#long time no see! haven't been feeling great so have not been up to sift through my media as of late

[flclarchives]

Episode 4 stills from the FLCL Collectors’ Disc

[k1nky-r0b0t-g1rl-wr1t1ng]

Junkyard Love

(based vaguely on a conversation with @virtualgirladv)

You’ve always loved the scrapyard. The perfect graveyard of parts. The beauty of twisted metal and plastic. The towering walls of robotic corpses, most old chassis's thrown away after an upgrade, others, less fortunate. You’ve lost count of how many times you’ve rebuilt yourself in a place like this, but today you’re not here for yourself.

You have most of this place mapped out by now, after decades of sifting you developed a general understanding of where certain parts tended to pile up. Today that system is really paying off as you speed through the narrow pathways between the monoliths of scrap surrounding you. Bursting into the sunlight of an open part of the yard, your optical sensors slowly adjust to the sudden increase in brightness. You look up, eyes wide as you stare at the mountain of corpses before you.

This is where they keep the newest arrivals, and the least likely to have been picked through. Not great for finding specific parts but perfect if you’re searching for something valuable. You know exactly what you’re here for but it's rare and you’re desperate, you don't care how long it takes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been hours, hours sitting under the sun combing through corpses, searching each of them for any parts not taken before they were disposed of. You’ve been through dozens so far, most of them the generic sleek form most people go for, the occasional decommissioned war bot and exotic chassis. You don't have the time to admire the work as you quickly check each one for what you need.  You can feel the heat bearing down on you, the darker parts of your chassis reaching dangerous temps. You can't help but let your mind wander as you continue to search, the oppressive heat sparking memories deep in your hard drives. Decades old memories pouring to the surface, it's been years since you thought about her. She built you in a place like this, she's part of the reason you know your way around here so well. A bittersweet smile crosses your face-plate. Her body is buried under one of these steel monuments. She was only flesh, but she always loved this place and you couldn't bear to see her moved.

You’re interrupted from your trip down memory lane when something catches your eye, across from you in a discarded chassis you haven't searched yet you spot something familiar, the obvious shape of an intact containment unit. You scramble across the metallic forms below you as you frantically grab hold of the unit, turning it rapidly in your hands, searching for any signs of damage. Having confirmed its integrity you don't hesitate, sliding down the mess of empty shells towards your goal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You practically tear the door out of its frame as you come rushing home, slamming your way through the house.

“Babe, I'm back!” You yell through the small apartment.

Darting into the bedroom excitedly, you glance around for a second, sensors still adjusting to the dark room. Across the room you spot her, splayed across your full-sized bed, her bulky form taking up most of the small bed, exposed wiring delicately laying across her beautiful steel body. Her chassis was an ancient design, old and primitive. You cant help but smile at her as she sleeps. She adores her design and wouldn't change it for the world, even if she could. You giggle gently as you carefully cross the room towards her, you love the way her chassis lays in your bed, the subtle whirr of her fans, the way her bulky armour sinks into the mattress, her face plate dimly lit as she rests, the screen simply displaying a sleeping emoticon.

Climbing onto the bed, you crawl your way onto her beautifully heavy form, straddling her hips as you gently press your weight into hers. Her monitor slowly lighting up as she awakens, the confused emote slowly growing excited. You feel her servos and motors kick up as she attempts to sit up into your arms, wincing as she does.

“Hey now, careful, love” you purr, placing a metallic hand on her chest with a clink.

“Bad pain day?” you gently enquire.

A small nod and frustrated sigh escape her speakers, her servos disengaging along with a defeated flash across her screen.

“I’ve got a surprise for you~” you blurt out, unable to contain your excitement.

Before she can respond you reveal the containment unit previously concealed behind your back, a look of recognition flashing on her screen. Her fans increasing speed as she looks into your eyes.

“W-where did you ev-” she stammers out before you cut her off.

“Don't worry about it, bot” you say quickly, trying to ease her worries. “I know it wont help with the pain...or much else unfortunately but...I was hoping it might help you just feel a little better.”

You pause, waiting for a reaction before continuing but she just waits patiently for you to explain.

“I know you cant get a new body…no-not that you would want to but just like, I don't know I thought maybe it would feel nice to get a shiny new...well kinda new...part ya know?” you ramble out, worried you’ve made a mistake.

Panicking at the lack of reaction you start to sit up. You fucked up, you need to get off and give her space, you need to do... something. But before you can escape, her entire body slams into yours, strong arms wrapping themselves around your form, heavy combat armour pressing hard against your sleek, simple chassis.

A small sound escapes her speakers, now pressed up against you. “T-thank you…”

You chuckle to yourself, you’re an idiot, of course you didn't fuck up, how could you with this amazing girlfriend? You gently lay her back down on the bed, careful not to cause too much movement through her system. A smirk curling across your lips.

“Want me to install it now?” you whisper in her ear.

A small whimper escapes her frame as she nods, embarrassed.

“Good girl” you whisper again before sitting upright.

You waste no time, quickly setting the unit down on the bed next to you before opening a small compartment in your abdomen. Pulling out all the tools you need and placing them on her chassis, watching her squirm as you do. You run your fingers under the thick plates covering her chest, fingers gliding until *click* a latch gives way and the armour is released from its seating. Gently lifting it from its position and placing it on the bed next to you, grabbing your tools and carefully reaching inside, stopping briefly at the breach, looking for consent to continue. A slow nod grants you access. You slowly begin unscrewing panels, removing the softer, thinner metal beneath her armour. As you expose more and more of her inner workings you notice her screen changing to a more crimson colour. You adore the way she blushes. She’d never let anyone else remove her armour, let alone get this deep in her internals. You smile at that thought.

*click*

The final piece of metal covering her small nuclear reactor is removed, you can finally begin work on replacing its containment unit. The technology is perfectly safe, with so many fail safes and precautions in place she could do anything in here and nothing would go wrong, but with an old and damaged unit it can limit ones ability to draw energy. You really hope this new one will help. With a small flick and bump you disconnect the old unit, watching as your girlfriends emotes go all fuzzy and warm, the lack of containment making her mind all blurry and hazy. Moving the new unit into place you try to be careful, which is only made more difficult but the squirms and shudders of the robot beneath you. Reaching out with your free hand you place it gently around her neck.

“Be still for me baby, I’m almost done, then we can take it for a spin, ok?” You speak with a hint of command in your tone.

Instantly her body goes still, obeying your every word as her emotes begin to blur into a blushing, whimpering mess. Finally you start to fit the unit into place around her reactor, her heart. Your tongue sticking out as you focus on the final pieces clicking into place, her fans speeding up as you have to put more of your arm into her body to complete the installation. Having everything where it needs to be you lock it into place, and begin to remove your hand before you hear a desperate whimper escape from the bot your currently deep inside.

“What’s that? Does pretty bot want more?” you say, a dangerous smile curling up your face plate.

A moan escapes her speakers, her screen glitching slightly before a desperate “Pleaaaase” finds its way out.

Without needing to hear any more you dive down to meet her body with yours, planting your cold synthetic lips on her screen, playing with her emote with your tongue. You feel the heat rushing into her system as her fans begin blasting warm air into the room, you feel her servos and motors desperately squirming under you, she could easily throw you across the room if she wanted, but she’s too high on your touch to ever try. You wrap your hands around some wires inside her chest, gently stroking them with your thumb, ever so slightly threatening to yank them out. You smile into her screen as she trembles under you, her whole body vibrating as you moan into her chassis.

“Fuck.” Her voice jolts through you, sending shivers down your spine.

You know she’s close, desperate for you to overload her system. Reaching your free hand down between her legs, you feel her cold smooth metal as you begin to rub her, fingers moving fast and rough as you try to push her body over the edge. You watch as her screen begins to glitch more and more, her entire system overloading with power as you stroke her internal wires. Her moaning becomes choked, her movements more erratic and desperate, her hand reaches up to hold your arm as her entire screen turns blue, an error message sprawled across it as her body goes limp beneath you.

You smile gently, looking down at the bulky, semi armoured form below you. It’ll take a few moments before her system is able to boot herself back up, so you get to work quickly, replacing her chassis, screwing parts back together as you close her chest back up and finally click her armoured plate back into place.

You lay yourself down, planting your head onto the bots chest. Holding her tight, you listen to her system slowly begin to power back up, and you smile to yourself.

