#just a small detail i noticed/dumped in cause why not

[asketchydomesticatedgremlin]

some silly drawings n a couple notes on how id draw immortalis bobby or flamehead/fireface, the latter a name given by the lovely Laure, a true creative genius.

[pendwelling]

hello !!

I have been reading your content for a while and I really appreciate it especially your detailed answer to people questions I really like it 😄😄

That's why I want to ask my questions too☺️☺️

Hmmm so first , you know in chapter 805 yuseo called gain his Earth and in chapter 850 or close to it when yuseo knew his friends forgot about him ,he was having a breakdown 😭😭 and he said might even resent them for it but deep down he knew he can never hate his Earth forever 😭😭

Yeah so here yuseo only meant gain without Cedric?? So that means deep down yuseo has more affection and love gain more ? Cause I always thought he loves them both equally

Is gain maybe more important in the story thank Cedric? Cause I noticed that gain has many many POV in the story meanwhile Cedric having POV is very rare 😞 especially when yuseo left for his world almost all POVs were gain's ...so does that mean like she's 2mc after yuseo ?

I Know my questions may sound stupid but I actually care and notice these things while reading😅😅 like noticing that gain had also more screen time with yuseo than Cedric in the lastest chs 😅😅 that's why that thought occured to me

Hmm I have only another question ( sorry I talk too much but this novel really took my mind these days 😭😭 so I'm thinking about all kind of stuff) ... U know that Jesse suggested to yuseo to tell the people that they share a plate and yuseo accepted but Cedric refused? But eventually I didn't understand whether they did tell people that or just said that they were twins?

Cause honestly if they did do that wouldn't making a covenant with Cedric be quiet no possible since people know that they share plate

Honestly even now I think making a covenant might be really impossible for many reasons:

1/ yuseo already goes to his world and he spends most time there (he only spends two days in reister ) and the timeline is quite different?? Like a few days in his world are many months in reister??? Wouldn't that make him absent a long time??? When they become religious companions they can't be appart from each other a long time or they suffer like Fred and Aurelie right ? So I feel like yuseo wound not accept it

2/ when he becomes religious companion he can't share his ether with others (except gain maybe cause she and ced already have a connection ) it might be a dump reason but I feel yuseo would still want to help others with his ether especially Johann and future holy knight kids (Lynn and cerise)

3/ finally even if it's one sided yuseo and Jesse do share a plate so it would make it diffecult to form covenant cause Cedric emotions and thoughts will be shared to Jesse too ? It feels like he shared his plate with the two of them

So what do u think?

Man I really wrote a whole essay 😭😭😭

I'm sorry that u have to read through all of this 🥺🥺

And thanks for your answer in advance

Hello!!! Sorry late response 😭😭 I'm assuming you probably read more chapters ahead by now and might have gotten answers to your questions yourself, but I'll still give my own insights too haha

Anyhow—Yeah! Yeseo and Ga-in do indeed get some very notable moments during the later end parts of TWSB, but I personally think that the moments between Ga-in-Yeseo and Cédric-Yeseo are both equally spread out, and both with their own respective moments to shine, and sometimes all together and in different (equally important) ways. Cédric's POVs might not be as much in comparison to Ga-in's in certain moments, but (again personally) I find that this is because Ga-in's character and personality allows for certain scenes to be viewed and conveyed in much more appropriate ways than it could be in Cédric's. Cédric's POVs are also notably... dramatic. Intense (haha). Surprisingly poetic and heartwrenching at times, but it's always an elaboration of his inward emotional state, and not as much outward action.

Cédric is the kind of character whose internal narration is better when taken in small doses, especially because his unique perspective as a Crown Prince archetype (back in the 300s, for example, it was especially interesting to see Cédric's through outsider POVs and in an environment of—not equals, like with "Prince Jesse" and Lady Christelle and their other noble friends—but of commoners and soldiers who cannot interact with him as easily). His POVs are always very emotional (sometimes despite his outward actions seeming so abrupt or sudden or even "out-of-nowhere" if you havent seen his POV), and often related to his own psyche, his internal turmoil, the way relationships affect him personally and the childhood trauma that in turn affect how he goes about life and relationships, and even more particularly, Yeseo.

But as for the moments that you are talking about (800s+), in a way, it makes sense why we get more of Ga-in's perspectives. Both she and Yeseo, after all, are transmigrators who can both relate and understand on deeper levels the dilemma of having to leave one world for the other, and the struggles that come with this very unique experience. She's also undeniably WAY MORE emotionally intelligent than Cédric in this regard, and as the eldest, the noona of the trio, I think it was especially important for Ham Ga-in to have been the one taking the lead in this very emotional goodbye and see-you-later.

Yeseo can be thought of as the glue holding the three characters together, but Ga-in's role as the understated emotional pillar is also just as important and very vital to their dynamics as a whole!!!! 🥲

In the scene of 805, I think it's noteworthy that when Cédric and Ga-in are both leading Yeseo to the Paten, "walking him home," the way the two of them do so is very indicative of the roles they play in each others' lives and in this moment. Cédric holds Yeseo's hand with his right, leaving his dominant left hand free to wield the blade—physically and visibly demonstrating the silent support that Cédric is towards and provides for Yeseo. It should be noted that in all previous situations during fights where Cédric has had to carry Yeseo over his right shoulder, he always, ALWAYS, keeps his sword arm free to both fight and defend his partners. And even when he does have to give up the sword while fleeing with Yeseo over his shoulder, he'll have Ga-in under his sword arm as a "backup weapon" haha. This has been a recurring trend throughout the story, even when it's sometimes used in comedic scenarios, but it's a characteristic of his nonetheless that even the author acknowledged in one of their A/Ns xD (604 Munpia). BUT ANYWAY BACK TO 805—in contrast, Ga-in's support extends more to just supporting him with silent and strong gestures. She constantly talks to him, reaches out, reassures him, she appeases him with words and promises, speaking on both the behalf of herself AND of Cédric. She's the spokesperson for the two of them—her wishes are also Cédric's. If Cédric didn't feel the same way, he would have spoken up (heck, he probably wouldn't have been there in the first place lmao—him growing to care for both Yeseo and Ga-in is one of the most integral parts driving the story too, after all!)

This moment is very emotional, and Ga-in is the emotional anchor keeping them all together. I definitely would NOT say that she is more important than Cédric. They are BOTH EQUALLY very very important to Yeseo, and they both demonstrate their different outward ways of caring for and supporting him 🥹 In this specific situation, however, Ga-in's emotional outspokenness naturally takes the lead and gives Yeseo the more active verbal comfort that he needs. Had she not been there, I fear Cédric would have to deal with an emotionally crumbling Yeseo all alone haha—of course, that isn't to say that Cédric would just stand there and do nothing, but this guy is HELLA internally emotional but without the proper ability to dish out comfort the way Ga-in does. He just keeps it all inward. This situation was hard for all three of them combined, but Ga-in took the reigns and gave the final push.

She's the eldest! Their noona... She has to do her best, smile, and stay strong, because one guy is too soft-hearted, and the other guy is unexpectedly soft-hearted, too, so she must be the strong one and ease the mood. That has always been our Ga-in's specialty 🥹🥲

Ga-in is Yeseo's "Earth" because she's their anchor, the one who grounds them all—"my only rock and hill", as Ga-in once said in reference to own older sister.

Thus, we have Cédric with the unstaggering physical support and strength. Then, Ga-in with her vocal reassurances and emotional support. I have a LOT to say about 805, but anyhow, I think I made my point haha. It a brilliant chapter imo, and really displays the facets of CYC's relationship and dynamics, both inward and outward. Cédric does get his own moments with Yeseo later on too:

Most notably, off the top of my head, that scene in Chapter 917 where Yeseo visits home again with Cédric tagging along, where he presents Cerise to Hyunseo like "Ta-da~ It's our baby" as if they're two newlyweds presenting their daughter to the family for the first time 😭. OH and then in 898, where Cédric snuck into the Jung apartments and clumsily tried offering Yeseo, his family, and EVEN HIS DISTANT FAMILY 😭 all titles and riches and lands just so that Yeseo could permanently become Riester citizens and stay there with him and Ga-in... (Yeseo naturally puts his foot down and refuses lmao, but he appeases Cédric's worries by saying that Riester is still his second home, and that he has no intention of leaving them behind again BUT STILL OMG 😭)

Look. You gotta understand. Ga-in and Yeseo's relationship is so so meaningful and caring and sweet, but Cédric is always on a whole other level. This guy is so crazy about Yeseo, he's just disguising it under a stoic handsome face LMAO...

YEAH OML ANYWAY. NOW FOR THE HOLY PLEDGE/PLATE QUESTION—

For Pledge Concern #1, regarding the time differences between the TWSB world and the "IRL" world, if you continue reading (and I'm assume you might have? already read to that point by now since it's been a while since you sent this Ask wkdjsksk), you'll find that this issue resolves itself haha. I'm glad you took notice of this, however, because it is a concern that Yeseo HIMSELF also shares, even vocally too, back in Chapter 736 during a discussion with Jibril which started with Yeseo expressing relief that Jibril would be a good supporting figure for future-emperor Cédric (to which Jibril slapped back with basically "why would he need me when he's got you?"). Yeseo is so worried about hurting Cédric with the long-distance effects of a Covenant/Holy Pledge, but with time, this thankfully gets resolved 🥲🙌 Even the charas themselves kinda refer to his dimension-hopping being akin to something like "our family' daughter hopping to their new household (the one they married into)" LMAO. Yeseo could also leave Cédric (and perhaps Ga-in, if they go the double Pledge route) with a bunch of holy stones to soothe the soul ache, like what Frédérique and Aurélie have previously done, too.

As for Pledge Concern #2!!! Hahaha, that's a valid concern. I totally understand why you'd think Yeseo might want that, but it's also understandable why he would also choose the other. Yeseo is actually quite recipient to the idea of forming a Holy Pledge with Cédric—or at the very least, officially accepting the man's Covenant proposal and becoming his Religious Companion—but the only thing that held him back was the concern of the universal distances causing him pain. But with that now out of the way, suffice to say, there's now plenty of reason for Yeseo to no longer postpone the proposal. I feel I should also bring back Juliette/Julite Statia, who, historically, has been one of the (if not the only) recorded Priests to have supplied ether to two Holy Knights at once. Ga-in even referenced Julite's circumstances wayyy back in early-TWSB before the Holy See, and now that Yeseo is pretty much the Pope with Paten as his Plate/Vessel, we can assume that a double-Holy Pledge is on the table of possibilities (not to mention Cédric and Christelle's funky little soul bond haha).

As for him supplying ether to others, again, that's very valid. Yeseo is the type that likes to help others when he can. But also, I think he is also capable of trusting their other reliable priest friends, even more so when the war is over. Johann has (his future-daughter-in-law~) Eva and even our dear Priest Sand; Cornelisse has Isle; and Lynn and Cerise are young kids who would probably find their own intimate connections with priest companions of their own, once they grow up, too. After all, they can't rely on Mama Yeseo forever hehe (but the image is very sweet and tempting... maybe Yeseo will hold off the Holy Pledge just to nurse baby Cerise and little Lynn for a bit longer xDDD). But anyhow, it makes more sense for them to eventually find their own Religious Partners later (especially for Cerise Riester, who is actual Imperial Royalty).

As for your Pledge/Plate Concern #3, I remember I answered a similar thing on discord, so I'll just largely reiterate my response for there unto here haha:

The Plate-sharing between Yeseo and Losna is said to be one-way, as Yeseo's original plate was given to Losna upon his resuscitation, while the Paten in turn became Yeseo's. So while it's true that Yeseo's emotions and memories have been transferred to Losna, Yeseo doesn't get anything from Losna—so in terms of a Covenant, Cédric would probably be fusing his plate with YESEO'S PATEN, instead of his original Plate (which is now within Losna). So the ether sharing would be respectively between Cédric and Yeseo's Plates/Paten, and their souls would be connected from that point.

We can also naturally assume that Losna would still be able to feel Yeseo's emotions since he's the owner of Yeseo's Plate, but whether or not he could feel Cédric's is more ambiguous, but here is what I take from the affair:

1.) Losna owning Yeseo's Plate = Feeling Yeseo's emotions and having his memories.

2.) Cédric forming a Covenant with Yeseo's Paten Plate = Merging ether reservoirs and souls, thus knowing how the other feels (and to an extent, how they think).

—SO, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Losna, who has Yeseo's Plate but not the PATEN plate, would still feel Yeseo. It's one-sided on Losna➡️Yeseo's part, and so perhaps Losna's indirect link to Cédric (who would be linked to Yeseo) would ALSO be onesided. He could feel what YESEO feels, but not what Cédric feels.

And re:Twins and Plate sharing—while Yeseo was fine with it, Cédric didn't like the sound/implications of selling the story as "Losna and Yeseo share a Plate" LMAO, so in the end, what happens is that the Frédérique ordered the Palace (or rather Bérénice haha) to basically fabricate a whole mythos surrounding Yeseo and Losna's origins as "twins" to sell to the public. One who was born with divinity, one born with mortality. There's a LOT to say about TWSB's use of religion and (fictional) religious propaganda throughout the series, but I won't get into much detail there haha. But just know that I think about it a lot, and again, I love love love how much politics and religion play a part in TWSB. It makes the world of kingdoms, empires, aristocracy and the everyman feel very real.

But anyhow, I don't believe Yeseo forming a Holy Pledge with anyone will cause any issues with Losna, too.

THOUGH!!! On Munpia, Sookym has finally released information on the Side Stories (WHICH IS COMING OUT THIS JANUARY‼️‼️‼️🥹🥹🥳), so perhaps we'll see a glimpse into the aftermath and how Religious Companionship is faring for Yeseo and friends!! I'll personally be totally fine with the story as is ending the way it did and with a lot up for natural interpretation because there are also a lot of other storylines and characters to explore even more in depth to hehe. But I'll probably be happy with whatever Sookym cooks 🥹 Maybe we can even hope for more modern setting shenanigans... who knows!!!

Anyhow, yeah!!! I hope this helped answer any questions or concerns!! Sorry for the late response haha, the questions that take longer answers generally require more energy on my part (both to gather my thoughts, to do some re-reading and research to avoid accidentally spreading misinfo 😭, as well as just writing out everything WKWKKWKW)

Again, I'm assuming you probably(?) finished reading TWSB till the end already, and I hope you enjoyed/are enjoying the rest of their journey!!! I hope you (and whomever might be reading this haha) tunes in for whenever the Side Stories come out in January!!!! 🙌🙌

[midnightmah07]

ALRIGHT NOW UR TURN. DETAILED LEOBELLE ROUTE!!!! /nf

HELP DETAILED LEOBELLE.... UHHHHHHHH OK LEMME THINK THIS MIGHT BE A BIT REPETITIVE BECAUSE I TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THESE STUFF ALREADY

Isabelle had always been the odd one out from her family, her father being the only one who truly understood her because he also was ahead of his time while her two sisters made fun of Isa for having her head in the clouds and thinking too much about her books and the betterment of her country. So, because her and her father had this strong bond Isabelle was willing to do what it takes to make him proud and make their countries prosper, which was exactly why she didn't say no to the marriage proposal that was made for her.

Leona honestly didn't like the idea of an arranged marriage just as much as Isa didn't, but different from her who decided to use this situation for the greater good Leona kinda just... Went with it. He didn't like it but like- his brother had already decided anyway so what use was arguing? Plus, look at the bright side, maybe he could move out of his home after he got married. — I have to say I am still searching for a stronger reason as to why Leona just let this happen to him, right now I am using the excuse of his brother thinking this could be so good for Leona and for their country and Leona knew there was no use fighting because his fate had already been decided the moment the letter accepting the offer arrived

Leona and Isa definitely didn't hit it off when they met. They were 17 and 15 respectfully and because of Leona's rudeness and unwillingness to get to know Isa and give her a chance Isabelle didn't like him at all. I wanna say though they do have a sort of enemies to lovers thing going on, a lot of the time it's really one sided, with Leona just being slightly annoyed at Isabelle if anything; as years went on Leona learns of how Isabelle is seen, she's an outcast, different from everyone else and treated like a monster for her Unique Magic, just like he was. He felt a sense of empathy for her but in his own way, never really letting it show a lot.

It was around this time Isabelle's crush on Neige was cut short, and through their conversation both of them learned something: Isabelle was extremely loyal to Leona and their engagement regardless of how she felt, and Leona was able to be kind in his own weird way, offering support when she least expected it.

On Isabelle's end she figured out just how much Leona hated his family life, she figured out that his unwillingness to try and do anything wasn't because he was simply lazy but because of a bigger issue and she started seeing him in a new light. She noticed how incredible he was on his Spelldrive matches, how he seemed like a completely new person, and I assume this was when something started growing inside her hehe

They started being more cooperative with each other, Leona often teasing her just to get a reaction out of her because he thought she was cute as a mouse (heh), and their chess matches started here as well. Still, Leona was a bit closed off, and it all went downhill with his overblot that just caused Isabelle to be worried sick and dump all of her emotions on him, telling him she was so angry at him because he never seemed to want to try anything with her, never seemed slightly interested in her and never made an effort to change. She was scared he could've died and she was never able to sort all of this with him.

I assume after that Leona opens up to her more little by little, and he tries to get his pride down and his walls down. It doesn't happen from night to day but slowly Leona starts showing more and more that he cares about her and make small gestures to tell her he's trying, and that makes her really happy.

A while passes and one day they get caught up with their emotions and kiss, but they pretend it never happened bc Leona? Talking about his feelings? Pfft-- and Isabelle didn't know what to do. They were both unsure. But after a few days both are forced with the reality of their own feelings, and while I'm unsure how they start dating I'm assuming it's probably Leona who tells Isa he loves her, and it happens a while before book 6, just so I can make Isa suffer hehe

Bonus: when Isa reaches 21, the age they're supposed to get married, they travel around the world bc that has always been Isa's dream + Leona wants to stay away from home🤸🏻‍♀️

[glitchy-anime-fan]

Detail I noticed in the Ghost Hunt manga

Spoilers for the first “arc”/case file!

So I’m a big fan of Ghost Hunt, I’ve reread the manga a few times, I’m currently trying to read the light novel, and I watch the anime at least one a year. It’s my Roman Empire, what can I say?

Anywho, while I was rereading the first case file in the manga I noticed an interesting little detail i hadn’t noticed before; Naru is playing with a nail in the late beginning, early middle of the case that’s brought up by the end.

What do I mean by this? Well, after we’re introduced to our main cast of characters there’s an incident roughly between pages 80-84 where Ayako gets trapped in one of the old school house classrooms. Takigawa ends up having to break down the door because it won’t open.

Followed by the scene where they’re trying to figure out what’s going on. At one point we get a close up of Naru as they’re talking about what each specialist theorised is happening. In this panel we actually see Naru holding the nail.

Mai even makes an offhand comment about Naru “playing” with the nail-

Before we see her thoughts on the matter, where she mentions the “locked” door on the next page.

Now why is this important? How does this tie into the nail detail/forshadowing? Well, the thing is that nail is actually why Ayako got locked in the room in the first place.

Pretty much, by the end of the case we find out that Kuroda (the one who was unconsciously causing the poltergeist in the building) was getting back at Ayako for being rude to her the entire case. So she pretty much closed the door behind Ayako and stuck a nail in the floor so it wouldn’t open.

Do we see where I’m going? That nail that Naru holds up, the one he thought “wasn’t important enough” to mention? Yeah, that’s the nail he’s holding earlier in the case! It’s such a small detail that on my first read I didn’t even make the connection at first, but it’s a pretty subtle foreshadow when you look back on it. I’ve definitely watched the anime more and I’m almost certain that Naru doesn’t have any nail on his person until the end of the third episode, which made this detail stick out when I actually caught it.

Idk I just love catching little details during rereads that I didn’t notice sooner. It’s such a fun little experience that makes me happy.

Fun fact: in the first case, Kuroda herself also kinda foreshadows the resolve of the story! We find out that Kuroda is the one behind the poltergeist, unknowingly, and if you pay close enough attention you start to notice that all the poltergeist activities only seems to happen when Kuroda is in the building. A lot of the earlier incidents are proven to be accidents until Naru gives his original theory on ground subsidence being the cause. After that Kuroda starts unconsciously creating the poltergeist activity, but either way the odd happenings - things that couldn’t be explained by the land sinking anyway- almost always happen when Kuroda is around. When she’s gone almost everything is else can be logically explained away.

If you stayed till the end of my little info dump on a series that I’m sure has been dead since the early 2000’s…have some tea and cookies!

☕️ 🍪🍪🍪🍪

[ask-theredman]

Mako runs past Azazel in the crowded streets, swiping his wallet and headed straight for the aquarium. Her white, matted, dirty hair makes her stick out in the crowd but she's small enough that most people don't even notice. She even knows to follow a family with kids her age into the aquarium before immediately splitting off and going towards the tanks where you can pet the sea life

'Let's get this over with.'

