#just gotta make sure to study and remember enough so i can pass

[a-sleepy-ginger]

24/5/24

✿❈✿❈✿

Double ender toast

Talked with brother

Played with dog

Dinner (rice bowl with veg meat and jalapenos)

[moonstruckme]

I’ve been binge reading your emt polymarauders. And I gotta tell you ! It’s like sipping a nice lemonade on a summer day. Oh my…

I’m a medical student so I loooooove this prompt so much. I couldn’t sleep tonight because biochemistry has been rotting my brain. Ugh

Anyways,

I had an idea, could you maybe make a reader who’s in her first year of med school and she’s so stressed. The boys try to ease her a little but she doesn’t listen and itch closer to burnout. Until she starts to feel unwell and comes out of her study to drink water. But before she can react she passes out and the boys rush to help.

(Totally not happened to me once in front of almost 30 3rd years. Nooooo.)

Hope you like the idea ❤️

Thanks babe, I'm glad you enjoy them! And thank you for requesting <3

cw: academic stress, fainting

emt!marauders x fem!reader ♡ 1.1k words

“What nerve supplies the posterior arm and forearm?” Remus asks you. 

The words are beginning to sound like gibberish. “The, um…the radial nerve.” 

“Well done.” Remus sets your flash card atop a stack. There are three of them, ones you know well, ones you’re still shaky on, and ones you’ve not got a clue about. This card goes in the first stack. It’s small enough that every addition feels like a victory. 

Your boyfriends have been kind enough to bring you lunch at the library. It was quickly revealed as a plot to try and coax you into taking a break, but when that clearly wasn’t working they decided to stay awhile and keep you company. You have a reading room all to yourself today, so James has made himself comfortable on the couch and Sirius has laid his head down in his lap, content to have his hair played with while James watches you and Remus study.

“And which carpals communicate with the radius?” Remus asks. 

“Um…”

“Think carefully,” Sirius says in his TV host voice. “This one’s for full points.” 

You blink. You feel suddenly odd. Off-kilter. “There’s two,” you say slowly. “Lunate and…um…” 

“Can we do hints?” James asks. 

You’d rather not, but you feel like you need it. “Sure.” 

“Alright.” Remus glances down at your card. “It starts with an s.” 

“I know it.” You squeeze your eyes shut. “I had this one yesterday. It’s like sca…sca something. Sorry, I feel like I can’t concentrate.” 

“Do you want me to tell you?” Remus asks gently. 

You sigh. “Yeah, okay.” 

“It’s lunate and scaphoid.” 

You groan, pushing your fingers into your forehead. “I knew that.” 

“It’s alright.” Remus sets the card in the middle stack. He’s watching you carefully. “Do you think it’s time for a break?” 

“Yeah.” You take a deep breath. “I feel weird, I think…” You pick up your water bottle, but it’s light, empty. “I’m going to go get some water.” 

Remus’ eyes are sympathetic. “Good idea, dove.” 

The feeling worsens when you stand, like the change in altitude is making you light-headed. You take two steps. The first wobbles, the second sinks. 

You don’t remember passing out. There’s no darkening of your vision or panicky realization, just one second your knee is bending unbidden and the next the trampled fibers of the library carpet are smushed against your face. 

“Fuck, sweetheart.” It takes you a second to recognize the feel of hands under your head and ribcage, but that’s James’ voice. The knees of Remus’ trousers are in front of your face. “What’d you do that for?” 

“I didn’t mean to,” you mumble. 

“Let’s get you on your back,” says Remus. 

He and James work together to rotate you gently, and then you have a better view of the room. Remus and James kneeling above you, Sirius standing behind them with a look of wide-eyed horror. It appears each of your boyfriends has jumped up in a fright. 

“Do you feel warm?” Remus brushes some hair away from your face while James picks up your wrist to get your pulse and Sirius launches into action, kneeling by your feet. 

“Not really…” You startle as your legs pick up off the floor. “Sirius, my skirt!”

“It’s just us here, doll,” Sirius reminds you. “I promise to protect your modesty if anyone comes in, whatever the cost.” 

You frown at what he could mean by that, but Remus thumbs over your cheek placatingly. “Is there anywhere around here that might have sports drinks?” 

“Um, there’s a vending machine downstairs.” 

“Perfect. I’ll be back shortly.” He gives your cheek a quick hold before leaving. 

James kisses your palm once he’s done with your pulse, and then his fingers find the collar of your shirt, popping open the first two buttons with practiced ease. 

Your hand flies up to prevent him going further. “Why does everyone keep trying to undress me?” 

James laughs, and Sirius replies smoothly, “Why, is this not a good time for you?” 

“Take it easy, lovie.” James takes your hand, holding it in his own. “We’re just making sure all the blood that wants to go to your brain can get there.” 

“Oh.” You knew that. Or you should’ve, if your brain was working properly.

“If it’s somewhat risque in practice, I certainly don’t mind as much with you as I do with the old blokes we sometimes get.” Sirius winks at you. 

You offer up a weak smile in return, and he pouts. 

“How’re you feeling, sweetness?” 

“I’m alright.” You take a breath. “Can I sit up now?”

“Let’s give it a bit.” James rubs your shoulder. “How do you really feel?” 

“Just…weird. Shaky. But not too bad.” 

“That’s good,” he says, though he looks like he doesn’t quite believe you. 

“I think I’ll be fine once I get something to drink.” 

“Mm, I think there’s probably a bit more to it than that,” Remus says as he comes back in. He crouches beside you, twisting the top off a bottle of orange juice. “That is a very well-stocked vending machine. Do you feel ready to sit up, dove?” 

“I have been,” you say. “They won’t let me.” 

“Such ingratitude,” Sirius teases as he sets your feet back down. “We were only waiting for your juice.” 

James helps you up with a hand on your back, and it takes a second of wordless wrestling with Remus to get him to let you bring the bottle to your own lips. 

“You could be dehydrated,” he says as you drink, “or you could just be exhausted, or both. And you can faint from too much stress too, you know.” 

“I know,” you grumble, wiping your mouth. 

Remus takes your face in his hand, forcing you to look at him. You find your indignance shrinking under his steady gaze. “You hurt yourself when you push yourself this hard, sweet girl.” 

“I know,” you say, softer now. “I thought I could handle it.” 

“You need to take more breaks.” 

You nod slightly. 

“And work on putting less pressure on yourself.” 

“Alright, Rem, lay off her.” Sirius rubs your knee. It breaks you from Remus’ trance, and your dark-haired boyfriend flashes you a smile when you look his way. “She’s got enough going through her head without having to remember all you want her to do. Let’s go home, yeah?” 

James insists on supporting you while you walk out of the library. Sirius and Remus debate what film you should put on once you get back to your flat. 

“Shouldn’t I get to choose?” you ask. 

“Well, look who’s feeling up to asking questions.” Sirius gives your cheek a condescending little pat. “Unfortunately, I don’t think you’re really ready to be picking out films, my love. Your decision making is probably still impacted from that fainting spell.” 

“Really.” You narrow your eyes at him. “I’ve never heard of that side effect.” 

“Well, you’re only a first year, doll. There’s lots you don’t know.”

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Ace Trappola - Room Relaxation Vignette

"Happy Birthday"

[Exterior Hallway]

Ace: Well, it's gettin' about time. Guess I'll head to basketball practice… Hm? Who's that over there…?

Ace: Yo, Kalim-senpai! How's it going? Hey, hey, do you know what tomorrow is?

Kalim: Tomorrow? Hm, what's going on tomorrow…? Is there a dance competition? Oh, or is there some sort of feast planned?

Ace: Ooh, you're getting' close! The correct answer is… My birthday～!

Kalim: Woah! Tomorrow's your birthday!? That's awesome!!

Ace: Yeah, it's totally awesome! There's gonna be a party back at my dorm, and everyone'll get me a gift. It'll be a blast!

Ace: But, y'know, the crazier the party, the more lonely it feels the day after my birthday…

Ace: I always feel like it'd be great if these sorts of days come around two or three times more a year.

Ace: …Don'tcha think, Kalim-senpai?

Kalim: Oh, yeah, I feel you! It just doesn't feel enough to only have one birthday a year.

Kalim: Hey, I just had a great idea! I'll throw you another party the day after your birthday.

Kalim: That way you won't feel as lonely, right? It sounds super fun, so let me do this for you!

Ace: Ehhhh, you sure!? I'm tickled pink! Kalim-senpai, thanks so much!

Kalim: Yeah! I'll make it the best, most outrageous party you've ever seen, so I hope you look forward to it!

[Kalim leaves]

Ace: Nice, I got Kalim-senpai to celebrate my birthday! And he's making it an outrageously awesome party…

Ace: That might get a veto from Jamil-senpai, though…

Ace: But regardless, I at least secured a promise from Kalim-senpai for a celebration. I can't way for the day after tomorrow～!

[Heartslabyul Dorm – Ace's Room]

Ace: Huuurgh, today's basketball practice was insanely hard… Floyd-senpai just wouldn't quit guarding me!

Ace: Usually he just gets bored and disappears off to who knows where… Ugh, I'm so tired～ I just wanna pass out…

Ace: My roommates sure got it easy. Doesn't sound like they got any upperclassmen that cause problems or nag all the time…

Ace: …Augh, I'm definitely gonna fall asleep if I just keep zoning out. I'm gonna go jump in the shower.

[Heartslabyul Dorm – Ace's Room]

[roommates chatting]

[Roommate A greets Ace]

Ace: I'm baaack. Why did I take so long…? Y'see, Trey-senpai cornered me while I was brushing my teeth in the washroom.

Ace: He made me re-brush my teeth, and then handed me some floss and mouthwash. Then…

「Survey on Quality of Life Improvements for the Student Body」

Ace: Right, so he handed me this survey to fill out too. Ugh, it's short answers! Better if it was multiple choice or something.

Ace: Hey, can't any of you guys fill this out for me? I'm real tired from practice today, 'cause it was reeeal hard.

[Deuce refuses]

Ace: …Do it myself without tryin' to slack off? Fine, fine, guess that's what I shoulda expected from you honor student types. You're takin' it waaay too seriously!

Ace: Maybe I'll just jot down that it sucks to be stuck in a room with guys I don't vibe with, or something.

[Deuce argues]

Ace: …Oh, shut up, I was just kidding. Whatever, I guess I'll just start filling in the form.

Ace: First off… The dorm rooms are way too small! That's the worst thing, so I definitely can't leave that out.

Ace: Sure, we can ask each other to swap dorm duties, or help each other when we can't remember a specific Queen of Hearts' rule…

Ace: So I guess it's not the end of the world that there's four of us in here. But it'd be better if the room was just a bit bigger.

Ace: It's practically impossible to study in here. Sometimes someone else's stuff'll end up in my personal space, too.

[Roommate B speaks up]

Ace: …Huh? Pot, meet kettle? No way, I'm always tiding up after myself…

[Roommate B interjects]

Ace: Eh, you found my pen mixed in with your stuff the other day? Uhhhh…. Oh, dang, look at that, it's lights out time!

Ace: I gotta hit the hay! Mmkay, night!

Ace: Aaand, that's the way to shut them out! This is why I love canopy beds.

Ace: As soon as I draw the curtains closed, I can have secure myself a small, little private space…

Ace: The thicker curtains help to keep light and sound down, so even if I'm playing with my phone all night long, it's not bothering anyone else.

Ace: When I think of it that way, I think the only thing I really have to complain about my room is just that it's small.

Ace: …But once I step outside my room, I gotta deal with strange rules, scary upperclassmen, and insanely hard homework.

Ace: Oh, right, I have homework… I need to do that… But first, I think I'll take a bit of a breather and play on my phone for a bit!

Ace: Ooh, my middle school friends uploaded something onto Magicam. They look like they're havin' fun back in the Queendom.

Ace: I feel crazy jelly seeing that, especially since I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere on Sage's Island… Hm?

Ace: Wait, what's this video at the bottom…? Oh! It's an ad for the magic shop I was looking into the other day!

Ace: Woah, how'd they manage that trick? Yooo, I bet I'd look real cool if I could master that!

Ace: I really want that magic trick. Maybe I should ask for it for my birthday.

Ace: Oh, hey, that next manga chapter is out. I gotta check that out.

Ace: Oh, and there's an event going on in that one mobile game. Guess I can log in for that. Oh, and…

[Heartslabyul Dorm – Ace's Room]

Ace: Urrrgh… Mm… It's too bright… Is it morning already? I guess I fell asleep playing the game.

Ace: What time is it…? Huh!? It's already this late!? Hey, why didn't anyone wake me up!?

Ace: Didn't my alarm wake me? You opened my curtain for me? …If you're gonna do that much, you coulda woken me up!

Ace: At least I don't have morning practice today… But I gotta get ready on the double!

[Heartslabyul Dorm – Washroom]

Ace: My face is washed and my skin-care routine is done.

Ace: Ack, my hair's all over the place! Ughh, c'mon, I hate how my hair is…!

Ace: Maybe I can just fix it with some wax… Oh, but I want to make sure I have time to fix my makeup…

Ace: I got no choice, I should just use magic to set it! I screwed it up last time, but… I can totally do it today! Definitely! Hyah!

[poof!]

Ace: AAAAAAAAHH!? IT GOT EVEN WORSE, THIS SUCKS!!

Ace: What can I even do about this now!? Okay, first, let me try this spray to fix the bedhead!!

[spritz, spritz, spritz]

Ace: Ack, did I spray too much? Okay, I should just be able to rub it in here with my fingers… Guess I'll just have to see how it looks later.

Ace: I gotta set my makeup while I wait for my hair to loosen up. First, I gotta slap on some sunscreen…

Ace: Now, my eyebrows are the priority. I can kinda let everything else be half-done, but this's gotta be on point.

Ace: Back in middle school, I remember we were all laughing our heads off at this one person who did a terrible job drawing in his eyebrows, tryin' to look all fashion-y.

Ace: …I mean, not like I'd ever or will ever make that kind of screw up, though.

Ace: I saw a video yesterday that says that thicker eyebrows are in right now, so I'll just try to follow that tutorial and draw in where it's lacking…

Ace: Okay, nice. Not bad! I think I did pretty good for just trying to copy what I saw.

Ace: Now all I got left is my eye makeup… What should I do for the suit? I'd like to use something with a bit of lamé in it, but…

Ace: I bet the Housewarden'll get all huffy if it's too fancy. Guess I should just do what I normally do.

