#ive spent too much time on this au to not write it someday

[possuminabathtub]

Writing Ask: 39) What's the wildest (AU) scenario you've written? :)

Not written just yet, but in the works, is a swim team Attack on Titan au, based on my own chaotic experiences with my swim team (and believe me, I’ve got more than enough to choose from). I’ve got the characters major strokes and events planned out, I’ve even got a few prospective relay’s brewing, and scenes have been launching themselves at my goofy little brain like they’ve been flung out of one of those tennis ball launchers and I’m only barely, comedically, avoiding them.

Only reason I haven’t written it is lack of time and the unwillingness to be fully distracted from my darling mcu wip by a hyperfocus on a new project, but it shall see the light of day sometime, and shall be just as cursed as it sounds. Thank you for asking! I could ramble about this au at length, but I think that would make a monster of a post, so I kept it short for now!

[baxieblur-turnip]

hiii dw youre not being annoying!!! i appreciate the interaction it helps me feel less like im screaming into the void lol <3 if you wanna infodump about your au i would be sooo down to listen :3

yoo tysm!! :D :D :D i love your thoughts they're so fun :))

au stuff under the cut (be warned i have literally zero idea how to format this whoops) (obviously major story spoilers for Cassette Beasts loll):

basically another Cass Archangel AU, but more gradual. after all the time spent with Morgante's spirit inside of them (??) and the events of the final battle against Aleph Null, they lost their humanity somewhat.

queue gradual transition from 'human but slightly off' to 'yep that's definitely an Archangel' here! i am thinking about making this tie into Mordread due to the lack of any info whatsoever on him beyond the fact he's dead but that's undecided rn. i think it's cool how Cass seems connected to both rebellion and conquest (Helia mentioning it, i would attatch a screenshot but you probably know the scene) and that ties in there so that'd be fun

the transition shows in no longer needing to use cassettes for transforming (they choose to do so for convenience's sake though - so much easier + cassette bonus health you don't get without), the static effect of transformation being a thing that flares up sometimes - like if shocked there will be a burst of sparks for example.

whole bunch of angsty potential here if i ever gain the confidence to write! their body changes and they're not sure what to make of this - it's cool but also they're not exactly happy they're basically an Archangel now after the whole main story drama. their friends help them cope though so it's fine (mostly). if i end up tying this in with Mordread then also that would come with so much drama

bonus thing: Cass doesn't immediately choose to return home due to emotional baggage and feeling they have unfinished business. then they freak out in 'what if they don't want me back what have i become would they even recognise me' - bonus points here as they're trans (NB) and used New Wirral as a way to come out to people for the first time! the way it gradually changes your body in the normal New Wirral way means they feel even if they were normal, they wouldn't be recognised back home. woohoo i love making my characters suffer :))

maybe this is sort of a reference to how Cassette Beasts was 90% of my non-binary awakening augh

someday i will find the confidence to actually draw this i swear

if this premise has already been used, genuinely i haven't seen it before (and if so, awesome!! haha) and i am sorry

anyway!! i hope that wasn't too painful to read lol i had a lot of fun writing it either way :D thank you so much it means a ton to me that people are interested. like so so much. ive never talked about this before so it's amazing having someone who actually wants to listen thank you

[daedalusdavinci]

📓

Put “📓” or some other version of a book emoji into my inbox and I’ll explain the plot of a fanfiction that I haven’t written but daydream about.

ive spent a lot of time recently trying to remember the hs fics i always dreamed id write one day, but lost motivation for before i ever could. i feel like i used to have endless inspiration and i guess im hoping reflecting on that will help me reconnect with it now

i think i wanted to write a collegestuck fic, where dave and sollux were roommates and dave had a shitty job at a coffeeshop and that he swore was basically step one to becoming a dj because they had live music sometimes and thats *almost* a club (but he doesnt want to be a dj, bro was a dj, hes studying archaeology and hes never been happier and he spends too many hours bent over textbooks in the library with aradia just because he loves it, its everything he wanted when he was a kid and it feels like freedom in his hands, but jade asks him what he wants to be and he says the sickest dj there is, and college is just to tide him over until then, and john asks him what he wants to be and he says a director, so he can make movies even shittier than johns dumbass favorites, and rose asks him what he wants to be and he says solluxs sugar baby, because if you dont admit you want something its harder for people to take it from you)

i dont know what the ship wouldve been, im sure there were times where i was full on applebee2 to the end and times where it wouldve been dvekat and so on and so forth, but i know that dave moved across several states so he could go to school with his friends and i know that he and sollux were assigned to the same dorm and get along in the way that only two irritating nerdboys confined to one room can (which is to say that theyre besties and also they hate each other), because i feel very passionately about sollux and dave being friends just as much as dave and aradia being friends.

i think it would be funny if eridan was studying abroad and was one of those annoying europeans that cant go ten seconds without shitting on america (why are you here then, karkat asks him every ten seconds) and was generally just. literally so insufferable but also had no real idea what he wanted to do w his life so he was just majoring in business even tho he hated it (he switches to history, eventually, and is much happier for it), and i think he studies at daves coffeeshop and gets the kind of coffee that makes dave think hes a pretentious hipster (he is), only he doesnt actually do a lot of studying at all and spends most of his time checking out dave bc hes stupid, and instead of flirting with him he insults him constantly, bc hes stupid. dave literally hates him.

on the side i think id want to spend some time exploring dave reconnecting with rose as long lost siblings and john and jade navigating that weird space of "okay ive known you online forever but this is what knowing you in real life is like huh". i think id go jadrose for this au and emphasize jade having a very complicated relationship with romance bc who am i if i dont make someone aspec. john burns out bad towards the end of their first year and is in his depression era

but yeah. all that, i guess. i came up w a lot of ideas for college aus when i was finishing up community college bc i was so excited to get out and go to uni and so theres a lot of like, idea scraps floating around and maybe someday id like to do something with that, especially now that ive gone to uni and know what its actually like

[incubae-fics]

The Last Man Standing [[AU!Zecaeru]]

Pairing: One Sided AU!Matthew x Female!Reader, Implied AU!Sam X Female!Reader ((Slightly implied that reader is on the bigger/heavier side but that can be ignored.))

Warnings: Angst. Thats it

A/N: I have yet to write for the blue baby and how sad is it that it must be angst smh. Also I’m aware ive already done something like this, however it was supposed to be where it was implied that the reader and James were a thing but since sam is my bias it was easier to do him at the time. My best bitch knows what this stems from bc we talk about this au often. Rip. Anyways this is short n garbage so aye, maybe ill write more and better on my day off.

“Oᴘᴇʀᴀᴛᴏʀ, ɪs ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀɴʏʙᴏᴅʏ ᴀᴛ ᴀʟʟ, ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴀɴ ᴇxᴘʟᴀɪɴ ᴡʜʏ I’ᴅ ɢɪᴠᴇ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴜᴘ ғᴏʀ ʜᴇʀ?”

He’s not quite sure how he ended up here. Watching her from afar, wishing he was the one littering her skin with kisses and making her smile like that. He longed to be the reason why she smiled that one special smile. He wanted to thread his fingers with her and have her placed in his lap, despite how she’d protest about squishing him.

He wanted it all.

He hated it. He had no right to harbor these feelings- to think these things. It was clear she adored his brother. It was clear she fit with him, a man that looked like he could protect her. Matthew didn’t doubt his abilities, but he knew how he’d be perceived. He knew what people might think. He hated that he even cared. Apparently some old habits do die hard, if at all.

He couldn’t understand it. He’d gone from hating her very existence to enjoying her presence.. to friends... to.. this. He yearned for her in a way he couldn’t describe. In a way he didn’t want to describe because if he did.. he feared his chest might cave in. The pain he was delaying just might kill him he’s sure, especially after getting a glimpse at what it might be like to love her and be loved by her.

Approaching her with that fake marriage proposal thing was both the best and worst thing he’d ever done in his life. It was so lovely and lush in the moment, but afterwards.. it was like some heavy crash back into reality. At the time she wasn’t yet with his brother, but he knew how deeply she felt for him. He’d stumbled upon too many late night conversations between her and Damien.

Yet he still asked her, under the guise of it being fun and getting some free desserts and or food.