On today's job : Take out a specific mutant target in the middle of a busy street.

While it wasn't an unusual request, it didn't change the fact that he has always felt uncomfortable walking in crowds. Apart from the obvious reason, it came with its fair share of issues : Too many unfamiliar faces popping in at once then disappearing out of his field of vision. Too many different noises and voice pitches condensing into one incoherent gibberish. Too many smells of various degrees, from strong to mild, from nauseating to plain weird, making it the most confusing scent cocktail. None of these, however, were really the reason why he wanted to get this job done as quickly as possible and move on to some better place.

No, the main reason, and objectively worst part of it all, was that this had to be in Florida. The fabled trickster God's playground. The land where the press hunts for crimes that will inevitably become famous out of state.

If he was going to do this right, there could be no mistakes, and everything had to pass under the press' radars as the most mundane event of the day.

According to his investigation, his target at this time of the day was far ahead of the street he was striding through. He would do it swiftly, then switch his target's wallet with the 'fake' one in his back pocket to hide who truly 'unexpectedly passed away' today. It was an ordinary wallet with all things considered : It had an ID, emergency contact details, a medical insurance card, bills and change totaling 100$, ... The only notable detail about it is that it couldn't possibly be his own.

He made himself as unassuming as humanly possible in the crowd while some bystanders walked closeby, some skipped behind him, some just ran past like it wasn't 97°F, ... Children never seemed phased by this kind of weather until it was too late.

'If I'm not careful enough, I might accidentally step on a kid if most wander off from their parents like this one...'

Strangely enough, he felt... Lighter. Reflexively, he patted over the inside pocket of his jacket before moving to his pants'...

And realizing the fake wallet was gone.

He abruptly stopped on his tracks, causing an old lady to dump into him and nearly fall over if he hadn't caught her at the last second and brought her back to her feet. "Oh my! Thank you, Dear. But don't worry about little old me and go follow your daughter before she gets lost. She looked so excited to go to the aquarium ! She tripped a few times to catch up with you but always got up like a champ ! "

His mind momentarily found itself stuck on the daughter part of her sentence before suddenly understanding what actually went down a few seconds ago.

Being pickpocketed by a child should have been the least surprising thing to happen to him in Florida, yet here he was. Absolutely dumbfounded by the absurdity of the situation.

He found himself simply nodding to the old lady then left without a word. He reached the Florida Aquarium in less than 5 minutes after finally getting out of the busy street.

Seeing no trace of the strange white-haired girl, he walked past the big Devil Ray statue, got to the counter and paid the entrance fee with the money from his wallet. He went in and started looking around for the little thief.

'She hasn't been there for long so she couldn't have wandered off that far. Now, where would a small child go in such a big-...'

As if to answer, a map of the place suddenly faced him.

'... Of course.'

When he reached the aquarium's Petting Zoo, he took a quick look around, trying to spot any usual white hair among the young visitors until...

'There she is... At the corner of the tank with the most rays.'

She didn't seem to notice him when he finally approached her. "No use running, Missy. You don't look like some vicious hellion so I won't involve any kind of institution into this : From experience, these make a mountain out of a molehill and don't even get at the bottom of the issue at the end of the day." He said matter-of-factly. "I just want my wallet back."

[ask-ozai]

Iroh once claimed that before Zuko, his father, grandfather and great-grandfather all searched for the Avatar.

I know about Sozin's search, but could you please tell us more about your own and Azulon's searches?

They're state secrets and no one has ever known too many details about the expeditions, but that's Zuko's problem now. And since he just caused an hyperinflation, probably he is too busy to even notice if people start talking about it.

Firelord Azulon was the same age as Zuko when he left to find the Avatar, fourteen, but he was very different from Zuko. At fourteen, my father had already fought and won four Agni Kais, and he never knelt and begged for mercy like a coward. He was the pride and future of the Fire Nation, trained and educated from his earliest age to be the perfect Firelord.

His quest to capture the Avatar led him to the most logical place to start, the Northern Water Tribe, where he was greeted with fear and apprehension given Sozin's recent history with the airbenders. But my father had the gift of persuasion and charisma, much needed in his role as Firelord and world conqueror. They reached a non-aggression agreement with the Chief, which lasted until the last day of my father's life and is the reason why the war barely affected the Northern Water Tribe in a hundred years. My father knew that they couldn't conquer his natural enemies until they conquered the Earth Kingdom first, so he gave them a false sense of security. Better to keep them out of the war for the moment.

He met my mother on that trip, Ilah.

Now, unfortunately, I never knew exactly the circumstances of how they met, nor much about my mother at all. The mere reminder of her existence (and absence) was enough to ignite my father's ire for whole days. No one was allowed to talk about my mother when I was a child. Neither the court, nor the servants, and much less me. The little I know is from Iroh, but he didn't talk much about her either. She was a complete taboo.

But yes, my father fell in love with my mother on that trip and returned home quickly to tell his father that he had found the perfect bride for himself. Sozin refused, for some unknown reason (other than that he simply didn't like women very much, I guess), so my father had no choice but to challenge him to an Agni Kai to fulfill his will to marry. Iroh says that Sozin was dead for two minutes when my father threw him a lightning and won the Agni Kai. Sozin must have been proud. When the healers managed to restart his heart, of course.

I don't have much more to say, because my father's trips were rather brief and sporadic. He and my mother married two years later, when he was sixteen, and remained married for fifty years until my mother's death when I was born.

Once my father organized another search, with Lo and Li in charge this time, who went to look for the Avatar in Omashu, hearing that King Bumi had once been friends with him. It is said that Lo had an affair with him and there is even talk of a secret bastard that they had to hide, but nothing was ever confirmed.

My search for the Avatar was a different matter. I was sixteen years old, and the time had come to show my father my value. Evil tongues will tell you that it was just an excuse to get rid of me, but they were Iroh supporters so their opinion don't count.

I took a ship, a small crew, and Zhao and Michi (the only companions I had even a modicum of confidence in) and we went to search for the Avatar. We traveled throughout the Earth Kingdom for two very long years. We had some adventures, naturally, but nothing worth mentioning until we infiltrated Ba Sing Se pretending to be circus performers. I can't give many details about what happened there, because Michi, Zhao and I swore an oath of silence. And as useless as Zuko is, he can still put Michi in a dungeon. Especially now that her daughter dumped him. And that wouldn't be convenient for anyone.

Let's just say the previous Earth King died under suspicious circumstances.

[spotsupstuff]

Hi I'm back again

Sorry for any bad takes, while I've done lore dives for other media in the past I've never hyperfixated as much as I have with Rain World. The complete and total void of information about so many things in this game has driven me to the brink of insanity so every little detail I notice I'm like "ah what if this is actually important and lore related and mmm wild speculation"

Also I fricking feel like I'm apologizing way too much. I absolutely refuse to apologize for having my weird-ass speculations, but I will apologize for dumping all of my unedited speculative rambles in your inbox. As I said tell me to shut up at any time I don't want to to be annoying or anything also I'm probably overthinking this damn it talking to people is hard

(And absolutely PLEASE give your opinions!!!! The whole reason I'm dumping my stupid ramblings in your inbox is because you have the COOLEST lore and being able to rant about my stupid theories and hear some of your theories and ideas in exchange-- shbddhgbjksttd I'm having too much fun)

What you said about artistic choice and stuff makes total sense-- I haven't really drawn ancients except for some stupid little doodles (and yeah, their hair is hard. the little circles make way more sense as 'shape defining artistic feature' rather than 'possible lore detail') and I have no idea what I'm doing anyways BUT I am going to offer a very small and completely nonsensical defense for my tentacle-hair-bone-thing theory cause I honestly just think it would be funny if they had cactus skulls

the holy grail of ancient imagery returns

that one specific tentacle. it looks like it pokes straight up before flopping over. I'm reaaaally grasping at straws now lol

Different topic-- I absolutely think that the ancients practiced some form of limb-binding. The difference in feet sizes between some of the images of them, the cloth wrappings, the fact that iterators don't (canonically) have 'feet' feet... I also think some ancients may have done the same to their hands? I mean, look at the karma 4 mural. That dude has weird hands. And feet. And way too many tits. Ancients are just fricking weird.

But yeah if any of my theories or thought trains or anything are weird or don't make sense just know I have no clue what I'm doing, I'm just throwing stuff at the walls and hoping some of it sticks haha

(Join me, next time, for 'Why Ancients Really Liked Birds~~')

yea, u r apologizing too fuckin much!!! -baps you with a newspaper- lord in heaven... /lh not sayin by this that u do annoy me- but i'd suggest makin these into posts n throwin em into the main tag rather than yeetin 'em all at my inbox! so more peeps can see 'em n such, you might find more people with neat opinions, who knows. but also thank you for finding my stuff that cool jgsdlkmcklsdmgklsd

GJKSDLKLMD I CAN,,, REFUTE THAT AS WELL BUT I WILL TELL YOU THIS: if you find it funny then that is all the reason you need for the thing being a canon tidbit for your stuff. a lot of my lore building comes from "wouldn't it be funny if..." and then committing to it

oh they absolutely Are doing some fucked up binding. it would make a lot of sense if Videocult implemented that- since they are already taking inspiration from Buddhism, it would make sense for them to jump into China n other surrounding cultures to look for inspiration for fucked up aspects a culture can enforce and then spin it out into interesting lore for a game. so from Chinese feet binding we get to multiple body parts binding (stars above, sin two mural the ancient's on top feet... it never hit how Tiny those are. also who da FUCK IS HAVING SEX IN SNEAKERS, GODDAMMIT. WHAT IS THIS BITCH.)

the hands i like to blame on religious mutilation and the fuckin... third n fourth "tits" are just fat storage- the upper pair are the proper tits in the sense that they are the muscles that move the arms. but oh how i adore it when people give four boobs to their Ancient designs it's so funny to me... praise the boobification

n tsk, aaaaaarhg, "weird"... that's the basis for the best stuff. this is an alien world, anything goes. the more fucked up it is the better it will be (-gestures to face tentacles n the back gills of my interpretations-)

[nightmaremp]

Weremayhem: Song of Beasts, ch3: Have Faith in Us

   Nora knocks on the door to Penny’s office. She opens the door. “Penny, hi, it’s me. Hope I’m not disturbing you.” the black haired female said. “Any updates on the shredding?” Penny asked as she sat at her desk. “Better. You’re gonna love this, cause I figured out that we have a contract with a great band who, believe it or not, still owes us an album.” She said as she walked over. 

“What album? What band?” she asked in confusion. “The only ones who still owe me a record are-” she suddenly gasps as she realizes what band that Nora is talking about. “You didn't,” Penny said. Nora looks confused before the door opens and Dr. Teeth walk in. He chuckles as he walks over to Penny’s desk. “I knew I recallized that voice.” said the doc with a smile on his face. 

He chuckles again. “Look who it is. Doctor Bigshot” replied Penny in a bit of an upset tone. “Wait, you two know each other?” Nora asked. “Indeed, we do. How have you been, Twinkles?” asked the doc with a smirk.  “I hate you” she replied. “You look like you got a taste of your own medcline, I see,” she added. Penny was talking about the scars on his face. Teeth chuckles through his mouth. 

“I thought you said the van couldn’t stop.” said Nora as she looked at Teeth. “Lips is circling the block.” he replied. “So! You’re still hangin’ around with all those smuggegies, eh?” asked Penny. “Smuggegies, smuggegies.” said Animal as the rest of the mayhem beside Lips walk into the office. Lewis walks in too. Annie was in the van with Lips. Lewis walks over to his dad’s side. “All right. How you is? How you been?” said Floyd but everyone was talking over each other. 

“Yep, come on in. The more, the merrier.” said Nora. “Shut up all of ya’s!” yell Penny as she smacks her desk. She groans. “If it weren’t for the very small, decaying piece of my heart that I once had for this floppy top-hatted imbecile, I’d have you all wiped from the face of the Earth years ago, for taking my money and leaving me nothing!” said Ms. Waxman in anger. 

“Until now, which is why I just need a tiny little favor.” replied the black haired female. “No!” replied Penny. “I didn’t even ask anything yet.” replied Nora. “Well, then ask.” replied the pink haired female. “You know how the label owns that house on Laurel Canyon, where you used to put up talent?” asked Nora. “Like in the old days.” replied Dr. Teeth. 

“Don’t remind me. Now, get’ em out of here!” replied Penny. “Okay, Sounds good.” replied Nora. “Go!” snapped Ms. Waxman. “Bye, Twinkles.” replied the doc. “Dad, stop!” hissed Lewis as he and Nora get them out. “I hate you” replied Penny as she looked at Teeth. She noticed something after. The ginger haired boy called Teeth, dad. “Did he have a son with someone? Probably by accident after dating so many people.” Penny thought to herself. 

“Stop wasting her time,” Nora said to Teeth. Nora shuts the door behind them. “Man, let’s get out of here,” said Floyd. “Wait, wait, wait.” Nora quickly said. “Okay, a few unforeseen small, but hugely important details have slightly derailed my plan.” she said. 

“Namely, you’re homeless, and also my boss hates you.” said Nora. “Well, I wasn’t necessarily receiving that sedimentation.” replied Dr. Teeth. “She literally said I hate you” she replied. “Yeah, dad,” replied Lewis. “Lewis, stay out of this” replied the doc. “Well, all I know is, I loved that lady but I had to let her go.” said the ginger haired male. “So, you dumped her?” asked Nora.

“Yes,” replied Teeth. “Okay, son now we need to win Penny over. Maybe we can send her something nice” she said. “I don’t know, like chocolates, flowers.” Nora adds on. “Compression socks,” Teeth said. Lewis looked at his dad like he was high on catnip, again. “She loves to be squeezed,” he added. “Dad, stop,” Lewis said under his breath. “Squeezed? Like oranges?” asked Animal. 

“I knew it,” replied Floyd. Nora went over to her desk and grabbed the keys for the place. “Listen, Penny can never find out that I gave you this” said Nora as she hands it to the good doctor. “The label owns a house in Laurel Canyon. You can crash there.” she said. “It’s called the Shack” the black haired female said. Everyone gasped. “The Shack?” asked Floyd. “No way, man” he said as he laughed a bit. “You know it?” asked Nora. 

“Back in the day,the Shack was a magical mecca of music’s most melodic minds.” replied Dr. Teeth. “Oh, yeah, it’s like where I made meatloaf, his first loaf of meat.” replied Janice. “It’s where Pink Floyd built that wall,” replied Teeth. “They hired the Carpenters” replied Floyd as he nodded his head. “The who?” asked Zoot. 

“No, no, man. The Carpenters” replied the red haired male. “That's a lot of history, but I’ll meet you there, okay? For now, go” replied Nora. “Okay, see you” replied Floyd as they left. “All right,” replied Teeth. Lewis follows behind but he stops to wave goodbye to the label lady. She waved back. 

Later, the band arrived at a light orangish yellowish color house. “This is the Shack?” asked floyd. “They really sucked the heart and soul out of the joint, didn’t they?” he added on. They all nod their heads. “Like, Nora did say we should make ourselves at home.” replied Janice. “Well, you know what thats means. Time to add some rave to this cave” replied Dr. Teeth. 

“Ooh, some rad to the pad” replied Floyd Pepper. Lips mumbles something and the only thing that could be made out was some. Floyd and Teeth chuckles. “Righteous rhymin’ Lips. And I know just the jam.” replied the doc. “A two, three, four!” said Teeth. Everyone started to paint the house’s outside, changing everything in that area as they sang “Can You Picture That?”

Later after they get down painting, the house looks like the inside of a hippie bus. The blushes were in the shape of music notes. Nora drives in and fear covers her face. “No, no, no, no, no, no.” she said as she got out of her car and walked over to the band. “What have you done?!” asked Nora. “Exactly what you told us to do. We made ourselves at home” replied Floyd as he pointed at the house. 

“Right! At The Shack!” she replied angrily. “Yes," replied the band as they shook their heads. “This is not the Shack!” she yelled. “That is the Shack!” Nora yells as she points at an old, breaking down house. “Oh!” said the mayhem. “That makes more sense.” replied Teeth. “Now, that’s a place you don’t forget.” Zoot added on. 

“Now I know why you’ve never made an album, because there is no plan in the world that could wrangle the stampede of chaos that is the Electric Mayhem” said Nora in anger. “Aw, that’s sweet: replied Floyd. “Did that sound like a compliment?” she asked. “Yeah” replied the mayhem. “I’m done.” replied Nora, clearly very upset by this. 

“Wow!” she said in shock as she walked away and got into her car. “Sounds to me like the Label Lady is dropping us from the label,” said Dr. Teeth. “Nora,” Animal said in a sad tone. “Well, if that’s the Shack, then whose house did we psychedelicate?” asked the doc. “Hey!” a voice came from behind the group. “Who did this to my house?” asked the owner of the house as he held his white dog. “That depends. Do you like it?” asked Floyd. 

That night, Nora quickly heads to the Shack after Hannah informs her about the party. The band just finished playing “Jungle Boogie.” “Unbeilieve” Nora said as she walked outback where tons of people were everyone, some in the dry pool. “And they said the world wasn’t ready for a 45-minute trumpet solo.” Teeth said on the microphone. “And they were right,” replied Floyd with a chuckle. Lips nods his head. 

“All right, now. This one goes out to a real ma’am with a plan, determined to take us to the highest of hightitudes.” said the good doctor. “Nora!” yelled Animal. “Till she fired us.” replied Teeth in a bit of a sad tone. “Nora,” Animal said in a sad tone. Nora crosses her arms. “This one’s for you, Label Lady” said Teeth. 

Dr. Teeth and the band start playing “Have a Little Faith in Me.” As Teeth starts to sing, Nora kinda smiles and looks like she is going to cry. Moog was next to her, holding little Annie in his arms. Lewis was sleeping inside the house. “Hey, you okay, noob?” he asked Nora. 

“Yeah, I just-” she stops and just watches the mayhem. “Love this song” she replied “My dad used to sing it to me when I was little” she said. “I don’t know how they knew that.” she added on. Suddenly Nora felt a little hand touching her, she looked over to see Annie, who was grabbing at her sleeve. “Oh! Who is this?” she asked Moog. “This is Annie, she is Teeth’s daughter,” he replied. “Does he have a kid?” she asked in shock. “Well, two kids. Lewis who is ten. He doesn't talk much and often takes care of Annie if the band needs to do something real quick. Annie is just 11 months old. They’re really sweet kids. Teeth love them alot” replied Moog. 

Nora looks at Annie who lets out a sound that sounds like a newborn kitten. “Was that a meow? I probably just heard a nearby cat. Lewis? Was he that kid that was with them in Penny’s office?” she thought to herself. She looks back at the band. “I was here to kick them out, but somehow they’ve won everyone over,” Nora said. 

“That’s the Mayhem for you” replied Moog with a smile. “They’re just…They’re magical” he said. Fireworks started going off in the night sky, the beautiful colors filled the black sky. “Hey, I’m Moog, by the way.” Moog said. “Nora,” she replied. “Welcome to the mayhem, Nora,” he replied with a smile. 

In the morning, the mayhem were packing their things out of the Shack. Animal lifts his drums up and starts heading to the front door. “Hey, Animal. Let’s pack that in the van” said Floyd as he walked behind the drummer. “That was some farewell show.” Nora said as she walked in. “They always are.” replied the red haired male before walking outside. 

Lewis followed behind Floyd. Teeth had Annie in one of his arms. “Oh, uh…” Dr. Teeth started to say as he turned to face Nora. “Don’t worry. We’ll be on our way” said the good doctor as his little girl played with his fluffy beard. The doc starts to turn around to head out to the van. “Wait” replied the black haired female. 

He turns back to her. “Listen, i don’t know how you did it, but last night was…Magical” she said with a soft smile. “Maybe that’s something you can’t plan,” she added. “And so, if you’d let me, I would love to help you make this album.” Nora said. The good doctor turned his head. “Well, sounds like a plan” he replied before Annie made a squeak-like sound. He chuckles. 

Nora can’t help but find it cute. It kinda reminds her of when Hannah was young. “Actually, someone wise and naked in a hot tub once told me, no plan is the plan.” she replied. “I’m ready to roll with it,” she added. “Well, good. Cause we’re ready to rock with it.” he replied. “Nora” said Animal was standing in the doorway. She walks over to the drummer and bends down. 

She pet his head. “Animal.” she said with a smile on her face. He laughed softly. Zoot took a picture of the two. “That’s a good one.” said the saxophonist. Zoot headed back to the van while Floyd was unpacking it. He holds the picture in his hand. Zoot sticks it to the ceiling of the van with the other pictures. 

Back at Waxman’s Records, Nora picks up the phone. “Hey Nora, how are you doing?” asked Janice on the other side. “Good. Now that the doc worked some magic with Penny.” she replied with a smile. “So, I’ll stop by today, we can get to work,” said Nora. “Oh, wow, like, today is not so great for us.” replied Janice. 

