#no actually. he is called a homo in the first chapters we met him. he sacrificed his soulmate in the Sacrifice What You Love The Most ritual

[zlobonessa]

you see when i started reading berserk i was expecting griffith to be the worst person in the universe and perhaps a little bit fruity occasionally. what i didn't expect is him becoming the worst person in the universe through the most tragically idiotic gay heartbreak with essentially his soulmate. what a fuck actually.

[c4l4mityv4in]

The World's Favorite Star (A Bokuaka fanfic)

Chapter 1: "Take Me Out To Dinner First" Bokuto's POV

Notes:

Blessed second day of Samhain to all who celebrate (pronounced Sohwin)

I'm so proud to finally post my second fic please don t hesitate to leave kudos and a comment or more and tell me what you think of it <3

My Name is Bokuto Koutaro,

I'm a Volleyball player in my school's club and I'm currently at [Unknown name] Middle School

Our club Manager is this insanely cute boy, Akaashi Keiji, he's one year younger than me, he knows so much about Volleyball and he would've probably been a good player then too if he tried.

One time, he even told me he'd want to play alongside me in high school.

He is probably the smartest person I know, he always knows what to do whenever I'm feeling down. Today is Valentine's day and I bought the biggest bouquet of flowers for him, that shot was expensive but definitely worth it.

Akashi was known for having rejected dozens of girls and guys last Valentine's day and he tried to make it the least awkward as possible, telling girls he's not into women and telling guys he already has a crush on someone else. Every guy that was into him wanted to be that "someone else", so what made me different from the others? I was just another desperate Pansexual that fell head over heals for the most beautiful boy that ever existed. But I was his star, that's what he called me, and I'm convinced that MUST mean something. No homie calls another homie his "star" in a no homo way, no amount of saying no homo would be able to cancel the homo out of that sentence that I fear has worked on me one too many times.

I approached his classroom's open door around lunchtime, he was the only one there. But how should I do it? I had a big ass bouquet behind my back and it would be OBVIOUS what I wanted to say. And then lightning struck, I approached his desk with the flowers behind my back, put my best acting mask on and spoke up, "AKAASHI!", just saying his name gave me butterflies, "not to sound rude but you're into guys right?", my legs were shaking. I think I'm a terrible actor. He looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes,

"Hello, Bokuto-san", if you think you're polite than you haven't met Akashi, he's the most polite person I have ever met. "I am actually, why?" I couldn't back out anymore, "So like, if I ever wanted to ask a guy out, how would I do it?" Akashi was frozen for a moment, his blue eyes looked at me and I was about to freak. The fuck. Out.

"I guess it depends on who you plan to ask out, but", he paused. "You should honestly just go for it. The worst that can happen is getting rejected", he added.

"Just go for it. Stop standing there like an idiot!" I thought to myself. I had the flowers, I had Akaashi alone. It was now or never!

I revealed the bouquet from behind my back, which was definitely visible even from behind, and out of panic I shoved the flowers in his face.

"D-Do you want to marry me?"

I had never been more embarrassed in my entire life. How did I mix up "go out with me" and

"marry me"?

Akashi started laughing, of course he did. Why would he want to go out with me? ESPECIALLY after this.

He pulled something out of his backpack and pointed it towards me, "How about a date first?" I lowered to bouquet so that I could see him, he was pointing a rose towards me. No, he was giving me a rose.

"You really wanna go out with me?", I was shocked

"I was going to ask you out today anyway, you just made it easier for me", I swear his eyes turned into literal hearts, or maybe it was my eyes that did that. "I'm not saying I don't want to marry you, just take me out to dinner first", he said nonchalantly. All I know is that he took my bouquet, I took his rose and he kissed my cheek, barely a millimeter away from my lips and that I had a date with the cutest boy in the world.

I was on cloud 9 the whole day, at practice I kept sneaking glances at Akashi and got a balli thrown at my face because of it. We decided to meet at the Valentine's Day Festival that night, Tokyo really went all out no matter the festivity, the whole thing was Love themed and there were couples everywhere. I put on my best clothes but you couldn't really tell with the jacket. Akaashi lived next to his parents' library, his parents are like, the coolest ever but that's not what we're focusing on here. He came out with a cream jacket and he had one of the roses I gave him earlier behind his hear, it had some kind of gold colored wire around the stem and his ear so it wouldn't fall out. "Good Evening, Bokuto-san", he said with a huge smile on his face, his voice was happy but shaky. "Uh-Uh...Hi! Um- so- well-", he grabbed the left side of my face and interrupted me, "Don't stress it, Bokuto-san. Take your time", he reassured me.

"You look beautiful tonight, Akaashi", I said completely flustered and looking away. His face was also pretty red.

"And you look so much like my dream husband.", he teased me again

"Oh my god! I got my words mixed up once! Will you ever let me live that down?", I asked hiding my face in my hands

"Not until you marry me", he said completely serious and smiling at me.

"Can I hold your hand?", he asked me, extended his hand and looked away.

I grabbed said hand and squeezed, "You don't even have to ask."

The Festival wasn't that far away so we decided to walk there, we were so nervous we looked like robots holding hands as we walked there.

First we got something to eat on the go, I got a Yakisoba Pan while he got a simple Melonpan.

• There were a few street performers dancing which we stopped to admire, Akashi pulled out a little notebook from his jacket pocket,

"Whatcha doin?", I asked

"Just sketching the dancer", he responded

"Looks pretty accurate", I pointed out

"Thanks! It's just a hobby but I would love to work in the art field some day", he said

"You totally should, you're really good", I said He blushed, "You're just saying that to be nice"

"No, I mean it! You have some actual talent you know?", his face got even redder but he had this adorable, dorky smile on his face, "Thank you"

On our way to the ferris wheel I won him a huge panda plush at one of those shoot the can games, which took several tries. When we got on we were both visibly nervous, this was a small cramped space we had to share, what if I said something weird and he'd get totally grossed out and we had to sit threw the awkwardness for the whole ride?

