked back and fourth between the cup, and his spectacles, "Belladonna."

"Well Miss Belladonna," He sipped cheerfully, leaning back to his formal uptight posture "I hope you have a nice stay here at Beacon. I must ask, has anyone showed you around the school yet? Showed you where your classes were?" 

"I think I can manage."

Oobleck does not take no for an answer. "You're too brave Miss Belladonna, which is what our world needs, but! Our school has more mazes than the newspaper has to offer. How about a buddy to help you out?"

Blake just shrugged and smiled. She turned back to the class, and her warm ember sun-lit eyes fell on Yang, causing Yang's heart to shrink. She was scared that the thumping of her heart would be loud enough to hear, but Blake's gaze only lasted a second before looking somewhere else.

"Miss Xiao Long," Oobleck sipped motioning his coffee cup towards her, bringing Blake's attention back to Yang. Yang's breath hitched. "You know English literature at the back of your hand, why don't you show Miss Belladonna around the school for a quick minute?" 

"But sir," Oobleck's spectacles fell down to the tip of his nose, his green eyes staring back at her. She shook her head before standing up. She had met his green eyes a few times, and whenever it happened, everyone knew that all hell would break lose if he wasn't obeyed. Blake eyes never left her, she could feel it at the back of her neck as she walked past her. When Yang walked past, Blake had smelt like a mix of sweet vanilla and coconut. It was intoxicating, that she wished she walked a bit slower.

"Make sure you show her our music facilities!" Oobleck mentioned, as Blake and Yang we're walking out the door. Yang signed with her thumbs up then closed the door after.

"That's professor Oobleck for you."

"Is he always like this?" She asked, her voice resembling much like a purring kitten up close. 

"Like a time-ticking bomb ready to go off? Yes." Yang said before turning towards her, finding a smile plastered on Blake's face. Yang puffed her cheeks out, feeling the heat emit from it. "So where to Miss Belladonna?" 

They started walking around the school, passing by all the classes that Blake had which were: Calculus Maths, English Literature, Chemistry, Physics, World History, and Government Studies. 

"So you're smart?" Yang asked, when they passed by Calculus Maths. 

"You could say that." 

"Why Chemistry?" Yang asked, when they passed by Chemistry.

"Why not?"

"Why Physics?" Yang asked, when they passed Physics.

"Cause, Cars."

"Why World History?" Yang asked when they passed World History.

"To learn about World History." 

"Why Government studies?" Yang finally asked when they passed government studies.

"To become President." 

Yang either chuckled or shook her head at the surprisingly snarky remarks the girl had to offer. It added to modest demeanour, making Blake as charming as her. Ironically, Yang had asked more questions then Blake did, but the more she did, the more she got comfortable with the girl beside her. The only classes that Yang and Blake had in common was Chemistry and English Literature, Yang sighed a part of her hoping that she had more classes with her, to befriend her. Call Yang selfish for planning out the longest possible route to each class, for wanting to spend more time with the black haired girl. Luckily Oobleck, had given them an end location which was on the other-side of the school before they would go back to class.

"So, as you know the school is funded by the Schnee family.That's how we get all the nice computers, newly renovated classrooms, and of course the second best stage Vale has to offer, the first being at Atlas." Yang acknowledged while walking backwards in front of her. 

"But this is a highschool." Blake stated.

"Yes, glad you noticed that." Yang joked, causing Blake to roll her eyes.

"Knowing them, we would probably be indebted to them." Blake huffed.

Oh feisty.

"But, the thing is Weiss Schnee attends this school, and they think they owe it to us to by accepting her."

"Why's that?"

"Family issues i'm guessing?" Yang questioned, which was replied back by a soft hum from Blake. 

They reached the door of the auditorium, and Yang entered it leaving the door open for Blake to walk through. The lights were dimmed, and a white spotlight focused on centre stage. From what Blake could see, the auditorium had been more like a theatre. There were stage boxes built in the walls and a balcony just above them. Yang pulled on Blake's sleeve, lowering her down on the seat next to her. Even in the dark, she could feel how grand their auditorium was, based on the soft cushioned seat she was sitting on. The curtains opened, revealing a silver haired girl, with a grey elegant dress, and white bolero with red underneath its collar. Her high side pony tail, was recognisably tied by a crown like tie, and not a single baby hair was out of place. Her figure screamed loyalty and Blake finally recognised who she was.

"That's Weiss." Yang pointed out, and Blake nodded at her even though she knew. 

 Tale as old as time.

True as it can be

 Weiss eyes was closed as she sung the song, her head tilted towards the side revealing a scar on her eye. Blake wondered to herself how she had gotten it. 

"Some say she's related to Harry potter." Yang smirked.

"Of course you would think that."

 Barely even friends 

Then somebody bends

Unexpectedly

 Weiss opened her eyes, and looked into the spotlight daringly, as if it looked down on her. 

 Just a little change.

Small to sa-

 She was cut off, by a heavy thud on the balcony, and the spotlight flicked up to the roof of the building. Then another heavy thud landed, with a groan echoing through the space. 

"Oh no." Yang mumbled, before running to the back of theatre to where the stairs lead to the balcony, leaving Blake in her seat. It was still dark, and Blake had no idea where to go. 

"Lights please," Weiss huffed, shaking her head towards the ground. The lights snapped open, revealing all the fancy colours of maroon and gold on every seat, carpet and wall. The boxes had a maroon banisters hanging from its balcony, with a lion in the middle. The stage was much wider than she had expected. It was wide enough to have fit a 50m pool. This was child-play compared to the other school she went to. Another groan echoed, and Weiss was mumbling to herself still shaking her head side to side. "This is the 4th time you've done this." 

"Sorryyyyyy." The voice wheezed from the balcony. Blake followed where Yang had left at the stairs, she turned and then saw Yang lifting the stage spotlight which was crushing a red-haired girl. Yang placed it beside and away from both of them, then surveyed the red haired girl's face.

"Do it properly, or I'm getting Jaune!" Weiss shouted from the stage, catching Blake's attention from the balcony. Weiss slid of the stage to meet the person with the clipboard below. 

The person with the clipboard shouted at the corner of the stage, which echoed up into the roof then to them. "It's okay Ruby! Doing a good job!" 

"Make sure you're taking care of yourself okay? These things are heavier than they look." Yang sat up, looking at the girl who had her thumbs up. Yang looked back to Blake who was watching them intently.

"I know, I know." The little girl slumped. "But what am I suppose to do if Weiss looks so pretty, and she's looking at me an-" She stops mid-sentence, her eyes landing on Blake. "Oh no." She cursed. Her hands buried her face and the girl started mumbling things into her hands.

"Oh," Yang realised. "Ruby, this is Blake Belladonna. Blake this is Ruby Rose, my sister." 

Blake raised her hand out of instinct, and Ruby detached her hands from her face to shake Blake's hand.

"Nice to meet you." Ruby frowned.

"And you." Blake replied, and saw that she was still miserable about the situation. "I won't tell. I promise."

"Thank you." Ruby nodded smiling at Blake who smiled back at her. 

"So what are you working on?" Blake asked the silence becoming dangerously awkward. She was curious about Yang and Ruby being sisters. Their appearances being nothing but similar. Blonde Hair had contrasted with her Black and Red Hair, Silver Eyes to Purple, but what stood at the most was their personalities. She didn't want to overstep her boundaries, and instead played it safe.