“We’re taking a little R and R road trip,” she added. “What?” replied Nora in shock. “But we’ll totally see you in nine weeks.” replied the blonde haired female. “No, I promised Penny an album. You need to turn around right now.” the black haired female quickly said. 

“Right now?” asked Janice. “Right now, you got it.” replied Dr. Teeth. Nora can hear the tires of the van screeching. “Whoa!!” said the mayhem on the other side of the phone. “Hello? Guys?” Nora asked worriedly. The sound of the van crashing filled the phone. “Tell me what’s happening!” she yelled. 

Meanwhile, hanging on the side of a cliff with Animal hanging off the front of the van. Vulture screeches filled the air. “Talk about a cliff-hanger” said Dr. Teeth. Floyd laughs. “Disney plus is gonna love this.” replied the red haired male. “Oh, wow. Fer sure” Janice replied. “Nora.” said Animal as he laughed. “Oh boy, this is going to be a very long week” groaned Lewis. 

[semi-sketchy]

These are some old tweets, but I wanted to mirror them to Tumblr seeing as I'm mostly using this as my Sonic opinion dumping ground. I mostly wanted them here because to this day, I still haven't seen anyone mention some of the issues I ran into.

I posted the tweets in February, 2023, shortly after Colors Ultimate came to Steam, detailing some changes and issues I had.

---------------Thread 1---------------

Well I played Sonic Colors Ultimate now. Only for 15 minutes, but...man. All I can do is hope that some fans are able to salvage this if they even want to when an already good version exists.

The controls are an adjustment, but I'm thankful I can remap them. There's frame drops and frankly, I don't know why. It's installed on a gen 3 NVME SSD and only used about 40% of my GPU. There was no maxing of VRAM, my CPU was basically untouched, it just stuttered frequently.

There's literally less graphical settings in this than Frontiers. You get resolution and that's it. How can you do that on a modern PC game? Also yeah, the lighting and motion blur is so far out of control.

(Small update: I just found the option to turn off motion blur. It does exist. Why they put it in the "other" category when it belongs in "video" is beyond me.)

Even the textures themselves. I think the fan-made HD texture pack for Dolphin looks way better.

One more nitpick though. How and WHY can you wall jump off the sides of the results screen? This messes with breaking your rank so much?

Moral of this story: play the game on Dolphin using the HD texture pack for a better experience. I'm not upset that I bought it, I knew what I was getting into. "It's still Sonic Colors" is something we can agree to disagree on.

----------Thread 2-----------

While Colors Ultimate left a very negative first impression on me, I think I'm warming up to it some.

My biggest problem was the constant stuttering, but it hasn't happened in awhile which makes me think it was from compiling shaders.

My other biggest problem that I've somewhat adapted to is wall jumping on everything. They changed the amount of time you need to hug a wall in order to start sliding which caused a lot of muscle memory problems and even a few deaths, mostly at sections with the Cube Wisp. (I've had some time to think on this and maybe the physics change occurred due to doubling the framerate. Meaning if the wall sliding was tied to framerate, the time to activate it was cut in half.)

There's also some more subtle physics changes you might not have noticed, like it takes longer to do a 180 so you can't air boost in the opposite direction anymore and the Frenzy Wisp takes longer to turn around. This makes two red rings in Starlight more of a pain.

Another thing I noticed last night is the enemy AI appears to be affected. It was near impossible to get through some platforming sections because they never paused on their shooting in spots where they were only meant to fire 1-3 shots. That's minor though and only on two stages.

The lighting is still not great and the audio mixing definitely needs work, but I've gotten used to it.

I've only really ran into a few bugs, such as the title screen music not playing or the visual of a Wisp lingering, but they haven't really been a big deal.

I still don't care for any of the changes they made, but if it's your only way to play Sonic Colors...it works, I guess.

--------------------------

Just gonna throw a few more of my two-cents in since it's been awhile, there's been some changes and a few of the notorious bugs (such as Sonic staying in the air for the one Starlight stage intro) have been ironed out. The rest...I never checked.

I simply have not wanted to go through Ultimate again to see what's broken and what's not. Considering the amount of bugs, it's unlikely they were all fixed and even though the majority are solely graphical, I still recommend the original over this version. It is playable, I imagine someone who never tried the Wii version would think it's fine, but as a massive Colors fan who's been playing this game for a decade, the small physics changes are what makes Ultimate an inferior game.

And it's strange how I haven't seen anyone else bring that up.

[baekhvuns]

That El Clasico.... I didn't watch it and I'm glad. Benzema saved our asses again, sigh...

Yep it kinda makes sense for older players to go the easier way, lots of money, not so many wins ajhdhsishusshusgeshw cause let's face it, what are they going to achieve in non-European clubs 😬Lmao when Kaka the church boy divorced?!

I don't have my football cards anymore, unless they're at my grandparents house 👀

Wow, Argentina really went full in, huh? Masterminds, Cristiano destroyed. Zidane is only 50 and already a granddaddy, it's so weird 😭

Harry is clearly traumatised which I understand, however there's no need to trauma dump on the whole world and reveal TMI??? Perhaps you're right, maybe the Diana x Sausage Fingers marriage wouldn't go downhill (at least not in that way) if they had a daughter

Okay SuJu members need to attend the Wrestlemania, I hope that LSM is going to be a contestant as well 🔫 yes EXO makes the most sense. It's tricky since they're in their military era, but hopefully once Baek comes back they'll get some more schedules together, because the group deserves better :/ I was afraid SM would ditch Shinee or do things in a half-assed way, but so far I'm pretty content with the pro-military content (they suck at promos, but it's not just Shinee)

The webtoon is gonna kill me, who knew a little high school romance is going to be the death of me?! I'm still team black hair Eunhyuk, but Dohwa is fun, if he was the lead in a different work I'd be 100% into him! But alas...... it's unclear whether he has any romantic intentions, but it's highly likely. Spoiler: they both took photobooth photos with the FL (individually) and last chapter ended with both of them staring at the photos fondly, while FL pinned both on her wall 😭

Alright but THIS man too 😍

So the kid is Sonnaught's 💀 but Tasir was crowned as the Royal Consort 👑 so I'd say he's winning, got the title, got no child to look after <3

Yep, obviously Draco's spoilt ass deserved some whooping, cause kid was delulu, however the pressure his father and Voldy put on him?! And the scene when Harry uses the torture spell on him, I cried in the cinema 💀 Narcissa was an icon!

A CHAT NOIR HWA FIC 😳 do not tease me!!!

Jude is a great actor, I can't believe he played Dumbledore AND the Pope too 😭 him in The Holiday <3 but also in Talented Mr Ripley he looked like a European actor from the 70s-80s

Atinys can't decide whether Ateez members have positions or not, it's so annoying

Park Seonghwa literally serving a whole ass photoshoot at the fan sign, at this point maybe fansites should hire him for a shoot 😭 the masked photos 😳

I wanted the cool patterns to be visible, so I didn't get the 🐍 coloured. The work is so detailed, spend quite a lot of time on them, plus the red ink hurt a bit more, but it was worth it. Okay you dislike snakes, but serpent Seonghwa...

Okay if it was a small spider then it's fine, especially since they deserved it!

Ponytail Mingiiiiiiiiiii that was an experience for sure. Please why is Hwa so endearing, everything he does is so cute especially when he's being clueless 🥰 Absolutely, Seonghwa needs to write, songs, poems, fiction, an instruction manual idc

Oh Pique thinks he did something... clown worthy behaviour. A whole ass witch mannequin, what kind of timeline is this 😭😭😭😭 Pique's a mama's boy in the worst possible way, yikes, they both can fuck off

Guess some people notice the serial fan callers, but they don't care cause they provide cute videos 🙃 Awww so much SeongSang moment.

If he worked at my cafe I'd be on caffeine and sugar rush 24/7

I'm sure Mark has a lot of girlfriends and boyfriends he just doesn't know 😭

😌 he - DV 💖

hello!!

That El Clasico.... I didn't watch it and I'm glad. Benzema saved our asses again, sigh... //// Yep it kinda makes sense for older players to go the easier way, lots of money, not so many wins ajhdhsishusshusgeshw cause let's face it, what are they going to achieve in non-European clubs 😬Lmao when Kaka the church boy divorced?!

everyone maybe afraid of rm, but rm’s afraid of barca 🤚🏻HUMILIATING I TELL U idk what went wrong with the team, they had beasts yet it felt bland,, barca’s youngest were playing like THAT in front of modric???? benzema??? kroos??? VINI??? bro wasn’t even ALIVE,, waiting for a psg v alnassr friendly that’s about to be anything but friendly and i have no hope for the teams bc they all did wack <3 DID U SEE THE ALNASSR RIVAL CLUB OFFERING 350$ MILLION TO MESSI???? WHAT TYPE OF WEALTH IS HAPPENING THERE??? the ultimate religious church boy’s divorce <3 i thought he was against it bfdbbddb

I don't have my football cards anymore, unless they're at my grandparents house 👀 /// Wow, Argentina really went full in, huh? Masterminds, Cristiano destroyed. Zidane is only 50 and already a granddaddy, it's so weird 😭

on my way actually, gimme all the iconic ones <3 argentina used ronaldo’s weakness and it worked! ITS SO WEIRD IT IS !!!! and the way it’s a girlie in a house of 6 boys??? better be rotten spoiled 🔫 imagine having the privilege of saying zidane’s my grandfather 😭😭😭

Harry is clearly traumatised which I understand, however there's no need to trauma dump on the whole world and reveal TMI??? Perhaps you're right, maybe the Diana x Sausage Fingers marriage wouldn't go downhill (at least not in that way) if they had a daughter

yeah! it’s the dismissal of not agreeing you’re traumatized and then monetizing on the very thing that seemingly made you traumatized and then saying you’ve got another book ready 😭😭😭 the diana tmi was too much for me,, did not want to picture her in that way,,, SAUSAGE FINGERS BRKQHDKWHDKSHDLWJCLWUDOWNCMSKH UR RIGHT 😭😭😭😭

Okay SuJu members need to attend the Wrestlemania, I hope that LSM is going to be a contestant as well 🔫 yes EXO makes the most sense. It's tricky since they're in their military era, but hopefully once Baek comes back they'll get some more schedules together, because the group deserves better :/ I was afraid SM would ditch Shinee or do things in a half-assed way, but so far I'm pretty content with the pro-military content (they suck at promos, but it's not just Shinee)

lsm fighting a suju member, waiting for this <3 it’s confirmed they are making a cb after baek comes back! it’s said to be around spring! BAEK IS BACK IN A MONTH, ANON WE ARE OUT OF THE DROUGHT ITS HAPPENING !!!!! BAEK COMIMG AND NEXT IS TAEMIN !!!!!! lots of solo stuff too! exo idoling would bring back kpop i tell u, but if it’s that noise music id cry,,,, shinee world tour also!!! i think onew and key confirmed AND KEY REPACKAGE ALBUM !!!!! sm really sucks at promos, if they promoted their group OUTSIDE of asia rightly we would’ve seen a kpop break thru quite quickly!

The webtoon is gonna kill me, who knew a little high school romance is going to be the death of me?! I'm still team black hair Eunhyuk, but Dohwa is fun, if he was the lead in a different work I'd be 100% into him! But alas...... it's unclear whether he has any romantic intentions, but it's highly likely. Spoiler: they both took photobooth photos with the FL (individually) and last chapter ended with both of them staring at the photos fondly, while FL pinned both on her wall 😭 //// Alright but THIS man too 😍

THE BREAKDOWN U HAVE EVERY TIME I SEE U TALK ABOUT THAT WEBTOON IS HILARIOUS DBWNDBSN the way u turn into a detective wondering about his intentions 😭😭😭😭 ON THE WALL???? HE DID THE WALL??? BFQMDBMWFBKWJCKCJCK WEAK ON THE KNEES !!!!!! FELL IN MY WALMART !!!! im gonna start reading this webtoon 🔫 THAT IS SEONGHWA FROM UR FRIENDS DREAM THAT IS HIM

So the kid is Sonnaught's 💀 but Tasir was crowned as the Royal Consort 👑 so I'd say he's winning, got the title, got no child to look after <3 //// Yep, obviously Draco's spoilt ass deserved some whooping, cause kid was delulu, however the pressure his father and Voldy put on him?! And the scene when Harry uses the torture spell on him, I cried in the cinema 💀 Narcissa was an icon!

did sonnaught’s red hair gene kick in- TASIR HAD IT EASY

STOP WHEN HARRY WALKED IN SAYING “I KNOW WHAT U DID” WHILE DRACO WAS AT HIS PEAK ANGST HAVING A BREAKDOWN, THE CRY I CREWED 😭😭😭😭 half blood prince, i wanted to physically jump in the movie and protect him,,,,,, the way he acted 🤌🏻😮‍💨 SHE REALLY WAS !!!!! so nice too 😭 the only one who was actually nice to draco

A CHAT NOIR HWA FIC 😳 do not tease me!!! /// Jude is a great actor, I can't believe he played Dumbledore AND the Pope too 😭 him in The Holiday <3 but also in Talented Mr Ripley he looked like a European actor from the 70s-80s

superhero hwa fic, on the way 🫡 the diversity of this man is so good, his projects that he chooses too!!! in mr riply, that man omg, he was like if alain delon went young again 🤚🏻

Atinys can't decide whether Ateez members have positions or not, it's so annoying //// Park Seonghwa literally serving a whole ass photoshoot at the fan sign, at this point maybe fansites should hire him for a shoot 😭 the masked photos 😳

atiny’s can’t decide anything, esp the twt ones 😭😭😭😭 they should be the last ones to decide anything bc it will always be unhinged,,, WAIT UR ONTO SOMETHING FANSITES ASKING HIM FOR A SHOOT 👀👀👀 need a pshbar so they can professionally shoot photos for him 🤚🏻 need him in a white button up, sleeves rolled up, buttons unbuttoned (first 4), in a italian summer, on a boat, with raybans one??? a must. need gucci to hire him. or me. i will make it happen.

I wanted the cool patterns to be visible, so I didn't get the 🐍 coloured. The work is so detailed, spend quite a lot of time on them, plus the red ink hurt a bit more, but it was worth it. Okay you dislike snakes, but serpent Seonghwa... /// Okay if it was a small spider then it's fine, especially since they deserved it!

AHHHHH omg but anon ur so cool for that !!!! 🫡 but did not know red ink hurted differently! i wouldn’t say i dislike them but i just get body chills whenever i see their skin, it’s so leathery and slimey and mAKES ME CRINGE but serpent hwa 😯😯

Ponytail Mingiiiiiiiiiii that was an experience for sure. Please why is Hwa so endearing, everything he does is so cute especially when he's being clueless 🥰 Absolutely, Seonghwa needs to write, songs, poems, fiction, an instruction manual idc

ponytail mingi was out of hand and if he pulls that at concerts again, i am officially resigning from life <33 seonghwa, everytime, how can someone be so endearing 24/7 😭😭😭 he can right hello and id buy it ONLY IF THE SHIPPING ISNT OVER 100$

Oh Pique thinks he did something... clown worthy behaviour. A whole ass witch mannequin, what kind of timeline is this 😭😭😭😭 Pique's a mama's boy in the worst possible way, yikes, they both can fuck off /// Guess some people notice the serial fan callers, but they don't care cause they provide cute videos 🙃 Awww so much SeongSang moment.

HE KEEPS TAKING AN L AND ITS SO EMBARRASSING BC HE ACTUALLY THINKS HES DONE SOMETHING RIGHT 😭😭😭 omf ur right, pique’s the ultimate mama’s boy in the most sickly but shakira a whole detective, found out he was cheating thru a jam??? ur right, if that many ppl do it, imagine the amount of ppl we have no idea about 😭😭

If he worked at my cafe I'd be on caffeine and sugar rush 24/7 //// I'm sure Mark has a lot of girlfriends and boyfriends he just doesn't know 😭 //// 😌 he - DV 💖

FBWMFBWMJCKCJ SUDDENLY WILL BECOME A COFFEE LIKER 😭😭😭 see anon he knows u haven’t read model hwa again, or given him the chance, he’s back at it again b-but what about him it’s me, im mark’s gf actually 🥰🥰

AND THIS 😭😭😭

it should be illegal to have gifs this clear

i also want to ask since i recently stumbled upon a few podcasts and stories about this, when u mentioned u went to varanasi, did u perhaps see or sense the immense spiritual ness about that place? bc i believe there’s an insane amount of people there who worship the death, did u perhaps have any experience seeing something like that? like something strange or a shift in vibes bc there’s just so much religious stuff there?

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Avoiding Info Dumps

So one solid piece of advice thrown around a lot is “don’t do info dumps,” but it’s not always easy to figure out how to do that. One part of the problem is that it’s a handy catchphrase, but you might not know what it means. So, to make it clear:

Q: What is an info dump?

A: Anytime you jam too much information on a page.

I know, this is unhelpful, but the truth is you could go on for pages with background information and have it still be interesting, or you could have an entire paragraph that derails the whole scene. This is hard! There is no one way to avoid info dumps, because always cutting scenes to the bare bones can cause more problems than they fix.

The Problem: Irrelevant information. You put a lot of work in your political structure, but it really has nothing to do with the story. This info never helps the characters, who pays taxes to who never comes up in the plot, and the whole thing slows down your opening characters.

The Solution: Start cutting. This is the most painful option, but this is where you start cutting. If it has nothing to do with the plot and no relevance to the characters, your readers will likely find it frustrating. Be sure to get feedback on this before you start cutting, though. Not everything has to be essential to the plot to create a good story, and if you’re struggling, it’s good to get an outside view.

The Problem: Relevant information, but given at the wrong time. This story about how Patricia accidentally stole thousands of dollars from the bank is great, but you’re telling it in Chapter 3 and it doesn’t become important until Chapter 17, your readers will have completely forgotten about it.

The Solution: Leave those clues with foreshadowing and chunking. What happened in the past is essential for saving the future, but the main character can’t realize that until latter in the book. Like a detective figuring out a mystery, scatter those clues throughout the book. Tim and Jason have a lifelong feud, but it takes Dick to Chapter 5 to notice that weird statue in the corner seems to move on its own, Chapter 10 to learn both are banned from the Smithsonian but not why, and Chapter 15 to pin the two down and finally learn why a drunken date has unleashed an ancient ghost in the attic. The answer to the plot/mystery has been there all along, but the journey is what makes it interesting.

The Problem: Too much description (that doesn’t paint a picture). Many people see their stories as movies in their head, but they’re not movies, they’re books. You have a beautiful room to reference and you want your reader to see everything in it, but in the process, there’s nothing to focus on. We’ve been told every detail, yet we still don’t know where we are or why.

The Solution: Broad strokes (lets the readers fill the gaps). We need to know two things about your setting: why it’s relevant and how we should feel about it.The bedroom of the protagonist’s sister is covered in band posters, but the room is small and never gets enough sunlight, and always seems gloomy. The graveyard should have been creepy, but the grass is well-trimmed and the flowers are colorful and bright. It’s hard to imagine grieving there. Now, this is also hard, and don’t feel like you have to keep your description sparse, but focusing on what a place can tell us about the characters in it and how it sets the mood will help you a lot.

The Problem: Explaining what the characters already know. This one is a real challenge, because what the character knows is something the reader needs to know, but doing this in a dialogue (”As you know, Charles, I lead the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants...”) or in huge chunks of your opening chapters can be derailing.

The Solution: This happened. How does your character feel about it? Dad lost his job two months ago. Mom said it would be fine, but then we had to sell the house. Then we moved to Maine. I hate this new apartment, and I’m pretty sure it hates me... Your characters are going to be carrying the past with them throughout their story. They’re going to have internal conflicts about it. They’re going to make some wrong decisions or confess truths, either in action (Ever since mom died, I can’t stand looking at the cup she gave me. Today, I finally smashed it) or dialogue (”Magnus, I just think the whole ‘evil mutants’ thing sense a wrong message...”), focusing on the why of this information rather than just establishing it will help you a lot - and let you sneak backstory in more naturally.

There are more ways to info dump, but when you start figuring out how to avoid the major ones, you’ll be able to avoid it in other forms without even realizing it. And do you have to worry about info dumps in the first draft? Hell no - that’s what drafting is for. You’ll realize how to rephrase the information as you go.

[springtimemultishipper]

Komanami Week Day 1: Confession

Summary | Lately, Nagito Komaeda has been noticing that Chiaki Nanami was talking to him less and less. That shouldn't bother him, right? Scum like he deserves to be ignored by an Ultimate like her. Well, what if his selfish heart isn't able to rest on the feelings bubbling inside any longer? With the assistance of the Ultimate Nurse, Nagito finds the courage to learn the truth of why Chiaki doesn't talk to him that much anymore.