Ace: How's my hair looking…? Nice, it's tamer now! Probably was a good thing to spray too much on it.

Ace: Just gotta put some hair wax in to set it… Done. Whew, I feel a bit more presentable now.

[Heartslabyul Dorm – Ace's Room]

[roommates chattering]

Ace: I gotta get my stuff together ASAP… Wait, huh? If the rest of you are all here, does that mean we still have a bunch of time?

Ace: Maan, then I coulda worked on my hair a bit more. I think I'll dip into the washroom again… Huh? My enigmatics homework?

Ace: …AAAAAAAAAH!! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT!!

Ace: Oh man, I'm so screwed, Crewel's gonna tan my hide if I don't do anything… What should I do!?

Ace: …Hold the phone. I have enigmatics in the afternoon. That essentially means I'll have my lunch break before I have to turn it in.

Ace: I think the other classes might be ahead of us, so maybe they've already finished the homework already?

Ace: Even if the questions are slightly different, as long as I can figure out how they solved it, I should be able to bang it out… Oh yeah, it's all coming together.

[Roommate A speaks up]

Ace: Wheeew, I got all worked up over nothing～ Mmkay, then I'm heading out… Huh, what is it? You want me to help with your homework?

Ace: Hahahah, no waaaay! Here, I'll open the curtains up for you, so why don't you figure out the rest～?

[Main Street]

Kalim: Oh, there he is. Ace! Good morning!

Ace: Ah, Kalim-senpai! Good morning…? What's up? Isn't the party tomorrow?

Kalim: Yeah! But your birthday's today, right? That's why I thought I'd come wish you a happy birthday in person.

Kalim: So, yeah… Happy Birthday, Ace!

Ace: Haha, you really are the type of guy to show up the day of just to wish someone a happy birthday, huh.

Ace: Thanks a bunch! I can't wait for the epic party tomorrow!

Requested by @thelonepearl.

[hlficlibrary]

Remember to leave kudos and a comment on the fics you enjoyed to show your appreciation! You can find the library's other recs here.

🎒 so let's cross the lines we lost by @thecoloursneverfade {E, 165k}

Louis lives a not so quiet life on a not so quiet street. Starting university was supposed to be easy, that is, until he realises his new neighbour is Harry Styles, and they kind of hate each other, so falling for him is definitely out of the question.

(or: Harry and Louis have a complicated past, Niall throws too many parties, Zayn is definitely not pining, and Liam just wants everyone to get along)

🎒 i want you so much (but i hate your guts) by becauselarry / @obviouslybecauselarry {M, 83k}

AU in which Louis gets accepted to play for the Manchester University Alpha-Beta Football Team. The only problem: Louis is actually an Omega. He is determined to make it big in the football world, though, and he can't do that bound to an Omega team. With the help of a faked doctor's certificate and some pretty strong suppressants he is ready to fight for his dream.

That Harry Styles (Alpha, second year and youngest football captain of the A-B team in ages) doesn't seem to like him complicates matters, though.

🎒 And I'll judge the cover by the book by harrystylesandstuff {M, 73k}

At twenty years old Harry has his life figured out. He’ll graduate from the private University of Buckingham and move to Oxford to study journalism. He’ll meet someone who shares his values and accepts who he is, and apply everything his successful parents have taught him.

At twenty-two years old Louis has no clue what he wants in life. He’s not sure he’ll pass the year and doesn’t know where he’ll go after that. He spends his time smoking away his doubts about himself with his friends and all he cares about is making sure his family doesn’t fall apart.

They don’t belong together.

Or a Private University AU where Harry is a queer posh prince, Louis is a closeted troublemaker, and neither expect to understand each other the way they will.

🎒 always you (i should have known) by 28goldensfics / @28goldens {T, 60k}

“Oi, now we’re talking. Came running to ol’ Tomlinson for help, gotta say Harold,” He crossed his arms over his chest, and Harry watched as his eyes looked him over. “It's very out of character for you.”

“Yeah, well, don’t feel too special, you're my last choice,” Harry subconsciously crossed his arms as well, giving Louis his own look over.

“Oh, that's a lot of power, I’m your last resort!” He wagged his finger at him, letting out a cackle. “Alright, hit me with it.”

Harry’s lips pursed as he slowly started to regret the words about to spill out of his mouth, “I want you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”

or the one where harry and louis cant stand each other and fake date to make someone jealous.

🎒 Love's On The Line, Is That Your Final Answer? by PearlyDewdrops {E, 53k}

Harry can’t believe it when Louis, the boy he’s always had a tempestuous rivalry with, asks him to be his boyfriend. Well, pose as his boyfriend, that is—for a new television game show in which young couples are quizzed on how well they know each other for a jackpot of thirty grand.

Reluctantly, Harry agrees—because he's got student loans to pay off, hasn't he? What's the harm? And he can totally deal with keeping his secret thing for Louis under wraps too. This is all just to win some money. It's fine. No big deal. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, everything. Obviously.

🎒 catch me if i fall by @shimmeringevil {E, 47k}

“You– how do you–” Louis stammers before attempting to compose himself, fighting off the tidal wave of fear that threatens to wash him away in its wake. “No. You don’t. You don’t know.”

Every protest falling from his lips is in vain, because despite what he keeps telling himself, Harry knows.

Harry's widening smirk is answer enough as he steps forward slowly, walking up until he’s right in Louis’ space.

“You look like you need some time to process things,” he whispers with false-earnestness. Sliding a hand under Louis’ chin, Harry tilts his head so Louis is forced to look up at him. “Why don’t we take a little break and start up again later, so you can mull things over?”

OR - Lovers when on the stage but bitter rivals as soon as they step off, Harry and Louis have butted heads from the moment they first met. Locked in a stalemate that they hope to ride out until graduation, things take a turn when Harry learns that Louis is hiding a secret.

🎒 Through a Mirror Dimly by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup {M, 38k}

Louis Tomlinson, in his third year at university, does not expect nor want the roommate that is being assigned to his room.

Harry Styles, in his first year at university, has just been kicked out of one dorm and doesn't want to deal with yet another snobby, rich roommate.

They don't get along, and that's just how it is, until circumstances force them to reevaluate.

🎒 an ocean in my veins (you'll be diving in) by me_her_themoon / @dreamersdivin-headfirst {E, 31k}

But, since Niall is so talkative to literally anyone with a working mouth, it means that when Louis Tomlinson started to take a shine to him, Harry started to hate him.

Because suddenly, it wasn’t just Harry and Niall, and whoever else wanted to join their antics. It was Harry and Niall and Louis.

Did Harry mention that Louis is a stupid fucking prick? He wants to make sure that’s clear.

[or, harry and louis hate each other and niall just wants everyone to get along]

🎒 don't make this easy (i want you to mean it) by wildestdreams / @thelavendrhaze {E, 24k}

“Harry’s a player. All he does is chat everyone up. And guys like him are just--so ugh. He’s got that arrogant, self-assured smirk plastered to his face all the time. Always smug and stupid, like he could get anyone he lays his eyes on. All he does is make me mad and laugh all the time like he knows something that I don’t. That is so annoying.”

“But that’s just Harry,” Niall shrugged at Louis. “He doesn’t even try to flirt or anything. He’s just naturally charming, but that doesn’t mean he’s a player nor that he’s trying to get into everyone's pants. He’s just friendly. And he likes you. He doesn’t usually fall for people, but he fell for you.”

“Oh, should I feel special then?” Louis asked, snorting and rolling his eyes.

or Harry’s a frat boy who is head over heels for Louis and Louis wants nothing to do with him.

🎒 it's not a walk in the park to love each other by maroonmoonlouis (E, 24k}

“Um, where is your stuff? Have you even packed?” Harry tries not to sound irritated. Louis looks up to level him with an unimpressed glare.

“If you had bothered to pay attention to the news, you would know that I’m pretty sure I can’t leave this apartment.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Harry demands, hoping his panic doesn’t show. If Louis missed his flight, Harry will personally pay out of pocket for a new one. He is that desperate for his alone time.

Or the one where Harry and Louis are roommates forced to quarantine together, but they hate each other very much a lot.

🎒 Love Me Please by @angelichl {E, 23k}

Louis hates Harry, which is fine because he would really rather prefer to avoid him at all costs.

The only problem?

They're soulmates.

🎒 I Didn't Fall For You (You Fucking Tripped Me) by @allwaswell16 {E, 20k}

These days Louis tends to steer clear of dating alphas. He’s dated too many knotheads in his time, and he’s ready to just focus on school and his friends and his pet monitor lizard, of course.

Too bad the alpha next door won’t take a hint and stop using the worst pick up lines of all time on him. He’s really got to stop laughing with him--and talking to him and walking to class with him and letting him bring him coffee and tea and gifts for his lizard and watching Netflix together and...

🎒 Spinning Out Waiting for You by amomentoflove / @daggerandrose {M, 18k}

Harry Styles is a year and a half away from graduating with a masters in potions and he has one huge milestone to reach in his academy career: the Matching Ceremony.

From Halloween night until graduation, matched witches and familiars will have to create a talisman to be a physical representation of their bond. One for the witch and one for the familiar. Most pairings last an entire lifetime.

If only it were that simple.

🎒 if it looks like, feels like, tastes like love... by tempolarriefics / @tempolarriefix {T, 16k}

Niall has an easygoing smile on his face, bright and unbothered, as if he isn’t facilitating a lunch between Harry and the one person he might truly hate. “Niall. Louis,” Harry greets them both, somewhat strained. Louis doesn’t even look up at him. Harry sighs, taking a seat next to Niall and grabbing for the sandwich on the table. “Hear me out,” Niall says, cutting right to the chase. “Family housing.”

Or, the one where harry and louis hate each other but pretend to date to be able to live in university 'family housing', zayn and liam are their nosy next door neighbors, and niall is the friend who made it all happen.

🎒 oh so familiar by @insightfulinsomniac {E, 13k}

When Harry transferred to the University of Mestonwood, he hoped that he'd finally fit in. As a witch, he's much less likely to feel isolated on an entirely supernatural campus, right?

Wrong. Thanks to the cold-shoulder efforts of Louis Tomlinson, president of the vampire Coven, Harry still feels the sting of rejection from the most gorgeous boy on campus. It's doubly frustrating that everyone else, even Harry's only close friend, Niall, seems to think Louis is a great guy.

Harry vows to actively ignore Louis in return, but his plans are foiled when his familiar, Oli, starts turning off their telepathic connection during Harry's classes. It doesn't take long for Harry to find out where Oli is disappearing to - or, rather, who he is disappearing to.

A story of misguided enemies to lovers brought together by a stubborn orange tabby.

🎒 Do You Like My Sweater? by kiwikero / @icanhazzalou {E, 13k}

“Look, for a Sadie Hawkins dance the omegas are supposed to invite the alphas instead of the other way around.”

Niall and Liam shared a look. “That… sounds like the sort of thing you would usually be all over, Lou,” Liam said, face pinched in confusion. Niall nodded his agreement.

“Yeah, if omegas were hosting it,” Louis replied sourly. “It’s one thing if we decide that we’re going to ask the alphas for a change. It’s insulting that they think we need their permission.”

When Harry's alpha fraternity decides to host a Sadie Hawkins dance, outspoken omega Louis has a thing or two to say about it.

🎒 Where Do We Go Now by @jaerie {E, 10k}

Louis goes off to college ready to start a fresh life away from the oppressive alphas of his pack. The odds aren't in his favour when his new dorm mate turns out to be an alpha. Louis hates alphas.

🎒 Can't Buy My Love, Can Buy Me Dinner by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13 {G, 9k}

Is it ethical to accept a dinner date for the free food? And will you hate me when I go anyway?

Fact 1: Louis hates Harry Styles. Fact 2: Louis is temporarily living off toast and spaghetti hoops. Fact 3: ...Louis may be semi-accidentally dating his worst enemy.

🎒 Cut me up, kiss me harder by @lunarheslwt (M, 9k}

“Y’know, you push and push and you’re mouthy and defiant, but it’s all an act isn’t it,” Harry pressed tauntingly. He was helpless to not tilt Louis’ face back up to him by placing a hand under his chin. Louis’ eyes fluttered in response. “You just want to be roughed up a little,” he continued, voice dropping. Louis swallowed harshly, keening. “You just want to be made to take it.” “God, shut UP!!” Louis hissed, fisting roughly at his shirt. “You don’t want that either,” Harry mumbled. “Are you like this with every other omega you fuck too? How does anyone,” Louis seethed, crowding into his space further, “beg you to fuck them when you’re so full of it?” “Who said they do?” Harry asked. “Unless,” he began, voice devious, “You’re speaking for yourself. Is that it? Are you gonna beg for my knot, then? Hmm?” “Shut the fuck up,” Louis bit out. Harry had no time to think before Louis crashed his lips onto his again.

Or, a group of friends, a slightly drunk alternate version of spin the bottle, and the universe having a wicked sense of humour may just be enough to bring one bratty omega and a tired-of-said-omega’s-bullshit alpha closer than they’ve ever been. In more ways than one.

🎒 Lock On by thinlines / @thinlinez {E, 8k}

“Sure you don’t wanna do this? It’s fifty pounds a throw, my man.” The alpha winked as Louis froze before turning slowly back to face him. The twinkle in Liam’s eyes meant that he knew Louis had taken the bait. “Fifty pounds?” Louis exhaled as Liam nodded, holding the water balloon further out. The smaller alpha swallowed thickly. “Why didn’t you say so?”

In which a missed water balloon throw might have led Alpha Louis to the world's most difficult omega

[yawchi]

Aki doesn’t necessarily crave change.

In all honesty, he quite likes things being the way that they are. Having a—somewhat, most of the time—normal routine he can follow. Clock in and clock out and pick up takeout from that one restaurant on the corner on his way home. Make sure Power and Denji don’t try to steal the ramen shop’s cat as they pass by. It’s relatively nice, he thinks. Having a day to day.

But now he’s standing in front of the bathroom mirror and he just.. wonders.

“Power knocked Denji through the bedroom wall again. So we gotta fix it, again,” you sigh as you come in and lean your head on his shoulder. “And Meowy’s stuck on the fridge and won’t come down, so I might need your help with that.”