"Beauty and the Beast, the Disney version" Ruby said animatedly.

"Oh, is that the one where the Uncle gets incarcerated because he steals a flower from the castle?" Yang questioned. 

"That's a funny way of putting it," Ruby chuckled, while Blake smirked. "but yeah that's what happened."

"Serves him right. Stealing is a crime." 

"He had his reasons." Blake added. 

"And so does every murderer." Yang shot back. 

"True, but depending on the reasons, it can sometimes outweigh the crime."

"That's not how it works," Yang furrowed her eyebrows at her, and Blake was staring back at her with the same fury. It was overwhelming to say the least, and so Yang folded her arms at her. She was not going down without a fight. "Name one person who got away with their crime?"

Yang smirked at her cockily, and Blake still staring at her said "Jean Valjean." 

Yang unfolded her arms surprised at how fast she had come up with it. She looked at her wide eyed, overwhelmed at the way Blake was staring back at her waiting for a response. "But he's not even a real person." 

"Neither is the Uncle." 

"Ooohhhhh." Ruby whispered yelled.

"Well I mean, he didn't technically get away with his crime." Yang excused, feeling the argument slipping from her side. "He escaped which is different." 

Blake's lips curled smugly, knowing that Yang already knew that she lost. "We both know that doesn't happen." As much as Yang wanted to rebut back, Blake was right. The policemen who had arrested him had decided to free Jean Valjean due to his reasons of committing his crime. He became a better person, and helped people even though he was an escaped prisoner. After all, the crime he committed was stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving nephew. 

"Whatever." Yang huffed, looking anywhere but at her. She could hear a small laugh from Blake, who was failing to cover it up, with her hands over her mouth. Butterflies in her stomach erupted, the sound of it forever echoing in her mind. It was sweet, and soft that she wondered what it would sound like if she made her laugh longer. 

"Ruby!" Weiss yelled from the stage. "What are you doing up there?"

Ruby made her way towards the balcony, and pointed at the spotlight which had fallen on her. "Nothing! Just fixing up some technical difficulties."

"I guess we should stop yanging around now." Yang whispered to Blake over Ruby's voice. Ruby turned to Yang while Weiss was still yelling at her, and gave her a thumbs up, as Yang and Blake slipped away unnoticed. As soon as the door closed behind them, the bell rung ending first period.

"Did you get my joke? Yanging around?" Yang asked nudging her arm.

"Yea, it was funny." Blake nodded.

"Well why aren't you laughing?"

And Blake simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Cause it Weissn't good enough." 

Yang bursted out laughing obnoxiously.

-

The rest is on Archive of Our Own

[bee-kathony]

ONCE UPON A TIME | CINDERELLA AU

Inspired by the beautiful moodboard created by the talented @balfeheughlywed

Once Upon a Time there was a beautiful girl named Claire Beauchamp, she was strong, independent and kind. She lives in the Kingdom of Lallybroch, ruled by King Brian Fraser, his son James Fraser is a young, sharp and handsome lad, unsure of his responsibilities. Claire's world shifts when her Uncle Lamb announces he is to be married. This is a tale of family, strength, kindness.... and love.

Chapter 1 | First Impressions 

The wind blew across the field, making Claire’s unruly curls fly over face, momentarily blocking her vision. She had been sitting under her favourite tree all afternoon, the same tree she often had dreams of. In her dreams, she saw a beautiful woman smiling down at her, brown hair cascading down her shoulders and tickling her skin. Claire remembered a young man too, he must have been her Father, Henry.

Claire knew that in these dreams, these people smiling down at her were her parents but she could barely remember them. They had died when she was very young, on their way to visit Claire’s Uncle Lamb when they were caught in a terrible storm, their carriage had run into a fallen tree and turned over several times, crashing down the side of a mountain.

She had been with her Uncle Lamb ever since. He often told stories of her parents when she asked him to. Claire never wanted to forget where she came from, who she was.

Claire tucked her legs against her chest and folded her arms around her knees. She didn’t want to go back to the house just yet. Soon her Uncle would come looking for her, to bring her back to reality. The reality that her Uncle, her guardian, her only family… was getting married.

Quentin Lambert Beuchamp, her Father’s brother, was a passionate man. He enjoyed digging things up in the ground, discovering their origins and the history surrounding those objects. His day to day life was as a Merchant, selling those artefacts he found from town to town, often leaving Claire to herself.

Claire didn’t mind being on her own, in fact she preferred it. They lived in a quaint house that was plenty big enough. It was the house that she was born in, her Uncle had moved in when he became her guardian. They had a small garden and collection of animals like chickens, one cow, two goats and two very lovely horses.

But Claire’s favourites were the little mice that ran throughout the house. Most people would think mice simply vermin but Claire had grown to think of them as friends, as odd as it sounded.

Animals were her first love, if you treated them with kindness then they reciprocated in turn. Her uncle was marrying someone that on first impression she saw no trace of kindness in. Jonathan Wolverton Randall was his name. She always knew that her uncle had an eye for the lads but never thought he would marry a man. Claire had no objections of course but this man… there was something quite off about him. Not to mention his children that came along from his first marriage, the twins.

Laoghaire and Alex Randall, the two most annoying and self-possessed humans to ever walk this earth. Claire had just celebrated her twentieth birthday, she was finally not in those awkward teenage years. Laoghaire and Alex were just seventeen, obnoxious teenagers indeed.

“Bloody children that’s what they are.” Claire’s first meeting with the twins was not altogether a pleasant one. They had stepped out of the carriage both wearing the most vile and obscene pieces of clothing Claire had ever seen. She put on her brave face and greeted them, welcoming them into her home.

They tossed their bags at her feet, assuming she was the maid. She had stared down at the bags and when she didn’t pick them up, Laoghaire turned on her, “Ye better pick up those bags lass or my daddy will have ye out of this house, lookin’ for somewhere else to work.” Her eyes were wicked, her tongue most foul, and Claire didn’t like her one bit.

“I’m not the maid… I’m Claire, your new sister.” She had stuck out her hand in greeting but Laoghaire and Alex turned to each other and burst out laughing.

“This girl? Our sister?!” More laughing and Claire had begun to grow frustrated and a bit embarrassed.

“Well your outfit…” Alex looked her up and down, taking in Claire’s simply frock made of pale blue linen. “Is atrocious, no wonder you mistook her for a maid!” He laughed to Laoghaire and turned back to Claire, “As long as ye’re dressed like a maid, ye best pick up our bags and take them inside.”

Claire had treated everyone with kindness and in return she received the same. It wasn’t in her nature to be feeling what she felt know, hatred.

How could she live in that house and put up with those two? Not to mention her new step-uncle. Jonathan Randall was a man of few words, he was British, like her and her uncle, an officer of the King and apparently quite the charmer.

Her uncle did look happy, that was what mattered right?

Just as she suspected she saw her uncle walking to where she was. He didn’t say anything as he approached her but sat down beside her, sighing as his joints popped and cracked on the descent.

“Ah Claire, my sweet Claire.” She rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arm around his elbow.

“I know you’ll grow to like them, first impressions aren’t always correct.” In this case Claire wasn’t too sure about her impressions of them changing anytime soon.

Claire looked up at her uncle then, “I love you, you know that. You always told me that my mother was the kindest woman you had ever met.”