❥ Pairing | Nagito Komaeda x Chiaki Nanami (ft. Mikan Tsumiki)

★ Word Count | 4,660 words

@c0rrupted-mov

*Sorry for being late and if there any mistakes or errors. I was busy this week, so I didn't get a chance to properly edit this. Also, sorry if anyone is out of character. I'm not used to writing Danganronpa characters yet. Also, this is quite long, so grab some snacks and read if you have a lot of time. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy!*

“Miss Sonia! I can carry your bag for you if you want!”

“Ah, no thank you, Soda-”

“PLEASE! I INSIST!”

Nagito stared at the scene playing out in front of his desk. Sonia had just walked into the classroom, and Kazuichi was immediately all over her. It was nothing new. This kind of stuff happened every minute of every day, and yet, Kazuichi was never any closer to winning Sonia’s affections. Still, he was just so full of hope that Nagito had to respect his determination. After all, he was truly worthy of being called a Symbol of Hope if he refuses to lose hope.

Nagito rested his cheek onto the palm of his hand and sighed. Unfortunately, he didn’t have Kazuichi’s hope when it comes to romance. As if on cue, the door slid open and Chiaki came in the classroom with her eyes glued to her game console. Immediately, Nagito felt himself straighten up, a familiar feeling flowing into his chest.

BA-DUMP! BA-DUMP! Nagito felt the steady beat of his heart increase exceptionally as Chiaki started making her way to the desk behind him. His face grew hot and he took note of every single detail about her. Her pale mauve hair bouncing slightly as she walked. Her usually gentle pink eyes that were filled with a determined fire at the moment. The small pout that formed on her face as she mashed buttons on her console. It all caused there to be butterflies in Nagito’s stomach.

“Good morning, Nanami!” Nagito exclaimed, attempting to act like his usual self. “Today feels like a beautiful day full of hope! Wouldn’t you agree?”

Chiaki didn’t bother to lift her head up from her game to face him. “….yeah. Morning.” Without another word, she sat at her desk and continued playing her game.

Nagito sighed. “Guess my luck’s not helping with this…” he muttered. While it’s true that Chiaki didn’t talk that much in general, it seemed like, lately, she never said more than a few words when talking to him.

“H-hey, Nanami,” Mikan approached her. “I don’t mean to be bossy, but I would recommend looking up from your game every now and again. I-It’s just that I’ve noticed you hardly put it down, and that might hurt your eyes.”

Chiaki didn’t put the game down. “Don’t worry, Tsumiki. My eyes are pretty used to looking at the screen, so they hardly hurt. But, I’ll try to take care of my eyes if you’re that worried.”

“Ah!” Mikan gasped. “T-thank you for listening to my advice!”

Yep. This confirms Nagito’s suspicions. She talks way more to the others than to him.

Well, of course, Chiaki would want to talk to the other Ultimates instead of scum that only has luck. But, even though he should’ve expected and known it, Nagito couldn’t help the weird feeling in his chest. The suffocating tightness that seemed to squeeze the hope out of him every time he noticed how little Chiaki paid attention to him. It made him just want to pull Chiaki towards him and wrap his arms around her.

No. How dare trash like him even have such indecent thoughts about her. Nagito slammed his head against his desk, sighing.

“KOMAEDA!” Mikan yelped and ran over to him. “Are you okay?!”

Nagito lifted his head up to meet the Ultimate Nurse’s worried eyes. He smiled and dismissed her with a hand gesture. “Don’t worry, Tsumiki. I’m fine. Just…having a moment.”

He glanced behind him to meet pink eyes for a split second before they returned to the game. He frowned. Did she really not care whether or not he was okay? He suddenly felt a small weight pushing down on his chest, like a small boulder that couldn't crush him completely. He groaned. 'I'm not going to let this go, am I? Should've expected that from selfish scum like me.'

“Actually, Tsumiki, I do need your help…” Nagito looked down, his eyes on his desk. “But, I know that worthless trash like me is completely out of line to be asking the Ultimate Nurse for assistance. You’re completely free to refuse.”

“N-no! I'm completely happy to be needed!" Mikan reassured. “Thank you! I w-will do my best!"

Nagito sighed with relief.  “Really? Thank you, Tsumiki. We can talk about it during lunch if you don’t mind.”

“O-of course!” With an excited skip in her step, Mikan went over to her desk with a beaming expression.

The rest of the day went pretty uneventfully. Well, as uneventfully as it can be when you’re in a class full of Ultimate students with energy to kill. But, the “crazy” events went about as normal. Akane challenging Nekomaru, Hiyoko being a bitch to Mikan, Kazuichi being jealous of Gundham and Sonia’s “friendship”, and Ms. Yukizome trying to handle everyone. However, even amongst the normal chaos, Nagito found it oddly difficult to chime into the conversations or even rant about hope. His mind couldn’t stop bringing up Chiaki and he felt himself slumping in his seat more and more throughout the day.

Thankfully, lunchtime finally rolled around and he walked over to Mikan. “Is there anywhere we can speak privately, Tsumiki?” he asked. “I’m sorry for being demanding, but I’d don't want to be overheard.”

‘Especially not by Nanami,’ he thought as he looked over his shoulder to see Chiaki discussing something with Ms. Yukizome.

"D-don't worry about it!" Mikan quickly reassured.  “There’s an empty classroom on the second floor that’s p-pretty empty. N-nobody usually goes there.”

“Sounds great!” Nagito nodded, and with that, the two made their way towards the classroom. “I’m really grateful for your help, Tsumiki. I was struggling with this for a while now, and you asking if I was okay persuaded me to finally find the hope I needed in order to confront this problem. So, thank you.”

“There’s n-no need to thank me, Komaeda! I was j-just nervous about your health!”

“As expected from the Ultimate Nurse!” Nagito smiled as they approached the classroom door. He slid the door open casually and walked inside, Mikan following right behind him and closing the door.

“Um…so, what do you need h-help with, Komaeda?” she asked. “Is there something bothering you?”

“There is, actually…” Nagito crossed his arms. “Lately, I’ve been feeling weird…around Nanami.”

Mikan tilted her head. “Weird? Around Nanami? How?”

“Well, before, I saw Nanami the same as everyone else. She’s another Symbol of Hope like the rest of you Ultimates, and I admired her and her kindness. I would’ve loved to be considered as her friend, but…I know that’s too much for scum like me to even ask. But, regardless, I just saw her as a great person who always, strangely, was always nice to me. But lately…things have been changing…”

“I’ve been seeing her in a different light lately. I’m beginning to find myself paying attention to every single detail about her. Like, every time Nanami’s awoken from one of her naps, she usually rubs her eyes and gives the person who wakes her up this cute angry expression.” Nagito felt his cheeks flush and his heart doing a happy little dance as the image flashed in his mind. “And…it makes my heart skip a beat. Honestly, so does everything else about her. The way she talks. The way she walks. Her small habits. Her flaws. Things that I’ve seen multiple times before and didn’t care about would now drive me crazy. Every time I’m near her, I find myself being even more happy and blushing. It’s honestly a little scary-”

“Komaeda! I think you’re in l-love with Nanami!” Mikan interrupted in an outburst. Nagito stopped speaking and looked up at her with a blank expression. He had been so caught up in his rambling that he had almost forgotten that she was in the room with him. He didn’t say anything as he took in what she just said.

Mikan began to tear up slightly. “AH! I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me for being so rude and interrupting you like that! I will take the p-punishment. J-just-”

"I know."

“Huh?” Mikan stopped apologizing to be met with a smile from Nagito. But…this smile was different from all the other smiles she’d seen. Nagito’s smiles were usually polite, small, and full of genuine appreciation. He never was the type to grin, and his smiles were usually as calm as he was. But, the smile he held…it was bigger than all the other smiles that crossed his face. It wasn’t a grin per say, but it still was a lot less gentle than his usual ones. His pale cheeks were flushed a bright red and his eyes held a soft, dreamy expression as he looked at the ground. Mikan wouldn’t be surprised if hearts formed in his eyes because the smile that Nagito had right now could best be described as…love-struck.

“I know that I’m in love with Nanami. I lay awake at night even more now because of it. Honestly, my luck can be so cruel sometimes. Of course my love for you Ultimates couldn’t stay in the admiring sense like I wanted it to be. I had to take advantage of that love to develop indecent feelings for Nanami. How selfish can I get?”

“Komaeda, calm down!” Mikan waved her arms in a panic. “Y-you can’t control how you feel.”

“But, even so,” Nagito ignored her as he looked up at the ceiling. “Nanami wants nothing to do with scum like me. It’s clear that she can’t even stand talking to me. She only says at most a few words whenever she does. Meanwhile, she says far more whenever she talks to the rest of you. We hardly spend any time together anymore. Not as much as we used to. She despises me and I don’t blame her. Who would ever want to spend time with trash? I just wish my heart could understand that.”

Nagito sighed as he turned to Mikan, his expression softening back to his normal tranquility. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you, Tsumiki. I need some advice about this. How can I stop myself from feeling this way? I don’t want to be jealous of you or anyone else when she pays attention to you. It’s completely outrageous of me to be jealous of you Ultimates just because I’m selfish enough to prevent Nanami from being happy.”

“Um…” Mikan had no idea what to even say to that. “I, uhhh…don’t know about stopping your feelings. B-But, I think I have an idea of helping you cope with them. M-maybe you should try talking to Nanami about this?”

“Huh?” Nagito furrowed his brow. “Talk to Nanami…? How would that help?”

“W-well…maybe it would help if you knew why she’s not talking that much with you. I don’t think she actually hates you, Komaeda. She may have something going on or other reasons for not talking to you. S-so, maybe knowing those reasons could help. Also, I know I have no right to say this, but…m-maybe you should confess to her?”

“Someone as lowly as me? Confess to Nanami?” Nagito stepped back. “That’s insane for you to even suggest, Tsumiki! I can’t just tell someone as amazing as Nanami about my selfish feelings towards her. She’ll reject me anyway.”

"Y-you don't know that!" Mikan balled her hands into fists in front of her. "I know it's hard for you to believe, but there is a possibility of her liking you back, too. You don't know what she thinks or what's going on in her head. B-But, I'm sure that she isn't unhappy when she spends time with you! You just think that way! B-besides, aren't you the one who always advocates for hope? Isn't it hypocritical of you to say that and then be so sure that you're going to get rejected?"

Mikan took a step forward and gave Nagito a determined glare as she pointed a finger at him. "So, go on! Confess to Nanami! H-hold on to hope!"

Nagito didn't say anything. He just stared at the finger that was pointed directly at his face with slightly widened eyes. But, this time, he was rendered speechless.

Mikan's expression softened slightly as she looked at the finger she was pointing, almost like she was noticing it for the first time. The realization of what she just did began to sink in, and she screamed.

“I-I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry for being so…tactless! I’ll take any kind of punishment! Y-you could draw on my arms if you wish-”

“No, no,” Nagito shook his head. “There’s no need to be sorry. I was just surprised at your sudden boldness, Tsumiki. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“P-please forgive me!”

Nagito chuckled. “I never said I had a problem with it. It’s actually quite refreshing to be scolded by you.” He paused for a second before nodding. “In fact, out of respect for you and your boost of confidence, I’ll talk to Nanami.”

“Huh?” Mikan gasped. “R-really?”

“Yep! I doubt that she’ll feel the same, but surely, with my luck, it won’t end too horribly. Besides, you’re probably right. Maybe figuring out why she doesn’t talk to me anymore will help.” He smiled at her. “Thank you, Tsumiki.”

“Of course, Komaeda!” Mikan bowed before smiling. “A-anything to help a friend.”

“A friend?” Nagito’s eyes widened slightly as he stared at Mikan.

Mikan’s eyes widened and she immediately began to backtrack, freaking out. “ I’m sorry! I d-didn’t mean to assume that you even wanted to be my f-friend in the first place.”

Then, Nagito did something that surprised Mikan. He smiled at her. “I’m glad an Ultimate like you actually considers me as a friend, Tsumiki. It’s an honor.”

Mikan’s teary eyes were as wide as dinner plates before she giggled. “Thanks!”

With that friendly end to the conversation, Mikan and Nagito returned to class a few minutes later and immediately were pestered by Teruteru and Kazuichi asking what they’ve been doing. After denying that they were doing anything suspicious, Nagito glanced over to where Chiaki was sitting. She had her eyes out her console-for once-and a small frown on her face as she stared at Nagito and Mikan.

He walked by Teruteru, ignoring his perverted theories, and went over to Chiaki’s desk. She seemed to realize that he caught her staring because she immediately darted her eyes away and back to her game, her cheeks slightly pink. Nagito had to fight back the urge to laugh at the adorable action and stood next to her desk.

“Hey Nanami, can I ask you something?”

Chiaki kept her eyes glued to her game, silent for a moment before answering. “Go ahead.”

“W-well…” Nagito heard a slight crack in his voice as he formed his question. He could feel his heartbeat grow faster and faster as each second passed. He tried to mentally tell himself to calm down as he took in a breath and let the question out.

“Is it alright if I talk to you after school? Near the fountain? There’s something that I want to tell you.”

Nagito’s tone was a lot calmer than he was feeling right. He can thank his luck for that. Chiaki didn’t answer for a moment, but her fingers had stopped pressing the buttons on her console. Seconds felt like minutes as Nagito waited for an answer before finally, she spoke.

“Sure…”

He smiled. “Great! I’ll see you after class then!”

He walked back to his desk, letting out a sigh of relief. He looked up to see Mikan giving him an encouraging smile that he quickly returned. So far, things were going well. He just has to hope that it’ll go the same way when he actually confesses.

Meanwhile, behind him, he didn’t notice that Chiaki had placed her console down and was staring at him. She felt her cheeks flush as she played with the sleeve on her blazer, thinking back to his question.

‘What…does he want to ask me? Did he notice….?’

When lunch ended and class started again, it felt like time was going six miles an hour. Nagito kept staring at the clock every five minutes, hoping for a slight change in time. In the meanwhile, he could feel his stomach doing backflips as he tried to distract himself by his classmates’ usual antics. But, eventually, the bell finally rang and everyone left the classroom after saying bye to Ms. Yukizome.

Nagito immediately made his way towards the fountain, his heart pounding rapidly in his chest. For a rare moment in his life, he could feel his palms getting sweaty and his body trembling as he finally approached the stone fountain. The waters flowed gently down to the bottom basin of the fountain, like smooth, tranquil, waterfalls that surrounded the space in between the basins. He knew that Chiaki often spent her time after school hanging out with a friend playing video games, so this place was most likely a comfort to her. And he could definitely understand why. 

He sighed as he approached the fountain and placed his hand under the falling stream. The water felt cool against his warm hand and he felt the tension in his muscles fading slightly as the water soothed him. He took a deep breath and looked up to see a familiar plum-haired face peeking out of the bushes. Mikan gave him a weak smile and a trembling thumbs up. He smiled at her. At least he had some moral support with him as he went through this.

“So…why did you want to meet me?” a quiet voice asked from behind him. Nagito jumped slightly and turned around to see Chiaki standing there, looking at him with curious expression.

“Oh! Nanami! I didn’t expect you to come so quickly.”

She shrugged, eyes avoiding his. “Well…if it’s important then I figured I should be here as fast as possible.”

“R-right.” Once again, the crack in Nagito’s voice returned as he searched for the words to say. This was…surprisingly difficult. He had never done something like this before. Normally, he just tried to avoid this kind of stuff. But…he was here now…and Chiaki was standing right in front of him. So…he has to do it!

“I don't want to poke my nose in your business, Nanami, but...something's been bothering me lately."

“What is it?” Chiaki asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Nagito gulped, taking a minute to collect himself before blurting his question out. ��Why aren't you talking that much to me?”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Huh?”

"I'm sorry for having the nerve to even ask this, but...lately, I've noticed that you hardly talk to me anymore. Back at the beginning of the year, you would usually have full conversations with me. But now, you barely say more than a few words to me. Actually, this is probably the most we've talked in a while. It's making me wonder if...you hate me or something."

Nagito looked at the ground, avoiding her eyes. “I know that I shouldn’t be complaining about this. After all, I know my place. But…I can’t stop thinking about it. I miss spending time and talking with you about video games or our days or whatever. I know I’ve done something to make you treat me this way, but I don't know what!"

Chiaki didn't say anything. She just looked down and kept her eyes focused on her shoes. Nagito couldn't read her expression because of the hair that was making a shadow over her face. Regardless, he took her silence as a sign to continue.

"I know that I'm asking for a lot, Nanami. But, I need to know what I did to make you hate me. I promise I'll leave you alone after you answer. After all, this is probably the most out of line thing that I ever had the balls to do. Talking to you like I'm on the same level?" He let out a sour chuckle. "How arrogant-"

"You've got it all wrong" was the small response that came from Chiaki's lips. Nagito stopped his rambling for a minute to look down at the girl in front of him. She had raised her head up slightly, allowing him to see the small flush of pink on her cheeks and her eyes darting to the side. Like she was trying to avoid looking at him?

"I don't hate you, Komaeda. I don't know how you jumped to that conclusion so quickly." She looked up at him and quickly continued, not even giving him a chance to respond. "Wait...never mind. I shouldn't have asked. But, that's not the point. I'm sorry that you got the impression I hated you. Actually...I should be apologizing for the way I've been acting..."

"You? Apologize?" Nagito questioned.

"For not talking to you anymore," she clarified. "I didn't want or intend to distance myself from you. It's just that..." Chiaki hesitated for a moment before sighing. "Well, I guess it's time I told you."

She took a deep breath and reached for Nagito's hand before grabbing it. He felt his cheeks heating up the moment he felt them make contact. His heart fluttered slightly as he looked down at her holding his hand. It...felt comforting. Her hand felt like it fitted perfectly in his and it felt...so right.

"The reason I wasn't talking to wasn't because I hated you or was avoiding you," Chiaki explained. "It was because I was always nervous when talking to you."

"Huh? Nervous? Why would you be nervous talking to me?"

Chiaki took a moment to answer, placing a finger on her chin as she searched for the right words, like a computer searching for answers. "I wasn't sure for a while. All I knew was that whenever I talked to you, I would feel weird. My heart would beat faster every time I was near you, and I would blush every time you got close to me. I found myself staring at you more often and getting flustered every time you complimented me. I was always nervous about how you would react to things I did or say. Yet, despite everything, I found myself smiling every time I was with you. I would enjoy the time we would spent together, and I would always be excited whenever I saw you. I could've been having a really bad day, but then you talk to me about a video game, and everything felt ten times better. It was like...I couldn't be logical or think clearly whenever I was with you, and it caught me off guard. It was so confusing."

Nagito's face was as red as Mahiru's hair as he took in what Chiaki was saying. All of the things that she was describing...no! There was no way, right? He may have amazing luck, but there was no way that he was THIS lucky!

"Then...I finally realized," Chiaki smiled softly, blushing. She looked up to meet Nagito's eyes. "I like you in a romantic sense, Komaeda. I was trying to figure out how to deal with it all and tell you, and that's why I stopped talking to you. It sounds dumb and I'm sorry, but I felt I needed a little bit of time to clear my head a little. And even now, I still feel nervous and all tingly." She let out a small giggle, which sounded like music to Nagito's ears.

"Y-you...like me?" That was all Nagito could sputter out.

"That's what I said," she nodded. "Actually, I was worried when you slammed your head on your desk this morning, but I turned away before you could catch me looking...which was dumb of me."

This was a dream, right? There was no way that this was real. There was no way that Chiaki Nanami actually returned his feelings. No way a girl like her would have a crush on a guy like him.

Chiaki's expression saddened slightly as seconds passed without him saying anything. She let go of his hand. "I understand if you don't feel the same way, and I'm okay with that. I'm happy to just be your friend if that's what you want. I just wanted to get this off my chest."

She was about to turn around before Nagito grabbed both of her hands. "W-wait, Nanami!"

"Huh?"

He couldn't do it. He couldn't just stay in his place and push aside both his and Chiaki's feelings for the sake of hope. Was it wrong? Was it selfish? Was he out of line for preventing Chiaki from being with someone on her level?

He looked directly at Chiaki's face. Her pale eyes were staring up at him and her mouth was slightly open as she waited for his answer. There was a small spark in her eyes. An excited light that was dancing in them, tempting him. Reassuring him. Telling him to do it.

Nagito took Chiaki's hands in his. Even if it was selfish of him, he no longer cared.

"I feel the same way," he confessed. "I like you, too, Nanami."

The smile on her face could’ve countered any type of despair that was out there. Nagito felt her petite frame press up against him as she wrapped her arms around him. “I’m glad…”

He didn’t do anything for a moment. He just looked down at the girl as she lifted her head up towards him, his cheeks red. Then he returned her hug, and he felt everything else around him fade away into a peaceful silence. Nothing else mattered, or even existed for a few minutes. His inferior status. Despair. His awful luck cycle. It was all gone. All that mattered during that moment was the feeling of safety and comfort he got from having Chiaki in his arms. It was bliss. Until...