He almost loathed how natural it felt. Pretending to hold her hand from across the table to start the scripted conversation. To have her laughing all quiet when she couldn’t be serious. Watching her grin and crack jokes at him while they waited on food. For her it was harmless fun, for him it was more.

It killed him to know what her hand felt in his. To hug her so close and tight he could smell that sweet perfume she wore. The one he loved so much. Despite their physical differences, she fit so well against him and in his arms. He almost wished she knew that his proposal wasn’t scripted. That he meant every word. Matthew truly did adore her smile and the way her face flushed when she laughed so hard her sides hurt. He really did want to wake up next to her every morning and spend his days just being with her.

He’d give up anything and everything for her. He’d drop his career in heartbeat if she didn’t want the problems that came with it. He’d move to another country. He’d change his entire self, glamour himself differently just to be able to stand by her side in confidence.

He adored her and all she was.

She laughed quietly into her hand that night, “Jeez Matthew, you should become an actor. I almost believed you for a sec.”

He gave her a cheeky grin, however his heart still ached, “I know right? I’m just that good. My performance earned us some free stuff. Nice right?”

“Super nice! Hah, maybe I should try with Sam sometime..”, she says, eyes glazing over with an emotion he wished was directed at him.

“He’s not as good at acting as I am. You can still try though, you’re the only one who could convince him.”

“You think?”, she asks, eyes the happiest he’d seen all night.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell her no. It would be a lie anyway. She had his heart in the palm of her hands- she had both of them, but only one would she be aware of.

The conversation steered back to the script and just enjoying one anothers company. He caught some pictures with her, her laughing face, her happy smile. Memories that broke him in the dead of night. When he woke up, heart aching from a dream of having her as his. Kisses littering her cheeks and her face lighting up at the mere sight of him.

He couldn’t bring himself to delete any of the pictures. Even as months past. Even as he overheard Sam tell Damien that he knows he loves her. That he was going to tell her soon.

He was happy for him, he was, but dammit, did it ever hurt. It ached so deeply.

The night Sam did tell her, was the happiest he’d ever seen his brother. The gleam in his eyes was so bright, he knew he had to let go. He had to acknowledge that she was not and never would be his woman.

He had to drive away, stay out of the Mansion for at least a week without popping in. Told everyone he was working on a project, with only one brother knowing it was a lie. Damien was such a good soul- such an amazing brother. He’d repay him someday.

The week was spent in grief, crashing from all the lows he did not allow himself to sink into fully. He took a break from social media.

He took a break from it all and allowed himself to feel. it only cost him his voice and sense of self for about three days after. He’d be okay. He’d live. Or at least, he truly hoped so. He hoped to be forgiven for wanting what he shouldn’t- for allowing his mind to think up ways he could have sabotaged.

He loved her so deeply and it truly was unfair..

Maybe someday...

“ Aʟʟ I ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ, ᴡᴀs ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ..”

[sailorshadzter]

Prompt: Ancient! Rome AU: After the Starks were branded as traitors Sansa becomes a political hostage of emperor Joffrey and is expected to marry him, however her hatred for him increases each passing day as he forces her to watch the gory executions of her people in form of gladiator fights. One day a new gladiator enters the coliseum: it's Jon

id like to start out by saying i KNOW NOTHING of this time period LOL

but its always been a time period ive been interested in and someday when im not so obsessed with the tudor era in england, ill read about something else. tbh i kind of want to get some more info because as ive finished writing this piece, im entertaining the idea of continuing it. maybe just a part 2 because i have another idea! 

ANYWAYS. thanks for the request. i hope you enjoy :)  

ps. its set with the backstory of jon being a stark/targ, but rather than being raised among the starks, he’s raised among the night’s watch. 

send me prompts

Another day, another summons to join Joffrey in the stadium.

Sansa sighs but does her best to smile for the man in her doorway, for she knows any sense of displeasure would be told to the emperor without hesitation. The man, seemingly satisfied with her response, bows and backs out from the room, allowing the door to slam closed behind.

When she's alone, all of the fight leaves her and she sinks into the nearest chair, head in hands. Yet another day where she's to be forced to witness the gruesome violence that is the gladiator colosseum. Every drop of blood is a reminder of her father's execution, every hour spent in the crowd only more fuel for her nightmares. "My lady... perhaps you are feeling unwell this morning?" It's Shae, her ever loyal handmaiden, prompting her with an excuse she might use to get out of the day's events. But Sansa smiles for her lady and shakes her head, instead rising up from the chair. She is braver than that, than running away from what frightens her.

She might yet be betrothed to a tyrant, chained to a family that had the rest of her's murdered in cold blood... But she was a Stark, through and through, and though she was so very far from the North, she could feel the strength that her home offered. I am a Stark, she thinks as Shae begins to undress her from her nightgown, I am strong because I am a Stark.

She was a Stark and so she would be brave.

[ x x x ]

He can hear the crowd shouting, screaming, gasping.

The horror of it all, this gladiator colosseum , even for a seasoned soldier such as himself is tough to take. He's heard of it of course, even way up North in the midst of the Night's Watch, they know some of what goes on in the South. He's heard the rumors of the mad ruler Joffrey, who prefers violence to peace, who abuses the lowest of servants and most noble of knights. There is no one who is immune to the emperor's temper- save for maybe his mother, the golden haired Lannister queen who ruled alongside his father for many of the last twenty years.

Suddenly, the crowd is roaring and Jon feels his stomach turn over. A moment later, the door that leads out into the stadium flies open and before anyone can speak, he knows what's happening. "Your turn." A gruff voice says a moment before he's shoved out the door and into the sunlight.

All around him, eyes are staring down at him; they scream and they stomp their feet, eager to see the blood bath continue on. In front of him, Jon meets gazes with his opponent, an undefeated mountain of a man, who's chest is smeared with blood that is most certainly not his own. Jon gulps. He's skilled enough of a fighter, but against this brute seems impossible. And from the state of the battefield, from the rumors of this man's strength... Jon has to wonder if this will be his end. After everything he's seen, after everything that he's done... This is where it all will come to and end.

From where she sits beside Joffrey in the emperor's box, Sansa sees the newest recruit come out into the stadium center. Her breath catches in her throat- she's seen hair like that before and it certainly wasn't there in the South. Beside Joffrey, ser Merryn leans in to speak to him. "From the North," he says, shooting a sidelong glance at the young woman seated beside the emperor. Sure enough, as Sansa had thought, this was a man from the North, from her home. But how, she wonders, watching the man as he squares up in front of Joffrey's champion, the Mountain, how has a Northern man ended up here?

"Ah, one of those black crows, eh?" Joffrey asks, green eyes flashing with danger in the sunlight. "Do you know him, sweet lady?" His eyes are upon her instead and for a moment, she freezes. "He looks like your traitor father." Joffrey goes on, gesturing towards the gladiator that now raises a sword as the battle prepares to begin. "But all your traitor brothers are dead, so I imagine it's just another piss poor criminal from Wintertown." Joffrey turns away from her then, back to facing the fight that's just begun.

[ x x x ]

One more swing, one more!

He's pushing himself, harder and further than he's ever pushed himself before. For the first time in all his life, he's thankful for his short stature, giving him ample opportunity over the beast of a man he's facing. Where the man is slow, Jon is quick. His agile movements are too much for him and Jon knows by the end of the third round that if he gets the right chance, he might actually survive.

Now it's the sixth round and Jon knows the final moment must come.

And so he puts it all into this last swing- a quick upper cut movement that catches the Mountain off guard- and for the several moments after he lands back on his feet, Jon isn't certain he's managed to pull it off. But then he glances at his sword- it's stained crimson and dripping. Behind him, he hears the man stagger and then, the crowd goes silent as he falls to his knees and then to the ground. Dead.

Then... The crowd erupts.

[ x x x ]

It's no more than a few minutes when he's approached by the man in charge of the gladiators and another man, well dressed and fair-haired. "You, boy." The gladiator barks, catching Jon's attention where he stands, mid-wiping the blood from his hands. "Come with us."

"To where?" Jon asks, dark gaze sharper than his voice. "I was told if I won I would have my freedom back." He only longs to return North, to find Ghost and live out his days in a place where no one might ever find him.

