#its so reminiscent of my last job where i always had to be the one bending myself over backwards to accommodate the other party

[friendlifyre]

i cant tell if its the autism tm that skews my perception or if ive just really been through enough shit these past few years that my emotional maturity is now explicitly above average

[wlntrsldler]

poisoned mercury | long way home

a/n: poisoned mercury is officially over :( but i will be adding small blurbs in between chapters and adding post-chb five star and luke to the masterlist because i'm not ready to say bye to them just yet. enjoy pm's sophomore album cover, optimism don't come easy (unless it's with you). also no tags for this one because tumblr has been super weird and the tags haven't been working for everyone.

x. long way home by 5sos

series masterlist | previous | next

“thank you all for your participation this summer at camp half blood,” mr. d said into the microphone. he was finishing up his end-of-the-year speech and there was no dry eye in the house. all the campers were sniffling as they reminisced on all the memories they made this summer. your dad cleared his throat, “if any of you tell anyone that i cried, i will never forgive you.” 

annabeth giggled, rubbing the tears from her eyes, “your dad makes that joke every year, i swear.” 

“oh, i’m sure,” you replied, laughing along with her. “above all, he is a dad and that means he recycles the same jokes over and over again.” 

“and they’re never funny,” percy added, though he was laughing at what mr. d was saying. “but i feel like i gotta laugh or else i won’t be accepted next year.” 

“you have my permission to not laugh, perce,” you nudged him. “he gotta get some new material.” 

“hey,” clarisse said from beside you. you turned to her, letting annabeth, percy, and grover fall into their own conversation. she was no longer adorned in her camp counselor outfit, opting to wear something from her own closet now that her duties for the summer were finished. “thanks for getting me this job, y/n. kinda changed my life with this one.” 

your eyes darted between clarisse and chris, who was waiting by the wings of the stage ready for his cue to close out the farewell celebration. you placed a hand on clarisse’s knee, giving it a squeeze, “thanks for always having my back, clar.” 

“always,” she nodded, “you’re my sister.” 

you were feeling a lot of things at once. there were a lot of emotions coursing through your veins. you always knew that there were people who cared about you. your parents had a funny way of showing it sometimes, but you never doubted that they loved you. your friends, clarisse, silena, charlie, were always there for you, even during the most stressful times of your life. the poisoned mercury boys who welcomed you with open arms like you were a part of their dysfunctional family the whole time. 

and luke. 

where do you even start with luke? luke castellan was the boy you had promised yourself never to fall for again. the heartbreaker, the player, the musician, and yet, here you were, completely eating your words. everything you thought you knew about him was wrong and since you let your guard down, your world was turned on its axis. he was so much more than what people made him out to be. he was so much more than you expected him to be. 

and you were lucky enough to have him. who knew a summer in montauk would lead to this? 

“to close out our incredible summer, welcome poisoned mercury!” your dad said, clapping wildly as the boys entered the stage. he placed the mic back on the stand, giving short hugs to the band as they walked up to him. luke was the last to hug your dad and their interaction lasted longer than the rest of the boys’. when they pulled away from their embrace, luke had a slight blush on his face and a goofy grin as his eyes scanned the crowd to find you. 

he sent you a shy wave from the stage as he adjusted the mic to his level. you blew him a kiss, which he returned and that made the crowd go wild. to them, luke was blowing a kiss into the ether, a message with no recipient, but you knew it was meant for you. something about it made your heart constrict in your chest. it was still hard to believe he chose you, but luke spent every waking moment making sure you believed it. 

“camp half blood,” luke said, eyes twinkling under the lights. travis picked up his drumsticks from the floor, giving the left one a twirl, as he got situated on his stool. connor and chris played their guitars experimentally, tweaking the strings to get the right key. “man, i don’t even think we can explain just how thankful we are to have spent the summer with you all.” 

luke turned around to face the boys who all nodded in agreement.luke faced the crowd again, sighing, “i learned a lot of things here. one being, there are a lot of talented people out there in the world. getting to work with y’all was such an amazing experience. many of you guys are aspiring musicians, and i’m here to tell you to keep going. i know it seems like sometimes your dreams aren’t worth chasing, but i promise you they are.” 

“some of you kids are so talented,” luke said, shaking his head in disbelief. “little beth, i’m talking about you when i say this. you’re brilliant and i know i’m gonna be seeing your name in the charts in a few years. you got more talent in your pinky finger than we four up here have combined.” 

the rest of the boys laughed, but agreed. luke narrowed his eyes, searching for a few more faces to give a shoutout to, “oh! and our boys percy and grover! we love you guys. keep in touch. you guys have to join us in the studio one day.” 

“did luke castellan just give us a shoutout?” grover asked, turning to percy with his eyes as wide as saucers. 

you laughed, patting him on the back, “i believe he did.” 

“holy shit,” percy mumbled. 

“language.” 

“come on, counselor clarisse,” the blond boy groaned, “camp is over.” 

clarisse huffed, smiling teasingly, “fine. i’ll give you a pass this one time.” 

“not many people know this, but i went to camp half blood when i was younger,” luke continued, looking down at his feet. “it was my favorite place in the world. some of my best memories involved me sitting right where many of you are sitting right now, but then life happened and things went sideways for me for a while. it took me a while to pick up a guitar again, but man, i’m so glad i did.” 

“if it wasn’t for music, i wouldn’t be here in front of you guys today,” he smiled, locking eyes with you, “and i wouldn’t have had the best summer of my life.” 

“holy shit,” clarisse said, mimicking percy. she turned to you with a wide grin, “castellan is talking about you up there.” 

“he is not.” 

as if he read your mind, luke leaned into the mic, “thanks, five star.” 

your heart swelled as memories of this summer flooded your mind; the smoke sessions in your secret spot that soon became luke’s as much as it was yours. hours sitting on the creaky bench as you both got lost in the fog of vices and genuine conversations. the bench where you learned about luke and he learned about you, something more than just introductions and superficial answers; the countless impromptu jam sessions in your cabin that started with you playing records on your speaker and ended with the boys playing their instruments as they screamed out lyrics to their favorite songs with you and clarisse. constant noise complaints from neighboring cabins because you were being too loud so late at night with melodies and laughter escaping through your open window. luke pulling you into his lap as he whispered cheesy love songs into your ear as you giggled; the days in your room, locked away with luke, enjoying his company. his lips always finding their way back to yours like a promise that he’ll always be around. luke. luke luke. 

you were glad the lights were focused on the stage so nobody could see your red cheeks. the boys cheered from behind luke, unabashedly voicing their approval of your relationship. the crowd cheered along, even if none of them knew what the situation was. luke rolled his eyes at his friends for the commotion they started, “the song we’re playing for you today is not yet released, but we decided that it’s the perfect song to end the perfect summer. this song is called long way home, we hope you like it.” 

–

“did you know you had a dimple on your back?” you asked, letting your finger linger in the crevice on luke’s skin. goosebumps raised on his tanned flesh as you lightly grazed his exposed back. “right here.” 

“mhm,” he replied, off-handedly. he didn’t really know what you were saying. he was too dazed by the feeling of your touch on him. you two were on the grass on the hill by the lake, a reprieve, a plead for time to stop even just for a few minutes. tomorrow summer would officially be over. tomorrow the two of you would be leaving camp half blood. tomorrow you would no longer have empty hours to fill with each other. 

luke didn’t want to think about it too much. he’d gotten too used to finding you lounging in your room or in the living room where he could join you to do nothing. to do everything. he didn’t know how he’d survive the next few months without you. your coach gave you the all-clear to resume practice once you were back on campus, which meant that visits during short breaks were no longer an option. luke was happy that things worked out for you, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed that you could no longer visit him during thanksgiving break. 

droplets of water from your hair trickled down his back. he was face down with his head facing you, eyes fluttered shut as a sign of peace, while you leaned over him, tracing shapes on his back. you’d both just emerged from the water, checking off items on your “summer goodbye bucket list.” that’s what you’ve been up to this last week, revisiting memories and places that you weren’t ready to leave yet. 

you chuckled softly, pressing a light kiss on luke’s spine. he smiled at the feeling of your lips, eyes hazily opening to meet yours. you took your place beside him, propping yourself up on an elbow as you watched luke come back to his senses, “are you even listening to me?” 

“of course,” he lied, grinning at you in the boyish and charming way that always had your knees buckling. he squinted as you moved your head, the heat of the sun hitting his face, “‘m always listening to you, five star.” 

“liar.” 

he laughed then, letting the sound echo into the air, “i try my best, at least. but i’m no multitasker. i can’t concentrate when you’re sitting here all pretty in front of me and touching me like this.” 

“you’re such a flirt,” you grimaced, though the smile on your face gave away your true feelings for the boy. luke looked pretty like this. there was no tension in his shoulders, like he was finally letting himself breathe. you wondered when you’d see him like this again. just last night after the celebration, you two had stayed up talking until deep into the night about how nervous he was to come back to the spotlight. he’d found solace in camp half blood, in not having to look over his shoulder every day in fear of the world. he didn’t know how the public would react to him being back again, especially since he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up his facade now that it’s all crumbled since he met you. 

maybe it was his lack of sleep that was making him vulnerable and a little delirious, but he shared with you that he felt like he’s changed. the luke that walked into camp half blood who was too scared to be himself in fear of rejection and failure was no longer there. a few months ago, he wouldn’t be caught dead like this, all soft and gentle for a girl. he couldn’t remember the last time he wanted to see a girl more than once. but with you, he couldn’t help it. the luke that he truly was became his default state when he was with you. all he wanted to do was hold you in his arms and be with you for as long as you’d let him. 

“you say that like it’s a bad thing, baby,” he grumbled, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “you don’t like it when i flirt with you?” 

you rolled your eyes playfully, adjusting your head until you fully blocked the light from his face again. you laced your fingers with his, letting out a hum when he squeezed your hand. “i didn’t say that.” 

“so, let me flirt with you,” luke said. “i like flirting with you. you blush every time i do it and i think it’s fucking adorable.” 

“stop,” you whined knowing that the blush he was referring to was starting to show on your skin. maybe you could blame it on the heat, but you both knew that that would be a lie. it was because of him. it was always because of him. “you like teasing me, don’t you, castellan?” 

“a little bit,” he admitted, scrunching his face up in a way that brought out the creases between his eyebrows. his lips curved into a lopsided smile. his arms reached out to snake around your waist, pulling you on his body as he laid on his back. he placed his hands along the expanse of your bare thighs as you situated yourself on his abdomen. your fingers played with the silver chain around his neck. luke massaged your thighs, sighing out, “i like knowing i have that effect on you.” 

“me and half the female population,” you snorted, “as much as you act like you know just how amazing you are since you have a gigantic ego, i feel like you also don’t give yourself enough credit.” 

luke quirked an eyebrow, “was that a compliment, five star?” 

“don’t get used to it,” you smacked his shoulder lightly, making him let out a chuckle. his chest rumbled from under you as his hands made their way up your waist. luke’s hands were always warm. he had callouses on his fingers from playing guitar and bumps on his palms from lifting at the gym. there were characteristics about his hands that made you believe that you’d know his touch even if you were blindfolded. there was something different in the way he touched you, even in the most innocent ways, you knew when it was luke. there was a light in your brain that would go off every time he was around, like your body, mind, and heart knew when he was there. 

“i’ll take what i can get,” he conceded.

“does it bother you that i don’t compliment you as much as you compliment me?” 

“nah,” he replied, looking up at you. the sun was framing your face in a way that made his breath hitch. you looked ethereal like this. it was like you were a figment of his imagination. luke had to place his hand flat on your ribcage to feel you breathe just to convince himself that you were real. “makes these little moments even sweeter.” 

“but you know, right?” you questioned, eyes not once leaving his own. a shadow of doubt flashed across your irises. “you know what i think of you?” 

luke castellan had a way with words that left you speechless. perhaps it was because he was a songwriter, trained to string together words in a way that you could never achieve. he made a living by writing, by voicing how he felt, and turning it into art, into music. there were many moments where luke would say things so poetically that it made your head spin. he says things so casually, so easily like he didn’t just utter out the most romantic things you’ve ever heard in your life. 

you envied him for it, a little bit. you wished you could tell him how you felt about him as easily as he said it with you, but anything you tried to say felt like it would pale in comparison. luke didn’t mind. you had your own way of showing him how you felt. it was in your touch, taking your time to admire his imperfections. it was in the way you kissed him, smiling so wide like you couldn’t help it whenever he would press his lips to yours. it was in the way you paid attention to him, the little things that he didn’t even realize he did. 