“Yes she was. And she gave that same kindness to you my dear.” He placed his finger under her trembling chin. “Don’t worry my child, I know that this is difficult for you. Having it just been the two of us for so long now. But I do think it will be nice for you to have Laoghaire and Alex around to keep you company.”

“If you say so uncle.” Claire smiled and Uncle Lamb gave her hand a gentle pat and she stood from her spot, reaching her hands down to help him up.

They began the short walk back to the house, the Autumn sun shined behind them, creating a peaceful glow on the house.

It was anything but peaceful when they arrived inside. Laoghaire and Alex were screaming at each other about wardrobes being too small and there not being enough room for all their shoes. Jonathan Randall was in the sitting in the lounge, ignoring all the commotion and reading a novel, obviously used to all the racket.

“What on earth is going on?” Claire asked, looking at the chaos that had exploded in the form of colourful clothing and wigs strewn about all over her bedroom.

“Well ye’re room is the biggest ye ken, Alex and I always share a room so we moved our stuff in here.” Laoghaire grunted as she picked up a pile of Claire’s clothes and dropped them in the hallway.

“But… this is my room. The only other room is-“ Claire groaned inwardly.

“The attic lass.” Alex smirked, tossing yet another audacious piece of clothing on his bed.

“Ye best get all ye’re stuff out of the hall Claire, Daddy doesna like a mess.” Claire sighed, she must show them kindness if she expected to receive an inkling of it in return.

“Yes of course.” She smiled and left the room, careful not to trip on her belongings scattered   on the floor. A reflection down the hall caught her eye and she walked over to it.

It was her Mother’s hand mirror, one of the only things she had that was hers, lying broken and shattered. Claire didn’t cry often but a tear slid down her cheek as she bent down and picked up what was left of her Mother.

She held it gently to her chest and shut her eyes tight. “It’s okay Beauchamp, you’ll get through this.” Claire took several deep breaths and returned to pick up the few remaining earthly possessions she owned.

Her Uncle Lamb, she saw was now in the lounge sitting beside Jonathan Randall, holding his hand and smiling. She wiped away her tears and walked to the end of the hall, opening the door that led up to the attic.

It didn’t take her long to arrange everything, while it was quite dusty and there wasn’t much in the way of decoration, soon it was suitable enough. Her bed, her books and her friendly mice were really all she needed.

Claire didn’t return downstairs that evening, she thought she wouldn’t be missed in any case. She rose early the next morning, waking with the sun.

As she walked through the halls and down the stairs, she heard no sound. Everyone was still asleep, nothing was demanded of her so Claire went to the small stable that housed their two horses.

She saddled Brimstone, her favourite and set off into the woods surrounding the house, eager to escape with her own thoughts.

Claire loved how the air whipped across her face, it always helped to clear her mind whenever something troubled her.

She rode towards the sun, slowing down to a trot when she reached the river and continued to follow its path.

Brimstone snorted and neighed as they turned past a corner of trees, “What is it girl?” Claire stroked her mane, trying to calm the horse down, “What do you see?”

Claire spotted the root of Brimstone’s agitation, another horse was tied to a tree, it’s owner no where to be found. She clicked her tongue and brought Brimstone to a halt, leaping off and tying her next to the other horse.

The owner of the horse couldn’t have gone far she thought. Claire walked through the trees and down a small slope that led to the river. When she looked up she spotted him. A tall red haired man, drinking from his hands as he dipped them in the running water.

She stepped forward and her foot met a branch making a ‘crack’ sound. The man leapt to his feet, pulling out his sword and brandishing it in front of him making Claire take two steps back. She tripped on a rock wedged in the ground and fell on her bottom.

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!” She exclaimed, her hands going to her now sore bottom.

The man slid his sword in its hilt and ran over to her, crouching down to her level, “I’m sorry lass, I didna mean to scare ye” He laughed, amused with the situation. “I wasna aware of anyone else bein’ in this part of the wood, it was ye that gave me the first fright.” He held out his hand for her to take and she looked from his hand to his eyes.

Claire saw his face for the first time. He had a strong jawline, a straight nose, a bit of scruff on his cheeks and neck and the most gorgeous ocean blue eyes. He looked familiar but she couldn’t quite place him. Claire forgot her words as she looked into his eyes and he laughed again.

“C’mon lass, let me help ye up.” The man now reached for her hand and she shook her head, trying to collect herself. Claire was brought to her feet and swayed a little, unsteady on the uneven ground. The man’s hands immediately went to her waist to hold her upright and she felt a spasm of energy run through her body.

“Sorry” He said and removed his hands, holding them in fists now at his side, almost like he was afraid to involuntarily touch her again.

“Thank you.” Claire finally managed to speak. “And I’m sorry I snuck up on you like that, I saw your horse and came to investigate who it’s owner could be.”

“Aye, it’s my horse, Donas, I heard the river and needed a wee drink.” He smiled again, he was absolutely beautiful Claire thought.

He said something but Claire was too distracted by the way his mouth quirked up on one side to hear him.

“Sorry what did you say?” Claire blinked several times. She really must get better at concentrating.

The man smiled, his mouth doing that thing again which made her stomach do somersaults.

“I said, do ye live around here? I can tell by ye’re accent ye’re not from Scotland… a Sassenach.” He called her a Sassenach, often a derogatory word meaning ‘English person’ or ‘Outlander’, and not always the nicest thing to say to someone she thought.

“Meanin’ no offence to ye of course lass.” He said quickly once he saw the expression on her face.

“It’s alright. I take no offence to the word.” She actually liked the way he said it, his Scottish accent was like the bird song, sweet and musical. “And yes… I live just back there a ways” Claire pointed behind her, it was quite a ways actually and she had better be getting back before the household realised she wasn’t there… if they realised she was gone at all.

“Do you live near here then? I don’t normally see people when I come here to ride.” Claire put her hand over her eyes to shield them from the rising sun.

The man shuffled back and forth on his feet, he seemed a bit nervous. “Och, no. I live more in the city I suppose.”

“You suppose? You mean you don’t know where you live?” Claire tried to suppress a laugh, this man was becoming more and more interesting.

Aye, I ken where I live,” he laughed and ran his hand through his curly red hair, “I do live in the city, in Lallybroch.”

Lallybroch, it was the where the palace was, the King Brian Fraser and his recently late wife Ellen, the Queen, had ruled over the kingdom all her life. She had been into the city quite often, going with Uncle Lamb to help him sell his artefacts or pick up a few new books from the local bookseller.

“Which area do you live in? I go into the city quite often, would I know it?” Claire asked, the man’s cheeks blushed crimson red which she found odd but also charming.

“Aye, you would know it.” He didn’t say more, but suddenly turned and walked up the slope, Claire followed and saw another man come riding from the opposite direction.

“Who’s that man? Do you know him?” She asked and pointed in the direction of the stranger.

The red haired man cursed in Gaelic and untied his horse, mounting it easily and guided his horse back to the path. “Aye, he… works for my Father.” The man said unsurely.

“Your High-“ the stranger said to the red haired man but he interrupted him all too quickly, “It’s Jamie, Jamie! It’s Jamie!” He rushed out, stopping the other man from continuing his sentence.

The other man chuckled, “Well then… Jamie. Ye’re Father has asked me to come and fetch ye. Ye have…” He looked over at me, barely visible behind Jamie on his horse, “some important business to attend to.”

“Aye, I suppose I do. Fine Murtagh, I’m comin’.” The man, whose name I now knew was Jamie turned back to look down at me, his smile as bright as ever. “I must leave Sassenach, duty calls. Will I see ye here again?” He looked hopeful, almost childlike.