"And your freedom you shall have," the second man speaks, his green eyes bright in the sunlight that streams in through the nearby open window. "As winner in the stadium, you have the great honor of meeting our emperor." He continues, gesturing for him to take a left down the corridor and towards a door that leads up a set up stairs, which sure enough as he climbs up them Jon can hear the emperor's harsh laughter.

Stepping through the doorway, Jon is lead across the way to where the emperor sits, but it is not the man that catches Jon's interest first. Rather, it is a young woman with hair a shade of vibrant red that seems quite out of sorts among these blonde and brunette southerners. He's seen that shade of hair color before, a Tully born boy who had once joined the ranks of the Night's Watch had hair of the same shade. But beyond the color of her hair... She was beautiful. So beautiful that when she turns to face him, the breath is stolen from his lungs. Her eyes are clear and blue, but lovely as they might be, he finds their gaze to be sad, the eyes of a woman lost.

"So you've defeated my champion."

The sharp voice belongs to the emperor, who Jon has quite honestly forgotten was there. He turns to face the man instead, though he's hesitant to tear his gaze from the lovely woman at his side. "Aye, so I have." Jon replies, lifting his shoulders in a slight shrug. "It was that or die. I preferred the first option." For a second, there is only silence, until Joffrey lets out a laugh that startles those around them.

"A jester are you, crow?" Joffrey takes a step closer to where Jon stands and it's only then that Jon notices the striking resemblance between him and the man that had led him up to where he stands now. "You would make a far better champion." Now Jon knows where this is going. "I can make you a wealthy man, far wealthier than your meager coins made in the ranks of the crows." He's offering him a choice- to stay and be his new champion of the gladiator colosseum , or... "Or you may go, it is the law of the colosseum and I am a man of my word." Beside him, the young woman flinches, but it is so quick that Jon is certain he's the only one who's noticed. "But be my champion, I will give you all the wealth you could dream of."

For what feels like a lifetime, Jon stands there, silent and still. Only moments ago, his answer had been strong, had been absolute. But now that he stands there in the presence of this young woman, something is nagging at him. Something about her is calling out to him and despite it all, he wants to heed her call. He doesn't even know her name, but with that single glance, she's set fire to his heart and soul.

And so, he nods; he will be the emperor's new champion.

[totally-tae]

The Regular

Character: Namjoon x Reader

Genre: fluff, coffee shop!au, slight angst?

Word count: 5k

You’re working in a coffee shop and Namjoon visits frequently. 

„Christie, I’m taking my break!“ I announce to my co-worker and start taking of my working apron.

“Alright, see you in a bit!” She replies while fixing another customer their coffee.

Almost naturally my gaze drifts over to a particular corner in our little shop. As usual one of our regulars is sitting over there reading hi….wait a minute! Was he just looking at me?

I stop and continue to fold my apron.

No that can’t be. I must be seeing things.

I make my way over to the staff room, but my gaze still lingers on him. Now he’s reading one of his books again and I can’t help but notice that he looks exhausted. Mostly he’s wearing casual, but still sort of trendy clothes. Today, he’s wearing a simple gray hoodie with unruly hair and jogging pants. It still looks hot though, maybe even more than usual. And no that didn’t mean I tend to look at him more than I should.

I sigh and finally manage to look where I’m actually going.

Whenever he is here, he’s reading, writing or doing something on his laptop. Ever since I noticed him (which had basically been the day I started working here), I told myself I would chat him up someday.

Well, guess who still didn’t gather the courage to do so.

The staff room door falls shut behind me and I lean against it, sighing. I’ve been working here for half a year, what was so hard to start a conversation with someone? Especially someone who is always reading a book you could start a conversation about? Right, being afraid of getting rejected.

He probably wouldn’t want to talk to me anyway. I mean he’s the most charming person ever when he orders his Iced Americano, but he obviously got stuff to do, so I would only bother him.

Having these thoughts, I spent my break eating lunch and checking my social media. When I come back to the counter, I glance at the corner again, but he is gone.

The next few weeks continue as usual, although I notice that our regular is not visiting as often as he used to. And every time he actually shows up, his orders of coffee and the dark circles under his eyes increase.

Today is one of these days and although he is a stranger, I can’t help but feel worried. Just a minute ago he ordered his third coffee, extra strong.

I chew on my lip as I prepare his order. Maybe I should ask him if he’s alright? After I finish making his coffee I take a look at the clock and walk over to Christie who is working with me again today. The shop is rather empty now, so I lean closer to her.

“Hey do you mind if I take my break right now?” I ask her in a muted voice.

She instantly turns and looks at me with huge, twinkling eyes.

“Are you going to talk to him?!” She exclaimed a little too loud for my taste.

“Shhhh!!” I put my hand over her mouth hastily and look around the shop. Phew, it seems like he didn’t hear it.

“I guess?” I shrug as I take my hand from her mouth, while giving her a warning look. “I mean he doesn’t look like he is doing very well, so I thought I’d at least ask him how he’s doing…”

“And you think he’d tell you?” She retorted and I rolled my eyes at her.

“No. But it’s the intention that counts!”

“Not when you want to get into his pants.” She smirked and I swatted at her arm.

“I don’t want to get into his pants!” I denied maybe a little too quickly. I felt heat rising to my cheeks and turned around, heading his way.

“Anyway if you need me, you know where you can find me.” I stated, making my way over to his table.

My feet slowed down as I neared his table. How should I start this conversation? I can’t just show up and ask him if he is stressed out or something. My eyes focused on the book he was holding in his hand.

“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas?” I read out loud and he lowered his book to look at me.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, right. You know the book?” He asked me and I shook my head.

“No, only read the title out loud.” I admitted and felt the blush creeping up again.

I set his coffee down on the table and sat down on the seat on the opposite side of the table.

“So what is it about?”

“It’s just a short story. There is this town Omelas and everyone living there is happy and living a good life without anything bad happening to them, but then you find out the dark secret of the town’s happiness. There is a child trapped in small, dirty room living in constant fear and pain which somehow is what makes it possible for the rest of townspeople to live their happy, careless lifes.” He explains to me and I raise my eyebrows in surprise.

“That’s heavy.” I frown and he nods, grabbing his coffee and taking a sip.

“It is, but sadly, not so far off from reality.” He says while looking out the window.

“I guess not your favourite book?”

“No, it’s a very good book, but it manages to drag you down a little.”

“Yeah, it does.”

A short moment of silence followed my sentence in which both of us seemed to think about what to say next. Still not daring to address the concerns I had about his wellbeing I spoke up again.

“So, you’re here pretty often? No Wi-Fi at home?” I joked and he chuckled.

“You’re not far off.” He joined my banter while leaning forward. “But no, I just find it easier to concentrate here.”

“Are you sure? With that amount of coffee you’ve been drinking lately, I kind of doubt it.” I managed to change the topic and he sighed.

“What are you, a psychic?” He sighed, nipping at his coffee again. “Just a little more work than usual, nothing special.”

I nodded and started to get up.

“You always seemed to unwind here...and I kind of want this to be your relax zone, so hit me up if you need anything.” I smiled, not sure what I was saying myself. Then I turned around and made my way back to the counter where I sat down the tray I had used to bring him his coffee. After that I rushed back to the staff room to spend the rest of my break hiding from customers, especially one.

After that encounter with our regular I thought about quitting my job and never returning to the shop, but before I could seriously consider doing that, he stopped showing up.

Maybe I really went too far by telling him I want this place to be his relax zone. I mean who says stuff like that?

I groaned and felt like hitting my head against a wall. No, I was not working today, but I was in a book shop, definitely a place where bumping your head against a wall would be inappropriate as well.

When our regular stopped visiting our café I had bought myself a copy of “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” and he was right, it was an amazing short story. So now I was standing in front of a bunch of Murakami books and couldn’t decide which one I should buy. I only knew that he read something by Murakami once and since he seemed to have great taste in books, I figured I should give the author a shot as well.

“Hey!” I suddenly hear from my right and turn to see our missing customer standing in front me.

“Oh, hey!” I greet him and close the book I was skimming through. “Long time no see.”

Wait, he’s talking to me? So he wasn’t avoiding the shop because of what I said?

“Yeah, life’s been busy, so I had no time to stop by at the shop.” He explains with a guilty smile and I nod.