“‘course, i do,” luke tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear. he took his time bringing his hand back to your waist. he liked seeing you nuzzle your face into his palm as you kissed his wrist. “but i wouldn’t be opposed to hearing you say it, either.” 

“i’m not good at saying how i feel,” you said, shoulder hunching as you spoke. it felt like you were letting him in on a secret that you’d never told anyone else. luke could feel his heartbeat in his chest. you dropped the poisoned mercury pendant back on his chest as you leaned down to bury your face in the crook of his neck. “i’m working on it, though. might just take me a while.” 

luke smiled at you. his voice was earnest as he placed a kiss on the top of your head, “we got all the time in the world, five star. there’s no rush.” 

you furrowed your eyebrows at his words, “we leave tomorrow, luke.” 

“mhm,” he repeated, thumb running across your lower back. it made you shiver, the realization of his words hitting you. “like i said, we got all the time in the world.” 

you pulled away from him, cradling his face in your hands as you placed a kiss on his lips, “yeah, we do.” 

[ariseur]

you stood there as you and zack both stared at each other. his hands, once holding cardboard swords similar to the ones you used as kids when you two would sneak off to whatever small clearing you could get in gongaga and clash, now held a thick metal sword. a sword that you recalled was the first class SOLDIER, angeal hewley’s, most prized possession. at least that’s what you heard from zack. he always did admire him, you wondered where angeal was at now.

you almost felt guilty that zack trusted you enough to tell you all these things, even with you as a turk. you felt guilty standing there, knowing that the man you loved was the man who you were supposed to kill. you felt guilty as you reminisced on the missions where you saw zack so excited, the two of you following tseng’s orders. you felt guilty knowing that zack just dreamed of being a soldier, he didn’t ask to be roped into all of this.

his hands stayed firm around the handle of the sword, the sheen metal glimmering in the sun as it practically blinded you. in his eyes, they stayed not the blue you were so used to, but instead a glowing aqua as the mako infused itself with the natural color of his iris.

“how did we get here?” you asked, your weapon remained in its holster as you not dared to use it on zack. a frown graced itself upon his lips although his weapon never faltered.

“i don’t know.” he said.

you spotted the man behind him, obviously unconscious as his head hung low. his blond hair covered his face but you could clearly see the calm rise and fall of his bulky uniform-clad shoulders.

you looked back up, zack’s eyes never leaving yours as they held such a solemn slant. you could’ve sworn his eyes started to glaze over, tears washing out the glowing tones of mako resonating in his irises. swallowing thickly, you spoke again, “you have to go, zack. they’re on their way. you don’t understand—“

with a soft call of your name, you looked up again. god, look at you. a turk, one of shinra’s goons, and there you were choking up at someone who had a manhunt out for him.

“i’ll be alright.”

“zack, no—“

“go.” he said, managing to give you one last meager smile before nodding his head to the other side of the cliff, a small opening where one could pass through and flee. with your bottom lip quivering, you glanced back at zack. he nodded his head at you in reassurance, lowering his sword and sheathing it once again.

your breath quivered as you sighed and began walking to the small crawl space, your footsteps heavy with each aching step you took.

the cool wind suddenly felt more evident in the air against your sweaty palms, wiping them against your black sleek uniformed pants. you could feel zack’s eyes on you, watching you trail away— and you almost didn’t turn around until you were face to face with your exit ticket out of there. his name felt thick on your tongue as you breathed out a call of his name, “zack?”

just the syllable was enough to leave a bittersweet taste in the back of your throat, swallowing in hopes of moistening your now dry mouth. you turned your head slowly to look at him. he adorned that same smile as he always did, the same smile he’d wear when he’d get good news from lazard or when he had triumphed in a sparring session.

you recalled the numerous times you two would rant to each other. he’d talk about how well it was going over there, how much work he had put into himself and his job.

and you recalled how you’d talk about your latest victories and accomplished missions, although you always rambled about your latest failures as well. that memory shifted to the front of your mind as you managed to flash a poignant smile whilst you talked once more, mimicking the tone you’d use during your late night talks, “man, you know what sucked today?”

he cocked his head.

“i failed my mission.” and with a wistful grin, he gave you one last nod.

[thisantithesis]

little library au — 2.8k words | jegulus

Regulus sighed as he placed another book on the shelf, his attention far away from whatever section he was restocking. Snow was drifting down slowly outside, the late-afternoon dark gray sky making the library seem much gloomier than usual.

The golden lights cast an orange-tinted hue across the shelves and tables while the fireplace crackled gently in its hearth against the wall of the lounge area. The combination of both gave the large and ornate room a warm and comfortable feeling, but didn’t do much in terms of providing sufficient light. Each table had its own lamp, many of which were currently being used by students as they crammed to study for their finals.

Regulus would usually be one of the people sitting at a table in quiet panic, spending so much time there that he would surely be the last one to leave, but instead here he was, slowly making his way through the cart of books that needed to be returned to their rightful place.

He didn’t dislike his job. He really didn’t. If anything, it was the best job he could have right then as a university student, what with its flexible hours and low demands. He popped in four days a week, from noon until six p.m., then left and went back to his apartment. It was an easy schedule, one that allowed him to take his classes in the morning and do whatever he wanted in the evening, which is more than a lot of working students had. It’s just that, as he watched the first snowfall of the year through the large windows of the library, he found that he would much rather be outside, letting the flakes land in his hair and touch his skin with little pinpricks of cold.

Someone had once told him that the snow in his pitch black curls made it look like he had his own little galaxy swirling in his hair. He still thought about it constantly.

So, every year when fall slowly turned to winter, when the weather started getting colder and the world started losing its colorful warmth, Regulus waited with bated breath for that first snowfall. He always made sure to be outside when it happened so he could let a little galaxy form atop his head and reminisce on what he thought were better days.

Placing the last book on its proper shelf, Regulus quickly put the cart away and steadily walked toward the front desk of the library.

“Ms. Pince,” he said as he put his hands flat on the desk in front of him.

“Yes, Mr. Black?” she replied almost tonelessly, her back to him and her head bent over whatever she was working on.

He steeled himself, not necessarily expecting being denied at his request but still preparing for it. Ms. Pince wasn’t known to be lenient. “Would I be able to leave a bit earlier today? I need to study for my finals and I’ve already finished unloading the return cart.”

She slowly turned her head towards where he had placed the cart, lifting an eyebrow as she checked the watch on her wrist. “All right. The library closes in an hour, so I don’t see the harm. Will you be here tomorrow?”

The library closed at seven p.m. on the weekends, and given that it was a Saturday, Regulus was right to think that it would work in his favor. He tried to suppress his little smile of triumph. “Yes, same time as today. My class ends at noon so I should get here at around quarter past.”

The librarian nodded and turned back to her project. “Have a good night, Mr. Black.”

“You as well, Ms. Pince. And thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She simply hummed in acknowledgement and Regulus all but sprinted towards the closet deemed as the “break room”. It consisted of wall to wall shelves filled with ancient and dusty tomes, with a newer addition of a small table, a chair, and some pegs haphazardly tacked onto the back of the door for coats and bags. The room was big enough to walk around in, even with the table, but it was so dusty back there that spending more than fifteen minutes in the room made Regulus’ throat run dry.

He shoved the door open, grabbed his things, then quickly walked towards the library’s side doors. No one really knew about them, given that they were hidden by some of the shelves, so you either found them by looking or accidentally stumbling upon them—which is exactly how Regulus had found them.

He put his coat on as he walked and looped his scarf around his throat tightly, then readjusted the strap of his bag as he opened the doors and stepped onto the freshly fallen snow.

It had been snowing incessantly for the past three hours, and Regulus had hoped it would be one of those first snowfalls that kept going for hours and hours, or at least until there was a decent amount sticking to the ground, and he was glad to see that this year was exactly like that.

Regulus smiled softly and tipped his head back, enjoying the quiet sound of snow falling on his face and the stillness the world around him seemed to adopt whenever winter arrived.

The side doors of the library opened up to a hidden area beside the building, a place Regulus liked to call the Statue Garden. The patch of grass was filled with statues of Greek gods and goddesses, all covered in green branches and moss as a result of the passing of time. Now though, now they were covered in a faint dusting of white, somehow making them look that much more regal.

Regulus closed his eyes against the falling flakes, a serene feeling spreading throughout his chest and slowly unknotting the anxiety that always resided there.

A crunch of footsteps broke through the quiet making Regulus whip his head in the direction of the sound. The thick trees blocked him from seeing whoever was approaching, but soon enough they came into the clearing, causing Regulus to scowl when he saw who it was.

The person continued walking, completely unaware of Regulus standing mere feet away, making his blood boil. Why couldn’t he have one moment of peace?

“What are you doing here?” Regulus demanded, hoping his expression conveyed how unhappy he was with what was happening at the moment.

James Potter stopped in his tracks and looked up, eyes and mouth wide with surprise. He looked like he'd seen a ghost—which, to be fair, he basically had. Regulus hadn’t seen James, his brother, or any of their friends in almost a year and a half now, not since his birthday party last year.

Regulus scowled even harder at the memory, the bitterness in his chest almost overpowering. He raised a brow when James kept gawping at him, already tired of the conversation. The idiot hadn’t even spoken a word and Regulus was done. That had to be a record.

“Potter,” he repeated, this time more sternly to snap the other boy out of his stupor.

“Oh,” James breathed gently, “it’s you.”

Regulus pretended the soft reverence in James’ voice didn’t still affect him after all this time and scrunched his forehead in a look of confusion. “Yes?”

The other boy was quiet for some seconds before speaking up. “Your hair…” he whispered, and that was enough to make Regulus shut down whatever James was going to say next.

“I asked you what you’re doing here.”

That seemed to make James remember himself, closing his mouth with a loud clack of teeth on teeth and an embarrassed scratch to the back of his neck, something he always used to do back—well. Back then. James paused for a second before answering, “Walking?”

Regulus tipped his eyes skyward, hoping for some sort of divine intervention that would save him from having to deal with this conversation. “Yes, thank you, genius. I meant what you’re doing here. At the library. You know I work here.”

The other frowned a little at that, the dimple in his cheek forming just as Regulus remembered. “Well, technically I don’t.”

It was Regulus’ turn to be confused. “What?”

James’ embarrassment seemed to fade in an instant, a look of trepidation replacing it instead. “It’s been a year and a half since I—since we saw you, Regulus. For all we know you could’ve fucked off to a completely different school. I didn’t know you’d be here. Trust me, I wouldn’t be here if I did,” he said the last part under his breath, but Regulus heard it all the same.

An unexpected flair of hurt ricocheted inside his chest, which only made his resolve harden. “All right, well. How did you find this place then?”

James shrugged, “Like you find any place. By looking.” And almost like he could read exactly what Regulus was thinking, a wry smile formed on his face before saying “Don’t worry, I won’t come back here. Clearly this is your spot, and I wouldn’t want to taint that for you.”

Regulus had never known James to be mean. He could be snappy at times, yes, and was only stern with people when they deserved it, but he was never vicious. Nasty. Petty. Those words and James as a whole just didn’t mix. So when Regulus detected a hint of that vicious poison in James’ tone, whatever olive branch he was thinking of offering burnt to a crisp in his hands.

If that was how it was going to be, then two could play that game.

“Frankly Potter, I could care less where you go or don’t go. I left for a reason, yeah? So you can fuck off back to wherever it is you just came from and we can call this conversation quits. No need to put ourselves through more misery than we need to.”

James scoffed and looked to the ground, shaking his head with a smile of disbelief. “Still haven’t changed one bit I see,” he looked back up, straight into Regulus’ eyes. “Alright then, Black, have a good night, yeah? Glad that we could have this conversation.” He saluted Regulus with two fingers to his temple, then promptly turned around and walked back out the same way he walked in.

Regulus was left standing there with his heart beating out of his chest and that same hurt still ever-present between his ribs. He’d never seen James get that vicious, nor been on the receiving end of one of his mean bouts. He’d always been nice to Regulus, spending time with him when Sirius was busy or asking him questions about whatever book he was reading at the time.