Aki hums, nods. He figures he can stop by the hardware store to buy more drywall tomorrow after work. And he doesn’t mind to come rescue the cat off the top of the fridge. But he doesn’t move, just tips his head at himself in the mirror.

He's been told many times that it wouldn’t kill him to loosen up, but he doesn’t think he’s all that stoic. Yes, he agrees he is blunt, but he is still soft for those he cares about, no? Is that not enough? Shouldn’t it be?

“Do you think I'm too uptight?”

The question comes out low, like he didn’t mean to even say it out loud, and you catch his gaze in the mirror. No, he decides, it is not enough that he thinks that way. He needs to make sure someone else does, too.

He needs to make sure you do.

“That depends, are we talking on bill day, or?” You’re joking with him, and normally he likes that. but now he just shifts his eyes off you in the mirror back to his own face. You frown, tug at his shirt sleeve until he looks down at you fully. “No. I think you’re curt and honest and take things seriously, but not in a bad way. You’re not like that deep down because you care. Why are you even asking that?”

He blinks at you. Once, twice, three times. He doesn’t particularly want to answer that question because now as he thinks about the reasoning behind what’s got him thinking this way it just seems silly. And what if you laugh at him, heaven forbid?

But he finds it hard to not be honest with you. It's like you’ve signed a contract with an honesty devil, because you somehow always make him sing like a bird regardless of whether he wants to or not. And right now is no different.

“A colleague at work said that I was more uptight than my topknot.” He cuts his eyes from you, because it sounds even more minute coming out of his mouth. “So, I just thought..”

“What?” And your hands are on him, now. running up his chest and smoothing over his shoulders in the way you know soothes him after long and tiring days. He sighs into your touch, remembers his walls do not have to be up here, and lets you in.

“I think I'd like to cut my hair.”

He takes the next few moments to study you, gauge your reaction. there’s the tiniest twitch of your eyebrow, smallest intake of breath, little tilt of your lips. but nothing too expressive, too.. judgmental.

It's times like this that he remembers why he fell in love with you. Because even if he is not entirely conventional, you treat him as if he is anyways.

“Okay,” you say, light and easy and make a show of faux rolling your eyes. “Even though you’ve never gotten more than a trim in the numerous years we’ve been together. I guess it’s time for a change.”

And he doesn’t even need to say anything else before you’re leaning over to retrieve the hair scissors and clippers from the bottom drawer of the kitchen cabinet. Then you’re straightening back up and tapping your finger to your chin.

“Hmm, let’s see. What’re we thinking?” He’s about to answer you when you reach forward and grab his jaw, theatrically tipping his head this way and that as you hum. “A mohawk? buzz cut? Shaved heads are very in style now, you know. I think you could rock it.”

Aki narrows his eyes at that, loosely grabs the wrist you have held up to his face. 

“Very funny,” he gripes, but there’s no real venom in it because the smile on your face dilutes everything that comes out of his mouth. “I don't think I signed up for sarcasm with my haircut.”

You put your free hand on his shoulder and push him down onto the toilet seat before he can stop you. And he gulps just a bit, feels his stomach twist like it does when he sees you cooking breakfast in his shirt. You pat his cheek and he can’t stop himself from trying to chase after the warmth of your palm as you pull your hand away and start to reach for a comb.

“No, but you signed up for it when you got me, so.” You turn back to him and slide the comb through his hair as you step between his legs. “I'd say that it should’ve been a given.”

And that’s true and it is, but sometimes he just likes to pick. That's something that may feed into his apparently uptight reputation or break it down, he doesn’t know, but he never picks quite as much with anyone but you. You bring out the best of him, he’d argue. The parts of him that he thinks are far too soft and fragile for him to walk out into the world without shielding in armor. You ease him, and he likes that. You make him think change doesn’t have to be so bad.

“But seriously,” you hum, sliding your fingers through his hair, twisting the ends lazily. “What are you wanting?”

As he looks up at you from his spot on the toilet seat, he finds his mind slightly drifting from the matter at hand. You look nice today. You’re wearing his cologne, he detects. There’s a flake of something in your hair that he suspects to be from Power and Denji breaking the wall. You seem to handle everything so effortlessly, even though he knows that isn’t quite true. And he realizes something.

“Surprise me,” Aki says, and feels his lips twitch at the way your face lights up. 

You make quick work of it. Like you’ve thought about this before. Mapped out a route of change for him prior to him even asking. He wonders what else you’ve thought about changing in life.

Maybe he should bring up changing the paint on your bedroom walls. Maybe he should ask if you’d like a different brand of spices at the store. Maybe he should inquire about your thoughts on getting another cat. Maybe he should see what you think of replacing the worn out sofa with something better.

He sits on the toilet seat and watches you focus. Smiles at the way you bite your lip in concentration and tilting and turning his head when you tell him to. His hands have politely made their way to the backs of your thighs, mindlessly playing with the hem of your shorts as you ask him about his day and tell him of your own. His cheeks heat up when you catch his eye and smile at him, and his fingers tighten on your legs when you lean down to give him a peck every now and then.

And with each wisp of hair that falls from the scissors and each buzz of the clippers by his ear he finds himself leaning into change easier and easier until you’re taking a step back and admiring what you’ve stripped from him.

“You’re scaring me,” Aki chuckles under his breath as he takes in the look you’re giving him. You’re chewing the inside of your cheek, holding out a hand to him as you bounce on the balls of your feet.

He takes it, as he always does and always will, and lets you drag him back in front of the mirror and turn him until he’s looking at himself. And the breath leaves him all at once.

You've clipped the sides, faded it out and shortened his hair all around and given him layers of some sort. He cuts his eyes to your excited face in the mirror for a split second and wonders if you secretly went to some barber school he isn’t aware of. It’s just so.. nice. It fits him; suits him. His face looks like him, and he knows that should be obvious but it’s different than before. It’s…

“What do you think?” you ask, and you’re half wrapped around his arm now as you blink up at him. “Do you like it? You said surprise you but that’s so nerve wracking so I really just tried to do something that would be more manageable and—“

Aki turns to kiss you so fast that if you didn’t have a grip on his arm already then you might’ve just fallen backwards onto the bathroom tile.

“It's perfect. I love it,” he breathes as he pulls back, looks back into the mirror for a split second before pressing another peck to your lips, “I love you. Thank you.”

And you’re beaming, now. Painting that smug look on your face that you get when you’re cocky as you wrap your arms around his neck. He loves it, adores it. He kisses you one more time before you turn your face from him with a giggle.

“Psh, knew you would. I'm perfect at everything you know. I should charge you, actually. Send you a bill.”

He’s about to jibe back with you—maybe ask if he could repay the favor by making dessert and doing the dishes tonight—but there’s a yell of your name from a few rooms over that sounds suspiciously like Denji’s cry for help when power is fighting with him that drags you away. You peck his lips and grin at him before you scurry your way out of the bathroom and to whatever sort of commotion is going on now.

Aki turns himself back to the bathroom mirror, studies the man staring back at him. He slides a hand back through his freshly cut hair, lets the new buzz tickle his fingertips. His own touch isn’t as delicate as yours, doesn’t welcome the change as gracefully as you do. He turns from the mirror and scuffs his feet across the tile to follow you to the debacle that you’ve been called to split up. And as he watches you soothe an overly dramatic Denji and calm down a riled up power, he thinks.

No, Aki doesn’t suppose that he necessarily craves change, but he finds that he doesn’t quite mind it. And as he stares at the hand you have patting Denji’s head while you flash him an exasperated grin, some of his loose hairs stuck to your shirt, he figures there’s one more change he’s more than ready to make.

Maybe he should start picking out a ring.

[thoughtsonhurtandcomfort]

I don’t know how to start messages (except like this), but hope you get the writing juice back soon! At your own pace of course.

Hope this isn’t somehow annoying (I overthink a lot and over-explain/apologize as a result, sorry), and that you take care of yourself, stay hydrated, and all that jazz! Also that you have a happy new year when it passes by :)

Also, bit unrelated, but seriously, how the fuck do you write so well? It’s like magic/witchcraft, and I mean that in a very complimentary way (hope it’s not strange, but same anon who left the long compliment message. Just for context, hope that’s not annoying). Feel free to ignore this bottom part but do you have any tips/advice for writing? Always wanted to but never knew how to start.

Again, and I’m not saying this to somehow be guilt-trippy (I SWEAR I’m not, just want to make sure my writing tone is clarified, I’m not good at telling it) feel free to not answer, but your writing is genuinely some of the best I’ve ever read, top 10 for sure!

ANYWAYS, hope you have a great rest of your day/night (even though I just said that at the beginning lol) and that I didn’t somehow accidentally mess my writing up and come off as offensive or strange or weird somehow (my overthinking is strong, I apologize in advance.) :)

-idk

Hi!! Happy new year!

I apologize for not being very quick at answering, I'm very lazy and not always online. But I have seen and read all your asks from the first one and appreciate them so much. <3 If you want, you can give yourself an anon nickname - for example, someone sends me the occasional anonymous ask with a strawberry emoji at the end, so I know it's the same person!

And oh gosh...I'm so flattered that you like my writing?? I don't consider myself particularly good but I enjoy it a lot and am at least happy enough with things to share them. One cool thing about this community is how responsive people are to the work they enjoy, for any writer or artist or creator that is such a gift!

So, it's worth mentioning that I minored in writing in college. I mention that because it contributed to my personal experience with writing but in no way do I think someone needs to formally study to become a good writer, nor does formal study guarantee being one.

Also, I didn't go into any jobs that involve writing, it has remained just a hobby, and I'm fine with that. I strongly believe that creating and enjoying art is for everyone regardless of skill level and without being expected to monetize it or gain popularity. We are so lucky to be able to read, write, draw, paint, etc, when through much of human history, and still in parts of the world, those things were only available to a privileged few. Now I can write and doodle in a cheap shitty Dollar Tree notebook if I want to and no one can stop me.

I don't feel qualified to give too much advice, but I can at least share some things that have worked for me. And I encourage other writers who see this to do the same!

Read. The more you read, and the more variety especially, the more you will pick up. The idea of course isn't to copy other people's work but to get a feel for different styles, learn new words and phrases, be inspired. My love of writing started with reading.

Practice. This is the most boring answer but also unfortunately the most important. Sometimes you just gotta do the thing to get better at the thing.

Daydream. This isn't for everyone, but I have always had an active imagination. As long as I can remember I would imagine little scenarios in my head, sometimes over and over to try out different versions of them or add details. Writing can just be having little stories in your head that you feel compelled to put down, and doing so can be really rewarding whether you share them or not.

Outline. This is pretty basic, I just love to outline. It doesn't have to be a fancy formatted one, just jot down the key points of the thing you want to write, in order. Then fill it out with notes, phrases, any other ideas you have. None of this has to be fleshed out, it's just to organize your thoughts.

Drafts are good, actually. Have a first draft and a second and a third if you need to. Move things around, delete, rewrite, reword, whatever. Nothing has to be perfect the first time through, sometimes it's nice to just let the words flow and figure out the details later.

Learn the rules so you can break them. Even if you don't take writing in school, there are lots of ways to study basic grammar, punctuation, writing tools like metaphors and similes and all that. The point isn't to write like a robot, it is to have a solid foundation on which to build your creativity. Lots of pretty words are pointless if the reader can't understand what you're trying to communicate. And once you know the 'rules', you can intentionally bend and break them to create a desired effect and develop a personal style.

And finally,

WRITE WHAT YOU WANT.

It's a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, and I'm glad because it's true but saying it and getting it are two different things. If you're writing as a hobby, it's meant to be enjoyed. Write things you would want to read. Write the things that feel right to you. Write things that help you express something. Write things that challenge you in a positive way, or write things that are comforting and simple, as long as it's coming from within you.

And if you aren't feeling it, it's ok to just...stop. Or at least pause. I am still learning that I don't have to force myself to write just because I think someone is expecting it, I don't have to fill a prompt that doesn't interest me just because I feel bad if I don't. I have piles of unfinished word docs and google docs and tumblr drafts that will never get finished and that is OK. Give yourself permission for that to be OK. When you let go of the projects that feel like a slog you give more space for the projects that spark joy!

Anyway, I hope any of this is helpful. However you do it, I hope you will create something!

[twisted-art-wounders]

YGO AU: Breaking the Seal 20

Chapter 20 Connection

Yugi gets to know his fellow DOMA members and discovers their is more to them then meets the eye.

“Why do I gotta babysit?” Valon groaned as he walked side by side with his fellow swordsmen down the long hallway. “I'm no good with kids!”

“He's not a kid, He's 17.” Raphael answered.

“Whatever! Why do I gotta waste my time looking after Dartz's brat? That's not fair! What did I do to deserve this?” Valon covered his eyes with his free hand a frustrated grunt passing through his lips.

“Because we're not the ones who got injured on the job while trying to flirt with a blonde.” Alister teased “You're lucky Dartz is even giving you work to do after that tremendous blunder.”

“Oi, I was trying to recruit her! She's a strong duelist I can get her to join us! I just need a little more time…” Valon huffed making Alister chuckle before responding

“Valon, there's no woman on EARTH with that much time.”

They were returning from DOMA's main card room; Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood were in there for about an hour preparing their new decks before they were instructed by Dartz to go and capture the souls of the Nameless Pharaoh and Joey Wheeler. With their powered up decks and using the Seal of Orichalcos they'd hoped it would be enough for them to finally beat the two chosen duelists. Both the bug and dino duelists were taken by one of Paradius' private limos to the train station so they could prepare to en act their plans.

Valon again grumbled to himself under his breath, before trying to change the subject.

“So…anyone else freaked out with the kid's power? I thought he was human not some kind of meta human or mutant…”

The other two looked down the hallway both remembering what they witnessed from the vessel; he emitted a monstrous amount of energy the likes of which none of them had seen before. Powerful enough it felt like the whole building was going to crumble around them.

“…You guys think he's Dartz's illegitimate kid? I mean he and Dartz seem to carry the same aura you know.” Valon looked at the other two hoping they were thinking the same thing.

“Pfft I doubt it. It's Dartz's were talking about can you imagine him having a child?” Alister shock his head but still paused for a moment before continuing.

“But I am a bit confused too, how could he have that kind of power? Did the Orichalcos grant it to him or was he hiding this power all along?” Alister looked to Raphael waiting form him to weigh his thoughts in.