Claire blushed, her hands untying her horse from the tree as she spoke, “Perhaps I shall see you in the city some day.”

The other man suddenly laughed and then began coughing causing Jamie to glare at him. “Aye lass, maybe ye will.” Claire climbed on Brimstone and grabbed the reigns, pointing the horse in the direction of home.

“Sassenach!” James called before she raced off, “What’s ye’re name, ye know mine is Jamie…”

“Goodbye Jamie…” She smiled coyly and clicked her tongue, her thighs pressing against the horse beneath her and began riding in the opposite direction of Jamie.

She dared a glance back and saw that he was watching her, his mouth agape. “Sassenach!” He called out to her once more but she was too far away to respond.

If she ever saw that strange red haired man again, she promised to tell him her name but for now she kept that to herself, the only part of herself that she felt she owned anymore.

[spirit-shroud]

if you're still taking requests, how about a plight x m!reader where they need to pretend to be married? x)

okay anon so first of all that is legitimately my favourite fanfiction trope and i love you, so here’s a fun 3.3k word fic i kinda went overboard on, but i hope its still within the lines of what you wanted ^^ Read it on ao3 in my collection of other requests here

“‘Sup! I have a favour to ask.” The voice of the lamplighter came through the phone at far too loud of a volume, and much too fast for you to keep up with. He sounded out of breath. You looked around for a clock and sighed into the receiver. “Huh? I haven’t even asked the favour yet.”

“Plight, dear, friend, pal, buddy. Bro. Dude. Can it wait? It’s six in the morning, where are you even calling me from?” You tried not to sound upset, but you definitely did. You hovered a finger over the hang up button. “��Oh, it… is really late isn’t it. Good morning! I’m at the library right now and, what are you going to be doing in, like, two hours?”  

 “I planned on sleeping, though that’s not happening I guess.” “Yeah, sorry. Something came up and its important. Anyways, meet me at – hold on–” You heard the sound of papers, presumably him flipping through his schedule book. “Ling’s at 8:15?” “How important is it? And you’re paying.” “Of course. And, life or death situation. I promise.” “If you’re sure. I’m going to keep being bitter about it, though.”“That’s fair. See you then, okay?” You meant to say something else, but it came out as a mildly foreboding “Soon.” before you hung up. You yawned, stretched, and decided you had the time to do whatever until 8:15. Plight wasn’t one to ask for favours ever. What could come up that he needed you for? And something that required a meeting, which was all the more odd. You made yourself presentable to the outside world and spent the rest of the morning laying about, contemplating every possible way things could go wrong. That was the most necessary step to leaving your apartment as always. The hour came and you started over. The cafe still wasn’t quite open – The lights were still being tended to by a lamp bot, and Ling filling the coffee machine. He turned around and gave you a wave. “Good morning! Did you sleep well?”   “Good morning. It.. could’ve been better. But, what can you–” You yawned, interrupting your own sentence. “Do, I guess.” The boy looked at the grounds he measured, and added half a cup extra before setting the machine to brew. “It’s just a slow day already, I think. So, what can I get for you?” He gave you a happy smile. “Nothing quite yet, I’m waiting for Lampy.” You sat at the counter and put your head on it. “He’s late to his own appointment again.” “Ah… ‘Seems like you’re getting roped into this as well.” Ling laughed uncomfortably, giving you a pat on the shoulder. “I don’t like the sound of that.” “I’m just going to let him explain it. The whole deal’s pretty, ahh, interesting. But if he’s on his way I should get more coffee, give me a minute.” He dismissed himself with a wave, and you, half-asleep still, waved back. 8:15 turned into 8:45 before Plight finally showed up, covered in a mix of oil and phosphor that didn’t look comfortable at all. The scent reminded you of silly string, for some reason, and sitting next to it was as unpleasant as it sounded. His hair was equally messy, half-covered by his hat, and his hook still not rinsed off of the glow. He made finger guns at you before speaking. “I bet you’re wondering why I needed you here today,” he began, not sounding too sure of himself. “To be honest, I’m more concerned why you look like you lost a fight with a street lamp. And, isn’t phosphor highly acidic?” You tilted your head at him, trying to hold your breath. Ling passed you a mug, and Plight the remainder of the carafe of coffee, expression neutral. Same nonsense as usual. “It is, I’m, like, dying at the moment. Anyways, the worst thing happened. I got back to my house after I talked to you and stuff, except my phone’s ringing and it’s awful. Like, this guy called me in a panic because one of the morning bot crew wasn’t working. And he casually forgot to mention that it was an optical problem because some shitty kid threw rocks at the thing. I had to like, run out and buy some replacement glass which sucked let me tell you, nothing is open until like, ten these days. And, now, I’m not the guy you ask for repairing bots, but I have two things going for me. One, I’m an idiot. Two, I’m determined. So I tried my best and! Got it to work. But I also feel like I’m melting and it was a mess and I regret not just bothering someone else about it. But the east side of the city also isn’t my problem for another day SO I’d say I did a good job. That’s also why I’m so late and I apologize.” He hung his head. You blinked, processed his story a few times over, before shaking your head and taking a loooong sip of your drink. “I’m not sure what I was expecting, honestly.” Ling shrugged and left you to your confused silence. “So, breakfast?” “The usual would be great, thanks.” You sighed. “I’ll have whatever he’s having.” “Good luck, you two.” He disappeared into the back, laughing again as if he knew something.The lamplighter clapped his hands together before continuing where he left off. “Okay so back to the point. I need you to, ahh, pretend to be my husband for an uncomfortable social event?”You narrowly avoided spitting out your coffee. “One more time with that?” You heard him. You had a full understanding of what he just said. However, you were having a hard time believing it. He dug around in his pockets until he found a small package, and slid it over to you. Upon closer inspection, it was a maple-flavoured candy ring, and you stared at him for a long time. “It’s a long story.” “Get talking, then.” You were so… done. But when it came to the lamplighter, you were a pushover at heart, so you at least wanted to hear him out.“I’m not sure where to start on this one, uhh.” He scratched the back of his neck. “So I was being bugged by this girl at my other… other… job, and I kiiiinda panicked and told her I was married because I wanted her to screw off, except there’s a staff party like tonight and now I’m expected to show up there with my supposed spouse. And, I can’t even like, get out of it. My schedule is totally clear. I don’t have anyone else I can ask except for you and I’m kinda all screwed up over it.” “…That implies you already went and asked a bunch of other people.” “Yeah. See, what happened, is, Kelvin said no outright, Ling is busy and y’know him, he needs two weeks notice on everything anyways. Cedric just hung up on me, Rue is a literal fox, Kip is old, too well known, and also a lesbian, and you’re, um, starting to get the picture, I hope.” He sighed heavily. You nervously reached for his shoulder, trying to avoid the bits that were alight with phosphor. “I will help you this once, but we’re going to have to put effort into it. What’s the dress code of the party? Who’s going to be there? Will there be free food? And if we’re doing this we’re going to need legit looking wedding rings and also some fake pictures. We need to agree on an anniversary date, and some other stuff that I’m forgetting right now.” “Speaking of food–” Ling emerged from the back holding two plates, piled high with scrambled eggs, french toast, fried potatoes and bacon. To an average person, it’d be too much, but you dove into it before he even set it down. “Sorry it took so long, still setting up for the morning rush and all. Which should be.. soon…” The boy hung his head for a moment, before adjusting his apron and putting a happy smile on. He was truly the hero of customer service.Plight was staring at his plate, then at you, then back to his plate. It seemed he needed a minute. You spoke first. “It’s not a problem, we���re not in a rush or anything!! But, okay, so we need a date.” “Hm, hiking in the Glen sounds nice. Or maybe visiting the world history museum. Or, you meant like, day, didn’t you.” The boy covered his face with his palm. “Why not 45-23?” “Alrighty, so that’s our anniversary now.” You poked the lamplighter. “Still with us?” “Just. I don’t think I’ve had this much food in a year how do you do this regularly? And that say sounds good, yeah. Let me–” He scribbled it down in his notebook and nibbled at the potatoes.   “You have a problem, dear.” “I’m busy, s’all.” He pouted. “This is really good by the way. And, the… Event,” he said it with such disgust, as if saying the word party would ruin the atmosphere. “Pretty straightforward. Lots of boring office people who think it’s a fashion show rather than an after-work get together where they just smacktalk their clients and drink sparkling apple juice in crystal glasses. It’s literally, like, just juice. It’s so… Tame. And boring.  Anyways, the cool guys and who we’ll probably just stand around the most is the other maintenance guys who are cool as hell. We aren’t even sure why we’re invited to be honest but that makes it kind of better. So I think if we go with something that’s like, kinda flashy, but not in the ‘high class citizen who understands social cues’ area, we’ll be okay and be talked to as minimally as possible. Also if we really need to leave you can fake pass out or something.” You brought a hand to your chin in thought. “I am a pro at being dramatic. But, for outfits, I have… Nothing matching that description.” “And I have reckless spending habits! Guess we’re going to the mall for two pressing things today.” 