He’d liked James, even to the point of developing a crush on him, but that had been cut short when everything went to shit on his 21st birthday. He found it funny how he was supposed to be celebrated that night, but instead found himself ostracized from his friends and lost the only part of his family he’d ever actually loved.

It was his own fault, in a way, but he couldn’t help how he still held onto this grudge of bitterness and anger towards the whole situation, and especially the people involved.

But they had their own lives now and so did he, with new friends and new goals—goals that brought him far, far away from this town. He shook himself and shoved his hands in his pockets, only now registering the cold that seeped into his skin.

Regulus looked around himself, the snow now falling in thicker flakes and the darkness of the evening creeping closer around him. Bad memories fresh at the surface, the first snowfall didn’t seem so magical anymore.

He scowled at his own thoughts and stomped out of the clearing, resolutely deciding that he was going to go back to his apartment and bury himself in his studies. He wouldn’t have a chance to think about things he didn’t want to if he crammed his head full of chemical formulas.

–

Two weeks.

Two weeks was all it took before Regulus saw James again. He was working his usual shift, reorganizing the historical fiction section of the library after students all but ransacked the shelves trying to look for whatever book it was they needed, when one of the freshmen also working that day came up to him saying Ms. Pince wanted to see him up at the front.

He sighed and put down the book he was holding, counting down the minutes before he was able to go outside to the statue garden again. Regulus liked to sit there and sketch the statues from different angles. Each day they looked a bit different, from snow having melted off or freshly fallen throughout the previous night, so he sat there and tried to capture their likeness as best he could.

Of course he hadn’t forgotten what happened in the garden not ten days prior, that short interaction with James all but burned into Regulus’ brain. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around the vitriol he heard in James’ voice that night, especially because it was aimed at him. He wasn't saying it wasn’t deserved—God knows he deserved much worse than that—but it was almost like there were two different versions of James in his brain now. One before Regulus’ 21st birthday, and one after.

He couldn’t really blame James, though. He was sure that if he were to waltz right back into his brother’s life right then, Sirius wouldn’t have even recognized him. Which was probably for the best, honestly.

Regulus was still lost in thought when he approached the front desk, which was the only reason why he hadn’t immediately seen who was standing right next to it. “You called for me, Ms. Pince?”

The woman turned around, her severe stare landing on Regulus over her glasses. “Ah yes, Mr. Black. Since you are my longest standing student helper here, I was hoping that you could help show Mr. Potter how we do things here. He will only be working with us for a short period of time, but I expect him to know his way around nonetheless."

Absolute dread washed down Regulus' spine in that moment, his head slowly turning to look at the person standing to his right. Sure enough, James Potter was standing there in the flesh, with a look on his face that clearly showed how unhappy he was with the situation. He tried to put on his usual charming smile for the librarian, but Regulus could see through his bullshit a mile away.

“I take it you boys already know each other?” she asked them with a raised brow when neither of them spoke up, looking between the two boys as if ready for a fight to erupt at any moment.

James looked away and cleared his throat, breaking the weird staring contest he and Regulus found themselves in. “Ah, erm, yes, we do. I’m... friends with his brother.”

“Good! Then I can leave you to your own devices. Mr. Potter, if you would please sign these papers before you start. They are just to confirm the amount of hours you will be working with us over the next six weeks.”

James nodded and bent down over the paper, reading the text and chewing at the end of the pen in his hand. Regulus scrunched his nose at the action, a bit disgusted that he would put a publicly-used object in his mouth, but ultimately turned back towards the librarian. “Ms. Pince, are you sure there’s no one else that can show him around? I was already busy with the historical fiction section and there’s still so much left to do.”

Regulus wasn’t one to complain about things, usually taking them on the chin and simply pushing through so he could get them done as soon as possible, but he would've rather been caught dead before spending six weeks teaching James Potter of all people how to stack books. He was ready to forget their interaction two weeks ago and move on like nothing happened, but clearly the universe wasn’t on his side with this one.

How utterly perfect.

Most likely having heard Regulus, James tried and failed to hide his laugh, but Regulus could see his smug smile tucked away behind his palm. Rolling his eyes, he turned back to Ms. Pince, praying and hoping she would (unknowingly) help him out just this once.

“I’m sorry Mr. Black, but you are the person best suited for the job. If you have any quarrels with each other, I suggest you get them sorted out now as I expect them to not interfere with your work,” she said with an air of finality before promptly turning around and walking back into her office.

Regulus barely held back a scoff at her expectations. Yeah, not bloody likely.

“Well Black, might as well get this over with, yeah?” James said with a smug look on his face, one Regulus was moments away from wiping off with a swift punch to his cheekbone.

Instead he curled his fingers into a fist, wishing he could be literally anybody else.

[tinietaehyun]

The Case [Series] ¡! ❞

[Detective!Taehyun x Assistant!Reader ] [Case Archives]

Pairing: Detective!Taehyun x Assistant!Reader.

Contains: romance, fluff, profanity (heavy), manipulative language/behaviour, gaslighting, mentions of violence/blood, murder.

If you don’t like murder-mystery, this fic is probably not for you! This has plenty of romance but also plenty of mystery!

If not to your taste check out my masterlist.

> This is the Case archives [Series List] where you can find all the parts of this series in one place!

[ I’d thought it would be a lot easier and not take up so much room on my Masterlist! ]

————————|||||||||||||||||||||||||—————————

Synopsis:

The death of the star detective’s long time partner had shaken the populace. The crime in the city was at an all time high despite the almost near perfect conviction rate. So what was not adding up?

You knew Taehyun was not one to open up easily and surely the loss of his closest friend didn’t help. However, the closer you looked at all the details surrounding the victim’s murder, an awful realisation hits you.

Just make sure you don’t become the next victim before you seek justice. He’d always be one step ahead.

————————••••••••••••••—————————

1. The Case of a Lover’s Blunder

╰┈➤ Ace Detective Kang Taehyun is known for solving every single case he receives so effortlessly. He’s a master detective with a flourishing assistant who takes crime fighting ever so seriously, but what happens when a case becomes particularly personal?

2. The Case of Betrayal in the Rain [ft. Yeonjun]

╰┈➤ Choi Yeonjun was in grave danger. He knew too much and now had no choice but to run before he found out. His heart was broken to pieces; someone so close...how could they be so cruel? The taste of betrayal was far from sweet. That was for sure.

3. The Case of a Lover’s Epiphany [ft. Beomgyu]

╰┈➤ You couldn’t look at him the same. Everything made too much sense. He was right, this seemed to be more than a coincidence. The man you knew was a mere facade. It appears you had gotten trapped in this twisted game of his.

From being oblivious and blissfully ignorant, you were now going to get to the bottom of this. Even if it meant the cruelest heartbreak you’d ever experienced.

4. The Case of Tragic Reminiscence

╰┈➤ Just who was this Beomgyu guy? Was he to be trusted? Your perception of your entire world seemed to be crumbling to pieces with the love of your life at the centre of it all!

Now as you begin to investigate and equip yourself with the knowledge of the past, you were ready to pave a new future where justice could prevail (with the help of your nuisance of a partner).

After all, the ace detective wasn’t the only one capable of putting on a facade. You could too.

5. The Case of The Detective’s Game

╰┈➤ His eyes gaze at the screen of the security footage on his laptop. Paranoia fills him. He had to investigate further. You were acting different, ever so slightly different. Perhaps a normal person wouldn’t have caught the subtle difference in behaviour, but he could. It was his job after all.

He watches as you scurry back to your seat before he enters into the office through the footage.

The detective’s lips form a cruel smirk, “Oh, and here I thought you’d last way longer than Yeonjun.”

6. The Case of The Chase

╰┈➤ Hopeless and terrified you peer at your phone screen. You hadn’t slept in days. Had you lost everything? Were you that bad at your job? The detective was now looming over you. All you had was Beomgyu by your side. Taehyun had challenged you outright and yet here you were huddled up in fear.

You peer at Beomgyu’s number. You rang three times. He’s still not picking up. A sickening dread fills you. God no. No way…

7. The Case of the Detective’s Heart

╰┈➤ His long brown locks, sharp eyes that stared at you with utmost softness accompanied with that smile which you sought more often than not. Your investigation progress was reaching its peak. It appears your feelings were also at their peak. Your feelings were beginning to mix into a messy concoction.

“Don’t you see the way I look at you, detective?”

8. The Case of a Pitiful Detective

╰┈➤ Everything around you was spinning; your eyes couldn’t leave his face filled with mixed emotions. His voice deepens as he steps forward, “I let you get this far, you’re only here because I let you get here. I could see through your facade, it was endearing to say the least.“

You remain quietly trembling; you weren’t expecting this turn of events. No, no you couldn’t believe his malicious words. You glare; your hands forming fists. A laugh escapes his coy lips, “It was an error to let you get this far. Allow me to fix that.”

9. The Case is Closed - FINALE

╰┈➤ Seoul had witnessed their greatest angel fall from grace. You had unmasked and peeled back the traitor in which you once held in your arms with love. Though, you didn’t know whether you’d be alive to see him pay those deliciously painful consequences.

Most of all, you hope that you wouldn’t have to leave your beloved partner: Beomgyu. Maybe one day, you’d wake up, or maybe you’d have to wait until he reached the skies above.

Would your effort thus far have paid off? You had to wake up.

“Wake up y/n…please. Please, y/n.”

You wanted to. You heard him. Wake up!

[garcargofarfar]

Hi there saw ur requests were open..

Could I get a gene x reader who argue a lot just let there guard down and be honest with each other

Thank youuu ♡♡

A/N : Ahh ty for the request anon! I don't know how Aph makes blocky men attractive but she gets the job done. So of course <3

Again, I don't know if you want this set in Pdh or MyStreet(I'm realizing this is an issue lol) but I overall see Gene the same so.

Letting Walls Down

Pdh!Gene x Gn!Reader, implied relationship, Gene being slightly mean and toxic, miscommunication, toxic-ish relationship, Gene learns to talk about feelings, swearing

"Can you stop?" You watch as your boyfriend tug his arm away from your grip. "You're damn embarrassing."

"Oh, I'm embarrassing?" You try not to laugh or roll your eyes. "You practically prance around the school with an overblown ego, you think I'm not embarassed?"

"Are you?"

"No shit, Sherlock."

"I don't care."

"I don't care if you care."

"Rude little shit."

"You're the rude one! Why are you always putting on such a fake face?"

Gene seems to have been mentally slapped, his walls building up inside him as you wait for a reply.

"I'm not fake." He says, barely a whisper.

"You don't even love me anymore. What's the point?" You sigh. "Gene, I want to break up."

"W-Wait what?"

"Gene. It's like I don't even know you anymore."

"I.. I'm sorry, I-"

"I just.. I need some time to think." You reply shortly.

"Wait, no! We can talk about this!"

"I'm afraid I have no more left to say."

-----

[1 week later]

You roam the halls of Phoenix Drop, students passing by you as they head to their next classes.

"Woah, watch out!" Without looking, you bump into someone as they grab you by the arm.

"Ah! Thanks." You reply. Looking up, you realise its Gene. "Oh. Gene."

"Oh, er.. hi."

A silent moment passes until Gene finally breaks it.

"Where.. are you headed?"

"Just to grab lunch." You reply meekly. "You.. um.. you wanna come with?"

He nods, a bit too eagerly, trying to suppress himself from giving you a hug right then and there.

"I.. was planning to have lunch outside." You tell him. "Are you alright with that?"

Expecting a snarky remark, Gene simply agrees with a hum.

You grab your lunches and arrive by the bleachers.

Taking a seat, you start eating while Gene does the same beside you.

It's an awkward silence, and you can feel his gaze linger on your figure. It makes you uncomfortable as you try break the silence.

"So.. um. How've you been?"

Gene doesn't reply. Instead, he stares at your face.

"Gene..?" You turn to look him in the eyes.

"Do.. do you remember this place?"

"Huh?"

"This is where I first met you." He says, gesturing around the two of you. "We were fighting for the last remaining seat."

He laughs as he reminisces about the past. You chuckle along.

"Yeah.. yeah, I do remember."

"Good times those were. Good times." He takes a bite out of his sandwich.

"I.. miss those times." You say.

"I do too."

Another silence washes over the two of you.

