#kind of also talk about Ka but I won’t tag

[fastcardotmp3]

✨ WIP WORD SEARCH ✨

rules: share snippets of your work containing each of the words the previous poster selected for you (optional addition: if you can't find the word in your WIPs, or you simply don't have any WIPs, you can just write a sentence around the word)

tagged by zoey @figthefruitfaeth 💖💖💖

thank u friend because I was having a series of "I hate my writing" days but turns out it was just the Horrors and I'm excited again and need an excuse!! to talk about my wips!! without being too annoying!!

my words: morning, sun, close, turn, notice

MORNING - from TLOU/ apocalypse au

He remembers that day in flashes, the day the world ended. Spring was only just beginning but the sky was blue; he had swim lessons in the morning, and Lily was in the car with his mom when they picked him up and brought him home for lunch. 

SUN - from [almosts] the untitled, undisclosed wip that's kind of running shit around here these days

It’s just where this part of it starts. A new chapter. 

It’s been going from the rising of the sun and it won’t stop until it sets, won’t stop until the typewriter runs out of ink, won’t stop until long after it sets in, the fact that it ever even started. 

And that’s probably where it all goes wrong for Eddie. 

CLOSE - from kas!chrissy au (:

She shivers when Chrissy brings her face close, can almost feel the deep breath she takes in through her nose as she all but nuzzles into Nancy’s hair, and feels something deep inside of her melt when that tongue finds her cheek, the blood that has dripped a continuous trail down her neck and outlined the perfect path for Chrissy to take to send Nancy feeling boneless. 

TURN - from [almosts]

Eddie goes to Rick’s place because there’s really nowhere else in Hawkins that is as metaphysically destined for wallowing; and, because Rick’s not around to yell at him for it, he takes that stupid little row boat out to the middle of the lake, lays down at the bottom, and watches the sky turn around the Earth. 

NOTICE - from TLOU/ apoclaypse au

But besides the moral quandaries, it isn’t hard to pack up, not when they’re kind of always ready to run at a moment’s notice, not when the dangers of the outside could claw their way inside without all that much effort and Steve and Robin had to prepare for that eventuality starting at the ages of nine and eight respectively.  

tagging in case you also need an excuse to talk about your wips: @cheatghost @gothbat99 @kkpwnall @judasofsuburbia @hellsfireclub @flashyysins @gideoncharov @sharpbutsoft @capriciouslyterminal @stargyles and anyone who wants to do this <3

your words are: balance, right, sky, sorry, color

[stitch1830]

All of your AUs are so good I love Taang, Kantoph, Zutara and Lin having good parents💕i think every one of those aus would be better than cannon. I don't like Sokka as Suyin's father because I don't want him as a deadbeat dad, tlok already made enough beloved characters bad parents but I could see that it could be true. Kantoph being protective of their little girl after Tenzin hurt her is the best and if Aang is alive Pema is 18 or even younger and I hope even Kataang would be mad

Hi Anon, thank you for the ask! And thank you so much for your kind words! :D I love chatting with you guys and coming up with scenarios for these questions, it’s so much fun and you all make it amazing too! :)

All the ships you mentioned are fantastic beloveds of mine, and I’m glad you enjoy my ideas for them haha! Perhaps I’m biased, but I agree, those ships would’ve been great canon alternatives (or with Kantoph, just more elaboration haha!). Zutara is a very interesting ship to explore, and there are so many great works to choose from and talented contributors!! Taang my beloveds, they got me into fandom and writing so they hold a special place in my heart :’) and KANTOPH. My little rare pair beloveds they’re amazing I’m having so much fun building a Kantoph world, and I hope others can find some amusement in my ramblings haha. Lin deserves the entire world, and it starts with her loving parents Toph and Kanto because they are gems and fabulous parents.

The Sokka is Suyin’s father is a very interesting debate, and with that concept there really is a lot of room to explore what that relationship could be like for Sokka and the Beifong’s. But I agree with you, it’s not my favorite headcanon/thought, only because it makes it seem like Sokka was an absent father when he probably wouldn’t have been. I must say, these are very interesting stories to read, just kind of stinks that we only really see those kind of fics in the Tokka tags now haha.

And as far as Aang and Katara being mad at Tenzin for hurting Lin? I could see it! Kanto and Toph would come storming up to their home and chewing them out for Tenzin being an airhead, and while Aang and Katara have Tenzin’s back and defend him from the wrath of the Beifong’s, I can see them being pissed at Tenzin for a moment. In the end, they probably know that Lin and Tenzin probably wouldn’t have worked out (if they had such different beliefs in LOK still), and it was better for them to not be in a relationship, but the way in which he broke up with her then immediately got with Pena was disrespectful. And I feel like respect is something that Aang and Katara want their kids to have with all people and cultures, so the fact that he let them down when breaking up with his girlfriend who just so happens to be the daughter of their close friends, is not a highlight for them lol.

And yes protective Kantoph my beloveds you guys take care of your little badgermole Linny. Kanto would be a menace lmao NO ONE messes with his baby girl.

Anyway, thank you again for the ask, Anon! Feel free to stop by anytime and chat, especially about our fav ships ;) Hope you have a great day!

……

Send me asks about ATLA, or anything, really! :D

[redgoldblue]

[@itwoodbeprefect submitted:] showing up late with starbucks etc for the wip tag game: can i. can i say 1, 2 AND 7 for h50? because i was going to say 1 and 2 from the things that hadn’t been picked yet and then i saw 7. (and also. if you want to. i’d love to hear anything at all about huggy & pete!)

-

me? turn down an opportunity to talk about my wips? it’s even less likely than you’d think (also tbf i very much did also send you four so. fair turnaround)

Spinning Faster Than The Plane That Took You (I Don’t Want To Miss You Like This)

You’d expect this to be post-Aloha, wouldn’t you? but ha! it’s not! tricked and fooled! it’s intra-Ka I'o, which is a far more depressing place to be. Basically there’s this one very very brief shot of Danny, when he first hears Steve’s voice over the phone after he’s been dark in Mexico for months - this one - and the sheer emotion Scott Caan conveyed in those three seconds pushed me into writing an entire ficlet of Danny’s POV on those months. it’s. well let’s be honest it’s sad and one of those fics that comes out of the woodwork to challenge my assertion that I don’t write angst. But we all know that plotline ends in hotel-bed sharing h/c (…as I’ve already written) so it’s okay. also i know i said they were all / in the heading but there’s actually a decent chance this will be one of my trademark ‘could be & or / shrug emoji up to you’ specials.

Danny usually changes his phone background pretty regularly, cycling through new and old photos of his kids with occasional cameos from other family and/or ohana members. When Steve left, it had been a shot of Grace teaching Charlie to balance on a surfboard at the edge of Steve’s beach, with Steve in his stupid low-slung swim shorts hovering just out of arm’s reach watching them. It stays as that for one week, two weeks, a month, two months and more. Until Danny’s pushing down the feeling that it might be an ‘in memoriam’ photo every time his phone lights up, and still can’t bring himself to change it, because what if the next time it lights up with news that Steve’s safe? What if keeping this moment of Steve at his most antithetical to whatever it is he’s doing right now – soft and happy and paternal, with sandburn the greatest danger in mind; but simultaneously with a stance borne from exactly the same instinct that drove him to Mexico in the first place – concern for and protection of his family, whether necessary or deserved or neither –  what if that’s somehow the only thing reaching across the miles between them and tying Steve to life? It’s a stupid thought, and Danny should know better by now than to tie his anxiety to stupid superstitions, but any time he’s clicked into his photos he’s just been presented with the absence of Steve from the last months. The absence of any photos from the last months, really, apart from a couple of Charlie, because when you spend your days working and your nights trying to stop yourself from falling back into a bottle and from there into a pattern of alcoholism you thought you’d left behind ten years ago, there’s not a lot of photo opportunities.

(Four) Seasons of Love

Okay, this one is a lot more usual fare. I haven’t worked on it for a while bc state of disrepair’s been taking up the longh50fic portion of my brain but I will go back to it eventually bc. undercover as honeymooners! they’re undercover as honeymooners! at a resort! to catch a husband-wife jewel thief team! Steve comes into it going 'oh, this is the perfect opportunity to push one of us (Danny) into some kind of action on the thing we both obviously know about but won’t admit (that we’re in love with each other)’ while Danny, who’s POV, spends the entire time going 'why is Steve being so absolutely painful in aggravating my definitely unrequited love/lust that he definitely doesn’t know about’ until Steve finally breaks and calls him an idiot. There’s a creepy fish lamp (which is a real thing in the actual Four Seasons Lanai suites, where they are) that Danny instantly develops a grudge against.

“The point is-” Danny said, and was about to hit Steve in the chest with the back of his hand to emphasise said point when, in rapid succession, three things happened: the boat hit an outlandishly large wave, Danny lost his footing and almost his champagne, and Steve’s quick reflexes and occasional chivalrous instincts kicked in. The combined result of which was that all of a sudden Steve was holding two champagne flutes with one hand and Danny with the other.

Well, that was a slightly unfair description. Steve’s hand was on Danny, specifically on his lower back, but he was also using his entire arm and somehow most of his torso to hold him.

Meaning Danny was essentially plastered against Steve.

And, this being a reciprocal relationship, Steve was plastered against Danny.

And if anything, the hand on his back seemed to be pressing him even closer.

 Behind them, someone let out an ‘aww’, and Steve’s expression twisted up into something that was half-smirk and half-fond grin. He held the champagne flutes out to Danny, and Danny took them numbly and without protest, because his brain was spending all its focus telling his body not to react to having Steve pressed against him through what he was rapidly realising had to be the world’s thinnest t-shirt.

Doing anything without protest was a mistake when it came to Steve. Danny was reminded of this fact when the next thing Steve did with his now-free hand was raise it to Danny’s face, lean down, and kiss him.

The Irritating, Annoying, Infuriating, (Effective) Seduction Techniques of One Steven J. McGarrett

Okay, so this one was directly inspired by Deus Ex Girlfriend sending me round the bend, and doesn’t currently have much other than the title and what-will-end-up-as-the-blurb actually written down, but it’s on the back burner of my mind as a Fun Easy one to fill up one of my Fun Easy slots next year. it starts out with Danny accidentally getting Steve to taste pasta sauce off Danny’s fingers and ends up with Steve hand-feeding Danny Indian takeaway because like I said Deus Ex Girlfriend drove me insane. the aforementioned blurb:

Danny manages to gather enough breath to ask, “How…?”

“Oh, it’s good, Danny,” Steve husks, low in the back of his throat, maintaining steady eye contact.

[…]

He definitely wasn’t talking about the sauce.

Steve didn’t actually get nicknamed 'Smooth Dog’ for nothing.

Huggy & Pete

my best friends Huggy and Pete…. Pete starts fairly unobtrusively hanging around the Pits every afternoon, and Huggy’s like… okay. sure. guess I’m babysitting now. and then notices that Pete seems to be taking specifically a lot of interest in the queer denizens of the Pits, and goes 'ah. okay. I’m queersitting’. Eventually Pete comes out as nb to Huggy before anyone else. Basically this is just an excuse for me to write a) genderqueer Pete and b) Aunty Huggy Bear and his Known Queer Safe Space The Pits

“Who’s that?”

Huggy follows her gaze to the corner booth, where a stocky woman in straight jeans and a collared shirt with an open-to-closed button ratio to rival any of Starsky’s is sitting. She’s got one arm flung out along the back of the seat and the other around the curvaceous, dark-haired lady sitting close enough to in her lap that her flared skirt is draping over both their legs. “That’s Bertha,” he tells Pete with a deliberate blandness. “And her girlfriend, Andi.” He doesn’t really expect a bad reaction from a kid with Pete’s fashion - and nickname - tastes, who spends half their time around Starsky and Hutch and who clearly came to the Pits with some kinda crisis of her own, but Hug hadn’t got where he’d got by not being careful. He didn’t get where he’d got with bad instincts, neither, which was backed up well enough when Pete’s response was a breathy, “She’s so cool.”

(also, just for you:)

“Ugh. My guinea pig never has to think about this stuff.”

Huggy still wasn’t sure precisely what the stuff in question was, but that’d play out eventually. Meantimes, “You have a guinea pig?”

Pete looked up at him, brightening slightly. “Yeah. Uncle Starsky gave her to me. He’d called her Louise, but that was a stupid name. She’s called Flamer now.”

[kaihtlyn]

#kaihtlyn  :  a  low - activity  independent ,  mutually  exclusive  rp  blog  for  kaitlyn  ka  of  supermassive’s  the  quarry.   est.  august  4th,  2022.   this  blog  is  18+  only,  do  not  interact  if  you  are  a  minor.   penned  by  reed.   she / her.   SEE  READ  MORE  FOR  RULES.

memes   .   headcanons   .   robinbckley   .

001. PORTRAYAL / ACTIVITY; My portrayal is based on Supermassive’s The Quarry, and will likely be heavily headcanon based as well. This blog will be comprised of both canon-based and AU verses. NOT affiliated with Supermassive or Brenda Song. 002. REPLIES; I’m usually good at replying, but sometimes (most of the time) I’m very slow and I’m very sorry about that. If I don’t reply for a while, you can totally feel free to let me know if you want me to reply and I’ll see what I can do! 003. SHIPS; I ship based on chemistry and am open to most things. Please don’t try to force any ships. I will be writing Kaitlyn as pansexual, so as long as there’s chemistry, I am open to anything! 004. NSFW; Mun is of age, though I’m typically not comfortable with NSFW threads unless I’m writing with someone I feel comfortable with/have talked with out of character. Any NSFW threads or content will be tagged appropriately. Same goes for any triggering or mature content I may post. If there’s ANYTHING you need tagged that I am not currently tagging, please don’t hesitate to let me know! 005. EXCLUSIVITY / MAINS; I’m not really a fan of being exclusive to certain portrayals of characters. I really don’t like to limit my interactions in that way. That being said, do participate in mains. I really do love having a close connection with the people I write and create with. 006. ICONS; Any icons you see me using were made by me, so please don’t use or claim them as your own. PSD currently being used is an edited version of THIS ONE by venuscommissions! Icon border is the third border from THIS PACK by somresources! 007. FOLLOWING; Right off the bat, I’m just going to say, I might not be following back everyone who follows me. It’s nothing personal, I promise. We just have to make our spaces safe for ourselves! 008. DRAMA; I do not and will not participate in drama of any kind. I’m old and tired and I’ve been around this neck of the woods far too long. I love some open communication and talking through our issues. Let’s all just be nice pls. 009. CONTACT; This isn’t a rule, but I have Discord and will give my user out to mutuals upon request! I’m also easily available through tumblr’s IM feature, and through my ask box. Please do understand that I can be a bit slow at replying to people at times. However, this isn’t because I don’t like you, or don’t want to talk to you! I’m just easily burnt out at times, and I don’t like to half ass plotting or conversation. INTRODUCTION;  Hi! My name is Reed, I am 24 years old and I reside in the CST timezone! I use she / her pronouns. Just a heads up, I am a particularly slow writer and likely won’t be posting any starter calls, so the best ways to interact with me will be plotting via IMs or discord, as well as sending memes! This blog is also 18+ and I will not be interacting with minors under any circumstances. Thank you for understanding! I am so looking forward to interacting with you all!

[myriadimagines]

........And also maybe some Witcher headcanons for Yennefer x Elf!reader being tormented for their relationship? Thanks! Love ya Sam. 😘

BEING AND ELF AND DATING YENNEFER:

Being part elf herself, there is a lot that Yennefer can relate to in terms of your life as an elf

Your people have suffered such loss during the Great Cleansing, in which Yennefer also lost her own father, so she’s very protective of you

She swears she’ll never let any harm come to you, and she takes that very seriously

Your relationship is very much kept in secret, considering you have to live most of your life in hiding

Yennefer hates that the two of you can’t just be out and about together, and that you have to either hide or have some sort of disguise to hide the fact that you’re and elf

She’s proud to be with you, and loves you dearly, and just wants the world to accept that

All the parts about yourself that you hate is everything that Yennefer loves about you

Your elven features, your magic — even though it makes you a target, Yennefer loves you for who you are and would never want you to change

“I love you, and promise to not let anyone hurt you.” “And I will not let anyone hurt you either, Yennefer.” 