As the ride started Akashi squeezed my hand a little and lightly put his head on my shoulder and with that simple act all my anxiety faded away.

Have you ever felt so comfortable with someone where you'd wish you could be with them all the time and a moment alone with them felt like nobody else was on the planet except for you two at this exact moment? That's how life felt in that moment. And those few minutes of silence felt to me like a thousand words had just been spoken. I was actually kind of sad the moment ended when we had to get off the ferris wheel.

"You're still sleeping over right? I don't want you to walk alone this late at night", he said although it was just 10

"Yeah I'm not a fan of the dark really and I have all my stuff at your place already anyway.", after I said that I could almost see the gears turning in Akaashi's brain,

"Wanna go to the love tunnel?"

Notes:

Some things that weren't detailed here will probably be more detailed in Akashi's Pov.

So yeah you're going to have to wait for Chapter 3 for the love tunnel and sleepover.

I gotta give you a reason to come back now don't I?

Hope you liked this Chapter, Lots of Love,

Sasha <3

[theultimatefanficwriter]

Pride Month Headcanons!

So its Pride Month! And as a proud member of the alphabet mafia I wanna give my opinion on all the Danganronpa characters' sexualities! So let's go, starting with THH!

Trigger Happy Havoc

Makoto Naegi- Pansexual. I'm under the belief all protags are Pan. Transgender(ftm). So I have this whole hc that the reason his door was jammed was that the lock was quickly removed when they found out SHE was actually a HE and I just like the hc lol.

Sayaka Maizono- Straight. I just think she has a big thing for Makoto, but other than that she cares for her career more than a relationship.

Leon Kuwata- Bisexual, heavy female leaning. I ship him with Hiro, but honestly this fucker would probably take forever to admit he likes guys.

Chihiro Fukisaki- Gay. Dont really have a reasoning. Just my opinion lol

Mondo Oowada- Bisexual. He mentions trying to confess to girls, but come on. This guy is fruity for Taka.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru- Gay. This dude meanwhile is just straight homo. He's probably closeted in fear it would bring shame to his family name again.

Hifumi Yamada- Straight. I honestly dont think about the guy enough to give this enough thought, but the way he simps over Celeste proves he likes girls at least. Plus he kept calling Alter Ego she, so...yeah.

Celestia Ludenberg- Straight. Honestly I think she'd be homophobic? Idk i really dislike Celeste, sorry 😅 She just gives me those vibes.

Sakura Oogami- Bisexual. I wanna label her as lesbian, but Kenshiro exists 😒 Women leaning possibly

Kyoko Kirigiri- Bisexual. Though i dont personally ship her with any girls, I can see her going both ways.

Byakuya Togami- Gay. And it's a problem with his family, so he's closeted.

Yasuhiro Hagakure- Pansexual. He just wants to love someone, man lmao.

Aoi Asahina- Bisexual. Again, wanna label her as lesbian, but the Bad End exists, showing she willingly got with three guys. And she does ask Makoto to pretend to be her bf. But she leans heavily towards females imo.

Toko Fukawa/Genocide Jill- Bisexual. It was straight until she met Komaru. Then she realized "Oh shit. I'm gay." But she still has a small thing for Byakuya ig 😒

Mukuro Ikusaba- Straight. We pretend the thing with her sister doesnt exist, alright?

Junko Enoshima- Straight. And definitely homophobic.

Wow a lot of bi peeps lol. Alright, onto the next game!

Goodbye Despair

Hajime Hinata- Pansexual. Again all protags are Pan. Fight me, prove me wrong you literally cant.

Ultimate Imposter- Panromantic, Nonbinary, Asexual. Though I call Imposter he a lot, I think it's almost canon they're nonbinary. I just have stupid brain and type he first without thinking. I also dont really have a reason for thinking they're asexual? I just think they are. But they're probably panromantic in order to fit their talent better.

Teruteru Hanamura- Pansexual. He's so painfully pan. He even says his options are, and I quote, "pretty open." Dis bitch gay.

Mahiru Koizumi- Lesbian. Dont think I gotta explain myself.

Peko Pekoyama- Bisexual. She's totally dating Fuyuhiko, but I can see her having small crushes on other girls.

Hiyoko Saionji- Lesbian. Also dont think I need to explain myself.

Ibuki Mioda- Bisexual. RAGING bisexual. Also I can honestly see her being Gender Fluid as well.

Mikan Tsumiki- Bisexual. She honestly needs therapy more than she needs a relationship, and she probably doesnt really understand her own labels completely, but I think shes bi.

Nekomaru Nidai- Bisexual. Homeboy was a little TOO eager to be rubbed down by Teruteru 😏 Just kidding, though I do think Nekomaru is bi. No real reason honestly

Gundham Tanaka- Bisexual. He obviously has a thing for Sonia, and in a perfect world(i.e. my perfect world) he would be holding hands with Kazuichi daily. Speaking of holding hands he basically breaks Hajime's in the FTEs. Gay 🥰

Nagito Komaeda- Gay. He's very obviously gay coded, mostly towards Hajime though I dont personally ship that.

Chiaki Nanami- Pansexual. She loves everyone equally. Honestly she probably doesnt put too much work on her labels and would probably go by any pronouns as well, so maybe Gender Fluid?

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu- Bisexual. Like Leon I think it would take him a while to accept he likes guys, and he probably leans towards girls more, but he's definitely fruity lol.

Sonia Nevermind- Pansexual. Our girl fucks. She dont care who, she just FUCKS. 🤣 But seriously, I think she just sees love as love. As she should.

Kazuichi Souda- Gay. Transgender, (ftm). He's so very closeted, so badly even he doesnt recognize it. He probably even has internalized homophobia, probably because of his father. Not sure why I hc him as trans, I just think it fits.

Akane Owari- Straight. She probably doesnt think about it much. All she knows is she likes fighting, meat, and Coach Nekomaru.

Alright and onto the last game!