You’ve always loved the scrapyard.

~~~

If you wanna support me - Ko-fi

[thesnacken]

The way I explained it to some friends:

It felt like waking up to find out my favorite park had been paved over.

I'm a game designer (admittedly a flesgeling one). Magic was the tool I used to cut my teeth to do that. Some of the earliest posts on this blog were attempts to understand Magic: the Gathering by recreating it. I've been doing thay for over a decade, now. My friends have been arouns for years, watching me (and later participati g themselves) take the stories and experiences we found as we went and bring them back to Magic.

That always felt safe to me. While I couldn't join the ranks of people making the game professionally, I could build something adjacent that would never be definitively proven "wrong", because Magic was its own thing, and I was adapting other things. I had all of the room I needed to stretch out and practice and grow, like running through a sprawling park.

For years that practice and pursuit was guided by the literal hundreds of hours worth of packaged and shared experience, thought, and philosophy presented by you, between Blogatog, Drive to Work, and the volumes of articles posted over the last decade. Paired with the dozens of sets and thousands of cards to pick through released over that timeframe, I had a great workshop full of good tools and strong materials on which I could practice. Vainly, I hoped that one day I could join the ranks of designers who were making what I was sure was one of the greatest games ever made.

When the first UB products were announced, I was trepedatious. They weren't why I was here. They felt a little blasphemous. Magic was phenomenal. Why did it need outside material? I thought about that, though, and tempered my reaction. Magic borrowed plenty from others, and made plenty that wasn't aimed at me. I didn't like it, but I supposed I didn't have to. I saw new people take a look at magic for the first time and thought, "Well. I guess that can't be so bad, right?".

Over time, more of these products were announced, surfaced, and yielded similar results. I wasn't keen on most of them, but there was always something worth finding in them. Something to reward me sifting through. I could still see the heart of Magic in it, even if I didn't care for the expression. Still, something tugged at the back of my mind. Something that felt familiar. A similar story about a slow, creeping corruption that could be managed, resisted, until the fatal moment it couldn't. I ignored it.

"Half of all releases going forward will be Universes Beyond."

That was it. That was my playground, paved over. A new IP every three months that I wouldn't be able to adapt freely. Many of them I probably wouldn't care about, but some of them, inevitably, I will. Some of them had already. Anything above some threshold of popularity would be at risk. Anything that did, I couldn't touch. There's too much risk involved; what I make will inevitably be judged against what is published, and anything I share will be at risk of being misidentified or, worse, ridiculed for its inaccuracy.

This also doesn't come in a vacuum. Every few months, I find WotC, Hasbro, or Magic itself ensnared in a new mire. Layoffs, restructuring, another loop of accusations, admissions, and renumerationa over the use of AIGen, or some head-scratching new product that seems utterly divorced from what I thought would be coming five years ago. I haven't been able to keep up in years, and I've been increasingly uncomfortable watching it play out. I've long learned how to hold my initial reactions for questioning, but after a few years of this, my reactions are starting to feel quite vindicated. Magic is one of several things I've seen follow this road, crushing the things that made them unique in favor of things that yielded a larger market. I had just hoped for better.

In the end, I suppose I may just be among a crowd of acceptable collateral. I wasn't buying, playing, or competing. I was too mired in something I felt was higher-minded. I thought the course would correct itself. Perhaps it's too late for that, now. I see how this paved lot can be useful; it just isn't the park. Perhaps Magic isn't made for dreaming artists, writers, and designers anymore. I can't stop that, if that's the case. I'm one, flat-broke fan of something that seems to be on its way out.

It's simply a shame that we seem to be running out of parks.

I’ve always felt the core role of this blog has been one of information. We make a lot of choices in design, and I try to use my various communications, including Blogatog, to walk the players through what we were thinking when we made key decisions.

The challenge with this approach is that it’s very logic-focused. It uses intellectual justifications to explain actions. But the problems I’m often responding to are emotional in origin. I have a good friend who’s a psychologist. He refers to this (using the words of author Robyn Gobbel) as an owl brain solution to a watchdog brain problem.

When someone is hurting, hearing about why the thing that is causing them pain is the result of intellectual decisions falls flat. That’s what has been causing some tension lately here on Blogatog.

It’s clear that for some Question Marks changes over the last few years represent the loss of something key to what makes Magic special to them. To them, the game is losing its heart.

While I can’t necessarily do anything about that, I want to better understand what you’re going through. So I’m using this post to ask players who are concerned with the recent changes to help me understand their feelings. Let me hear your stories about how your lives have been affected by these changes.

[beaversatemygrandma]

Many things here. There may be a life change. Idk when, but holy hell is it coming. It may be good.

Alright, so. The guy I've been talking to for a good while now. Basically a long distance relationship. Basically suddenly realizing I could have feelings for the guy who had a crush on me in high school. And the only one who was respectful about it and nowhere near annoying enough that I just try to get away from him immediately. He's soft. He's sweet. He did it the right way by connecting with me as a friend and getting into the things I was into. He did it RIGHT. Didn't just go in with intention of flirting and getting somewhere and failing because I literally had a boyfriend and Would Say That. But yeah. Him. The one who did it right back then but I was basically too shallow to really get into the idea that my type is a soft and sweet nerdy type. (Didn't want to be "The Nerd" back then, but honestly, tf was wrong with me?)

Anyways. Feels serious. Especially when there's straight up talk of moving in together. Like my mom is an agent of chaos and wants to quit her job without notice and go up to another state for a good couple weeks (I haven't got a call? Is she even going home??) and she was all "I'm selling the house NOW. Can't stand this place. We're getting a small house in TN and you're coming with me." And I'm just here like "???? I wanted to go HOME??? That's not HOME???" Well, I'm hoping she doesn't outright buy some random house within the next six months. Or at least has a good while of just being back home for a bit so I can get my bearing straight in town. BECAUSE this guy managed to get a one bedroom apartment. Sure sure, it's literally connected to his mom's house which is a huge repurposed warehouse in the middle of nowhere outside of town. BUT AN APARTMENT. FOR CHEAP. LIKE HUNDRED BUCKS A MONTH CHEAP. He keeps telling me how he wants me to have a landing pad if my mom decides to just leave my sister alone in the state at college. And me one so i can finally be back in a place I know with people I Know. AND THEN if my sister ends up needing a couch to crash on for a bit, she's got one. Hell, it's got the space to set up an air mattress in the living room. He showed me a walkthrough over a video call earlier. Like he's genuine about wanting me there.

So, what I'm hoping is that I can still have a proper landing pad with my mom. THEN making sure I can handle being with him for 24 hours straight in person. THEN meeting his family, seeing if his mom would allow that. (she seems open to having me over often. That's already been brought up. Hell, this is the woman who he told her about me and she flat out told him to marry me. I mean fuck. That's supportive.) And then, yeah, breaking it to my mom that i don't want to uproot myself and live in a new town out in the middle of nowhere. But instead out in the middle of nowhere about 10 miles from my hometown. I'm GREAT with that. I love those backroads out there and it's nowhere near the hellish areas of that town that are just Packed with tourist. Nah, these are the weird uncharted woods off the highway. I'm IN. There's a BALCONY. And a firepit out in the yard. It's down a dirt road in the woods. Very Green. Very close to nature. Other than the fact that he's got to clean out the entirety of the mess his sister left behind before she finished her "stepdad hunting" for her kid, it's right there and ready. It's a lot of sifting through literal garbage and ditched items. And deep cleaning. The place is wrecked. She did not leave that in a way that's livable.

Either way, it sounds great. I do think that I can deal with his shit for a long period of time. He's got that flirting type that's being purposely annoying. I do the same fucking thing. Literally not even a con here. The only thing i find annoying is when he'll overthink something and anxiously backtrack on it. So I have to tell him that he literally didn't make a mistake there and he's fine. Especially when he can't read my sarcastic annoyance over a phone call. Would probably be different in person tbh. Idk, I think I could genuinely date him. and live with him. He's a little childish at times but it's kind of charming. And I also can't say shit there with living in a pile of plushies at the tender age of 24. Can't say shit about him collecting lego sets lol I think I could do all that and not hate him after a year like my last roommate. He's very organized and kinda meticulous. Like, he'd be clean and easy to deal with in that sense. Ntm, if I'm this into him just talking to him this much. Shit, I'm already in deep, might as well.

And THEN. Because of his mom sending him referrals for a certain site, we know have income doing online work. Yeah, it took for fucking ever to get through these assessments and then hasn't paid the promised $50 for passing it yet after a week. And then having an issue where they saw my score and put me in a project that REQUIRED a DEGREE that I DON'T have. Like, thanks for telling me that I'm smart enough to be a college graduate I guess. But after that whole issue, i was booted from the project within 24 hours and today I got an email telling me my new one. So I fucked around for about 2 and a half hours. The training was literally like 15 minutes of reading. It's cut and dry and simple. And I was already doing the little tasks. Within that time I earned over $20. Just that already paid more than my job at Panera. Came to about 10 and some change an hour and that was just because I was getting used to the tasks themselves. So I could probably do more an hour than I was. Those things take maybe 10-15 minutes each and payout around $3 each. Paired with my quick typing, I might be able to make a living wage on this. At least enough money to essentially let me live on my own money until I'm there. And likely keep me up while I'm there. I might actually be fine. I might just have a plan going. I think I'll be okay. And it's actually thanks to this guy. All of it really.

[a-writer-on-elm-street]

Deal?

PART 1

Pairing: Eddie x GN!Reader

Summary: You've been struggling with your mental health and you find yourself going over to Eddie's to buy weed in order to escape your problems.

[Part 2]

Warning: Mentions of drug use.

A/N: I hope this is okay! :)

You didn't know what to do as you looked out your window, staring at Eddie's trailer. You hated this, feeling so down all the time. You wanted something to numb the pain.

And it was sort of common knowledge at school that Eddie sold weed. You thought that maybe it would help. Give you an escape, even if it was only for a short time.

Your hands were trembling as you clutched the cash in your hands. You were going to do it. You just couldn't keep feeling like this anymore. It was Hell.

It didn't take long to get to Eddie's trailer but when you finally reached the door, you suddenly felt sick. You'd never even seen weed before, let alone bought it. And now, you were here.

You took a shaky breath before knocking on the door. And he answered it within seconds.

When he saw you standing there, he shot you a look of confusion. "Hello?"

"Hey, uh...you...you sell weed...right?"

"Yeah..." He trailed off, stepping aside slightly to let you in. "So uh...what the hell are you doing here (y/n)?"

You understood his confusion. You and him were friends once, and well...you weren't exactly the weed smoking type.

"I think it's pretty obvious why I'm here." You told him, laughing nervously.

"Well I can fix you up, but I am definitely surprised."

You didn't say anything as you watched him rummaging through a cupboard.

"So uh...you okay? I haven't seen you in a while." He asked, before turning back around with a bag of weed in his hand.

"Uh...good." You tried to say, your voice coming out a little broken. It had been so long since someone asked you that that it caught you off guard, giving you no time to prepare yourself.

"Look, I'm not gonna tell you what to do or anything...but are you sure you want this? You just...seem a little on edge."

"So uh...how much you want for it?" You asked him, ignoring his question.

"Twenty's good."

"Great." You muttered, sifting through the cash in your hand, before handing him the money.

When he handed you the bag, you suddenly felt the familiar sting of tears behind your eyes. You didn't want to do this, really you didn't. But you didn't see any other option.

"(y/n)." Eddie tried again. "Are you okay? Like, really."

"You can't stop me from using this, I've paid for it now."

"Yeah yeah, I know." He smiled slightly. "I'm not gonna take it back. I just wanna know...are you okay?"

You shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"Look, my Uncle's gonna be gone all night." He started. "Do you wanna smoke it here? Ya know, so you're not on your own?"

"I don't wanna be any trouble."

"You're not, trust me." He assured you, gesturing for you to sit down on the couch.

You were honestly too tired to argue with him and if you were being completely honest, you just wanted to get high so you could maybe have some relief finally. So you sat down on the couch with him whilst he rolled a few joints for you both.

He handed you one and gave you a light, before lighting his own. You coughed when you took your first drag, which elicited a laugh from Eddie. "Just...pace yourself, okay?"

You nodded as you both fell back into silence. You assumed it would probably take a while to kick in since you weren't feeling anything just yet. But you were hoping it would take effect soon.

"You can talk to me, you know?" Eddie suddenly said, looking over at you. "I won't judge or anything."

"Will this make me feel...happy?" You asked.

"I mean...I think it depends on the person."

It was a couple of minutes before Eddie spoke again. "Are you...not happy?"

"I don't even know what happy feels like anymore."

"Seriously?"

"God, I sound like such an asshole." You scoffed. "I don't even really wanna smoke weed."

"Why did you come here then?"

"I dunno...I just...wanted to not feel like shit for once. And I figured this was the answer." You explained, gesturing to the joint between your fingers.

Before Eddie could respond, you suddenly felt a pressure building in your chest, and then you were unable to stop the sob that wracked through you.

"Shit, sorry." You groaned, burying your face in your hands. "I'm such an asshole."

"No you're not." Eddie sighed before he put an arm around your shoulders, gently pulling you into his side. "You're just having a bad day."

You let out a humourless laugh. "Well lately it feels like all my days are bad."

"Alright, well I know we're not exactly close anymore...but how about whenever you're feeling shitty, you come over here and we can...hang out." He suggested. "Or not? It's your choice."

"Really?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, why not. Just...I can't do Tuesdays 'cause I play with my band on Tuesdays."

"Corroded Coffin?" You asked, the memory of your middle school talent show flashing in your mind.

"You remember that?"

"Well duh." You laughed, rolling your eyes. "I went up there playing my goddamn guitar. Thought I was God's freakin' gift until I actually heard myself."

"Yeah, I gotta admit, that wasn't your best moment."

You both returned to sitting in silence for a moment until Eddie spoke up again.

"You wanna come see us on Tuesday? We play at The Hideout."

"I don't know."

"Just...think about it, okay?"

"Okay."

"So uh, do we have a deal then?" He suddenly asked.

"A deal?"

"Yeah, you come over here when you're feelin' shitty, so you're not home alone trying to smoke pot. Deal?"

You smiled. "Deal."

"Have you thought about comin' to see my band yet?"

"It's been like...ten seconds."

"And?"

"Maybe I'll come see you."

"Great." He grinned. "That's great."

[Main Masterlist] [Eddie Masterlist]

[step-on-me-khun]

It's Mikey's birthday, so I thought why not write something for it. Again, this is a future Mikey, it might not be canon but I really don't care. Oh and gn reader.

I'm trying to do more fics for Tokyo Revengers, I do requests but even if I don't get many that doesn't mean that I won't keep trying to write. The next character I'm writing for is Kazutora.

Warnings: Smut, alcohol. No minors please.

Word Count: 2,967

You knew what was going to happen, not like it was a problem to you at all. It was Mikey's day, and everyone would make a big deal out of it. Of course, they would. Everyone loved Mikey.

Everyone was planning on heading over to Mikey's place, bringing food and stuff for him. Mikey had lost a lot of important people. Everyone made sure his birthdays were always a big deal.

You didn't mind it. Well, at least, you tried to look like it didn't bother you. It was just that you wanted to show Mikey how much he meant to you, so you were planning on getting him all to yourself so you could treat him.

Mikey's friends were your friends. When he needed someone to talk to, and you weren't there, he would always go to them. It was mainly you and Takemichi who drilled that into his head.

------

These guys, and you, were adults, so there was alcohol. You made sure to drink as small of it as possible. You wanted your mind to remain calm and clear.

It was nice. Everyone talked about the past, laughed about all the memories they remembered.

The mood of the room was great. Everyone was enjoying themselves. It was nice seeing Mikey with a genuine smile on his face.

Of course, the more liquor that was drunk, the more personality everyone had. Takemichi would cry at everything, the crying making him sleep under the kotatsu. Mitsuya appeared normal, and Draken was a little quieter. But Mikey hadn't had the same amount that everyone else had. It looked like he wanted to remember this day and have a clear head, just like you.

You and Mikey had been together for a while. Neither of you had moved in together yet. But whenever he needed you, you would always be there to listen to him. Or come over and cuddle together for as long as he liked.

The way his attitude changed whenever you or his friends appeared, you wanted to give him a reason to keep smiling and laughing. You were close to suggesting that the two of you move in with each other.

You were snapped out of your thoughts by Kazutora's voice. "I something wrong, (Y/N)?" He asks.

"Hmm? No, I'm fine, just lost in thought, I guess," you reply, smiling at him.

Kazutora says nothing and goes back to the conversation everyone else was having.

You could feel Mikey beside you, his arm snaking around yours, pulling you closer. His chin rests on your shoulder.

"I'm so lucky to have you, (Y/N)," Mikey says quietly.

"Are you drunk?" You ask bluntly.

"Shut up. I haven't had that much,"

"Of course you haven't," you say sarcastically. You knew that Mikey hadn't had that much, but you wanted to be playful, so, of course, you teased him about being around it all.

"Why do you have to treat me this way?" Mikey asks playfully, pouting and looking you in the eye.

"You know I don't mean it," you reply, smiling at him.

Mikey hadn't had much of a childhood, well, at least, not in his teenage years. It surprised you when he bought up his past life, Toman and everything that had happened. Mikey always seemed a little depressed, but it made sense when you found out about everything. You got close to him, became an ear for him whenever he needed to vent and rant. Then Mikey needed you in another way, causing him to admit his feeling mid-conversation. Things went from there, and you've been together seven months now.

The two of you didn't go slow. When you needed each other, you were both there. You would stay at each other's places quite often, too. Mikey's comfort blanket was something you never took away from him, so you let him be and became comfortable with it. Day by day, you became closer, and trust between the two of you grew. To everyone else, it was like he was a teenager again.

The night went on, the two of you never really leaving each other's side. Mikey was never this clingy with you, but tonight he was. Everyone's presence was the gift he loved the most.

Your elbow rested on the table, chin resting in the palm of your hand. Mikey was happy, smiling and laughing. It was something you always loved seeing.

"Aww, the way you're looking at Mikey, it's obvious that you love him," Hina says, worming her way closer to you.

You shrugged like Hina had seen right through you. It wasn't something that had embarrassed you as much as it used to. Everyone could see how much you adored Mikey. The way you would look at each other was apparent to anyone.

"I've seen you look at Takemichi the same way, though, Hina," you teased slightly.

Hina giggles a little at your response. They had been together for so long. You admired them for it.

Takemichi wasn't used to drinking this much. Hina was there to switch his drinks to water now and again. Mitsuya would do the same with everyone else, especially if they're acting a little rowdier.

------

It was way past midnight, and everyone had had fun. You watched as everyone left, saying goodnight as everyone did so.

The mess at the kotatsu could wait until later. The time spent around everyone had completed drained you and your energy.

You were tired. Standing up, you stretch your arms above your head, yawning as you did.

Your eyes were closed as you yawned, so you hadn't noticed Mikey getting closer to you, eventually his arms wrapped around your waist and lifting you a little off the floor.

"What's this for?" You ask, wrapping your arms around his neck and your feet touched the floor again.

"For putting up with someone like me," Mikey replies.

"Stop right there, you," your hands cup his face, "it's your birthday, no sappy shit,"

Mikey pouts at you. It looked like he didn't like your response.

You pull Mikey's face closer to yours, peppering his lips with kisses. It was such a sweet and caring series of kisses. You wanted him to be happy. There was no way in hell you'd let him be sad, not on today of all days.

Your hands slowly left Mikey's face and, instead, rested on his shoulder or collarbone.

The more kisses you kept planting on his lips, the more heated the room got.

You were going to show him just how much you loved and adored Mikey. It didn't matter how tired you were. You stuck with your plan.

The problem was that when Mikey wanted something, he made sure to get it.

Naturally, a fight ensued between your tongues. The way they glided over each other was enough to make you want to fall to the floor and just let him take you there and then. But you didn't want to give into him. If it were a fight Mikey wanted, then he'd get it.

"M-Mikey," you moan quietly against his mouth.

Mikey's hands gently cup the sides of your neck, holding you still as he pecks your lips a few times before biting down on your lower lip.

You felt like you were on fire. The hands you placed on Mikey's chest moved to his hands, pulling him over to the couch before kissing him quickly, letting go of his hands and roughly shoving him onto it.

Mikey's dark eyes were darker, and his face flushed red by all the kissing you were doing. He knew what you wanted to do, and he had no intention of stopping you right now.

"You didn't wait all day just to do this, did you?" Mikey asks playfully, his hand sifting through his hair as you lower yourself down in between his legs.

"Maybe," you reply, laying the side of your head on his thigh, your hands working on the button and zip of his jeans. You tugged roughly on the top of his jeans and boxers, and his erection soon was freed from its trap.

The cool air hit Mikey's erection, causing him to hiss and groan at the sudden feeling.

"You gonna make me feel good, pretty girl?"

"Is that what you want from me, Mikey?"

His hands reach your face, tilting you up and planting a soft kiss on your lips.

"I'll let you do whatever you want, just for now, at least,"

Mikey's hands move from your face, and he leans his back against the sofa, patiently waiting for you to make a move.

Then you lay your tongue flat against the head of his dick, sliding it up to its tip, the tip of your tongue played with his slit.

Mikey's grip was mainly on his hair, not yours. The last thing he wanted to do was to ram himself into your mouth.

There was something about you domming him that made Mikey shiver with excitement. Even you putting him in his place was enough to get him erect, but that would also make him want to destroy you right there and then.

The eyes that gazed down at you as you reached his base, slowly licking up his length, were dark, darker than usual. There could be dangerous thoughts lingering behind them. You sat there, a sudden shiver running down your spine from the devilish thoughts running through you.

You used your mouth so well on him, sucking on his head once your tongue reached his head again.

All that Mikey could do was sit there, the feeling of your wet, hot mouth sending him insane. It was almost torturous. Why hadn't you taken him all into your mouth yet? It was making him impatient.

The way Mikey bit his lower lip and let out a low groan, you could tell that he was getting impatient, but you didn't care all that much. You were going to take your time. The next time you do something, if Mikey decided to go all out and be as rough as he wanted to, then that was down to you and your actions right now.

Your lips left a string of kisses from his base up to his tip, smiling once your mouth left Mikey's length.

"You're not getting impatient, are you?" You coyly ask, leaning your chin on Mikey's thigh. Your hand roughly tugged on his dick, squeezing it lightly as you pumped your hands up and down on him.

The eyes that were watching your mouth before now watching your hand.

"Please, just stop fucking teasing me already," Mikey begs, his hand gripping onto the couch tightly, knuckles pale. "I need you, so damn much,"

"Since you asked nicely, I suppose I could give you what you want," you say in a teasing tone.

You wasted no time now. Teasing Mikey went out the window.

Once your mouth slowly came down on him, Mikey held his breath, eyes closed tightly. It didn't matter how many times you had sucked him off. Mikey could never get tired of it.

You wanted to take your time, make him feel as good as he made you felt when he took control.

As much as you wanted to edge him, it wasn't right to do that, not today.

Mikey tried as hard as possible not to buck his hips up. You were making him feel so much, but he desperately needed more from you.

You started bobbing your head faster, the tip of his dick hitting the start of your throat.

"Oh, fuck," Mikey groaned quietly, leaning his head back against the couch, his eyes still closed.

You released him for a few seconds to get some air into your lungs, then get back to doing what you were doing.