Yennefer is very physically affectionate with you when the two of you are alone together

Although she acts different in public, she is very passionate in a more private setting

You most definitely reciprocate this unconditional love right back at her

You know Yennefer’s gone through her own struggles and insecurities, and you admire her so much for how strong she is 

Yennefer will not stand for any kind of slander against you or Elves 

She won’t hesitate to fight back with a biting insult, or in more extreme cases, even using magic against whoever she feels like might be a threat

This’ll cause trouble for the two of you sometimes, and can cause conflict, but you and Yennefer always have a way of getting yourselves out of particularly messy situations

Worrying that one day Yennefer will pick a fight with the one person and get hurt

You’ve spent so much of your life in hiding, you’ve just learned to keep your head down and avoid conflict when you can

“I refuse to let anyone talk about you like that.” “But Yen...” “No, I won’t let it happen.”

You do love how protective she is of you, because it feels nice to be cared for by her and to know how much she loves you

Encouraging Yennefer to talk about her father, even if the memories are too painful sometimes

It’s painful for you to talk about your own family too, but some days it feels nice to reminisce, and telling their stories keeps them alive in some way

Teaching Yennefer about elven culture, and she loves hearing about it because it makes her feel more in touch with that side of her

Helping Yennefer with her magic sometimes when she’s still in the process of learning, and constantly being in awe of her progress 

“You will become the most powerful sorceress this Continent has ever seen, Yen.” 

You and Yennefer will have your arguments sometimes, especially since she has such a strong personality

But you are always able to talk things through and get to the core of what’s really bothering you

You and Yennefer are so grateful for one another and can’t believe you were lucky enough to cross paths

Because you both love one another so fiercely, and you know that kind of love is special

And you will treasure one another forever 

tag list: @fairytalesforever / @ruvaakke / @azeret-mirror / @fangirlsarah16 / @multifandomfix / @randomfandomimagine / @lxncelot / @ofthedewthesunlight / @bravelittlesunflower / @ta-ka-shi-ma / @thereagles / @batfam16 / @swanimagines

[knight-queen]

Lunatic Parade Kanato Sakamaki – (Chapter 2)

[Chapter 1]  [Chapter 2]  [Chapter 3]  [Chapter 4]  [Final]

ー

Place: Glimmer Street, Main street / グリンマーストリース  表通り

Kanato: Hey Yui san, how's your condition?

Yui: Yes, I’m completely fine.

At that time, sorry for making you worried.

Kanato: No...now I understand the reason you collapsed for.

Yui: Eh, really?

Kanato: Yeah, I borrowed the phone from the hotel and confirmed it with Reiji.

Looks like the kleinod which is replacing your heart is alive.

Yui: Alive!? What does it mean…

Kanato: That’s…

Monologue ー

Surprising enough, but Kanato kun has explained politely the things that he heard from Reiji San.

Since the kleinod is alive, there are possibilities that I’ll get sick just like I collapsed a while ago.

This gem is said to be a yellow-stone which was collected from the crater of the Smaragd Volcano and that stone was able to summon extraordinary dead bodies. (右側)

When he asked the name of that jewel, he said it’s called “kleinod.”

Kanato kun was not surprised like me even though he explained these.

Because he has been living a long life in the demon world….

End of Monologue

Yui: (Really, there’re so many things to happen in the Demon World…)

Kanato: Why are you spacing out? I’ll leave you behind.

Yui: ーKh! Ah, I’m sorry!

*They starts walking*

Yui: But, Kanato kun...where will we go?

(I was the one who said to search Butler san but…)

(It will be difficult to search around in this random city)

Kanato: Anyway, I am thinking of asking the people of this city.

Yui: To the people…?

Kanato: You will get it if you just follow me. We are get going.

Place: Glimmer Street , Aizen Alley / グリンマーストリース  アイゼン 横丁

Yui: This is…

Kanato: Aizen alley. In the end street of this corner road, there is a convenient shop out there.

See, there’s a signboard hanging there.

Yui: Sign board...ah

(Reine • Do • Aji General Store…? I think I’ve heard the same name before…)

Kanato: The owner of this store is the younger sister of Reine • Do • Saba, from the city of Carnival.

Yui: Eh, I see!

(That’s why it sounded so familiar…)

Kanato: She is supposed to know the location of Butler. At any rate, she works in a general store after all.

Yui: (I don’t know what kind of person she is. It will be good if she simply tell us his location…)

Place: レーヌ•ド•アジの店 / Reine • Do • Aji Store

Yui: Sorry for interrupting…

(Somehow, the atmosphere of this shop is suspicious…)

Kanato: You stay here. I will go and search Aji.

Yui: Eh...Kanato kun!?

Yui: (He’s gone…)

(What should I do…? Since it’s a long wait then let’s look around the goods)

(But, Kanato kun said to stay here…)

Selection ー

1) Look around the goods inside/ 店内見て回る

2) quiet and wait / 大人しく待っている (+correct)

Yui: (As he said, I should be waiting here quietly.)

(Above that, I can’t cause any trouble for him.)

(And also there are nothing but strange products out here, I better not walk around.)

Ah, this small bottle…

(The sound of just now was from this bottle? There are sands inside which are sparkling...so pretty!)

(Is it okay if I see it by holding? But...ー)

???: ーYou. Is there something in my shop?

*Screen shakes*

Yui: Kyaa!? I- I am sorry…!

(This woman suddenly comes in front of me by flying!?)

*Kanato comes by running*

Kanato: ーYui san!? Did anything happen!?

Yui: Ka- kanato kun…

Kanato: Hm? You are…

???: Oh my, oh my. You’re the young boy from Lord Karl heinz’s place huh.

Kanato: Stop calling me that...Aji.

Yui: Eh, this person is…!?

Reine • Do • Aji : Kukuh...yes young girl, I am Reine • Do • Aji.

Reine • Do • Aji : Then? Why did you come to this place?

This cute lil’ girl and young boy has stopped by this shop huh…

Kanato: We are trying to find the butler of Earl Walter.

Don’t you have any information about this regard?

Reine • Do • Aji : Then...what happened actually?

Kanato: ...kh. Don’t you try to deceive me…!

Yui: Umm...we’re begging you. We have to meet the butler san by any means.

Reine • Do • Aji : Well, it depends on you whether you’ll get the information or not...Hahaha…

(She’s forwarding her hand...what’s she planning…)

Kanato: You won’t tell me until we give you something equivalent...you mean?

Reine • Do • Aji : Kukuh...Young boys who understand people are a great help, y’know?

Kanato: ...What the heck do you want?

Reine • Do • Aji : Let’s see….shall I tell you to bring the forbidden apple pie.

Yui: Forbidden apple pie…?

Reine • Do • Aji : There’s a line for the limited restrict of the parade at the Diamante fountain.

I also want to have a bite…

Kanato: ….What, that’s it? I’ll show you by getting that immediately.

If we bring it, then you’re gonna tell us his location, right?

Reine • Do • Aji : ...Kuku…

Yui: Umm...that’s…

(Why did she suddenly giggle?)

Kanato: Let us go. Any further conversation is useless.

Yui: Y- yes…

Reine • Do • Aji : ...kuku…

Let’s see, what is gonna happen next…

Place: Glimmer Street, Main street / グリンマーストリース  表通り

Yui: Neh, Kanato kun. Diamante Fountain is right ahead, no?

Kanato: According to the map, yes.

Yui: Look, the people who are walking on this road…

Kanato: Yeah, they seem to go to the same place.

Vampire Woman C: Hey, run faster! Or we are gonna miss the apple pie!

Vampire Man D: It’s useless right? There are so many people!

*Screen shakes*

Yui: ーKyaa!?

(Th- these people are….)

Yui: Could it be that they all want to get the apple pies…!?

Kanato: There is a high possibility. We should hurry too.

*They run*

Place: ディアマンテの泉 / Diamante Fountain

Kanato: ーKh, what’s up with this crowd….!

Yui: (This is the line for the apple pie…!?)

Vampire Man D: Uwaa...seriously, there’re so many people.

Vampire Woman: Very obvious. Because this apple pie was made of forbidden apples!

We failed because you ran really slow.

Vampire Man D: This - Is - Why- ! I am apologizing that it was my bad, right!?

Vampire Woman C: Enough! It’s now absolutely impossible because only 10 people can get it.

Aahh. If it’s so then let’s give up by buying a random cake…

Kanato: Kh….

Yui: (Apple pie made of forbidden apple...that’s even left only for 10 people…)

(Even if we line up in these number of people, we can’t get it)

Kanato kun...what now?

Kanato: Why...will we have to give up….

Yui: ...Y-yes...we have to…

(We returned to the previous state again...what should we do?)

*After a while*

Fades to CG

Yui: Neh, Kanato kun. This smoothie is very tasty you know?

Kanato: Gh….

Yui: (He is not saying anything…)

(The forbidden apple pie...he didn’t get that so he was really shocked…)

Kanato: Looks like you are having a calming expression.

Yui: Eh…?

Kanato: Because that’s right?

If we don’t get that, we won’t be able to get back your heart…

Yui: ….Y-yes….you are right but…

Kanato: If it happens then….I have to use the power of my father.

Yui: W- we can’t…!

Kanato: Why?

Yui: Because….it’s very awful.

Kanato: …...I don’t get it.

If we don’t use any unfair technique, then we won’t be able to get what we want.

Yui: I agree with you too.

But I’ll hate it if people get sad if we do that…

...It’s fine. I’m sure we’ll find butler san. So, let’s find another way?

Kanato: ………

You are really foolish.

Yui: ….may be?

Kanato: But I don’t hate the way you just thought.

Yui: Kanato kun…

Kanato: ...For some reason, I felt thirsty while talking.

I want to, so I’ll have the drink that you are having.

Yui: Y- yes...thank you!

Kanato: ….mn...Ah...really…

Just as you said, this smoothie is super tasty.

Yui: Fufu, I am glad you liked it…!

(We didn’t get the apple pie but…)

(If it’s Kanato kun, then I’m sure we will find Butler san…!)

Kanato:...Nevertheless there are still noisy children here. I am having an important conversation with you….

Yui: You can’t blame them.

Kanato: They are playing a tag game. How child type game….

Boy child:  Ooi, here here!

Hey, I said here! ーUwaa!?

*Screen shakes*

Yui: Kyaa!?

*The smoothie falls*

Yui: (Ah! The smoothie got spread in my dress…!?)

Boy Children: Ah, I...I am…

Kanato: You, is there anything you want to say? Look carefully. Because of you, her dress gets dirty.

Yui: K- Kanato kun…! You don’t have to say this harshly….

Kanato: It’s okay. If he’s done something bad, then he should obviously apologize.

Yui: B- but…

Kanato: Hey, you there. Apologize to her properly.

Boy child: ...U….uuh….Uwaaaah!! *earsore sobbing*

Kanato: ...kh, you…!

Yui: (Kanato kun is getting mad...I have to make him stop crying)

Boy Child: ...Uwaaaah….gh…

Yui: U-uh you know...I am really fine with it.

If I just wipe it with a handkerchief then it will get cleaned...Don’t worry at all.

So, don’t cry? Okay?

Boy Child: Uh…

Great, you stopped crying. See? Big sis not being angry, right?

Boy Child: Haa...uh...yes…

Kanato: …...Finally stopped crying huh.

Yui: Ka- kanato kun! You can say something like this.

...Ah, don’t worry ‘cuz it’s fine. This big brother is also not mad or something.

Boy Child: …...Yes, I understandーkh...Bu- but….

Yui: Hm? What is it?

Boy Child: ...Big sis, and also big brother...I am sorry!

*Runs*

Yui: Ah, wait…!

(He’s gone…)

….Um, sorry for troubles, Kanato kun. I can wipe my dress by my own so….

Kanato: ...Misfortunes are coming one after another.

Yui: Eh…?

Kanato: We didn’t get the apple pie, and also your dress got spread with the drink by colliding with the child...

It is said that there will be 3 misfortunes in a row, no? So, we have to face one more.

Yui: No, I hate it…

Kanato: ...We have to watch out so that it won’t happen.

Yui: Yes, that’s right…

Kanato: Well, it’s useless to get worried. Before starting anything, let’s do something about your dress.

Yui: kh...Ah, yes.

Kanato: Come on and lend me the handkerchief. I will wipe it for you.

Yui: Eh, but…

Kanato: Just say still. When you were cleaning, the spots seemed to get spread even more.

Yui: Thank you….then please.

*After they’re done*

Kanato: ….What will we do next then?

Yui: Um...I have no idea…

Kanato: In the first place, why did Earl take away your heart?

If he just simply wants your heart, then just stealing would be enough.

But he even buried the kleinod inside you...Does it have other meaning then?

Yui: ….Certainly yes. Then why would Earl Walter keep me alive…

(If he is about to kill me with having an unknown heart inside then it gets creepy)

(......kh! Let’s not think about it for now…)

*Footsteps*

???: Hey, you guys.

Kanato: What…?

Yui: (Who is this man...Ah...the boy who’s hiding behind his back is…!)

Man: When I heard that my son had spread the drink in your dress, I couldn’t help it…

I am sorry then he had caused trouble…

Boy child: Big sis...I am really sorry for the earlier…

Yui: Such...Don’t even apologize please. Look, the spot of my dress is completely gone...don’t worry about it.

Right, Kanato kun?

Kanato: Eh? Well….

Man: …...kh, what a generous person…!

Forgiving unknown people easily by having a smiley face, I can’t relate!

You are one of the beautiful vampires of such a rare mind in these recent years…!

Yui: Eh, vampire!?

(These people are...misunderstanding me!?)

Man: This is for my apology. I want you to receive it by any means.

Yui: Su- such! We can’t accept it…

Man: Here, take it, take it!

Yui: Eh, oh...thank you so much…

Man: Don’t thank us. We are the ones to cause problems.

Boy child: Big sis and bro. See you later!

*Walk away*

Yui: (They went…)

Kanato: Hey, this box...is so small but what’s inside?

Yui: Um...what can it be?

Kanato: Let’s open it. Give me the box.

*Kanato takes the box*

Yui: Eh, Kanato kun…!

*Opens it*

Yui: (Ah...he just opened…)

Kanato: ….This is….

Yui: Eh...ah!

(It’s the forbidden apple pie that we were searching for!?)

Then...those two were the apple pie shopkeeper and his son…?

Kanato: Looks like so.

Yui: (Such a miracle we just see…)

Kanato: ...Wonderful.

I always thought that it’s useless to be kind to others…

However, it’s something worthwhile. I was able to realize it for the first time.

Yui: ……

(....But, is it really okay to easily receive such a valuable thing…)

Kanato: Yui san? Is there anything wrong…?

Yui: Kanato kun. As I thought, we should return it back to them.

Kanato: Ha….? What are you saying?

Because I...was being kind to that child in order to get something in return.

Also that shopkeeper thought that I am a vampire…

I bet if he would be aware that I am a human then he would give me such a special thing.

Kanato: Are you a idiot? We always have been searching for it.

Kanato: More importantly, it’s something he gave us so it’s okay to accept it.

Then why will we have to give it back!?

Yui: ….Kh, but...I can’t accept it….

I am going to his shop to return it! Kanato kun, you wait here ー

*Kanato Grabs Yui*

Yui: Kyaa!?

Kanato: ーYou can’t! I won’t allow it!!

Yui: Ah…!

Yui: (He snatched away the box of the apple pie!?)

*Kanato runs away*

Yui: kh! Kanato kun!

(What now, I have to chase after him!)

*Yui runs*

Place: Rubean Lake / ルビーン 運河

Yui: (Kanato kun….he should be around here….)

(Find him…!)

Wait, Kanato kun!

Kanato: ーGh!

Yui: Where are you going by taking that !? We must have to return to them!

Kanato: SHUT UP! IT’S FOR YOUR SAKE!

Yui: (Ah! He’s getting on the Gondola…!)

Wait! Don’t go!!

*Tries to catch up*

Yui: ...kch, haah….