"Hey, Gene..?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." You tell him. "For everything."

"I'm sorry too. I haven't exactly been.. the best at communicating."

"I've had my flaws as well. I should've told you when I felt bad. I never should've lashed out on you."

"It's no excuse for my behavior. I haven't been treating you like a girlfriend. In all honesty, I was.. scared."

"Scared?"

"Scared that you'll leave me." He says. "It's a defense mechanism I have subconsciously."

"I would never leave you! What makes you think that?"

"I.. I dunno. I just.. had my heart broken too many times. I didn't want to go through it again. So I treaded cautiously and never let my guard down."

"Well, you'll never have to do that again. Because I'll be here with you. And I love you, Gene."

"..and I love you too."

And for the first time in a while, he smiles. He genuinely smiles.

"Thank you, my love."

- × - × - × - × - × - × - × -

[sneezemutual]

boyfriend (and myself) obs from earlier today because its been a while!

job obs this time around!! my boyfriend and i are in university, but we also work a part-time job together. (a little corny, i know that, but we happen to like being around each other, ok?)

just in case you missed my lore post and were curious for reasons, he is studying nursing and i am studying mortuary science and biochemistry; we are both part-time managers at the cinemas together as well

now, to the good stuff…

he and another one of our coworkers were making pizzas and i was a few feet away at the air fryer when i heard him ask the coworker, “can you hold this for a sec?” as he pushed the ladle he was using towards him. he looked a tad confused and went “hm?” to which my boyfriend tells him, “i have to sneeze.”

naturally, now, im tuned in all the way

he typically isnt a loud sneezer so i was kind of (pleasantly) surprised when i clearly heard him gasp before he sneezed from like six feet away

he has what i would consider a pretty cute sneeze, always with the chiew! or shiew! at the end but this time around, it was reminiscent of a cough-ish-sounding sneeze? but not to the point where it was not attractive (to me) or that it didnt sound like a sneeze or anything; it was just harsh and sounded like one syllable, instead of soft and more drawn out like his sneezes usually are

if i had to try to spell it, it would be something like, “ahihSHH!” one of those sneezes where you can just hear it fucking hurt the persons throat

the coworker that was holding the ladle immediately started laughing and said, “jesus christ, dude!” so, he was definitely expecting a smaller sneeze too. me and two other workers in the kitchen yelled bless you, he yelled back thank you and glared at our coworker, pretending he was mad at him for laughing

i have never heard him sneeze like that before, so i am guessing some ingredient in the kitchen got to him? and i cant think of the last time that i heard him announce his sneezes either, he does it sometimes (but its typically when there is a lot of other people around, for some reason)

alright alright, now its my turn

not as intricate or entertaining but it happened

a customer mustve had cat hair on their clothes (which is a fairly common experience) and i was sneezing and my makeup was running comically for like an hour after (already aforementioned in posts earlier today) 😭

i sneezed like 30 times spaced out across the hour (which is a lot for me sneezing wise because i didnt take any allergy medication 😭 i usually do but i dont like to take it then drive so i occasionally forget. i took some after this lol)

my boyfriend blessed me or put his hand on my back every time he was around along with another friend/coworker of ours who gets a kick out of my sneezing fits. lots of things make me sneeze so everyone is used to it happening by now and theyre allowed to make fun of me a little

snzfucker without mental block seems like it should be an oxymoron, but i have no problem sneezing in public. im so used to it that even with the fetish, its never made me too uncomfortable. unless its like a situation that anyone would be uncomfortable sneezing in (quiet room, important conservation etc)

[phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing]

If I rewrote the last part of Honkai (with the self-imposed rule of keeping the lore/endgoal relatively intact, my thoughts would be different if I’m allowed to do anything tbh) I would add an arc between ER/EE and the moon arc.

We deserved a proper WS arc. Instead of Suddenly, Stigma Is Done, we could’ve had a build up to make us suspect not everything is at it seems. Get Mei to breathe, cope with losing THIRTEEN friends to a Herrscher, and re-evaluate what she’s doing in WS— her leaving in the epilogue and Kevin going yeah you can go xoxo was anti-climactic as hell, I feel so blueballed 💀.

So basically (and keep in mind I’m making this up as I go, it’s a first draft type of idea)

First off I hate the last two acts of EE so I’m throwing those out. Reconstructing Elysia doesn’t magically revive anyone, it basically just gives Mei admin power over ER as its heir (you know? what they intended for her. No because of you the player bullshit. It’s all because of Mei, it’s always been HER arc.)

Mei fights HoC herself, complete with the FCs fighting by her sides as signet hallucinations and symbolism of “they finally were allowed to fight all together through her”. Mei pins down HoC, sees the FC hallucinations all smiling at her, telling her to do it, they were happy to have met her, they bless her etc… and Mei deletes ER herself. Her enemy and her friends melt away, destroyed permanently. The epilogue is Mei finding passed out but intact Klein and picking her up, and Kevin showing up at the exit but remains stoic (taking Klein from her?). We can even keep the bit of why he didn’t step in, but nothing about STIGMA or quitting.

After that we get to see some Mei downtime in WS, she gets a visit— Raven learns what happened with ER from her, they get to mourn and reminisce about the people they both knew properly before moving on with the plot.

WS hides its plans from Mei, which she starts suspecting, and she gets sent in a mission that lets her actually CLASH with the good guys— maybe with Fu Hua, to give her some much needed screentime? It could be interesting as well to have them ACTUALLY TALK, and to show how things have or haven’t changed after Mei got to hang out with a much younger Hua. Hua tries to get her to defect but Mei refuses, saying she still needs answers— and Hua admits her memory has too many holes for her to give her what she wants. Only WS, MOTH’s heir, has the answers.

Also, Mei mentions the Realm, confusing Hua, and Mei realizes she forgot that. It hurts. She shuts up because it’s gone, and she feels guilty for taking Hua’s chance to meet her dead friends again away. Kevin doing it was such an an afterthought in canon it was dumb.

We get some scenes of the main gang as well, Kiana keeping up with Durandal’s training, since I don’t have the CCP to worry about have Bronya and Seele secretly wonder if Durandal has a crush on Kiana because she’s acting so weird. (the truth is stranger than fiction, girls). Some clashes between SS and AE now that they have to work together, which Theresa tries to manage. Since I said I’m keeping the lore mostly intact, have Bronya and Seele bring up Bronya’s harsh childhood and talk about what they know of their biological parents. Dark Seele admits she only started waking up regularly when Seele was at the orphanage so she actually has zero idea. They talk about Cocolia and Sin a bit as well, where they stand with them etc.

Meanwhile! After that mission, Mei gets called out for not doing her job right because she was soft on her old friends, and she starts thinking about leaving for good soon. She interacts with a Gray Serpent, who is cryptic as usual but commands her for being their most promising agent despite her soft heart. She briefly bumps into Hare (the real one) and gets a weird feeling from her, thinking she looks a bit like Kiana, and she basically exudes depression. I want her to also have a talk with Jackal, and mentioning Mobius (maybe she assumed Klein would try to find work in a familiar setting but she’s not there, she’s already on the moon preparing things) just so we can close ER ch2’s plot thread of Jackal causing Mobius to go stir-crazy by saying they never found the real Mobius in reality.

Some time passes, more regular gang shenanigans that starts foreshadowing the moon plot and AE’s plans to deal with Finality (like Kiana asking about the battleship onscreen instead of just telling us she did later). The events for them can be jumbled around a bit, it’s just to avoid them getting completely sidelined and get the more secondary characters some scenes to shine in.

Back to Mei. She’s already gone through the database, ER is a bust, she’s missing her final answer because of HoC’s bullshit— but Hua was right, there’s still someone at WS who can give her answers. She’s been mulling it over and she’s going to do it today.

Mei confronts Kevin one on one (yes she booked a formal meeting). Mei knows him well now; she has his signet too, she spent time together with his sim, and she realizes that after everything she can try and force the answers out of him, since she’s now proven herself. What is Honkai? What is the Will? What really happened to Elysia? What is he hiding?

Kevin is reminded of Dr.MEI, contemplating how utterly different they are despite looking alike— and he actually starts talking. I’m gonna think harder about the exact content but for now here’s what I think he says.

First he tells Mei about the samsara they’re in, and how she’s got Dr.MEI’s spot in this samsara, emphasizing that each iteration is different but starts on the same basis, much like how Mei and MEI’s lives took radically different turns and they became extremely different people, despite being born with the same face under similar circumstances.

Mei shook (1) but she remembers that one eyes closed photo she saw of MEI, and how they indeed looked alike.

After Kevin reveals how Finality turns back time, he broaches that this is their last cycle, their last chance, because Elysia broke Fate and they traded passing down extra knowledge and strength to the embers of the new civilisation against Humanity getting more tries to survive Honkai, so they’re not going to be able to bunker down and try again with their civilisation revived.

Mei asks how Elysia managed it, and I’m gonna change her death back to what it was built up to be because I don’t like what we got. Elysia was a Herrscher the entire time, infiltrated MOTH and revealed herself as the 13th, becoming the common enemy of Humanity. Five of her closest friends came to fight her off— Kevin, Eden, Vill-V, Aponia and Mobius.

(I’m confident they only removed Mobius because they couldn’t give her a green flower, which is stupid. She was stated to have been there in earlier ER convos.)

From this point on, the tale becomes Kevin’s memory projection, so Mei gets to watch it play out.

Elysia ran away from the base after a very public “eruption”, and they believed maybe it was a sliver of sanity left in her before she completely lost it— but soon she would come back because after the three last cities got nuked there was virtually no human left to kill besides MOTH staff. So they had to strike first.

There’s an epic fight where Elysia seems to have completely lost her mind and they finally manage to pin her down— and Mobius reveals to Elysia they came to capture her alive, claiming it’s for her experiments on a live Herrscher but it’s pretty obvious it’s because they’re all completely worn out emotionally and they just want their friend back.

Elysia is shocked, because she has been acting this whole time hoping that she would be able to restore Humanity’s confidence and unity when they beat her without horribly cruel collateral, in preparation for HoFin who she can feel is going to descend extremely soon— and she was also going to use this to return to the Cocoon to give the humans a chance to survive.

This makes her break character and they realize she’s ACTUALLY for good conscious and has been acting and they’re not too happy about that, feeling she’s betrayed them, and she spills the beans.

She reveals she’s not the 13th, but the Herrscher of Origin who has been walking among humans before the Herrscher of Reason even descended. She joined MOTH so Humanity wouldn’t lose too early, hoping that, given some extra help and time from her, they’d surpass Finality.

Elysia apologizes for picking RIN as a Herrscher, wondering if Sakura would forgive her, expressing grief about finding someone compatible enough with Honkai not to go crazy, only for her to die and then take Sakura and so many humans with her. It turns out she’s been sporadically intentionally influencing the Cocoon, hoping that it would bring a more optimal outcome— but picking a MOTH Soldier didn’t work, splitting the core into 1000 pieces to make it easier on the human mind to utilize didn’t work, making the Herrscher an anti-energy type was a complete and utter disaster…Despite the relative success of the MANTIS program, the Honkai’s embrace never led to coexistence.

In her eyes, every Herrscher’s violence is a “choice” of humanity, instincts amplified by Honkai’s embrace (so like what happened to RIN in the end), as much as the response to fight them was… and here they are.

This little italics conversation that they changed occurs.

They question whether everything about Elysia was a lie, but she denies it, saying that she (and by extension, the Honkai) loves each and every one of them sincerely, and that she always wanted to create a paradise for Humanity, even if she never really was worthy of being called a human.

Mobius is big mad— telling her that she’s just as human as any of them, she laughs and hides her pain and plays pranks and loves others, and all she did was betray both herself and them by “letting nature take its course”.

Surprisingly Elysia says she’s right. The Honkai is arrogant to play with Humanity’s fate like this, even out of love, and as an extension of it she made the same choice… but it was never fair. Humanity should write its own story, and evolve in the ways they like, not the ways the Honkai wants.

And so Elysia tells them she’ll do what she should have done a long time ago, and returns to the cocoon, rearranging the stars and breaking Fate.

It’s the end of the memory, and Mei is stunned and a bit emotional (even here you can’t escape watching Elysia die multiple times, sorry). She asks Kevin what exactly, then, is Honkai.