"Also, if we're going to be a couple, please work on your inferiority complex," Chiaki bluntly said. "You're just as important as everyone else. You're on the same level as me, and I'm not going to tolerate with you thinking otherwise."

"Uh..." All Nagito could do was stare at Chiaki with his jaw hanging. Okay, he wasn't expecting this....wait a moment...

"COUPLE?!" He yelled. "Y-you want to be a couple?"

Chiaki tilted her head. "That's what happens after a confession, right? The two people become a couple at the end. At least...that's how it works in dating simulators."

"I'm not opposed to the idea, but you're moving too quickly," Nagito said. "Besides, do you really want trash like me to be your boyfriend-"

"Yes, I do," Chiaki let go of him and placed her hands on her hips. "You're not trash and I do want you as my boyfriend. That's my choice!"

'When did she get so assertive?!' Nagito wondered as he stared with his eyes widened. 'It's kind of hot...WAIT! Don't think like that, Nagito!'

"And if you're worried about us moving too fast," Chiaki continued, thankfully snapping Nagito out of his embarrassing thoughts. "Why don't we play video games at my place this Saturday? We could go to a cafe beforehand if you want."

He smiled and nodded. "I'm completely fine with whatever you decide, Nanami."

She nodded. "Then it's settled. Our first date will be this Saturday." She glanced over at the horizon to see the sun setting below the trees that rested near the fountain. "It's getting late. We should really be heading home now. I'll see you tomorrow, Komaeda."

With that, Chiaki turned around to make her way to the gate, but she only took one step before suddenly stopping. And suddenly, before he could even realize, Nagito felt a soft pair of lips resting on his cheek.

He gasped and stared down at Nanami, who gave him a shy smile with rosy cheeks. All Nagito could do was brush his pale fingers against his cheek, the exact spot where Chiaki Nanami kissed him.

There was nothing but silence. Nagito just stared ahead at her with his hand on his cheek as he tried to wrap his head around what just happened. Chiaki must've felt awkward because she turned around and began walking away. "Good night, Komaeda!"

Nagito didn't respond. He just stood there, dumbfounded, as he watched Chiaki walk away. After a few moments, he felt his knees give out and him dropping to the ground. He didn't even realize that his knees were trembling when Chiaki kissed him.

“KOMAEDA!” Mikan ran towards him. “A-ARE YOU OKAY?! I’M HAPPY THINGS WENT WELL, BUT-OH GOD! YOUR FACE IS HEATING UP!”

Nagito just stayed there with a love-struck grin on his face. “I really am the luckiest guy ever…”

[kass-storycorner]

Mentally I’m getting worse again (tho I try to do all the stuff I learned from two years in therapy to … prevent it from getting bad bad ), so I’ve only been thinking about how some of the Genshin characters would comfort me? So here have this, whatever this is, that I wrote at 2am on a night before I have 11am shift at work. Using you in all of this but honestly this is 100% self indulgent. I just want someone to cuddle with. Pretty sure most of this isn’t really in character and every point is vastly different from the others but hey, it is what it is. As long as I’m in my current mindset my stuff won’t be any better than this

Genre: fluff, a bit of angst I guess idk man, comfort i hope

Content warnings: depression (?) I don’t go too much into detail, don’t want to write out those negative thoughts HA but you know you are just not in a good spot in these, absolutely inconsistent writing, every character has to deal with a different stage of feeling depressed and yeah

Characters: Diluc, Childe, Albedo, Yoimiya

Fun fact: my app crashed while writing this so thank the tumblr admins that you can restore posts you wrote after the app crashes one of the few good features of the app

Diluc:

Would definitely notice the first small changes in your behaviour, but wouldn’t think much of it in the beginning.

Maybe you are just tired? And even if not Diluc knows best that no one can always be chipper.

Still he doesn’t know how to act around you when you are sad / heading towards a depressive episode.

He would offer you his help, you just need to say what you need and he’ll give it to you.

Ah, but Diluc didn’t really consider at first that you would be too afraid to ask, even when he offered it to you.

One day he will directly ask you in the privates of your home if you are okay. At first you would try to brush it off, not wanting to be a burden on Diluc. You know how much he’s been through and that he also has his emotional scars… would be a bit selfish to dump it all onto him, wouldn’t it?

But oh, you’ve been dying to talk with someone about your feelings, craving a warm hug and words of comfort… so when Diluc doesn’t drop the topic you just let it all out.

He will take you in his arms and hug you, cuddle you, as long as you want. He’ll stroke your hair, quietly listening to your words, only small “mmmhs” and “it’s okay” leaving him, to reassure you that it’s fine for sharing it all.

When none of you talks all you can hear is his steady breath and oh, it’s so soothing.

Maybe you end up crying, while sharing all of it with him. All he does is to pull you closer into his chest, saying that it’s okay and tell you to let it all out.

Diluc hides his softer side from the people of Mondstadt, always hiding behind the more grumpy image some of him have, but he knows that it’s not good to run away from your own feelings. What you need to do is to feel them, do not try to push them aside because you are uncomfortable with them.

Generally he would be soft, kind and understanding. At first he might give you too much room, afraid he might be overstepping a boundary when he keeps pushing you in the beginning. Ends up in you isolating yourself / pulling away more, but once Diluc sees the pattern he will be more attentive to your needs and learn to differentiate between you needing space and you isolating.

Though please communicate with him better, he’s busy and if him having less time for you causes you distress you need to tell him, he might only notice it after the feelings festered.

Childe:

Oh boy - he hasn’t seen you in a while, Fatui duties you know, so when he knocks on your door one day he notices immediately that you are not in a good place.

This man - he cooks, he cleans, we all joke about him being the perfect husband but seriously. He sees the state of you, the state of your apartment and immediately helps.

Having spend the last week or two in a depressive state caused you to neglect your housework - the dirty dishes are everywhere and laundry keeps piling up. Not to talk about how you look.

Childe will make you a bath and while you’re in it he cleans. An immense help!!! Taking away a good chunk of thinks that made you feel just so overwhelmed and helpless.

The whole time he wouldn’t breach the topic of why it has come to that point, but now after you finished the bath and the apartment looks liveable again he asks you what’s wrong.

Honestly you don’t know yourself, you’ve been just lacking more and more energy to do the basic tasks and suddenly everything was a mess.

Will wipe away your tears and tell you “don’t cry, I’m here”, taking you in a hug.

When he’s around more, will he notice it when it slowly gets worse? Mmh, yeah!! He definitely notice when you are feeling more down, seeing how your interactions change and how your laughs become more forced.

In the beginning he will just try to make you feel all the “positive” feelings, not wanting you to feel any “negative” emotions at all

this man definitely represses his own trauma a lot and has a horrible way of coping with it so I doubt he would be the most emotionally intellectual person to help you through it

Though when you show that you don’t feel like showing your sadness aside and you just want someone to share it with / need some comfort he will adjust to your needs

Albedo:

Boy as impeccable observation skills, he will notice immediately when something is off.

However - he somehow struggles to understand your feelings. Like. At all.

When he asks you what’s wrong and you tell him that there is not a reason for your feelings, you just feel a bit depressed that’s all, he will not get it.

How do you feel a certain emotions without something causing it? There must be a reason for it.

And honestly he’s right there is always a reason for a certain feeling to arise, but sometimes they aren’t easy to understand for yourself or to spot, sometimes it’s just that your inner child needs a hug and it takes you three weeks and a metal breakdown to understand that this is all you needed… plus a good cry

He’s gonna be so awkward at trying to comfort you, making you feel better, at first. Trying everything out to cheer you up, he really doesn’t want you to feel bad. Asks around for advice what helps others when they are sad.

Honestly? The things he does, the small presents he gifts you - they are nice and make you feel loved, but it doesn’t make the bad feelings go away. Even worse it somehow builts up this immense pressure for you to get better quick because look! Albedo does nice things, he tries to help. He tries to figure it out. Why can’t you give him the results he hopes to get???

Only when someone (Timadeus for sure) finally tells Albedo that it’s not a special dish or flower or even place that helps with sad feelings - it’s that they remind them of something that’s comforting. Klee told him Dodoco helps when she’s sad, because Dodoco reminds her how much her mum loves her. So when people told him about certain foods or flowers - it was more because those were valuable for those individuals, doesn’t mean it has value to you. Most importantly is that he’s just there for you.

With that new bits of information he will try to adjust to your needs more, to learn what you need and to understand it.

He will be so upfront about it too, coming into your room and telling you that he’s been trying to make you feel better the past couple of weeks and noticing how your mood has not improved at all. Finally asks you what you need opposed to him only having asked why you feel that way

Will definitely make you cry with how he approaches the topic. When he apologises for making you cry you cry even harder at how soft he says it.

Albedo will remember what he was told, that it’s important to just be there for someone, so he will stay at your side, his hand on your back rubbing it while you are just sobbing.

After the tears have calmed down you can just be honest with him, tell him that you sometimes don’t know yourself what will make it better, that sometimes you just have to life with the feelings and accept them - but that his attempts really didn’t help.

He will apologise for putting more pressure on you, asking if you need a hug (something a lot of people have told him helps them but he was just to shy to actually try it out). After saying yes you both stay for a long time in the hug, the first thing in a long time to make you feel better.

Yoimiya:

My love, the light of my life, my future main - she would be SO good at helping you through an episode.

Notices the way you act towards her changes and immediately confronts you about it, afraid that something in the relationship is amiss until you tell her the truth that you are a bit depressed.

Canonically the one with the best communication skills, if you were to put her, Diluc and Kaeya in a room I’m 1000% sure those two would leave it as brothers again.

That said she can sometimes be a bit too overwhelming - she can talk a lot, but she’s a good listener too, but in her attempt to fix the issue she goes a bit overboard.

She’ll want you to talk it all out which isn’t a bad thing per se, but sometimes you just don’t feel like talking or that talking would help.

However the way Yoimiya is it will make you communicate with her more about how you feel and what you need - she kinda just seems to be more approachable and the kind of person you can pour my heart out to after meeting her on the toilets of a bar.

Will cuddle you as long as you need.

And honestly? 100% sure she would even make you a firework to cheer you up that you both watch from her favourite spot on a blanket while doing so (the cuddling!)

or you know maybe it’s just what I would really want to do with her when I’m depressed aka RIGHT NOW MAN

[avnkin]

Shake On It [ d. malfoy ]

Author’s Note: I originally planned on posting this as just one long fic buuut instead i’m going to do a mini series, ya know torture you guys just just a lil bit (gif is not mine) also I got all the information about the potions and the ingredients from harry potter wiki and of course I do not own harry potter or the storyline/characters.

Word Count: 8k

Summary: There’s little to nothing Draco values more than his reputation so when he sees it slipping, he’ll do anything in his power to catch it.

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Fem!Reader

Warnings: angst, foul language, some bullying and asshole!draco.

This is an AU so all the information doesn’t exactly line up with the hp storyline for example it takes place in sixth year but there’s no Voldemort so Dumbledore doesn’t die etc.

You’d never been much for the ‘social scene’ you just didn’t find enjoyment in the same things your classmates did, so you never really had a big friend group, your only acquaintance having been Irma Prince… The librarian.

That was until your second year when Hermione Granger came into your life like a ray of sunshine brightening up the dark loneliness that had consumed you your first year.

She introduced you to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, although you were never as close with them as you were with Hermione you still couldn’t be more grateful for your newfound friend group, especially since you now didn’t have to endure Draco’s and his fellow Slytherin classmates torment alone.

You were and had always been an easy target for Draco and his entourage since you never really stood up for yourself, instead choosing to ignore how he continuously called you ‘a blood traitor’ for hanging out with ‘the likes of Hermione’ which you never understood, how was someone different from him just because they didn’t have magical parents?

It was a well-known fact that Draco’s father Lucius Malfoy was the cause of his attitude towards muggle-borns, you truly believed that man didn’t have a kind bone in his body.

You remembered once when you’d arrived at platform 9¾ after your third year Draco went to greet his parents and whilst Narcissa (his mother) gave him a big welcoming hug, embracing her son after not having seen him for many months Lucius simply stared down at him with a glare that could only be described as disgust and disappointment before turning and walking away without as much as a greeting to the platinum blond.

Still, that didn’t excuse Draco’s foul behaviour, he was old enough now to have his own opinions and morals and he didn’t seem to be planning on changing them anytime soon.

You were now in your sixth year and unsurprisingly nothing had changed, Draco was still the same arse he’d always been, but as the years went on it was getting progressively easier to ignore him since you’d gotten so used to it.

It almost felt like it had become a part of your daily routine for him to yell something degrading in the hallways, mostly directed at you or Hermione or whatever Gryffindor he felt like bullying that day.

Intently focusing on the potions book that laid opened before you, you carefully followed the detailed instructions, not wanting to get a single thing wrong since you needed at least an outstanding in this class to keep up your average.

The last part was to add: ‘One drop of Unicorn blood’

You grabbed the flask that contained the silver liquid and as steadily as possible you leaned the bottle over your cauldron, letting a small drop slip past the edge and into the black water, but as you began leaning back Pansy Parkinson ‘accidentally’ bumped into you causing the entirety of the bottle to spill into your potion.

You glared up at her as you watched the black liquid turn sickly green instead of sparkly blue as it should. She shrugged her shoulders innocently, before walking back to the station she shared with Draco who greeted her with an amused smirk before turning back to his work.

“Try not to think too much about it” Hermione’s comforting voice sounded from beside you. “I’m so sick of those two” you argued pouring the remaining containments of the cauldron into a sink, now having to start the entire potion all over again.

“I know, I am too” Hermione frowned glaring at the two Slytherins who didn’t even bother to look over at her.

“Miss Y/L/N weren’t you nearly finished a couple of minutes ago?” Professor Slughorn’s voice could be heard from behind you as he looked over your shoulder, an unimpressed look on his face.

“Uh- yes sir it’s just I accidentally put too much Unicorns blood and had to start over again” you lied looking into the now-empty cauldron before you, glaring at Pansy once you heard her quiet laughter from the other side of the classroom.

“Well alright, but I’d hurry if I were you, I’m afraid you’re running a bit short on time” he smiled before moving on to the students sat in front of you.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Hermione frowned once Slughorn was out of earshot, you gave her a knowing look having had this conversation with her on more than one occasion.

Tattling on them wouldn’t change anything it would simply make their torments increase and you didn’t need that, especially with the N.E.W.T.S coming up you didn’t want anything distracting your studies.

Despite having been interrupted by Pansy you managed to be the only one who brewed the potion right and the displeased scowl placed on Pansy’s face as she watched you get praised by the teacher and the rest of the class was nothing but amusing.

Once you were finally dismissed, you were walking alongside Hermione down the long corridors leading to the Great Hall when someone again bumped into you causing all the books you’d been clutching between your arms to go flying towards the ground and you along with them.

“What a klutz” you heard the familiar squeaky voice of Pansy Parkinson, you hurriedly got back up onto your feet whilst Hermione picked up the remaining books that had sprawled all across the stone floor.

“You did that on purpose” you growled charging at Pansy who cowered away from you as you neared her but once she noticed Draco was watching she stopped dead in her tracks, a side smirk resting on her lips before she tilted her head to the side.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” she innocently smiled before walking around you and back to Draco who held an emotionless expression on his face as he walked with her down the hall.

“Bitch” you mumbled underneath your breath just before Hermione came running up to you. “Are you okay?” she faintly smiled before handing you your things.

“Fine” you deadpanned before the two of you began walking back down the hallway again.

Once you’d made it into the Great Hall you immediately spotted Harry and Ron a smile on your face as you took a seat next to Harry, and Hermione the one next to Ron the previous events being long forgotten as you distracted yourself with the comforting company of your friends.  

“Since when did Y/L/N and Potter become so close?” Draco’s face held a scowl as he watched the two of you interact from afar, he truly didn’t know why it bothered him, but for some reason it did.

“Why do you care?” Pansy replied as she began shifting in her seat to move closer to Draco who almost instinctively moved away causing a bright red tint to appear on her cheeks as she hurriedly moved back to her original seat.

“I don’t” he simply replied tearing his eyes away from you and Harry as he began playing with his food.

“You know what I think” Blaise raised an eyebrow as he daringly stared Draco down, “I think Malfoy’s gone soft” Blaise finished, the words earning loud snickers from the students sat next to them.

Draco’s stomach churned in anger at the words of his best friend throwing the boy a nasty glare before turning back to his food, but Blaise didn’t intend to stop there.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you never pick on her anymore and you always get really defensive whenever- “

“Shut the hell up Blaise” Draco commanded and even though Blaise knew he was skating on thin ice, Draco’s fury only seemed to egg him on further as his eyes wandered towards the Gryffindor table to look at you.

"You know what Malfoy since you claim you have no feelings for her at all I dare you to break her heart"

"What?" Draco questioned genuinely confused at his friends' statement. "Make her fall in love with you and then dump her" Draco looked over at Pansy who seemed almost giddy at the suggestion, of course she'd be happy about this.

Draco thought about it for a moment, he knew that if he didn't do this he'd never hear the end of it, and keeping up his 'I don't care about anyone but myself' attitude had served him well over the years so as he weighed out the pros and the cons it seemed the cons were outnumbered and without a second thought he reached his hand out to Blaise.

"You've got yourself a deal" Draco spoke as they shook hands "and when I win, you'll be my personal servant for the rest of the year" Draco finished as he pulled his hand back causing Blaise's cocky facial expression to quickly drop.

"Fine but when I win, you have to do my homework for Defence Against the Dark Arts till we graduate" Draco rolled his eyes but nodded as he let his hand fall back into his lap.

He stared at you watching as you laughed at something Harry said and couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt knowing what he was about to do, but he shook the feeling away engaging back in the conversation of his friends, pushing all thoughts of you into the back of his mind.

The following week Draco still had yet to make his move on you. He was brainstorming ideas as he made his way to Potions, none of them good enough to follow through with but when he’d finally made his way into the classroom, he went to walk over to Blaise like he usually would but instead he found himself staring at the empty seat next to you.

He looked over at Blaise who was already quizzically staring at him. Draco mouthed a ‘watch this’ in return before he made his way towards you, grabbing a hold of the chair next to yours he stared down at you before asking.

"Is this seat taken?"

You looked up from your book turning to greet who you thought would have been Harry or Ron but instead, you were met with a pair of grey eyes you were not expecting to see, your mouth slightly parting as you stared wide-eyed at him.

"Yes actually-" you began but he had already sat down before you'd been able to reply, placing his backpack on the floor below him.

You raised an eyebrow at the blond, to which he replied by smiling over at you acting as if him sitting there was the most normal thing in the world.

"Do you mind?" you finally managed to choke out as he turned to face you.

"No, not at all" your eyes went wide at his words as you frantically began looking around the classroom for Hermione.

Once you made eye contact with her, you gave her a pleading look silently begging for her to help you, but she only took a hesitant seat next to Neville shrugging her shoulders indicating that there wasn't much she could do.

You grabbed the handle of your backpack beginning to stand up when you felt a hand wrap around your wrist preventing you from moving any further.

"Seems like all the other seats are taken Y/L/N" you frowned at his words turning your head to look around the classroom and sure enough there wasn't a single seat available.

You glared at him before ripping your hand out of his grasp and reluctantly sitting back down.

"Good morning" Slughorn's voice could be heard as he made his way towards the front of the classroom.

"Today we'll be working in pairs so whoever you're sitting next to is your partner for this assignment" your eyes widened in horror at his words as you glanced over at the Slytherin clad boy next to you.

"You're going to be writing an essay on the properties of Moonstone and its uses in Potion making" why did he have to announce this assignment today of all days?

You again looked over at Draco who seemed to be smiling, why was he happy about this? You placed your head in your hands as your mind began to wander, this was probably some stupid plan he and his friends had made to get you to fail the class.

"Professor" you eagerly raised your hand "is it too late to change partners?" you asked, silently begging for him to say no so you could work with Hermione or anyone else for that matter.

"Well I'm afraid everyone else seems to be taken Miss Y/L/N, I'm sure you and Mister Malfoy will be just fine together" you felt a flash off anger as you turned to look at the boy sat next to you.

"I swear if this is your idea of some sort of sick joke Malfoy, I'll hex you into oblivion" you threatened not daring to break eye contact with him, smirking once you noticed his taken aback expression.

"Y/L/N calm down, It's not a joke? You're the best at Potions in our year so I wanted to see if you'd be willing to work together but doesn't look like you have much of a choice now" he shrugged his shoulders; something was definitely off about this.

"So, you couldn't just ask me before we got to class?" his eyes seemed to widen a bit as he thought of a response but you continued before he had the chance to say anything "because I would have said no" and with that, you turned away from him pulling a piece of parchment out of your backpack along with your quill so you could start planning the next few weeks.