(I couldn’t chase after him...what should I do now…)

(I know he’s thinking for me but…)

(But, I can’t accept the forbidden apple pie by having a dark intention inside me….)

???:  ーAh, big sis!

Yui: Eh!?

(Ah...this child is the son of…!)

The son of apple pie shopkeeper: Big sis, are you here alone?

Yui: ...Yes, I am.

The son of apple pie shopkeeper: Neh, the box we gave before, did you see what’s inside?

Yui: Ah...it was the forbidden apple pie right? But….

The son of apple pie shopkeeper: Now way, did you already eat…?

Yui: N- no! Big brother took that away…

The son of apple pie shopkeeper: Eh? Big brother…?

The son of apple pie shopkeeper: ...I see. What a relief.

Yui: Why…?

The son of apple pie shopkeeper: You see...the truth’s that it was made with a secret process but it was forbidden poisonous apple pie.

Yui: 一kch!?

The son of apple pie shopkeeper: ...My father said it.

If the big sister is really a nice person then she would come to give back that apple pie.

Only that kind of person has the right to eat the forbidden apple…

Yui: (So, that shop keeper tested me…?)

一 kh, Kanato kun…!

The son of apple pie shopkeeper: ...Big sis?

Yui: Sorry, I have to go.

(I have to chase after him really fast! I think he already reached around the Aji’s store for sure…!)

*She runs*

The son of apple pie shopkeeper: *shouts*  Big sis!! That is poisonous but no one will die by eating that so please be relieved!

Hah….

*Footsteps*

The son of apple pie shopkeeper: ...is it fine now?

*Man changed the appearance/ Earl’s voice*

Mysterious Man: ...Yeah…

You really did well. Really thank you.

Kuku, I wonder, will they be able to get their important thing safely…?

Place: Glimmer Street, Aizen Alley / グリンマーストリース  アイゼン 横丁

Kanato: ...kch….

Kanato’s Monologue 一 

I have been getting irritated after that.

I didn’t understand why she wanted to give it back.

Certainly, the forbidden apple I am holding now is for her righteous heart.

However, if I hand it over to Aji, then she will tell us the location of the Butler.

…….Then, I can accept it.

If we only do such things then we won’t be able to meet Butler even in the forever.

She is just a fool and kind person.

I wonder if her decisions are appropriate.

I can’t understand. It’s illogical to me.

End of Monologue

Kanato: (...Shall I stop? It’s useless to think something like this.)

(If I pass it to Aji, then she will tell us his location.)

(She told me that she hates it but it's for her sake anyway so…)

*Starts walking*

Place: レーヌ•ド•アジの店 / Reine • Do • Aji Store

Kanato: …...Aji. We bring it what we promised.

Reine • Do • Aji : Heeh….as expected from the young boy of Sakamaki. Really you got that huh.

And? I don’t see any appearance of that girl…

Kanato: …...It doesn’t matter right?

Reine • Do • Aji : Oh, I see. Since it’s special so you also wanna have a taste?

Kanato: Eh…?

Reine • Do • Aji : It was difficult to get it, right? Don’t you want to have a bite?

Kanato: …..gh….

(...Of course I want to. But I can’t split that.)

(Why is everything feeling a little gloomy?)

(Is that because it wasn’t my achievement? So, if I have a bite then I may feel guilty…)

(....Aah...I see. That’s right…)

(No I understand what did she mean)

(You wanted me to feel the same feelings like you huh…)

Reine • Do • Aji : What will you do? Young boy?

Kanato: ….No, I refuse.

Reine • Do • Aji : I see. Then, you’re gonna regret it….

Then, I’ll eat it all by myself...kukuh…

Aah…! This is the one I was searching for, you know!

Reine • Do • Aji : The perfect sourness and sweetness...I can get captive in it’s taste just by having a single bite…

Enough wait, I am gonna eat…

Kanato: ーWait. Tell me where the Butler is first.

Reine • Do • Aji : Hm? Who is he?

Kanato: ...Ha? What are you saying...You are breaking the promise!

Reine • Do • Aji : I don’t think I made such a promise.

Kanato: ...kch! Don’t mess around! It’s pathetic!

Reine • Do • Aji : If you are saying that far then show me the evidence. I am saying that I don't remember.

Kanato: HOW UNFAIR! You know that we don’t have any proof….!!!

Hurry up and say it! Where is the Butler!?

Reine • Do • Aji : It’s not my duty to say it. It’s the young boy’s fault to put concern about it.

Kanato: ….kch….

(...I am stupid. I come this far by ignoring her but, I am the one to get deceived….)

Place: Glimmer Street, Aizen Alley 

Yui: ...hh….haah...haah...

(I have to...I have to get there on time….!)

Place: Reine • Do • Aji Store

Yui: ー kh, Kanato kun!

Kanato: Kh….!? Yui san….

Yui: (Ah…! The apple pie in Aji’s hands….!)

Wait! Don't eat that apple pie!!

Reine • Do • Aji : Oh my oh my, little girl. You also wanna eat?

But I can’t listen to that...I won’t get such a valuable thing the second time.

Yui: No! It’s not what I mean!

Anyway, don’t eat that plase!

Reine • Do • Aji : You are a noisy girl. I won’t hand it over to you….mn…*eats*

Yui: Ah!

*Yui grabs the apple pie*

Yui: Spit it right now! This is a poisonous apple pie!!

Kanato: Eh….!?

Reine • Do • Aji : ーkh!? Haah….!! *coughs* coughs*

*Spits it*

Yui: kh...Ha….what a relief. I made it in time…

Reine • Do • Aji : Uuh….*coughs* *coughs* Hey girl….what does it mean?

Yui: Umm...I am sorry!

The apple pie we got is poisonous.

Kanato: ….hh!? What does it mean?! We are deceived…?

Yui: ….When I heard everything from the boy...I couldn’t help but to hurry.

Reine • Do • Aji : Is that true?

You want to eat the apple pie so you are trying to cheat me right?

Yui: My words are true!

Reine • Do • Aji : …….

Yui: Won’t you trust me?

Reine • Do • Aji : Hah...anyway, your face doesn't seem like you are lying…

Yui: Sorry for making this situation like we’ve deceived you.

Reine • Do • Aji : ….No. It was my bad.

Yui: Eh?

Reine • Do • Aji : This young boy also told me….

Anything wouldn’t happen if I would tell the Butler’s location in the beginning.

Yui: Is that so….

Reine • Do • Aji : ...But, I didn’t imagine that this young girl would save me.

I am thankful a little.

Yui: No….

Reine • Do • Aji : The butler’s location is….perhaps in the mountain I guess…

Yui: Eh!?

Reine • Do • Aji : He has interests in medicinal herbs.

When Earl is gone, he often collects rare medical herbs around the mountain.

You can check out the Smaragd mountain. He will be there for sure.

Yui: Thank you so much…!

(That’s great! Now we are one step closer…!)

Kanato: …….

Yui: Let’s go, Kanato kun.

Kanato: ...You’re right.

Place: Glimmer Street, Aizen Alley

Kanato: ………

Yui: (When he is apart from me with such an expression, I feel no good.)

(I am not worried but, what can I do to transmit these feelings to him…)

Kanato: ….Neh, Yui san.

Yui: Yes, what?

Kanato: I think it didn’t come out bad.

Yui: Fufu, I know.

(His words are squishy and his expression doesn’t seem to be well…)

(Kanato kun is not obedient…)

Kanato: …

*Kanato gets closer*

Yui: Ah….*blushes*

(His hands are…!?)

Kanato: I don’t hate your simple and foolish side.

….May be the reason I am thinking it because it’s you.

Yui: ...Kanato kun…

Kanato: ...It’s weird. I am different from my usual self.

Probably I got moved by this stupid honesty.

Neh, do you hate this kind of me?

Yui: No, it’s not. I like any type of Kanato kun.

Kanato: ...fufu, I see. Then, it’s fine.

Let’s return to the hotel for resting before getting started for the smaragd volcano.

And also, I am worried for your kleinod.

Yui: ...Yes, thank you.

ー The End

[kuchenprince]

ATLA Q&A

Thanks to @ohmygodtheywereparabatai for tagging me!

Btw, this is the first time someone tagged me for this kind of things and im so scared lmao so I’ll try my best!

General questions:

1. What’s your favorite character?

Zhao, Lin, Kuvira, Tarrlok

Guess my type 👉��

2. What’s your comfort character?

ZHAO, and I don’t know why. He’s just so powerful and so intelligent; I want him to protect me and spoil me, but also I want him to know that he’s really important to someone me and that i’ll literally would die for him. I want to hug him, feel how he’s startled at first, but then give up and hug me back.

Please help me.

3. Which element would you bend if you could chose?

In every quiz that I took, I’m a fire bender, but I really want to be an earth bender, and metal bender if that’s possible.

4. What’s your favorite nation?

Each nation has it’s unique things, so it’s really hard to choose one. I’ll choose Earth Kingdom here since it’s lively and pretty well-balanced (not too icy, not too dark, not too high)

5. What makes you love ATLA the most?

Actually, ATLA it’s not part of my childhood (I didn’t have nickelodeon when i was a kid!), but I started to use socialmedia, and got into fandoms, specially in tumblr, I saw many people talking about Avatar. I knew about this cartoon, but I didn’t really care because I thought “Meh, it’s just a gringada”. So when I started to watch it, I had really low expectations, but with only the first episode, I was going crazy.

Not just because of the animation (specially in the fights!), the first thing that really atracted me, but also all the cultural inspirations packed up without forcing it, without wanting to look “inclusive”.

In ATLA, I didn’t really pay attention to the story, but in TLOK... Boi, it’s just too beautiful. The story, the philosophy.*insert Pacha meme.png*

Could get you attacked questions:

1. What’s your least favorite character from the gaang?

KA TA RA

Actually it’s my least favorite character or ATLA. Why? Because she’s annoying. I know that she’s talented, intelligent, caring, brave and did a great job as the mom of the gaang, and I really understand that she, in fact, it’s a kid; but yeah, I consider her as annoying somethimes.

2. What character you think it’s severely underrated?

I won’t say that they are underrated, but I want to know more about the back stories of villains like Long Feng or Zhao of course. Also I would love to know more about the Bumis (king Bumi and Aang’s Son)

3. What’s your least favorite nation?

Wow, I just don’t know! Maybe by discard would be fire nation, but there’s no reason.

4. What’s your controversial ATLA opinion?

Well, I already told something controversial here in this post, and there’s another in the shipping questions 🙊

Shipping questions:

1. What’s your favorite ship and why?

I’m not really into shipping in ATLA, not because I don’t like it, but because I wasn’t interested. But if I have to choose, it would be Sukka, and from TLOK, KyaLin and Zhurrick

2. What’s your least favorite ship and why?

Maiko and Zutara, because these three characters has too much similarities (Mai And Zuko equally hate the world, and Katara and Zuko have family issues that can’t overcome), and I don’t like to ship characters that are too similar.

3. Do you sometimes self-insert?

You mean, always - Yes.

4. What’s your crack ship?

As I already said, I’m not really into shipping in ATLA, but sometimes I wonder if Long Feng with Katara or with Toph, and Korra and Kuvira would be interesting. Oohh and what about Tenzin with Tarrlock? Or Iroh II with Korra? Or Tahno with Korra?? Also, I support Korrlock

5. Which non canon ship would you make happen if you were the creator?

Dude, JINKO or Song with Zuko!

...

I had a lot of fun answering these questions, and since I don't really talk with people here, I invite anyone who sees this to take this q&a 💕

[ythmir-writes]

Fictober 2020, Day 02

Prompt: “that’s the easy part” Fandom: Obey Me! Fea: Barbatos Audience/Tags: general / good and warm feels

Five.

That was the number of attempts I’ve made to strike up a conversation with Barbatos in the last two hours that ended up with me being absolutely ridiculously tongue-tied. The number of attempts where I had gathered enough courage to walk up to him first to, you know, just talk. About anything. Maybe even everything. For so long as he had free time, and I wasn’t in the way of his service to Diavolo in this party.

I mean, it is party. Attendees talk at parties, right?

It’s embarrassing, to be completely honest. Pretending to not have seen him when Satan told me it was all but obvious my eyes had never left Barbatos. Pretending I needed to speak to Diavolo about a thing or other. Pretending I was out of drinks and Mammon appearing with two champagne bottles. Asking him if we still had that assignment due Friday. Honestly admitting I found the palace a labyrinth and needed to find Solomon (for a pep talk; he need not know).

“You really do have it that hard, huh.” Solomon placed a hand on his chin.

A statement, not a question, I realized. One I knew Solomon was not waiting for any reply for either. “Nice talk,” I said instead.

“You could always just ask him.”

“I’m out of ideas on how to even approach him.”

Solomon hummed a tone. “How about something entirely natural?”

I tried not to sweat out the slight implication that none of my earlier attempts had been entirely natural.

Of all the Demons in Devildom, Barbatos was the most approachable; something most of Hell’s citizens would agree on. If it were not for the fact that he had horns and a tail, you’d think he was anything else. Maybe even human.

Sure, I’ve met a few kind and genial Demons in the course of my stay here. For all that we’ve thought them to be malicious, some are just tricksters, with a need to distract and fiddle and interrupt. They can’t help it. Don’t get me wrong, you should never trust a Demon to draw up a contract for anything – devil is in the details and all that – but look past their basic instinct to wreak havoc, you may just find yourself a friend.

Barbatos was that kind of Demon.

Say what you will about his near blind loyalty to the First House, or the rumoured power he controlled that made him formidable even to the Eldest Sin, but Barbatos is a kind and reliable friend. The kind you’d want to have your back when things got dicey.

Besides, centuries of service should account for something, right? And even if in the first few times he had helped me, they were all just because Diavolo had instructed him to help the poor human along, Barbatos hadn’t needed to stay with me as I struggled with the demonic alphabet.

Barbatos hadn’t needed to give me extra macarons when he made them. Barbatos hadn’t needed to accompany me to the library whenever we passed each other on the way to the student council room. Barbatos hadn’t needed to give me extra souvenirs when he accompanied Diavolo in Earth.  Barbatos hadn’t needed to check up on me that one time I was too sick from trying to out-eat Beelzebub (that was entirely my fault, I should have known better but sushi has always been my favorite).

Call me a fool, call me an idiot, call me a hopeless sap who doesn’t know any better – but when you notice that small oh in your life, you’ll agree with me.

Solomon had been the first to notice my infatuation. But Solomon was sharp, and an even a sharper sorcerer, so I had not given his notice much thought. Much to my horror, unfortunately, everyone in House Lamentation had seen the same thing and had only barely kept quiet about it.

Until Diavolo and Barbatos had visited that one time. And I pretty much stammered their entire stay. There was no going back from that. Especially with Asmodeous and Satan.

“The party is winding down,” Solomon suddenly said, nodding to a few emissaries who seemed to be congratulating Diavolo.

“So?” I asked, sullen. I’d missed my chance again.

“Don’t pout.” Solomon patted my head, which is appalling as we were nearly the same height. “As per usual, there will be a few moments when one of the brothers will do something inane and Lucifer will have to handle it.”

I made a face. The brother always made a scene. “I don’t see how this is going to help me.”

“Diavolo will be entertained for a few minutes, leaving Barbatos a few moments to stand idly by.”

As if on cue, something broke. Quickly followed by Mammon swearing on all his past mistakes that this one was not specifically his fault alone.

Solomon gave me a slight push on the shoulder. “Good luck.”

You take the help you can get, I guess.

Using the barely felt momentum from my only human friend in this plane of existence, I made my way towards the brothers, trying to pick out the words to say. It doesn’t have to be grand, doesn’t have to woo every Demon who heard them.

They just have to let me secure a date with the Demon I liked.

I watched the scene play out as I made my way through the tables. Sure enough, Lucifer was looking as if the gates of Hell had re-opened. Sure enough, Diavolo was all grins and reassurances that the vase was only seven centuries old and Lucifer didn’t have to pop a vein about it.

And sure enough, Barbatos was stood a good distance away from them putting down what looked like a service tray with tea in his hands to the table beside him.

Satan spotted me approaching. I picked up the pace before his knowing look could break my resolve.