“You heard her didn’t you? You got to know her. You already know.”

“It’s that love of hers. What we know as “Honkai” is her embrace.”

(to be continued…)

Feel free to send asks or reblog/reply with feedback, questions etc. I wrote this all in one shot.

[dokk-fukuro]

High Enough [Sigma x f!Reader]

A/N: AFAB reader, SMUT, femdom, alcohol, strangers to lovers, mentioned of female genitals

۞₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪۞

I still don’t understand how it happened that I knew the people who provided me and my girlfriends with a whole week off at an elite casino in the clouds. However, the very fact that I have to hurry to avoid being late makes my heart flutter. There are a lot of different conversations about Sky Casino. Someone says that this is an elite place where you can feel like the king of the whole world, someone says that this place is too hyped to get so much attention on it. But many moneybags with their sugar babies in cocktail mini dresses speak of the establishment almost like Paris. “Visit the Sky Casino and die” is how you can describe the impressions of most of my friends.

I also heard often that no one had ever seen its owner. He is like one of the wonders of the world. Everyone heard about him, but no one had ever seen him. And, perhaps, this interests me much more than playing poker or roulette. I would like to know who he is, to see him live, because if I succeed, I can say for sure that my life hasn’t been lived in vain.

“Girl, allow yourself a little more.” I twirl in front of the mirror, looking at the way I'm wearing a formfitting dress, more suitable for an office worker than for going to a pompous establishment. Mahiru, one of my friends, who persuaded her “daddy” to knock us out to visit the casino among the clouds, approaches me from the back, and only her reflection in the mirror doesn’t allow her to scare me with her sudden presence. “You look like you’re going to work on Saturday. Shake it up!”

Mahiru has always been so easy-going. Ever since high school, when we began to study together, she gave the impression of that very instigator and ringleader who could well shake even the deadest crowd. I haven't seen her since graduating high school, because this lady got herself a job in a modeling agency. However, it would be surprising if this did not happen. Bright and noisy, she could always easily attract attention. In addition, Mahiru was artistic, thus paving her way into the school theater club. Moreover, the lion's share of her success was her appearance. Long, well-groomed hair, expressive eyes against the background of pale skin, plump lips and a pleasant face shape, reminiscent more of a heart.

On her background, I looked a little awkward when we were schoolgirls. For a long time I wore glasses, cut my hair short enough so as not to be complex due to youthful swelling, although I never suffered from excess weight. The work of a gray mouse in an office somewhere in Yokohama was provided to me. But who knew that my passion for baking in high school would end with me now running a chain of franchised cat cafes? Well, I didn't know either.

I glance at my reflection and can't understand why Mahiru doesn't like my appearance. Yes, it's strict in comparison with her, but I'm comfortable. And yet, something haunts, as if an obsessive thought is spinning in the head over and over again: “Look at something else. You're a gray mouse again." Also, my friend looks at me expectantly through the cold surface of the mirror. As if she knows that I will give up anyway. And... I give up.

"Okay, let's see something else together.” I sigh, realizing with a hindsight that I'm not going to a reunion of graduates, and certainly not to business negotiations. In the end, I also need to rest from severity. Mahiru, like a small child, jumps around me and says that at last a bright thought descended on me. Little fool.

It takes almost an eternity as we rummage through her wardrobe to select what suits me and pleases me so much that I don't want to constantly worry about adjusting something in my outfit so that I can just hide myself like in a bag of rice. Our choice falls on a fitted wine-colored satin dress. Open back with radial draping that repeats in the deep neckline. The hem of the dress wraps around the hips so it becomes even awkward. And chains, many chains. They are both part of the decoration on the back and what, in fact, holds the dress in front. Too much open skin, but for some reason I even start to like it. Mahiru literally squeaks in my ear. Restless.

We both agree on the opinion that this is exactly what I need, so it's up to makeup. I don’t know how to make up myself, so I completely trust myself to my friend, who understands this much more than I do. The brushes tickle a lot, I sometimes sneeze from the powder, but Mahiru does her magic on me, and all I can do is sit and endure. She's so funny when she's focused.

I have no idea how much time passes, but in front of me in the mirror reflection is a completely different person. Lipstick in the color of the dress, a languid look due to shadows and eyeliner. I'm a cover girl! I look at Mahiru, who just shrugs her shoulders and doesn't understand my surprise. Yes, what is there not to understand. I have never seen myself from the side of a fatal girl who, without a twinge of conscience, walks through other people's hearts, like on a red carpet. The girlfriend whistles and nods contentedly.

“Your place is on the podium, dear!” My cheeks are covered with a blush that breaks through even a light layer of powder. For some reason, I vividly imagine the picture of me walking down the catwalk at the show, hundreds of eyes are looking at me, and I twist my leg. Both funny and embarrassing at the same time, but I pull myself together and hold back the rolling laughter.

We fly to the Sky Casino by private helicopter. I still marvel at Mahiru's good fortune without a drop of envy. We are flying with a couple of our former classmates. Hanako flew in from Germany to take a break from her work. “Being a CEO in the beauty industry is terribly exhausting.” Most of my friends have connected their lives with the beauty, modeling or design industry. And only I was more mundane, having only a few cafes in my chain. But I can say that I am completely satisfied with my life.

At the landing site, we are met by guards with serious faces, all in black. With these, try not to feel like a person with VIP status. We are told that it is strictly forbidden to bring weapons and prohibited substances into the territory of the casino, so we are examined thoroughly. This is a common thing for establishments of this type, at least it seems to me, so I have no extra questions. At the reception, we are greeted by a rather pleasant-looking girl in a formal suit, who, smiling, hands us cards.

“It's a master key,” she explains, displaying instructions on a screen behind her. The girls and I are closely watching what is happening on the screen. But the men who arrived with us are obviously not the first time in this institution, therefore they do not show any interest. “This key allows you to open the room located on the floor above. Also, this key is a card with which you can pay for drinks in our bar or order food. The key cannot be presented as a bet in games, unwinnable money is not charged to it. Also, the money that you replenish the key balance cannot be cashed out. The basic rules of our casino: do not disturb other guests. It is also forbidden to flirt with employees, you can not stick to the girls of the staff. You can leave the casino at any time.”

We are given quite unusual Hanko seal pads, they shimmer strangely and have a completely unusual bright blue color. For a while I doubt that everything is in perfect order, but I agree. The whole company puts our seals on the keys, and they seem to become one with the surface of the plastic.

“Mahiru-san, Yamada-san, you and your friends are coming with me. Your escorts will be escorted by security. We'll show you your rooms,” the receptionist bows and leads us forward to a large glass staircase leading up to the floor above.

In the casino itself, a genuine atmosphere of excitement and desire to be a winner hovers. The Great Hall combines a turbulent mixture of modernity and what is now easy to point the finger at and say that this is the last century. Slot machines, roulette tables, poker and blackjack tables and much more. But that's not what draws my eye.

A young man with long hair dyed white and lilac. He is absolutely calm, as if the owner of this establishment, walks along the slender rows with tables, nods to the employees behind them and moves on. His white clothes with a black, sparkling lining of the “tails” of his jacket stand out against the general background, as if on purpose. It can be said that the young man does not walk, but hovering between the tables. It takes me a moment to realize that Hanako, walking with us, is waving her hand in front of my face.

"Earth summons Yamada! Yama, what are you up to?” I shake my head and look away at exactly the same moment that stranger turns to us standing on the stairs. And it seems that he is looking at me, I can almost feel his eyes! It becomes terribly awkward, but I quickly pull myself together and answer:

“It's all right, I'm just... just amazed by the scale of the entire casino,” I say the first thing that comes to mind, but I myself can’t get that stranger in the bright one out of my head. It's too catchy.

Having reached the rooms, we are shown them from the inside. I rarely stayed in hotels, so it's hard for me to compare with something specific, but the scale of the room... it's impressive, as is the huge panoramic window from which you can see very tiny Yokohama and clouds, clouds. It's fresh inside and warm enough to complain about the cold. Most likely the ventilation and cooling works. A huge bed in the center next to the window, a wardrobe, a mini-bar in the room with glasses and an entrance to the bathroom. Everything is thought over to trifles.

We are told that the seals that we put on the keys secure the numbers for us without the possibility of opening the door in any other way. We are also told that there are also double rooms, in case we want to stay alone with our friends or relatives. “The seal of Hanko disappears from the key as soon as you leave the casino and hand it over to me. Have fun," is the last thing I hear before the girl leaves us.

To be honest, I had no plans to play in principle. I was offered to unwind in a special way, and I was not particularly against it, although I don’t understand anything at all about it. I even play poker badly. Oh, Mahiru...

And here I am, sitting with people at one of the free poker tables, keeping my cards with me and once again missing the bet. Next to me is a glass with a cocktail, but I myself don’t understand at all what to do, I feel as if a huge piece of my life has gone nowhere. As if gambling is the missing link that was missing to say: “I tried almost everything.” My real “almost” is not even half of my friends life.

"Is everything okay?” The same young man whom I saw earlier sits down next to us for a free chair. Straight profile, pale skin and unusual lavender-colored eyes. It even seems to me that there is so much warmth and care in them, as no other person will have. I again feel my cheeks begin to tingle. The blood rushes, apparently.

I honestly confessed to him that I had never gambled, so I can not fully understand what's what. The young man nods understandingly to me, offers to give up positions in the game and follow him. And so I do, trusting him entirely. All the staff looks at him with respect and nods, but I still don’t get what’s going on. We walk in silence to my room, although I stagger slightly. This is far from the first cocktail that I have drunk.

Already in my room, the principle of playing poker is explained to me, although I cannot concentrate my attention on it at all. I keep looking at the attractive features of the young man next to me, and a crazy thought shoots in my temple: “Sit on his lap.” And the devil pulls me to obey.

By the way, I'm wondering who you are? I mutter, not immediately realizing that I'm doing it out loud, but instead of embarrassment, I just giggle. The young man in white gulps nervously and looks at me sitting on his lap. “You are obviously an interesting person, since the staff looks at you with such respect.”

Silence comes in response to my words. It's amazing that after drinking so many cocktails I'm still able to speak. Hopefully, when we get back, I will have at least some memories of today. He looks at me with confusion and some embarrassment. Finally, the stranger gives in, and I take control of myself, quickly apologize for the unambiguous posture, and sit back down.

“I’m the owner of this casino. Sigma.” I kind of started to sober up. So, without any hesitation, I sat on the lap of the owner of the casino! What a shame! His head starts to hurt, which draws Sigma's attention. He speaks quickly into the phone he has pulled out of his trouser pockets, and a moment later, a girl is standing in front of us with a pack of aspirin and alcohol. “Take an aspirin before you go to bed, and now you better drink to keep the same level of alcohol in the body. Trust me I can drink with you.”

The casino owner is right. After a short period of time, the pain disappears, but intoxication increases. Sigma gets to the same condition as me pretty quickly. He shares secrets with me, says that it is terribly difficult to manage a casino, and in order to do it at a height, sometimes he has to not sleep at all, studying the personal affairs of all the guests. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed.

We chat about everything for a while, although I think that some topics make him uncomfortable, and therefore I do my best not to touch on them in the future. So I told him that I owned a small chain of cafes that were more a franchise than entirely mine, and that in my early twenties I did not have a permanent relationship, seasoning it with jokes that I would never say out loud when sober. Jokes about loneliness, about a lot of free space on the bed. And behind all this, I lose sight of the moment when we both sit close to each other so that the tips of our noses are touching.

Fraction of a second. Strike me down if I'm lying, and much more time passes before I again sit on Sigma’s lap and kiss him on the lips. It's very difficult to resist the temptation, so I don't try, feeling slightly cool hands on my bare back. I snuggle up tighter, digging my fingers through the two-tone hair, which is so silky and so soft to the touch.

The kiss is greedy, like we're both so hungry for someone else's touch, although Sigma shivers a little. From excitement? May be. But he still tries to take the initiative in the kiss, stroking my back, but chastely does not go lower. The touches are almost weightless, very hard to feel, and this is the reason why I get terribly ticklish.