As it was nearing the end of the class you and Draco hadn't spoken a word to each other since you'd shut down all his attempts of starting a conversation, not having been interested in anything he had to say.

When class was over you handed Draco the piece of parchment that had a very detailed description of what his part in the project would be, so you'd be able to spend as little time together as possible, although he seemed to be quite displeased at this beginning to protest that you should work together so you'd get a better grade.

"I'm not spending any more time with you than I have to Malfoy so if you'll excuse me" you stood up pushing him out of the way before making your way to Neville's station where Hermione stood shoving her books into her bag.

Once you finally reached her you grabbed her by the arm, quickly pulling her after you out of the classroom. Ignoring her protests until you finally reached an empty corridor, void of any students and teachers.

"Please tell me you saw all that" you pleaded as you let go of her arm.

“You mean Malfoy?” Hermione replied, “yes Malfoy! He’s acting like we’re all of a sudden, the best of friends? Like he didn’t just call me a ‘blood traitor’ last week” you exasperated a scowl on your face.

“I think that was Zabini” Hermione acknowledged making you furrow your brows your mind wandering back to the encounter and sure enough she was right, Zabini had been the one to hurl the insult.

“What does it matter who said it, he’s one of them!” you protested, angrily turning to look at Hermione once you heard her stifled laughter from beside you.

“This isn’t funny! I’m stuck with him for the next- who knows how many weeks on this stupid project” you complained letting your head fall back as you let out a groan.

“Its okay Y/N don’t worry… I reckon he just fancies you” Hermione teased wiggling her eyebrows as she lightly nudged you in the shoulder.

“Have you gone mad?” you practically gasped although you couldn’t help the unfamiliar heat that began rushing to your cheeks at her words.

“Merlin Y/N you’re blushing! You like him?” you frantically covered her mouth as you noticed students beginning to fill the previously empty hallways.

“Would you hush! And no! I do not like Draco Malfoy, I could never like someone like him” you hissed your anger only growing once you noticed the same smile still linger on her lips.

“Whatever you say” Hermione jokingly sing sang, and in response you lightly hit her across the head with a piece of parchment you’d been holding unfortunately not getting the results you wanted since it only seemed to be egging her laughter on more.

“Alright calm down you lunatic I’m only joking” Hermione frowned rubbing the spot on her head you’d begun repeatedly hitting her, “you better be” you hummed, again pulling her after you as you two began walking down the hallways blending into the crowd of students.

“You know I can walk by myself” Hermione frowned once you’d found yourself standing out in the courtyard, your eyes searching for your two other friends since when you had Potions they had a free period which they spent most of their time here.

You finally spotted them sitting on a bench below a large brown oak tree, Seamus and Dean stood in front of them.

It was now Hermione’s turn to pull you away and in mere seconds you were standing next to the four Gryffindor clad boys who all turned their heads towards the two of you.

“Hello” you smiled before looking over at Harry who had already begun scooting over gesturing for you to come and sit down next to him, to which you happily obliged.

They all greeted you and Hermione before continuing their conversation about the upcoming Quidditch game they had against Slytherin next week.

“Yeah well Malfoy hasn’t caught the snitch when competing against Harry once, so I think we’re going to be okay” Ron assured Seamus who didn’t seem to be all that convinced but still began to make his way back into school Dean following behind him shortly after.

“Speaking of Malfoy” Hermione knowingly smirked at you before turning towards the two boys.

“Hermione no-“ you began but it was already too late, “seems he as a little crush” and there it was, you inwardly face palmed feeling the now-familiar heat in your face as you turned away from the confused glances of your two friends.

“Malfoy fancies Y/N?” Ron seemed to be more disgusted rather than confused as he scrunched up his nose.

“Hermione first of all I’m going to kill you! And second of all, he doesn’t like me! He just wanted to be partners on some stupid assignment in Potions” you assured them.

“And you said yes?” Harry perplexed.

“No! Of course not, he- he didn’t give me much of a choice” you rambled scratching the back of your head before glaring over at Hermione.

“What? He forced you to work with him?” Harry again furrowed his brows, “No- or well he sat next to me in class and I couldn’t move anywhere else since all of the other seats were taken and when Professor Slughorn arrived he immediately announced that we’d be working on our essays with whoever sat next to us” you began rambling, causing your three friends to share amused glances, unbeknownst to you.

Harry seemed to understand slowly nodding before claiming him and Ron had quidditch practice pulling the ginger boy along with him out of the courtyard, leaving just you and Hermione.

After a few minutes of silence, you turned to face her, “I think I’m going to go to the library, care to join me?” Hermione shook her head at your words pointing at the book she had just opened already beginning to make herself comfortable on the little bench you’d been sitting on.

You rolled your eyes “suit yourself” you breathed out offering her a small wave as you stood up, which she returned before you began walking back into the crowded hallways.

As you neared the library you began to hear footsteps behind you, smirking since you thought Hermione had changed her mind about joining you.

You turned around expecting to see your best friend but instead, you were met with Draco who now stood still a few feet away from you.

“Are you following me?” you crossed your arms raising an eyebrow at the boy.

He shook his head now walking towards you “just wanted to see if you’d like some company and since you’re heading towards the library we can work on our essay”

“So, you were following me” you accused but before he could answer you continued, “I thought I already told you I’m not spending any more time with you than I have too so if you’ll excuse me” you turned your back to him continuing your way to the library.

“Your loss Y/L/N” you heard him teasingly call after you making a smile appear on your lips which you tried to the best of your ability to contain.

-

Your next Potions class was one you’d been dreading, knowing that the people who were paired together on the essay had also been assigned to sit next to each other, very much to your dismay.

Professor Slughorn had asked all of you to join him at the front of the classroom so he could show you a couple of the potions you’d be brewing for the next couple of weeks and of course the one you’d be working on today.

“And this one right here is-” Slughorn was abruptly cut off by the sound of the classroom door swinging open. You quizzically looked past Slughorn’s shoulder and furrowed your brows at the two boys who had entered.

“Harry?” you asked a bit louder than you intended to causing the attention of the class to turn to Harry and Ron rather than Professor Slughorn.

“Ah! Harry my boy I was beginning to worry, and you’ve brought someone with you I see, what’s your name then?” Slughorn asked, brightly smiling at the two Gryffindors.

“Ron Weasley sir, but I’m dead awful at potions- a menace actually so I’m probably just gonna-“  Ron’s voice wavered as he began to turn around but Harry quickly put his arm out in front of him pushing him back into the classroom.

“Oh, don’t be silly, we’ll sort you out! There are some books in the cupboard over there if you need them” Slughorn pointed towards the end of the classroom where Ron and Harry quickly began fighting over the last book in there.

You and Hermione both gave each other confused glances before your attention was back on the Professor stood in front of you.

“As I was saying I’ve prepared some concoctions this morning. Any ideas what these may be?” you quickly raised your hand Hermione copying your actions as Slughorn’s eyes wandered between the two of you before he eventually pointed at you.

“Yes, miss Y/L/N” Slughorn stepped out of the way as you took a step forward towards the two pots that rested on the table.

“This one is Veritaserum a truth-telling serum and that one over there is Amortentia the most powerful love potion in the world. It’s rumoured to smell differently to each person according to what attracts them” you smiled proudly at yourself before taking a step back towards the other students.

You heard Pansy scoff causing you to quickly turn around to glare at her and just as you did you saw Draco elbow her in the side whispering something in her ear before shaking his head at her actions.

You quickly looked away before Draco’s eyes could catch yours since you felt the annoying feeling of warmth rush up into your cheeks and a smile replace the frown you’d indented to direct at Pansy.

“Very good Miss Y/L/N” Slughorn smiled before beginning to tell the students that whoever managed to brew an acceptable Draught of Living Death would be walking out of the classroom with one vile of Liquid Luck.

You quickly walked over to your station Draco following in suit behind you as you both turned to page 10 on your ‘advanced potion making’ books.

Your eyes wandered over the page before you spotted the instructions.

1. Cut up one Sopophorus bean.

You frowned down at the text as you glanced between it and the bean, it didn’t look like it was meant to be cut, and your suspicions were right as you began noticing your fellow classmates struggle around you.

Your eyes widened as Draco’s bean came hurling at your face at an ungodly speed, you practically had to throw yourself to the floor so it wouldn’t hit you in the face.

“Bloody hell Y/N are you okay!?” Draco panicked as he rushed to your side offering his hand to help you up which you ignored to distracted by the fact he’d called you by your first name.

You quickly got up onto your feet still ignoring his outstretched hand. You’d never in all your years at Hogwarts heard him call anyone by their first name, let alone you, a Gryffindor he’d hated since the first year.

“What did you just call me?” you asked although it came out a bit harsher then you intended it too. You didn’t mind that he was using your first name you just found it incredibly odd especially for someone like him.

“What, Y/L/N? that’s your name isn’t it” he was acting clueless as he walked back around the table to attend to his potion.

“No, you said Y/N” you raised an eyebrow as you watched him grab another bean now simply resorting to ignoring you, whatever you thought, brewing this potion was more important than what name Draco decided to call you.

As you continued to observe the students around you, you noticed Harry grab a silver knife and slowly press it onto the bean. You mirrored his actions and to your delight, it worked.

“How did you do that?” Draco could be heard from opposite you as he furiously looked between the instructions in his book and the crushed bean in your hand.

“Crush it don’t cut it” you shrugged, your finger traveling further down the page and stopping at the second step.

2. Pour in 250 fl.oz. of Standard potioning water and add 5 oz. of African Sea Salt to the beaker. Set the beaker aside after all the water has been added. Be very careful not to shake or move the beaker now.

The rest of the lesson had gone by in a flash and even though you felt like you’d be the one rewarded with the Liquid Luck, it ended up being Harry and you couldn’t help but wonder how the hell he managed to brew something better than you.

You remembered Harry continuously failing all his Potions classes never getting more than a poor or an acceptable on any of his assignments or tests.

After class you immediately cornered him, and it didn’t take long for him to confess to the book he’d found. Property of the half-blood prince it read and as you flipped through the many pages it had all the ‘correct’ recipes to every single potion you’d be brewing throughout the term.

“I knew it! You’ve always been dreadful at potions” you finally felt at ease knowing that Harry had only won you by cheating, shaking your head as you placed the book back into his arms.

“Hey! I am not ‘dreadful’ at potions” he imitated you his hands making air quotes at the word dreadful, a laugh slipping past your lips as you remembered a certain incident from when you were younger.

“Oh really? Don’t you remember third year when Snape told us to make a shrinking solution and you poured it all over Hermione-“ you began but Harry quickly cut you off.

“Alright! Alright! You’ve made your point now shove off I don’t feel like listening to this story right now” you threw your head back in laughter as you thought back to a tiny Hermione who hadn’t spoken to Harry a whole week after the incident.

“Doesn’t seem like you’re doing a great job with Y/L/N, I reckon Potter’s in there more than you” Blaise sounded amused as he came up behind Draco who was watching yours and Harry’s exchange from afar.

“Don’t worry Blaise, I’m only getting started”

Later in the day you, Harry, Ron and Hermione had all decided to take a little trip down to Hogsmeade for a much needed break from your studies.

“No sit beside me” Harry insisted as the four of you made your way into the Three Broomsticks, you gave him a confused glance but nevertheless dragged the chair out from underneath the table and sat down next to him.

You went to ask why but quickly managed to put two and two together once you noticed professor Slughorn sat at the bar, a beer in his hand as he talked with one of the other professors.

“What’s your deal with Slughorn?” you questioned as Harry began waving the professor over. “I need to get into the slug club” you furrowed your brows but before you could question it any further Slughorn had arrived at your table.

“Ah! Mister Potter lovely to see you, you as well Miss Y/L/N” Slughorn smiled completely disregarding Hermione and Ron who sat opposite you.

“Likewise, Professor” you smiled as he and Harry began talking about something you couldn’t be less interested in, instead your eyes began to wander around the small tavern until they finally landed on Draco who was already staring intently at you.

“You’d be welcomed to Y/L/N” your gaze diverted from the platinum blond towards Slughorn who was smiling brightly down at you. “I’d love too!” you agreed having faintly heard him mention a christmas dinner.

“Wonderful! Look for my owl” you couldn’t help but let out a laugh at Hermione’s face who seemed to be more than distraught that she hadn’t received an invitation of her own.

“Oh, how silly of me Granger, I hope I’ll also be seeing you there” Hermione’s face lit up at his words as she repeatedly nodded, Slughorn awkwardly looking over at Ron before speaking, “good to see you Wallenby”.

You were finally able to let out the laugh you’d been holding in as Slughorn exited the tavern. “Oh, shut up Y/N” Ron frowned crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back into his chair.

When your laughter had finally died down you offered to go and order your drinks since the waiter had yet to make an appearance at your table.

“Four butter beers please” you smiled at the worker as you leaned onto the bar going to turn around but instead you were met with a black suit your eyes wandering upwards to see Draco towering over you.

You cleared your throat causing him to take a step back, “anything I can help you with?” you questioned as Draco stood motionless in front of you.

“Yes, would you like to join me?” Draco asked gesturing to an empty table at the far end of the tavern. You looked over to where he was pointing causing you to quickly spot his friends who were all sat at another table, their eyes set on you.

“Uhm- I think they’d loved to join you” you pointed towards them causing Draco to quickly snap his head in their direction, making them all quickly turn to each other acting as nonchalant as they could.

“But I’d much rather spend time with you” you felt a weird tingly feeling at his words but nonetheless you didn’t dare act on it your eyes going to your friend’s who were all staring quizzically at you.

“Sorry I- Uhm I can’t I came here with them” you gestured towards your table Draco’s eyes following in the direction you pointed before they were back on you.

“Well alright, but you owe me a date then” he winked before turning around and going back to join his Slytherin friends.

Your mouth hung open as you watched him walk away, did he just say date?

You power walked back towards your friends hastily taking a seat next to Harry who already had his eyes glued on you.

“What the bloody hell was that?” Ron asked as soon as you’d fully sat down.

“Oh- Uhm, he just wanted to ask me about our assignment” they all looked skeptical at your reply but didn’t question it any further another topic quickly consuming your table.

“Do any of you have a date to the Jingle Ball?” Hermione’s question rang throughout the table, causing both boys shook their heads and you along with them, in all honesty, you didn’t expect to get asked so you’d probably just end up going with Harry like last year.

“Guess we know who Ginny’s going with” you giggled gesturing towards her and Dean who were currently taking a seat at a table not so far from yours, their fingers wrapped around each other’s.

“I’d like to leave” Ron shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he stared at his sister and who he had once considered a close friend. “Honestly Ron they’re only holding hands” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“And snogging” you added on as Ginny connected her lips with Dean’s. “Yep that’s it we’re leaving” Ron stood up grabbing the coat that hung on the chair beside him.

“Oh come on we haven’t even gotten our orders yet!” you protested as all your friends began to stand up, maybe you should have joined Draco before.

“Fine” you huffed once you noticed they had no intention of staying any longer. “Why don’t you just ask Malfoy to come join you, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind” Ron teased causing you to quickly hit him in the arm.

“Shut up Ron!”

Once you’d all made it back to Hogwarts you and Hermione separated from Ron and Harry since they claimed to have yet another quidditch practice although you figured it was code for going to scout possible dates for the Jingle Ball.

“So, what did Draco really want earlier?” Hermione gave you a knowing look as she lightly bumped you in the shoulder.

“It was so weird he-he said that I owe him a date” your voice was hesitant as you turned your head to look at Hermione who didn’t seem at all surprised.

“Well, now you know who you can go to the Jingle Ball with” she stated matter of factly causing your eyes to widen as you gaped at her.

“Hermione, I love you but have you gone mad? Me and Draco? I don’t think so” you denied but there was still the lingering feeling of hope deep down in your stomach that you tried with all your might to suppress.

“Well he obviously has a thing for you, and I mean he’s not too bad to look at”

“Shove off”

-

You had been actively avoiding Draco ever since the Hogsmeade trip, something about the entire ordeal just felt weird to you, why was he all of a sudden so bold about his apparent feelings towards you when a couple of weeks ago he wouldn’t even look your way.

But it seemed your luck had run out since he now stood in front of you, hand outstretched as he leaned it against the stone wall preventing you from continuing your way to your Transfigurations class.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something” Draco breathed out. He was getting desperate, it was unbearable, the teasing he’d been receiving from his friends once they’d noticed he wasn’t making any progress with you, and he knew if he didn’t do something soon he was going to lose the bet.

“Well can it wait? I need to get to class” you huffed watching as he pushed himself off the wall to come and stand in front of you, causing your body to turn with him, your back eventually colliding with the wall behind you.

“I was wondering” Draco smirked placing a hand next to your head as he leaned in closer towards you, you now only realizing how much taller he was then you as you found yourself craning your neck upwards to meet his eyes.

“Would you like to be my date for the Jingle Ball” the words made your stomach flip and you felt the sudden urge to let out a squeal, but you somehow managed to keep yourself together, taking in a deep breath before you took a step forward his hand slipping from the wall your faces mere centimeters from each other.

“No” you stated watching as his eyes went wide, clearly, he wasn’t anticipating that answer.

“If you want me to even consider going out with you after all the shit you’ve done over the years, you’re going to have to work for it.”

He watched your ascending figure before you fully left his sight and when you did he angrily kicked the wall cursing underneath his breath, he was used to getting everything and anything he ever wanted without as much as a snap of his finger so this was something he wasn’t used too.

The stakes were high, his entire reputation was on the line and he did not intend to give Blaise the satisfaction of being right or his housemates a reason to tease him for what would probably be the rest of his life.

All the girls at this school would practically fall at his feet, why couldn’t you be like those girls? Make this easy for him, not once in his life had Draco Malfoy had a real challenge when it came to girls but now it seemed the tables had turned, he was going to play your game and he was going to win.

-

It was now the day of the Slytherin versus Gryffindor quidditch game. You, Harry and Hermione, were all sat in the Great Hall watching as Ron entered in his Quidditch gear, helmet, and everything.

You had yet to tell Hermione about Draco asking you to the ball since you didn’t really know how you felt about it yourself and also because he probably wouldn’t be asking you out again, you having let him down quite harshly.

You glared over at the Slytherin table once you heard them beginning to yell things along the lines of ‘Ron you’re a loser’, ‘he doesn’t stand a chance’ and ‘nice hat Weasley’.

“Ignore them, Ron, I know you’ll do great” you reassuringly smiled up at your friend as he took a seat opposite you, his face contorted in worry as he looked over at the Slytherin table who continued to laugh at him.

“Yeah, thanks” he gulped once he turned back to face you, this had to have been the first time you’d ever seen Ron leave his food untouched.

“You look dreadful Ron” Luna’s voice could be heard from the other end of the table, your eyes widening as you looked over at her, “Is that why you put something in his drink” she finished, the last part of her sentence directed at Harry.

You looked over at the boy sat next to you and faintly managed to see a glimmer of light before it disappeared fully into his pocket.

“Liquid Luck?” Hermione sounded from opposite you and you finally managed to put two and two together.

“Are you mental Harry? You’ll get in so much trouble if you’re caught” your eyes widened as you watched him pass Ron the cup of pumpkin juice he’d poured his one vile of Liquid Luck into moments ago, well according to Luna at least.

“Don’t drink it Ron” Hermione scolded, before you both gasped as you watched Ron without a moment’s thought chug the remaining juice in his cup.

You watched intently as his frown was turned upside down and he slammed the cup back onto the table, a sly smirk now playing on his lips.

“You could be expelled for that” Hermione pointed out glaring at Harry who innocently smiled at her before shrugging and stating that he had no idea what she was talking about.

“Come on Harry we’ve got a game to win” Ron’s sudden aura of confidence was radiating off of him as he quickly pushed himself away from the table and began exiting the Great Hall.

“We’ll see you guys there?” Harry questioned as he looked between the two of you also beginning to stand up.

“We wouldn’t miss it” Hermione assured him as you both watched him awkwardly wave before he turned to follow Ron.

“This is going to be interesting”

-

Loud screams and chants began filling your ears as you watched the two teams make their way out onto the Quidditch pitch, you and Hermione quickly joined in beginning to clap and cheer as you made eye contact with Ron who looked as ready as ever.

A particular blond seemed to have caught your eye since before you knew it Madame Hooch was announcing the start of the game causing you to snap out of your trance, when you looked back at Draco he was already smirking up at you making you quickly look away as your cheeks turned bright red, pulling your Gryffindor patterned scarf up over your face in hopes that he wouldn’t notice the crimson colour.

“Seekers shake hands!” you watched as Harry and Draco walked up to each other clasping each other’s arms before Draco retorted something in Harry’s direction causing him to quickly pull his hand away from his the game now officially beginning.

It had been almost an hour now and so far Gryffindor was in the lead the score being 23-45. You were beginning to think you’d lost your voice but nevertheless you still raised your hands high in the air and cheered Harry on as he dove towards the snitch with Draco hot on his heels.