“They’re at it again, huh?” I said as I neared the butler. Act natural. Act like you did not make ridiculous attempts at conversation earlier.

Barbatos turned to acknowledge me. “It seems a party is never truly complete without something exciting happening.”

I felt a pang of sympathy. Not just for Mammon, who was going to be upside down the front door again tonight, but also for Barbatos who was probably going to be in-charge of clean-up. “I’m going to apologize for Mammon. I know he won’t be sorry for the mess.”

“There’s no need, my dear,” Barbatos chuckled. “These little incidents are nothing. I’m glad for them, really.”

“You are?”

Barbatos nodded. “They bring reprieve to the Young Master. I am not the only servant of the First House glad to see him smile the way he does now.”

“Oh.” I said, lost already in the small smile unfurling on Barbatos’s lips as he looked on.

And I realized I had nothing to say anymore. One smile from this Demon, and all thoughts are simply gone. Ka-poof.

I don’t know how long I had been staring, but as soon as I realized I was, I shook myself into action. “You’re not mad you have to clean?”

“That’s the easy part.” Barbatos turned his smile at me and my stomach did flips at the sight. “Or you could say, it’s a small price to pay in exchange for the joy.”

I bobbed my head. “Right, yeah. For Diavolo, of course.”

“Not entirely.”

I raised my brows in question.

Barbatos seemed to hesitate, then asked. “May I be honest?”

“Always.”

“I was worried,” He said, looking away for a moment. “That you would not go for a sixth conversation.”

I did not know whether to want to combust or have the rest of Hell swallow me from where I stood as I realized that Barbatos knew the times I have talked to him from this party alone. Did he know? Had he felt whatever shred of dignity I have suddenly just collapse? Was he aware of all my failures at attempting to ask him out, and that I would settle for fifteen minutes of tea with him if it meant even just a shared moment alone?

I closed my eyes, the only way I knew I could technically hide from him, and also to stop my train wreck of thoughts made worse only by the mad beating of my heart.

“Barbatos, may I be equally honest?”

“Of course.”

I could not even look him in the eyes. I was that weak. “I would gladly wrestle Cerberus and put three collars on all his heads, if it meant I could spend afternoon tea with you.”

There, I said it. Not the confession I had hoped it would be, but Solomon was right. I do have it hard for this Demon.

Sputtering is what made me look at Barbatos, surprised, and I almost missed the faint blush on his cheeks. Or perhaps, I was mistaken and did not really see them, because Barbatos was opening a hand towards me and my heartbeat skyrocketed to impossible heights.

“My dear, I assure you, you don’t need to go to those lengths. I will have gladly have you, if you will have me.”

[saibh29]

Minor Head Trauma (Part 3)

Pairing: Will Halstead x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, Drugs (misuse)

AN: I’m not a doctor, please don’t think my medical advice etc is in any way accurate. Also i’m not American and haven’t been to Chicago so I apologise if my geography or depiction isn’t right. 

When an old friend of Ethan Choi show’s up in Chicago ED she’s about to make life very uncomfortable for Will Halstead

Part One  Part Two 

********

Predictably, you had not been allowed to rest when you’d gotten back to the base. After giving your team a debrief of what had actually happened to you the General had then sent you straight back to regular duty. Sometimes he made you wonder whether he was more inclined to be your General or your father. You only thought about it sometimes, because if you tried too hard and really thought about it you were worried you wouldn’t like the answer.

That had been a week ago, your head was pretty much fully healed, you were still getting the occasional headache but it wasn’t anything that was making you suffer too greatly, you suffered much more simply from having to deal with Nolan 24 hours a day.

Rooting around in the pockets of your jeans you found a handful of change and counted it up desperate that it reached the right amount for a large mug of black coffee.

Luckily it seemed your pockets for once were deep enough to scrounge the right coins.

You pushed your way into the tiny coffee shop near the base, it was always filled to the brim with off duty service men and women. Men and women who had more sense than to risk the base’s cafeteria.

Elbowing your way to the front of the queue and glaring at any squaddies that tried to get in your way you ordered your coffee from the overly stressed barista and then fought with another customer who insisted that the coffee you’d ordered was his instead of yours.

By the time you squeezed back out of the café you were once again in a miserable, pissed off mood. What you saw though in front of you shocked you right out of that mood once again.

“Dr Halstead?”

“Captain Y/L/N” he looked almost embarrassed.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was, uh, I was looking for you”

“for me?”

Rubbing at the back of his neck Will took a few steps towards you. “I thought I’d check up on you, on your head”

“My head is fine. I told you, it’s pretty thick” you moved out of the way of a group of squaddies coming through the doors again which put you a bit closer to Will. “How’d you even find me?”

“Oh, uh, Nolan, he had to give a phone number on your arrival to the ED. I rang him, he told me you’d probably be here”

“Ok” frowning you sipped at the coffee in one hand. “next question, why?”

“Why?”

“Why are you ringing Nolan and turning up outside the coffee shop I go to to try and find me?”

Ok, now he really did look embarrassed. It was sort of cute, but didn’t answer your question. “Are you busy? I mean, do you have to head back to the base straight away?”

“I don’t” you did. Why were you saying you didn’t? You were going to get in so much trouble for this. Will was smiling though and your brain wasn’t functioning. “What did you have in mind Dr Halstead?”

“You really need to call me Will”

“You going to stop calling me Captain?”

“Maybe”

He was too charming for his own good, with that little half smile thing he was pulling off, hell the man was just… yummy. “So, what do you want to do Will?”

“Walk with me?” It was getting to be Autumn and even though the chill was starting to settle it was still warm enough to walk without turning into an icicle. “You look good in a uniform Captain”

“You didn’t look bad in your own either Doctor Halstead”

Together you walked down the street, you weren’t in the best area of Chicago and dilapidated social housing marred most of your view. Windows boarded over with chipboard and gang tags sprayed onto them. You didn’t even notice though; you were focused on Will.

Being focused so much on Will was probably what made you miss it, the shadow in the alley coming up in front of you, the hand waving at you and then suddenly the whisper of your name.

“Y/N”

Stalling beside Will you peered around him and found the frantic eyes of your informant. What the hell was he doing this side of Chicago.

“Daniel, what the hell?” you moved quickly pushing him back into the alley out of sight of any curious residents who still had glass in their windows. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you Y/N, real bad like”

The boy was shivering and trembling uncontrollably and the frantic look in his eyes filled you into the problem quite quickly. “Fuck Daniel, you’re strung out”

“Please Y/N…”

“I told you” you snapped “no drugs, I'm not fuelling your addiction”

“Y/N?” Will, crap, he’d followed you into the alley and was looking at Daniel in concern. “He doesn’t look so good”

“He’s fine”

“Y/N…”

“No drugs Daniel. It was our deal”

“I think they were bad” he chattered out “Y/N, I'm not high like usual”

“What?” you weren’t a doctor, you had no idea how different drugs affected the body. Really looking at him though you realised that maybe Will was right. Daniel didn’t look good and you’d seen him at some pretty fucking low points. “Will?”

Will was already moving to Daniel pushing him down onto a broken packing crate, the young man’s trembling seemed to have turned almost violent now and the shivers were racking his whole body.

“What did you take?”

Daniel’s eyes flicked off Will and back to you, not strung out enough to not be naturally nervous of a stranger he didn’t know. “Speak Daniel, he’s safe”

“Don’t know” you could barely understand him, he was finding it difficult to speak from the chattering of his teeth. “They gave me a syringe”

“You fucking idiot, and you just took it?”

“I had no choice”

“Y/N, we need to get him to the ED” Will was pressing his fingers onto various parts of Daniels body, obviously looking for something.

“How did you get here?”

“Drove”

“Let’s go then”

Will got his shoulder underneath Daniel’s arm and helped get the younger man back up to his feet he then rooted around in his pocket throwing his car keys at you. “I want to keep an eye on him, you drive” Will pointed back down the street. “Car’s that way”

That was quite a decent distance to go in broad daylight. The last thing Daniel, or you for that matter, needed was to be seen together. “Wait”

Pulling off your jacket you removed the top layer of your uniform, the simple khaki fleece, put the jacket back on and then shoved Daniel’s skinny arms through the fleece which also had a hood thank the lord, you pulled that over Daniel’s head.

Will thankfully didn’t question this just held Daniel still enough for you to dress him. When you were as happy as you could be that no one would be able to recognise him you nodded at Will. “Let’s get him to hospital”

Will bundled Daniel into the back seat of his car getting in as well and you started up the engine. Your driving skills had been honed in a military Humvee, driving through the sand dunes of Afghan being shot at by insurgents hence it had been mentioned by your civilian friends that you were a little… crazy.

Your dangerous (you’d debate that label) driving meant you got back to Chicago Med in record time. Daniel was now turning a sickly yellow colour and sweat was beading his face. He really didn’t look good.

Will had to practically carry him into the ED shouting for various other drugs and tox screenings while he laid Daniel down onto a trolley.

“You idiot” you said again, a lot less vehemence behind it though this time. “What was your big plan here? Wait in that alley until I randomly turned up?”

You couldn’t understand a single word that Daniel said this time. Instead you took hold of his hand. “Will’s a good doctor. He’ll get you fixed up. Then me and you, we’re going to have a discussion”

Will was back and breaking the hold you had on Daniel’s hand as he moved you out of the room. “He needs to be registered on the system”

“He can’t be registered Will”

“I thought that may be the answer”

“I'm sorry…” nurses were running in and out of the cubicle that Daniel was laid in, doing the various tests that Will had ordered. “I can register myself again”

“What?”

“I came back for a check up for my head. Charge me for everything”

“You wouldn’t need those tests for a head wound. It would be questioned why I ordered them”

“Will” grabbing his hand you pulled him away from the bustle of the ED and into a quieter corner. “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry you’re being involved in this but understand me when I say that Daniel can NOT be registered at this ED. For more than his own sake”

Will remained silent staring down at you.

“Please”

“I’ll bring you the forms. Fill them out for yourself… Y/N if this…”

“It won’t bounce back on you. I promise I won’t let it”

“The general?”

“Among other things. Just don’t let him die Will”

“You’re going to be a problem, aren’t you?”

“Always”

Before you could really compute what was happening Will had bent down, pressed his lips against yours in a kiss that seared a trail all the way through your body and then he’d disappeared again. Striding back into Daniels room, where you could hear his voice shouting out demands for even more tests.

Fuck, this was going to be all kinds of problems and you weren’t even sure if it was Daniel that you were thinking about.

*****

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[connorandersons-blog]

Family Reunion

Rating: mature

Ship: Connor/Gavin

Word count: 2,142

Chapter: 3/5

Summary: Gavin is going to a family reunion, but he doesn't have a date. Of course, he has to ask the android he's been pining for. What could possibly go wrong?

Tags: Trans Gavin, fake/pretend Relationship, mutual pining, bi Connor, ace Connor, gay Gavin, Ken Doll Android Anatomy, Sharing a bed

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

The dinner is… different. Normally Hank would either sit at the couch or table and just eat. Nothing formal, just a quick pause in whatever they were doing for him to eat.

This was different. They had a whole room for just dining, which was normal for bigger houses. Connor had tried to help set the table, but everyone had told him no for that, even Frank. It seemed that at least the first time you join the family reunion you are treated like a guest. After that, you should know where everything is and can help out.

He didn't mind, but it was a bit awkward sitting at the table while everyone else moved around between the kitchen and dining room. He fiddled with his coin until everything was set and everyone sat down. Frank and Shona sat at the heads of the table, Gavin and Connor on one side, Kas, Kamski and Chloe on the other.

The food on the table looked amazing, but Connor wasn't equipped with eating, so he was content to just talk and watch.

He was slightly shocked when Kamski had walked up behind him and set a plate of food in front of him. Kamski then placed a hand on his shoulder and Connor could feel the breath on his ear as he spoke. "I hope you enjoy. I've been working on this for a while."

"Elijah, it's rude to flirt with your brother's partner." Shona sighs, shaking her head.

"Fuck off, Eli," Gavin growls and snatches Connor's hand, holding it tightly.

"Gavin." Frank scolds, squinting at both Kamski and Gavin.

"Apologies. I'm simply excited to see Connor's reaction, after all, this will be the first time he's ate something." Kamski walks over and places a similar plate in front of Chloe. She smiles up at him but doesn't touch it yet. So Connor doesn't touch his either, but he really wants to.

"I can eat this? I don't have the necessary upgrades to eat though," he points out. He really doesn't want to get his hopes up, but Kamski must already know he can't eat. So why do this unless it was real?

"That's fine. As I said, I've been working on this for a while. I have made food for androids, any androids, even ones that don't have that upgrade. It should taste the exact same." Kamski finally sits and smiles. Everyone's posture is perfect and he knows it's because of Frank.

"Alright, if you wish to pray do so now," Frank says, looking at each of them. Kas closes her eyes, as does Chloe surprisingly. Is she praying to rA9, or perhaps a human religion?

Connor never really thought of religion, or anyone to worship. Before he met Kamski he would be the closest thing to a god to him. Then he met him and he was very obviously human, though still just as mysterious.

Now he was sitting across from him, pretending to date his brother and about to actually eat the food he made. That was definitely a turn of events he never thought possible.

After a minute, Frank nods and picks up his fork. "Shona, thank you for making this."

Kas smiles at her mom, Kamski and Gavin nod at her in thanks. Everyone starts eating and Connor stares at his food. He's never eaten anything. What if he didn't like it? He didn't want to be rude.

"Con, you good?" Gavin asks quietly. He looks over and smiles when he sees Gavin's concerned look. He can tell it's real too, which just makes this situation even worse.

"Yeah, just nervous. I've never eaten before." He picks up his fork and Gavin reaches over and gives his thigh a squeeze.

He brings the, what's supposed to be, shrimp and puts it in his mouth. The first thing he notices is the notification telling him exactly what the 'shrimp' was made of.

The next thing he noticed was the taste. It was...he had no idea how to describe it, but it was good. A soft moan slipped out, and he covered his mouth, cheeks turning blue.

The hand on his thigh didn't let go and only got slightly tighter at the moan. He looked around when he noticed the talking had stopped. "I'm so sorry, it's just really good."

Kamski had a smirk on his face and Chloe was smiling at him softly. Kas snorted, and Shona had a fond look on her face. Frank was the only one that wasn’t all too happy, but didn't say anything.

He looked over at Gavin and had to stop himself from ducking his head. Gavin's face was red and his mouth was just slightly gaping.

"Glad you like," Kamski said, shaking Connor and Gavin from staring at each other. "And stop eye-fucking," he mumbled just loud enough for Chloe, Kas, and Connor to hear.

Kas snorted again and Chloe glared at Kamski. Connor's face stayed blue as he ducked his head and continued to eat. He did his best to keep his reactions in, but mostly the sounds that almost slipped out.

He tried to eat slowly, but it just all tasted so good. He's only ever tasted evidence from a crime scene, and even there he never had his taste receptors on.

Gavin kept his hand on Connor's thigh, but just rested it there as they ate. It was warm and comforting, and he really hoped this happened more often.

It surprised no one when Connor was the first to finish his dinner. The table was quieter than he expected, but there was still some talking. Mostly about everyone's jobs and what they had been doing. He did notice that Frank never addressed Connor, or asked him about his job or even the revolution.

Shona seemed to catch on and gladly included him in all of the conversations, asking for his opinions. He smiled happily each time and gladly answered.

Dinner took longer than he expected but he honestly didn't mind. There were moments of awkward silence but each time either Shona or Chloe would fill it. Connor's own social protocols popped up every now and then, but he pushed them down. He didn't want to rely on those to have positive relationships.

They sat there talking even after everyone had finished eating. Frank seemed more relaxed, but he kept it curt with him, but he did seem more open with Chloe. Maybe it just took him time to loosen up around new people.

Shona was the first to stand, collecting the dishes and pressing a kiss to Frank's cheek.

"May I help?" Connor asks, ready to jump up if given the chance.

Shona sighs and looks at Gavin, then nods. Both of them stand and Connor takes the plates from Shona. Gavin grabs the rest and leads Connor to the kitchen.