Once you got used to the pace and speed, you tried your best breathing through your nose. When you knew you could handle it a little, you would halt your movements on him when his head touched the start of your throat. The need to gag hit you when you stilled for too long, your head moving back up, bobbing on him again.

The noises escaping from Mikey's mouth, even if they were low and breathy, were enough motivation for you to keep going.

"(Y/N)," Mikey groans, his eyes open, staring down at you.

He was close. The way he groaned your name was enough of a hint. You kept your pace, not feeling any need to speed up.

Whenever you glanced up at Mikey's face, all you saw was dark lust filling his eyes. It must've been difficult for him to control himself. His hands still gripped the couch tightly. If he felt like it, he could readily grasp your hair and be as rough with you as he wanted. But once you started, the control you had would be difficult to stop. Plus, you looked angelic to him.

A string of curses leaves Mikey's mouth, a few groans of your name, and he came into your mouth. Without any hesitation, you swallowed, not wanting to waste anything.

You were breathless, your face just as flushed and as pink as Mikey's.

Standing up, Mikey's hand rushed to your waist. The heat in the room spurred your actions as your lips once again found his, picking up where you last left off.

Air hardly hit your lungs, and you were right back into him. The hands that were at your waist rushed to removed both your clothes. It was slow at first, but then the passion hit both of you quickly. Your clothes were off in no time at all.

You were close to being pushed down onto the couch, but you quickly stopped him.

"Let me show you how much I love you before you take control, okay?" You ask, trying not to be forceful but loving.

A soft smile lit up Mikey's face. He understood you, let you do your own thing. Those words were signalling that you hadn't finished. Giving yourself to him was kind of like a birthday present.

One knee at a time moved onto the couch. A hand reaches Mikey's shoulders again as you hover your entrance over the tip of his dick. Slowly you sunk onto him, his length fully engulfed by you.

You let out a breathy moan, moving both your hands to the back of Mikey's head, sifting through his hair as you slowly moved up and down on him.

Both of your eyes stared directly into each other, never wanting to lose their focus. Mikey was far too precious to let go of, and you were too damn incredible for him to want to let go of you, his hands worming their way up to your back, resting lightly on your shoulder blades.

Slowly, your speed increased, your hips desperately trying to slam down onto him. Your movements sent both of you into heaven, making you hotter and needier by the second.

Your moans made it more difficult for Mikey to control himself. Right now, you were the most dangerous thing to him, but you were the one thing he needed the most.

"You're so good to me," Mikey groans, his hands sliding down your back, groping your ass.

"I love you so fucking much," you say before pushing your mouth onto his.

"I know you do, beautiful," Mikey groans between kisses, "I love you too. You feel so fucking good,"

You pull away, leaving Mikey breathless. The hands that were on your ass moved to your thighs, grabbing onto your skin tightly. He was so damn desperate to snap his hips up, wanting to look at your face as your eyes roll to the back of your head.

The feeling of his head hitting your g-spot sent you insane, causing you to try to be a little rougher. Your hands were desperate to cling to his hair.

That constant movement against that spot was enough for your orgasm to creep up, your walls contracting around Mikey as you struggled to move.

"Fuck, (Y/N), I'm close," Mikey groans.

Your eyes were focused on each other again, wanting to watch yourselves as you eventually succumbed to the feeling of your release. Your breathy moans hit Mikey's face as you rushed to your end, hips snapping down onto him.

The feeling of your walls around him made Mikey hiss, his hands trying not to leave scratches on your back.

"Shit," you cry as you came, trying hard not to stop your movements, but it was almost too much. You tried no to be lazy and continued attempting to let Mikey come.

You close your eyes as your hips moved down on him. Mikey bit his lower lip as he came, holding your hips still as he did.

The two of you were tired, not just from what you had just done, but from the little party that had happened.

Both your eye wandered to the scene behind yourselves. It wasn't going to be fun cleaning all this up later.

"Was this supposed to be a gift to me?" Mikey asks playfully, his voice tired.

"Why, wasn't what I got you good enough?" You respond, faking being hurt by him.

He laughs a little at your response. "Do you want to clean this up now or later?"

"I mean, I won't say no if you're insistent,"

"But I don't want to do that now,"

"Then don't. We can do it later,"

"That's if I don't feel like repaying you,"

"Repaying me?" You were playing being clueless, but you knew what Mikey meant. There was hope inside you that he might, at least, have mercy on you and not make it difficult for you to walk for the next few days.

please don't steal what I write

I normally do taglists, but I've only done this fic and one other, so no one's on the taglist... yet

[acidmanticore]

More fairy tales?

"Princess-frog" or "Frog princess"

[starting with Vasnetsov painting of course, other illustrations are by Bilibin]

In one kingdom lived a tsar, and he had three sons. Youngest one was prince Ivan.

Once tsar called for his sons and told them:

- My dear children, you're of age now, it's time to think about getting married!

- But how do we choose who to marry, father?

- Take each an arrow, draw your bows and shoot to the different sides. Where the store falls, go look for your bride.

Brothers went to the castle square, drew their bows and shot.

First the oldest brother shot, arrow feel into boyar's court and boyar's daughter picked it up.

Then the second brother shot, any his arrow flew into merchant's yard, and merchant's daughter picked it up.

Prince Ivan shot an arrow and it fell into the mire and the frog picked it up.

Older brothers went looking for their arrows and found them soon - one in the boyar's chambers, another - in the merchant's house. But prince Ivan could find his arrow. For two days he was walking through forests and mountains and on the third day came to the mire. Looks - little frog sits there holding his arrow.

Prince Ivan wanted to run and pretend he haven't find anything but frog said:

- Croak-croak, prince Ivan! Come here, take your arrow and marry me.

Prince got very sad and answered:

- How can I marry you? People will laugh at me!

- Take it, prince Ivan, you don't regret it.

Prince Ivan thought for a while, took a frog, wrapped it into a napkin and brought it home.

Older brothers returned and told where their arrows fell.

Prince Ivan told as well. Brothers started laughing but father said:

- Well, there's nothing to do, marry a frog!

The marriage y were celebrated, three princess got married: older prince married the boyar's daughter, middle prince married three merchant's daughter and prince Ivan married... A frog.

Next day tsar called for his sons and said:

- Well, my dear sons, you all married now. I want to know if your wives know how to cook. Let them bake each a loaf of bread for the tomorrow morning.

Princes bowed deeply and went away. Prince Ivan returned to his chambers devastated, almost in tears.

- Croak-croak, prince Ivan, - said the frog, - why are you so sad? Did your father tell you something hurtful?

- How can't I be sad! - answered prince Ivan, - My father ordered you to bake a bread for tomorrow morning! Yourself!

- Don't worry, prince Ivan! Go sleep, morning is wiser than evening!

Frog waited till prince fell asleep, threw frog skin off and turned into beautiful princess Vasilisa the Wise - so beautiful it can't be described by words in any tale.

She took a sieve, sifted wheat flour, kneaded the white dough, baked a loaf - loose and soft, decorated the loaf with different intricate patterns: on the sides - towns with palaces, gardens and towers, above them - flying birds, on the bottom - prowling animals.

In the morning frog woke prince up:

- It's time, prince Ivan, get up, take the bread to your father!

She's put the loaf onto the golden plate and Ivan went to the tsar.

Older brothers also came, brought their breads, but there were nothing to look at: boyar's daughter's bread for burnt, merchant's daughter's - undercooked and saggy.

At first tsar took the older brother's bread, looked at it and ordered to throw it to the dogs.

Took the one from the second son, looked at it and said:

- A bread like this one could eat only out of great hunger.

Ivan's turn came. Tsar took a bread from him and said:

- A bread like this can be served at the grand celebrations!

And immediately gave his sons another order:

- I want to know how good your wives at needlework. Take silk, gold and silver, and let them weave a carpet for me with their own hands overnight!

Older princes returned to their wives and gave them their father's order. Wives started to call their matrons and maids to help them weave carpets. Matrons and maids gathered and started weave and embroider - some with silver, some with gold, some with silk.

Prince Ivan returned home sad, unable to raise his eyes.

- Croak-croak, prince Ivan, - said the frog, - why are you so sad? Did your father tell you something hurtful?

- How can't I be sad! - answered prince Ivan, - father ordered to make him an embroidered carpet overnight!

- Don't worry, prince Ivan! You better go sleep, morning is wiser than evening.

Frog waited till he fell asleep, then took off her frog skin, turned into beautiful girl Vasilisa the Wise and started to weave the carpet. Pokes with a needle once - flower blooms, pokes another time - complicated patterns appear, pokes third - birds fly...

Sun was still asleep when carpet were finished.

Three brothers came to the tsar in the morning, each brought a carpet. Tsar took the first one and said:

- This carpet's only use to cover horses from the rain!

Took from the second brother, liked and said:

- This carpet's only place is under the gates!

Took from prince Ivan, looked and said:

- And this carpet should be layed in my chambers for big celebrations!

And immediately gave another order, for all three princes to come to his feast next day with their wives: he wants to see which princess is a better dancer.

Princes went to their wives.

Prince Ivan goes sad, thinking to himself: "How can I bring the frog to the royal feast?"

When he came home, frog asked;

- Why are you sad again, prince Ivan? What bothers you?

- How can't I be sad! - said prince Ivan, - father ordered me to bring you with me for the royal feast...

- Don't worry, prince Ivan! Go sleep, morning is wiser than evening!

Next day, when time came for the feast, frog said:

- Well, prince Ivan, go to the feast by yourself, and I will come after you. When you'll hear rumble and thunder - don't be scared, say: "It's my frog rides in her box".

Prince Ivan went to the tsar's feast alone.

And older brothers came with their wives dressed like queens, beautiful. They're standing and laughing at Ivan:

- Why did you, brother, come without your wife? Could've at least brought her in some napkin, let us all listen how she's croaking!

Suddenly loud rumble and thunder arose - whole castle started shaking. All the guests for scared, jumped off their seats. And prince Ivan said:

- Don't be afraid, dear guests! It's my frog coming in her box!

Everyone ran to the windows and saw: runners run, messengers galloping, and behind them a gilded carriage harnessed by three bay horses.

Carriage came right to the threshold and stepping out of it is Vasilisa the Wise - shining bright like the sun.

Everyone is looking at her, stunned by surprise and beauty, unable to say anything.

Vasilisa the Wise took Ivan by the hand and led him to the oak tables, to the embroidered tablecloths...

Guests started to eat, drink and have fun.

Vasilisa the Wise drinks from the goblet - doesn't drink all, spills the rest into her left sleeve. Eats roasted swan - puts bones into her right sleeve.

Older princes wives noticed that and started mimicking: what left from the drinks - into left sleeve, what food not finished - into the right one. But why, for what purpose - don't know themselves.

When guests got up from the tables, music started, dances began. Vasilisa the Wise went dancing with prince Ivan. Waved with her left sleeve - lake appeared, waved with right - white swans swimming in the lake. The tsar and all his guests were amazed. And when she's stopped dancing, all disappeared - both lake and swans.

Older princes' wives went dancing.

They waved with their left sleeves - and just spattered all the guests with wine, waved right sleeves - showered them with bones, one barely missed tsar's eye. Tsar got mad and ordered to kick them out of the ballroom.

Near the end of the feast prince Ivan found a minute and ran to his chambers. Found frog's skin and burned it with fire.

Vasilisa the Wise returned home, looks - there's no frog skin! She rushed to look for it. She's searched, searched, couldn't find and told prince Ivan:

- Ah, prince Ivan, what have you done! If you've waited for three more days, I would've been forever yours. And now - good bye, look for me far away from the lands, far away from the seas, in the land being the edge, in the sunless kingdom of Koshchey the Undying. As you wear out three pairs of iron boots, as you gnaw out three iron breads - only then you'll find me...

She said so, turned into a white swan and flew out of the window.

Prince Ivan was mortified. He equipped himself, took his bow and arrows, put on iron boots, put three iron breads into his shoulderbag and went to look for his wife, Vasilisa the Wise.

He was walking for long or for short, far or close - tale told fast, life is not, - two pairs of iron boots worn out, two iron breads gnawed, started the third one. And then he's meet an old man.

- Hello, grandpa! - said prince Ivan.

- Hello, good fellow! What are you looking for, where are you going?

Prince Ivan told him about his grief.