“Okay but you have clothes at my house and you’re taking a shower first. I’ll even, like, do your laundry. Please dude.” He wiped his face and his expression soured. His hand was covered in black streaks of machine oil and whatever else. “…Ah.” The pair of you finished up, paid Ling and thanked him before crossing the skywalk into your apartment. Some hours passed before you were both ready again, but you got lots done. Enough edited photographs to fill a small album, all ready-printed and as nice looking as possible. You got a few other people in on what was happening just in case they were asked. It was above and beyond what you’d do for any other situation, but after getting over the initial shock, you realized the situation was more hilarious than anything. You worked on getting your stories straight while you walked towards the mall. You met in middle school, were close friends through high school, but fell apart sometime around college due to conflicting dreams or something (You mostly hoped nobody’d ask you to go in that much detail) when afterwards you eventually ran into each other and started dating. It wasn’t a lie, per se. The truth was definitely stretched, but not beyond recognition. You held hands while wandering around store to store to practice the idea of closeness. Something was off about it, though. You’d never known him to be the nervous sort and yet his palms seemed to get sweatier, his words a little more hesitant by the hour. Even when you’d normally be bickering about this or that was met with no resistance. It was starting to make you worried as well, but you didn’t want to mention it. It seemed while your acceptance was in the fun of things, he had a very different realization.The culmination of those anxieties passed without incident, as there were more pressing matters. Standing in front of a directory for the third time that day, a thought crossed your minds at the same time. “How do jewelry stores even work?” He looked down at you, as if you’d magically have the answer. “I’d imagine like any other store??” “But, like, do you just… walk in, and say, ‘do you by chance have two plain gold bands? Here’s my card. My ring size is 10.5’? Don’t you usually need to order things ahead of time? What if they, like, ask?” “That’s, um, a valid point. I have no idea.” You scratched the back of your neck awkwardly, trying to laugh it off. He followed the motion. “We need an adult.” “Plight, we’re adults. Let’s just find a place and see what happens, okay?” He sighed and tried to find the one he was looking at earlier on the map. “That’ll go well. Two bros, looking at gold rings for some… Reasons.” You walked across the mall, still hand in hand, and stared into some of the outer cases of one store you stumbled across. Everything was far too glittery for your cave eyes, and the numbers high enough to make you feel the crippling debt. “What the f–.” He paused. “Heck. Is a karat? Isn’t that a troll? Why are there fourteen of them? And this one is eighteen?” “I think it’s a measure of like, how much actual gold is in it. Since like, normal pure gold is a sucky material, they put other stuff in it so it’s not as terrible. It’s still pretty terrible, though.  Also the troll you’re thinking of is something else entirely.”“That’s… informative. Also, you’re a nerd.” “I can’t argue with that.” After wandering around for awhile and looking at everything, you both realized you had no idea what you were actually doing there. You decided to settle and look elsewhere. After all, it only had to look like a gold band. You only planned on keeping it on your finger for roughly four hours. You stumbled across the exact thing you needed as you’d used up all your allocated shopping time, and started back to your apartment. He happily carried everything while you walked along. The conversation was over in a comfortable silence. It was something you’d let yourself get used to in a heartbeat. Just the two of you– Wait. He actually was talking and you missed it…?  You shook your head as you leaned against the wall of the elevator, and the lamplighter stared at you blankly. “Did you hear any of what I just said?” “Um,” you stared at the ceiling, then the floor. “Nope.” “That’s fair, first of all. To recap, it starts in about two hours, and it’s a fifteen minute walk, so we have some time to sit down before getting ready and everything. You look exhausted.” He managed to keep every bag on one arm, and offered his other one out to you. You took it, despite not looking happy about it. “I’m not used to going anywhere, since my office is right in my building. I think this’ll be the most anything I’ve done for awhile.” “You really need to get out more.” “And do what? Bask in the sunlight?” Your expression deadpanned.“Okay that was cold. But yeah, I remember you mentioning a few weeks ago you were pretty stir-crazy. Like, hey, maybe you could set up shop in the library sometime? And then I could, like, visit, since I end up there so much anyway.” “I’m sure I could bother George about it sometime, depending on the day… And, next time you’re free we should lay around, watch some movies, the usual. It sure has been awhile.” “Yeah, it… has. This is the first time we’ve actually spent together in months. Kind of strange, given the circumstances.” You both chuckled. You unlocked your door, took off your boots, and immediately laid on the floor. It was nice to be home. Plight got to cutting tags off of your clothes and it went back to a content quiet. The whole situation was starting to feel too domestic and you were wishing for a distraction. You weren’t opposed to it, but you also didn’t want to let yourself get used to it. It was just one night and if it didn’t mean anything six hours ago, it wasn’t going to now. You looked at the clock and sighed at it, which was echoed back. This became a contest over who could sigh the loudest, but it devolved into laughing quickly.  You picked your clothes up from the pile. “We should, um, get ready, it’s almost time.” “Oh, you’re right–” You disappeared into your room and left him to his own devices, emerging a few minutes later. You wore brown pants, a beige shirt, dark green suspenders and a bowtie to match. You admired yourself in the mirror but the same feeling of something being off came back. You ran a brush through your hair and tried to look back, but to no avail. The more you tried to nitpick and adjust things the more awkward it felt to be in. A lot of things were like that, you thought. The more you tried to push away small imperfections the more the original picture was lost. Your mind trailed back to the man in the other room. You figuratively wiped the blush off your face and walked out to greet him. He eyed you up and down. “It looks dumb, doesn’t it?” You deflated, staring at him. You realized you’d never actually seen him outside of his usual long coat. You wished you could’ve a long time ago. You decided to leave the mental comments there.“No! I mean, you look… nice.” He turned away. “So I was kind of thinking, what if instead of sitting by a punch bowl for like, three hours to prove something, we actually do something… fun?” Thinking about it, you shrugged. “Did you have any specific ideas?” He raised a finger, then lowered it. A few seconds later he raised it again, only to lower it again. “Not yet. I haven’t gotten that far. But it’d be like, a date? If that’s cool? I mean, if it’s not then it’s fine and just forget it but I’ve been thinking about it most of the day and???” He ran out of breath and it took some effort to recollect it. “Y’know. At least I hope.” “I’d be down for a date,” you hesitantly said, not too sure of your own words. “But, just to clarify, you did ask some other people to this thing first before settling for me, right?” He tensed up for a minute. “Don’t call it settling. But, I did, and I had a lot of fun today, and accidentally revived some old feelings? Which was… a journey in itself, and then I also decided I don’t really need to prove anything to anyone. Life is too short to stress about dumb things and if anyone decides to bother me about it, I can tell them in loud, rainbow details about the better night I had with my ‘husband’ until they regret asking.” He offered his arm out, which you linked with yours. “That sure is a lot to come out of today.” You were happy to lean on him. You also wished, quite a lot, in fact, you were better at stringing words together. “I put in a lot of unnecessary effort to not make it weird? But then it was weird anyways, and, ahh. Let’s just go for a walk and see if we find anything interesting.” “Sounds good to me.”