Killing Harmony

Shuichi Saihara- Pansexual, Transgender(ftm). Its. THE RULE. I didnt make it. Sue me. Also fuck it I dunno I think it fits with his whole character if he were trans. Hard to explain lol

Rantaro Amami- Biromantic, Asexual. I admittedly dont know much about Rantaro, but from what I do know, I think he would fit well with just about anyone. I dont have much of a reason for him being Ace.

Kaede Akamatsu- Pansexual. She was the protagonist first, so the rule still applies lol. But even beyond that it just fits her. Hard to explain, it just seems like it works.

Ryoma Hoshi- Straight, Asexual. I know on my ship list I said I shipped him with Gonta, but theres a reason that ship was so low. I heavily think Ryoma is straight. It's just the vibe I get from him. Maybe hes bi curious, but idk. As for the ace bit, it's really dark. I hc it's because of the trauma he endured during prison.

Kirumi Tojo- Lesbian. Idk I look at her and I think "Lesbian power. Powerful wlw moments." Dont ask me my brain just does things.

Angie Yonaga- Pansexual. She always seemed like she was flirting with Himiko and lowkey Tenko, and in the FTEs she straight up wants to get married to Shuichi so like....I dunno what you want me to say.

Tenko Chabashira- Lesbian. Literally no explanation needed.

Korekiyo Shinguji- Pansexual. Putting aside the....obvious....he finds all of humanity beautiful, so he most likely doesnt have a preference when it comes to choosing a partner. Just like with Mukuro we pretend that entire plotline never happened.

Miu Iruma- Pansexual. I see her as pretty open to everyone....Yeah. That's all I got.

Gonta Gokuharu- Bi-curious. Honestly I dont think Gonta knows what he is himself. He probably hasnt given it too much thought, if hes given it any. The best I can think of is bi-curious, assuming hes currently exploring his sexuality.

Kokichi Ouma- Gay. I dont ship him with anyone cause I personally think he'd be a bad partner to anyone he got with based off of his personality, but yeah. He gay lmao.

Kaito Momota- Pansexual. THE LUMINARY OF THE STARS IS FOR EVERYBODY! Probably took a while for him to admit he wasnt straight, but then he admitted it with his whole heart, precious thing.

Tsumugi Shirogane- Straight. Fuck I dunno I dont think about her in a positive light enough to care. Sorry I really tried 😅

Kiibo- Panromantic, Genderfluid, Asexual. Like Imposter, I've called Kiibo he all the time, including every story I put them in, but technically they have no gender. So that does make them nonbinary, but at the same time it leaves the opportunity for them to go by any pronoun they want, so I hc they go by all of them lol. I also think they just love everyone, and for the ace bit, unfortunately, robots probably dont have dicks 😔 Even if they did, I dont think he would be very interested in sex.

Himiko Yumeno- Lesbian. Despite her treatment of Tenko, her reaction at the end of chapter 3 shows she cared for her, and Angie. She probably loved them both, so, lesbian for sure.

Maki Harukawa- Straight. Kaito was probably her first ever crush, so I doubt she ever had a chance to feel out if she was anything other than straight. Even disregarding that, I dont think she'd be anything else.

Alright and those are my headcanons for all the Danganronpa characters! As a bonus, I think Komaru Naegi is a Lesbian! No real reason other than Tokomaru is top tier lol.

Now remember these are my opinions! If you dont agree that's fine! Just be kind!

And HAPPY PRIDE EVERYONE! 🥰🏳️‍🌈

[lovelylogans]

honey, you’re familiar (like my mirror)

see other chapters, notes, and warnings here!

chapter four: symbiosis

symbiosis: interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.

VIRGIL

“Uh,” Virgil says, scrambling in the face of his mother—hair wrapped for the night, blinking the sleep out of her eyes, her arms crossed, “My—myself?”

Technically true, he guesses, according to some of the sensate’s personal beliefs about the connections they share with their clusters, according to Logan according to Dot. Like having other selves scattered across the world.

Andisiwe frowns. “At this time of night?”

Virgil shrugs weakly.

She frowns deeper. Then:

“You know,” she says, looking at him very intently, “your grandmother used to talk to herself at all times of day, too.”

Virgil stays silent. His mother crouches to sit with him on the floor, settling with a long sigh.

“About anything at all,” she continues. “She’d talk about the snow when this country hadn’t seen snow for ten years. She’d laugh when no one told a joke, cried when nothing sad had happened. She’d make recipes I’d never heard of before. You remember her pitha?”

Virgil nods, confused. Of course he remembers her pitha. They’d have it at every large family gathering.

“That’s an Indian dessert. She’d never left South Africa in all her life, but she knew how to make pitha and speak Tamil like she was born in Bangalore. Just like you were speaking a language other than Xhosa or English just now.”

Oh, Virgil thinks, then, oh.

“So unless you started taking language lessons while studying for your doctorate,” she says, staring at him.

Virgil chews at the inside of his cheek.

“No,” he says hoarsely. “No, I didn’t.”

She nods, accepting this. “How long…?”

“I don’t know,” Virgil admits. “A week and a half? Two weeks?”

“Not long at all,” she murmurs. “ I suppose it might skip a generation. She told me once it started when she was a child. A horrible headache struck her, and once it let up she had seven new friends all around the world. When they were all ten, maybe.”

Ten, Virgil thinks, mind whirling. God, to deal with all this at the age of ten?

“Sensates,” Virgil croaks. “We’re called sensates.”

His mother offers him a smile. 

“I know,” she says. “Tell me about them.”

“One’s here,” Virgil says, and he looks at the big, tall, tattooed man. “I don’t think I got your name last time.”

The man walks from his plush apartment rug to sit on the hardwood floor. 

“Patton Taumata,” he says with Virgil’s mouth, offering a bright smile to Virgil’s mother, sitting beside him. “Māori, New Zealander.”

And then Virgil feels what Patton does next—pull seems too strong a word, but it’s the closest he has.

Sitting across from him, looking vaguely disgruntled to find himself on the ground, yet still sitting at his desk in his home office.