“That’s good!” I babbled before I could stop myself. “Uhm, you know that nothing bad happened.” I clarified and he chuckled.

“You were worried?” He questioned me in a more serious tone, the smile fading from his face and a frown appearing.

“Kind of. You didn’t look too well the last few times you were at the shop and since you used to come so often it kind of feels like we know each other, you know?” I told him with a more serious look on my face now, too.

“My name is Y/N by the way.” I added quickly when it dawned on me that we never formally introduced ourselves and extended my hand.

“Right, my name is Namjoon.” He replied and shook my hand. Maybe we shook them a little too long and when we realized we both let go awkwardly.

“So uhm…” Namjoon started and looked around the shop. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for a book.” I shrugged and held the one I was holding up. “I thought about getting one from Murakami, but I’m not sure which one.”

Namjoon only nodded when he heard that and took a look at the various books placed in front of us.

“Have you read some of his books already?” He asked and I shook my head.

“Then it’s easy.” He continued and extended his right arm to grab a book from the top shelf. The title read “Almost Transparent Blue”.

“This one is amazing. I read it a while back, but it’s one of my favourites. I’d recommend it to everyone I know.” He elaborated and handed it to me.

“Sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll?” I questioned him and raised a quizzical eyebrow after reading the short description on the back.

He raised his arms in defense.

“You don’t have to buy it, it’s only a recommendation.”

“I guess I’ll give it a shot.” I shrugged and a satisfied grin appeared on his face.

“Good choice.”

We made our way over to the cash point and I paid for the book. Only now I noticed that Namjoon also held a book in his hand, but I couldn’t read the title.

After we finished paying, we exited the shop.

“What are you doing now?” He asked me and I looked at him in surprise. I totally didn’t expect him to ask me that.

“I don’t really have any plans to be honest. What about you?”

“I should get back to work, but I could spare some time for a coffee if you’d like? My treat.”

“Sure! If you really can that is. I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me.”

“No that’s fine. My job is pretty much like a freelancer at the moment, so don’t worry about it. It’s quite the opposite.” Hearing that made me feel more at ease about it, so we walked over to the nearest coffee shop we could find.

“Let me guess, you’re taking an iced Americano?” Of course I was right, he always orders one in our shop. “Then I’ll take one, too.”

We wait for our drinks and sit down at a cozy little table in the upper floor of the shop. We spent quite some time talking about whatever comes to our minds. Our favourite books, movies, music (a topic he seemed especially passionate about), hobbies and family.

Surprisingly there wasn’t even one moment of awkward silence. When the sun started setting we exited the shop and came to a stop outside the door.

“Wow, it’s getting dark already!” I exclaimed at the rosy view in front of us.

“Shit, you’re right! I’ll better get back to work now.” Namjoon said while scratching his head.

“Oh, sure, sorry I took up so much of your time.”

“No need to apologize for that. It was nice to get my thoughts off from work for a while.”

We exchanged phone numbers before we parted ways and I took the subway to get home.

The following weeks Namjoon was still busy and didn’t visit the shop very often, but after our encounter at the book shop we texted nearly every day. Christie was already teasing me about it constantly, but I brushed her off.

Until Namjoon invited me to a party.

“Come on Christie! I can’t go there on my own! And he said I could bring some friends!” I whined over the phone while Christe groaned.

“But I don’t even know anyone Y/N!”

“I don’t know anyone either! That’s why I need you!” I begged. “Also you can get to know new people much faster than I can, so forget complaining about that.”

“Fineee.” She finally agreed and I cheered, feeling relieved. “But I swear if you run off with Namjoon and I haven’t found an interesting person to chat with, I’ll be mad.”

“I doubt he’d even want to run off with me, but okay, I’ll ask for your permission first.” I chuckled and she laughed as well.

The days at work before the party we chatted about what we should wear, if there would be any cute guys, good food and drinks. And then the day of the party finally came. Christie had come over to my place so we could get ready together. I ended up wearing a classic little black dress, since Namjoon didn’t really tell me why they were having the party, so this was the safest option.

Christie went with a black mini skirt and a crop top. Then we searched for the public transport that would take us there and got going.

When we arrived at our destination, we were not standing in front of a normal building complex with apartments, but some company. Was this party related to his work? But he always somehow avoided talking about his work…

We rung the bell he told me to ring and waited anxiously while exchanging unnerved looks. This was different from what we expected. The door was opened and we went to the elevator and up to the 4th floor. Up there the music could be heard even before the elevator doors opened and I sighed in relief. Now that sounds like a party.

Still a little hesitant, we followed the music and ended up in a huge room filled with people. There were mostly young people, but also some older ones. Definitely work related.

I looked around the room in search for Namjoon, but couldn’t see him anywhere, so we went over to the bar. A drink would at least make it seem like we belonged here.

“I swear to god, I’ve heard BigHit somewhere before…” Christie mumbled and I frowned. When you own no television and don’t really catch up on mainstream media it was no surprise I didn’t know the name.

“Maybe something related to books? Since Namjoon reads a lot.” I shrugged and she shook her head.

“I doubt that.”

We stayed at the bar, continued to chat and watch more and more people arrive until someone tested a microphone. Just now we noticed the little stage like space at one end of the room.

“What is this party?” Christie whispered into my ear and all I could do was shrug again, after all I had no clue.

“Y/N! There you are!” I heard Namjoon’s familiar voice and seconds later he appeared next to me. In that exact moment the older man on the little stage cleared his throat.

“I really need to tell you something. Do you have a minute?” He asked in a hurry and I frowned.

“I promised not to leave my friend Christie alone, since she knows no one, sorry. But you can tell me here?” I suggested and he sighed.

“Not ideal, but I guess it will do.” He mumbled while the guy on stage started talking.

“Good evening everyone! We’re honored that all of you appeared here tonight to celebrate the success of the promotions of ‘You Never Walk Alone’!”

Promotions? You Never Walk Alone? Never heard of it.

“So you see…I never really told you what I work as right? And I guess you already figured out that this party is somehow work related. And the truth is I was so busy the last weeks, because we were promoting ‘You never Walk Alone’ our new album.”

Immediately I turned to him and stared at him with wide eyes and an open mouth, blurring out the man talking in the background.

“You’re a musician?!” I gasped and he nodded, unsure if my reaction was a positive or negative one.

“Yeah…” He admitted and frowned.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s just…I was surprised that you didn’t know at all and I didn’t want to ruin it and act like a jerk who thinks he’s cool because he is successful in the business.”

“Namjoon why would I think you’re a jerk?” I face palmed and he chuckled.

“Who knows?” He shrugged and I laughed it off.

Then music started playing in the background and I turned towards the stage again, where you could see some kind of music video.

“Is this one of your band mates?” I asked when a guy with a cute beanie and a blue cardigan appeared on the screen.

“Yep, that’s Taehyung. I’ll introduce you to them if you want, but I have to go now. See you later?” He questioned me with hopeful eyes and I nodded, then he disappeared into the crowd of people.

I continued to watch the music video and was surprised that Namjoon showed up as the very first person to rap. I was surprised by the sound of his voice and his looks. And we thought he looked stylish when he showed up in our coffee shop. Well, I would never wear a blazer over a sweater, but he looked amazing nonetheless.

The song itself was really calming and not at all what I was expecting from the kind of music Namjoon preferably listens to. Then I caught a glimpse of a word in the video. Omelas! So that’s what he’s been reading it for!

Now that I recognized the word, I tried to read into everything that was going on much more and at the end of the video I was impressed. I couldn’t believe Namjoon was part of this.

Then another video came up and the feeling was entirely different. The name was probably ‘Not Today’ they said that pretty often. But wait? Namjoon had purple hair? I didn’t even notice in the previous video! But he had brown hair now, didn’t he?

The video ended as fast as the first one and I turned to Christie in awe.

“Was that…Namjoon?” She asked in confusion and I nodded slowly.

“Yeah, he just told me he is a musician. Judging from the amount of people here they must be huge! Do we live under a rock or something?!” I complained. I really needed to buy a TV. Like tomorrow.

“You definitely do. I’m more disappointed in myself. I even heard of them, but never looked up their stuff. What the hell.” Christie joined in and we went back to the bar to get another drink.

Then the band got called up on stage and they thanked everyone in the team who worked on the album with them.