"Whoever doesn't help cook normally help clean, just a thing we've always done. Pretty sure Mom thinks we just wanted time alone." Gavin snorts and places the dishes in the sink.

Connor puts his down and starts cleaning. Sure, he did want to spend time with Gavin, but he also wanted to help.

Gavin stands there, leaning against the counter. "Mom and Kas like you already. Sorry I didn't warn you about Elijah. Also, sorry he's a flirting bastard."

"I don't mind. It was very interesting to see him again. Your mother is very kind, I'm glad to have met her. Though… that does make me feel a bit bad at lying." He sighs, scrubbing a plate.

Gavin hums and simply looks forward, arms crossed. Connor works quietly, cleaning the plates then handing them to Gavin to dry.

They work well together, and they get all the dishes, including the ones that weren't used for dinner, clean and dried.  

It was oddly domestic, something he hadn't accounted for. He assumed it would be chaos for the four nights they'd be there.

"I should tell you, Chloe already knows. She won't tell anyone, but I hadn't accounted for another android." Connor says once all the dishes are clean.

Gavin sighs and his head falls back, looking up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I figured. She's too smart for her own good. She'll keep her promise and won't tell."

Connor nodded and stood there, watching Gavin. The way his throat bobbed as he swallowed, the way his eyelashes fluttered. He was truly beautiful.

"The fuck you staring at me for, Tincan?" Gavin grumps, looking over at Connor.

He blushed and looked away. He didn't mean to stare, but he seemed to be doing that a lot. "Sorry."

"Whatever. After dinner, we can do- whatever. If you wanna do something though, just let me know." Gavin pushed off the counter but didn't move out of the kitchen.

He didn't know what he wanted to do. There was so much, but also so little they could do in the house. If they went out, Gavin would have no reason to pretend to love him. That sounded nice as it would give them both a break. But he also didn't want it to stop, no matter how much it hurt.

"We can just watch some TV with Kas. She normally snags the TV after dinner. Kamski and Chloe will be doing their own thing in his room." Gavin suggests. Cuddling on the couch did sound good.

Connor nodded and Gavin reached out, waiting for Connor to nod again before taking his hand. It was nice that he asked permission first.

They walked over and Gavin flopped onto the couch, patting the seat beside him. Connor turned so his back was against the side and pulled Gavin in so his back was against his chest.

"Jesus, can you two get any cuter? Like, relationship goals." Kas says when they get comfortable.

Gavin sticks his tongue out grabbing Connor's hands to wrap around his middle. Connor wasn't completely relaxed until he heard a soft sigh from Gavin.

He tried to focus on whatever movie they were watching (Venom, apparently) but he was mostly focused on Gavin. He felt every time he rubbed a circle into Gavin's skin, and his heart rate sped up.

That was… definitely interesting evidence.

[Probability of positive reaction: 51%]

He could feel when Gavin started falling asleep in his arms. Connor pressed a kiss to his head, which was mostly for their act. Partly for himself. Connor waited until the movie was over before gently shaking Gavin's shoulder.

"Gavin? Babe, let's get to bed," Connor mumbles, gently stroking his arm.

Gavin mumbled something and pressed closer to Connor.

"You're gonna have to carry him," Kas says, starting up another movie.

Connor nods and gently moves from out behind Gavin. Which, he must say, is an incredible feat seeing as Gavin was clinging onto him like his life depended on it.

Once he finally got out and scooped him up, giving a small smile to Kas. She gave a nod in return before Connor started towards the stairs.

He walked as smoothly as he could, but Gavin was slowly becoming more aware.

When they get to Gavin's room Gavin is almost completely aware. "Didn't have to carry me, Tincan." He mumbled but snuggled closer to Connor.

He placed him on the bed, before looking around. The best spot for him would either be to stand or sit in Gavin's chair.

He did look away when he saw Gavin pulling his clothes off. "Con, hey, stop standing there like an idiot."

Connor looks over and feels his face heat up. Gavin is almost completely nude except for his boxers. Connor couldn't tell if he was more happy or upset that they didn't hide much.

"I was debating on the best place for me. I could stand, or sit at the desk." He took his tie off, placing it back in his suitcase.

"Fuck that," Gavin says, rolling his eyes. "Take that shit off and sleep with me. Fuck. No, not like that." Even with such dark lighting, he could see the blush form. "Just, fuck it. We can share a bed."

Connor nodded and took his clothes off, folding them neatly. He grabbed a pair of pajama pants and pulled them on before moving to the side of the bed and getting in.

Gavin hums and scoots closer, wrapping himself around Connor. "This ok? I… just in case someone comes in."

That didn't make a whole lot of sense because he had locked the door. That was one of the things Gavin had talked about on the drive. Even in the safest of places he'd lock the door.

He'd let it slide, though, and nodded his head. He didn't think he'd get away with a kiss to Gavin's forehead, so he just held him closer. "Yeah, this is fine."

[Probability of positive reaction: 52%]

[this-is-what-makes-us-fandoms]

Secret {Lab Rats: Elite Force}

Requested: Hey, hope you're taking Lab Rats Elite Force asks if not I'm sorry just ignore this, but I wanted to request a Kas x reader where they're secretly dating (because of Chase's comment on the group dynamic if any of them dated) but the others are slowing finding out one by one, like how they'd find out and who'd be first? Thank you in advance babes!

Pairing: Kaz x Reader

Warnings: Minor mature scene (because I couldn’t help it), few swears (again, because I couldn’t help it)

Words: 4.3K

A/N: One out of many, many requests done :)

You sighed in content as you basked in the silence, fingers running through Kaz’s hair who laid his head on your lap. It was one of those rare moments where you got time to yourselves and you could just enjoy it without interference. The rest of the team had gone to bed while you and Kaz had opted to stay up for another hour or so. Much to Chase’s annoyance, he thought that every team member should get adequate sleep in order to perform well on missions. Not that anyone really cares half the time but this time everyone was just tired from today’s mission. And it gave you the opportunity to spend time together without anyone seeing.

Here’s the thing, you and Kaz were dating, secretly, because you didn’t want to risk ruining the team’s dynamic, as Chase put it. Although you would never break up with Kaz, you were way to in love with him to do that. You just didn’t want things to be weird with the group, and you didn’t want to deal with Chase’s nagging. Besides, it felt nice to just have this between the two of you without interruptions, without worry of any sort of judgement. Living with other people meant you hardly ever had any secrets to yourself.

You glanced down and saw Kaz had his eyes closed, your fingers still weaving through his soft hair. He absolutely loved when you did that, it always calmed him down. It was so peaceful being here with you, no missions, no loud noises, just peace and quiet. You cracked a small smile at how content he looked, you were happy that the two of you could just be here like this.

“I can feel you staring,” He mumbled sleepily.

“I can’t help it that you’re cute,” You replied, smiling wider.

“Fair enough,” He chuckled.

You rolled your eyes and removed your hand from his hair, flicking him lightly on the forehead. “Hey!” He cried, eyes opening. “I was really enjoying this.”

“You were getting a little too cocky for my liking. Anyway, we should probably get going to bed,” You told him.

“No! Ten more minutes, we hardly get time to ourselves,” He whined.

“I know but we have training tomorrow and if we’re tired, Chase’ll definitely bitch about it. Also, someone could come down at any minute and see us,” You said.

“I know but can’t we just have five more minutes?” He asked, giving you his puppy dog eyes.

You could never resist those eyes, you gave in quickly and he gave a little cheer before reaching up to kiss you. You leaned into the kiss, fingers once again finding his soft hair, his hand resting on the nape of your neck. He moaned lightly into the kiss, loving the feeling of your fingers raking through his hair and gently messaging his scalp. He broke the kiss, almost whimpering when his head lost contact with your fingers again. He sat up and leaned against the couch, reaching over to grab your hand before pulling you to straddle his lap. You hummed in amusement and wrapped your arms around his neck, knowing exactly where this was heading. You leaned in and kissed him once more, hands playing with the hair on the back of his head. You heard another low moan come from him, his hands on your waist gave a gentle squeeze which earned a whimper from you. You shifted on his lap to sit more comfortably, unintentionally drawing out a low growl from Kaz. His grip on your hips tightened and he held you tightly against him, moving his hips against yours. Okay, now you were very excited but you couldn’t just do something like this out in the open, you could get caught.

You tried breaking away from the kiss but he just brought you back in, his soft lips were very enticing. And when he slipped his tongue in your mouth, well you turned into putty in his hold. Yeah you were definitely going to this here, besides everyone’s asleep, there was no way you’d get caught.

“Woah, that’s something I never wanna see again,” A voice exclaimed.

The two of you jumped away from each other, you both looked like deer caught in headlights. Bree stood in front on you two, hand covering her eyes to block what you two were doing. Shit, how were you going to explain this to her?

“W-We can explain!” You exclaimed.

“What? That you two were just making out?” Bree said, eyebrows raised and finger pointing back and forth between you two.

“Yeah pretty much,” Kaz replied in defeat, there was no getting out of this one.

“You can’t say anything, please,” You pleaded.

“Why not? Yeah, it’s pretty gross seeing you two lip-locking but what’s the big deal?” She asked.

“Well we don’t know how the team’ll react and we didn’t want to mess with the dynamic. And we didn’t want to deal with Chase,” Kaz explained.

“Fair enough with the Chase reason but the rest of us? I don’t really think it’s a big deal and you two seem cute together. Also I was waiting for this to happen, you two are way too into each other,” Bree said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Really? Wait, are we that obvious?” You questioned.

“To me you were, but I noticed these things,” She told you.

“Okay, fair enough. But just don’t tell anyone, not yet at least, please?” You pleaded again.

“Sure, I’ll keep your secret until you’re ready. But this, what you were doing, not happening,” She said, reminding you that she had caught you making out.

“Also fair, we’ll go to bed now,” Kaz replied.

She didn’t move, knowing full well that if she left, the two of you were no doubt going to pick up where you left off. I mean, she wasn’t wrong, Kaz had full intentions of bring you back on his lap and kiss you for as long as he could. You heard him sigh in slight disappointment before he got up, you followed along. He grabbed your hand and the two of you headed off to your bedrooms, Bree following close along, completely forgetting why she had come downstairs. Kaz gave you a quick kiss before you two parted to your bedrooms. It made Bree jokingly gag, earning a glare from the two of you.

Relief surged through your entire being when Chase finally dismissed training, you were in dire need of a shower. You loved being a superhero but it was exhausting, especially when Chase liked to push you guys. His excuse being that you needed to be ready for anything, although true, you had a good grip on your powers. You lingered down in mission command with Kaz, everyone else headed up for their much needed showers. Before she left, Bree gave you a knowing look, reminding you to keep it PG. You rolled had rolled your eyes at her and ushered her out, wanting alone time with your boyfriend.

You were both sweaty so that made it less gross when he wrapped his arms around your waist and yours around his neck. He gave you a goofy smile before leaning down to kiss you gently. You sighed in content when he pulled away, you loved these little moments you shared with Kaz.

“I love you,” You said.

“I love you too,” He replied, wearing that same goofy smile you adored.

“So, wanna get food and then see a movie?” You asked.

“Absolutely, but first we shower,” He responded.

“Definitely, you stink,” You joked, pulling away.

“You’re one to talk, you smell terrible,” He mocked back.

“I’ll have you know I always smell like roses, you on the other hand,” You scoffed.

“Like rotting roses. And I always smell great,” He continued to joke.

“Just go shower, you dork,” You said, pushing him towards the hyperlift.

You walked into the living room, fresh and clean and one of your best casual outfits. You didn’t want to give away suspicion by being overly dressed, your teammates were sure to ask questions. Kaz was sitting on the couch, on his phone, patiently waiting for you. You smiled widely and walked over to him, nudging his leg with your foot to get his attention.

“Ready?” You asked.

“Yup,” He said, getting up from the couch.

“Where you two headed?” You heard someone ask.

You turned to the source of the voice and looked at Oliver who was standing in the kitchen. “We were just thinking about getting a bite to eat.”

“Oh cool, I’m starving,” He said, inviting himself along.

“Yeah sure, why don’t we bring everyone else along,” You muttered, kind of upset that he decided to tag along.

“That’s a good idea, I’m sure they’re hungry too,” He cheered, grinning widely before walking off to get the others.

“That’s awesome, you go do that,” You mumbled in fake glee.

“Awe, it won’t be so bad,” Kaz said, wrapping his arm around your waist in an attempt to cheer you up.

“I know but I want to be alone with you,” You looked up at him and pouted.

“We’ll get plenty of alone time,” He replied before leaning down to kiss you sweetly.

You smiled through the kiss, no longer feeling as upset as before because he was right. You pulled away after a couple of moments and then rested your head on his shoulder. You had your arms wrapped around his torso and his around you, hands resting on your lower back.

“They said they’re down,” You heard Oliver say, coming back into the living room. “Woah, what’s going on here?”

You broke away from Kaz in a hurry, mostly because Oliver’s sudden appearance scared you a bit. You stared at him in defeat, you didn’t have an excuse in mind. How is it that two of your teammates have discovered you in less than two days?

“We’re dating,” You said bluntly, lacing your fingers with Kaz’s.

“Really? When did this happen? How come I didn’t know?” He asked, waving his hands around in a frenzy.

“Yeah really,” Kaz answered casually, nodding his head like his best friend wasn’t freaking out about this.

“And we haven’t really told anyone because well we didn’t know how you’d react,” You continued.

“What’d you mean? Skylar and I are together and everyone’s cool with it,” He said, not understanding the big deal.

“Well, everyone expected that. But we just didn’t want to change anything in the team’s dynamic, I mean two couples on the team,” You told him.

“Okay, fair enough, but I don’t think it’s weird, I’m in shock yeah, but not weird. And now we can double date!” He cheered.

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Kaz said, nodding his head with a disdain look on his face.

“And only you and Bree know because she found out yesterday,” You explained. “And you have to keep it a secret.”

“Okay, I won’t say anything, but the double date offer still stands,” He said.

“Who’s going on a double date?” Someone asked.

The others had come into the living room now, they were all ready to get go food. “Ah, I said if Kaz ever gets a girlfriend, we can go on a double date.” Oliver covered, turning around to face the others.

“And I said no. Anyway, let’s go eat!” Kaz replied, walking towards the door to leave.

They shrugged and followed along, you and Bree walked together. “So, he knows?” She asked in a hushed tone.

“Yup, saw us together,” You answered.

She nodded in okay and that was the end of that conversation, not wanting to say more and accidently out you two.

Even though it wasn’t just you and Kaz together, lunch was still enjoyable with your friends. Although it didn’t stop you from holding Kaz’s hand under the table. You wondered if the two of you could sneak away and catch that movie. You could’ve, had your friends not suggested they do something else after lunch. Maybe you should just tell them about your relationship, at least then you could get some alone time.

You were back walking around in the city, you and Kaz stayed in the back while your friends threw suggestions around on what to do. You were kind of happy because they were distracted from the two of you. It gave you the opportunity to discretely hold Kaz’s hand without them knowing. It didn’t last long because Skylar looked back at the two of you. You pulled your hand away before she could notice and gave her a sweet smile which she returned.

“Do you guys wanna try an escape room?” She asked.

“Oh, sounds fun but Chase would probably solve and ruin it in a matter of seconds. No offense,” You replied.

“None take cause you’re not wrong. Which is why I suggested we go to the Science Museum,” He said.

“Not a chance,” Kaz replied.

“We could go to arcade,” Oliver suggested.

“Now that sounds fun,” Kaz agreed.

“I’m in,” You said.

“Me too,” Bree concurred.

“Okay, that does sound fun,” Chase said, giving in.

“Then it’s settled,” Oliver cheered.

Once again you weren’t exactly alone with each other but it made it easier to sneak around. When you got there, Bree suggested the six of you break into teams; the classic girls vs boys. Oliver suggested three teams of two, mainly because he wanted to be on a team with Skylar. You didn’t understand why everything had to be competition between them all. Nonetheless, you teamed up with Kaz because he’s your boyfriend of course. And that left Bree and Chase as a team, which they didn’t mind, already boasting that they’d be victorious.