Raphael closed his eyes and kept walking “There's no doubt he has a powerful soul, he broke the Orichalcos twice after all. Not to mention he's the chosen vessel of the Nameless Pharaoh…only a vessel with that amount of strength could hold the power the Nameless Pharaoh has.” The blonde man opened his eyes again and looked down the hallway as they passed by more closed doors all incidental to each other.

“Whatever Master Dartz has planned for him we need to make sure to follow his orders; You need to keep an eye on him Valon don't let him out of you're sight.”

“Yeah, last thing we need is for him to go critical on us and blow us all to kingdom come…” Alister added

“So I gotta keep the brat entertained huh?” Valon sighed “Great…how am I supposed to do that?”

Raphael started to recall his own childhood when his younger siblings Sonia and Julian were much smaller and would follow him everywhere he went. They always wanted to spend time with him when he wasn't in one of his private home school lessons or studying something related to that. He loved spending time with them and would always watch out for them when they'd play in the garden. Hide and seek was one of their favourites and he'd always pretend he couldn't find them right away just to keep the game going as long as possible. Their smiles and giggles would always bring warmth to his heart, a warmth he was now missing greatly in his life.

Alister on the other hand could recall his own childhood with his younger brother Mickey; before the war had broken out he was always asked by Mickey to hang out with him when he'd go spend time with his friends. Alister hated having to bring Mickey along with him but with their mother at work he had no choice. He'd sigh and roll his eyes when Mickey would always bring up his favourite hero; Dyna Dude it was embarrassing to have him always talking about that in front of his friends. He'd always wished he'd never have to bring him along anywhere again. Sadly he'd eventually get that wish…Alister touched the area in his jacket were he kept the final remains of Mikey's toy close to his heart.

“You'll be fine. He's a teenager he wont be much trouble.” Raphael spoke coldly trying to straighten his back as they stopped in front of the door.

“…Just do what Dartz's says and keep an eye on him.” Alister spoke with his usual tone but there was a hint of sadness to it that he tried to hide back.

Valon was a bit confused by both of their reactions, he felt they'd become a bit more emotional just now but since they both brushed it off he decided not press any further. He sighed and put his free hand behind the back of his head.

“Guess you two are right…”

Raphael pulled out his card and swiped it in the door before placing his hand on the black square scanner, once it beeped he reached for the handle and opened the door. He and Alister walked in first followed by Valon who kept his eyes shut as he entered. Both the blonde and red head had stopped and stared as their eyes scanned the room left to right; they saw the once pristine and cleaned room was now littered with cards on the floor, the cabinets all opened and riffled through it was like a hurricane had come through the place.

Valon had finally entered and opening his eyes he too got a look at the room.

“I mean how hard can it be-eeAHEGHA!!!” Valon screamed in shock grabbing his head with his free hand. “WTF HAPPENED IN HERE!?”

Just then they all saw Yugi walking back towards a table that sat in the other part of the room, in his hands was a small wooden box inside it was filled with the cards he'd just picked out. He had a very delighted expression on his face, he didn't even notice the other men had entered the room too focused on his treasure box of cards.

Valon hissed as he lowered his arm and pointed a finger at Yugi before screaming “YOU!”

The sudden noise made Yugi jump out of fear with a small yell before he finally took notice of the three older men who'd just entered the room. Two of them were still in shock at the mess while the third- the brunette was fuming in rage.

“You cheeky little shit! What the hell did you do to this place!?”

Yugi blinked confused at the accusation before he finally looked around and it hit him like a ton of bricks that he left the room in such a horrible state! Yugi's eyes widened when he realized this and looked back towards the brunette with a scared expression, instinctively he held up a hand and backed away a bit.

“OMG! I'-I'm sorry! I didn't even notice! I-I'll clean everything up I promise!” Yugi's meek persona once again surfaced as he felt the intimidation from the group hang over him, it was like he was back at school and cornered by bullies once again.

“You betta! Despite the accent mate I'm NOT Marry Bloody Poppin's! I'm not you're personal maid! And if you think I'm gonna clean up after ya I'm gonna give ya a spoon fulla my FIST! Hows that to help the medicine go down!?”

Valon's hand tightened into a fist to give extra emphasis on his threat, which worked since Yugi was feeling intimidated by the man. Finally the other swordsmen had come out of their initial shock and listened into Valon's ranting watching Yugi they could see he wasn't as confident as before, maybe because he was staring down much larger people then the two teens.

“I didn't mean to make a mess! I was gonna clean it up and I just got distracted and- okay no this isn't working. I'm making a horrible impression on you!” Yugi took in a deep breath and with one hand brushed his blonde fringe out of his face before changing his expression to more confident smile, he held out his hand in a gesture for greeting.

“Let's start over! Hi I'm Yusei- No! I mean I'm Yuya- No! I'm Yuki- No! I'm I'm Im-” Yugi was sweating with anxiety before his face had turned red from all of the previous wrong names he yelled out.

“I AM…so embarrassed…” Yugi sighed looking down and holding the box close to his chest with both hands now. How on earth could he forget his own name!? He was supposed to work with these people and now all they were gonna see was a scared child!

The swordsmen had watched him as he continued to ramble off names and slowly shrink back into himself. Valon and Alister had an unimpressed expression on their faces while Raphael kept his normally stone hearted look. He did notice Yugi's embarrassment, he looked like kid who had wanted to appear to be grown up in front of his peers but came off as childish. Recognizing this it did move his heart slightly since he'd experienced this kind of embarrassment before in his childhood and knew what Yugi must be feeling.

So he decided to break the ice so to speak, he cleared his throat getting everyone's attention before he spoke.

“Hello Embarrassed, I'm Raphael.”

His deadpanned expression mixed with his flat delivery caused everyone to be silent for a moment before Alister's frowned mouth curled upward into a slight grin he started to chuckle under his breath and had to turn away a bit. Valon tried to bite his lower lip to keep himself from laughing but failed tremendously as he burst out laughing. Raphael looked between the two of them and had a slight smile on his face, satisfied with the results he folded his arms and looked at Yugi.

Yugi was dumbfounded by how Raphael's words managed to get his fellow swordsmen to lighten up rather quickly. He wasn't really sure what to think of this, should he laugh too or- Finally Valon had gotten enough of grip on himself to wipe away a tear and breathe normally again.

“Raph! You always know how to bring the sunshine mate!” Valon looked down at Yugi with a neutral expression he put his good hand on his hip. “Relax kid, I ain't gonna smack ya but you are gonna clean this place up, right?”

Yugi blinked then nodded with a smile “O-Of course! I'm sorry again I should be more mindful of my actions. I mean we are gonna be working together. After all we are the four musketeers!” He raised a fist up looking to his fellow swordsmen again.

Alister and Raphael had the same neutral expression Valon had earlier but Valon rolled his eyes a bit with and added chuckle.

“Nice try kid but we all know there's only 3 Musketeers!”

“Uhh…actually there are four…” Yugi interjected, making Valon pout a bit and want to argue again only for Raphael to speak up.

“Actually he's right there were four of them. Athos, Aramis, Porthos, and D'Artagnan.”

This made Valon turn his head to the blonde and blinked confused “Wait are you serious?!”

Alister then rolled his eyes and crossed his arms looking at Valon “Someone clearly didn't read the book.”

Valon now turned to Alister and yelled “Wait it's a book!? I thought we was named after the candy bar!”

This made Alister glare at him in annoyance “Did you seriously think we named yourselves after the candy bars?”

“Well yeah there's three of them in a package there's three of us so it makes sense to me.” Valon folded his good arm, making Alsiter smack his face in embarrassment.

“You realize you JUST made the high school student look smarter then you right now right?” Alister grumbled through his hand.

Valon growled and shouted “Hey! you know not all of us is as well read as you!”

“Wouldn't kill ya to pick up a book once in while Val! Then maybe you'd stop embarrassing yourself.”

As the two continued to argue Raphael only rolled his eyes and let them go on, he knew it was the only way to really let them cool off so they'd be less likely to argue more later. Yugi watched on and as he did he couldn't help but see his old friends in the three men; this was how Joey and Tristan would act at times getting into arguments with each other normally leading to some kind of violence between the two, Tea would either end up having to step in to stop them or she'd just watch on with Yugi annoyed with their childishness.

Yugi couldn't help but smile as his mind drifted to those better times, finally he just started to giggle then was laughing out loud. As he did Valon and Alister stopped fighting as they heard Yugi laughing, soon all three of the swordsmen looked at Yugi confused as what had made him laugh this hard.

“Uhh… what's the joke kid?” Valon looked at Yugi who'd had also noticed them staring at him and managed to collect himself enough to answer.

“You guys are people…you're people…” Yugi smiled to them which brought on another confused expression from each of them.

“Yeah, we're are people.” Alister answered flatly. “What else would we be?” he folded his arms.

“Uh nothing…” Yugi sighed contently and turned around “I'm gonna start cleaning this mess.”

Yugi smiled and headed towards the table to put the box down then he began to pick up some of the cards on the ground closest to him. The three swordsmen looked between each other still confused about what had just happened. Valon giving a shrug before he headed towards the table to sit the other two following after him.

--

After Kaiba exploded about Yami Yugi's loss to Raphael during the video call the gang knew they would have to find a different method to get to Florida. They ultimately decided split up; Yami, Tea, Joey and Tristan would use a train to get to the airport, while Mai, Duke, Rebecca and Professor Hawkin's would drive into town to find another airport then meet each other there.

Everyone started packing up and getting themselves ready; Tea and Mai had mentioned they wanted a quick shower so they could change clothes for the trip. The Professor's RV had running water so he offered it to them along with the bed room for them to change. Mai offered Tea the shower first so she was in the shower while Mai instructed the boys to keep their distance and help move things into Duke's car again for the drive, and to help pack up her bike on the trailer hitch.

Yami Yugi had wondered outside and further into the desert away form his friends whom he didn't want to face right now. The sun was beating down hard as it getting closer to Noon, he stopped just past a few rocks and looked down at the ground. Only dust and rocks at his feet and stray lizard that had run by. His mind was still flooded with guilt not only because of what happened to Yugi but now the world was in danger because of his actions.

//What have I done? Now thanks to me he's gone…and if he is the key to stopping DOMA I just handed him over to them! Partner…how could I have done this to you…//

His mind drifted back to the duel, just when he was about to play the Seal of Orichalcos Yugi stopped him only for him to yell at him.

“This is my fight! This is my justice! My beliefs are on the line! And I don't need you butting into everything I do! Do you hear me!? Be quiet and stay out of this!”

He winced at his own words as they echoed in his memory; he longed to have his old memories back to know who he was in his past… but with this memory oh how he wished he could forget this one too. “I DONT NEED YOU!”

His gut sank even lower at that final staement the final thing he told Yugi before he played that awful card. The fear in Yugi's eyes… he did that to him. Tears started to threaten in the corner of his own eyes now. And even after he was so rotten Yugi still saved him! He always saved him from becoming his worse self but now- tears ran down his cheeks as he tried to scrub them away.

He felt weak and powerless…

“So you never did change did you?”

Yami blinked and turned around for the source of the voice, it was Mai standing with her arms crossed and a look of disappointment on her face. Yami didn't want to look her in the eyes right now so he looked at the ground again.

“I really had hoped you had changed since our duel in Duelist Kingdom. And I had believed it during Battle City. You grew up you changed and became even stronger as a duelist. You trusted yourself and you still kept your principles. But the Yugi I saw back there in that duel…That was the same scared and stubborn child I duel back in the finals.”

“Y-you don't understand. There was so much riding on that duel! I had to use the Seal it was-”

“It was the cowards way out! You were scared of losing so you decided any method was the best method even if it would cost you someone precious!” She yelled.

“I never thought he would-” Yami argued only to be shot down again.

“You knew what the other Yugi was like! You KNEW he'd never put you in danger! I think he'd starve himself before he'd let you go hungry! Face it you did this because you're a coward!” Mai pointed to him.

He hated that word he HATED it so much! It drove a dagger into his stomach and twisted it deeper inside the more he thought about it. She was right…he didn't need to play the card, if only he'd had Yugi's humility… if only he had listened to him! Why didn't he listen to him? Yami looked as if he was about to cry again, only to feel Mai put her hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at her and saw she'd softened her expression a bit and looked him directly in the eyes.

“You screwed up big time…but now is the REAL test for you. You can either sit here and wallow in your own pain and failure. Or you can find the strength to keep going you can find the strength to fight for him again.”

Mai took her hand off his shoulder and headed back towards her Jeep, Yami stood there and watched her leave before returning his gaze to the sands. He swallowed hard and turned around heading towards the trailer.

--

Yugi had taken off his long over coat and hung it on the back of one of the chairs while he cleaned up. He didn't realize just how much of mess he'd made until he had to perform his own personal game of 52 pick up but instead it was more like 5200 pick up. Luckily for him he was used to having to clean up loose cards not only that but cleaning up after kids in general. When they'd come to the store most times the kids would make mess of things and of course it was Yugi's job to clean up the mess afterwards. it was quite an annoyance for him but over time he'd gotten used to it and was much faster at tidying up.

After cleaning up the cards around him and placing them back in their cases in the proper order Yugi decided to sweep the floor a bit, a habit he picked up form his grandfather. As he swept up his fellow swordsmen sat at the rectangular table and watched him work. They didn't mind he was being extra cleanly no doubt a way to show he was sorry for the mess from earlier. And it meant they were spared from cleaning up before Dartz would come back and check in on them.

Valon decided to speak up first.

“You know I don't get why you went so nuts about the cards in here, don't your family own a card shop or somethin'?”

Yugi kept his sweeping momentum going while answering.

“Well first, it's a general game store not exclusively a card shop. Domino City has a few hobby and card shops but we focus on a variety of games. Even though Gramps prefers old school styled ones like chess, solitaire, etc. Second, this is like the biggest card collection I've ever seen in my life!”

Yugi gestured to the cabinets around them before going up to case to case and reading off the cards he'd just put back.

“I've never even heard of half of these cards before! “Nightmare Tri-Mirror” “Royal Decree” “Spirit Hunting” I swear Dartz must have the worlds best collection!”

Yugi sounded so excited when he was talking about cards it was like talking to someone about their special interest, once they get going they just get more excited and happy.

“We do have access to every card produced, Dartz would reserve only the best ones for us and himself of course. ” Raphael answered.