- Oh, prince Ivan! - said the old man, - Why did you burn the frog skin? You didn't put it on, you didn't have to take it off! Vasilisa the Wise was born more cunning and wise than her father, Koshchey the Undying, he's got angry and ordered her to live as a frog for three years! Well, there's nothing to do, words can't fix the trouble. Here's a ball for you: where it rolls, you go there.

Prince Ivan thanked the old man and went after the ball.

The ball rolls through the high mountains, told through dark forests, told through the green meadows, told through the swampy mires, rolls through the abandoned places, and prince Ivan goes on and on after it - he won't stop even for an hour of rest.

He went on and on, worn out the third pair of iron boots, gnawed the third iron bread, and came to the dense coniferous forest. A bear comes across him.

"Let me kill the bear! - thinks prince Ivan, - I don't have any food left".

He took aim but the bear suddenly told him in a human voice:

- Don't kill me, prince Ivan! You'll need me someday.

Prince Ivan didn't shoot the bear and went on.

He went through an open field and noticed a large drake flying over him.

Prince Ivan drew his bow and was about to shoot a sharp arrow at the drake, but the drake spoke to him in a human voice:

- Don't kill me, prince Ivan! The time will come - you'll need me.

Prince Ivan listened to the drake and didn't shoot him, went on hungry.

Suddenly a hare find towards him.

"I'll kill this hare! - thinks the prince, - I'm very hungry..."

He drew his tight bow, began to aim, and the hare said in a human voice:

- Don't kill me, prince Ivan! The time will come - you'll need me.

And the prince pitied him too and went on.

He came to the blue sea and saw: on the shore, on the yellow sand, lies a pike. Prince Ivan said:

- Well, now I'll eat this pike! I can't hold on any longer, I'm so hungry!

- Ah, prince Ivan! - said the pike, - Have mercy, do not eat me, but rather throw me back into the blue sea!

Prince Ivan pitied the pike, threw out into the sea and went on form the shore after his ball.

He was walking for long or for short, the ball rolls to the forest, to the hut. The hut standing on it's chicken legs, turning around itself.

Prince Ivan said:

- Hut, hut, turn your back to the forest, turn your front to me!

As he said, the hut turned its back to the forest and it's going to him. Prince Ivan entered the hut and saw: on the furnace lays Baba Yaga - bone leg. She saw the price and said:

- Why did you come to me, good fellow? By your will or by force?

- Ah, Baba Yaga, bone leg, why won't you feed me first, give me some water, site me the steam-bath, then ask questions?

- True, - answered Baba Yaga.

She fed prince Ivan, have him water and showed him the steam-bath, and then prince told her that he's looking for his wife, Vasilisa the Wise.

- I know, I know! - said Baba Yaga, - She's now with the evil Koshchey the Undying. It'll be difficult to get her, it don't be easy to deal with Koshchey: you can't kill him with an arrow or a sword. That's why he's not afraid of anyone.

- Is his death hidden somewhere?

- His death is on the end of a needle, that needle is in an egg, that egg is in a duck, duck in a hare, hare is in an iron casket, and that casket is on the top of an old oak. And that oak is in the dense forest, and Koshchey guards in like his own eye.

Baba Yaga told Ivan how to find the oak. Prince thanked her and went away. He was walking through the dense forests and swamps, and finally reached the oak. He looks at it and doesn't know what to do,how to get the chest. He's tried to shake the oak or climb it but nothing worked.

Suddenly bear showed up and uprooted the oak, the chest fell from the top and broke into pieces. Hare jumped out of it and took to its heels.

Look - another hare already running after it, catching up. He caught it and tore in pieces.

Duck flew out of the hate and rose high into the skies. But the drake chased it and hit it so hard the egg fell out and dropped right into the blue sea. Seeing this prince Ivan sat on the shore and started crying.

But then the pike swims to him holding the egg in her teeth.

Prince took the egg and went to the Koshchey's castle. As soon as Koshchey saw the egg in Ivan's hands, he's started shaking. And prince Ivan was throwing the egg from hand to hand, playing. He's throwing and Koshchey is panicking. But whatever needs tried to do, when Ivan broke the egg and broke off the tip of the needle, Koshchey the Undying turned to dust.

Then Ivan went to Koshchey's chambers, let Vasilisa the Wise out and they've returned to his kingdom and since lived together happily in love and harmony.

[one-leaf-grimoire]

Five Birthdays

summary » five birthdays from the life of lisa petalon.

warnings » light angst in one part

note » LISA'S BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW! But I couldn't wait to post this one-shot lol. Illustrations included!

age 7 » sweet and bitter

“Happy birthday!!”

Lisa blinked slowly as her dad appeared from the kitchen, carrying something on a platter. He was covered with flour, egg stains on his shirt, but he was smiling wider than he had for a while. Her aunt and cousin giggled at the sight, clapping from where they sat next to Lisa at the table.

“What is that?”

“Look at it!” Her father grinned as he set it down in front of her. It was clear that it was some kind of food, maybe a fancy type of bread, but it was covered in some sort of shiny coating. “It’s a cake… a birthday cake! I realized that we never made one for you, so I decided to do it this time. Seven is a big age, after all!”

“A cake…” Lisa’s eyes lit up. “A cake! Wow!” In their little town in the woods, they foraged for most of their food, so Lisa was more used to the gamey taste of turkey, potatoes, and berry juice. Confections like cake were rare.

Her dad chuckled, crouching next to his daughter’s chair and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “It’s all yours, Lisa. Dig in!”

Lisa nodded, eagerly grabbing her fork and taking a big scoop of cake. It was soft, easy to cut; her father did a great job baking it. But before she tasted it, she paused.

“Wait… where is mom?”

The silence in the moments following the question should have told Lisa everything she needed to know. But she was just 7… she had not yet realized why her mother failed to acknowledge any of her birthdays.

“She… she’s tired.” Her father exchanged a glance with her aunt. Out of everyone here, he was the most weary, but he willed himself to smile again before turning back to look back into his daughter’s eyes; eyes that matched his own.

His daughter was almost his mirror image, with her black eyes, her jagged brown hair, and the power she inevitably would discover one day.

But he smiled anyway. Because she was his pride and joy. She was a miracle.

“But the rest of us are all here to celebrate. So let’s dig in!” He reached down and ruffled her hair.

Lisa grinned, giving him a nod before finally taking the first bite.

“Ah! It’s so sweet!”

age 19 » anything you want

Lisa jumped a little in surprise as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She was standing by one of the shelves of books in the royal library, a place that she had been frequenting more and more these past few weeks. She turned around towards the feeling, a little perplexed when she saw that she was still alone. Huh? That’s weird, I don’t think I imagined that-

“Over here!”

She turned the other way, her heart skipping a beat when she saw none other than Julius there, leaning against the edge of the shelf, a place that he was definitely not only a moment ago. But Lisa couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed, despite the fright. “Oh, hi.”

“Hi.” Julius smiled, his eyes avoiding hers for a moment before he straightened up to walk over to her side. “I see you’re hard at work again, any discoveries?”

“N...Not yet.” Lisa quickly looked back down at the book in her hand, trying not to seem too nervous. She would have thought that she would be more used to being in his presence, since they had been meeting up here often to sift through records for any information about Lisa’ magic mark. But that wasn’t the case…”There are so many books, we might never find it, even if it’s here.”

“Well, I just finished my work for the day. I can be your helper for the rest of the evening, if you’d like~”

Lisa almost hid her face in her book as her face heated up. Help!!! Why did he say it like that- “Um, actually-” Lisa closed the book with a soft snap. “I was about to head out.”

“Oh.” There was a hint of disappointment in the Wizard King’s voice. “You have plans?”

“Yeah, actually…” Lisa smiled a little. “It’s my birthday! Yami and William wanted to go celebrate tonight.”

“Your birthday?!” Julius’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh- I had no idea! You should have told me, I would have gotten you a present!”

“P-Present!? No way!” Lisa shook her head, her smile falling. “I-I couldn’t accept a present from you, I mean- It wouldn’t be right for me to expect something, you know-”

“Nonsense! I’m your research assistant, remember!”

Julius winked, and Lisa felt that she was about to pass away right then and there.

“... I guess so… but still!” Lisa scowled playfully. “You don’t need to get me anything… I…”

“I feel happy enough just to be close to you. That’s the only present I need.”

Of course, Lisa couldn’t say something so embarrassing.

“I don’t need presents, really. I’d rather just spend time with my friends and other… people I care about.”

Julius’s eyes softened a bit, a light blush appearing on his cheeks. “Oh… I see.” His smile quickly reappeared. “But still, I insist! How about this- You can take a book in this library home with you. Permanently.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. “Really? But, isn’t that stealing?”

“I’m the Wizard King, and I’m saying it’s ok. Plus, I’ll cover the overdue fees.” He grinned, closing his eyes for a moment. “How does that sound?”

“...alright. Thank you!” Lisa quickly put the book away, biting her lip to keep from smiling too widely. A birthday present from the Wizard King! More importantly… a present from Julius… “There’s so many books here, though… any recommendations…”

“Actually, there’s one I was hoping you would take.” Julius cleared his throat. “One moment. I’ll be right back.”

He quickly turned away and disappeared down a different aisle. A moment later, he reappeared, holding a book with an elaborate leather cover. “Um.. see for yourself.” He held it out for Lisa to take. It was heavy, but the texture of the cover felt nice under her fingers. Her eyes fell on the title, and she let out a soft gasp.

“Origins of Magic: The sources of mana in this world and the Mystery of its usage. By Julius Novachrono…”

“Heh, I wrote that when I was still captain.” Julius chuckled nervously, awaiting her reaction. “I might have to write a second edition, I’ve learned so much since I became Wizard King… maybe you can be my research assistant for that one.”

“This is amazing… I can’t wait to read it!” Lisa grinned, looking back up at his face. “Thank you, Julius.”

It still felt strange to say his name. This man was revered by almost everyone, yet here Lisa was, receiving a present from him. And a very personal present, at that.

“You’re welcome… let me know what you think.” Julius smiled, gazing down at her face.

There’s so much more I want to say to you… Lisa…

When Lisa got home soon after, she had a few minutes before William and Yami wanted to meet up. She collapsed on her bed, face down. After a moment of silence, she let out a long squeal, muffled by her pillow.

Oh god… I need to stop hanging out with him… or I’m going to fall in love for real.

But… maybe that wouldn’t be so bad…

age 23 » forgotten nights

“Ouch… ouch ouch…”

Lisa rolled over, consciousness finally filtering back into her weary brain. It was strange at first, unfamiliar to Lisa.

Was I… sleeping? How is that possible?

She let out a soft groan.

I haven't slept in 3 years-

Suddenly, pain throbbed in the back on her head, and Lisa let out a cry.

Oh… not sleeping, then... Was I bludgeoned?

"Oh! There, there, don't sit up!"

Hands gently grabbed her shoulders to push her back into the sheets when she tried to raise her head. Lisa winced at the feeling, blinking her eyes open. Her eyesight was foggy, and it took a few moments for the other person's face to come into focus. "Oh… Julius? What on Earth is happening-" She cringed and squeezed her eyes shut again at another pang of agony. "Did I get in a fight?"

Julius sighed, glad that she was awake and recovering. "Sort of… here-" He picked up the glass of water he had been keeping on the bedside table. He carefully held it up to her mouth, and she immediately started sipping away at it. "How do you feel?"

"I'm in pain… tell me, what happened?" Lisa scowled up at him, sensing how hesitant he was to speak further. "What do you mean, I sort of got in a fight?"

"Well… I'm surprised you didn't figure it out already," Julius chuckled nervously. "You… you weren't knocked out. You're hungover…"

All the sudden, everything flooded back.

------

"BEHOLD; THE MIGHTY POWER OF THE WIZARD KING!!!!"

Lisa cackled wickedly, one foot planted on the edge of the bar and the other precariously balanced on her stool. In one hand, she gripped a glass of mead. The other formed a fist, blue fire circling in tandem with time magic. "Anyone who can beat me can take my title! I'll share this power with you!"

There was a roar of approval from the other patrons at the bar. Yami howled with laughter and hit the bar surface with the palm of his hand a few times.

SMACK SMACK SMACK

"That's hilarious!!! What are you gonna do if you lose!!?"

"I won't." Lisa smirked raising her glass back to her lips and chugging it in one go.

"Lisa!! Get down from there-" Fuegoleon tapped her shoe, frowning. He was only a little red in the face, not nearly as drunk as the others. Jack was giggling next to Yami, and Charlotte and William were already asleep at a table in the corner. "You're going to get hurt, and-"

"HEY!" Lisa's foot lashed out, and she wobbled dangerously. "I knew you wanted my job! Come at me, then!"

"What? No!" Fuegoleon stumbled back. "You're acting like my sister!"

"Yeah? Then fight me!"