But the head, like a bullet, breaks through with lightning speed the question: “What are we doing?” He is the owner of a casino, and I am a person who came to relax and experience the vanity of vanities. I should not continue what is happening here and now. I gently move away from his lips, breathing heavily, but I do not take my eyes off his. The young man is a bit puzzled, looks at me blankly and also breathes heavily. Sigma's eyes are completely lost, he clearly does not understand what is happening and why I stopped, the question is almost hanging in the air, but I hasten to voice the answer to it before the casino owner says a word:

"I'm not sure what we're doing," I hesitate, feeling his fingers lazily twirl through the chains on my dress. Not trying to dissemble and escape thereby. I'm not really sure that sitting on Sigma's lap and kissing him while leaving light cherry lipstick marks on him is a good idea in itself. I will soon be forgotten, but what if one of the staff finds him in not the best shape? Will there be rumors that the owner and direct employer were seduced by one of the guests?

My words seem to only confuse him more. The young man tilts his head slightly to the side, his cool hand touching my face. Fingertips caress my cheek and gently caress. My heart is pounding in my chest like crazy, and something gloomy in my mind wants to break out. The sudden urge to pull Sigma under me, to see his confused expression and hear him whine and moan under me breaks through the ceiling. God, where do these thoughts come from?

“We can stop at any moment and pretend that nothing happened,” the young man suggests huskily, but for some reason his version doesn’t please me at all. Gulping down the rest of the drink in my glass, I muster up the courage to pull him by the tie to me and kiss him on the lips. It is worth seizing the moment while I am here, above the city in a heavenly fortress-casino, sitting on the lap of an attractive young man who is the owner of the establishment.

Sigma seems to be plucking up his courage as well, his touch feeling more confident, and I'll be damned if I say I don't feel anything. The only moment when I manage to step back a little to bring my breathing back to normal just a little, it treacherously gets stuck in my throat. The palms of the owner of the Sky Casino are felt on the hips, they are trying to pry off the hem of my dress in order to move it up. It seems to be nothing unusual, but it’s as if current discharges pass through my body. However, the young man, instead of pulling up my dress with his hands, wanders over my body with them, touches my chest, reminding me that it is not covered by a bra.

Kisses fall on my neck; I tremble violently and during this time I let out the first quiet moan. The skin on my neck is quite delicate, because other people's touches are felt sharper at times. Sigma's hands rest on my ass and squeeze hard. No, this is not going to work, I need to urgently take the initiative.

I grab onto the knot of his tie and pull it down as far as the fancy vest will allow. I undo a couple of buttons on his shirt. Pulling back a little, I manage to unbutton two of waistcoat buttons. Now, nothing will stop me from pulling off the tie, but first ... my lips touches to the open areas of the neck, which aren’t covered by the high collar of the turtleneck, for some unknown reason, worn under the shirt. My ears pick up the noisy exhalation as Sigma's hands begin to roam my body again, as if searching for the zipper of my dress. The waistcoat flies somewhere towards the edge of the bed, but the same does not happen with the tie that dangles around his neck, fully untied. Oh no, I still need it. Reaching for it, I pull it off and apply it with a wider part to the young man's eyes. He chuckles in puzzlement.

“What is it for?” He seems to be a little stressed by this, but I intercept the hand that is trying to pull off the makeshift blindfold and point it at my chest, which Sigma grabs and squeezes. I can feel his flat palm touching my nip. I'm finishing tying the knot.

“It’s more interesting that way,” I explain, and I smile quite a bit. Now that Sigma can't navigate visually, the focus will be on sounds, smells, and touch. It suits me, so I deftly rid him of his shirt, pull off his turtleneck, and milky skin appears to my eyes. Despite all his visual subtlety, the young man hardly fits the description of a thin person. Yes, he looks neat, like any average office employee, but it even suits him. For some reason, it's hard for me to imagine him more pumped up. I wander with my hands along his naked torso, kiss his neck and sink lower, grabbing the skin on crook of the neck with my teeth. The owner of the Heavenly Casino shudders, however, even having the opportunity to pull his tie off his eyes, he does not. Apparently, he got a taste for it.

When it comes to his trousers, I can hear the zipper on the dress softly zipping behind me and sliding down. It looks like the young man found the clasp by touch. I disentangle myself from the dress, and at that very moment Sigma's hands and lips are attached to my almost naked body. He greedily kisses my shoulders, noisily sniffs the scent of skin mixed with alcohol, and moans as my crotch, covered with lace, presses against the eloquent bulge on his trousers.

"You smell great," he breathes into my collarbone, and I'm willing to swear he's not the only one almost going crazy with the sensations. When I push Sigma on the bed, I move a little, sitting on his groin. His cock is twitching in his pants, it's not that hard to catch. Hand movements are uncertain. The young man does not see me, but he feels very well, so his hands roam up my hips, slide along my waist and find my breasts. Sigma caresses my nipples with his fingers, twists and squeezes a little, and in spite of him I fidget on his dick, feeling how his hands weaken and do not obey at all, so I fall exhausted on the snow-white bed. I fall to his lips, kiss him, putting all my growing desire in my chest. It swells, presses on the lungs, preventing normal breathing. I go down with kisses, almost bite into the collarbone, listening to the muffled groans. The owner of the Heavenly Casino is breathing heavily and often, biting his lips, and I don’t even touch his cock with my palm. It's okay, we'll fix it. Moans are like music. I wonder if he had a girlfriend before me, or is he like that in life? However, such questions are a little irrelevant.

I take off his pants, which I did not originally plan. Sigma wants to be teased, pushed to the limit and... not given what he wants. Well, I'll have the opportunity. Under the fabric of the underpants is quite impressive size. I swallow nervously, realizing that this is our first and last time together. It's even sad. But, pushing not rosy thoughts, I touch a hard dick through the underwear. The young man bites his lip and goes into a big shiver. I continue to caress through his underpants, watching the bead of precum forming on them. No, that's not enough for me. I want to see it.

“Are you ready, m, Sigma? We can stop and pretend that nothing happened.” it probably sounds like a mockery, and he regards it as such. However, he can be understood: it is very difficult not to take these words as a mockery. A girl turned you on, kissed you as if she was hungry for caresses and touches, and now she is offering to stop! That's why a halfhearted request to continue sounds so sweet. However... "What are you saying? Repeat for me.”

What a bitch I am. But I really want him to say it louder, to groan if he needs to. In general, what is happening:

“Please don't stop.”

This is more than enough for me to continue. Pulling off Sigma's underpants, I swallow viscous saliva. His dick is large, wide, veins appear on it. The tip is reddish and oozes like precum, which pools in a small puddle next to the protruding pelvic bone. It doesn't fit in my tiny palm a bit, but that doesn't bother me too much. Sigma whimpers under me, trying to push his hips into my palm, but it doesn't work very well. And I like this reaction to caresses. I'm ready to watch it for as long as I want.

My hand movements are speeding up and slowing down, and the young man feels like an electric shock from this. I caress the bridle and the tip with the pad of my thumb, rubbing the precum over it, which does not get smaller. It serves as a good lubricant. The Heavenly Casino owner groans but does nothing to stop his voluptuous torture.

“Tell me, what do you want most right now?” I purr as I continue to caress his cock with my hand and stop whenever I feel it swell in my palm. Moans of disappointment escape Sigma's lips at such moments. No, I haven't played with him yet.

“I can't. Please let me cum,” he whines when I remove my hand completely. Sigma is almost ready to burst into tears. This is how his voice sounds. Plaintively, begging for more. Well, who am I to say no to such a confusing but beautiful request? Taking off my soaked underwear as soon as possible, I impale myself on the heated flesh, exhaling noisily in unison with the groan of a young man.

I move on it quite briskly and sharply, raising myself above him as much as I can, in order to feel his dick completely inside again. The young man's now weakened hands cling to my waist, helping me up and down. The room fills with our rhythmic moans and wet skin to skin sounds.

When I lean over him to kiss him on the lips, we switch places, which couldn’t be foreseen. Sigma pull the tie off his eyes and grabs me under my knees and presses them to my chest, now blatantly thrusting into my body as I let out loud moans that bordered on a scream.

He freezes with a loud moan on his lips, entering me at the very base of the dick. He looks deeply into my eyes and breathes heavily, and under me the sheets become wet. It doesn't bother me that Sigma cums inside. Pulling out of me, he collapses exhausted next to me and breathes heavily.

“I hope you visit me here more often,” I hear and laugh at it. I'd like to, to be honest.

[abwi]

“From Gifts to Grace: Reminiscing and Rediscovering Christmas”

I love Christmas, like really.

It might sound cliché, and you probably hear most people say that Christmas is their favorite holiday and that it’s the “most wonderful time of the year,” but I really think Christmas is worth its hype. Truly, I have always cherished Christmas within my mind, heart, and soul.

Lights surrounded the gates, the green wreath hung on the door, and the Christmas tree used to be up in the corner of the house by September, lasting up to April of the following year. Sometimes we wanted to keep the Christmas vibe a little longer, but often, it was just because we were too lazy to take it down. My family never skipped Christmas; we always treated it as one of the most awaited times of the year. Whether it was a simple celebration or a whole party, Christmas was well acknowledged by us.

One evening in September of the 2000s, we were at my grandmother’s home when one of my titas suggested we start decorating for Christmas. My titas are usually only home on weekends because of work, but they were there that time. We were all sitting in the family room when my lola took out a huge bag from the attic and placed it in the middle of the room. She opened the bag, and inside were smaller bags filled with Christmas balls of different colors and ribbons for the Christmas tree. Another huge bag, double the size, was brought down, and inside was the Christmas tree we’d had for almost a decade. I wanted to help set it up, so I started separating the branches of the tree. My cousins were just as excited as I was about assembling the tree, so we all helped our lola. Arranging the Christmas balls on the tree was actually treated as a challenge for us; we wanted to make sure that the tree looked aesthetically pleasing since my family were “perfectionists.” We made sure the colors didn’t clash and the sizes were properly arranged. When we were satisfied with how the tree looked, we put it up on a stool and turned on its lights. By the end of that September evening, the Christmas spirit was already starting to fill our home.

The Christmas tree, along with the other house decorations, is not a need or a must for celebrating Christmas. But for us—or for me, perhaps—it holds huge significance in creating the atmosphere and helping people visualize the presence of Christmas. It’s not just a tree; it symbolizes the family’s outlook on Christmas. By setting up decorations, the importance of the season for the family is reflected.

The pre-Christmas experience of that year was already nostalgic—what more when December arrived. December 1, I remember the excitement I felt as a kid. Knowing that I’d been counting down with the TV Patrol countdown of “100 days nalang, pasko na!” I was beyond thrilled to hear “25 days na lang, Pasko na!” on TV. Besides counting down to Christmas, I was also counting down to my birthday. On December 10, before we reached Christmas, we celebrated my birthday. After that, the excitement for Christmas continued.

Exchanging gifts has been a family tradition ever since. I always helped my mother think of gifts for our family. December 24, we usually crammed the gift-buying into the day before Christmas. Although we have a different approach to Christmas now, I remember playing with my cousins outside the house at that time and leaving the gift-buying job to my mother. Christmas Eve has always been exciting, especially as the space under the Christmas tree slowly fills with presents. Since then, my lola’s house has usually been the venue for our Christmas celebration, where our extended family gathers together. As people started to arrive, the excitement of the evening grew. Jolly Christmas music played, usually songs by Sir Jose Mari Chan, while we waited for the lechon to cook, turning on top of the hot embers. Speaking of lechon, I remember watching it cook and how the smoke always blew in our direction, no matter where we moved, as if it were following us. By the time the lechon was done, our eyes were red and teary. When everything was prepared, everyone gathered and settled together in one area. My little kid self could be seen waiting eagerly to open the gifts under the tree. It’s funny to remember how sad I would feel when the adults said we should eat first before opening gifts to pass the time while waiting for the clock to hit 12 am. I can vividly remember our pastor stopping by to share a message about Christmas, its essence, and the reason behind this holiday.

Do you know the essence and real reason behind Christmas? In past years, I have gathered knowledge that shaped my perspective on this season. It’s a season of giving, joy, serenity, wholesomeness, love, and most importantly, a time to honor the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Though I do not believe that He was born exactly on December 25, I take this season as a way to celebrate His birth. Not just during this season, though—every day should be a celebration of Christ’s birth. The little things like gifts, the Christmas tree, the food, and the gatherings are symbols and reflections of the essence of this holiday, and each little thing contributes to the specialness of Christmas. But even without these things, Christmas can still be just as special when you know the reason behind it and celebrate it with love and contentment, knowing that Jesus is behind every amazing thing in this world. The most wonderful time of the year, the season of giving, the awaited holiday that everyone around the globe celebrates—Christmas. Yet “Christmas” will never exist without Christ.