Only now I had the chance in to take in Namjoon’s appearance. He looked smoking hot!! How could he look better every single time I saw him?

“Ok, now it’s obvious he’s an idol. All of them are so hot. Y/N you need to introduce me to at least one of them.” Christie insisted and I sighed.

“I don’t even know them myself. And if they’re idols they probably have a dating ban, so don’t get your hopes up.”

She looked at me with concern in her eyes.

“I never got my hopes up okay.” I clarified and she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, right.”

In the meanwhile the boys had left the stage and were talking to some of the people in the crowd. I didn’t really want to get in Namjoon’s way and, as Christie pointed out, my hopes up. So we just walked around the decorated room, grabbed some food and then went over to the dance floor.

After a while someone tapped me on the shoulder and I was greeted by Namjoon’s smile.

“Enjoying yourself?” He questioned me and I nodded.

“A little isolated, but we’re having fun.” I joked. “Join us?”

“Nah, I’m not really a dancer.”

“…You’re an idol…?” Christie chimed in and Namjoon shrugged.

“I am, but did you watch the videos just now? Definitely not the best dancer out there.” He continued and I sighed.

“There is no skill level needed to dance with us though.” I countered, but he shook his head.

“I’ll pass for now, but how about I introduce you to the others?” He suggested and of course we agreed, so we followed him over to where the boys were chatting among themselves right now.

“Hey guys! This Y/N and Christie, they work at the coffe shop I usually go to.”

“Oh the girl you…” One of them started, but Namjoon cut in.

“Yes the one I told you I invited to the party.” He stated with a glare and the guy laughed. If I remembered right it was the one with the blue cardigan in the first video.

“Hey! It’s so nice to meet you. Namjoon never told us he had a band.” I greeted them awkwardly and they looked at him, acting offended.

“Wow, are you ashamed of us?” “What did we do to you?” “I’m so disappointed!”

Christie and I laughed and the guys laughed as well. Then Namjoon introduced them one by one and we talked about their music, how long they’ve been together, how long they trained, all that stuff.

At some point I needed to use the restroom, so I excused myself. Before I could rejoin the group however I was caught by Namjoon.

“Hey, can we talk right now? The boys are taking care of Christie, don’t worry” He added when he noticed my concerned look. I couldn’t fathom what he’d want to talk to me about, so I agreed.

We left the room and walked down the hallways, until Namjoon opened the door to a small room.

“A studio?” I asked while looking around.

“My studio.” He explained and I gasped.

“Nice.” I stated while inspecting the room. “A lot of figurines.”

“Oh, yeah, do you think it’s too much?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s your studio anyway, right?” I encouraged him and he seemed relieved that I didn’t mind them. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Nothing in particular. I only wanted to show you some more music. Maybe some of my solo stuff if you want? I mean ‘Spring Day’ and ‘Not Today’ are good, but it doesn’t cover everything we’ve done.”

“I’d love that!”

We sat down in front of his desk and he opened up some files. Their biggest hits and some tracks of his mixtape. Every single song was incredible.

“Ok now I feel like a potato next to you.” I sighed and leaned back into my chair.

“Don’t say that. There are many things you’re better at than I will ever be.” He tried to cheer me up, but I was having none of it.

“Making coffee isn’t the same as creating amazingly beautiful and emotional music. I’ve never seen anyone crying, because they’ve tasted a cup of coffee.” I rolled my eyes.

“It doesn’t have to be work related you know.” He sighed and I shrugged, remaining silent. “We’ll just agree on the fact that you’re great, ok?”

I agreed in defeat and then remembered something.

“Oh, right! I saw an Omelas sign in one of the music videos! Don’t tell me you read the book for that?” I inquired and he chuckled.

“You noticed? I told you it was work related. We have a consistent background story going on in most of our MVs, but it would be too much to explain it to you now.”

“I have time.” I stated and Namjoon laughed.

“As much as I’d like to spend more time alone with you, I still have to show up at the party again or rumors will start circulating.” Ouch.

“Sure…” I mumbled, trying my best to conceal the stinging pain in my chest. Not getting my hopes up had worked really well.

We left Namjoon’s studio behind and and rejoined the others at the actual party location. I noticed Christie chatting happily with Jin and ventured out to the bar by myself where I got another drink. It didn’t take long until another person showed up behind me. Hoseok.

“Hey are you alright?” He asked me with a frown and I smiled at him.

“Sure, I’m fine, why?”

“I don’t know, you seemed unhappy when you came back, so I thought I’d ask.” He shrugged and sat down next to me.

“No, it’s all good.” I insisted, but he was having none of it.

“Did Namjoon say something to you?” He hit the bull’s eye and I sighed. “Look, I don’t know what he said and I don’t want to pry, but I know he appears all smooth and good with words, but when he’s nervous he’s not. I bet whatever he said he only wanted to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” I furrowed my brows and he grinned.

“Our Armys can get a little wild.” He said and slid off his seat. “Cheer up, ok?”

And with that he disappeared again.

I stayed at the bar for quite a while and tried to sort out my thoughts. Just when I thought I finally managed to do so, Christie and Namjoon appeared.

“There you are! We were searching for you everywhere!” Christe exclaimed and hugged me, clearly a little tipsy.

“Oh, sorry. I only got another drink.” I told them and raised my glass.

“So, the boys and I were planning on taking this party home with some close friends. Do you want to come?” Namjoon suggested and I thought about it for a while.

“Do you want to Christe?” I asked and she nodded eagerly.

“Sure, why not.” I shrugged and not long after we found ourselves in a van driving to their dorm.

Of course not everyone had fit into one van, so we were divided into groups. There was Taehyung, Yoongi, Hoseok, Namjoon, Christie, me and two others I didn’t know the names of in the van. Music was playing and everybody was having a good time.

A short time later we parked in an underground parking lot and all of us squeezed into the elevator. The boy’s dorm was tidy and even a little bit decorated. They definitely prepared for this. Taehyung proposed a little house tour for us and we found ourselves wandering through their various rooms.

“Wouldn’t have expected you guys to be so tidy.” Christie pointed out and Taehyung chuckled.

“Hobi is very diligent about us tidying, so we have no choice.”

We walked through a few more rooms until Taehyung opened the door to his own room.

“This is Namjoon’s and my room.” He announced and I looked at the pile of stuffed toys.

“Don’t tell me these are Namjoon’s.” I laughed and Taehyung grinned.

“Ok, I won’t.” He joked and told us that they were rarely home anyway.

After that we walked back into the now packed living room. Christie and I stayed for a few more hours, but decided it was time to leave before it got too late.

“Let me walk you home?” Namjoon asked when they found out that Christie didn’t live too far from their dorm and I had to walk a little longer on my own.

“You don’t have to. I can just take a taxi. No need to leave your own party for that.” I smiled and he shook his head.

“It’s not that I have to, I want to.” He insisted and I sighed, giving in.

We walked up to where Christie lived together and then it was only me and Namjoon.

“So…” I started.

“So?”

“Not afraid of being seen outside with me?” I teased and he looked at me with shock in his eyes. “You know rumors and stuff.” I added hastily and he frowned.

“Yeah Hobi told me you weren’t happy that I said that.”

“He told you?!” I asked. Wow, I’ll never tell Hoseok about my feelings ever again.

“I asked where he’s been and he said he checked on you and I asked why, that’s all. He probably knew I was worried.”

“About what?” I questioned him and he shrugged.

“About you.”

“Why?”

“Look I’m not dumb, I notice when you’re acting strange as well. Of course I get worried.” He clarified and I looked to the ground. Sometimes it really sucked that I couldn’t hide my feelings very well. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings when I said that. I just know that dating as an idol isn’t the best thing to do. And you’d suffer because of it more than I would.”

“Wait, what?!”

Namjoon stopped and I turned around to look at him in the faint street light.

“I like you. From the very first moment I saw you in the coffee shop I wanted to talk to you, but I didn’t know what to say, so I stayed quiet. I planned on asking you out long ago and when you approached me and we met in the book store…I just knew it was now or never. But you saw that I have close to no time to spend with you, so I thought it would be better not to say anything.”

I stood there in disbelief. My eyes wide, mind blank and a pounding heart.