Lisa stepped forward, ready to attack- however, she was still up on the bar. Her foot didn't land anywhere… and she fell

"LISA!"

Fuegoleon jumped forward, arms outstretched, ready to catch her. However, to his surprise, the elderly bartender rushed in front of him. Lisa fell into his arm, limp as a ragdoll.

"Dear me- I'm glad I was keeping an eye on this one." He chuckled before turning back to Fuegoleon. "Thank you for trying to keep her out of trouble- but I'll get her somewhere safe."

"Oh- okay." Fuegoleon watched the man carry her away, then reappear a few moments later.

-------

"Oh god…"

Lisa buried her head in her hands, her face bright red. "No way… no way I did all that!"

Julius chuckled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. "No harm was done! And you had fun, didn't you?"

Lisa shrugged. "I don't really remember…" her hands fell back into her lap. "It sucks… I used to be able to drink all night and feel fine… but after we formed our Dyad…"

Of course, her alcohol tolerance wasn't the only thing about her body that had changed. She couldn't eat, or sleep, or… worst of all-

"I know. It'll be alright. It just takes some getting used to, right?"

Lisa nodded, and felt his lips press against the side of her head. Her eyes fluttered closed for just a moment.

"Why was I at the bar with all of them, anyway?"

Julius's eyes popped back open in surprise. "Huh? You don't remember?" His lips twitched into a smile. "I suggested the outing in the first place… thought you'd want to have a celebration with your friends."

Lisa blinked. "Celebration?"

She was still confused, until Julius chuckled and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Happy birthday, Lisa."

age 27.1 » the life of an insect

It stayed hot all the way until September. The sun blazed down into the garden, unhindered by clouds. The bright atmosphere contrasted with the dark shadows that were quickly closing around the Clover Kingdom.

It’s so loud…

Lisa spent most of her time alone, now. Part of her wanted to surround herself with people, with all those she loved. But even then, she knew it would just make herself feel worse. Seeing their faces, watching them talk, and laugh… it just forced her to draw further and further away.

I’m not like you… I never was.

So, she spent her days alone. It would be easier for them if she stayed away. Even if it hurt.

Yet it was still so loud.

Cicadas screamed from every corner of the forest, swarming the treetops by the million. Their song permeated almost every corner of the kingdom, allowing none to escape.

In a way… it was almost nostalgic.

Lisa stood at the base of a tree, pausing her walk for just a moment. Above her was a group of cicadas, circling each other on the bottom of a high branch, no doubt evaluating each other to decide if they wanted to mate or not. Their song was earsplitting, but Lisa was already numb. It didn’t bother her.

In her hometown, out in the woods, the cicadas were a fact of life, appearing every summer without fail. They were like a booming voice, nature’s fury swept across the land.

Yet… they were fragile.

They slept underground for 17 years. Then, for just one day, they rose up to the heavens, singing their glorious song. They soared, they mated, they laid their eggs…

And then they died.

They fell back to earth, their voices and bodies spent. Their last act would be to plant the seeds of their offspring, before the dirt reclaimed them.

Their lives… were fragile.

Utterly and completely meaningless.

Two of the cicadas lost their grip on the tree. They fell down into the leaf litter, letting out one last scream before they went silent forever.

But at one point, they had screamed. And the whole world heard them.

I can’t even do that. How I wish I could just scream… but I can’t.

A moth could not scream. It would never see the sun. They just fluttered through the night, like a ghost. They were swallowed silently by that darkness.

This is my last birthday.

Lisa lowered her gaze, before restarting her lonely stroll.

At the very least… I got to see the sunset first.

age 27.2 » the future ahead of us

Summer melted into fall at last. The heat evaporated, leaving cool winds to quench the thirsty land.

The winds were gentle; like a nourishing pair of hands. Lisa closed her eyes, sinking into the feeling of those hands touching her. They brought her comfort, and they eased her pain.

They belonged to her.

“Just a few more months…”

Julius whispered the words, so soft that Lisa could barely hear them. But that was okay; they weren’t meant for her.

“I can’t wait to meet you.”

Lisa’s hand moved to run through his hair. Julius let out a happy sigh, his eyes flickering closed. He could hear two heartbeats with the ear pressed against his wife’s stomach, harmonizing with the sweet sound of her breathing. Life thrived there, and life was thriving within him as well. Never before had he felt so much excitement, so much anxiety. It was a rare, beautiful thing; an opportunity that had almost slipped away; like a stunning sunset that you didn’t notice until it was too late.

But it’s not too late.

He pulled back a little, just enough to stare up into Lisa’s eyes.

Because of you… your strength… your sacrifice. Because of you, we have this life. We have a second chance.

I won’t ever let that chance slip away.

“Her birthday is going to be after both of ours… a December baby.” Julius said happily. “A “Joy” to the world, you could say.”

Lisa let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head a little at the pun. “A joy to all of us, for sure.”

She watched as Julius nodded, his expression drowsy, before he lowered his head to listen once again. He couldn’t get enough of the sounds; the sounds of his daughter, and the sounds of his wife.

“She’s a joy… and a gift.”

The world was changing. The future ahead was uncertain. But Fate was alive and well; Julius and Lisa would always be bound to it.

Whatever fate had in store for them, they would be together. And they would have this child, who they had wanted more than anything else on this Earth.

“I love you, Lisa.”

“I love you, Julius.”

It was the happiest birthday Lisa ever had.

[phantombmoll]

## I don't know what this is, I don't know where it came from but here's a thing I just randomly started and will probably continue. I don't even know where it's going yet apart from some romance becccaaauuuusssseeeeee..... yeahhhh.... anyway

it doesn't even have a name yet hahaha! ##

Ted Hastings x OC - Part One

"I don't think this is the drink I thought it was going to be." Ted said watching Peggy's face as she took in their surroundings.

"Ted, that ball is well and truly in your court. I'm not the sort to come begging. Besides if you want that kind of drink I expect somewhere a bit nicer." Peggy replied taking a sip from her drink and locking eyes with him for a moment.

Ted held her gaze before he sighed, shifted in his seat and wrapped his hands around the pint in front of him.

"I am sorry about your dad." He broke the silence. "He asked to see me, I was caught up with something but I thought he had more time."

"He did." Peggy said and from the tone in her voice Ted realised this definitely wasn't the drink he'd thought it was.

It must have been at least 10 years since the Ackley Sens case, 10 years since they'd worked closely. 10 years since he'd been tempted but not acted on feelings that had been growing. The kind of intense warmth that starts as a campfire but left uncontrolled could burn down the whole forest.

Years moved between them before he ended up needing her help with something. It was after Roisin had officially left him, when he'd still been residing in the space of hoping to get his marriage back on track.

Peggy had asked him for a drink once. Ted had turned her down.

They'd almost kissed once, late in the office. Ted had moved away. Peggy had let him go. No questions, no protests. Just let it go and continued working like nothing had happened.

Now here they were. She'd asked him at the funeral if he wanted a drink and Ted had agreed. Even without the warm embers they were still friends. Though he couldn't deny he'd hoped for something more.

Peggy glanced around before leaning forward. She was an archivist at the station. One of the best around. Ted remembered her starting, only getting the job because her old man had been a barrister with some sway, keeping it because she was excellent at it. Over the years she'd become one of AC-12's go to people, especially when it came to historical data.

"When my dad retired he started working on something." She said wrapping her hands tightly around the glass in front of her. "Historic, given I have access to most files that come through the station, especially historic ones. I was helping him."

"Peggy I don't know if we should-"

"I haven't done anything illegal. Like my dad would let me." Peggy stated. "I have an eidetic memory Ted. Which means I never took anything home, I never gave my dad anything, I never let him see any files." Peggy swallowed. "There's a club of men and women, dating back to the early forties, in positions of authority that are using the system for their own gains."

"Peggy-"

"Police Officers included. Doctors, lawyers, firemen, police officers, care workers the list goes on. Money, power, sex, all the usual motivations. They are a close knit group. Secret handshakes, messages, symbols, forged documents-"

"Peggy." Ted said more firmly that time. "Now I had a great deal of respect for your father but everyone knows he wasn't well. His refusal to admit that to himself seems to have got him killed."

"This isn't some wild conspiracy theory." Peggy swallowed, frustration etched along her face.

"Then why didn't he bring it to AC-12 if he suspected Coppers were involved?" Ted leant forward his voice quiet but firm and now he was the one checking around them.

"My dad was a lawyer for a long time. He worked with you enough times to know as soon as he brought it to you or AC-12 and it became official, the cat would be out of the bag. This is a big operation and he wanted to get all the evidence he could before he took it anywhere. Especially given the nature of the people with access to this information."

"Peggy, do you know how this sounds?"

"I'm perfectly aware Ted. I've seen it myself though."

"You put your career at risk for the ramblings of a man with dementia and now you're bringing it to me expecting what?"

"He didn't have dementia, he had a tumour Ted and he was of sound mind. I haven't put my career at risk, everything I've done has been above board. I haven't accessed anything I'm not supposed to, I haven't been through evidence I'm not allowed to see."

Ted watched her for a moment before rubbing his forehead. There was a conviction in Peggy's face that made his gut turn with the feeling that this was a thread worth pulling at. He needed to be careful though. It could just be the case that she believed her father implicitly and why wouldn't she. The last time Ted had spoken to him he'd seem fine, cognizant, appearances could be deceptive though.

"He didn't know who he could trust. I think there was more going on then he even told me. I think someone else found that out."

"Peggy do you know what you're saying?"

"I'm saying I think someone killed my dad, I'm saying there's a ring of criminals acting from some of the most influential places within society and I'm saying that some of those are or were serving police officers." Peggy paused. "I know how it sounds, don't you think I've been over that in my head? Grieving daughter can't handle her fathers death so she finds something else to blame it on. That's not what this is though. Please just take a look at the files he put together."

"I thought you said you didn't take any files."

"I didn't. I have an advanced eidetic memory Ted. I can recall things I've seen and read years after in almost complete detail. I didn't need to take the files home because I pretty much was a walking file. Dad told me what he needed I sifted through information, found it and relayed it. A lot of the stuff he got was through public record or archives of his own, from the firm."

They were quiet for a moment and Ted sifted through regulation in his head trying to figure out if Peggy had broken any.

"Just come and look, if you think it's all poppycock I've bought into because there's been no objectional third party, I'll throw it all out. Forget about it."

"Alright, I'll come and look." Ted nodded and leaned back as he took a drink from his pint.

[warren-lauren]

Gwilym Lee! Brian May x F!reader

Don't panic! Yes, this has been posted on Wattpad but it's my page that is linked to @i-have-a-wonky-eye-too I fancied writing something different since I've had mega writers block and came up with this little thing. Might turn it into something. I dunno. Let me know...

Fate...

A long drawn out breath left your mouth as you leaned against the phone box as your father lectured you about 'finishing what you started'. What started out as a bollocking for quitting your boring job stacking shelves, turned into 'I'm not mad, just disappointed' lecture after you said you were thinking of changing your studies.

"Dad, can- please, dad, just- Dad. Dad! DAD!" you let out a small scream as you slammed the phone back on the hook repeatedly. "FUCK YOU!" you huffed, kicking the door to the phone box open.

"FUCK!" You spun round at the pain filled cry from behind you to find a tall boy holding his face where, obviously the door you had kicked open, had smacked him.

"Oh, MY GOD! I am so, sorry." you gasped, your eyes wide with fear. He shook his head as he held his hand out that wasn't covering his face.

"No, it's fine... it's not like you, did it on purpose... I hope." he let out a dry chuckle as he moved his hand from his face, turning to look at his reflection in the phone box. The side of his face had a slight pink mark covering it from where it had been hit. Thankfully you hadn't done much damage to his, if you were being honest, quite handsome face.

"No, but still, I just twatted you with a bloody door." you frowned a little, noticing his face was getting redder.

"It's fine." he sighed into the small glass window of the phone box as he looked at his face. "Honestly, I'll be-" Brian's words died in his mouth the moment he laid eyes on you. "I- hmm-" he cleared his throat, trying to get his mouth and brain to work.