“Guess that makes us pretty lucky.” Yugi smiled before finally finishing his sweeping. “Which means I can make a really strong deck just like Dartz said.”

He put the broom away and went back to the table to pick up his card box. Instead of sitting at the table with the other's Yugi sat on the ground and started to sort through his cards; making piles for magic, trap and monsters. They all found it a bit odd Yugi would just sit on the ground and work but then again it's not like the ground wasn't clean.

As he started working Alister piped up curious.

“So what kind of deck will you build?”

Yugi paused for a bit thinking “Well I'm still brain storming a bit…I've always stuck to dark monsters but maybe I can try something different…”

“Well if you were looking to use the God cards you're outta luck kid. I don't think Dartz will be willing to part with them even for you.” Valon grinned a bit as he sat back in his chair he was hoping he got on Yugi's nerves just a bit since he was the type to tease people.

The air in the room had a sudden chill sweep across as Yugi paused what he was doing holding one single card in his hand. His hand shook a little as he bit down on his teeth hard trying to repress the anger that was building in him.

He huffed out

“Fine with me. I hope I NEVER see those miserable things again!” Yugi slapped the card down on the ground.

All three men looked down at Yugi confused by his answer, especially Valon.

“What's the matter kid? You was ready to fight us at 'fisty cuffs' to get them back the first night we met, now you're acting like their cursed or somefin'…oh shit they ain't actually cursed are they?” Valon sweated looking at the others before looking back at Yugi.

“No, they aren't 'cursed' but they might as well be…” Yugi paused again as his mind was starting to flood with memories of the events of the latest tournament. It started to over flow and this time he had no dam to try and hold himself back from speaking so he started to spill.

“Everyone thinks Battle City was some kind of cake walk for me since The Nameless Pharaoh gained all three of the God cards and won the title of Duel King. But every other duel was like life or death! A constant parade of one bad event after another like a waking nightmare!”

Raphael watched him carefully; he knew this kind of body language meant this was a touchy subject for Yugi, still a fresh wound not quite healed and still festering under the bandages. While he was curious he still understood the pain, so he didn't really want to press him more but Valon ever the curious sort asked for him.

“Whadda ya mean?”

Yugi was still he had both hands on the ground now as he stopped and tried to think of his answer, his heart was overflowing with emotions and his mind was trying to control them as best it could. He wasn't sure how to best answer so he decided to start from the beginning.

“You guys know who the 'Ghouls' are right?”

They did, they encountered them a few times in their line of work. Card thieves and counterfeiters who worked under a mysterious man only known as Marik, only recently they'd been disbanded due to Marik's change of heart.

“Like me Marik was chosen to hold a Millennium Item-the Millennium Rod; using it he could control people's minds and make them do what he wanted like some kind of twisted puppet master…And of course he had some kind of grudge against the Nameless Pharaoh meaning he held a grudge against me.”

“During Battle City he sent his goons after me; The first guy…I didn't know his name but he used an Exodia deck. Not bad once you figure it out and can counter him. But then the next guy was a Dark Magician user and some kind of illusionist? Archena. He was a BIG time cheater! He shackled our ankles to the ground, with giant buzz saws that would inch closer to our legs every time we'd lose life points and if you lose you'd get your legs sawed off and die bleeding to death!”

All three older men's eyes widened when they heard him talking about the buzz saw trap, they all exchanged a looked between each other before Yugi continued with his recount of Battle City. After that duel The Nameless Pharaoh had dueled a Mime named Strings who held the God card Slyfir the Sky Dragon and how they would have lost if Kaiba didn't show up to kept give them a confidence boost. But speaking of Kaiba.

“And you know you'd think Kaiba would be a little more thoughtful and hold a little sympathy about the fact a maniac was after my friends and they would be in serious life threatening danger but NOOOOO! It's just “We have to Duel Yugi!” “You can't run away from our fated Duel, Yugi!” Like are you SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!? I told his stubborn ass we didn't have time to fight and of course he has away to track Joey down for me. BUT I'm stuck having to hear him go on about 'fated fight' this and 'duel title' that! I wanted to smack him SO hard!”

Yugi rubbed his face hard just thinking about Kaiba's stubbornness and how it almost cost them a tag team duel that would have gotten them BOTH killed made him fume. Alister couldn't help but relate to Yugi's plight about Seto Kaiba, his rude and selfish attitude and how nothing else mattered as long as he got what he wanted.

Yugi's shoulders lowered again as now he had to recall his most painful memory from Battle City, his life or death duel against Joey…Marik used his mind control to brainwash his best friend and force them to fight with each other. One or none of them would survive if Marik had it his way, how could someone be so cruel? Forcing two people to fight in such a despicable manner…burning this pain forever into his heart. And why? because he was mad at the Nameless Pharaoh for something he wasn't even present for? He wasn't the one who killed Marik's father…Marik's dark self did that! And of course Shadi…Odion…even Ishizu was there! WHY! WHY didn't they tell him!?

All of this madness and pain could have been avoided if any of them had done something to stop Marik! But no they all sat back and allowed everything to happen! It didn't matter who got hurt right? As long as the Pharaoh could regain his memories…

“All of Millennium Items…They really do have evil in them…And HE'S part of it! Why did my friends have to suffer just because of him!?”

Yugi felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, he was angry not just angry he was furious! A great fury that caused the Seal of Orichalcos to appear on his forehead again. The more he thought about it the more it made sense one by one more people were hurt by this; Bakura was injured thanks to the spirit of his Ring working with Marik and he too was later sent into the shadows. Odion suffered from Ra's wrath for using a fake card given to him by Marik to trick them all into thinking he was the real one. Mai was tortured then trapped in a living nightmare as her mind was eaten by the darkness…and Joey…Joey died right in front of his eyes…

“Why…Why did everyone have to suffer just so he could regain his memories? Why does he get to step on all of us just so he can be 'King'?!”

Yugi grit his teeth hard as he felt the darkness start to surround him, he felt the power enter his body driving his anger which made the darkness grow stronger around him, the three swordsmen now witnessing his descent into darkness thanks to Orichalcos.

“…why did I give up my soul for him?” Yugi's tears fell down his cheek as he finally started to sob into his hands.

“When am I going to learn? When am I going to stop being so…stupid.”

As they all watched Yugi break down in front of them, collectively they each realized Yugi was just like each of them. Brutalized and used by a cruel world and left to suffer under a great deal of regret and pain. They all had found themselves in his shoes once and just like him Dartz had come and given them a chance to thrive and finally change the world with their own hands.

Raphael once again was the first one to act, he slowly got up and walked towards Yugi, getting down on his knees he came close to the boy to speak.

“You are not stupid.”

His words rang out and into Yugi's ears making him look up from his hands and turn his head to the more gentle look Raphael had on his face.

“You put your faith in the wrong person, everyone is capable of that. But now you know better…you're on the right side for once.”

“He's right, it's not you're fault the Nameless Pharaoh is corrupted by darkness. He's the one who hurt your friends not you.” Alister got up and stood beside Raphael crossing his arms but he also had an understanding look on his face.

“Exactly! And that prick has the balls to toss you unda the lore just so he can strut 'round and pretend to be you? I say you go and teach that faker a lesson! Show him and everyone else who the real Yugi Mutou is huh? ” Valon grinned getting up and giving a wink.

“We got yur back kid! After all we are the Four Musketeers right?”

Yugi, Raphael and Alister all blinked at Valon surprised by his answer, he then shrugged and said

“What can I say ? its starting the grow on me!”

Yugi looked at both Alister and Valon and wiped some of the tears away, he never thought these guys would be this kind to him. Yugi felt the Seal of Orichalcos leave his forehead, he then felt a very large hand on his shoulder. It was Raphael who once again offered a kind expression, it was hard believe a man so intimating could actually be so kind.

Yugi sighed and sniffled a bit collecting himself as he sat up straight and looked at each of his fellow swordsmen.

“Thank you…now I know that you have my back, I know I wont lose to him.”

[aversiteespabilas]

Do you know how I can get out of an artistic block? I've been like this for two months

Oh boy, I've been there too, I get you. I don't have a definitive solution for this, but I think the nature of art block can be very different for different people at different times, so a good first step would be to try and do some introspection on what exactly you're feeling whenever you think of doing art. However, here are some things that tend to work for me:

Take this time of inactivity to really look at and enjoy other people's art. Sometimes your artistic journey will just include breaks, and that's okay. It doesn't mean you aren't learning, though. If you really enjoy someone else's work, take this time to study it, make sense of it, try to discover what exactly you enjoy so much about it and why. Maybe think of ways you could emulate that yourself. I often find that the coolest looking art starts with the simplest shapes. Try to imagine which tiny little steps the artist could have taken to achieve that look. This gets my art cogs turning every time.

When I'm feeling frustrated about my own ability, feeling like I'm not good enough, sometimes I'll just make a point of drawing something that's complete garbage. Like the ugliest scribbles ever. Go "I'm gonna draw something SO HIDEOUS". I do that until I start to just have fun with the act of scribbling itself, not the result. If you feel comfortable and happy holding your pen, you're on the right track. You don't need to do anything else. You don't need to show it to anyone, you don't need to post it, you don't even need to keep it. It's just your time of Hold Pen, and you've been doing art. Congratulations!

Sometimes I get this feeling that there's a particular piece I'm scared of doing, normally because I feel it's too difficult or I don't have the "required skill level" to do it, even though the ideas are overflowing and my mind's eye is working full speed and my fingers are itching to create; the worst part of it is when this fear gets me to freeze up, like I just can't do anything. Well, I've recently found the secret for this one, and it's not pretty. You just gotta do it. Seriously, if you think it's fear or insecurity holding yourself back, then you just really need to grab yourself by the collar, slam yourself on the desk and get yourself working. It's gonna feel awful at first, it's gonna feel like a task, maybe even boring, and like what you're doing is pointless, but by then you'll be doing it. That's the truth of self care, most of the time it involves doing things you reeeeaaally don't feel like doing. If the alternative to doing art is just sitting there feeling sorry for yourself, then remember: the time will pass anyways, might as well just do it.

This one may not always work, but if it's a broad motivation/excitement issue, I often find that making art gifts for my friends/loved ones helps a lot. First, it's a gift, it's free and unprompted, so there's no real pressure for it to be a masterpiece or anything. Second, you're setting a clear objective for yourself that you can get excited about, and third, you're sure to get a validation boost from it! In my experience, collaborating with a friend on a larger art project has kept my motivation cycle going strong. Run from the lonely artist archetype, it's your biggest enemy. Art likes friends!

Otherwise, there are various ways you could try and hype yourself up. I am a very calculating person so I get really motivated when things are planned and organized in lists. Since I started noting down my ideas in a To Draw list, I always have something to do, I'm never out of exciting ideas and art block very rarely rears its ugly head. For some people it may be the opposite tho! I know for a fact many people find lists and schedules to be draining for their creativity, so find out what would make you most excited! Maybe trying new brushes or materials is your jam! Maybe your current hyperfixation or fandom can offer motivation. You need your art process to work for you, not against you, but in order to do that, you need to understand what exactly is it that makes your brain most excited. It's self-discovery baybee!

I hope some of these work for you! At the very least, it can't hurt to try. Good luck, soldier!

[griseldabanks]

for the ask game, would you do #23 for link and zelda?

Let Me Count the Ways ask game

Prompt: "I feel like we've met before…."

“You only want to go there because you think she'll be there.”

“I do not!” Link retorted, hanging his helmet on Epona's handlebars while holding his phone to his ear with the other hand. “I'm going to study for midterms, like I said. Not my fault you didn't want to come along.”

“And watch Malon making googly eyes at you the whole time? No thanks.”

Link paused halfway through slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “What? Malon?”

He could practically hear the rolled eyes across the phone line. “Oh brother. She's had her eye on you since orientation!”

“Really? How can you tell?”

“Because I have eyes in my head!”

Suddenly, Link spotted a familiar pink backpack weaving through the tables outside the coffee shop, heading towards the door. “Sorry, Navi, gotta go.”

“Hey! Listen to me—“

He hung up and darted over to the front door, managing to reach it just in time. He grabbed the door and pulled it open.

The girl who'd been reaching for it started at his sudden appearance, then let her extended hand fall back to her side. “Oh...thanks!”

She smiled up at him before stepping inside, and for one glorious moment, their eyes met. Link grinned stupidly, but she'd already passed him.

Heart pounding in his chest, Link followed her into Lon Lon Cafe. He stuffed his hands into the pocket of his green hoodie, trying to act casual as he stepped into line right behind her. He glanced up at the girl behind the cash register, and the pleasant giddiness in his chest deflated somewhat as he remembered what Navi had said. Sure enough, Malon spotted him and immediately shot him a grin, tucking a lock of red hair behind her ear. And she kept glancing at him as she listened to the next customer's order.

Link looked back at the girl in front of him instead. Zelda. So was so pretty, her blonde hair pulled back in a half-ponytail, golden earrings dangling from her ears and catching the light.... And there was an elegance to all of her movements, even simply in the way she pulled her wallet out of her purse. Like a princess...if princesses ever graced college-town coffee shops.

Suddenly, she looked over her shoulder and turned to face him. “Hey, do I know you?”

The bottom dropped out of Link's stomach. “What?”

Zelda cocked her head to one side. “I feel like we've met before....”

Link swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. “Uh...History 101. Professor Rauru.”

Zelda's face brightened with recognition, and somehow she looked even more beautiful that way. “That's it! So are you ready for—“

“Next!”

With a little start, Zelda quickly turned around and stepped up to the front of the line. While she was ordering her drink, Link couldn't help noticing that Malon wasn't smiling anymore, but answering Zelda tersely and stabbing at the register with more force than necessary.

When it was his turn to order, Link was a little nervous at how Malon would receive him, but to his relief, the second her eyes landed on him, a huge smile lit up her face again. He might have been imagining things, but he thought he detected a hint of sharpness in her gaze that wasn't there normally. “What can I get you?”

Link opened his mouth to reply, but she talked over him.

“Pumpkin spice latte, right? As usual?”

He'd actually been thinking of trying out something different this time, but she was already ringing him up, and he did like anything pumpkin spice-flavored, so he remained silent and just handed over a couple blue rupee notes.

Zelda was still waiting for her drink at the other end of the counter, and Link's heart skipped a beat when she glanced up from her phone as he strode over to her to wait as well. “So, what's your major?” she asked, her blue eyes bright and interested.