“Janus Slange,” he says. “London.”

He slides out of Virgil’s body to find a spot to sit that’s a bit more refined.

Patton turns his head, and Virgil turns his gaze to follow.

“Roman Regio,” the actor says, looking up from his script to gesture beside him. “And my brother, Remus. Who is currently on his way to Mexico City, which he should have done as soon as he got accused.”

“This is such a dumb plan,” Remus groans, resting his head simultaneously against the bus window and Virgil’s bed. “I want all of you batshit hallucinations to know that I don’t come up with plans this stupid. My plans are refined in the way they cause utter chaos.”

Sitting in his bed in the barracks and beside Virgil, so close their thighs almost touch, giving Virgil a thrill that shoots all the way to his fingertips—

“Logan Zieliński,” he says to Virgil’s mother, careful to sound respectful. “I was just here. I’m Polish, but I’m currently studying in Antarctica. Space research.”

They’re here. All of them here. But Virgil sees Patton reach again—

EMILE

—and Emile beams at the sight before him. Patton turns to grin at him.

“Well done!” Emile says, filled to bursting with pride. 

Patton! Reliably being able to pull them all in to visit together! That kind of skill—coupled with the fact that Patton, back in his apartment in Auckland, is peaceably planning lessons with a sitcom in the background—can take other sensates months of practice to truly achieve. 

“Is this your mother?” He asks Virgil.

Virgil says, “Um, Mom, my—cluster parent?”

Emile makes an eh handwavey gesture followed by a thumbs-up. “Whatever you’re comfortable with, I’m comfortable with!”

“—is here right now. His name’s—”

He speaks at the same time as Emile does.

“Dr. Emile Picani, hi there—!”

“—and he’s American.”

Virgil’s mother’s brow wrinkles in distaste, but she does a good show of trying to hide it.

“That’s fair,” Emile says. “Americans are—well, y’know. You’ve seen the news.”

“This is my mother, Dr. Andisiwe Nkosi. My grandmother was a sensate too, apparently.”

“Oh, that’s lovely!” Emile exclaims. “There are sensates within biological families, of course—” he gestures to Roman and Remus, “—but things are still up in the air about if and how being homo sensorium passes down.”

“Dot said the number of sensates is rising due to epigenetic factors,” Logan says.

“Oh, you’ve met Dot!” Emile says delightedly. 

“She answered many of the questions I have,” Logan says, and for a blip, they’re all sitting in the barracks in Antarctica as Logan reaches for a notebook and pen. “But I still have many questions.”

“Entirely understandable,” Emile says.

“Wait, you got your questions answered?” Roman demands, and they’re all sitting on Roman’s apartment’s massive balcony overlooking Mexico City. “I just got this one—” he points accusingly at Janus, “telling me hey, surprise, you’re not actually losing your shit!”

Janus shrugs, and they’re all surrounded by monitors, blinking with so many different points of data it makes Emile a little dizzy. “He just showed up in the mirror while I was shaving.”

“Well,” Emile says, and they’re all in Emile’s apartment at home. Emile puts a kettle on the stove. “I’m here now. So what questions can I help you answer? Or, at least, activate the Archipelago to get some kind of answer for you. If you can think of some kind of subject, there’s probably a sensate that knows something about it, but I suppose we should probably start with the sensate-specific questions.”

Remus puts up a hand and asks, loudly, “Can I use the psychic connection with other sensates to have some kind of insane worldwide orgy?”

ROMAN

Sasha is out for a key art photoshoot, so Roman has the whole apartment to himself. Which is good, because he got a bit busy last night with the whole explanation of what exactly it is that’s been happening to him, and then yelling in disgust when Remus asked gross questions about it.

Roman’s considering if he wants to paint his nails—it’s not like he can keep it, if solely for movie continuity—just to have something to do with his hands when the door cracks open.

And in steps Remus—absolutely filthy, staring at Roman incredulously, a fake mustache plastered above his real mustache that he immediately rips off.

“It worked,” Roman says gleefully. “It worked!”

“First of all, cops ain’t shit, I probably should have expected literally every police officer to sleep on the job when seeing someone suspicious board a bus, but Jesus fuckin’ Christ, your security munches ass,” Remus declares, “They let a murderer get into your apartment.” 

Roman bursts out laughing.

“It’s not funny!” Remus says, pulling off the fake beard he’d donned. “It took five pesos of stolen fake beard and mustache to fool everyone, are you fucking kidding me—?!”

Roman slides off the couch, gripping his stomach, he’s laughing so hard.

“What?!” Remus demands, throwing off the overly large trench coat he’d been huddling under.

“You,” Roman wheezes, then, “you said the plan was stupid and it wouldn’t work—!”

“It is stupid! I come up with way better plans than this, you’re telling me that you came up with the stupid kid movie plan and I didn’t?! And it shouldn’t have worked—Roman, stop laughing, your fangirls are fucking batshit crazy, could you imagine what kind of weird Wattpad shit they’d get up to if they knew how easy it was to break in here?!”

Roman is screaming with laughter, because literally all they needed was a fake mustache and beard, and ooh Roman can tell that Remus is pissed that Roman came up with this plan first because it’s such a perfectly Remus plan. He isn’t sure how much of it is a sensate thing versus a twin brother thing, but all the same, Roman knows that Remus is absolutely fuming, which makes it even funnier.

Remus storms off, shouting, “Just for this, I’m going to use up all your fancy shampoo! I’m going to take the biggest, nastiest shit in your bathroom! I’m—I’m going to eat all your soap! I will! I’ll do it! I’m eating all your soap!”

LOGAN

It’s still a little startling to look over at his notebook and suddenly find himself in South Africa, but he’s gotten a little more accustomed to it since the night before. He’s been feeling a pull to South Africa all day, like an ache deep in his chest. He isn’t entirely sure why.

Virgil glances over at him and smiles, just a little. Logan smiles back. Virgil clears his throat and returns his attention to the textbook before him.