It was fun, for a while the two of you were coming in lead before being surpassed by Oliver and Skylar. But they were soon surpassed by Bree and Chase who you had to admit were the two most competitive people you’ve ever met. I mean after they stopped fighting and actually listening to each other’s ideas, they were crushing it. Eventually they beat you all by many, many points so you just declared them the winners. And after that, you guys just decided to play for fun with whoever. This gave you the perfect opportunity to be alone with Kaz and the two of you snuck away before the others could notice. But not even seconds after you were alone, Kaz got distracted by a claw machine and became determine to get something.

You rolled your eyes at him but nonetheless joined him. There were a couple of times he came close to getting something. And you would groan in frustration with him whenever the prize slipped through the claw.

“Hey, I’m going to the bathroom, be right back,” You said, placing a kiss on his cheek before you left.  

When you came out of the bathroom, your boyfriend was there, patiently waiting for you. He looked at you with an innocent smile, standing straight with his hands behind his back. That made you suspicious, usually when he looked like that, he’d done something he didn’t want you to know about.

“Kaz… what did you do?” You asked cautiously.

His smile turned into a frown. “Why do you assume I did something?”

“Uh because that’s the same look you gave me when you broke my tablet last month,” You answered.

“That was an accident. Anyway, I wanted to give you this,” He said, pulling out a plush penguin and handing it to you.

“Oh my god, its so cute. Thank you, best boyfriend ever,” You hugged him tightly, arms wrapping around his torso.

“Anything for you,” He replied, hugging back just as tightly.

“We should probably find the other before one of them accidentally finds us,” You said after pulling away.

He agreed and the two of you left to find your friends which wasn’t that hard since you all kind of met halfway.

“There you guys are, where were you and why’d you sneak off?” Skylar asked, confused look on her face.

“We got distracted by a claw machine,” You answered smoothly.

Chase immediately got into a rant on how to easily beat a claw machine which made you all groan and walk away. He chased right after you all, calling you all out for so easily ditching him. Bree made some snarky joke about him being a nerd which made you stifle a laugh into the back of your hand. Chase scoffed and mumbled something under his breath, probably something about being superior. You went home shortly after, deciding that you had enough fun for the day.

You had dinner at home and then watched a couple of movies for the duration of the night. The lights were off which was great, you and Kaz were occupying a couch. Skyler and Oliver had the other and Chase and Bree sat on the floor, hogging the popcorn. With the lights off, it made it easier to cuddle without worrying about the others seeing. When it hit eleven o’clock, Chase called it quits and ushered everyone off to bed, which made you all groan. It was only eleven but he argued his usual point, you all needed to be sharp and alert in case they get called into a mission.

You sighed and broke away from Kaz before the lights came back on and they saw you two being extra friendly towards each other. The tv was shut off and the glasses and bowls were cleared before everyone started heading off to bed. You and Kaz lingered back a bit, making sure everyone was out of sight. You stayed on the couch for a bit, Kaz laying on his back while you lied on top of him. Once again, night time was one of the few times a day you got to yourselves. You had your head resting on his chest, listening to his heartbeat which, due to his powers, was beating at an irregular pace. You closed your eyes, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, and before you knew it, you fell asleep.

Kaz glanced down to see you fast asleep, finding you incredibly adorable when you’re asleep. He couldn’t bring himself to walk you up and simply draped a blanket over the two of you, falling asleep soon after. This wasn’t the first time the two of you ended up asleep on the couch together. Whenever that happened, one of you always made sure to get up before the others did. This time, however, both of you forgot about that and were woken up by someone else. Kaz woke up first when he felt someone shake the two of you awake. In front of him stood Skylar, hands on her hips as she looked at the two of you with a questioning look. He looked at her and then back to you, who was still sound asleep, and then back up to her.

“Yeah, if you're wondering what this is, it’s exactly what it looks like,” Kaz said.

“You know I had a feeling you two were together,” She said, confirming her own suspicions. “But, why are you guys keeping it a secret?”

“Because, Chase made that whole ‘it’ll ruin the team dynamic if any of us were to date’ speech. We didn’t want anything to change within the team,” He explained.

“Nothing changed when Oliver and I started dating, why would if be different with you guys?” She asked bewildered.

“Mmm, because we all expected that,” You mumbled sleepily. “What time is it?”

“It’s actually still pretty early and the others are still asleep, so you’re in the clear,” Skylar said, knowing what you were thinking.

“Doesn’t really matter now because now the only person who doesn’t know is Chase but we might as well just tell him,” You told her.

“Wait, I’m third to find out? Who found out first? If it was Oliver I swear to god,” She huffed.

“No it was Bree, and believe me, you did not want to be the first,” Kaz said.

You turned red as you remembered the night Bree caught you two making out. In your defense, it was all Kaz’s fault, and that sarcastic look you gave him told him just that. He had a smug look on his face, clearly proud of his actions from a couple nights ago. You stuck your tongue out at him before getting up, stretching and popping your joints. Kaz sat up, same smug smile still on his face, you just rolled your eyed at him and walked away to get ready for the day. You headed straight to the shower while you saw Kaz lie back down.

After you finished showering and getting ready, you headed back downstairs, running into Bree along the way. Downstairs, Oliver and Chase were also up now, having breakfast with Skylar and Kaz. You walked over to the kitchen to make yourself a bowl of cereal before taking a seat next to Kaz. Bree came soon after and joined you guys at the table. Now that pretty much everyone knew about your relationship, you openly grabbed his hand that was resting on the table. He looked a bit surprised but fully supported your intentions. Guess now was as good a time as ever to officially announce your relationship, and you really wanted to see what kind of reaction you’d get out Chase.

“So, um, I guess we should officially say that Kaz and I are dating,” You spoke, looking over at Kaz with a gentle smile.

“What? Wait, when did this happen?” Chase asked, showing the reaction you expected.

“Oh, about time, I was wondering how long you guy would keep this a secret,” Bree said, smiling widely.

“You knew? Who else knew?” Chase wondered.

“I did,” Oliver answered.

“Me too, found out like an hour ago actually,” Skylar told him.

“What? How come I was last to know?” He asked frantically.

“Because, it’s funny when you’re the last to know,” Kaz quipped.

“Haha, hilarious. But seriously, why’d you hide it?” Chase questioned.

“Well when you said that team members shouldn’t date because it would mess with our team’s vibe, it made us cautious. We didn’t want that to happen so we decided to just be together in secret,” You explained.

“Okay, that’s my fault. But I was wrong, when Skylar and Oliver started dating, nothing changed. I mean sure they had a few fights on missions but it all worked out in the end. So there’s nothing wrong with you two dating,” He told you.

You smiled when you heard that, that’s exactly what you needed. You looked back at Kaz, smile widening now that you didn’t have to be so secretive.

“Great, now that that’s out of the way. How did this even happen?” Bree asked, point at the two of you.

“Ah well, I can answer that,” Kaz started. “It was before the final battle between us and Rodissius. I knew that there was a great chance that we wouldn’t survive and I didn’t want to go out without telling {Name} how I felt about her,” Kaz told them, squeezing your hand.

You scooted closer to him and leaned against him, resting your head on his shoulder. You remembered that day like it was yesterday, one of your favorite memories. The six of you were all beaten and bruised, completely exhausted from all the fighting. Rodissius had kidnapped Chase in the hopes of getting his powers back, like he did with Skylar. But in doing so, he set off the final battle between both sides. There was no way your team was letting him get his powers back, and you would do everything in your will to make sure it didn't happen. But it was a battle you weren’t sure who would come out of it alive. Before you all left to rescue Chase and defeat Rodissius, Kaz pulled you aside.

“Look {Name}, this is going to be our hardest battle yet and we might not make it alive,” He said seriously.

There were few times you’ve ever seen Kaz so serious, and you always hated it. It always meant that the situation was very dire and right now you just needed some positivity. “Kaz, don’t say that, everything will be-”

“We don’t know that but just in case, I wanna do this before we die,” He said.

Before you could say anything, he placed his hand on your cheeks and pulled you in for a kiss. Your eyes widened in surprise but they soon closed, and you kissed back. You never in a million years thought that Kaz would feel the same way you do, and here he was proving you wrong. The kiss ended too soon in your opinion but it had been the damn best kiss you’ve ever had.  

“I’m so glad you feel the same way, otherwise that would’ve been so awkward,” He spoke after a few seconds.

You laughed a little, his humor always cheered you up when you needed it. “Yeah, lucky you. But we have to believe that everything’ll be fine, okay?”

“Yeah but, you know, just in case,” He replied, once again kissing you.

“Kaz that’s so sweet,” Skylar awed. “Also that was 7 months ago, how’d you two manage to keep it a secret that long?”

You both shrugged because honestly you don’t know, in the beginning you half expected everyone to find out within a month. But hey, at least now you could openly show your boyfriend affection. You looked up at him and gave him a sweet peck on his lips, earning groans from the others.

[eternalnight8806-3]

Ch 4 The Cat and the Fox

Category: Romance, Modern College AU

Rating: Will be Explicit but for now I’ll just say Mature for language and drinking

Pairing: InuKag

Words: 2,276

Also available on ff.net and AO3

Chapter 1

Tag list: @keichanz @noviceotakus-blog @hinezumi @morikothehalfangel @cstorm86 @digital-art-monster @cammysansstuff

Enjoy!

Speaking to Foxy on her trips to and from work had become a daily routine in the last few weeks. Kagome worried that she was interrupting his sleep schedule too much but he kept insisting she wasn't. So, she happily spoke to him as often as she could. Her morning commute had become quite enjoyable with him keeping her quite blissfully distracted. So much so in fact, that she never noticed when another person began riding the same trains with her every day.

He was tall, but not overly so. His hair was waist long, black and greasy looking, almost to the point of being in dreadlocks, but not quite. His skin was pale and ghostly, hanging off of his gangly frame like a malnourished child. But the most disturbing thing about this man were his eyes. They had an unnatural red color surrounding his dark irises. He wore simple clothes, jeans, a hoodie or t-shirt, sneakers, never standing out in a crowd. But almost everywhere Kagome was, so was he.

 Foxy, are you leaving for break next week?

 Nah. Got nowhere to go. I always just chill here. Why? Are you?

 Yes. I'm going back home to my family's shrine. I miss my mom, brother and grandpa so much. I've never been away from them for so long.

 Spoiled wench :P

 Hey! That's mean!

 Never claimed to be nice woman

 Yeah well you better start

 Oh yeah? Or what?

 I'll come over there and make you!

 Anytime wench ;)

Kagome stared at that last message for several minutes without responding. What the hell did that mean? Was he just messing with her? Her naïve little brain didn't know what to make of his words. Sometimes this relationship they had was confusing for her. They talked all the time, even seemed to be flirting with eachother, but they were both too chicken to even ask the other's name let alone meet again in the light of day.

Once again, she was saved by the proverbial bell as the train slowed to her stop. She tucked the phone into her pocket, determined not to think about it for now, and made her way out of the station up to the street. She pulled her jacket closer around her neck as she came up and the chilly late November air brushed over her. The vibration from her pocket drew her attention.

 Oi wench when do you leave?

 Week from tomorrow. Why?

 So I know when the last time I can text you is

Her brow furrowed in confusion as she rounded the last corner before Yoro North. When did I say you couldn't text me when I leave?

 You didn't I guess. I just assumed you wouldn't want to talk to me while you're visiting your family

 Why?

 Idk

 Well, you can. I may not always respond right away but I don't want to stop talking

 Ok

 I have to go now though. I'm at work. Later Foxy

 Bye wench.

Kagome walked into the door only to be immediately tackled by a little kitsune.

“Kagome!” Shippo exclaimed as he leapt into her arms and latched onto her jacket with his tiny little fists.

Kagome looked down at him and smiled. “Good morning, Shippo. Why aren't you in class with the others?”

That moment Ginta came running from the direction of said classroom, looking quite exasperated. “Shippo! What do you think you're doing?” he bellowed out.

Huge green eyes filled with tears and looked up at Kagome, imploringly. “I-I-I just wa-wanted to gr-greet you, Ka-go-me!” he managed out around sobs.

Stroking his back soothingly, Kagome looked up at Ginta. “It's all right, Ginta. No harm done, right?”

He seemed to be taken aback by her statement, but he hung his head. “Yeah, I guess. Just make sure Koga doesn't find out,” he whispered at her as he made his way her direction.

Stifling a giggle, Kagome nodded. “Our secret, Ginta. Where is Koga anyway?”

A nervous look crossed the demon's features. “Um, I don't know. He just said he was going out for a while.”

Kagome's face bunched up in confusion. She had never seen him not be here in the morning when she arrived in the month since she had started. Odd. Shrugging it off as an anomaly, she snuggled Shippo close to her chest and started for the classroom. “What'dya say we go join the others, eh Shippo?”

“If we really have to...” he said, voice low and sad.

Stopping in her tracks, Kagome looked down at the boy in her arms seriously. “Shippo? Is something wrong?”

Shippo stared up at her with his wide emerald eyes. “Dumb Hiten won't let me play with Soten. He says his sister doesn't need to be associating with stupid little kits.”

Kagome frowned down at him. “Is that so? Well, we're just going to have to set him straight, aren't we Shippo?” With those words, she stormed off towards the classroom, a nervous looking Ginta in tow.

xxx

“Miroku, it's been over a week since we figured it out! I don't know how much longer I can keep this from her.” Sango told her boyfriend as they sat together on the couch of the living space of his frat house.

“Patience, my dearest Sango. These things take time. I'm working on it.”

“What exactly are you working on?”

“We need to get them in the same room together, without masks this time. Surely once they see eachother in person again they'll realize they should just be together. Have you noticed that they've actually scheduled time to talk now?”

“Yeah. It's friggin' creepy. She just stares at her phone for atleast an hour a night. No matter what she's doing she'll always respond to him. Sometimes she laughs or sighs weird. I've given up trying to talk to her about him. She won't tell me anything other than basic info.”

“Same here. Course, with InuYasha that's not too far from the norm anyway.”

Sango's eyes widened. “Y-you've never told me his name! Now how in the hell am I supposed to keep that from her you jerk??”

Miroku opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it, a thoughtful look crossing his features. Finally, he simply shrugged at her, a slightly shamed look on his face.

Sango narrowed her eyes at the man. “You... you are such an ass.”

“I'm so misunderstood,” he proclaimed. “Look, you said she's leaving next week for break, right?”

“Yeah...” Sango said.

“Alright. Well, the house always throws a combo platter new year's/back to school party. Just hold out for one more week and she'll be gone. Then when she gets back just get her to come to the party and I'l handle the rest.”

Sango glowered at him. “Fine. But no longer than that or I'll tell her everything I know, consequences be damned.”

“You have my word, my dearest Sango.”

xxx

Twelve hours later, Kagome exited the building housing all those disgusting creatures she seemed to care so much about. He would never understand what about those nasty things she could possibly find appealing. He supposed it was just her kind, pure hearted nature, something he would have to be sure to set her straight on before it got too far like with her. Blanching inwardly, the greasy haired man took up his normal post across the street and a block or so behind her. He knew she was heading straight for the train, so he had no fear of losing her. Besides, nothing would keep his Kagome away from him.

How was work today wench? InuYasha typed his message out when he knew she would be on her way to the train from her job. Talking to her had become as second nature to him as breathing. If he hadn't texted her, she would have texted him, of that he had no doubt.

 Tiring. I had to scold the same kid about 100 times today. He's just so aggravating! He thinks he's better than all the other kids because of his heritage.

 I know the type. The asshole is the same way. Kinda why he hates me.

 Oh yeah?

 Yeah. The half thing remember?

 Right. Different moms. She not as classy as he thought she should be?

 You could say that. You have a lot of homework tonight?

 Not really actually. Most of my classes have actually lightened up in prep for the finals I guess. I have a free Saturday night for once.

Something inside InuYasha clenched at those words. Briefly, he had a flash of him sitting with her somewhere quiet, where they could talk. Maybe even look at the stars... Shaking his head of those traitorous thoughts, he focused back on what he could share with her.

 Yeah. Me too. Damn room mate hasn't been around much the last few weeks ever since he found himself a girlfriend.

 Oh yeah? My room mate has been mia too. I think she's been seeing a guy but I haven't really seen her to ask. Makes me feel kind of pathetic.