December 25, “Merry Christmas!” everyone greets each other as the clock strikes 12 am. The younger me, excited to open presents from my family, smiles as she receives her gifts. Now, though, I no longer feel the same excitement about gifts, decor, and food. You could say that Christmas wouldn’t feel as special anymore because of this, but it’s actually the opposite now that I know Jesus is the reason behind my Christmas.

Reminiscing about the past with gifts, a Christmas tree, and big celebrations may still happen, but I will continue moving forward with a different perspective, with Christ at the heart of my Christmas.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME TO READ, MAY GOD BLESS YOU!!! 🤍

[freshthoughts2020]

THE SYMBOL OF PEACE

The Symbol of Peace

July 26, 2024

I've been binge-watching My Hero Academia on Netflix. With news that the manga is in its final arc, I thought this would be a good time to jump in and see what I've been missing all these years. Man, I thank God I did—I love this show! From the first episode, I felt young Midoriya's passion. The episode was filled with so many emotional triggers, reminiscent of early Naruto. Then I was introduced to the inspiration for this article, All Might! I instantly liked All Might because he's one of those characters, like Gojo, who is recognized and heralded as "the symbol of peace."

I was watching the episode where All Might first faced off against All for One, the series’ main antagonist at that point, and he was on his last ounce of strength. The remaining embers of his fire were blazing as he looked out to take down the foe whose existence posed a threat to all of Japan! The way people showed admiration for him even in his most vulnerable moment sparked a fire inside me.

I might have been taking this show too literally, but at that moment, I, too, adopted the moniker of "the symbol of peace," which is even more fitting for me because I’m a lawyer. I remember several years ago when word first got out that I was pursuing a career in law, my church members would say, "Here’s our civil attorney right here." My mother and I would always laugh because we both thought, "Man, we’re on the money; I ain’t trying to be that." But if you know me, or can even tell from my articles, the plight of the small folk touches my heartstrings in a different way.

In a prestigious profession like mine, I’ve seen people stricken with ego and lose touch with others. I never wanted to be like that. My first lawyer job was working as a staff attorney handling evictions. Saving people from losing their homes at all costs was life-changing. I had a special connection because, a year prior, I was in most of those people’s shoes—a broke guy trying to cross that bar at all costs!

When people put their literal lives in your hands, you’re given a different level of responsibility. Knowing they don’t have the knowledge or tools to fight for themselves, yet they entrust you to fight their battles—it's something I could never take for granted.

One of my main driving factors in blazing this path to wealth is to help people, and not just in talking points—literal helping. I will create housing programs that will help students so they won’t have to worry about such things while in school. I will buy city blocks that will have transitional houses, where people can live for a year while receiving a monthly stipend. The goal is to get them financially literate and give them a jumpstart, to move out on their own and continue stability for their families. I will have galleries where up-and-coming artists can have showcases like million-dollar artists.

I will continue to be the hope for the hopeless and the voice for the voiceless. The light that shines for those in the dark. The current that powers the circuit of hope. The bridge from failure to success and the ladder from disbelief to faith. I am now and always forever, the symbol of peace!

Visit gettothecorner.com

Follow on twitter.com/onlyonejaevonn

[kindheart525]

Celestia’s sun shone brightly in the sky on this summer afternoon, bathing the world in a warmth that was toasty but not sweltering. A soft breeze blew over the land, creating a ripple along the lake’s surface. Anypony who peered into the lake would find their reflection distorted by the waves—a humorous sight.

Much like the aunt and niece relaxing on its beaches now.

“There’s a version of my Dad in your world? And he had a crush on Queen Twilight!?”

“Yeah! I almost can’t believe it myself!”

The two sat there talking and laughing, catching up on a whole lifetime they’d missed out on. A lifetime that was filled with so many joys yet so many sorrows. But now they finally had time to talk about it.

“But he’s a really nice guy, he stood up for the people he cared about when it counted and he sure was fun to be around. He was in a band…maybe he still is. And he had quite the sense of humor. If the Flash Sentry here was anything like that, I can see why Sunburst would have liked him.”

Sunset Shimmer chuckled to herself, reminiscing back to her high school days and long before that, when she was young and carefree and close with her little brother.

“I think he did mention being in a band at one point!”

Luster Dawn laughed along. The pain of her loss wasn’t gone, it would never go away completely, but for once she could also feel joy while remembering the ones she missed so dearly. Like they were still alive, in memory.

“He was in the royal guard, he had to be all serious for his job but when he was with us he was nothing but fun. Papa could be stressed a lot of the time but Dad was always making him laugh, it was almost embarrassing.”

She felt a deep pang of guilt remembering the last time she saw them.

“And well…I wish I hadn’t been so embarrassed. I didn’t want to be around them, I said a lot of things I wish I could take back, and—“

“So did I.”

Her aunt suddenly broke her spiral, taking her hoof in hers with a compassionate but wistful smile.

“I was an awful pony when I was younger. An awful person. Nothing was ever enough for me, I was always looking for more power—“

She stopped, not wanting to delve into her whole backstory.

“Anyway, my relationship with Sunburst suffered for it. I said a lot of things I wish I could take back too. I regret it all the time…”

Sunset started to feel choked up, but she focused back on the niece who needed her so much.

“I know exactly how you feel.”

These words meant the world to Luster, knowing she finally found somepony who understood her situation perfectly. Somepony older and wiser, who could help her get through it.

“How do you live with it?”

She asked, desperate for a nugget of wisdom.

“It can be hard. Really hard.”

Sunset admitted.

“But the version of me that was so nasty back then isn’t here anymore, I try every day not to be like her. And I hope that the ones I’ve lost would be proud of me, and the ones I meet in the future will know who I’ve worked hard to become. Just look at you!”

She pointed to Luster’s reflection in the water, her eyes focused on the real filly before her.

“I’ve only just met you and I already know you’re an amazing filly.”

“Really?”

Luster was humbled by this, she had spent so long wallowing in her regret that she often forgot to think about all the good qualities she had.

“Yeah! Witty, smart, talented, where do we even begin?”

Both of them laughed together, a weight lifting off their shoulders as they finally allowed themselves to just be.

It was a few minutes of just wordlessly enjoying each other’s company before Sunset spoke up again.

“You know, I’ve always wondered how my brother’s life turned out. If he was happy, if he ever found ‘the one’ or accomplished everything he wanted to. But I don’t have to wonder anymore.”

“Hm?”

“Because your dads raised you, and that’s all I need to know about them. They would be so proud.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Previous: Peach Pit Next: Ginger and Lemon Tea With Honey

[splashink-games]

A Note On... Frogun and Coins

Frogun is a 3D platforming game by Molegato! Save your parents (and coincidentally find some treasure) through these crazy ruins!

First off, I am astounded by the number of people (in the Steam reviews) who absolutely hate the controls and the checkpoint usage. I can understand their gripes from the "precise platforming that the controls don't accommodate" but damn. I've had my fair share of frustrating moments, for sure. Frogun is definitely a difficult and (for me, mildly) frustrating time because of the later levels. However, it definitely does not detract from its experience.

In terms of controls, my issue was that at certain angles (too angled/obtuse) and distances (way too close or too high) and timings, the grapple simply does not work. The reticle would say you can grapple, but you'd still be too high to connect, so the grapple just goes right over. Sometimes it should've and sometimes it shouldn't have. Either way, I got through this pretty awesome game just fine.

The biggest issue with the game is while 100%-ing it. In which case, you need to be good enough to perform the platforming skips. And once you know the basics, you don't even need to do the more difficult ones. But most of all, you need to farm 30,000+ coins after you've beaten all the levels. It was at that number for me since I'd only completed each level 2-3 times for the medals. It's an absolutely insane 4 hour grind where you only collect 360 coins per run on one kind of annoying level.

Setting grievances aside, the game is pretty great. The art style and music feels very retro, reminiscent of my days of playing Mario 64 at the dentist's office when I was a kid. Or more recently, it felt similar to playing Here Comes Niko at the end of last year. I do absolutely love the choices I have for hats too. My go-tos were the froggy hood and the red box that I don't know the name of.

The level design is pretty interesting for the most part. There are, of course, a lot of areas where it was frustrating for the same reasons I stated above. But overall, it does a nice job of easing you into the mechanics before it gets too hard. As well, when you're used to the basics, it always adds a new thing for you to pay attention to.

Surprisingly, where this game really shines is the boss battles. They started off super simple, but by the end, the boss battles were my favourite thing and got me super excited for the boss rushes. Which were also surprisingly enjoyable given their difficulty.

As a platformer, Frogun isn't for everyone. But if you love this style of game, definitely give it a shot.

As always,

Enjoy gaming!

[mrultra100]

OCEAN MAN, TAKE BY THE HAND-

We’re finally at not only my favorite episode of not only Season 2, but the entirety of Prehistoric Planet so far; OCEANS! As much as I love prehistory, I’m also a huge marine biology nerd, and have been since early childhood. I’ve always been a fan of marine animals, and the same applies for the sea creatures of the deep past. And when it comes to highlighting the various marine fauna of the Maasrichtian, this episode does a pretty good job with that. Aside from a few complaints that I wanna save for the end, I’m more than happy to say that this episode has many scenes that I consider to be some of my favorites in the entire series. Let’s “dive” in to see what I mean.

…I hope you laughed…

Anyone else getting “Cruel Sea” vibes from this?

The episode begins with an animal that I’ve been hoping to see make an appearance since the very beginning; Phosphorosaurus. This was a species of mosasaur that has adapted large eyes. During the day, this creature hides in the various coral formations, while much larger mosasaurs stalk the depths in search of prey. However, the night is a much different story, as when the Mosasaurus is away, Phosphorosaurus will play. Y’know those large eyes that I mentioned? Well, they’re used to assist the animal while hunting in deep, dark waters, as the female mosasaur zips and darts her way through a school of lanternfish. As if this didn’t become clear enough, this scene is highly reminiscent of the Ophthalmosaurus from Walking with Dinosaurs. Think about it; both are marine reptiles that hide within coral reefs by day, and stalk prey by night. The latter part of the track used for this scene certainly helps with the whole vibe. And while I consider this to be nothing more than a coincidence, I really love how the scene plays out. As much as this series is more similar to Planet Earth, I’m all for similar vibes to the Walking with series in this show.

Chicken of the Sea, anyone?

The episode then cuts to the shallow waters of North America, where two familiar faces of the Late Cretaceous oceans finally make their debut within the PHP universe; Hesperonis and Xiphactinus! Alot of people are aware of these two species. One’s a man-sized diving bird with teeth in its beak, while the other is a gluttonous fish with the face of a bulldog. Once a school of these fish stop by a bunch of Hesperonis snacking on a baitball, things go well…at first, that is. Once enough baitfish have been gobbled up, the X-Fish (A name that David Attenborough lovely calls the Xiphactinus) start attacking their avian acquaintances. Another WW parallel in this episode is how both species did similar things between this episode, and the Hell’s Aquarium part of "Chased by Sea Monsters'’. The main difference between both is well… the lack of a certain time-traveling zoologist peeking in.

One last note to bring up for this scene is how the first draft of it (According to concept art made by Gaëlle Seguillon) also had Hydrotherosaurusin it. For those who aren’t aware, that was a species of elasmosaur that was discovered in California, and its name means “water beast lizard”. While it blows that we didn’t get to see this species show up in the final product, it’s still interesting, and I’d like to think we’ll see the creature in full for season 3 (Again, my season 3 idea may or may not be including this particular species).

Pictured here; Thousands of autism creatures going ���Yippee!”

The episode then cuts to a tide pool on what will become Europe, where thousands of baby ammonites are hatching into the world. Not only are these lil’ guys adorable as a button, there’s so, SO many of them, which can be a problem when dealing with limited space. In order to get to deeper water, the ammonites straight-up use piles of their own masses like a living wave, allowing them to reach a deeper part of the pool. While a few dozen of these creatures are left stranded on the beach as food for other creatures (Including a pair of adorable Pyroraptor chicks), the vast majority of them reach the sea. Not alot for this segment, but it’s got some things going for it. The question then remains; What species do these tiny autism creatures belong to? That’s a question that’ll be answered in due time…

FREE WILLY!