“Roman’s plan worked,” he says. 

Logan huffs, shaking his head. Honestly. It’s like those American movies when three children stack on top of each other and wear a large trenchcoat and a fake beard to gain access to the movies, but it actually worked. 

In retrospect, Logan’s sure that Remus would have foregone his escape into the wilderness if he’d known that donning a disguise and having his rich brother pay away the arrest troubles and their psychically connected lawyer argue before the court would have worked so neatly.

However, considering that nearly every aspect of that plan is absolutely off the rails ridiculous, the escape into the wilderness must have seemed like a prudent measure to take at the time.

“How’s your research?” Logan asks, sitting down on Virgil’s bed. 

“Pretty good,” Virgil says, his tone very casual. “I think the fact that abrus precatorius—”

“The scientific name for rosary peas,” Logan assumes. He is rewarded by a nod from Virgil.

“—isn’t native to Mexico and the fact that Remus hasn’t traveled for years on end is a pretty good basis for Janus to go on. Plus, abrin—”

“The toxin?” Logan clarifies and receives a nod.

“—is incredibly toxic, to the point where anyone ordering rosary peas would probably get pinged under some kind of monitoring system. So there wouldn’t really be a way for Remus himself to get them. Miguel Contreras, on the other hand—”

“The murder victim?” Logan says, startled.

“Yes—on the other hand, he went to Florida very recently. He got back three days before his death, in fact.”

“I thought they were native to Asia and Australia?”

“Yeah, they are, but rosary peas are an invasive species, and they’ve been clocked in the pine rocklands there,” Virgil says. “Symptoms usually occur pretty quick, but it can take up to five days to show up, depending on the method of ingestion. And considering the seed of just one pea could be fatal…”

“Then the cause of death could very well be found in Florida!” Logan says. “And the only thing they have on Remus—”

“—Are threats, exactly,” Virgil says enthusiastically. “And considering the way Remus is as a person, Janus could probably get those hand-waved away as being under jest, rather than an actual threat to kill him.”

They smile at each other again, Virgil’s lips twisting wryly. 

“I’ve been wanting to visit you all day,” he says abruptly, and Logan feels that flutter in his stomach again, the one he’s been feeling since they first met; he’s willing to admit to himself that it most certainly isn’t unease, now. It is a near antonym of unease.

“I have too,” Logan admits, trying his very best to keep his voice informal.

Virgil’s smile softens, a little. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Logan affirms, and the flutter in his stomach intensifies.

They stare at each other. Virgil’s eyes, Logan notices abruptly, are objectively beautiful. Framed by long lashes, his eyes are so dark a shade of brown they’re practically black, so easy to stare at, admiring the way a sudden shift in the lighting would illuminate the subtle honeyed depths of them. 

For a moment, Logan gets a flicker; he’s looking at his own eyes, blue and framed by his glasses, but the emotion in him doesn’t change, the fleeting thought of look how gorgeous, and suddenly he is back to looking at Virgil, and, as one, they look away.

Virgil coughs awkwardly. “This sensate thing—weird, huh?”

For the first time, Logan wonders if the feeling in his stomach is not entirely his own. If it is something shared.

But, Logan thinks, sneaking a look at Virgil taking notes, twirling his pen idly over the backs of his long fingers, he supposes that neither of them would be able to tell that, anyways.

REMUS

Remus is bouncing his leg so much that the cop near him is giving him a disdainful look.

Or maybe the look is because the cop thinks he’s a murderer. Whatever.

“Are you sure this is gonna work,” Remus mutters out of the corner of his mouth because he hasn’t gotten the hang of visiting someone in his cluster and going about day-to-day life like a normal person, the way more experienced sensates can. 

“Positive,” Janus says. He’s sitting crossed-legged beside Remus in his holding cell, where they’re waiting to be transported to the courtroom. Remus is pretty sure most lawyers shouldn’t turn up to court in pajamas, but considering that to the rest of the courtroom Remus is going to play at being his own lawyer, it’s all fine. 

“All they have on you is proximity and threats,” Janus continues. “And considering the voice in your novels, along with the parts in your dust jackets’ where you literally threaten your readers, I can get that set aside no problem.”

Remus inhales heavily and exhales just as noisily.

“Right,” he says. “Right.”

Roman flickers into sight just long enough to shoot Remus a thumbs up, and as Janus resumes spitting legal jargon, Remus feels his shoulders relax.

PATTON

“Be careful with our bezzie Buzzy Bee!” Patton says brightly. He’s crouched before Sophie, having helped untangle the string. “Let’s make sure we don’t tangle him up again, eh?”

“I will, Mr. T!” Sophie shouts, already on the run with the toy, and Patton huffs ruefully. It’ll probably be tangled up again by the end of the day.

A brief chill across his skin, and Patton shivers before he refocuses on the sunny afternoon, here, in Auckland.

By the time he’s stood upright, Logan’s beside him, in a white lab coat.

“Do you really need that much air conditioning down there?” Patton says. “Seems a bit overkill, mate.”

Logan shrugs, closing a door, hiding away some kind of equipment that looks very finicky and complex. “I’m not the one in charge of the facility.”

“Fair enough,” Patton says. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be asked to join in on some kind of game, soon. You like rugby?”

“It’s not exactly popular in Poland.”

“Hm. Guess not,” Patton says. “Probably should’ve known that already.”

“The whole sharing knowledge aspect of this does seem to be rather dependent on a variety of factors,” Logan says thoughtfully. “I don’t think I automatically know the minutiae of New Zealand history and culture just because you might; I think we have to be doing something to trigger that sharing of knowledge.” 

Patton huhs thoughtfully.

“If you didn’t know how to drive a car, for instance,” Logan theorizes, “and I did, and you sat behind a wheel and needed to drive somewhere, I would probably be able to impart that knowledge to you.”

“I can ask Emile,” Patton says, ready to turn and look in on Florida, but he’s stopped by Logan’s frustrated, “how do you do that?”