“Probably shouldn’t have said that…” Namjoon said while scratching the back of his head and started to walk again, but I grabbed his hand. He stopped and turned back towards me, but I still didn’t know what to say.

“So…you’re saying you want to…date me?” I asked quietly and slowly raised my eyes to meet his soft gaze. He nodded quietly.

“I’d like that very much.”

A grin formed on Namjoon’s face and he leaned forward to seal my lips with his.

[franeridart]

Hey! So sorry if you already answered this but what application and tablet do you use??

I use Easy Paint Tool SAI and a pretty old wacom intuos tablet! Both questions are answred in my faq, actually~

Anon said:You. You awesome person. You are my new fav artist. 💘💘💘

AW thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:I love your art and the style, it’s all so cute and it might give me a heart attack

He c k let’s hope not! Thank you so so much!!! ;^;

Anon said:hey, can ya do more tokage, pls

Sure, I mean to draw more 1B in the future anyway~

Anon said:nori is soo adorable!! I love your art and seromina so much and seeing them combined makes me mega happy!!! I gotta ask though, how are sero and mina as parents and how do they handle nori’s quirk?

They’re disasters as parents but they try their best and are always having fun - Nori adores them! In their house not a minutes goes by without someone laughing, they’re all super loud and cheerful always~ neither of them has any problem dealing with Nori’s quirk, Sero has spent a whole lifetime learning how to deal with sticky stuff and tape and glue so he knows all the tricks to save clothes and furniture from accidental quirk usage and so on, while Mina’s own quirk makes it easy to counter any glue that might end on her - the main thing actually is that the quirk itself was a surprise! Since Nori looks a lot like Mina, both she and Sero had expected her to have acid like Mina so when she started gluing herself around in places and walking along walls and stuff it was a surprise (they had expected to have to deal with the house being constantly half destroyed by acid though, so glue is nothing compared to that haha)

Anon said:Heyy I saw your twitter account and was wondering if you could link some of those “fics about them boys sharing a bed..“ I’ve been following you for a while now and absolutely love your work (: I hope you don’t mind lol. I need more kiribaku in my life gahaha ❤️ thanks !!

I didn’t really bookmark any and most were old things I had read in the past and spent time rereading lately, but the newest one I read is this one - honestly though at this point 99% of the fics set in the dorms have them sharing a bed, you just need to open ao3 and scroll down less than a page to find stuff lol

Anon said:If you’re not an Adventure Time fan this ask will make no sense to you (so skip it), but when I saw your drawing of Katsuki with a guitar, I immediately thought he was singing some edgy Marceline song, like the teasing-aggressive “I wanna bury you in the ground / I wanna bury you with my sound” (which he actually says at some point I think XD) or the romantic and melancholic “Slow Dance with You” and Eijirou M-E-L-T-S.

Not an AT fan, but the concept is adorable so I’m keeping the ask anyway

Anon said:Do you think you might draw more of your fantasy AU children while you’re playing with you’re new pencil tool? It would be neat if you did! Regardless, I’m grateful for anything you draw!

Yup! Can’t promise when it’ll happen but I love the fantasy AU and I love childhood friends AU, so the chances of me going back on it are pretty high!

Anon said:Are you going to draw Mako and Taiyou again? They are so wonderful.

YAH that’s definitely in the near future plans! Thank you for liking them!!

Anon said:I just…I love all your art. It’s so amazing you’re awesome

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!! ;^;

Anon said:Stavo scorrendo il tuo blog e ho notato che hai risposto ad una domanda in italiano? Ho seriamente pensato fossi inglese tutto questo tempo! Amo seriamente i tuoi disegni, i tuoi oc sono meravigliosi e non vedo l'ora di scoprire più di loro.

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH grazie infinite omfg ;^; specialmente per i miei oc, è sempre incredibile per me sapere che alla gente piacciono abbastanza da volerli vedere di più ;^;

Anon said:Hewwo! I’m a huge fan of your artwork!! I was wondering if you have any time could you draw some more of those dorm room scenarios?

Anon I’m sorry but I need you to be more specific, which dorm room scenarios are you talking about? Most of my comics at this point are set in the dorms hahaha

Anon said:I just noticed that on every artwork you sign “do not repost” and I hate it.I don’t hate that you do it, but the fact you NEED to do it. Artists all over the Internet say to not repost their art but people still do it…I hope this will stop someday Sorry for my english btw

Yeah well, I guess as long as people keep on following and giving notes to reposters that’s not really gonna change is it orz

Anon said:You should draw Present Mic x Aizawa *awkward finger guns*

Hell I really should, shouldn’t I

Anon said:my god im gay for your kiribaku like they’re so good aibdjsbsknwnx and i love the interactions between the bakusquad ahh keep being awesome :)

HECK THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

Anon said:Honestly, this might be an odd question I don’t know, but would you ever consider putting your art together in a art book to sell? Cause to be honest, there’s not a piece by you that I don’t adore and I’ve seen some artist do things like that before so I didn’t know if that was something you’d consider. Maybe like all your BNHA pieces or something?

It’s not like I never considered it? It’s more like I dunno how worth all the work to figure out how to make it/where to print it and then to actually make it would be compared to the interest people would have in buying something they can have for free on my blog? It’s just doodles after all haha

Anon said:Would you be willing to draw a little lavi (dgm) doodle for me? Anything tiny, I just love him and your art!!!

I’m not doing requests right now, sorry, but soon enough the new chapter is coming out so I might draw him around then!!! I always fall in a serious dgm mood around the time of the chapter release haha

Anon said:More abuse of the ask function: 1- I love your art and have been for months. On top of that, it often feels cathartic, which is amazing to me. 2- I love how balanced you can make KiriBaku. You even manage to make me appreciate that overrated attention hogger that is Bakugou, you can handle him so much better than the author, because your character dynamics make so much more sense!! 3- I always, ALWAYS find myself reading through all your tags. They’re awesome. Thank you for everything.//Avevo finito lo spazio nell'ask precedente, so I’d only like to add that aside from cutie-smoochy (“It’s not about whether you break” and “I don’t need you” might be my favorite, and for what’s worth, I remember writing something exactly like the latter in the past), you also make mu burst into laughter. Like, the comic where Katsuki is about to out Eijirou on his red hair, I am still rolling. Kiri’s giant mouth is seriously hysterical XD

Thank you for the compliments!! I’m glad I can make you like a character and a relationship you’re not much of a fan of in the actual manga? ? ? Bakugou’s actually one of my favorite characters ever though so………. maybe……….don’t offend him and the way Horikoshi writes him while talking to me………….orz

Anon said:I am starved for Bakukamikiri stuff in this fandom……..But you got some good shit.

I’m!!! happy to be able to help there!!!! haha

Anon said:They mama Mitsuki art you drew 👏💯💖☺️💕�� I love your art so much

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Yessssss you have Twitter! It is boring at the beginning but then you’ll love it! I can’t wait to see you here and there! Now all my Bakushima favorite artist have one I can die of happiness!!

I’m!!!!!!!!!! Still trying to figure it out but!!!!!!!! For now it’s not that bad? Just!!! Very different from tumblr so I’ll need to get used to it first!!!!

Anon said:Omg do u shade jirous hair like its a heartbeat line? Dhdisbdisb thats so fuckibg good

THANK she actually has it in canon too, tho, so I can’t take credit for this!!!

Anon said:Im crying on how you draw kirishima’s soft hair

S O B I’m glad you like it!! ;^;

Anon said:Can I ask what your stance is on bakugo’s mom being abusive and sorry if you’ve answered this before

I love Mitsuki with my whole heart and while I don’t think she’s perfect I do think she’s loving and caring and trying her best and always looking out for what’s best for Bakugou 👍 no abuse anywhere, for me

Anon said:OMG I LOVE SEROMINA LOVE CHILD NORI

Thank you for liking her???? heck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:I wish I could use your art for my phone’s background ;^; You’re amazing! I love youuuuuuuuuu

No one’s stopping you from doing that, anon!!! Unless you don’t have a phone that allows you backgrounds, in which case ;-; thank you for liking my stuff that much tho!!

Anon said:Hey! I followed you way back when your main output was haikyuu!! comics and once you started putting out more bnha, i had to unf because i had no idea who everyone was rip. but now that ive finally had the chance to watch it i’m glad to come back and see how much you’ve improved!