In a very similar vibe to the T. Rex from the last episode, the next segment shows off how, despite its rather calm manner from Season 1, Mosasaurus was still a formidable predator to behold. Hunting a pod of Tuarangisaurus near a drop off, the giant lizard tries to ambush one of the elasmosaurs. The first attempt, while having a good start, doesn’t end with a kill, so the mosasaur has to try again. The trick is to curve your body into a c-like shape, use your tail to spring yourself off the seafloor, and do it in a manner where your prey can’t see you coming. We then witness one of the greatest visuals in a series already filled to the brim with great visuals, as the Mosasaurus breaches out of the water with a Turangisaurus in his jaws, very similar to how great white sharks do the same with seals. A good point to note is the fact that the PHP team commissioned a study on how mosasaurs like Mosasaurus hunted prey. The creature is not only big and strong, but also fast enough to catch its prey by surprise. The mere impact alone would kill its prey before they get eaten. The fact that the people behind this series commissioned info for the show that ties perfectly into the segment is incredible enough, but they absolutely KNEW how much the shot of the Mosasaurus breaching with its prey would be one of the most famous moments from this season, mainly due to its majesty and power. Not bad at all for a whale-sized Komodo dragon.

This is what dreams are made of. Only with alot more tentacles and shells.

The next segment after the sheer majesty of the Mosasaurus might be not only my favorite episode from this episode, but in the whole series. Y’know those baby ammonites from earlier? Well, a good few of them have survived months at sea, long enough to flow into a seagrass meadow full of their kind. Not only are some bizarre species like Baculites and Diplomoceras here (The latter essentially being a giant, swimming paper clip), the young ammonites we follow are revealed to belong to a species called Nostoceras. The shells of this species consist of a helix spire ending in a U-turn that faces the animal towards its own shell. Is it weird as hell? Yeah, sure. But like the living paper clip that is Diplomoceras, this was a real animal that existed. Alongside the visuals and major focus on the ammonites, another huge reason why I love this scene alot is the music. Prehistoric Planet, as a series, is no stranger towards banger tracks, but this one might be one of the most whimsical, majestic, and alien tracks of both OSTs for the show. Have a listen.

Imagine a fever dream with that sorta music.

The select choice of instruments used for the track, especially the use of techno noises, all help to solidify what’s basically the theme of the ammonites. Most other forms of paleomedia tend to either use these creatures as nothing more than background visuals, or have them be eaten by larger predators. In the nature of what it sets out to do, the show does these shelled goofs justice yet again. If anything, I wouldn’t be surprised if the show does the same for a species like Parapuzosia. While that particular ammonite species was only around for the early years of the Maasrichtian, it should be worth noting that these creatures grew as big as tractor tires, so I’m hyped to see if the show will do them justice too in the future.

With teeth like those, trips to the dentist must be weird.

The last segment of the episode travels to the South Pole, where pods of Morturneria arrive from their migration. Unlike other elasmosaur species, these guys not only can deal with the chilly water, they also have a unique way of getting food. You see the bristle-like teeth that the mother and her calf in the picture above have? They serve in filtering out small animals that these reptiles get from scooping up mouthfuls of polar mud from the seabed. The Morturneria not only have a feeding behavior similar to gray whales, they also peek out of holes in the sea ice like belugas. Pretty neat way to close out the episode, I must say.

And if you thought Jaws was scary.

The Uncovered segment for this episode goes more into depth (Pun not intended) about the way mosasaurs used speed to hunt. We’ve already covered alot of that during the Mosasaurus segment, but it’s still neat that the people who’ve worked on this show went and commissioned a scientific study into how these seagoing lizards were faster than we thought.

And that sums up all of the thoughts about my favorite Prehistoric Planet episode. All and all, I had a fun time with it, and I enjoyed the array of fauna shown. With that said, the only complaint that I can bring up is how the episode could’ve used more. Don’t get me wrong, between mosasaurs, ammonites, filter-feeding elasmosaurs, and bulldog-faced fish, we got a solid selection of marine animals in this episode. However, there were more than that in the seas of the Cretaceous. Animals like seagoing pterosaurs, rudist clams that played the role of coral reefs, a tube-nosed sea turtle in the form of Ocepechelon, massive filter-feeding fish like Bonnerichthys, polycotylid plesiosaurs, and especially SHARKS were also around during the Maasrichtian. As much as I wish they were in here too, I had a fun time with this episode as a whole.

We’re nearly at the end of our Season 2 review series, so join me again next time, as we cap off Prehistoric Planet’s second season with not a biome… but an entire continent? I dunno how they came up with that, but it’s gonna be a weirdly neat end to the season as a whole, so stay tuned for the finale of our second trip to the Maasrichtian!

[thisantithesis]

sort of jegulus, just an idea i randomly wrote out at three in the morning. open ending??? pt 1, 1.2k words (pt 2)

Regulus sighed as he placed another book on the shelf, his attention far away from whatever shelf he was restocking. Snow was drifting down slowly outside, the late-afternoon dark grey sky making the library seem much gloomier than usual.

The golden lights cast an orange-tinted hue across the shelves and tables, and the fireplace crackled gently in its hearth against the wall of the lounge area. The combination of both gave the large and ornate room a warm and comfortable feeling, but didn’t do much in terms of providing sufficient light. Each table had its own lamp, many of which were currently being used by students as they crammed to study for their finals.

Regulus would usually be one of the people sitting at a table in quiet panic, spending so much time there that he would surely be the last one to leave, but instead here he was, slowly making his way through the cart of books that needed to be returned to their rightful place.

He didn’t dislike his job. He really didn’t. If anything, it was the best job he could have right then as a university student, what with its flexible hours and low demands. He popped in four days a week, from noon until six p.m., then left and went back to his apartment. It was an easy schedule, one that allowed him to take his classes in the morning and do whatever he wanted in the evening, which was more than a lot of working students had. It’s just that, as he watched the first snowfall of the year through the large windows of the library, he found that he would much rather be outside, letting the flakes land in his hair and touch his skin with little pinpricks of cold.

Someone had once told him that the snow in his pitch black curls made it look like he had his own little galaxy swirling in his hair. He thought about that quiet observation every day.

So, every year when Fall slowly turned to Winter, when the weather started getting colder and the world started losing its colorful warmth, Regulus waited with bated breath for that first snowfall. He always made sure to be outside when it happened so he could let his little galaxy form atop his head and reminisce on what he thought were better days.

Placing the last book on its proper shelf, Regulus quickly put the cart away and steadily walked toward the front desk of the library.

“Ms. Pince,” he said as he put his hands flat on the desk in front of him.

“Yes, Mr. Black?” she replied almost tonelessly, her back to him and her head bent over whatever she was working on.

He steeled himself, not necessarily expecting being denied at his request but still preparing for it. Ms. Pince wasn’t known to be lenient. “Would I be able to leave a bit earlier today? I need to study for my finals and I’ve already finished unloading the returns cart.”

She slowly turned her head towards where he had placed the cart, lifting an eyebrow as she checked the watch on her wrist. “All right. The library closes in an hour, so I don’t see the harm. Will you be here tomorrow?”

The library closed at seven p.m. on the weekends, and given that it was a Saturday Regulus was right to think that it would work in his favor. He tried to suppress his little smile of triumph. “Yes, same time as today. My class ends at noon so I should get here at around quarter past.”

The librarian nodded and turned back to her project. “Have a good night, Mr. Black.”

“You as well, Ms. Pince. And thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.

She simply hummed in acknowledgement and Regulus all but sprinted towards the closet deemed as the “break room”. It consisted of wall to wall shelves filled with ancient and dusty tomes, with a newer addition of a small table, a chair, and some pegs haphazardly tacked onto the back of the door for coats and bags. The room was big enough to walk around in, even with the table, but it was so dusty back there that spending more than fifteen minutes in the room made Regulus’ throat run dry.

He shoved the door open, grabbed his things, then quickly walked towards the library’s side doors. No one really knew about them, given that they were hidden by some of the shelves, so you either found them by looking or accidentally stumbling upon them—which is exactly how Regulus had found them.

He put his coat on as he walked and looped his scarf around his throat tightly, then readjusted the strap of his bag as he opened the doors and stepped onto the freshly fallen snow.

It had been snowing incessantly for the past three hours, and Regulus had hoped it would be one of those first snowfalls that kept going for hours and hours, or at least until there was a decent amount sticking to the ground, and he was glad to see that this year was exactly like that.

Regulus smiled softly and tipped his head back, enjoying the quiet sound of snow falling on his face and the stillness the world around him seemed to adopt whenever winter arrived.

The side doors of the library opened up to a hidden area beside the building, a place Regulus liked to call the Statue Garden. The patch of grass was filled with statues of Greek gods and goddesses, all covered in green branches and moss as a result of the passing of time. Now though, now they were covered in a faint dusting of white, somehow making them look that much more regal.

Regulus closed his eyes against the falling flakes, a serene feeling spreading throughout his chest and slowly unknotting the anxiety that always resided heavily there.

A crunch of footsteps broke through the quiet making Regulus whip his head in the direction of the sound. The thick trees blocked him from seeing whoever was approaching, but soon enough they came into the clearing, causing Regulus to scowl when he saw who it was.

The person continued walking, completely unaware of Regulus standing mere feet away and making Regulus’ blood boil. Why couldn’t he have one moment of peace?

“Potter. What are you doing here?” Regulus snapped, hoping his expression conveyed how unhappy he was with what was happening.

James Potter staggered in his steps as he looked up, eyes and mouth wide with surprise. He looked like he'd seen a ghost—which, to be fair, he basically did. Regulus hadn’t seen James or his brother or any of their friends in almost a year and a half now, not since his birthday party last June.

Regulus scowled even harder at the memory, surely exuding waves of anger and bitterness. He raised a brow when James kept gawping at him, already tired of the conversation. The idiot hadn’t even spoken a word and Regulus was done. That had to be a record.

“Potter,” he repeated, this time more sternly to snap the other boy out of his stupor.

“Oh,” James breathed gently, “it’s you.”

[seijorhi]

rhi, my love!!!

i know. its been too too TOO long 🥲 how have you been?? i hope life is treating you beautifully because you deserve nothing less. i am at the icky part of life where all i know are job apps and job interviews yuck.

i have to chime in on this one because..?

now. you’ve heard me wail about this many many times, but i will never get over your characterization. i loved how you separated the trio’s interactions with the reader’s cousin and how distinct their reactions were? kuroo maintaining his superiority in the office. akaashi being his overly cool self and inviting the biggest threat to them to dinner for a casual bowl of ramen (the way he was just redirecting everything and reminiscing too was *perfection*). and ah. bokuto. i can’t help but think kuroo and akaashi sent him to take care of sato because they /know/ he’s the one who can get too excited. too passionate. too physical.

makes for a more painful experience for the one threatening to ruin the perfect world they’ve built.

also, everytime i think your writing can’t be more painful, more complex than the last, you outdo yourself. the reader herself coming out to tell her cousin to back off? lie to the cops? excruciating. exquisite and excruciating, miss rhi.

lastly, as someone planning to study law, it was an absolute delight to see the justice system get bashed lmao

thank you a million times my love 🥹 you know kuroo’s my fave so it’s always treat to see my fave character written by my fave author <3

i love you!!! - 🐦

Oof, bby you have my condolences, the whole process of searching for a job is just the worst. Fingers crossed for you tho!!

And thank you!! Initially in the early stages of planning this fic I wanted to write from one of the boys’ pov’s to switch it up but I genuinely couldn’t pick who I wanted to choose because all three are so vastly different! It was fun jumping from kuroo’s smug antagonism to akaashi being super unnerving behind all that polite nonchalance, and then, of course, to my favourite ball of crazy, Bokuto.

And you’re absolutely right. Even if Bokuto had have calmed down after sex with the reader and decided to let it go, those two would’ve been in his ear reminding him of all he had to lose, how kisumi was gonna take her away. They were winding him up and setting him loose on kisumi. Problem, meet solution ehdhdhdjdkkdk

It’s very much a two birds one stone situation because it also serves to hammer home to the reader that while they’ll never hurt her like that, her family and loved ones are absolutely fair game.