You anxiously began biting your nails as the two continuously bumped into each other both their arms outstretched as they neared the golden object.

“Come on Harry” you whispered the anticipation was killing you, but you didn’t have to wait much longer since the two boys suddenly crashed into each other sending them both flying off of their brooms and hurling towards the grass below.

You gasped as you stood up beginning to lean over the railing to get a better look at the two seekers who now both laid on the grass clutching their stomachs, but you widely smiled once you noticed a familiar shimmer coming from Harry’s hand.

“Yes!” you screamed as he carefully sat himself up raising the golden object up into the air for the rest of the stadium to see. Your happiness was quickly replaced with worry once you noticed the Slytherin boy laid next to Harry wasn’t moving.

“Is Malfoy okay?” you frantically shook Hermione as you pointed down at him but Hermione paid you no mind her eyes trained on Ron who was proudly raising his hands in the air as it was announced that Harry had caught the snitch.

Since everybody seemed to be too caught up with themselves you again leaned over the railing before screaming Draco’s name hoping it would at least capture the attention of someone from his team so they could help him.

You felt a wave of relieve wash over you as you watched his previously limp body turn over before he placed his hands on the grass pushing himself to sit up, the hand that wasn’t holding him up immediately going to rub his forehead.

He sent a glare Harry’s way before he grabbed his broom and began storming off the field his teammates following shortly after, for some odd reason you began to feel bad for him as you watched the disapproved glances from his fellow Slytherin’s being thrown his way but you decided to push the feeling away joining in on the celebration of your house.

Once you arrived at the Gryffindor common room a celebration had quickly ensued the hollering of Ron’s last name began sounding all around the room as you began clapping in rhythm to all of their chants, you and Hermione watching as Ron got pushed in the middle of the crowd.

Before you knew it a girl you didn’t know the name of had wrapped her arms around his neck, harshly pulling him down to meet her lips, you gasped as you faintly remembered a conversation between you and Hermione where she’d admitted to harboring a crush on the ginger boy.

You quickly turned to see Hermione pushing her way through the crowd and out of the common room. You began following her but quickly lost sight of her as you tried your best to squeeze through the teenagers who had now begun lifting Ron into the air.

“Hermione!” you called out but it was impossible to hear anything over the celebrations so you gave up on calling out to her simply resorting to pushing the students that stood in your way.

Once you finally managed to reach the door that led out into the hallway you frantically pushed it open beginning to search the corridors for your best friend.

When you rounded a particular corner, you came crashing into a much taller figure then yourself sending you flying towards the ground at the impact.

“Watch where you’re goin-“ the familiar voice of Draco Malfoy sounded from above you but stopped once he made eye contact with you. “Y/L/N?” he questioned before reaching his hand out to you which you accepted letting him pull you back up onto your feet.

“What are you doing out here, shouldn’t you be celebrating?” there was a defiant malice to his tone as he scowled in the direction of your common room where chants could still be faintly heard.

“I could ask you the same thing Malfoy” you raised an eyebrow since you weren’t anywhere near the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was.

“Just needed some air, some people aren’t exactly thrilled with the outcome of today’s game” Draco shrugged causing your stomach to drop slightly at his obvious disappointment. He sat himself down on a bench a heavy sigh leaving his lips as he let his head fall back onto the wall.

You slowly sat down next to him carefully contemplating your next words. “Not that it would mean anything to you but I thought you were really good” you tried to comfort him as you watched a faint smile appear on his lips before he turned his head towards you.

You didn’t realize just how close you were to each other until his eyes quickly looked down to your lips and back into your eyes. You suddenly remembered why you were out here in the first place, your thoughts traveling back to Hermione who had disappeared only moments ago.

“I’m sorry but I really need to go, uh- I’ll uh see you in class” you excused yourself before standing up and continuing your search for your best friend, but a hand wrapping around your wrist stopped you dead in your tracks as you were turned back around.

Your eyes slowly travelled up from Draco’s tight grip on you and back into his icy grey eyes. You carried a confused glance on your face which Draco seemed to notice since he quickly let go of your wrist.

“Thank you” is all he said before he swiftly turned back around and began walking down the corridor, disappearing out of sight.

next part

[bluemoondust]

I saw your Professor Birch post and was wondering if you could do either Headcanons about Professor Elm or even a small snippet.

He researches Pokemon Breeding so I’m curious if that would eventually rub off onto him, especially if he was pining really badly after his darling. Professor Elm with a breeding kink perhaps?

ANON I HAVE HAD THIS THOUGHT EVER SINCE I FOUND OUT WHAT EVERY PROFESSOR RESEARCHED lsjsjwjn

Post Writing Message: I deeply apologize for what I will bestow upon you all. （⌒▽⌒）

Warning(s): 18+ CONTENT, MINORS DNI, Breeding Kink, F!Reader (no pronouns mentioned), Unhealthy Lifestyle (On Elm's part, Lack of Eating and Sleeping), Hints of Jealousy, Obsessive Behavior/Thinking

Another sleepless night.

Normally the usual cause of such would be overworking, but Elm couldn't use that excuse in this case. He rubbed his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose, letting out a heavy sigh. Clearly he was exhausted. A friend of his had taken notice that he was rarely leaving the lab and the noticeable dark circles under his eyes. Had he even eaten at all? It was a question directed at Elm, who unfortunately is terrible at lying under pressure.

He needed to get himself together... Or else you'll notice too. Now, Elm isn't one to pin blame on others, and it's technically half true and somewhat his fault as well... but he can say that you're the reason why he isn't doing so hot. You're not a bad person by any means, absolutely not. Elm finds you the most pleasant person he's ever had the pleasure of conversing with.

Which is the reason why he can't get you out of his head.

Almost every second of the day Elm's thoughts are flooded with you. Everything from wondering what you do in the morning to how your sleep schedule is compared to his. It's all about you. It's gotten so bad that he finds himself writing in spare notebooks little details he discovers about you just so he can dump all his thoughts; empty his mind. It's all for naught when these thoughts soon become... Self indulgent fantasies.

Harmless, is what he claims when they first start. They won't wander into unspeakable barriers, he insisted. It will only stay as wishful thinking and wondering what it'd be like to hold your hand, eat dinner with you, cuddle—but by Arceus he is so close to pulling his hair.

He hadn't thought this way about anyone in a while. He feels guilty since you're highly unaware of how much he'd like to sit you up on his desk everytime you visit the lab. Elm is so quiet about the inner storm stirring within him. No one ever expects this type of behavior nor thinking from him since he was not one to stand out.

How would you react? Arceus, he couldn't let you know what filthy thoughts resided is his mind that revolved around you. Certainly... You'd be uncomfortable and he would lose his chance. Elm believes this would be the worst case scenario, knowing you'll find someone else. Someone else. The mere thought of that peeves him off a bit, but also breaks his heart. He has been doing his best, right? So why should one slip up change anything? Why can't he just suck it up already and finally let you know?

Then maybe... Those fantasies can become a reality. Elm swallows a bit, embarrassed but aroused at the idea of you under him. Squirming, whimpering out his name as he f.ucks you gently but firmly. He wonders how'd you sound. He always replays you voice in his head but he's curious on what it'd be like under those circumstances.

Would you ask him to go faster? A little rougher? He'd be happy to do so. Anything for you. You're always so good to him. You'll be good for him and take all his cum, right? Absolutely cute and pretty looking so full with all of it stuffed into you. Maybe to the point where some leaks out, but he'll make sure none leaves from your fucked out hole.

Elm groans into his hand, his face getting hot. Even after that, he might just want to keep going, thrusting the cum more into you. It'd be nice... To see you cry from overstimulation. He'll kiss your tears away, tell you that you're taking everything so well, praise you on how great of a mothe—

The sound of his computer receiving an email makes Elm jolt from his seat. Oh... He lets out a sigh of frustration.

He's got work and his sexual frustration to deal with now.

[tricksters-captain]

Bucky Barnes Imagines - Some Sunny Day Part 1

AN: My Marvel obsession has been lying dormant since Endgame finished but Wandavision and Falcon and Winter Soldier have brought it back to life.... This is going to be a series based off the show. Kind of like my ‘Oh Dear’ fic, it’s the series with an added characters and story lines. 

Summary: Before the Blip, you and Bucky were close. After you both returning and Tony’s funeral, you decided to go back to your home town to spend time with your family. When duty calls, you return.  

In this chapter: You reunite with Sam and Bucky (Based on S1 EP2)

Pairing(s): Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader, Sam Wilson x Platonic!Reader

Word Count: 6,883

Warnings: Spoilers for episode 2, strong language, violence. 

You and Bucky had always been close. 

You were close with Steve before Bucky joined the avengers and you fought on Steve’s side during the small civil war between the avengers. 

Steve was your best friend and Sam always knew how to make you smile but there was something about Bucky that was different to the rest of the avengers. 

You had spent some time in Wakanda with Bucky at Steve’s request and you two had always fought side by side and it crushed Steve when you both taken during the blip and he wasn't. 

When you returned, you were thrust back into battle almost immediately. The final fight against Thanos which resulted in you losing Tony and then Steve. 

Nothing seemed to matter except the fact you had been gone for 5 whole years. You had missed 5 whole years with your friends and family. They had changed whilst you were gone and you came back the same as you left.

When Steve returned the infinity stones, he hadn’t given you warning that he wasn’t coming back the same age he was going in but he had warned Bucky. They had spoken about it before apparently and after everything, you felt kind of betrayed. 

You knew you’d never understand Steve’s choice but it was his choice. You were just upset Bucky didn’t warn you. 

You returned to your home town after that day. 

You returned to find some people had changed and some hadn’t but you knew you wanted to be around and spend time with them. 

After all the years fighting for the avengers and only calling every once in a blue moon. It seemed to finally dawn on you that you should spend time with them whilst you still could. 

However, that only lasted around 6 months before you found yourself answering a phone call from Sam. 

You were at a birthday party for one of your old school friend’s daughters when you felt your phone go off. 

You put down one of the little girls who had be asking you a hundred questions about being apart of the avengers and excused yourself from the party. 

“Tell me why I got an awful feeling when I saw your caller ID come up on my phone.” You answered, folding your free hand under your arm as you leant against the wall. 

“It’s cause your subconscious is reminding you about that one time you said no when I asked you out on a date and you regret that now.”  Sam’s voice instantly made you crack a smile. 

“Or maybe it’s because every time I get a call from you it’s to do with the world ending or something worse.” You shot back. 

“It’s good to hear your voice too.” Sam chuckled at your comment before he had responded. 

“So what’s going on? I haven’t heard much from you in months.” You asked. 

“That’s around the time you up and left us for the old way of living.” Sam reminded you that you were the one that decided to go cold agent and return home. 

“There isn’t anything wrong with a little quiet.” You told him as you looked back through the window to the children that were the opposite of quiet. 

“No there isn't.” Sam agreed, “However, I got a situation here at the moment that I could really use your help with.”

“I guess it’s a bit bigger than the usual military op or you wouldn’t be calling?” You frowned. You were in the loop enough to know Sam had been apart of the airforce these past 6 months and had been taking part in frequent missions but nothing that concerned you. 

“I’m sending you over the details now. I’d appreciate it if you could come.” Sam sent you through a file and you pulled your phone away from your ear to open it. 

“You don’t need to convince me, Sam. I’ll be there since I know you wouldn’t ask unless it was serious.” You answered honestly. 

“Guess I’ll be seeing you soon then.” You could practically hear Sam’s smirk through the phone.

“Depends how quick I can get a bag together and your jet can get me to you.” You told him as you picked up your jacket from the coat rack. 

“Well it’s no Red Wing but it’s pretty fast.” Sam stated. “Oh and (Y/n)... You haven’t seen the news in the past hour or so, have you?”

“No? Why?” You frowned at the hesitation in Sam’s voice. 

“Just... take a look.” Sam told you before you ended the call. 

You opened up the news on your phone and what you saw made your mouth go dry and your stomach drop. 

‘JOHN WALKER; NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA’

You felt an anger rise up in you as you watched the wannabe waltz onto screen with Steve’s shield in his paws. 

When Sam gave up the shield, you didn’t know how to feel at first but now... now you weren’t surprised Sam didn’t elaborate on what he wanted you to see.

You said your apologies and your goodbyes pretty swiftly and you had already stashed an emergency bag ready to go under your bed so you were soon on your way.

It didn’t take terribly long to get to the air base where Sam was waiting for you. 

“Who the hell is this guy and why is he calling himself the new Captain America?” 

“Nice to see you too.” Sam wasn’t surprised at the attitude once you stepped off the plane.

“Sam, first you call me up to help deal with this wannabe terrorist group and now I just find out that Steve’s shield, which you gave up, is being held by some wannabe superhero.” You dumped your bag on the floor as you closed the gap between you and Sam.

“Trust me, I’m not happy about it either and I knew nothin about it but we have bigger fish to fry right now so can we cut the dramatic and get to actually saying hello?” Sam stared down at you with his hands on his hips. 

You sighed and gave in.

You wrapped your arms around the man and hugged him warmly.

“I’m sorry. I just––”

“–I know.” Sam didn’t need your apology. He understood how you were feeling. You both loved Steve so much. 

“Miss (Y/N)(Y/L/N), it’s a pleasure to meet you.” A voice brought your attention away from Sam to a man approaching you both. 

“(Y/n), Torres. Torres, (Y/n).” Sam introduced you to the uniformed man and you shook his hand politely. 

“Nice to meet you.” You weren’t sure if you had gotten used to the way most civilians looked at you after you became apart of the avengers. When you joined you didn’t realise becoming famous would be apart of the gig.

“I’m sorry to interrupt but Miss (Y/L/N) has to come with me to get logged into the clearance system and sort out a couple things.” Torres pointed over his shoulder as he explained. 

“And by that he means sign an autograph for his kid sister.” Sam teased the man. 

“What?” Torres’ cheeks tinged pink. “No!”

“It’s alright. Lead the way.” You picked up your bag and sent a quick smile to Sam before turning back to Torres. “Oh and you can call me (Y/n) by the way.” 

It didn’t take too long for Torres to fill you in on Sam’s plan for the mission as he logged in a few details so you could have clearance around the airbase. 

You did end up signing an autograph after a little tiptoeing around the question and then by the time you walked back out into the open you spotted someone you hadn’t expected to see. 

It was Bucky. 

“Looking good for a senior citizen.” You spoke up as you approached Sam and Bucky. 

Bucky had his back to you but the sound of your voice soon paused his conversation with Sam and he spun around. 

“Hey Buck.” You smiled but you couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous. “Long time no see.” 

“(Y/n).” Bucky stepped forward and wrapped his arms around you. 

You chuckled at his tight embrace but hugged him back just as tight all the same. 

“You, uh, you look good.” Bucky cleared his throat as he pulled away from you. 

“If you’ll excuse us, Casanova, we got places to be.” Sam tried to pull you away from Bucky but Bucky only followed. 

“I’m coming with you.” Bucky announced. 

“No, you’re not!” Sam argued. 

You hadn’t missed the men’s bickering...

In spite of Sam’s protest, Bucky ended up on the flight anyway. 

“So how’s it been away from the Avengers?” Bucky asked you as you both prepared for the mission.

Sam was up with Torres in the cockpit so you and Bucky were alone for the first time since you saw each other.

“It’s been okay. Spending time at home. Doing non-hero regular folk stuff.” You chuckled weakly as you pulled off your sweater. Bucky’s eyes fell to your chest as you had only wore a vest underneath. You felt your cheeks burn as you pretended not to notice.

“Uh, same.” Bucky cleared his throat before he spoke.. “Been strange without you around.”

“Buck, you know I needed time away from everything. From Sam, from you... After Steve, I...” You let your words drop away. 

There was a short silence before Bucky decided to change the subject.

“I’ve been seeing a therapist. Court mandated. She’s got me doing this whole redemption thing. Contacting people in my past. Making things right.” 

“And how’s that going for you?” You couldn’t help but smirk slightly at the idea of Bucky forcing himself to face his past at the request of a therapist. 

“Well I have three rules I’m meant to stick to and let’s say I’m not exactly following them closely.” Bucky admitted as he folded his hoodie.

“Does your therapist know that?” You cocked an eyebrow at the man with a light amused expression.

“What do you think.” Bucky smirked back at you.

“Be careful. I might tell on you.” You sighed playfully. 

“You’re actually on the list.” Bucky suddenly confessed. “I wanted to make things right after...” Bucky paused for a moment. “...After Steve. I should have warned you. Should have told you the truth.” 

“Bucky.” You stopped him. “It’s okay. Steve made a choice and he chose to talk to you about it. You’re his best friend and the only other person on the team who could’ve really understood why he did what he did. I’m not holding it against you.” 

“I’m still sorry.” Bucky looked you in the eyes as he spoke, “You were with him for so long when I wasn’t around. You should’ve got a real warning.” 

“Thanks Buck.” You pressed your lips into a brief sad smile before looking down at your boots. 

“I’ve really missed you, (Y/n).” Bucky uttered. 

“I really missed you too.” You stopped tying your lace to look up at the man. 

His short hair had really revealed his face and you couldn’t help but notice every part of it. The lines by his eyes when he smiled, the curve of his lips, the shadow that was just coming on.

You straightened up and stepped towards the man. 

“I like the new haircut by the way.” You reached up and let your fingers brush the top of his forehead. “Makes you look almost like a civilian.” 

Bucky couldn’t help but feel his body tense under your touch. 

“You look tired though.” You let your hand drop down to his cheek. “Not been sleeping well?”

Bucky forced himself to move away from your touch.

“Bad dreams.” Bucky murmured. 

“I figured therapy might have been helping you with those.” You frowned, “I remember sharing wake up duty with Steve like it was yesterday.”

“Every time it was your turn you’d make hot coco.” Bucky reminded you. It brought back images of you and Bucky sat in a small kitchen drinking hot chocolate that you had made despite Bucky’s insisting that he didn’t want any. 

“Seems like a lifetime ago.” You smiled but the memories only made you feel dismal. It seemed those were simpler times. Steve was still around, at least. 

Bucky handed you your jacket in the silence and you took it gratefully.

“I’m not interrupting something, am I?” Sam said rather loudly as he climbed down the ladder. 

“No, we were just getting ready which is what you should be doing.” You picked up Sam’s bag and tossed it to him which he caught effortlessly. “I’m going to check a few things with Torres. Try not to kill each other whilst I’m gone.” 

Bucky watched you climb the ladder up to the cockpit and Sam watched Bucky. 

“I’ll never understand why you won’t just shoot your shot with the girl.” Sam shook his head as he opened his duffle. 

“Shoot my what?” Bucky glared over at the man with confusion clear in his eyes. 

“Your shot, man. (Y/n) has clearly been in love with you since Steve dragged your ass onto the team. What she sees in you compared to this, I’ll never understand but she clearly sees something.” Sam had gestured to himself when he spoke but Bucky just rolled his eyes. 

“Maybe instead of talking about (Y/n), you should actually tell me what the plan is?” Bucky suggested as he zipped up his jacket securely. 

“How about you stop avoiding your feelings?” Sam retorted which made Bucky shut up and sit down. 

“I’m not avoiding my feelings.” Bucky grumbled as he glared at the man. 

“Yeah right.” Sam scoffed, shaking his head as he started to change. 

You didn’t return to the boys until you were approaching the drop off. 

“(Y/n), you’ll be out first.” Torres explained as you put in your ear piece, trying your hardest to ignore Bucky and Sam starring daggers at each other behind you. 

“Great. See you on the ground, fellas.” You jumped from the aircraft just as you heard Bucky ask what the plan was in your earpiece. 

You had to jump earlier then the men since you were approaching the building from another angle but that didn’t mean you couldn’t hear them bicker still on the aircraft. 

When you reached the warehouse, you remained hidden in the trees. You watched several people start to load two trucks with large boxes. 

“You’re doing the staring thing again. They’re in there.” You heard Sam’s voice in your earpiece. He must have been talking to Bucky inside the warehouse. 

“Where’s the guy?” Bucky asked. 

“I don’t know. I think they’re smuggling weapons, though.” Sam responded before you could. 

“Well, I think you could be right.” Bucky agreed with a passive aggressive tone. “But there’s only one way to find out. I see a clear path. I say we take it.”

“We’re not assassins.” Sam argued with Bucky.

“I’ll see you inside or not.” Bucky must've walked away from what you could hear. 

“Hey, come on, man. I’m just messing with you! Come back.” You could practically see Sam’s smile in your head.

“If you guys are done, I have a visual on the targets. They’re loading up two red trucks.”

“We’re moving up now.” Bucky replied to you. 

“Look at you. All stealthy.” Sam was teasing him. “A little time in Wakanda and you come out White Panther.”

“It’s actually White Wolf.” Bucky corrected him and Sam’s reaction almost made you laugh out loud. 