“Uh...undeclared, so far,” Link admitted, feeling his cheeks go warm. “I came in with an archery scholarship, but I don't know if that's what I want to go with....”

“Well, that's okay,” Zelda said. “You're a freshman, right? You've got plenty of time to figure it out.”

“Wait, are you not a freshman?”

Zelda giggled. “Oh—no, I'm a sophomore. I just didn't get around to history last year. I wanted to take harp lessons, and my schedule didn't work out.”

“So you're a music major?” Link brightened at that. Maybe he should've signed up for singing lessons or something after all.

“For now,” Zelda said with a thoughtful frown. “I love the harp, but I've been thinking about switching to political science instead. Do some real good in the world, you know?”

The more they talked, the more relaxed Link felt, just like he was talking to Navi or Saria—except that every time their eyes met, he felt a glorious swoop in his stomach. “Maybe your harp can usher in world peace,” he said with a grin.

As Zelda laughed, the barista slid their drinks across the counter towards them. “So do you play any instruments?”

“Oh, just the ocarina—“

They both reached for their drinks at the same time. Both froze, staring at the backs of their hands. Link's left, Zelda's right. Like a strangely geometric birthmark, against their pale skin was the clear outline of a triangle divided into four smaller triangles. On Link's hand, the smaller triangle on the bottom right was filled in; on Zelda's, it was the bottom left.

Link stared at their hands, the marks upon them perfect mirrors of each other. For his whole life, his soul mark had been there, as familiar a sight as the moles and freckles on his arms. He knew it was supposed to be a reflection of his soul, and the legends went that somewhere out there, his soulmate bore the mirror image of it. But who that person was, or if he'd ever meet them...that just wasn't something he bothered thinking about too much.

Just like anyone, there had certainly been times when he'd wondered who his soulmate was. Growing up, he'd compared soul marks with his friends—Saria had been extremely disappointed when she realized that the swirly mark on her shoulder was nothing like his soul mark. In idle moments, he would daydream about whether his soulmate would turn out to be someone he married, like his parents, or a really good friend, or maybe even one of his children someday.

But then life got busy, and there was no time to think about something so frivolous when school and archery club ate up so much of his time. If he ever met his soulmate, he would deal with it then.

Then was now.

Slowly, Link's eyes traveled up Zelda's arm to her eyes, which were open wide with shock. “Does this mean...?”

“You're...m-my....”

“Oh my!” Zelda's face instantly grew as red as a tomato, and she whirled away from him, covering her cheeks with her hands. Link's eyes were glued to the back of her right hand. The soul mark was unmistakable.

Without warning, Zelda began speed-walking back through the cafe, almost knocking into several people on her way out.

“Wait—Zelda!” Link grabbed both of their drinks and rushed after her, finally catching up to her where she had collapsed into a chair at one of the tables under an umbrella out front.

Hesitantly, Link set Zelda's drink down in front of her, then slipped his backpack off his shoulder and sank into the chair across the table. He looked over at her staring fixedly at the cast-iron tabletop as if she could melt it with a glance.

Just to have something to do, Link sipped his pumpkin spice latte, but it scalded his tongue, so he set it aside.

She was so pretty, even with the blush extending all the way down her neck. Actually, the blush made her look even prettier, the pink tinge of her skin setting off the pink shirt she wore.

She's my soulmate, he thought numbly. All I wanted was to talk to her, maybe ask her out eventually...and she's my soulmate. The most important person in my life.

“Um...sorry,” Zelda said with a shaky laugh, looking up at last and tucking a strand of golden hair behind her ear. “I didn't mean to run out, I just...that took me completely by surprise!”

“Yeah, uh...m-me too.”

They both realized at the same time that they were staring at each other's hands, and broke into nervous laughter.

“So, we're...soulmates.” Zelda let out a long breath. “No, saying it out loud didn't help. It still doesn't sound real.”

A sudden thought occurred to Link that made his heart sink. “Hey, um...just because of this,” he pointed at the back of his hand, “that doesn't mean we have to...I mean, it's just a legend. You don't have to feel, like, obligated to...to hang out with me or....”

To his relief, she smiled sweetly at him. “You're right. But...I'd still like to get to know you. If...you don't mind.”

“No, of course!” Link said, a little too quickly and too loudly. He cleared his throat, his cheeks burning again. “Can I buy you coffee or something sometime? I-I mean, I know we already got coffee, but....” Crap, he was making such a fool of himself....

But Zelda just giggled, hiding her smile behind the hand that bore the mirror image of his soul mark. “Yes, you can take me on a date sometime. But, um...what's your name, anyway?”

“Oh!” They'd been talking all this time, and he still hadn't introduced himself. “It's Link. Nice to meet you.”

Zelda cocked her head to one side. “Link...strange...it feels somehow familiar....”

Link realized he'd felt the same way, the first time he'd learned Zelda's name. He'd passed it off as merely thinking it was a pretty name, but...maybe it was a sign that their souls were bonded to each other.

Either way, as they sat at the coffee shop and continued to get to know each other, everything felt right with the world in a way it never had before.

[quillheel]

TAGS MASTERPOST. ━ below the cut is a master post of all main & relationship tags used across blogs. all MAIN tags are used the same regardless of blog. all dynamic tags are sorted based on blog and URL. this will be updated with any new tags made. dynamic tags' urls and muses will be adjusted as noticed/requested, but it's very likely I won't notice all of them! if you see something, say something!

MAIN TAGS.

━ ♔ you sing but only the pavement listens : ic.

━ ♔ love will cut you & ask you to carry on singing : musing.

━ ♔ blooming forth in every color : prompts.

━ ♔ your slightly mad sea-captain : ooc.

━ ♔ to jump from anywhere & make it home : threads.

━ ♔ eyes roll away like hard green chestnuts : visage.

━ ♔ wanting like flesh knitting over a wound : xxx.

━ ♔ til there’s nothing left to love but yourself : promos.

━ ♔ on such longing i couldn’t spit out : shipping.

━ ♔ shielding your eyes from the bright noon-light : studies.

━ ♔ ass-to-speech can’t save you now : crack.

━ ♔ the new green of spring is shimmering : dash.

━ ♔ the world grows green again when you smile : games.

━ ♔ watch me hold them to the light : saved.

━ ♔ the sun has made them warm : wishlist.

━ ♔ messengers and heralds of the extraordinary : important.

━ ♔ & hunt something you have a hope of killing : psa.

━ ♔ cardinals with snow-brushed wings : asks.

DYNAMIC TAGS: QUILLHEEL.

━ ♔ And it all falls into frame; close enough to see / the blue rings of my eyes as I say / something ugly. ━ JEAN&HARRY: playedbetter

━ ♔ Am I still waiting like a / lamb to the slaughter / does your God believe in you? ━ AKARI&VOLO: ofeggies ━ ♔ Why must this happen? why must this be? I dream of space & time and wake up in 2D ━ MONIKA&NATSUKI: ofeggies ━ ♔ A mannequin adrift at sea / I think perhaps things might be better off this way ━ CHARA&ASRIEL: ofeggies ━ ♔ Slim to none: but not so slim you've got to slip between the cracks. So come back: come back. ━ WHEATLEY&CHELL: ofeggies

━ ♔ Legally gray but sweet with the phrasing / Feet in the grave; but gleefully trading ;; Feeding the cravings ━ SPAMTON&ADA: tendercoded ━ ♔ We know what we are but not what we may be. && If music be the food of love; play on ━ ROUXLS&DANDELION: manebloom

━ ♔ Dear Forgiveness; I saved a plate for you. / quit milling around the yard and come inside. ━ DUSTFINGER&MORRO: mourrow ━ ♔ It's a secret I keep tucked inside my chest / with this heart of mine that's guilty not remorseful. ━ FRISK&CHARA: intodreams ━ ♔ And the rising tide is blasphemy in the softest second sense ━ ANN&MORTY: sweetcst ━ ♔ Can you make it stop? I don't want to: are you sure? I can’t/I won’t: a ritual/a consumption ━ LINK&GANONDORF: adventuroushero ━ ♔ Hurt too hard too long & die too young; silver dollar glistening on your tongue; may your passage be assured ━ LINK&FADO: adventuroushero ━ ♔ As if he’s trying to tell you / that there is some sort of shining star now buried deep inside you ━ LINK&DARK LINK: adventuroushero ━ ♔ the beast comes quietly for all / why do you insist on protecting the sacrificial lamb? ━ ETHAN&GANONDORF: askganondorftobadragmire

━ ♔ Its nautical themed; And theres something I’m supposed to say / But I can’t for the life of me remember what it is ━ 4&3: tripleinkstrke ━ ♔ only as cruel as the first time I realized / waving my tiny shadow over a pond to scare the copper minnows ━ SMALLFRY&3: tripleinkstrke

━ ♔ It seems unforgiving when a good thing ends; but you & I will always be back then ━ MONO&SIX: paleciity ━ ♔ They're all so busy yelling; not one of them is hearing / the hissing from the bottom of the boat ━ MONO&RUNAWAY: paleciity ━ ♔ My claws are dull now so don't be afraid / I could keep you warm as long as you can try to be brave ━ HUNTER&RUNAWAY: paleciity

━ ♔ Just believe me when I say / I mean no harm; open arms; I will keep you safe until you / Pass me the knife ━ AKECHI/YUSUKE: tenebriism ━ ♔ Girls like you; they dont come with guarantees / so if you've gotta spend your time; wont you spend it with me? ━ RYUJI&AKARI: leuvspell

━ ♔ Because you had him first / and you would let the world break its own neck if it means keeping him. ━ GANONDORF/LINK: scarfbond ━ ♔ After the foxes have known our taste; After the raven has had his say; I'd be home with you / I'd be home with you ━ LINK/GAIA: gldhte

━ ♔ Souvenez-vous la prochaine fois; Que vient la neige et le fracas / On n'va pas tous mourir ━ KIM/HARRY: playedbetter ━ ♔ When I first saw you the end was soon; to Bethlehem it slouched / & then it must’ve caught a good look at you ━ HARRY/KIM: playedbetter

━ ♔ You are sick: and you’re married: and you might be dying; but you’re holding me like water in your hands. ━ JAMIE/ETHAN: jfouler ━ ♔ Silver; crystal; carousel your effervescent touch / But everybody knows that home is where your teeth sink love ━ BILLY/STU: cardedsoul ━ ♔ You spin the barrel of a fully━loaded gun; If there's no winning might as well just have some fun! ━ JD/VERONICA: ofeggies ━ ♔ Try to get out but we just keep stickin' around / cause it’s a very good bad thing we've found. ━ CESARE/STEVE: z0mburger ━ ♔ Buzzing razor held aloft & just about to strike; I loved you before even ever I knew what love was like ━ KYLE/JACKET: campblcd

━ ♔ If you need a friend I'm sailing right behind ; like a bridge over troubled water; I will ease your mind ━ RAY/PETE: pseudoneiric ━ ♔ You wonder who’s calling your name; shame how nobody knows you / nobody knows you and neither do I ━ RAY/STEBBINS: pseudoneiric ━ ♔ Lipstick on the backseat. saliva on the dash ; I've clawed my way out of here before but I keep on coming back ━ RAY/GARY: pseudoneiric

━ ♔ Every version of me dead and buried in the yard outside / We'd sit back and watch the world go by ━ SANS/O’DELLE: theyrots

DYNAMIC TAGS: AFTONTXT.

━ ♔ Oh please just hide behind this back of mine & save your helpless spite / knock on the door; access denied. ━ ALEX&MICHAEL: prizecxrner ━ ♔ You took my hand when you woke up. / we all die alone but I am so glad that you are here ━ MARI&MICHAEL: prizecxrner

[jdorian]

20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by the lovely @jesuisici33 thank you mwuah 💛

I'm gonna put some of it under the cut bc it got kinda long uhh

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

15

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

188,136

3. What fandoms do you write for?

currently consumed by 911, but most of my fics either belong to The Witcher or Stranger Things

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

789 – Long and Lost /geraskier, 9.7k, explicit/

707 – It might walk like a duck /steddie, 10k, explicit/

656 – The Companion /geraskier, 6.9k, mature/

634 – A promise I could not make (But what if I was wrong?) /geraskier, 16.4k, mature/

451 – Of Banquets and Destinies /geraskier, 5.4k, gen/

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely!! I love everyone who takes the time to comment on my stuff, it makes me so happy and excited whenever I get the email 💛

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm a firm believer of heavy angst + happy endings, but I gotta say But where they lay, they cannot stay is hands down the angstiest, because it can barely be classified as a happy ending oops

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I guess Spare me your dreams has a pretty sappy ending lol

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, but once I got a comment on the last chapter of a multi, saying that they 'liked it up until the smut' because I made them use spit as lube and apparently 'I was promoting unsafe sexual practices'........ love, this is fiction and not a sex ed class. The characters in question weren't even fully human, come on now.

I have been moderating my comments ever since, because I'm just not willing to give the time of day to idiots like that.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Funnily enough I wasn't big on smut for a really long time and though I felt that some stories needed it, I always just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible (I also used to skim sex scenes when I was reading) because I just didn't really find them interesting... that kinda changed when I found some truly exquisite fics and realised that smut can be written just engagingly as the rest of the story and now I include explicit smut in most of the stuff I write. I just really enjoy getting into that part of the characters' minds and finding different scenarios and new nasty things for them to do 😊

What kind? Hmm. Not sure, I like to sprinkle in some sub/dom undertones and a little bit of a praisekink or edging even for the most vanilla stuff. I wouldn't say my stuff is that kinky?? Though I did write watersports, public settings and some degradation too, but who even knows what's considered kinky nowadays...

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don't write crossovers, I don't even read them... it's just not for me, I guess.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, so hopefully not

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, or at least I can't remember anyone asking

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

It was the way I used to RP in high school... I'd write a paragraph and then my roommate would write the next and we'd pass the notebook back and forth until we finished... it was mostly smut though and I have no idea if I could actually co-write something publishable 💔

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I have a few forever fandoms and forever ships... but I gotta say buddie is the most fun I ever had in fandom so far, so I think they deserve the title (hah)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

fuck, so many 😭 but I have a long steddie fic (26k already written and it's about halfway done) that I regret not finishing, because it was the ultimate angst and character study and I just... yeah, it would've been great, but maybe I get into the mood when season 5 comes out (or it'll just make me wanna never touch the fandom ever again, who knows)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Not sure what counts as strength, but I love learning the speech patterns of the characters I'm writing for and I guess I've gotten kind of alright at it??