“Hm?” Patton says, turning to look at him.

“This seems to come so effortlessly to you,” Logan says. “You drop in and seem totally at ease, you could control if we all came to see Virgil a couple nights ago, and by the reactions of those around you, you don’t seem to be talking to thin air—”

“Well, we’re mostly, surrounded by five-year-olds, they wouldn’t be too phased by the concept of me having an imaginary friend,” Patton points out. Logan doesn’t seem particularly amused by this.

“I don’t know,” Patton admits. “Emile thought I was just very communicative, for a sensate. That might be it; I’ve always been pretty chatty. It also might be because Māori have beliefs about how we are all connected—people, nature, all living things—so maybe I was a little more prepared to accept that I was literally connected to other people because I grew up with that as a sacred ideal.”

They watch children run and play for a few minutes; Manaia, diving to catch a football in the game of rugby that had assembled; Sophie, racing between everyone with her Buzzy Bee clack-clack-clacking behind her; Oliver, shyly joining in on a game of hopscotch.

The grass sways in the light breeze, the sun had peeked out from behind its clouds, leaving the entire playground awash in light and warmth. The laughter of children carries on the wind. Patton’s coworkers occasionally look up from their tiny charges to smile and wish him a good day.

“It’s really rather nice here,” Logan says quietly. “I’ve never been remotely near this continent. Coming to research in Antarctica is the most travel I’ve ever really done.”

“Do you miss home?” Patton asks.

Logan considers this.

“Some things,” he says. “Kluski, makowiec, honey mead. Newspapers written in my native language. The coffee shop I studied in throughout all of university. Proper herbata góralska. My mentors. The ability to go to a grocery store. My mother.”

There’s a beat of silence.

“But I love the research I do here,” Logan says firmly. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to study down here.”

“It sure seems like it,” Patton says, his admiration clear in his voice. 

“This whole situation threw a bit of a wrench in the works,” he says.

“I think it did for all of us,” Patton says. “Not all bad, though. Remus would probably still be on the run if he hadn’t connected with Janus.”

“No,” Logan muses, a soft flush touching his cheeks. “Certainly not all bad.”

Unbidden, images flash in his mind; black coffee, an expanse of wide sunny road, the sensation of dirt under his fingernails, purple jacaranda blossoms.

Patton tries his hardest not to grin. But—

“What,” Logan says defensively.

“Nothing,” Patton says, not hiding his smile, and Logan huffs irritably.

“You know,” Patton says, “Emile’s been dating someone in-cluster for, like, nine years? They were the first people that they saw, of the people in-cluster. In-cluster relationships are apparently pretty common, which I guess makes sense. Sharing feelings, knowledge, everything—it sure can bond two people together.”

Logan’s flush deepens. 

“Just sayin’,” Patton offers cheerfully, and he goes off to join a game of hopscotch, leaving Logan with his thoughts.

JANUS

The language is different. The procedure is different. The situation is, most definitely, different. 

He’s used to English, English law, English crimes. He’s been a barrister for years, jumping from one firm to another because the latter had seen partner potential in him; it paid much better, too, which certainly hadn’t been a negative. Janus had become a well-polished lawyer, a viper in the courtroom, a boomslang to his rivals. 

He’s good at it, is his point. He’s always been good at it.

He stands, surveying the judge. A different uniform, but a similar dime-a-dozen judge. He’s seen this type dozens of times. He could debate them in his sleep.

But as he looks to the side—Remus sitting, Roman beside him, the rest of the cluster in a line past them, just peeks of their profiles past the twins—he remembers why he started to study law, too.

Because he wanted to be able to get himself and his brother out of any and every sticky situation they could ever stumble into.

Janus stands when he is bid to. He takes the oath, Remus’s mother language tripping off his tongue like it’s his own. It is now, Janus supposes. 

Roman reaches over and grips Remus’s hand. Remus pinches Roman as hard as he possibly can, but Roman doesn’t flinch.

Janus begins smoothly, “Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the court...”

[skateboardtotheheart]

Alex vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda

hello, everyone! i’ve been working on a fic titled “Alex vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda” for quite a long while, and i’m finally biting the bullet and posting the first chapter. this fic is based on the novel "Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli! it will be very closely based on the book, as well as some things from the movie "Love, Simon", and you may find dialogue or details that you recognize from either version of Becky Albertalli's story! i have no rights to the novel/movie or the JATP characters depicted in this fic. that said, there are a lot of details that are changed, and you'll be able to spot those really easily. this fic will be crossposted to my AO3 and can be located HERE. 

like i said, this fic has been a long time coming, and there is tons and tons i have planned for it. here on tumblr, i will be posting things like extra details, bonus content, and maybe some sneak previews! for now, let’s get into the fic!

SUMMARY: Alex Mercer is just like everyone else- only he has one huge ass secret. Nobody knows that he's gay, not even his closest friends and bandmates Luke, Reggie, and Julie. The only time he's ever mentioned it to someone, it was in an anonymous email chain with Ghost, another Los Feliz High School student. Alex can't risk coming out to anyone, but when his emails fall into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into a spotlight. Suddenly an already stressful junior year is all that more complicated as he juggles everyday drama, the school's annual band competition, blackmail, and trying not to lose his shot with the best guy he's ever met.

READ CHAPTER ONE BELOW THE CUT

Everything about this conversation is so out of the box of normal that I barely even register what's happening. Of course I'm the type of person who can't tell when this- something so crazy and awful and stressful and honest to God what the hell is happening- is going on. In my defense, Caleb Covington has never spoken to me before. I had no reason to assume that the first time he did, it would be to blackmail me.

We're taking a water break in the bleachers when Caleb saunters over. No greeting, no introduction- just words to send my entire junior year of high school spinning on its head.

"I read your email."

I swallow my water. "What?"

Caleb raises an eyebrow at me, and there's no other way to describe it but menacing. It's funny looking back on it all; I'd always heard Caleb was a really nice guy.

"I was in the library. And I read your email."

"You read my email?"