[himenation]

💖 BTS LOVE YOURSELF WORLDTOUR IN AMSTERDAM (ZIGGO) 131018 💖

PRECONCERT

I finally managed to get tickets, but I already bought expensive tickets on stubhub I had to sell at the venue on Saturday ;;; But first I had to go to Korean School, but I had a fever and was feeling so sick (I still am...) When we arrived at the venue, it was SO CROWDY?????!!!!! there were a lot of fans and the weather was so hot too wow :o Anyways I still managed to sell my tickets and made two armys really happy <3 

In the venue I was by myself and made a new friend and we talked so much! They were playing MVs and I couldn't wait any longer ;; My view for the stage was amazing too! I could see everything really well and I`was pretty close too :D

I posted fancams and fanpics on my twitter  

SETLIST (2,5 hr) 1. IDOL 2. SAVE ME 3. IM FINE 4. MAGIC SHOP 5. JUST DANCE (JHOPE) 6. EUPHORIA (JUNGKOOK) 7. I NEED U 8. RUN 9. SERENDIPITY (JIMIN) 10. LOVE (NAMJOON) 11. DNA 12. MEDLEY - BOYS WITH FUN 13. MEDLEY - ATTACK ON BANGTAN 14. MEDLEY - FIRE 15. MEDLEY - BAEPSAE 16. MEDLEY - DOPE 17. AIRPLANE PT 2 18. SINGULARITY (TAEHYUNG) 19. FAKE LOVE (ROCK VERSION) 20. SEESAW (YOONGI) 21. EPIPHANY (JIN) 22. THE TRUTH UNTOLD 23. TEAR 24. MIC DROP 25. SO WHAT 26. ANPANMAN 27. LOVE MYSELF

Note: I didn't film everything, I was only holding my phone at some songs at some parts, Idk how I remember everything so clearly, but they mean so much to me so probably my mind wanted to remember everything ;;

CONCERT They started Idol with lots of fireworks, am I really seeing bangtan? I couldn't believe my eyes AT ALL. The fan chants were amazing too, in my fancams Im screaming a lot AHAHHA but oh my god..... I still cant believe I saw bangtan!!! I also wanted to say they talked Dutch a lot (Namjoon: Aangenaam Kennis te maken, Jungkook: Geniet van de Show and I cant remember what the others said). And then they did the Save me + im fine and really save me and im NOT fine. it was so good SKFJKSDJFS Im fine is one of my favourite songs of ANSWER and I JUST SAW IT LIVE TOO?! And next up was Magic Shop, which is such a beautiful song. Especially singing ‘’I show you’’ to bangtan made me really teary and the precious VMIN moments too <3 I also want to say I've never seen any live performances (except the old songs, medley, mic drop, anpanman, im fine and idol)! Now Jhope and Jungkook were about to have their solo, and the dance moves in just dance of JHOPE. I need.... air, he is so good ;;;; Jungkook was still hurt and was doing Euphoria while sitting (he also did lots of choreos on the chair). And he had such a beautiful smile at the ‘high note parts’ it made me so weak and soft ;u; And I expected this song, but then I didn't expect it either, but this was another version of I NEED U and they were all wearing white and lowkey were looking like the most beautiful angels and human beings ive ever seen ;; We had to rap yoongis part too! and tHEN SJSKFJKSJ RUN RUN!!!! RUNN CAME!!!! IM SOBBING, I LOVE RUN SO MUCH?!!!! And now Serendipity was next :’) this was the most cutest, adorable, yet beautiful and so jimin performance I have EVER SEEN. He was playing with bubbles, doing a smooth choreo and smiling/giggling a lot, but the heartbeat he did? My heartbeat was total flat line at that POINT because that was TOOO MUCH JIMINess. Next up was our president: Kim Namjoon, he had so much fun performing and I did the fan chants so loudly ;; DNAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! I know I say I dont like DNA a lot, but the moment I heard the flute I screamed the fan chants so loudly and since ive been screaming for more than an hour too: I was losing my voice. BUT FIRST OF ALL, IS KING TAEHYUNG LOOKING AT JHOPE WHILE DANCING (INSTEAD OF THEIR BACKS ON EACHOTHER), THEN HE IS HOLDING JUNGKOOK WHILE SINGING? EXCUSE ME SIR.

JIMIN BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION So during this MC, the screen behind turned into a Jimin screen and it said In dutch ‘’My Angel and my world’’ and jimin is indeed our angel and our world! he was so happy and started running towards the main stage (they were on the extended stage) and he went on his knees and said things like thank you!!! I love you!! and this is my best birthday and wont forget it either!! (things like that) and the member started running (EVEN INJURED JUNGKOOK!) towards him too and hugging him ;; We all sang happy birthday to him!

Medley and then the amazing medley! they started with Boys with Fun (taehyung didn't choreo his dance :( ) but it was nevertheless really amazing! Jungkook was doing lots of choreos on the chair during this medley! During Attack on Bangtan; Jimin was sitting on the floor and looking at Jungkook and both had such a beautiful smile ;; And it was so quiet and suddenly taehyung screamed MAKE SOOMEEEEE NOOOISE and you heard a loud ‘’Bultaoreune’’ and [closed] they did the 3:33 [username himenation more closed]. their energy was mind-blowing! Especially Jimins! and suddenLY BAEPSAE CAME AN I REALY LOVE THIS SONG (they were A LOT less wild and less hoe-ing than in USA, they did baepsae how they always did it lol). but everyone jumped away from the stage to give Jhope is part anD DAMN JHOOOOOPEEEE. After BAEPSAE they dID DOPE GUYS!!!!!!!! and jungkook did the choreo while sitting, oh god I love bts so much man

Concert part 2 After DOPE they did AIRPLANE PT 2. And I havent mentioned yet how gorgeous they looked, but especially Jin! He was wearing this oversized holographic-ish shirt but looked so amazing and the namjin part [ooof], jin also accidentally exposed his abs lol (Issa win for the kimseokjinstans), but also the yoongmin part, the dance EVERYTHING! 