 You're not pathetic. If anyone is pathetic it's me. I haven't had a girlfriend since high school. And I use the term girlfriend very loosely.

 Why?

Something about her short response made InuYasha feel guilty, though he didn't know why.

 Yeah. We hung out for half our senior year. She was the most popular girl in school. I had no idea why she was hanging out with me of all people. Everyone else hated me or atleast avoided me. She was different.

 Sounds lonely.

 Eh. I had my friend. And her. It wasn't all bad.

 What happened with her?

Staring at his phone for several minutes, InuYasha contemplated what to say about her. He didn't even know why he had brought her up. He hadn't spoken of her in years. Ever since she had left him.

 She left me

 She just left? No reason?

 She found someone else.

 Oh. I'm sorry.

 It's alright. I'm over it.

Atleast 15 minutes passed before he received a reply. He had almost thought that she had gotten busy or fallen asleep when his phone buzzed once again.

 Hey Foxy, do you ever think about calling me?

InuYasha stared at her latest message with wide eyes. In the month since they had met, neither of them had suggested anything more than their simple text relationship. Though if he was being truthful with himself, he had thought about it. More than once. Did this message mean she did too? Damnit! He hated stuff like this. He had never been good at reading between the lines, being a direct and to the point kind of person himself.

 Why do you ask?

 Because I do. But I don't want to if you don't. I'm fine with this too.

 All the time wench.

Almost as soon as he had hit send, his phone was buzzing incessantly, flashing 'Catwoman' in big letters across his screen. Gulping, InuYasha pressed the green button and held the phone up near his face.

“H-hello?” He inwardly cursed his choked sounding voice.

“Hey.” Her voice was soft, timid, and so sweet.

“Hey.”

A giggle came from her end. “You said that already.”

“Nuh-uh! I said hello.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize there was that much of a difference. Excuse me.” Her tone indicated she was messing with him.

“Yeah, well, there is wench.” A small smile came to his face at saying that word aloud to her for the first time.

“How.. how are you?” She asked timidly.

InuYasha lay back in his bed, resting his left hand on his chest. “I'm good. I feel pretty good about my finals next week. How bout you, freshman?” A small smirk crossed his features.

Kagome sighed loudly. “I think I'm doing ok. My job has me a bit ragged. He works me more than I initially thought he would but I'm not willing to give it up. I love it so much. I'm still getting good grades as far as I know so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.”

InuYasha frowned. “Do I need to let you go so you can study? I don't want to be the reason you fail...”

“NO!” She almost screamed at him, causing him to pull the phone away from his head a bit. “I-I mean, no. I'm ok. I promise,” she amended, a lot more quietly.

His chuckle reverberated through her earpiece, sending a slight shiver up her spine. “Alright, wench. How's that bitch at your job? What's her name? Ayumi?”

“Ayame. And just as much of a brat as ever.”

“Brat? Is she five?”

“No...” she said, sounding a little confused. “Oh, wait, you were being faceitious. Oh shut up you jerk!”

“I've told you so many times, you make it too damn easy, woman.”

“Yeah, well, you're a butt face.”

InuYasha's eyebrow quirked. “A-a butt face? That's... something.”

“Yeah! And a jerk head.”

“A... jerk head. Ok, then. Duly noted.” He couldn't keep the wide smile from spreading across his face.

“You're smiling aren't you? I can hear it in your voice.” Kagome's tone was slightly hurt, but in that playful way.

“Only for you, wench.”

Kagome's entire face became beat red at his words. “O-oh.” The line was silent for a few moments as she gathered her wits about her. “H-hey Foxy?”

“Hmm?”

“Have... have you ever wanted to know my name?”

A huge wave of panic washed over InuYasha.

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[pandesmondium]

i, for one, would love to hear the headcanons about daniel and des, if you want to talk about them

EDIT: THIS IS SO LONG I’M SORRY

OOF I didn’t even see this until now, apologies abound!! Ok Unpopular Opinion Alert! Imma paste previous and tags and hopefully still be legible lol:

Daniel Cross:  the modern shay cormac aka modern assassin hunter which still sounds ba

His character: oooooo i have SO many headcanons that make daniel reluctant friends and desmond’s optimism finally softens daniel a little. he warms up to des (but he won’t let des know that). when des dies daniel loses it

Actual English: Des’s encounters with Daniel so far I’ve seen, until the last moments, were largely one-sided aggression. Daniel’s the kind of hunting dog the Inner Circle doesn’t command, but :set loose:. 

He’ll kill any assassin he sees - he has no reason not to - he has an ultimately 100% success record, etc etc. Seriously. I can’t find the receipts, but Assassins/Templars world influence went from 60/40 to 10/90 after the ‘Great Purge’ or wtv it’s called, and guess who spearheaded the massacre? Ya boi, one and only trash son, Daniel Cross. He got all flavours of trauma in the process, and the only consist trait he got to keep was his Bleeding Effect. Thing is, this unstable boy is also charismatic (src: comics), a decent teacher (juhani), better than apparently Bill and his assassins at sniffing out dead trails (desmond), and even better at killing people (the purge). He’s part of the Inner Circle AND he’s not a pencil pusher, which means in the templar order where there’s no in between, he’s the hitman of hitmen. 

After the purge, the brohood was running on backup generators; i’m talking the lights were out, suddenly the world wasn’t in the palm of their hand, and bill was de facto mentor. It was so bad, the templars’ overconfidence wasn’t unfounded. The only reason we had a video game was because of the same guy who’d spearhead the brohood’s POE acquisitions and give the templars a realer threat than before the purge: my other disaster but functional boy, Desmond Miles. This guy as a child ran away from home because otherwise he’d be forced into a war he didn’t want a part of, only when he grew up and got snatched back into the war (by Daniel Cross!! Imma emphasise that several times) he was the bigger guy and decided he’d fight in the war. The effect?

About what you’d expect when you get the lovechild of 3 legendary assassins, and give him a modern gun. 

The assassins were beating the templars to artefacts one after the other, in a faster pace than seen in actual ac history. AC1-3 happened in 4(?) months. Des & team found THREE artefacts. In fact the only reason the templars were merely flustered and not a hot mess was because if the assassin’s had Desmond, the templars had Daniel. Where Des went, Daniel was set loose: New York, Brazil, Rome, you name it. They made each other’s lives difficult because they were evenly matched. THESE TWO. EVENLY MATCHED. The wild dog with a purge on his resume, and the brain(?)child of an assassin wet dream. 

Yet only Daniel was treating their encounters as conflict, while Des would slap him with a cube or knock him out behind some plants. Des didn’t :want: to kill the biggest threat to his life. Behind the scenes, Des would ask the team :about: him: who was he, why did he end up this way - in a manner not unlike he’d treat the topic of Clay. Daniel was a subject, just like Clay and Desmond. 

Cue headcanon: Des chatted Daniel up during their interactions, trying to connect with Daniel and doing for him what Clay did for Des. (…Although with less cackling. Yeah.) Daniel gets close to finding a balance between himself and his ancestors, so his Bleeding Effect starts to haunt him less and not require Daniel to regularly veg out in an Animus, but it’s still severe. Daniel starts to recognise Des as maybe the only person in the world who could understand him and who genuinely wants to help him. Des wasn’t interested in the politics of templar/assassin anyway. Daniel’s not interested in heart-to-hearts either, but Des isn’t about to give him a choice. They never truly connect until Daniel’s death, when Des sees a Bleeding Effect episode attack Daniel and frees him from it with a knife to the throat. Daniel’s last words are the same as when Vidic found him: “I want to go home.” Alternatively, if Daniel outlives Des’s sacrifice in the temple, Daniel expresses something outside of mania that can be mistaken for righteous anger. 

TL;DR, Des is a good boy, Daniel is a broken boy, and after Des’s death, alive!AU!Daniel is a Juno-exclusive hunting dog who’s followed by porn bots (Des) and bad puzzles (Clay) that like crashing Juno’s servers and messing with Daniel’s phone. I’m sorry I’m not articulate or funny. This is why I leave these things in the tags section *hysterical laughter*

[tangomango2017]

Thoughts on the Chinese DotA Animated Series, The Tower Will Go On, and its two main characters

It’s been five years since this animated series based on Warcraft 3 Dota was made. The fan forum is still alive, and it’s amazing to witness the fan dedication to this work, in the form of essays, debates and even a ridiculously detailed second-by-second analysis of the opening theme.

But I barely got a glimpse of those essays before they were removed, apparently to be scrutinized by their internet police for objectionable content. The series itself has also been taken off all China websites, such that China’s fans themselves can’t watch them even if they wanted to revisit. Which makes me so glad that I have all the episodes in HD.

Anyway, on to the show itself. It’s divided into two parts:

Season One is about Crystal Maiden forming her rag-tag team of Radiant/Sentinel heroes. It’s light-hearted and full of jokes. The heroes die a lot and revive at the fountain every time. Sniper’s death count reaches above 300 at one point.

Season Two (titled Death for the Reborn) is darker as the team clashes with the Dire/Scourge and the war intensifies. The plot gets more complicated with internal factions, spying and conspiracies. The rules change: the river that revives dead heroes gets corrupted, so deaths are permanent.

One’s reaction to this show would likely be: “No! This isn’t Dota. This isn’t Invoker at all! What travesty is this?!”

But first, let’s consider these two things:

Firstly, the story is set in the game map. All hero skills and items stay faithful to the game. There is no ‘lore’ to speak of, as this series came out before Valve took over Dota. During that period, ownership of Dota was attributed to Ice Frog, who’s referenced in episode 2.

Eul’s Scepter in the show

Old Eul’s Scepter in Dota 1

Secondly, it’s fan-made. And as with all fan creations, anything’s possible.

For example,

It’s possible for Bloodseeker to be gay with a jungle creep(centaur) and foster a baby centaur.

Bloodseeker X Jungle Centaur in the show

Old Strygwyr in Dota 1

It’s possible for a carry to be so fed, he’s ten times the size of another:

Daddy Doom and his Little QuoP

Love it or hate it, this fan tribute to Dota is in a class of its own. It’s entertained me for hours, made me laugh, sigh, cringe, think; it was one hell of a nostalgic ride back to Warcraft Dota days. And it will always have a special place in my heart.

And now, on to the main characters…

The protagonist - a tribute to Support Heroes

‘Little Ice’ (China’s pet name for Crystal Maiden) is a fan-service kind of character whose appeal is mostly sexual and emotional. I won’t talk much about her but I won’t write her off completely either.

So Little Ice starts off with a dream to rise above her destiny as a position 5 support. She’s left her team carry (Dragon Knight) as she resents him for being overbearing and overly task-oriented. (It’s unclear what’s the relationship between the two, though they hug a couple of times). She tries to carve a career for herself, forming her own rag-tag team. But reality is a wet blanket, and like her role in the game, her impact on the story is limited and she ends up having her heart broken several times.

Old Crystal Maiden from Warcraft 3 Dota

In the show, she is depicted as a klutz with a bad sense of direction and is sometimes impulsive, casting Freezing Field at the most ridiculous, anti-climactic moment and generally doing stuff that would be considered ‘bad decision making’ in the game.

But despite her limitations, the girl has a mind of her own. She stands firm in her beliefs and is courageous enough to try to protect her male teammates. Even when said teammate is the Dragon Knight being bashed up by Roshan.

She is also fiercely loyal, refusing to abandon the dying Bristleback and instead managing to persuade DK to risk a Roshan fight to get the Aegis.

Overall, I’d say her character serves two purposes here: as a shoutout to under-appreciated Support players, and as a symbol of innocence. This trait of hers is seen as a weakness and is used to comical effect, yet, at the same time it is also something to be prized and guarded. The Queen of Pain (portrayed as a man-hater with lesbian tendencies) mocks her several times for her naivety, yet she admits that CM represents the innocence that she’s lost and that she needs to protect.

From Zero to (Anti) Hero

The central character, Kael (pronounced Ka-er, I’ll refer to him as Carl since it matches the Chinese pronunciation) appears in the second episode and drives the entire story with his zero to anti-hero arc. The title of Season Two refers to him being reborn from the ashes (he was Doomed and almost killed in a fire). He is the only one besides QoP to have a backstory (both underwent the trauma of having their entire homeland and families destroyed).

Invoker from Warcraft 3 Dota

Invoker from Season One of the show

Invoker from Season Two

While this Invoker is as OOC as he can get, there’s no denying the detail that has been put into his design. For example, in Season 2 his orbs are actually faces, perhaps representing the connection of Invoker’s volatile temperament to his elemental powers.

Just as the two parts of the show are divided into a dichotomy of light and dark, there are two different depictions of Invoker in each part.

Season One Invoker

If you’ve ever played this hero, Season One will remind you of how it felt the very first time you tried him in a game. Clueless, powerless, the butt of your teammates’ jokes perhaps.

Carl first appears in episode two quoting that famous line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It sounds really pretentious (not that surprising for Carl), but considering that Hamlet killed someone by accident in the play, it’s also a kind of foreshadowing of what will happen later on.

So Carl is introduced as a depressed guy trying to hang himself. In a comically tragic manner, he tells his story as a former prince who lost his home, sought refuge with the Dire/Scourge but is constantly scorned for being useless as he hasn’t figured out his spells.

With a background like that, who wouldn’t be damaged for life? But CM sees him as even more vulnerable than her, and he brings out the encouraging and protective side of her. Of course, the naive part of her ignores the fact that he is a defector from the enemy side.

Carl is of course extremely grateful, having found the acceptance he’s always longed for, and one can see the beginning of a pure, somewhat platonic love between the two.

In China, Invoker/CM are almost regarded as canon pairing, with roots going back to Kael’thas/Jaina from Warcraft.

Initially, she brings out the good qualities in him, such as courage and self-sacrifice. Noob Carl is actually quite lovable, even willing to take one for the team by ‘donating’ blood to the Bloodseeker. He forges a strong friendship with the gang and they have a lot of fun fending off their one enemy in Season One.

Although he’s harmless at this point, his uselessness repeatedly emphasized by all characters, there are glimpses of his more complicated self, such as when he uses his knowledge and cunning to get the team out of trouble. More foreshadowing of who he is to become is given by the Queen of Pain, who tries in vain to warn CM about his potential for evil.

Meteoric Rise to Power

Two events serve as catalysts to the awakening of his powers. First there’s the excessively bloody whipping that Queen of Pain gives him, just because she feels like it. This happens in the middle of a team fight and in his state of desperation, it is his thoughts of CM (whose nickname is literally, Little Ice Ice) that unlocks his first skill, Ghostwalk. At the same time, the sinister side of him awakens as he turns the tables on the Queen and blinds her in one eye before burying her alive.

And then he gets punished by Doom, who’s rather high up in the hierarchy here. Doom (whom everyone calls ‘Daddy’) is furious to find out that his beloved god-daughter, his Little QuoP has been hurt. He finds out about this in an interesting manner - by devouring the jungle centaur that witnessed the incident.

Doom: WHO ATE THE COOKIES?

Tiny, CM, etc: (keeps quiet)

Doom: Very well, I shall find out the truth (devours jungle creep).

(everyone watches on nervously)

Doom: …CARL!

Carl: Yes Daddy?

Doom: How dare you eat my cookies!

Carl: I don’t get what you’re talking about, Daddy

Doom: You’ll get THIS, you little shit.

Season Two Invoker

After being doomed and running into the forest in agony, Carl goes missing for a while. A flashback later shows Dazzle’s saved him and bandaged him up like a mummy. By chance, Windranger finds him when her Powershot arrow accidentally hits him. Probably out of guilt, she brings him home and cares for him for three months. When Ogre Magi harasses WR and sets her house on fire, Carl rises from the ashes with a complete makeover, a costume change, full mastery of magic and a marked change in personality. The change feels really abrupt and I’d have preferred something more gradual. But the writers probably wanted a striking contrast between the two seasons.

So he helps her fend off the Ogre and she falls in love with him. But he stays true to CM.

Despite what this shot in the opening theme suggests, WR doesn’t force herself on him. She’s really cool.