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing fluff is definitely something that doesn't come easy for me

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Worth it if it makes sense in context and you can make sure that you translate correctly (or realistically incorrectly, if that's what you're going for). Overusing another language just to show that you can is not a good reading experience though, especially if you only put the translation in the end notes.

Also, making a character that rarely ever speaks that language speak it extensively without a good reason can take me out of the story real fucking quick... generally just use it when it makes sense and you can make sure that you're not butchering it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I think the first one I ever posted online was a RyoDa fic (jpop rpf, respectively) and the first fandom I posted for on ao3 was Stranger Things

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Hmmmm. It kinda changes as I move along. I always felt like Hunger at last was pretty under-appreciated compared to my other witcher fics, but It might walk like a duck was something I wrote in about 2 days because it came to me so smoothly and I really enjoyed writing it... The Companion is a big favourite for me because I think it was a pretty unique idea to work with... also it's not even posted yet but the mudslide fic already has such a special place in my heart, plus it has my favourite confession scene I've ever written so...

idk I'm not a very decisive person lmao sorry

✨no pressure tagging: @forthewolves @eddiediaztho @daffi-990 @callaplums @ladydorian05 and anyone who wants to do it 💛

[s0lar-ch3ri]

making this a series ig (spoilers, mostly minor, idk well just have to ROLL WITH IT AND SEE)

episode is starting from zero, episode 1 (quick note: i love how excited everyone is aty the beggining for this camoain, so heartwarming) "'for all you audio listeners your about to hear what a man catching on fire sounds like' 'and also a house catching on fire'" "so its like 3 belts? yeah" "this character sucks not enough belts" ok chip hasnt been described and hes already drawn blood "how much trouble does this woman have keeping her pants up holy shit" "anything that looks valueable, take it" "whats a barrel" instant love with this campaine from here "ill carry this" "ok" "but w h y" “this is the fastest I've ever committed arson in a campaign” "ok as soon as we light this ill let them know so they die an honorable death" "but the barrel is terrified of fire" "so this is a barrel" "lets blow up this popcicle place" hes trying guys "grab a barrel as well i need to study" "in you multitude of belts" when did i forget jay had so many and got bullied for it "i hope she didnt find any more belts in there" ok but whenever i hear marshal jon being described the dopamine just floods out "oh! that wasnt the bathroom!" "no it was not, it was the room where we got the explosives" "WHAT ARE YOU GRABBING THE EXPLOSIVES FOR" "to blow up your ship" bro i loved how gill interacted with people before what an idiot /pos "gill make a-dont make anything you told the truth" gotta love grizzly doing a save "and jay you go to kick this man in the back of the knee and you do you realise that his calf muscles are literally built like boulders" "i want to put my hand on his shoulder" and so it begins the convincing! yes gill go!! "hang on let me see that...big j" "JON, ITS YOUR CHOIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE" "as the door is blown off-" "did somebody fart?" ah yes gill you lit the explosive that makes people fart" "BACHOW!" please dont stop this man from making random noises its great "is your skin always wet or is it dry?" GRIZZ ASKING THE REAL QUESTIONS!! "you are to learn a lesson from the moisture master!" remember when gill made his title canon now, its 6 seconds to 20 minutes in "THOSE PIRATES!" man knowing him now its kinda strange to hear him hunting them down "i just occasonally grab people and im like 'you can be better'" cant believe gill went from telling people to be better to just immedately trying to solve their problems (like not even 2 episodes later if im remembering right) "excellent jay you are a fog frog" "im gonna steal somebody's hat then run out the door" jay stealing chips job now "im passing the barrel out the window" i remember when hed just be a problem for any stealth kind of movements "MY FRIEND SAID HE DOESNT WANT YOU TO HAVE AN ADVANTAGE" "there is still time" ITS STARTING WOW "you get the sense this guy cannot see very well" i forgot he had sight problems "YOU BLEW A HOLE IN OUR TOWER" "and you blew a hole in my heart" ACCIDENTAL FORESHADOWING AND A GREAT MOMENT FOR SHIPPERS?? HOW MUCH IS CHARLIE FEEDING US WITH GILLION TIDESTRIDER!?!!? (spoiler: a lot) "can i make a persuasion check?" "sure" if charlie never said this we would never have the future pirate jon, IF HE NEVER GOT A 16 THINK WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED "you cant tell if i cry a single tear or if im usually that moist" the fact that he is can make for an angsty hc that nobody really would notice gill crying "jon didnt make it" oh this better not be another accidental foreshadow "you see, a pink frogtupus" everyone being excited for the preztal reveal was also all of us huh dont lie! "i look like a big flounder" fanartists canon gill description /j "god damn it big j" friendly reminder that (from what ive seen) marshal jon is the only character gill gave a nickname, and he had met him like 20+ minutes ago "YA BOY GILL ABOUTA BE FRIED" "ima just grab them both and jump" ngl i cant put my finger on it but calmer gillion probs the chaos control thats needed because of him being feral "jon this is for you" *proceeds to get an 8* (would have been epic if he suceeded that charisma tho) "jon, the power is- eyeh" "i look over wistfully (?) 'but w h y?'"

[kindheart525]

It was just in time for the annual family trip to Filly Fun Land when Luster Dawn came to stay with her Gramma and Grampa. Just when she thought it couldn’t get any more hectic than her packed week with her Nana, she was whisked away to the carnival before she had a chance to even put her suitcases down. It was such perfect timing to arrive the day they left for their trip, there was no way they didn’t plan this.

Luster used to go to theme parks as a little filly so this wasn’t entirely new to her. Her dad loved this stuff, now she could see where he got it from. It was almost like reliving a memory.

Yet in many ways it wasn’t the same at all. Her trips with her dad were much more carefree and unstructured. Her Papa always came up with a schedule but it really didn’t matter how much they followed it as long as they had fun. 

But with Gramma and Grampa it was like a performance. They went all-out with the coordinated mascot t-shirts and the expensive VIP passes like they were trying so hard to be a picture-perfect family. All of the pictures they took so far looked almost staged.

Luster’s dad loved amusement parks just as much as the rest of his family but he never went on these trips as far as she could remember. Maybe there was a reason?

“You gotta try out the roller coaster, Luster! It’s a blast!”

Her uncle urged her on excitedly, snapping her out of her thoughts.

First Base’s actions didn’t seem as staged as her grandparents. He seemed like he was genuinely having fun, along for the ride just because he wanted to. He was a lot like her dad in that aspect…he looked just like him too.

“Can we go on a slower ride first? I just had lunch.”

This wasn’t a lie, but looking up at the roller coaster she couldn’t help but notice how much bigger it was than any she had even gone on before. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go on it at all.

First Base’s grin never dimmed at her turning down his offer.

“That’s fine! I know another ride you’d like! Follow me!”

With that he trotted off, somehow knowing exactly where to go even among all the crowds. Luster did her best to keep up.

She was starting to feel comforted by his genuine, unadulterated enthusiasm before he went on.

“Mom and Dad go on these trips every year, they have since I was a baby. It’s a family tradition! If you live with them we could have loads of fun together! Flash really missed out when he moved away and stopped coming with us. Kind of a killjoy, he was.”

Of course this was just a ploy to get her to live with them. Maybe it was as fun as he said but she didn’t like hearing about her dad this way. He was the opposite of a killjoy! Luster out of anypony knew that!

“Here we are! The boat rides!”

He pointed out the ride and started making a beeline towards it, motioning for his niece to follow him. She trotted after him but slowed down a little, turning her ears back to hear what her grandparents were talking about.

“There’s no way she’s gonna choose Stellar over us! We actually know how to make memories!”

“Been doing it for over 20 years. Beats renovating some old village.”

Honey Bee and Ironwing laughed like they were sharing an inside joke, but Luster knew exactly what they were talking about. They were just trying to make her live with them. As if deciding wasn’t hard enough already. She wanted to have fun with her family, she really did, but her grandparents seemed more interested in convincing her of something than actually spending time with her.

“Luster! Hurry up!”

She sped up, furthering the distance between her and her grandparents and doing her best to leave that drama behind her. She would at least try to have fun. As much as she could in these circumstances, anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~

Previous: Study Next: Schism

Collaboration with h0wlingb0nez Luster Dawn’s cutie mark by NC-TV

[hlficlibrary]

✤ Christmas Fics ✤

A series of posts with the top five fics of each category by kudos plus five more hidden gems from that category! Remember to leave kudos and a comment on the fics you enjoyed to show your appreciation! You can find the library's other recs here.

- Top 5 H/L Fics -

1️⃣ all the lights are full of colour by @infinitelymint {E, 26k}

So, fast-forwarding eight years from the day Harry met Louis, he is now a twenty-seven year old owner of one of the most up-and-coming eating establishments on the London restaurant scene, father of two wonderful boys and… separated from his husband. Now, that last part definitely was never a part of the original plan.

Or, Harry and Louis are separated, but for the sake of their two sons, they choose to spend Christmas together. It may just lead to a Christmas miracle.

2️⃣ the impossible now by @stylinsoncity {M, 64k}

A wish on Christmas Eve sends Louis to an alternate dimension where Harry is a member of One Direction.

3️⃣ We Will Find Our Way by supernope {M, 9k}

Harry smiles at Louis, quick and easy, and says, “Well, since we’re in the same boat, we’ll just make our own Christmas. What do you say?” Louis tamps down on a bloom of warmth in his belly. He barely knows Harry past seeing him walk down the hall in just his skivvies - not that he’s complaining - but he’s being so lovely, smiling at him so hopefully, and, well. Louis doesn’t much fancy the idea of spending Christmas completely alone. Nodding, he reaches out and pokes Harry’s dimple, watches it flirt to life underneath his fingertip. “I say yes.”

AKA, Harry and Louis are uni students studying abroad in New York, stuck in the dorms together over Christmas.

4️⃣ Candles On Air by @isthatyoularry {M, 29k}

Harry’s smile is filled with unconditional love — just not the right kind. Louis has told himself for years that it’s okay. Harry loving him the way he can is enough. Each year it gets a little harder to repeat the same mantra.

"It gets better. It will pass. His friendship is enough."

Harry has taken the liberty of putting on classic Christmas tunes on the speaker in the kitchen, and as their shared flat isn’t the largest Louis can hear Mariah Carey’s crooning from where he’s perched on the small sofa in the living room. Harry is on the floor, humming along. And yes. All Louis wants for Christmas is Harry.

A Christmas AU ft. Pining, Heartbreak, and maybe A Happy Ending.

5️⃣ love is a word (you gave it a name) by @hattalove {T, 21k}

“It’s worth it anyway,” says Harry, looking into Louis’s eyes. He’s untucked his hair from behind his ear, and it falls down in silky strands to obscure his face. He looks so painfully young, even after everything. Louis’s strong, strong boy. “Just for the two of us. We get to be selfish for a little while.”

it's christmas. in between snowman building, tree shopping, and ill-advised skating on a frozen lake, louis and harry get ready to take the most important step of their lives.

HIDDEN GEMS:

💎 Give It To Someone Special by elsi_bee / @elsi-bee {T, 34k}

At the behest of his agent, former child actor Louis Tomlinson signs on to star in the HeartStamp channel’s first Christmas movie featuring a same-sex love story. It may be cheesy, but at least it’s a path to get back into the industry. Now if only his co-star would stop being so critical, and confusing, and overwhelmingly distracting.

💎 You Ain’t Gotta Feel Fear Just Mingle by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup {T, 32k}

Harry has been at his dream job for less than three months, and he knows two things for sure; first, his project manager doesn't know what he's doing, and second, someone in the office is apparently pure evil, and no one will tell Harry who it is.

Oh, and the guy who works in conservation at the other end of the building is the most beautiful man Harry's ever seen, even when wielding a hot iron as a weapon.

Happy Christmas, here's to many more.

💎 Meet Me Underneath The Mistletoe by 4ureyesonly28 / @evilovesyou {G, 8k}

Louis flies out to Chicago for business just before Christmas... His flight home is cancelled because of a snow storm and he ends up going to his colleague Niall's Christmas party where he meets the most gorgeous man he's ever seen. And if they end up under the mistletoe within less than an hour then that's nobody's business but theirs.

💎 Where All Roads Lead by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings {NR, 7k}

Harry's Christmas takes an unexpected turn when he discovers a misplaced holiday card in his letterbox. He never thought that braving the snow to return the card to its sender would be so worth his while.

💎 All The Way Home I'll Be Warm by @justanothershadeofblue {T, 2k}

Harry & Louis jokingly send out holiday cards together as friends, and now everyone is congratulating them for finally getting together. A 5+1 fic, for Christmas.

[bitemarksafterdark]

Heart of Glass - Chapter 7

Noah was surprised that it didn’t take as long as he anticipated to find out whether his request to change classes had been successful. Still, the nearly two weeks’ worth of work he put into getting everything done paid off as he got accepted into both the music program and the film studies course.

It had been a nail-biting wait regardless, though, even after he’d gotten all his paperwork and transcripts in order.

Passing his prescreening audition had been a breeze, though getting into the music program had been his biggest concern due to it being almost as competitive as the arts program. His luck was in, however, when a spot opened up after another student transferred to Julliard, Noah finding the irony that the person was heading to New York while he had just recently come from there.

Noah had taken Christine’s advice about submitting any existing pieces he had as his creative writing sample.

He used an excerpt from a story he had written earlier in the year and cleaned it up a little so that it was up to the required submission standard.

As for Ruby, Noah had managed to keep the move under wraps by still showing up to his Business and Economics classes with her but utilizing the time to draft his essays so that, to Ruby’s passing gaze, he looked as though he was taking notes as he should have been.

Typing everything up and submitting it had been as straightforward as just waiting until Ruby wasn’t around to see it.

Ruby only noticed that Noah had been quieter during that timeframe, but it still irked her that he continued to avoid being around her friends as much as he could physically get away with doing so.

However, as Noah had not gone out at night at any time in those two weeks, nor had he appeared to have gotten drunk or high again, she assumed that he was either sulking still or making an effort to earn her trust again after she had told him she needed some time and space to herself.