"It's getting redder." you began to panic. "Shit! I'm sorry."

"It's fin-"

"It might bruise if you don't put something on it... My flat is just down the road, you can come and put a bag of peas on it... if you like?" you offered a small smile.

"Brian." he suddenly spat surprising you.

"I'm sorry?"

He shook his head as he closed his eyes, mentally scolding himself for letting his brain turn to mush. "My name, it-it's... Brian." he whispered his name, blushing as he nervously ran a hand through his dark hair.

"Oh-" you let out a small giggle; a sound Brian desperately wanted to hear more of. "-of course, why else would you say it. Sorry." you let out a little nervous laugh.

Brian shook his head, a small smile adoring his lips as he thought about the most beautiful sound he'd just heard leave your lips. "It's fine. I just, thought, since you were offering to put your peas on my face, we should, know each others name first." he shrugged, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure... I'm, hmm, Y/N." you giggled. "Nice to meet you." you blushed as you held your hand out to Brian, all of a sudden shy. Brian grinned as he took your hand in his.

"And you."

----------

The peas were long forgotten and completely defrosted by now on your coffee table, as you and Brian faced each other on the sofa, fully engrossed in whatever topic had popped up between the pair of you. The two of you were, somehow, just clicking. At first when the two of you entered your apartment there was a lot of nerves and shyness but after you explained the reason for you kicking the door (and apologising again), the pair of you slowly fell into a comfortable rhythm of chatter.

"We're, uh- hmm, we're actually playing, this weekend. You should, uh- come." Brian smiled at you, a light blush colouring his cheeks.

"Yeah-" you nodded, smiling at him. "-sounds fun.

Brian's face lit up a little. "Great!" he began blushing. "I mean, we're not, brilliant or anything, just, you know-" he shrugged as he ran a hand through his hair. "-three guys, playing after college. Nothing special-"

"Are you kidding? You can play an instrument. That's more than I can do." you smiled at him.

Brian's head fell back as he let out a short laugh. "More than- Y/N, have you not seen your paintings?" he said as he raised his hand and thumbed at the watercolour painting of a sunflower hung on the wall behind him. You blushed a little, lowering your gaze to your hands that were folded on your lap. There was a moments silence between the two of you before Brian sifted in his seat. "I should, hmm, it's late."

You quickly looked over your shoulder to the clock, only just noticing the time. "Oh, God. M'sorry. I hope I haven't kept you from anything?"

"No, not at all. I... I've enjoyed, talking to you, Y/N." Brian smiled, something that once again caused a funny feeling in your stomach.

You bobbed your head as you brushed a strand of your hair back behind your ear. "Yeah, me too, Brian."

"Good."

"Yeah."

Suddenly the shyness and awkwardness from before was back. You cleared your throat before standing up quickly, followed by Brian. The pair of you stared at each other, desperate to say something but not quite having the words, so you just nodded at each other before slowly making your way to your front door.

With a heavy heart you pulled your door open and let Brian walk past. It was strange. You'd only know Brian a handful of hours, yet, you felt so comfortable with him.

"Oh, hang on-" he turned back to face you as he dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out  crumpled up receipt along with a worn down pencil. "I forgot to tell you where we're playing." he let out a chuckle as he wrote down the place. "Here you go." he smiled at you as he handed you the piece of paper. "Hmm, see you there?"

You nodded glancing down at his writing. "Definitely."

Brian's smile grew, nodded as he stepped back from the door. "Great." he nodded again. "Great... Hmm, bye." he raised his hand shyly, a blush filling his cheeks.

"Goodbye, Brian."

With one last smile Brian turned on his heels and left. Once you'd shut the door you let out a deep sigh, letting your forehead fall against the door as you closed your eyes.

What the fuck?

----------

You slowly pushed your way through the crowd as you made your way towards the front. All week you had been looking forward to not only seeing him again but hearing him play the guitar. You'd hoped to have gotten there for the beginning but seemed the paint you had been using for a new painting had grown quite attached to your skin and wouldn't come off, therefore putting you behind getting ready.

A smile broke out on your face as soon as your eyes landed on Brian, until you saw the slight bruising on his face. Your chest tightened as you stared at him, guilt flooding your brain as you thought about what pain he must be in.

If it wasn't for Brian making direct eye contact with you when he looked up, smiling as he did, you probably wouldn't have realised you were staring at him. He sent you a wink, his smile growing as he watched you blush and drop his gaze, too embarrassed to look at him because he'd caught you staring at him. It filled him with an odd feeling, knowing he could make such a pretty little thing act like that. Brian was usually the one like that.

Each song started and ended, surprising you even more the more you heard. Brian sang. Good. Not a lot what with him being back up, but when he did, he was good, great even.

The band said goodbye to everyone, thanking them before they began to leave the stage. A sudden feeling of nerves hit you as you watched Brian remove his guitar, gently placing it down before he turned back and jumped off the stage, his gaze fixed on you in the middle of the moving crowd. He raised his hand in the air slightly as a greeting. "You made it." he smiled down at you.

You nodded biting your lip before you began grinning. "I did."

"Good." he nodded. "I was, hmm, worried.. you weren't, hmm, going to, when, you know-" he began to trip over his word, a little nervous himself.

You shook your head quickly. "Definitely not!" you smiled. "I just had a small paint malfunction that took longer to tidy up, that's all." you blushed slightly.

Brian raised his eyebrows as he quickly worked out what the green smudge was on your chin and the white spray that was in your ear. He began grinning, nodding as reached up and brushed back a strand of hair that had yellow paint covering it. "Ah! That explains why your very colourful tonight then." he winked with a chuckle, making your eyes widened as you grabbed the piece of hair and pulled it in front of you so you could see it, gasping when you saw the paint.

"For fuck sake. I was in the bath for like an hour." you whined.

Brian tried not to think about that as he watched your lips pout, your fingers playing with your hair, your eyes focused on the yellow paint-

"OY! BRI! C'mon, move your shit!" Roger shouted from the stage, clearly pissed the guitarist was taking forever.

Brian rolled his eyes before nodding. "Yeah, just a second." he sighed looking back at you. "Can you give me like, five minutes and then-"

"Brian-" Roger walked up to where the pair of you stood, tapping Brian's arm. "-not that I'm not happy you're about to lose your virginity and all but, band stuff first, yeah?" he winked at you before he walked off laughing.

You bit back your laugh as you saw Brian's face redden. "I'll wait over in that booth whilst you twat him." you winked at him before walking off to where you had said, laughing to yourself when you heard Brian's annoyed voice tell someone to 'shut the fuck up'.

----------

"I'm sorry about tonight, Y/N. I really didn't intend on Roger and Tim to interrupt." Brian sighed as the pair of you walked towards yours. Brian had his hands in his pockets as you had your arm linked with his so neither of you stumbled. You were a tad drunk.

You shook your head with a small laugh. "And tell me, Doctor May-" you missed the way Brian rolled his eyes and grinned as you called him that, a small joke that had built through-out the night. "-what were they interrupting?" you asked, desperate to know if tonight was what you'd been hoping.

"Our date." Brian simply said, nodding. "I hope."

You turned your head so you were looking up at him, smiling as your eyes met. "Funny that. That's what I was hoping." you giggled, almost tripping because you hadn't been paying attention.

Brian laughed loudly as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you closer. There was a beat of silence between you as the two of you lost yourselves in each other, smiling drunkenly at one another until your eyes flicked up to the sky.

"Will you teach me about the stars, Doctor May?"

Brian nodded slowly as he took a deep breath, his eyes staying on yours that stared up at the night sky. "It might take a few years." he whispered, reaching up to cup to your face, smiling as your eyes met once more. "That okay?"

You nodded biting your lip. "Yes..." you whispered before you leaned in to him.

Your lips softly moulded to his like they were made for one another, sealing your fate with a kiss.

[dramayeoja]

Goblin ❣︎ 도깨비

Kim Shin, an undefeated war general, is ultimately killed by a jealous young king named Wang Yeo. After death, Shin is revived by the gods—but his revival is by no means miraculous. He becomes a 도깨비 (dokkaebi, goblin), and is cursed. He will have to pay for all the lives he took in battle by living alone in immortality, witnessing everyone he's ever loved, die. Remaining lodged in his chest is the very sword that killed him. There is only person who can see that sword, and draw from his heart so that he can finally rest in peace: his bride... whom he's yet to meet.

Things get spoilery under the cut—you've been warned! ;)

Chipper, yeah? Haha so, right off the bat, the premises of Goblin remind me of like, a much more morbid version of the legend of King Arthur. You know, a man draws a sword from stone to prove himself the greatest king in all of Britain? Yeah. Just to be clear: this is a good thing (imo). Like, I personally think this is just such a cool idea for a drama 😍

Let's jump right in. I'm gonna be honest and say that, at first, I felt a little turned off at the female lead, Eun Tak, being nineteen (in the beginning of the show), meanwhile the male lead, Shin, is 900+ years old (but physically looks to be in his thirties). It just... rubbed me weird. But hey, the Twilight series (both the books and the movies) is exactly the same—high school girl, century-old man, bananas yet somehow romantic storyline... And I loved me some Twilight as a young adult. So I mean, I have no right to judge, really. Plus, Eun Tak soon turns twenty anyway. So that's an improvement I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️ We follow her character into her late twenties, nearly thirty. So things are definitely fine by then haha! 👍

Don't let that previous bit make you think I didn't enjoy Goblin—I LOVED it. That detail is just a lil funky to me, is all. Back during my Twilight obsession days, I was nearly twenty myself, and the thought of being pursued by an older man was exciting. Hell, I mean, it still is! But now that I'm two years shy of my 30th Birthday, I feel differently sometimes. I think, LAWD get that girl away from that man, she too young for him LOL. I am definitely getting old... Enough about Twilight now, apologies! I'm only using it for the sake of conveying similarities seen in Goblin 🙏 Let's talk cast!

Kim Go Eun as Ji Eun Tak and Gong Yoo as Kim Shin

Eun Tak is a bubbly young woman with limitless energy! While still in her mother's womb, Mama Ji was involved in a hit-and-run incident which, sadly, took her life. During Mama Ji's dying moments, she prayed to anyone above that her child's life be spared. Sat on a rooftop from afar, beer in hand (lol), Shin hears her prayers, as he is a god of sorts. He appears before Mama Ji, and shows mercy to her unborn baby. Eun Tak grows up with the ability to see/speak to ghosts. Said ghosts tell her constantly that she is the goblin's bride. How do they know? A strange birthmark on the back of Eun Tak's neck tips them off. Eun Tak unfortunately was taken in by her abusive bitch of an aunt, who jabs Eun Tak every chance she gets. Her cousins are assholes. Eun Tak's aunt really only keeps her around in hopes of collecting Mama Ji's savings (intended for Eun Tak) one day. Sad, right? I mean, isn't Eun Tak being born without her mother enough as it is? Life can be so cruel 😔

Lee Dong Wook as Grim Reaper/Reaper/Wang Yeo

This is Grim Reaper (or Reaper for short), portrayed by the handsome Lee Dong Wook. His character is just this strange, not at all tech-savvy man with a constant deadpan facial expression. Said facial expression provokes so many giggles during funny moments, and drives home the longing and desperation during sad times. We learn quite a ways in that he, in his previous life (again, just in case: spoiler), was Wang Yeo G A S P ! The young king that is essentially responsible for Shin's death, as well as all the misdeeds that were done to Shin's family. Again, this is something I don't want to spoil. Well, more, anyway 😆 You gotta see it!

Yoo In Na as Kim Sun/Sunny

Kim Sun, or simply, Sunny (she loves to spell her name for people lol, S-U-N-N-Y!) is the second female lead. Yoo In Na is so gorgeous that one look at her makes you feel like such a potato hahhah. 🥔 This fact about her beauty bleeds over into the show itself—every time another character meets Sunny, the camera does this slow motion pan into her lmao. She really is that pretty! Sunny's personality comes across so odd at first... Having watched all of the episodes now, I feel the intention of Goblin's creators was to make her seem like a soul searching for something it has lost in a previous life. idk if that makes sense, but yeah. She has this way about her, like she's disconnected from others, and is sifting through the haziness to find this thing she feels she's lost.

Yook Sungjae (my BtoB bias 😍) as Yoo Deok Hwa