You tried to move closer to the trucks to see exactly what was going inside but it was risky with the group constantly checking around them. 

“All right, I’m inside. Therefore, way ahead of you. It’s not great, but very doable.” Bucky’s voice came up again. “Hello. How are you?” Bucky sounded irritated. Sam must've snuck up on him. 

“Good. What did I miss? Nothing.” Sam whispered back. 

“All right, let’s go.” Bucky commanded but Sam stopped him. 

“No, wait.”

“I got a vibranium arm. I can take them.” Bucky held up his arm as he fought against Sam’s halt.

“And I can fly. Who gives a shit?” Sam muttered. “Wait. I want to see where they’re going.”

“Guys I may not be in the same location as you but I can hear everything you’re saying so quick the arguing” You whispered lowly as you kept your eyes trained on the trucks. 

You tried to zone out the boys bickering as you crept forward. A crashing noise from inside the warehouse made you jump back and hide as the flash smasher members all stopped and looked. 

“Be careful.” You hissed at the both of them.

“It wasn’t my fault.” Bucky tried to defend himself but frankly you didn't care. The trucks were staring to close up and their engines switched on. 

You watched the people pile into the trucks and you dived over, taking hold of the backdoors and clinging on. 

“They have a hostage.” Sam told you as the trucks drove off with you attached. 

“Then get moving.” You commanded. You pulled open the door you were hanging to and opened it. 

“No sight of a hostage in here.” You informed Sam as you looked around. “Just boxes of vaccines.” 

“I found her.” Bucky must've gotten inside the other truck. “Hi. You okay?” Bucky’s voice was then followed by a crashing sound. 

However, you had your own problems... 

You heard a loud bang behind you and you turned to see two men at the end of the truck. They both had masks on. 

“Cute masks.” You taunted them before they charged at you. 

You threw three knives at them, two managed to hit one of the men in the thigh and chest but the second man had knocked the third one away. 

You went to attack the uninjured one first as he drew closer, you punched him but he was strong. He didn’t even flinch. 

You felt a small panic in your chest as you started to fight. He was taking moves that would usually floor someone like he was being attacked by a pillow. 

You managed to get him to the ground by wrapping your thighs around his neck and flipping him over you before you threw another knife at the injured soldier. He seemed to retreat, climbing out of the truck and onto the roof. 

“Could use some back up, Sam!” You called out as you followed. 

You climbed up onto the roof and the first soldier chased after you. The injured one grabbed hold of Bucky along with a third guy and so you were left with the big one. 

You heard Redwing shooting at the roof before you saw it but a redheaded female smashed it in half like it was but a plastic toy. 

With that, Sam finally swooped in and started throwing punches. 

He was thrown to the other roof as you continued to fight your own battle. You were getting tired and his punches seemed to only be getting stronger and more painful each time.

You pulled out another knife but he grabbed your wrist and squeezed. You couldn’t help but cry out at the pressure, you dropped it before he could break your wrist. 

Then suddenly a helicopter appeared from what seemed like nowhere. Cap’s shield bounced off one of Sam’s attackers as two new bodies joined the fight. 

The distraction allowed you to kick your attacker off the truck and start to help Bucky. 

“Sam, John Walker; Captain America.” 

“Lemar Hoskins.”

“Looks like you guys could use some help.” Walker and his sidekick introduced themselves. 

 A surge of rage from the introduction of ‘Captain America’ helped you regain some adrenaline. You turned and started to fight once again. 

You let yourself become distracted as Bucky fell from the side of the truck which allowed one of the guys to send you off the truck too.

Sam was quick to fall back with his suit and grab you before you hit the concrete road. However, the impact of him grabbing you did leave you winded. 

“Bucky.” You wheezed as the man settled you on the side of the road. 

Sam flew up and chased after the trucks. 

You took a moment, wincing at your aching body before you rose to your feet and took off in their direction. 

You couldn’t catch up to the trucks but it didn’t take long to find Bucky and Sam once you spotted they were both coming out of a field. 

“If someone told me I’d be fighting a whole bunch of super soldiers today I would’ve wore my nice pants.” You stated as you approached the two men.

“We knew they were strong but not like this.” Sam defended himself from your anger. 

“One of those guys took a knife to the chest and could still walk away.” You threw your arms up as you informed him. This was so much worse than the documents had described. 

“It’s going to take a lot more than just a knife to stop these guys.” Bucky’s eyes seemed to carry a storm as he thought. 

“How can this be possible? I thought the super soldier serum was gone. What happened in Siberia was supposed to have put an end to it all.” You remembered the failed super soldiers as clear as day. 

“We know about as much as you, (Y/n). Unless you tried to, you know, your weird seeing thing?” Sam asked.

“No. It takes it out of me and I can’t do it whilst I’m trying to fight for my life so.” You shook your head as you walked beside the men. Whilst you weren’t as powerful as some of the Avengers, you were a great assassin like Natasha Romanoff. Your talent was your knife throwing but under all the training and all the knowledge, there was a gift. A gift you’d had since birth.

If you touched someone, you could see their entire past, everything they had experienced up until that moment. It really drained you of your energy and over the years you trained yourself so that you could switch it on and off so it didn’t happen every time you touched someone but when you did use it, it usually required a lie down afterwards. 

“Sorry about Redwing.” Bucky spoke up after a moment of silence. 

“No, you’re not.” Sam rolled his eyes at the fake apology before asking: “What’s going on in that big cyborg brain of yours?”

“It’s computing.” Bucky grumbled. 

“You know what? I can actually see it. I can see the gears turning. Oh, they’re malfunctioning, shutting down. Yep, they’re on fire.” Sam couldn’t help but make fun of Bucky which only made you walk ahead of the men. You weren’t in the mood for this.

“We gotta figure out where the serum’s coming from.” You said to stop their silliness. 

“Yeah. And how in the hell after 80 years are there eight Super Soldiers runnin’ loose?” Sam agreed with you just as a transport vehicle began to pull up along side him. 

“So that didn’t go as planned, huh?” John Walker’s voice penetrated the space like a foul smelling fart. 

He opened the truck’s door to allow you all to hop in but you all ignored him. 

“Alright. Let’s keep going.” He told the driver before directing his attention back to you. “Look, at least we know what we’re up against now, huh? And we’re pretty sure it’s one of the Big Three, so…”

"Aliens, androids, or wizards?” Sam spoke up just to prove to Bucky that others knew of the ‘Big Three.’

“Pretty sure.” Walker nodded.

“There’s no such thing as wizards.” Bucky exclaimed which made you cock an eyebrow at the man. You clearly missed a conversation here. 

“Then it’s aliens, or androids.” Walker shrugged as if it were obvious.

“––Or Super Soldiers.” Sam added. 

“Shit. Super Soldiers, for real?” Walker’s colleague responded with the reaction you just about expected. 

“Yeah.” Sam confirmed. 

“Wow. All right, well, then we gotta work together.” Walker’s eyebrows rose as he spoke. 

“That’s not happening.” Bucky declared.

“I think we stand a much better chance if we all just––”

“––Just ’cause you carry that shield, it doesn’t mean you’re Captain America.” Bucky cut Walker short and you were grateful for it. The man was making your head ache. 

“Look, I’ve done the work, okay?” Walker sighed. 

“You ever jump on top of a grenade?” Bucky shot back but he wasn't met with the answer he wanted. 

“Yeah. Actually, I have. Four times. It’s a thing I do with my helmet. It’s a reinforced helmet. It’s a long story, but, any… Look, it’s 20 miles to the airport. You guys need a ride.” Walker got his driver to stop. “Get in.” 

You looked back at Sam and Bucky. You hadn’t said anything yet which Sam thought was a record of yours. You chose to give in and climbed into the truck with Bucky and Sam since your body was already aching from the previous fight. 

“Okay, so we’ve got eight Super Soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?” Walker asked, his eye on you as you sat in between Bucky and Sam. 

“They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during the Blip. Maybe they’re just trying to help.” Sam told Walker what he knew. 

“They had a funny way of showing it.” Bucky grimaced as a bruise on his face started to form. 

“That serum doesn’t exactly have a great track record. No offence.” Walker looked over at Bucky as he hinted at the winter soldier. 

“We need to figure out where they’re going.” You wanted to shift the attention away from Bucky. 

“She speaks? I have to admit I was starting to wonder.” Walker smiled at you which only made you want to punch him even more than you already did.  

“How’d you track ’em here? The Flag Smashers?” Sam could tell you were a second away from decking the new Captain America and hopping ship so carried on the conversation. 

“Uh, no, we didn’t track them, we tracked you, uh, through Redwing.” Hoskins notified Sam. 

“You hacked my tech?” Sam was beyond irritated at this point. 

“Sorry. It’s not exactly hacking. It’s government property. Kind of the government.” Walker laughed as he gestured to himself. “Does he always just stare like that?” He stopped laughing under Bucky’s stare. 

“You get used to it.” Sam muttered. 

“Okay, look, you know, things have gotten kind of, uh––”

“––Chaotic.”Hoskins helped Walker find the word. 

“Yeah.” Walker cleared his throat. “The GRC, they’re doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post Blip.”

“Reactivating citizenship, social security, healthcare. Basically just managing resources for the refugees who were displaced by the return.” Hoskins tried filling you in as if you hadn't heard about it before. The GRC propaganda was plastered across all the cities in America. 

“The Global Repatriation Council does all that. We understand but why exactly are you two here?” You questioned, cocking your head towards Walker. 

“Well, they provide the resources and we keep things stable.” Hoskins replied first.

“Yeah, violent revolutionaries aren’t usually good for anyone’s cause.” Walker added on. 

“Usually said by the people with the resources.” Sam smirked at the men. 

“Well, we got a lot of resources. If you guys, if you joined up with us, we could––”

“––No.” Bucky shut Walker down immediately. 

“I got mad respect for both of y’all. But you were getting your asses kicked till we showed up.” Hoskins wasn’t helping the situation. 

“Who are you?” Bucky asked genuinely. 

“Lemar Hoskins.” Hoskins introduced himself once again. 

“Look, I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins.” Sam backed Bucky up on that one. A name was nothing in this situation.

“I’m Battlestar. John’s partner.” Hoskins nodded towards Walker and you couldn't stop the smile that spread across your lips when Bucky responded. 

“Battlestar? Stop the car!” Bucky called up ahead. 

The car slowed as it pulled into a bus stop. Bucky pushed open the door and you followed. You couldn't stand sitting in front of that man in that uniform another second longer. 

"Look, I… I get it, okay? I get the attitude, I do. You didn’t think that the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky. And I’m… “ Walker turned back to Sam. “I’m not trying to be Steve. I’m not trying to replace Steve. I’m just trying to be the best Captain America I can be. That’s it. It’d be a whole lot easier if I had Cap’s wingmen on my side.” 

Sam scoffed at Walker’s choice of words. Wingmen? He really had the audacity. 

“It’s always that last line.” Sam jumped out of the vehicle and followed you and Bucky. 

Once back on the aircraft you stripped of your weapons and jacket. 

Sam and Bucky did the same. 

You sat down on your seat and rested your head back against the wall. You needed an ice bath. Your muscles were screaming at you. 

“You alright?” Sam asked Bucky as he sat, his eyes locked on the floor. 

You opened your eyes to look over at the men. 

“Let’s take the shield, Sam. Let’s take the shield and do this ourselves.” Bucky sounded pretty decided. 

“We can’t just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it. Do you remember what happened the last time we stole it?” Sam sat up slowly as he furrowed his brow at the idea.

“Maybe.” Bucky grumbled. 

“I’ll help you in case you forgot.” Sam proclaimed, “Sharon was branded enemy of the state, and Steve and I were on the run for two years. I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna live the rest of my life la vida loca. We just got our ass handed to us by Super Soldiers, and we got nothing.” 

Even though you did spend some time in Wakanda under protection from their government, there was a period where you were on the run with Steve and Sam and it wasn’t fun. Being pardoned after the fight against Thanos was one of the best things that happened to you; it’s what allowed you to go home. 

“Not entirely true.” Bucky pushed himself onto his feet. “There is someone that you should meet.” 

Bucky’s eyes met yours and you knew who he was talking about. 

You had seen Bucky's past. Everyone of Bucky’s memories. You had seen all the death and the pain and the fighting. You had seen the Winter Soldier and pre-world war Bucky and you had suffered for it for some time. Nightmares used to plague you but you had managed to block most stuff from your mind over the years. Especially the Winter Soldier memories because that wasn’t really Bucky; that was a weapon made by Hydra. 

You had been forced by the team to check his memories to see if he really had bombed the UN but you couldn't choose how far you looked back, you gift made you see everything from the earliest childhood memory up to that moment. 

You stood and approached Bucky.

“Are you sure about this?” You whispered, taking hold of Bucky’s forearm as you pulled him to one side.

“He should know.” Bucky’s eyes seemed so sure. You dropped your hand down from his arm to his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“Alright then.” You pressed your lips into a thin line as you accepted his choice. 

Soon enough the route was changed and the plane turned. 

“Will you come?” Bucky asked as the door to the plane opened. 

“I’ll wait here but call me if you need me.” You didn’t feel like seeing Isaiah. Some of the time if something from Bucky’s past showed up it could trigger his memories in your own head which you didn’t particularly enjoy. 

“Alright.” Bucky sighed but left without you. 

Only a short while later you had received a phone call from Sam. 

“Hello?” You answered. 

“It’s Bucky. He’s been arrested. There was a warrant out for his arrest.” Sam informed you. 

“Why?” You were confused. Bucky had been pardoned like the rest of you for his crimes and his warrant wiped. 

“He missed his therapy session or something. I’m heading back to your, we gotta go get him out.” Sam hung up pretty quickly. 

“Why didn’t you tell anyone about the super solider?” Sam asked you as you made your way to the station. 

“I only knew because I’ve been inside Bucky’s head but if I listed off every single person Bucky has fought or killed or wronged it would take me a while.” You hated admitting that but the Winter Soldier had done a lot of damage. 

“But this was a black super soldier who rotted behind bars for years! Being experimented on like a lab rat whilst Steve sat in the ice and Bucky ran around playing secret assassin!” Sam was angry and you understood why. 

“I didn’t know he was in prison. I only knew of him as the guy Bucky fought in Goyang and lost. I figured if Bucky wanted him found then he would say. It’s not my place, they’re not my memories.” You tried to defend yourself but you knew Sam would never understand your logic. 

“How can I trust you if you’re sitting on information like that?” Sam catechised you. 

“Because you’ve trusted me for years. I say what needs to be said and if it isn't useful to us at the time then I don’t bring it up. I have so much inside of here from people that aren’t even around more. When I go inside someone’s head the memories don’t just go away. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who’s memories I’m thinking of when I look back on things. I block what I can and deal with what I can’t.” You stopped Sam in the hallway as you snapped. You couldn’t believe he was questioning whether he could trust you or not after everything. 

“I know it can be hard for you. I can’t imagine what its like but there are some things more important than others and Isaiah. Isaiah is one of them.” Sam’s words just made you turn and head to the desk. 

You tried to get as much information about Bucky but all they instructed you to do was sit and wait. 

“Sam?” A woman approached you and Sam. You lifted your head up at the sound of her voice. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Dr. Raynor. I’m James’s therapist.” 

You shook hands with the woman and introduced yourself. 

“I’ve heard some about you too.” Dr. Raynor smiled as she greeted you. 

“Thank you for getting him out.” Sam thanked her as he shook her hand but she only furrowed her brow. 

“That was not me.” She told you both. 

“Christina!” You didn’t need super hearing to recognise that voice. “Good to see you again!” Walker was signing autographs as he entered the station. 

“You gotta be kidding me. You know him?” Sam only said what you were thinking. 

“Yeah, we did some field ops back in the day.” Dr Raynor looked between Sam and Walker. 

“I heard you were working with Bucky, so I thought I’d step in.” Walker approached her which made you stepped back. “Bucky’s not gonna be following a strict schedule any longer.”

“We haven’t finished our work. Who authorized this?” Dr Raynor protested. 

“Um…” Walker pointed to himself. You felt a fire flare inside of you. “He’s too valuable of an asset to have tied up. Just do whatever you got to do with him, then send him off to me. Got some unfinished business, him and I.”

Walker then pointed to you and Sam. 

“You too, Wilson. (Y/l/n). I’ll be outside.” Walker backed away, sending a wink in your direction. 

You felt Sam take hold of your wrist quickly before you could even take the chance to lunge forward. 

“Breathe.” Sam told you. “We’ll deal with that asshole later.” 

Bucky was allowed through and Dr Raynor approached him immediately.

“James, condition of your release, session now. You too, Sam.” She insisted as she headed back towards the cells from which Bucky had just come from. 

“That’s okay. I’ll be out here with (Y/n).” Sam brushed off the offer except it wasn’t an offer. 

“That wasn’t a request.” Dr Rayor warned him. 

You pushed the man forward. 

“Quicker you’re in, quicker you’re out.” You told him. 

“Why doesn’t she want you?” Sam pouted. 

“Get moving before I get bored and decide to use John Walker out there as my new punching bag. Get myself in trouble.” You tried to make the man laugh but failed. He only groaned and dragged himself inside. 

It didn’t take long for Sam to storm out of there who was swiftly followed by Bucky. 

“Hey, you okay?” You asked Sam as he returned to you. 

“Peachy.” He sneered.

You sighed and followed both men outside. 

“Well, I feel better.” Sam announced once you were all finally outside. 

“I feel awful.” Bucky muttered which made you want to take his hand but you refrained as a siren drew your attention over to Walker and his buddy. 

“Gentlemen. Lady. Good to see you again.” Walker had a smile on that you wanted to wipe clean off. “ Look, if we divide ourselves, we don’t stand a chance, you guys know that.” 

“Well do you have anything that’s actually useful?” You folded your arms across your chest as you closed in on the men.  

"Well, the leader’s name’s Karli Morgenthau. We’ve been targeting civilians who’ve been helping Karli move from place to place.” Walker started. 

“They geotagged a location, then scrambled the signal. But our satellites have found their symbol popping up in various displaced communities all across Central and Eastern Europe.” Hoskins continued. 

“We think she’s taking the medicine she just stole to one of these camps.” Walker finished. 

“Well, there are hundreds of those all over the planet since the Blip. So I guess you’ll have to look real hard.” Bucky’s glowered at the man as he leant on the cop car. 

“Good thing I have 20/20 vision, huh?” Walker smirked as he snapped back. 

“Where is she now, Walker? Do you know?” Bucky rose his voice. 

“No, we don’t know, Bucky. It’s only a matter of time before we find out.” Walker rose his voice also. 

“Things are really intense for you, aren’t they, Walker?” Bucky was being cocky. You had to stop yourself from finding it amusing. 

“Take it easy. Look, Walker’s right. It is imperative that we find them and stop them. But you guys have rules of engagement and all kind of authorizations you have to get. We’re free agents. We’re more flexible. So it wouldn’t make sense for us to work with you.” Sam interrupted and seemed to clear the air a little. You took his last words as a chance to leave but Walker wasn’t done.

“A word of advice, then.” Walker stopped you all. “Stay the hell out of my way.”

You watched the two men walk away. Your jaw clenching together to stop you from saying something you’d regret. 

“Come on.” Sam urged you on and you forced yourself to walk away. 

Once you were far enough from the station Sam asked you both what you were thinking. 

“Well, I know what we have to do. When Isaiah said ‘my people’...” Bucky was the one of out you both to speak first. 

“Oh, don’t take that to heart. That’s not what he meant.” Sam began. 

“No, he meant HYDRA. HYDRA used to be my people.” Bucky corrected him. 

“Not a chance.” You shook your head, putting your foot down. 

“Walker doesn’t have any leads.” Bucky claimed. 

“Bucky, I know where you’re going with this and I’m saying no.” You couldn’t believe he was even suggesting it. 

“He knows all of HYDRA’s secrets.” Bucky tried to reason with you. 

“Don’t you remember Siberia?” Sam also knew exactly what Bucky meant. 

Bucky nodded. 

“So you’re just gonna go sit in a room with this guy?” Sam stared at Bucky with a mixture of shock and concern. 

“Yes.” Bucky was hesitant to answer which only made you hate this idea even more. 

“Okay, then.” Sam sighed. “We’re gonna go see Zemo.” 

“No! No, we aren’t not going to see Zemo!” You demanded causing both the boys to stop. 

“(Y/n), it’s different now.” Bucky declared. 

“It’s the only lead we got.” Sam was actually on Bucky’s side. 

“What? And you think he’s just gonna help us like that?” You scoffed out of disbelief. 

“We have to try.” Bucky started to walk again. 

“I trust this guy about as far as I can throw him, Buck!” You exasperated. 

“That’s more than me.” Sam murmured but you chose to ignore it. 

“(Y/n). We’re going.” Bucky wasn't arguing anymore. It was going to happen. 

(PART 2 HERE)

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