"Not on purpose. You really should have logged out of Gmail."

There's nothing I can do but stare at him, dumbfounded. What in the name of David Bowie is happening right now?

Caleb, thankfully, stops towering over me and takes a seat in the bleachers, a foot or so away. To anyone else, it might look like we're friends. To me, it feels like I can't breathe.

"Why the fake name?" Caleb asks, and my entire soul screams a wish that he would stop being so casual about this. 

I want to tell him that the point of a fake name is to keep people like Caleb Covington from knowing my secret. Way to freaking go, Alex. He must have seen me sitting at the computer like the monumental dumbass I am.

"Would it interest you to know my cousin is gay?"

"Um. No, Caleb. It really wouldn't."

He still has his eyebrow raised and a small smirk on his face. If I focus hard enough- kind of impossible right now- I can picture Luke punching it right off his face.

"What do you want Caleb?"

This is the longest five minute water break of my life. 

"Look, Mercer, I don't have a problem with it. It's not a big deal."

Yes, it really is. It's a huge monster of a deal. This is the biggest disaster since Luke slammed his fingers in a door and couldn't play his guitar. 

"But. . ." Caleb drags out, and I can feel my leg bouncing quicker by the second. "It's pretty clear to me that you'd rather keep it all hush, hush."

I mean. Yeah. Kind of. The coming out thing doesn't scare me that much. Except it does. Because if people know then my parents will know and if my parents know then my whole family will know and if my whole family knows then I've become like a living, gay, everyone-finds-out version of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, and I'd rather die than have that happen. So maybe the coming out thing does scare me. But the biggest problem if people found out? 

Ghost.

I have absolutely no idea what it would mean for Ghost if Caleb was going to tell anyone. The thing about Ghost is he's a pretty private person. I bet he wouldn't forget to log out of his email so people like Caleb Covington wouldn't see it. I bet there's a good chance he'll never forgive me if he finds out about this. So really, I have absolutely no freaking clue what would happen to Ghost- to us.

And I'm still sitting in these stupid gym bleachers, the pink hydroflask Reggie bought me limp in my hand, desperately wishing Carrie would call an end to this godforsaken water break. I can't believe I'm having this conversation with Caleb right now. Why couldn't anyone else have logged into Gmail after me? Why was I so impatient to see if Ghost had emailed me back that I used the freaking school computers? Why did this stupid school insist on blocking the wireless so I had had no choice but to use the school computers? But it had been one of those days where I couldn't even wait to get out of dance practice to check my phone in my car.

I'd emailed Ghost this morning, and it had been a pretty big email. I was desperate to know if he'd emailed back.

I must have been just staring at Caleb for a while because he cocked his head at me and said, "Don't worry, Mercer. I'm not going to show anyone."

I take a relieved breath. Then my hydroflask finally slips from my fingers as I freeze, and the sound echoes through the gym. I don't even look at the rest of the dancers when their laughs break out.

"Show anyone?" I ask. 

Caleb leans in a little bit, smirk wider on his face. I feel sick.

"Did you- oh my god, did you screenshot my emails?"

"Yes, see, I wanted to talk to you about that."

"You took a fucking screenshot?" I hiss out, thankful I'd put my stuff farther away from the rest of the dance team today.

Caleb has the audacity to roll his eyes. "I've heard you're in a band with-"

"What the fuck does that have to do with- Let's go back to how you screenshot my email."

"Or you can shut up and listen to what I have to say." 

Something about the way Caleb's gaze catches you, it's hard to do anything but what he says. Fuck.

"I believe we may be in a position to help each other out."

Jesus Christ, what 18 year old talks like this?

"Why the hell would I do anything for you?"

It's a stupid question, I realize as he stares at me calmly. Calmly. Like this isn't the end of my life. Whatever he wants right now, it'll be in exchange. I do this, and he doesn't broadcast my private emails with Ghost to the entire student body.

All this time and I really thought Caleb was supposed to be this nice guy. Fuck me.

"You're going to make me do whatever you want?"

Caleb tsk'd like the condescending bastard he clearly is. "Well, now. I'm not making you do anything."

"But if I don't help you, you'll what? Post my emails on the fucking tumblr?"

LosFelizSecrets. The bane of every Los Feliz student's existence. Ground zero for more gossip than anyone in their right mind knows what to do with. A school of almost 3,000 kids but if it's on the tumblr, most people know within a day. A complete and utter hellscape disguised as a blog.

When Caleb stays quiet, I speak again. "What do you want from me, Caleb?"

He sneers. 

"Music of the Night."

Once again, I'm stuck staring at him. Music of the Night? That's what this is about?

"Your band is signed up, as is mine. The HGC lost to Dirty Candy last year, and I will not lose again this year."

Music of the Night is this competition Los Feliz holds every year as part of the music program. At the end of the year, there's this huge concert held at the Orpheum theatre in Hollywood. At the beginning of the school year, anyone can sign up. Then each band has 4 months to perform at school events, outside gigs and parties, and whenever they have an opportunity, really. During winter break, the student body votes on who the headliner of the concert will be. Last year, the headliner was Dirty Candy. Because they won last year, they're out of the running this year and are in charge of organization and things for the concert. This year, I was hoping the headliner would be Julie and the Phantoms. My band. Caleb and his band HGC has entered the competition every year, and he's never won. He's a senior, and I know this will be his last chance. I also know who his biggest competition is. 

Us.

"So. . . what? You want me to sabotage my own band?"

I feel breathless and dizzy as I ask. Caleb just shrugs casually.

"Whatever you need to do. So long as it's my band that gets the votes. Like I said, I think we can help each other out. Think about it."

Caleb winks- he actually winks- and walks away. I stare dumbly after him. No way. No, I'm not doing this. I can live with being outed. Right? 

But my thoughts travel to Ghost. Because he's a part of this, too. He goes to Los Feliz, and he's my age, and he uses a fake name, and he's not out. 

Ghost isn't out, and Caleb has my emails.

Fuck.