And... singularity came, guys.... taehyung is my bias, but he wrecked me so much this whole concert, ive been sobbing man, this man is so perfect ;; the way he sings it, his voice, dance, aura, his visuals, all A+ After singularity they did the rock version of Fake Love and they were wearing this black outfit, with lots of mesh, leather etc They looked so OOF. But the funniest part was everyone chanting I DONT KNOW NAN MOLLA (its not even part of the fanchant HAAHHA). and then finally! MR YOONGIS SOLO! MY FAV RAPPERS SOLO! He was on a table, but he was performing like he was on a seesaw (the meaning of the song is past-present though) but IT WAS SO GOOD!!! and now we were about to go emo, because jin started his solo on a piano ;; his mic didn't work properly in the beginning so the fans started to sing for him, but after one-two sentences he got his mic back and he continued and the song was so beautiful I got so teary ;; And then we had the truth untold, in other words the superior song by the vocal line ever. It was.... so...... beautiful.......... taehyung and jimin both changed their notes, which made this song more memorable. Jimin was crying though (and I think taehyung a bit too) it gave the performance such an amazing touch; how they were able to sing with such emotions. Jungkooks mic didn't work In the beginning either, so we sang for him! I was such a mess I was feeling so emotional ;;;;;;;;; im so glad TEAR was up next because rapline POPPED OFF AND CAME FOR OUR WIGS AND EVERYONE. IT WAS SO GOOD! The whole venue turned black, with greenlights and laser OH GOD and oh my god oh my god the raps oh my god. And now MIC DROP REMIX CAME UP INCLUDING THE DANCE BREAK KJFKSJDKSJKFSJJFKS jungkook didn't participate but wow THIS SONG AND THE FANCHANTS??!! THE Bodyrolls were so cool, taehyung came for my wig! 

ENCORE They all came in blue pants and their white t-shirt. Jimin also had a cap on! they all looked so handsome omg (when do they not!?) But when they sung SO WHAT, I burst into tears because I realised it was about to end ;; Jin was being very very very wild with a towel, did the shoot dance with jungkook (yes he tried to!!!) jin and taehyung did their part again, and taehyung was wearing an orange hairband (on purpose) and playing with it ;^; During anpanman taehyung was holding jungkook and singing his part, then jin came running towards jungkook and was dancing very wildly he fell on the grOUND KFJKFSKJ also our president came to jungkook too and pat his shoulders ;;; jimin gave his cap to jungkook OOOF SO MANY INTERACTIONS!!!!! and lastly... LOVE MYSELF, I cried so hard, during this song I couldn't even breathe. its one of the most beautiful songs ive ever heard and hearing those voice and message coming from bangtan really made me cry. They mean so much to me. The VMIN part had me on the floor, I couldn't handle it anymore and my friend started hugging me :( 

LAST MC Yoongi said he loved Amsterdam a lot and it was so far one of the best concerts they ever had. We were so loud! They also admitted they wanted to come here last year, but it got cancelled and they feel sorry they couldn't do a 2nd date here, but theyre coming back next year! Jhope also talked how he was sightseeing with taehyung and jungkook talked that he was thinking about things a lot lately. Jimin was being the cutie again and was copying fans, but he called us his presents too :(( Jin also talked dutch but I couldn't really understand HAHAH but then Jhope wanted say goodbye (doei) and he kept saying DOEI, DOEIDOEI, DDDDOEEII, DOEIDOEIDOEI, DOEEEEEII, DDDDOEEEI and made it sound like a sound effect and bangtan followed and they were laughing so much :’)

Jiminbar (a fansite) turned zing into jimin by advertising his birthday!! ooof the banner and the whole venue looked GREAT! 

I really loved the concert so much, and I miss them so much. I cant wait to see them again :(( theyre such great human beings, bless them T_T They know how to perform! Their vocals and dance moves are a whole another level, and if you think they sound good on CD? bish get ready for hearing it live, because it sounds so much better!!!! Im going to miss them so much, but thank you Jin, Yoongi, Namjoon, Jhope, Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook for being in my life, changing it for the better, cheering me up, having good music and being such great humble human beings <3 I love you guys so much. See you next time <3 

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Ancient Magus’ Bride 24 (FINAL) | ReLIFE OVAs 2 - 4 (FINAL) | Mahou Shoujo Ore 1 | Gakuen Babysitters 12 (FINAL) | Zoku Touken Ranbu Hanamaru 12 (FINAL) | Dances with the Dragons 1

The spring season came early on Crunchyroll, but HiDive is locking me out in exchange.

Ancient Magus’ Bride 24 (FINAL)

Aw, c’mon Chise. Beating people up is not how you do things, that’s a shonen protag’s role!

Noticeably, Elias seems to be “the child”.

Who’s the “weirdo”??? Chise? Elias?

The confetti kind of looks like flowers…

Alrightttttttttttttttt…this show just went into lecherous and out of the comfort zone territory when I remembered Chise is 15. Wearing a bridal outfit and exchanging rings. Yipe.

Wait, so what happened to Joseph’s eye? The dragon arm I get, but…

I was wondering what was under those gloves of Elias’s, so now you know. *The More You Know star shoots past*

I’m kinda confused. That ending was sweet but it was abrupt and didn’t solve much. Actually, I think it bred quite a few questions I won’t get answered anywhere but the manga…ergh. Dangit, manga!

ReLIFE OVA 2

Didn’t think I’d see Sumire (the volleyball teacher) again.

Interestingly the kanji combo for human and fish (in that order) is “mermaid” but the other way around is “fishman”…hmm…

I had some yakisoba recently. It has a distinctive flavour to it…dang, now I’m hungry.

It’s the brother again. He’ll be important, alright.

For reference, the ED is CHE.R.RY buy YUI.

Mahou Shoujo Ore 1

Yay! This show is my first debut for the spring season so I couldn’t be happier – I’m actually getting my magical boys (unlike my magical girls, which are likely to be locked away behind HiDive’s paywall)! It’s not about rocks (LOL) but ore in this case refers to the Japanese male pronoun.

Ah, this is so PreCure. It’s like I’ve come home. Welcome home, Saki!

Nice boat!

That “It was all a dream” definitely isn’t in the original, but it does set people’s expectations up, eh? The ol’ bait-and-switch.

Henshin = Transformation. It’s not “Transform” unless it has suru on the end.

The face in the song subs is a good touch.

Honeyed Flash, eh? (LOL)

Glass Galaxy is the ED if you’re not in the know.

Those stretched faces, kinda like Saitama’s…are from the original manga…(I feel sorry for admitting that now.)

Some animation of Saki is definitely 2010s, but it keeps feeling like this show was from 10 years ago from the stripped-back style. It’s quite the whiplash, but it’s not something I was ever bothered over (if you remember Saiyuki Reload Blast, that was a similar dilemma).

“…you’re an old hag once you’re over 15…” – Aside from vaguely calling back YOI’s young ages for retiring (which makes me kind of sad), there are PreCure girls who are over 15 (Cure Moonlight was 17) and the Outer Senshi were all older than 15 with the exception of Sailor Saturn, IIRC.

I think the OKAN on Sayori’s apron is meant to be short for okaasan, although I might be wrong there. (*still imagining what a wonderful world we live in, to be blessed with an adaption of this manga…even with two anime-original characters…*)

Okay…there was one shot there that reiterated why I don’t watch anime in public.