Sungjaeeee ahhhh 💘💘💘 I had to gush, sorry! Hehe. Meet Deok Hwa: unofficial nephew of Shin. Deok Hwa is a third-generation chaebol (heir to a family-owned corporation) and spoiled man-child, always seeking his credit card hahaha 🤣 But I love him so much. Between Gong Yoo, Lee Dong Wook, and BtoB Sungjae? Man, I'm dying over here! Deok Hwa's true identity is revealed later in the show, which if you haven't seen it yet, I won't spoil it. Just watch. But his ending sucked. Like where did he go? Everyone else's endings got tied up neatly except for his. What gives, man? 🤔 Edit: I was actually reading an online conversation about what happened to Deok Hwa online—someone jokingly said he was reincarnated as BtoB Sungjae LOL 💯

Other various comments

AMAZING OST 😍😍😍

Good pace, episodes drag at times. A little confusing in the beginning, but you get there eventually. Maybe this is just me though, viewers who are a little more keen than I will likely catch on sooner ;) My mom was a little confused as well, and actually said at one point, "This should be called the 'what-the-hell-is-going-on' show," hahaha. Like I said though, we quickly moved on from this, and loved all the things. There are actually, I think, three (?) specials that were made to aid viewers in making sure they understand the complex events and relationships clearly. I haven't watched them yet, but want to!

Quite repetitive tbh, as there are unnecessary flashbacks often. Probably for two reasons: the obvious of reminding you what's what, but also to create suspense. Typical duration of most tvN dramas seems to be about 16 episodes, so it's possible these flashbacks and things are, for lack of a better word, filler. I don't know how rigid or lax tvN is about having a drama set at 16 eps, but I get the idea this is their preference. Seeing as so many of their programs on average last that long, I feel this must be what they want. Such has the potential to affect the writing, either positively or negatively.

A continuation of the previous bullet: I think Goblin's creators oversimplified the plot at times. I'm unsure if this is due to possible pressures to meet a specific requirement(s), or what. I'd rather forgo ALL restrictions and let creativity flow, let the story be told without pressure to fill a specific amount of time, etc. but TV production is weird. And contracts are weird. tvN might not to blame for these issues, could simply be that storytelling isn't always easy, man. I'm a writer myself, it's hard! I'M being redundant now lmfao! Anyway, yeah ~

Absolutely LOVED all the scenes that were filmed on location in beautiful Québec City, Canada 🍁 Tall, romantic trees, the fall foliage, historic buildings... sigh. Now all I need is Gong Yoo chasing me and we're all set! ;D

In addition to Shin being revived, my crush on Gong Yoo has been revived as well LOL. He fine 🔥 A classic K drama crush, can't go wrong with GY👌

Gong Yoo is always stellar at doing kiseu (kiss) scenes, and in Goblin, he does not disappoint. He really goes at it 🙈 which is preferred vs. the typical person kissing a stone statue that you see so often. He even did a lift kiss with Kim Go Eun that was reminiscent of THEE Coffee Prince kiss he did with actress Yoon Eun Hye! 😍

I never saw it coming, how the sword would wind up being removed from Shin's chest. I worried what the writers were going to do, how would they approach this, and just wow. The way things turned out is such a relief. It also told me that Shin's love for Eun Tak is true. I mean, I didn't need that scene to occur for me to know that, rather it just adds extra oomph that yes, Shin really does love Eun Tak. He didn't want her to suffer knowing she was responsible for his "death," so he thought quick and used her hands WITH his hands asdfghjkl. How dumb (bc noooo now you're gonna die) and amazing he is at the same time 💜

I love how Shin made his way back to Eun Tak after passing away, it was such a powerful scene. I could really feel his struggle, and kept yelling at my TV for him to stand up lol!

Devastated that Eun Tak died 😭 I really thought as many times as she'd cheated death before, she would somehow continue cheating death again and again for the rest of her days. But no... What a selfless person, Ji Eun Tak. Her being reincarnated as Park So Min gave me some closure. Not the closure I wanted, but closure.

The relationship between Shin and Reaper is ADORABLE. Whenever they interact with each other, they just have this great dialogue. Shin pings, Reaper pongs, Reaper pings, Shin pongs. It's great 😄 I still laugh about the slow-mo scene of them returning from the market with green onions HAHAHA 😂

I love Sunny & Reaper ~ However, their history as Kim Sun & Wang Yeo in their past lives is so very sad. I don't even know where to start RE: my feelings on this 💔 imo, their ending kinda sucked. I just wasn't satisfied with them having had this complicated, tragic story, only to be reincarnated in this fashion that I ultimately found to be just... idk, disappointing 😩 Again, closure, but not the closure I wanted.

I thought Reaper, the other grim reapers, the name cards, the depiction of what happens immediately following death with the brewing of the tea, the afterlife, etc. was all very creative. We really don't know what awaits us when our time comes—it's interesting to wonder if it's anything like it is in Goblin 🍵

Can't stop thinking about Goblin, even though I'm now watching Thirty but Seventeen & Mr. Sunshine! I'm emotionally cheating lol halp.

Photo credits: tvN & AsianWiki

Yo yo! I'm sorry I took so long to watch + write up this review! It's been a long couple of weeks for me, I wasn't always able to watch when I wanted. It was maddening 😆 But I have finally watched, and feel like the most accomplished person on the planet hahaha. xoxo 💜

[zombiiesque]

A Month of Nocturne Alchemy Samples: Week One

Originally published 3/18/2019

Hey y'all. I'm going to open myself up for a little judgment here, and show you my sample box. Hah! I've got a thinner box, different than the ones I use to store my full bottles, the photo on the right is the top of it. Pretty decorated box, and I bought it years back to store my samples/decants. Well, I'm not the best at organizing it - they usually just get tossed in there, and whenever I do organize it, it never stays the way it's meant to. Ah well, I love my box. I've got a smaller box that's shaped like a little coffin, that I picked up from the Dollar Tree during Halloween one year. It holds overflow, when I have it, or the scents I'm trying to remember to work with at that moment. Unfortunately, with these little treasures, out of sight is out of mind, and also, I have a tendency to hoard stuff that I know is discontinued or won't be coming back - I'm looking at you, Plumeria Sapphire and Kiskah Kashmir. Sigh. I really should just wear them. My friend Siri says the late, wonderful, perfumer of Possets, Fabienne, told folks to wear them and enjoy, and so, I am trying to do this more. Another Tent member, Thyra, mentioned she was doing a "Mini March", using her samples and minis because they get neglected. Yes, I had been trying to do this myself for a while now, so it gave me the inspiration I needed to get started. I'm going to try to be on top of this, and post once a week my thoughts on the samples I've used. Week One, here we go!

Vanilla Pumpkin: Pumpkin Accord, Pumpkin skin, Black Fig, Nutmeg, Clove, NA Crystalline Vanilla Absolute, Bourbon Vanilla Absolute, French Vanilla, Tahitian Vanilla, Ember Vanilla, Ember Burning Woods accord. This is one of two from a Chris Raimo Kickstarter project, and my friend Ld was kind enough to send me samples of these! This is a little reminiscent of a favorite I've been hoarding. Bastet made a Crystalline Burning Jack, based off the PC Burning Jack, and gave it out with NAlloween orders a few years back. Absolutely adore that! This is a little like that, but with fig. The spice is tempered with the vanillas, and the pumpkin and fig are really good together. This feels so fall, it has me longing for cooler weather and for summer to be behind me already. The drydown is so cozy.

Incense Pumpkin: Pumpkin Accord, Pumpkin skin, Black Fig, Nutmeg, Clove, Butter accord, NA Kashmir Incense, Frankincense, Myrrh, Amber, Nag Champa Incense and Black Amber. Ooo. This is the second Chris Raimo pumpkin, and I really like this one, too. My first impression is of incense and buttery pumpkin. It doesn't end up significantly foodie, however. How do they make that work so well together? I don't have Pumpkin number 31, the OP pumpkin blend, but this makes me think of that. This is a little similar to Vanilla Pumpkin, but the incense is a little more intense, and I really like it. I've worn this a few times, and I forget what I have on, and have to huff my wrist, I find it enchanting. Not that it matters all that much to me, but this could be considered more of an evening scent than its sister. I don't mark this one as overwhelmingly nag champa, either. It's a more complex incense.

Night Thoughts: Gold Santalum, Santalum Absolute, Papyrus accord, Indian Teakwood Essence, Bay Rum, Kobalt and Crystalline with a touch of Japanese White Tangerine Skin. Okay, this is from my first year collecting NA! Some of my first decants, from Art of Love - I got this from Laura, my good friend. Miss you, lady. This one veers into masculine on me, but I think it would smell good on my fiance. Or folks who wear more obviously masculine scents well, I can't quite pull it off, but I can do unisex. I like it, I'll have to try it on him to see if it works. I amped the bay rum, and that's a great note on him - and the teak. But I honestly can't remember the last time I tried this, so I'm glad I did!

The Bower Garden: Black and Red Currant Essence, Dragon's Blood Resin, French Syrah Red Wine Accord, German Lilac, Egyptian Fig and Sandalwood Musk. This decant was actually a gift from my friend Adrienne! She loves fig as much as I do. I really enjoyed this one, I might have to hunt down a full bottle of this. The berry combined with the dragon's blood and sandalwood musk is just so me. And I always love how they do their wine notes. I feel like the lilac adds a wonderful freshness to this blend, I really like it - I love love love lilac, it's one of my favorite flowers, and I've never tried NA's lilac before - I honestly think I will have to try more, now. It's very realistic. All of the notes play beautifully together, and I'm a little swoony over this. It has a very spring feel, and the dragon's blood adds a good grounding note here, it's a tad spicy/incensey. Mmm. Total win. It might be my favorite this week.

Thoth: Nile Ozone, Papyrus, Cream of Strawberry accord, White Incense and Alexandrian Sea Salt accord. This is such a clean, bright scent. It's serene. It was a little powdery on me when I first tried it, but as you know, they change with age. This could be a staple scent for summer. Also, I find it to be very unisex, not overtly masculine nor feminine. I'd try it on Jody, but I'm not sure it's one he would go for, he usually goes for the darker stuff, but he likes these on me. I don't really notice the cream of strawberry, it's probably a supporting note. The incense is soft and not in your face, and provides a really nice balance to keep this from being too clean, if that makes sense I definitely want to upsize this. I bet it would be really awesome with a little Santalum White, too. A very beachy scent, it feels blue. This is from the PC, the Gods, Goddesses and Deity subcollection.

Pakhet Amber: Pakhet Amber is a perfume created from Amber Resin transformed over time in the Studio into a beautiful enhancing Royal Amber oil experience, Amber Resin imported from Alexandria and lit from the truest essential oil of Rare and Exotic Guiacwood and Crystal Benzoin and Crystal Frankincense. Using the base of the Amber described above the resin has been turned into a fossilized perfume resin from ancient recipes and then turned back into perfume oil diluting nothing only the use of Alchemy and inspiring this scent to be made and created for the Goddess Pakhet. Warrior, protector, and huntress. Pakhet Amber infuses rare spices of Blue Peppercorn, White Clove Bud, Virgin Nutmeg Shaving over the warmth of Ambers from Nepal and Egypt and sifted through Sapphire (Amber Musk) to create a spiced amber that changes over time on the skin. So Pakhet Amber is from the PC (Permanent Catalogue), in the Royal Amber section. This is honestly one of my favorite sections, a few years ago I did a good sized PC order with a bunch from this section. I avoided Pakhet Amber though, but someone sent me a sample, and I haven't worn it. Right out of the gate on me, this is all clove. I can wear spices on occasion, even clove - I have and love Polichenelle, also from the PC. But sometimes, I just amp the spice, and all I can smell - or anyone else for that matter - is that. Unfortunately, Pakhet Amber does just that on me. Bahhhh. I get sad when a fan favorite is something I can't do. The clove just went to powering out any of the other notes here. Skinistry is such a crazy thing! It will have to go to the gift pile, hopefully someone else will have better luck than I did with it. It sounds divine, and I really loved what I could smell in the vial. Sadface.

NA Purpose Oil: Strength: Sky Musk, Solar Amber, White Patchouli, Egyptian Dragon Blood Resin, Kobalt Vanilla Resin (Vanilla Orchid of Cairo), Bastet's Blue Incense Accord, Orange Zest and Lavender Buds. I have a full bottle of their Purpose Oil: Protection, and I just love it. It's very special. I haven't actually worn this Purpose Oil before, though. I've been meaning to test them all, so this is a good push for me to do that this month. This starts out with a dose of lavender, citrus, and amber burst. It's fresh, and the lavender feels a little herbal, and not too strong. Ooo, this is really a pretty combination. I've never smelled anything quite like this, it's appealing to me. The lavender is balancing out with the other notes as they appear, so it's still working for me. I love the musk here with the incense, it's so pretty with the lighter, brighter notes. For me, I think this is an excellent oil for Strength - it gives a breezy confidence. I like this quite a lot, I wasn't sure if it would work on me but it definitely does.

So, that wraps up this first week of samples. That was a great motivator, and I should honestly make myself wear them far more than I do, there are a lot of treasures in that box. Have a good Monday, folks!