In Season Two, Carl’s personality becomes much more conflicted, longing to return to CM yet afraid to endanger her with Doom hot on his heels. While she thinks about him in her quiet moments, he watches over her in invisible form. The next triggering event is when the Dragon Knight beats him to rushing to CM’s rescue. He is consumed by jealousy and the fire element comes to the forefront. From then on, his emotional instability deteriorates further, and with some goading from Dazzle, he forms a plan to destroy DK with Ancient Apparition’s Ice Blast dealing the killing blow.

However that plan goes tragically wrong when his old friend Bristleback walks into the Sunstrike spot. One mistake leads to another, and he ends up killing QuoP as well. That confrontation between the two is one of the most dramatic scenes I’ve ever seen. When the Queen threatens to reveal his bad deeds to CM, he starts grovelling and begging her for forgiveness, but it turns out it’s all an act allowing him to get close to her for a tornado. Despite the cringeyness there is a special kind of satisfaction in seeing one’s favourite video game character display the whole range of emotions, just as it’s satisfying seeing him perform the whole shebang of spells after being abused for the first ten episodes.

Carl’s final move is one that completely breaks CM’s heart. He steals the Aegis meant for saving Bristleback’s life. However, his motivation isn’t very clear and was the topic of much debate and speculation among the Chinese fans at that time. But going by his character’s trajectory, it’s highly likely he’s doing it for self-preservation. After all, Doom’s absolutely livid that he’s killed QuoP and the Aegis is his only chance at standing against Big Daddy Doom. But the ending leaves questions unanswered. Now that he’s pissed off both sides, what’s to become of him? Is his character totally irredeemable? How will the war end? Season Three was supposed to be in the works, but never materialized. 

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Reading Log - February 2019

Mostly Saekano with some first volumes thrown in. As per usual, there will be no spoilers, unless tagged otherwise.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 4 by Fumiaki Maruto:

With this volume Blessing Software is now complete! But before I talk about our new member, I want to say that my favorite thing about this volume was seeing just how close Katou has become with Eriri and Utaha, especially the former. I have mixed feelings on Michiru: on the one hand, purple colour theme + short hair + can’t-read-the-room + genki gal = moe; on the other hand, I would hate her if I met her in real life. She constantly invades Tomoya’s personal space, belittles his hobbies and dreams and is way too disrespectful to the person who is giving her a place to sleep while she fights with her dad. I think she’s an enjoyable and interesting character but an awful person.  I really disliked how the anime handled her first episode. The constant shots of her boobs and ass made me so uncomfortable, especially seeing how that kind of outfit is actually pretty typical hot weather wear in Australia. It became a bit better in the following episodes but I still despise it. Overall, I’d still call the anime adaptation a good one, though. It succeeded in making Katou feel more like a boring heroine than the novel and manga did and I still love the café scene in episode 2. I won’t be covering the second season in this section anymore because AnimeLab doesn’t have access to it and I mostly only watch things using AnimeLab these days. In any case, I’m interested to see where the story goes from here.

Kumo desu ga, Nani ka? 1 by Okina Baba:

Well, this book was certainly a struggle to read. Most of the book is written in a stream-of-conscious writing style, meaning that 90% of the volume is purely narration. It’s a hard style for me, both to write and read but I think it works well here due to the protagonist’s personality being incredibly fun. But my attention did wander quite a bit while I was reading and I struggled with deciphering the skill names in Japanese. I also found the S chapters that occur after every few main chapters to be unnecessary. One of the things that can really kill my enjoyment of a story is knowing something before the protagonist does. I like to experience the story and world along with the protagonist and it’s frustrating when something important is revealed to the reader long before it’s revealed to the protagonist. This is not the most irritating example of it but I think the manga was right in skipping these chapters. It keeps you in suspense for longer. While I certainly enjoyed this volume I may continue the story through the manga instead of the light novel. The visuals in the manga are hilarious and really added to my enjoyment of the series and I don’t think I’m interested enough in the story to be annoyed with the slow pace of the manga.

This series is currently being released in English by Yen-Press as So I’m a Spider, So What? so pick it up if the series interests you.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 5 by Fumiaki Maruto:

Definitely my favorite volume so far. It was incredibly interesting to the point where I stayed up late just to finish it. It also included a lot of my favorite elements of the Koisuru Metronome spin-off: a conflict the centred on writing issues, information on how to improve writing and Utaha being really interesting and complex. All that was missing was Mayu. In any case, I think what I want this series to do is to challenge it’s own genre and tropes. It’s a great romcom but it’s not much more than that yet.

Bishoujo Sakka to Mezasu Million Selleraaaaaaaa!! 1 by Takeru Kusakabe:

Honestly, I’m not 100% sure why I bought this book. I think I was looking for something easy to read at the time and this ranked in KonoRano 2018. Anyhow, this is written by the author of Noucome, which I remember as a series with an alright premise that got old fast but had good girls. Million Seller isn’t much different. The protagonist is a guy who becomes an editor and wants to be able to be put in charge of a series that can sell a million copies but gets put in charge of light novel series, which don’t sell as much. So he gets put in charge of two ladies, one who’s a high school student and another who’s an office lady. And it’s… fine. The characters are likeable and I was impressed that the author made the characters distinct enough that if you were to pick out a random page from the volume, you’d be able to tell who was talking to who by looking at how they speak. The thing is, the series doesn’t stand out. If want a romcom with a harem, there are better ones and it’s really not that informative on the light novel industry. There are some funny interactions but I’d only recommend it if you really liked Noucome’s sense of humour or are looking for some easy light novels to read to improve your Japanese. I won’t be reading the second volume.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 6 by Fumiaki Maruto:

This was a really satisfying volume in terms of what it did for the plot and Eriri’s character. And, like vol. 5, every time I finished a chapter, I wanted to hurry on to the next. Iori continues to be a delight and Izumi has really grown on me. I’m excited to see what these characters do next.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata F.D. by Fumiaki Maruto:

Going into this, I knew that it wouldn’t have much to do with the main story but I ended up wishing that it had even less to do with the main story. All it is is a bunch of short stories taking place in between chapters of the main light novel that were previously published in magazine + an interview with Maruto and Misaki (the illustrator for the series) that is really hard to read on an iPad. I thought it would be a bunch of non-canon icharabu scenes between Tomoya and the heroines but there wasn’t much of that at all. Furthermore, Sayuri, who appears on the cover, doesn’t actually appear in the volume and I get the feeling that she’s only on there because Misaki created an amazing character design that wasn’t able to get shown off in vol. 6. Interestingly, some of these stories appear in other versions of the story; I recognized some of them because similar scenes appeared in the anime and Koisuru Metronome. I think I might have enjoyed it more if I had read it while I was reading the main volumes but I really don’t think it’s worth buying unless you’re a diehard fan of the series and want to know everything about the characters. This volume did make it clear how much Maruto has grown as a writer though; the first few stories were written the earliest and felt really jarring to read and definitely felt more like the type of writing that would be used in a galge but the later stories were much better.

Baccano! The Rolling Bootlegs by Ryohgo Narita

Note: I read this in English a few years ago and loved it and the anime was one of the first that I saw and I loved that so reading this volume in Japanese has been something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.

As much as I enjoy the Baccano! series, this volume has never been one of my favourites. Even in the anime, I tended to zone out during these parts. But I did enjoy it more this time around. Narita really knows how to set the scene and make you really absorbed into it. The thing that surprised me the most about rereading this was Ennis. I remember that I used to find her really boring but I LOVED her here. She’s a genuinely interesting character and her scenes with Miria and Isaac were my favorite part of the volume and I loved the scenes that were narrated by her. My favorite thing about Baccano has always been the lack of a true protagonist and that’s certainly true here. Firo’s probably the closest to it in this volume but you could definitely argue that the protagonist is Maiza and Isaac and Miria have always been so iconic that they’ve always felt like the protagonists to me. That being said, I found the scenes revolving around the Gandor siblings and Dallas to be really boring and I can see why someone might not enjoy a series that has this many characters to follow. I’m looking forward to reading the 1931 arc, in any case.

This series is currently being published by Yen-Press as Baccano! so pick it up if the series interests you.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 7 by Fumiaki Maruto

Well, this was certainly an emotional volume. It starts off seeming like it’s going to be pretty cute valentines day volume but it becomes an emotionally taxing one by the end. But I didn’t mind it too much. The drama elements worked for me and I was so shocked by the first epilogue that I thought my eyes would pop out of my head! Indeed, like the previous volumes, I set off to read one chapter and was half-way done with the volume before I knew it! One thing that Maruto does really well in this series is balancing the heroines. I still think that end girl could be either Katou or Eriri at this point and, if not for Koisuru Metronome’s existence, I would say that Utaha still has a chance too. And part of me is still holding out for a surprise yuri ending with Eriri and Katou. Their relationship is so well written that I can’t help but wonder whether Maruto just really wants to write a yuri novel but hasn’t for whatever reason. This volume marks the end of the manga adaptation (though it looks like they also adapted the GS side novels so I’ll probably talk about that at some point) and it was a good manga adaptation. I think the adaptations of the first 4 volumes were not great but 5-7 have been adapted really well so I’d recommend it.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata Girls Side by Fumiaki Maruto

The volume is split into two parts. The first part focuses on how Utaha and Eriri first met and it’s an amusing side story and definitely worth the read if you’re a fan of those two. The second scenario’s premise is more spoilery as it focuses on events that the reader heard about but didn’t see in vol. 7. While this volume isn’t required reading to understand the main plot, I still thought it was worth reading and would recommend it to most Saekano fans, especially those who like Utaha and Eriri. As for the manga, it only adapts this volume and it’s a 1:1 adaptation so no complaints from me.

Assassins Pride 1 by Kei Amagi

If I were to describe this volume in one word it would be ‘weird’. It has weird pacing in that most of the chapters could have been made into their own volume though I suspect that the reason for the fast pace is because the writer wanted to grab the readers’ attentions straight away. It has a weird protagonist because I can’t read him at all. I can never tell when he’s acting and when he’s being genuine. Finally, the future volumes look weird. From this volume and the covers of future volumes I assumed that this series would have a central OTP with possibly a slight harem element but the colour illustrations for the future volumes make it seem like it’s going to become an ecchi lolicon harem series so I don’t know what to think so I’m approaching this series with cautions and won’t be buying volume 2 until the anime comes out so that I can find out whether this series will go in that direction or not. As for the volume itself. It was fairly interesting and held my attention when I was reading but I would have preferred a slower pace. That said, I enjoyed the manga a lot. The illustrations in it are really something and the pacing is much better so even if I don’t end up continuing the light novel, I’ll likely be reading the manga anyway.

[banndsand]

If there’s one thing I’ve learned

it’s that I can’t manage to stick to one hobby for long. So why not just make a variety blog?

Today’s theme:

Anime

Or more specifically, fall 2018 anime. What’s been good? What’s been meh? What’s been just awful? (Just kidding we don’t talk about that last one.)

Run with the Wind

I knew this would be near the top of my list in the first few minutes of the first episode. When Haiji asks “Hashiru no suki ka?” and Unison Square Garden takes it away... I just, oof. I knew I’d watch this one to the end.

But for those not immediately sucked in by the first 2 minutes, what the heck is it?

Run with the Wind is a show about a rag-tag group of college guys who have been gathered together in a mad attempt to run the Hakone Ekiden, a big ol’ relay marathon type race in Japan which afaik is a Big Deal TM. These dudes generally have little experience running, so it seems ludicrous that they could accomplish such a feat, but that’s honestly not what matters.

Like running itself, it’s every step you take along the way that matters, not the finish line. These are good boys (plus one very good dog) who are just doing their best to improve. Skepticism gives way to hope as you see these boys progress and come together as a team. There are of course challenges along the way, clashing of ideas, and even rivals and potentially some big dramatic twists. That last part I just figure is coming based on what I’ve seen so far.

Of course the show also looks great. The style reminds me a lot of Haikyuu which I super enjoyed (it’s actually the show that got me into sports anime)! Sometimes you can tell CG models are used, such as when there are just way too many runners on-screen at once, but tbh they look fine. CG has come a long way and the technique is used pretty sparingly in this show.

The characters are great. Everyone’s got motivations for taking part (or not taking part) in this race. They’ve all got their own personalities and struggles in this, and you can probably find yourself in at least one of them at some point in the show.

So yeah, Run with the Wind. I highly recommend it.

Next up...

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

Oh no, another isekai?! Oh yes, another isekai!

Lately I’ve been giving a lot of isekai shows a chance and have been pleasantly surprised on numerous occasions. I quite enjoyed Overlord, though I came close to dropping it a few times. I found How Not to Summon a Demon Lord uh... fun, if only in the way where you can just turn your brain off and try to laugh at the ridiculous fanservice. These shows where the protagonist is OP as heck have regained some freshness after the likes of Konosuba and Re;Zero have redefined the genre by turning it on its head.

You may be asking yourself “so what’s this got to do with Slime show?”

Yes, yes, I’m getting to that.

In That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, the titular Slime character (who I will refer to as Slime-san) used to be a regular human, until he went and died. His dying words were used to generate his new form in a new world. But people say weird stuff when they’re dying, don’t they? Oh yes.

Slime-san us the result of some borked interpretations of regular, if slightly odd, statements. Making far-flung interpretations is the kind of thing that I love to do just as a mental exercise, and is thus a great start. This was probably the lure that brought me to the hook.

Awoken in this new world, Slime-san does what any person in a strange world would do, they interact with their environment in the only way they can, by absorbing stuff in their slime body. This leads to the character combining more weird stuff together to get weird results in ways that take me back to the days of Kirby 64, where combining abilities was amazing and novel. Oh yes, this hook looks tasty.

And of course, the art style is great. Even in a cave, with a character who is for all intents and purposes just a soft orb of slime, this show looks great! Every episode I am again floored by the wonderful art style and animation bringing this world to life.

And you know what’s the best part?

For the first month or so of watching, there were almost no boobs in the show at all!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with boobs, but in this day and age of isekai shows that are more fanservice and self-insertion than anything, I am so freaking ready to have a break from the squishier parts of female characters. We have our squishy main character, Slime-san, so why should we need anything more?

(Of course there are some more fanservicey characters and scenes later on, but it feels a lot more manageable and not just forced on the viewer from the start.)

The one flaw I hear often for this show is that the main character is overpowered, so it gets boring after a while. I can see how folks would come to this conclusion when reading the manga, but when watching the anime week after week, it feels like there is still enough tension and/or uncertainty for things not to get stale, especially when you take into account the show’s other redeeming factors. ...Plus I’ve seen plenty of shounen series go on forever with undefeatable main characters (I won’t point any fingers) so I’m not really sure what people are expecting.

All in all, if you feel you might get tired of that kind of thing, then it might be worth skipping That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, but I honestly feel like the show has so many redeeming qualities that I just can’t seem to get tired of it. I look forward to seeing how far this series may go before that happens.

Zombie Land Saga

Hey do you like idol shows? No? Well how about giving this one a spin anyway?

Honestly, I have to watch more of this show. The main thing holding me back is the fact I like it so much that I want to share it with people, and then scheduling problems get in the way.

This show is absolutely hilarious. I don’t know if the plot will ever make sense, and I honestly don’t care. I just want to see these zombie gals try their best to make sense of this situation they’re in. And of course I want to see the manager shout. I just need more of manager man’s shouting in my life. I don’t know why.

The characters are funny and endearing, all exceptionally cute waifu material, and they’ve all got their own background (i.e. previous life) to grapple with before they can really shine as idols. Their goofy antics as a group make for some really crazy shows, which is refreshingly different from (as far as I know) just a bunch of CG idol girls jumping around in fancy costumes for 4 minutes per episode.

So just give it a look. If you aren’t into it after an episode or two, that’s fair. But otherwise it is way too easy to overlook this crazy rollercoaster ride of a show.

Anyway

this post is getting obscenely long, I’m gonna wrap things up and say to go check out these shows. I think when the season ends I’ll try to put together a more cohesive overview of the season’s anime. I’ve got a few ideas.

Of course I also want to hear what y’all have been watching in the comments below. I am always down to check out any shows I may have overlooked! That’s usually how I find my favourites. So don’t be shy!