Monokubo, eh? (LOL)

Gakuen Babysitters 12 (FINAL)

Did Kotaro always call Saikawa Sai-chan???

Yikes, Kamitani isn’t that discerning about the age of who he hits after all. I thought it was just Taka-related abuse for most of the episodes…or maybe I’m generalising too much.

Eh, insensitive mu-oh, never mind.

Is the present for Ryuichi a smartphone? It is, isn’t it?

So that’s the end of another series. See you next time!

Zoku Touken Ranbu Hanamaru 12 (FINAL)

According to the rules of the game, you can only have one party in one time period at a time. Therefore, by bending the rules, you make for a more compelling anime…huh. They did it in Katsugeki too, although it was in a slightly different way.

Oh boy, I looked into this and this white-looking outfit is Yasusada’s Kiwame! Ooh, I was looking forward to this in Katsugeki and I finally get it! (I left before Kiwame was a thing, so I finally get to vicariously live out my Kiwame fantasies, LOL.)

If you’ve made it this far in TR, you obviously know how much Yasusada values Okita-kun…I’m so proud of my boy, even if he wasn’t a particularly special sword to me…

It’s wonderful to know that feeling – that I’ve supported TR from before the animes happened because of one measly sword known as Kashuu Kiyomitsu. That I now have friends all over the world with their own favourite swords who I can chat to anytime I want, because Toshiki Masuda got involved with a small franchise that got really big (in Japan). I think that’s a power of Boueibu’s “rookie system”, if I were to give it a name.

…With that, I say “farewell” to 2 seasons of Hanamaru! See you again someday!

ReLIFE OVA 3

Aw, Kariu and Ohga out on a lovers’ holiday…these guys are too adorable.

Arata says “You were made for each other” with such a straight face I can’t even…LOL.

Is it just me, or did they get more inventive with the backgrounds because the OVAs were straight to disc content?

My eyes have gotten so attuned to CGI I can tell the basket is CGI…I think that’s what made me toss (Space Battleship) Tiramisu off my list temporarily, come to think of it.

Arata still smokes? Oh dear…

Ferret Town, LOL.

Give Arata some eye contact, Hishiro! C’mon!

I think it’s kind of obvious, but they picked blue for the boys and pink for the girls in the background.

These picture slideshows are pretty cool (kinda like YoI…?). Less animation to do, as well.

The shop Hishiro looks at provides ramen and tsukemen.

Huh? For some reason, when I look at this “Genus Port” place, I’m reminded of a place which I think is in Los Angeles (or it could be in Las Vegas or Hong Kong, I don’t remember). There’s a bunch of shops around there, a fountain and a painted sky on the roof, plus a fancy yellow brick “building” in the middle somewhere. I think it was vaguely Italian or other European-looking in shop aesthetic, but that’s all I can get from the depths of my brain…

The words “grow up” have a very special meaning here in two different ways.

I’m still wondering, why does the guy always have to fall in love first? If the guy isn’t in love first, the girl sometimes gets laughed at or people just call it a transient crush. It’s quite saddening, to get your feelings crushed like that.

Score one! The song is La La La Love Song by Toshinobu Kubota with Naomi Campbell.

The final episode is called “Life”, which doesn’t match “Seed” or “Need” at all. Nor does it match “Date”. Fair weather charms would be teru teru bouzu.

ReLIFE OVA 4 (FINAL)

Did I see the map of Japan on the wall in the original series??? Or is that a new addition?

Aw, this scene where they just cry for a minute really got to me. Not that I cried, but it really hit me in the feels.

I’ve never heard this phrase before…”pat answer”? Okay…?

I think Onoya just wanted senpai to notice her, LOL.

The revelation that Arata wanted to work for the ReLIFE lab startled even me, and I tackled the series long before a lot of people got in on it!

Yoake-san’s got a moon on his icon. Considering his surname means “daybreak” and one kanji means “night”, it makes complete sense.

I couldn’t read the nameplate, but you can tell from the clothing colours that’s Ohga’s house.

I found this article on hikikomori one time and thought it would be relevant to share here, actually. It’s talking about a company that gets hikikomori to be social again through repeated correspondence…kind of like ReLIFE itself.

As soon as I saw the line “Fate may tear us far apart”, I knew the ED for this episode was “Button”.

Why do I get the feeling there’s still something left for me to see…?

I was so dang close to crying when they remembered each other! Gah! I need to recover, but I have some new episodes on tap as well. So, with that, it’s the end of our time with each other, ReLIFE. Farewell, and until next time.

Dances with the Dragons 1

I think, out of simplicity, I’ll call this show “Saredo” (“Even Still”) instead. As to how I was attracted to this show, it was because not only are there some great voices at the helm, but I think “physics x magic” could really go places as a concept.

Guy with big sword. It reminds me of a lot of shonen anime, like D Gray Man…or even Deltora Quest…

“SareRyuu”? That seems like a strange name, I think “Saredo” suits it better.

The only thing I fixated on in Gigina’s full name was the weird mention of “Ashley” somewhere in it. If anyone were to tease him, that would be a wide opening for them to attack him with.

This is looking like a Grancrest all over again, which spells bad things (LOL) about this show. Despite that, an Aini seems to be the spell Gayus (learnt his name from promo material) was using.

Gayus and Gigina have a great rapport. If they decide to go comedy with this show, it seems that would be very welcome here.

My mind is blown…it’s a sword, but it also provides armour and kind of acts like a gun in how it does that…amazing…

I feel like I’m really back in the driver’s seat, now that I’m getting my first new action anime in 2 seasons! Winter wasn’t bad but it can’t keep an action anime fan down!

Gigina’s a competent dragon slayer, eh? Slay me instead *wink wink, nudge nudge*! (LOL)

So an Altar is a special type of dragon, one that’s so special it has to be in a league of its own. Duly noted.

This show is screaming for a dub, for some reason…that’s my thoughts on it, anyway.

Notably, Kenryu in Japanese could translate to “sword dragon” with the right kanji combo.

Wow, this show is really political. I’ve getting Grancrest vibes all over again…

Uh…I guess I was wrong on the overall quality of humour in this show. The Horton joke was so black, I couldn’t see through it!

Is it possible in this world to arrest a dragon for murder? Or do you just slay it?

“They must be pretty good.”

Gayus is such a Kunikida, LOL. Except he drinks…uh…coffee? Tea? Not sure what his beverage of choice is, actually.

Juku and jushiki…are you trying to make my head spin with all the tongue twisters???

Wow, those green gems even have names like guns!

Well…Gigina isn’t quite Dazai, but I guess every straight man needs someone more frivolous to play off of…

“Falusi” appears to be a Hungarian word for villager (at least, Wiktionary said that when I checked it)…which obviously doesn’t work here. Stupid fantasy words…

The cut between the screaming man and Gayus wasn’t the best…

“Science-oriented”? Y’mean there are ones that are magic-oriented as well? Ooh.

*squints at this dude with black hair* He kinda looks like Ibusuki Ata (Boueibu Happy Kiss).

Someone went all out on the aesthetic for the ED! Wowee…

Even though these fantasy words and names are going to make my head spin and I’m sure this show isn’t for everyone, I’ll be keeping it on for now. You can tell it’s more competent than Mahou Shoujo Ore from the air it holds, but Mahou Shoujo Ore is a lot more fun…so this’ll be a tough decision if I have to cut either of them…