How Noah had managed to pull all of this off without her discovering it, he didn’t know, but he counted himself extraordinarily lucky to have done so.

On the first day of his new schedule, Noah was pleased to find that he only had two sessions to attend that day. They were both in the afternoon, with about an hour’s break between them. That gave him a relaxed morning to prepare and enough time to pop back home after film studies to pick up his guitar for music later without needing to carry it around all afternoon.

On his way to film studies, he spotted a familiar figure coming across the courtyard outside the building.

“Micah!” Noah called out, quickening his step to catch up, though Micah stopped anyway when he saw who had shouted his name.

“Noah, what’s up?” he replied brightly, looking slightly puzzled to see him there. “I’m heading into class, so I gotta make it quick, whatever it is?”

“So am I.”

“I thought you said you were doing Business?”

“I was, but it turns out it’s kinda boring, and I remembered I hate math, so I changed all my classes.”

Micah's eyebrows raised in surprise, though he seemed a little impressed that Noah would make such a ballsy move in a ridiculously tight amount of turnaround time.

“All your classes? Well, shit, it must have been really boring. How’d your girlfriend take it? Is she changing too, or sticking with the pencil-pushing stuff?”

“Uh, yeah, she doesn’t know yet, actually.”

Micah made a low whistling sound before breaking into a grin, looking amused.

“You changed all your classes without telling your girlfriend? Fuck, dude, you’re a braver man than I am, that’s for damn sure. Think she’ll be cool with it?”

“Wanted to make sure I got in first,” Noah explained with a shrug, aware that Micah had potentially witnessed Ruby giving him shit at the party at Aspen’s place. “Knowing her, probably not, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

“Good luck with that. If she’s got a problem with it, though, fuck it. What can she do?”

“Nothing. At least, not for another year, anyway.”

“Well, may whatever cosmic entities that are paying attention smile in your favor, my friend,” Micah encouraged, genuinely wishing Noah the best of luck in telling Ruby what he’d done since Micah had indeed seen the furious look in Ruby’s eyes at the party. However, he didn’t know the extent of what she had said to Noah after that point.

“Thanks, I’m probably going to need it,” Noah replied, heaving a faint sigh of apprehension as they entered the building and followed the hallway down to where they needed to be.

Noah noticed that the auditorium for this class was much smaller than the ones he had been in previously, meaning there were fewer people in the room overall, and the seating was in a curved layout that made the room feel all the smaller.

That settled some of Noah’s nervousness about being new, as did Micah introducing him to a couple of other students he’d had already met at the beginning of the semester.

Second, the room’s atmosphere felt much more relaxed and far less formal; the room dimmed slightly instead of the harsh glare of overhead track lighting that always felt jarringly too bright to Noah.

As the class filled up and everyone took their seats, one of the students who walked in caught Noah’s eye as he was wearing a t-shirt for a band Noah liked and was also carrying a skateboard.

The boy crossed to the opposite side of the room, taking an empty seat at the other end of the same row Noah and Micah were sitting on.

Noah noted that he didn’t greet anyone as he sat down, thinking that to be a little odd if the boy had been in the class since the start of the semester, but he considered the possibility that the other might also be a transfer, or maybe just the shy, introverted type. Before he could ask Micah, though, the class started.

“Alright, everyone, today we will be discussing intent when conveying a message within the story being told, the audience’s interpretation of the piece of media in question, and whether or not the audience accurately understood that message,” the instructor informed the class. “Who can give me an example of a movie where some people have missed the point the narrative is trying to convey?”

Several hands went up around the room at once, with the instructor pointing to each person individually for their answer.

Of course, there were some obvious responses, including Fight Club and American Psycho being a commentary on capitalism, the marketing of toxic masculinity, and its contribution to misogyny, violence, and radicalized ideologies among specific demographics.

A girl named Starla brought up (500) Days of Summer, citing that although it appears to be your run-of-the-mill romantic comedy, it’s actually about the male main character’s fixation on a girl who is not interested in him and onto whom he projects his fantasies.

“A fine example there, and not one many pick up on,” the instructor agreed before turning her attention to Micah to hear his response.

“Starship Troopers,” Micah answered confidently with a smirk, raising a small ripple of laughter from a few people before the instructor quietened them down again to allow him to proceed with explaining his choice.

“It’s a commentary on the military-industrial complex and how they dress up imperialist fascism as patriotism to sell it to the masses.”

“Excellent, Micah. I’m pleased to see a fellow Verhoeven fan in my class. And how about your friend here?” the instructor queried, noticing she had a new face in her class, though Noah hadn’t raised his hand yet as he’d still been thinking of a good answer to give.

“Uh…” Noah stalled, feeling put on the spot for a moment before one came to him. “Natural Born Killers? It’s a satirical critique of the tabloid media’s exploitation of violence and tragedy for views and gives killers celebrity status for their crimes. Most people think the movie does that by being violent for violence’s sake, thereby becoming the thing it is critiquing, which is a critique in itself.”

Noah held his breath.

“It is indeed,” the instructor nodded, seemingly impressed. “…Noah, right?”

“Yes.”

“Welcome to my class, Noah. I have a feeling you’re going to fit right in if you keep giving me answers like that.”

Noah breathed a sigh of relief as the instructor moved on from him.

“Would anyone else like to provide an example?”

The boy at the other end of the row tentatively raised his hand.

“Yes?”

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

That answer immediately had Noah’s attention, as it was one of his favorite movies, and he wondered what the boy thought the audience had misinterpreted.

“Interesting choice. Care to elaborate?” the instructor asked, also intrigued.

The boy fidgeted slightly before answering, giving Noah a clue that he was of a shy disposition.

“Well, on the surface, most people see it as if two people are meant to be together, that they will find their way back to each other, no matter what. The ending is deliberately ambiguous, though,” the boy stated, fingers nervously picking at the corner of a page of his notebook. “Neither Joel nor Clementine were happy, and that’s why they broke up. Them both erasing their memories of what caused their relationship to fail arguably dooms them when they meet again to make the same mistakes as before because editing out the parts that hurt locks them into repeating the cycle that caused them that pain in the first place.”

“That is a very good point, Kai,” the instructor acknowledged, having not had anyone give her that as an answer previously. “Well done.”

Noah blinked, stunned, and not just because he had not considered the implication that the alternate interpretation of the ambiguousness of the ending held such a possibility.

It had also struck a chord with him on a more personal level, as Noah related it to his present circumstances with Ruby. Especially with Noah having convinced himself some time ago that if they could start over, it would be like the beginning of their relationship again, but that had yet to happen.

Noah was still pondering it even after the class finished, and he’d gone home to collect his guitar for his last class of the afternoon.

Thankfully, Ruby wasn’t home, but as Noah knew her schedule due to it having been his too before he transferred classes, he was painfully aware that she would have noticed by now that he was a no-show, and that meant Noah would have to face explaining why sooner rather than later.

He was already a little on edge at the realization he didn’t know anyone taking music, so he didn’t have Micah or any of his other friends to act as a social buffer for him. Knowing he’d probably be coming home to confrontation only fuelled that anxiety as Noah reached the music department and found his next class in one of the studios.

Setting foot inside, he looked for an available seat, as Noah had been one of the last to arrive after he’d gotten a little turned around looking for the correct room number.

Noah felt a small stab of panic until he spotted an empty seat, making a beeline for it before he registered the person sitting next to him, only realizing it was the boy from film studies when he got within a couple of paces and looked up.

“Oh, uh, is… is anyone sitting here?” Noah asked, shouldering the strap on his guitar case awkwardly, unsure if the other recognized him.

Brown eyes stared up at him in brief surprise at suddenly being spoken to, a little startled before the boy shook his head, sending his jaw-length hair splaying out slightly with the momentum, and gestured that the seat was unoccupied.

“Thanks,” Noah muttered, sitting down and dropping his gear at his feet, careful not to leave it so that someone might trip over it.

There was a long and awkward pause while Noah tried to settle, but his anxiety was starting to get the better of him as he restlessly drummed his fingers on the table for a moment.

“Hey, um, this… might be a weird question but were you in film studies earlier?” he asked, trying to break the ice and dissipate some awkwardness. “Eternal Sunshine?”

“Oh! Yeah…” the boy replied as he suddenly recognized Noah in return. “You’re the new guy, right?”

“Noah.”

“Kai.”

“Nice to meet you,” Noah smiled, forcing himself to relax so he wouldn’t seem so self-conscious, though, from the way Kai had startled when spoken to, Noah figured he wasn’t the only one. “Cool shirt, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Kai replied, returning a smile, albeit shy. “I got it from a show back home in New York last year.”

“You’re from New York?”

“Uh-huh.”

“No way. Where?” Noah asked, his face lighting up at the coincidence.

“Upstate. Syracuse,” Kai answered, looking slightly confused by Noah's surprisingly enthusiastic reaction.

“My parents live in Manhattan.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I just moved here at the end of the summer for school.”

“Yeah, same. Are you staying in dorms or off-campus?” Kai asked, having not seen Noah around the dormitory hall his room was in, but there were dozens of them around campus.

“Got an apartment off-campus,” Noah confirmed, neglecting to mention that he was living with his girlfriend as he got the impression that Kai was of the kind of disposition that was best being kept out of Ruby’s crosshairs if possible.

“Cool.”

There was a brief lull in the conversation as they momentarily ran out of things to say until Noah broke the silence again when he remembered that he’d seen Kai with a skateboard earlier.

“Hey, you skate, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know any good places around here?”

“Yeah. There are a couple of malls close by with some okay spots, but if you’re looking for an actual skate park, the nearest one is about a forty-five-minute skate out toward the coast, and then you’ve got the whole stretch from Santa Monica to Venice Beach that’s pretty skate-friendly too.”

“Could you show me sometime? Still getting to know where everything is, so I have no idea where I’m going, and if I’m honest, I haven’t made too many friends yet, either. Aside from my brother’s housemates, mostly,” Noah admitted, figuring that since he and Kai seemed to have a few things in common, that might help matters on that front.

“Sure,” Kai nodded, smiling shyly again. “Yeah, me too. I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but I’m kinda not great at socializing. Mostly just keep to myself.”

“Well, then, I guess we can both be not great at socializing together,” Noah joked with a soft laugh, agreeing. “I have like one other friend who’s a freshman, and he’s in film studies with us too.”

“You mean Micah?”

“Yeah. You know him already?”

“Kinda? I mean, not really. We’ve spoken a couple of times in class, but that’s about it,” Kai replied, shrugging.

“Yeah, I’ve actually only met him a few times myself, but he’s cool and super easygoing, from what I can tell. His sister is also one of my brother’s housemates, so there’ll probably be plenty of chances to hang out and get to know people that way."

Noah, paused, realizing he'd started rambling on like he and Kai were suddenly agreeing to be friends, and he had to reel his excitement back in againt, not wanting to scare Kai off.

"I mean, if you want to? No pressure or anythin'....”

“Okay,” Kai nodded after the faintest flicker of cautious hesitation. “I’ve got some stuff to do over the next couple of days, but I can let you know when I’m available, if that’s cool?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Noah replied, nodding enthusiastically as he opened his notebook and wrote down his phone number before tearing the corner off the page and handing it over.

“Just in case you wanna hang out before then? You know, whatever?”

"Cool. Thanks."

© 2025 BitemarksAfterDark

[emanonyourstruly]

University, Life, Girlfriend, Yearning, Booze and Everything Else

my first time back to university is next week-ish. more like second week of uni. I am really excited tho. I still need a purse that will hold my laptop. a cunty one like gossip girl. Alsoooo gotta romanticise university so give me your tricks into studying and tolerating commuting there lol.

my life is pretty great right now since my 21st birthday just passed. Ive been getting drunk or high every day and I'm getting it out of the way before university. I love being alone and relaxing. you know what would make this experience even better?! having my own place oh yeahhhh~~ that is very unrealistic at the moment I'm not going to lie. 4 classes and a job ill go to 3 times a week doesn't sound appealing. living at home isn't so bad cuz i got a car, free food free room free everything. I even got enough freedom like whatever.

my girlfriend who isnt my girlfriend is getting increasingly frustrated at me and i can tell because i haven't been giving. I was unemployed forever. I can finally treat herrrr and play games with her

Ughhhh moving out and having my own freedom especially with the love of my lifeeeee(girlfriend whos not really my girlfriend). my cat cuddling with me and peace and quiet <3 and then having my friends over + parties. all of the drinks ill make

booze. wym i can flash my id and theyll hand me liquor?! I'm obsessed with watching pretty cocktail videos. making it would be so fun too. me + my future apartment + peace.

I want to learn to be grateful for what i have. I rarely do maintnance on myself anymore and i can see bugs in my system. what am i grateful for right now? what troubled me recently that got solved?

the fact that i still had a vertical ID annoyed me because I didn't like how i looked in it. it came in a few days ago and im told that i look cute in it so thats a plus

i was unemployed for mooonths and i finally got a job right before i drowned in debt. I used to feel worthless and I was less than happy not being able to spend any money. Tim Hortons is also such an easy job. Lazy girlies, if you like Papa's Freezeria, you're gonna love how simple it is working there as long as it is in a corner that people don't really go into. I don't do drivethrough unless I wanna hand things out at the window which is easy. The only hard part for me is waking up at 5:30 am(but i get the rest of the day to myselfff). It really worked out for me

I got some really nice gifts that i will for sure use. especially the planner and airbrush that my bestie got for me.

my mom makes really good food at home and she makes an effort to keep the house clean at all times. I mopped and broomed for her today and i felt accomplished

i really did have fomo during my semester break but i have to remember that i wouldn't have been able to enjoy my 21st if i was at school. I am also grateful that i can go back because i got my federal grant back. I am so locked in for next semester.

finally finding new music to listen to because i was losing my mind over the lack of variety i have been listening to.

finding good manhwas to indulge in before the semester begins so i don't get attached while trying to study.

the annoying pile of clothes and accessories that was constantly moving back and forth from my bed to my chair is finally put away in their proper spots. I even mopped my room twice this week

there's probably more but I cant think of them right now. I guess I should reflect on my behavior because my bitterness and jealously lingered for too long without me addressing it. i fear they have already been internalized. Joji plz heal meeee~ Anyway it's time to wrap this up because I want to think of my new years resolutions hehe yes i still do them dont judge me.

bye bye loves<3