HECK THANK YOU???? I’m glad you decided to come back????? oh man that’s super flattering !!!

Anon said:Yolo bakusquad bakubowl ?

I don’t really like the whole concept of [character]bowl, sorry!

Anon said:I absolutely adore your art style😍 every time I see your art it makes me happy:)

THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Can you draw Hawks and Tokoyami together? You are rlly creative and amazing! So I believe you will produce sth. awesome!!!! (If you don’t want to draw Hawks, could you draw a Tokoyami fusion?)

I can draw that! I’m just waiting to know how tall Hawks is compared to him before doing that 👍 be patient pls relative heights are something I’m stupidly fussy about 

Anon said:Burn the whole world to ashes for you? R U serius?! You always killing me dude. I ascended to the heaven of soft things. I N C R E D I B L E. Im sorry for the break down, i was without tumblr 2 months and the firts thing i do is go to your profile. Keep doing this plis im trully love it 😭💖

mAN I’m so glad you liked that one this much, drawing the boys being unreasonably soft with each other is my fav thing to do tbh !!!

Anon said:Omg I can totally imagine Nori and bakushima’s daughter being friends!!!

THEY ARE !!!!!!!

Anon said:Your seromina is amazing!!! I love that ship I feel like it is so underrated! Thank you for this blessed image!! 😭

No prob!! thank you for liking it!!!!!!! I’ve been in such a seromina mood lately, I might actually draw more soon enough!!

Anon said:Omg imagine a Tetsuwase love child. Something tells me they’d be adorable and one rather angry child, considering who their fathers are

I can see them as being quiet and grumpy………. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Anon said:Hey just wanted to tell you I love your art. It’s so soft and beautiful. My dad doesn’t ship any characters from the series, but he does like the series and he thinks your art and style are really pleasing. We were talking about how nicely you shade and that the style is well developed and lovely to look at. Thanks for making such great art that makes me smile and giving me and my dad yet another thing to bond over.

YO THAT’S SUCH A COOL THING TO HEAR!!!! Thank you to both you and your dad for liking my stuff????? h e c k !!!!!

Anon said:Thanks to you I started reading haikyuu.

I hope you’re enjoying it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[esandcasg]

Chapter Three – Patterns in the Snow

I sat on the solitary wooden chair outside my hut, watching the sun come up over the jungle trees. Time seemed to be running slowly. Inside, Adam was making porridge, wrongly convinced it would give him some sort of biking advantage. In front of me, standing ten feet away, was Ifan.

“Ifan Thorne,” I said. “I always knew someday you’d come walking back through my door. I never doubted that. Something made it inevitable. So, what are you doing here in Nepal?”

Ifan looked me up and down coolly. “Adam has presumably explained everything.”

I nodded, my teeth starting to grind. “I’ve learned to hate you in the last ten years.”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

“I was a child. I thought we were just climbing a mountain. It was wrong and you knew it.”

“You knew what you were doing.”

I stood. “Now I do. This is my place. Get out.”

I turned and walked back into the hut, away from Ifan’s protestations that, as technically he hadn’t come into my place yet, he couldn’t get out; which rendered my statement nonsensical. I swung the door open, interrupting Adam as he was trying on some of my age-defying eye cream.

“Oh… I was just…”

Ignoring him, I went back into the bathroom, cursing the fact that the cheap extractor fan I’d installed the previous year hadn’t had time to ventilate the room yet. I placed my hands on the sink and stared at my reflection in the mirror. The time had taken a toll. Arguably, it wasn’t the years but the mileage; irrespective, I resembled a dried out husk of a man. My face was weather-beaten and pockmarked; lines etched deep trenches in my forehead. My hair, more salt than pepper now, unkempt and thinned by the unrelenting sun. Time had taken its toll; but thankfully not on the eyes.

I bowed my head, giving in to the inevitable. I had lost something on Kangleong. Maybe it was time to get it back.

I walked back out into the main room of my hut. Adam had by now gone outside, the appearance of wrinkles on his forehead presumably now visibly reduced via the magic of oxycutin-10. I switched the TV off and looked round the room, wondering if this would be for the last time. It was home, and I was happy here. But something was pulling me away, to complete something I’d began ten years previously.

I clambered into the back of the C-Max; Ifan drove us through the Korok Forest to Gerudo Town, the nearest large settlement. Ifan explained that this was where he and Adam had been staying whilst trying to track me down.

As Adam went off to check out of the hostel, Ifan and I found a bar. Gallantly, Ifan bought me a bottle of the second cheapest beer. For a while we drank in silence, save for the occasional fart.

“So,” I said, after half my bottle was finished. “Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

Ifan looked up. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly that.”

“You said Adam had told you everything.”

My hands circled the bottle impatiently.

“He told me some stuff, sure. Stuff about time travel, Henry Craven and going back to Kangleong. Now I want you to tell me what’s really going on.”

Ifan let out a hiss of breath. “What he told you was true.”

“From a certain point of view?”

“Look, let’s not start this again, you made that Star Wars reference in the epilogue of Vertical Summit.”

He was right. Damn him, I thought, taking another gulp of my beer.

“Look,” he began, making some attempt at conciliation, but the anger rose up again inside me. I couldn’t help it. Ten years had done nothing to help me accept what had happened.

“Do you have any idea how bad it was?” I interrupted. “I don’t think you do. I don’t think any of you have the first idea. I died here. I lost everything. Everything I was, everything I wanted to be. And then I got given it back.”

“What are you talking about?”

I shook my head. Maybe this was too obscure a reference; I wasn’t convinced either of Ifan or Adam had watched the DVD extras of Touching the Void.

“You owe me,” I said, finally. “I had to put your names on the memorial at base camp. Had to phone your parents. Had to sing a hymn at your funeral and make hors d’oeuvres for the wake. Vol au vents. You know I hate vol au vents. I found some caper berries that went really well with cream cheese, but no-one really went for them so I had to take them all back in my car. I thought they’d keep for a while at least but they lasted three days. Three days Ifan! I had to eat 150,000 vol au vents in three days.”

Ifan looked at me but said nothing.

“All this time carrying your secret. Why didn’t you just tell me from the start? I could have helped. Or I could have stayed at home. Or climbed something people would believe that I climbed. Yeah, that’s right. No-one believed I’d summited. There was no-one left alive to back me up. They thought I’d faked the photos. ‘No-one can climb Kangleong in winter’ they said. So what did they assume happened? That I went on an expedition where everyone else died and I miraculously survived without a scratch? No-one believed a word I’d said; even after I told the whole story.”

“I thought you told it well. The even chapters at least.”

“Thanks.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“The truth!” I almost shouted. “Bloody hell, Ifan, don’t you think I’m owed that? I kept your secret, even though it ruined me. I had to give up my entire life, come halfway round the world just to find some peace. And I found it. I actually found a peaceful life for myself. And then you two turn up and shatter it.”

“It’s not as easy as that.”

“You think anything has been easy for me?”

Ifan looked at me in the eyes and I knew he agreed; he owed me, him and Adam both.

“What we told you was true, back in the tunnel,” he began. “We were on Craven’s tail. He knew we were after him; he’d tried to kill us on that mountain. So we had to fake our deaths, had to make him think we were out of the equation. Then, only then, he might lower his guard and let us get close enough to bring him in.”

“You told me this.”

“We spent the next three years living in the Karakoram. Trying to blend in. We had most of our gear from base camp and plenty of energy gels, so we knew we could hunker in for long enough. In the meantime we were looking for the exact smuggling route Craven was using. It wasn’t enough to know it was somewhere in the Karakoram. We needed the exact trail. It took three cold years, but eventually we found it.”

“I thought you’d already found the trail? Isn’t that what the tunnels were for?”

Ifan shook his head. “You studied the Vietnam War, right? Think of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. A whole network of routes, and the US never knew which routes were being used. Sort of like that. They’d been building this network up for years. We don’t know how long the tunnels have been there, but they might even pre-date the smuggling. They certainly pre-date Craven. There are only two of us, so there was no way to patrol all the tunnels in order to find out which ones they were using.”

“Presumably there was some sort of pre-planned route? Or a system?”

“Exactly,” said Ifan. It took a long time to figure it out, but we did. We got very lucky. We knew we were getting nowhere. We couldn’t just wait in the tunnels because that would get back to Craven. We had to be patient and figure out the system. After three years of waiting, we started our observations. Two years later we had made barely any progress. Truth be told we were on the verge of giving up. Morale was pretty low; Adam and I were barely talking to each other, we’d got so sick of each other’s constant company. So I suggested we forget about things and climb a mountain. So we did. Gasherbrum IV.”

I let out a sharp hiss of breath. Gasherbrum IV was just under 8000m, so not technically in the group of the 13 highest mountains in the world, but its difficulty was legendary. No safe route on the mountain, a sheer west face. Originally known as K3, it was felt in some circles to be a harder mountain to climb than K2. Each route was exposed; you could be blasted by hurricane-force winds, hit by rockfall or swept off the route by avalanches. Seracs hung perilously on each way to the summit, barely clinging on to severely steep faces.

“Acclimatisation wasn’t a problem,” continued Ifan, “as we’d been living pretty much at 30,000ft for the three years previously, just under the death zone. So we figured we could just do a fast and light ascent of one of the ridges. We knew it would be tough.”

“Tough!” I exclaimed.

“Only problem was we knew nothing about the routes, or when was best to climb, and I found out that Adam hadn’t bothered to pay our broadband bill, so we couldn’t get wifi to google it. I suggested we head up an easier mountain, like Broad Peak, wait there with a telescope and plan our expedition.”

“Okay,” I said. I wasn’t sure where the hell this was going.

“So we made it up Broad Peak easy enough. Conditions weren’t brilliant – a lot of scratchy ice. Not a lot to dig into. A bit of a slog. But anyway, we got up to the top, set up our tent and just watched Gasherbrum IV for a month. As you know, there are a lot of avalanches there, supposedly. So we watched for their frequency, where they tended to fall, etc. We started to write our observations down. And then we noticed.”

“Noticed what?” I said, signalling the barman for more beer.

“There was a pattern. An undeniable pattern. It took us a while to realise. It was only when we were having a barbeque to mark our anniversary that I re-read the notebook and noticed the pattern. Avalanches down the south-east ridge specifically. At 8.45, every morning, there would be an avalanche. Some days just a solitary one. Other times two, or three. Rarely, four. But always at 8.45. And always on the south-east ridge.”

“Hold on,” I said, finishing off an onion ring from the sharing platter I’d ordered for myself. “Are you serious? Timed avalanches?” I picked up a mozzarella stick. “You realise how ridiculous that sounds?”

“Which is why we stayed on the summit for another month, just to be sure. I’ve still got the notebook. I can show you.”

“Well, what does that mean?”

“A signal.” Ifan took a folded piece of manuscript out of his jacket pocket and spread it out over the table, knocking over a couple of jalapeno poppers onto the floor. Observing the three second rule I crammed them hurriedly into my mouth, not willing to sacrifice them to the story.

I looked down at the table. The paper Ifan had unfolded was a map; a map of the Karakoram. I counted off the peaks – K2, Broad Peak, the Gasherbrums, Mason Mount, Denali and, of course, Kangleong. But there was something else on the map. Criss-crossing the mountains, someone had drawn a series of coloured lines in thick marker. Seeing the criss-cross made me jump.

“What am I looking at?” I asked, taking a bite of my plant-based burger.

“This is the network of tunnels. We think we found them all. Each different colour represents a different route.”

Although each coloured line ended in a different place on the western edge of the mountain range and started at different places at the northern boundary of the Karakoram, at points the lines converged before separating again. I could count six separate colours.

“Six routes,” said Ifan, as if he was reading my thoughts or the last sentence. “Six routes through the mountains.”

“So,” I said, “let me get this right. You’re saying that each number of avalanches corresponds to a different smuggling route?”

“Yep.”

“But you said there were a maximum of four avalanches.”

Ifan nodded. “We saw four three times. Most of the time it was one, two or three. But when we looked in the diary, Adam had recorded five avalanches on the south-east route once. Early on.”

“Okay, so that’s five. What about the sixth?”

Ifan leaned forward and pointed to the red line on the map. For the most part it ran a distance away from everything else.

“This one,” he said. “We think this is the sixth. We’re not even completely sure it exists. We drew the line on this map where we thought it goes but we’ve only found parts of it. We think sections of it are hidden. Behind seracs, inside crevasses, that kind of thing. But we found tunnels which didn’t seem to go anywhere. We think they’re part of this sixth route. A secret route.”

“What for?”

“Craven himself. You know the passetto di borgo in Rome? Provides an escape route for the Pope to the Castel Sant’angelo. Something like that. A route only Craven knew. A way for him to escape. That’s why there are no six avalanche signals. We think it’s for him only.”

“You think.”

Ifan grimaced. “We don’t know for sure. After we descended from Broad Peak we searched extensively for him. We found the tunnels, bit by bit, and built up this map. We knew where the passages intersected, we had a remote camera on Broad Peak watching Gasherbrum IV, so when the avalanches went off we knew where to go. Over the next two years we caught ninety-six smugglers. Found seventeen tonnes of plutonium. But nothing of Craven himself. You can see the routes all begin and end at separate places. So there was no way of knowing where he was holed up. Of course, the smugglers themselves wouldn’t tell us. They were too scared of him. Meanwhile he was happy for them to take all the flack.”

“A craven individual, you might say.”

Ifan looked at me silently.

“Hold on,” I said, “you said you were hiding out for three years. Then you said you were finding tunnels for two years. That’s five years.”

“We spent a while looking for you.”

“How long?”

“Six months.”

I paused. I’d only got GCSE maths but I’m fairly sure that didn’t account for the whole ten year gap between seeing them last and now.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.

Ifan looked down at the table. He slowly folded back up the map and placed it back inside his jacket. Then he took a deep lungful of air.

“Towards the end of the time we were rounding people up. We were on K2, just around the Black Pyramid, where one of the tunnels runs behind. It was a snowy day. Fairly typical bad weather for K2. Anyway, we decide to head up to the balcony, to see the famous bottleneck and the serac above it. Adam left before I did as I had to pop a few things in the boot of the car. When I got to the balcony there was no sign of him.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’d gone. I could barely see his tracks in the snow. The whole balcony was a complete white-out. No sign of anything at all. I couldn’t even see as far as the bottleneck. He’d vanished.”

I didn’t understand.

“I stayed on that mountain for four years, looking for him. Looking for any sign of what had happened. Then, just as I was packing up at Camp II, he came wandering back down the mountain as if nothing had happened.”

I still didn’t understand.

“So what had happened?” I asked.

Ifan shook his head. “I don’t know. He seemed completely fine. Still had all his gear, still wearing the same clothes. But… there was something different. I didn’t realise until we were down at base camp. But then he started talking about you, about getting back to Kangleong and 2013. Stopping Craven. I didn’t understand it.”

“You mean…”

“Yeah. This whole time travel thing. The whole thing about being from the future. That’s what he’s been saying since he came down the mountain. I don’t understand it. But he’s convinced we have to get back to Kangleong. He’s convinced we need to stop Craven.”

“But what happened up there? What happened to him in those four years?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ifan, for heaven’s sake…”

“Jeez, Andrew!” Ifan was shouting now. “Read between the lines! I haven’t decided what happened! I’m leaving that for Adam to potentially use in a subsequent chapter!”

I fell quiet, unable to process everything. What had happened to Adam to leave him convinced he was from the future? Where had he been for those four years?

“So,” Ifan said softly, “I figured that the best thing to do would be to go along with it. Find you, then head back to Kangleong. See if I could understand along the way what was going on.”

“Okay,” I said. “So what’s the issue?”

Ifan looked up at me. The expression chilled me to the bone.

“Kangleong’s not there anymore.”

“What do you mean? Not there?”

“That’s what I’m telling you kid. It’s been totally blown away.”

“What? How?”

“The earthquake. You saw it on the TV. It’s reduced the mountain to rubble. There’s no way back. Whatever was hiding there, there’s no way to find it now.”

I looked over Ifan’s shoulder. Entering the bar, his 85 litre backpack over his shoulders, was Adam. He looked down at the bottles of beer.

“Where’s mine?” he said.

Ifan and I looked at each other in silence.