----------

Any hope I have of forgetting about that stupid conversation clearly isn’t worth it. I have an hour before dinner, and right now I’m basically willing to do anything to avoid my family. Trying to talk to my parents is exhausting. You can’t just get away with telling them your day was good or bad. No, you have to ring out every excruciating little detail. Everything that happens in my or my siblings’ life, they want to know about it. In all honesty, I used to love telling them all that stuff. Now I can’t get away from them fast enough. Especially today. I’m barely in the house long enough to put my backpack in my room before I’m slipping out the back door and leaving again. 

I try to drown out my thoughts with Axl Rose screaming into my earbuds. But my mind is stuck on Ghost, emails, and Caleb freaking Covington. Caleb wants to win Music of the Night. I can’t exactly blame him for that. Everyone wants to win it. 

Except he’s blackmailing me. And by extension, he’s blackmailing Ghost. And that makes me want to hyperventilate a little bit. Maybe go scream somewhere. 

But Axl Rose is helping. The familiar route of walking to Luke’s is helping. We don’t get much of a fall in LA, but the air feels a little crisper in mid October, and I can already see the houses that are getting ready for Halloween. 

When I reach Luke’s house, I don’t even bother going through the front door. I just cut through his backyard and head through the backdoor right next to Luke’s bedroom. I hear them before I see them. Reggie’s laugh fills the air, paired with a frustrated groan from Luke. They’re sitting side by side on Luke’s bed, facing the small tv with some video game I’ve never seen on the screen. They look like they haven’t moved in hours. Luke pauses the game as soon as he sees me, waving, and I can’t help but smile a little bit. The guy won’t put down his guitar for you, but he’ll pause a video game or movie without a second thought. 

“Great, you’re here! Tell Luke he’s shit at this game and he should let me play Mario Kart.”

I roll my eyes, “Dance was great, Reg. Thanks for asking.”

Reggie sticks out his tongue, and I crack a smile. This is the most comfortable I’ve felt all afternoon. I throw myself into the beat up bean bag chair Luke keeps in his room.

“Luke, you’re shit at this game and Reggie wants to play Mario Kart.”

Luke gapes at me, a betrayed gleam in his eyes, but I just shrug. Luke grumbles a bit as he gets up to switch out the game, and Reggie whoops in victory. I let out a soft sigh. I think I needed this. The chaos of Reggie and Luke playing whatever game, the strange mix of leather, Axe, and his mom’s Hawaiian Breeze cleaner that makes Luke’s room smell awful and entirely wonderful at the same time, and the familiarity of Luke and Reggie. Everything just fits right when I’m with them. 

As Luke sets up the game, Reggie looks at me excitedly. “Alex, Luke hasn’t heard about le wedgie.”

I snort a little, “Ah, yes. Le wedgie. C’est une histoire touchante.”

I don’t know why Reggie bothered to wait for me to tell the story; he’s the far better storyteller between us. Maybe it’s just because I’m better at French. 

Luke stares at me, “English, please?”

Reggie and I thought we’d be fancy and take something fun like French for our required language credits. Luke decided to take something actually useful and learn sign language. This story is stupid, and my reenactment is stupid, but it feels kind of perfect. Like Caleb and secrets are all things of my imagination, and nothing exists but this bedroom and me, Luke, and Reggie. Benefits of having known these dorks since elementary school, I guess. 

About as they finish the second race in Mario Kart, Luke lets out a yawn. Reggie reacts so quickly I barely realize what he’s doing. He grabs a crumpled up Hershey’s Kiss wrapper from Luke’s nightstand and throws it into Luke’s mouth. Luke sees it just in time to clamp his mouth shut. Reggie sighs in defeat, but shrugs.

“Keep yawning, I’ll get you one of these times.”

“Why are you so tired?”

“Because I party real hard. All night, every night, baby,” Luke says, slamming Reggie’s bike with a green turtle shell. 

“Alone in your room with your guitar. Some party that is,” Reggie retaliated with a bomb thrown in Luke’s direction. 

As the race finishes Luke yawns again, and Reggie’s Kiss wrapper bounces off his cheek. 

“I just keep having these weird dreams,” he explains. 

I raise my eyebrows. “TMI, dude.”

“Not that kind of dream!” Luke tosses the wrappers at me, Reggie cackling beside him. 

Luke starts explaining his dream- something about every time he started playing his guitar his cord had magically unplugged itself from his amp- and Reggie and I just share a look. We were used to Luke being in his weird, feels-the-need-to-analyze-everything moods. But even after all these years, it was almost like a movie, watching Luke get so weirdly passionate about things- music and otherwise. It made me glad that Luke was a brother to me by everything but blood. Partly because if he wasn’t, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop myself from falling for him. And I have a strict policy about not falling for straight guys.

To everyone but me and Reggie- immune to him after knowing pretty much every thought that’s ever gone through his head since elementary school- there’s this pull to Luke. Like he casts a spell that has everyone in a 10 mile radius tripping at his feet and each and every girl swooning. Poor Julie is not immune to the spell, it seems. Lucky for her though, Luke doesn’t seem immune to her either. 

It took barely a few weeks into the school year before I noticed Luke switching seats with Willie Meyers at lunch to increase the odds he’d end up right next to Julie. Then there’s that stupid, puppy-dog, love-sick look in his eyes that Luke gets every time he thinks Julie isn’t looking. And it’s not like Reggie and I haven’t put up with a pining Luke before, but everything seems a little different with Julie. It makes me think of Ghost. 

Would I look like that if I saw him in person? Would he look at me like that? 

If Caleb leaks my emails and Ghost hates me forever, I don’t think I’ll ever find out.

-----------

chapter one complete!

i'll let everyone know right now that i have no clear updating schedule for this fic; it's kind of hard to write and get down the way i want, so i'm not sure how long anything will take me. but it is summer break for me, so hopefully you'll all start seeing consistent posting of new chapters!

i hope you all liked this first chapter, or are at least intrigued to read some more. as i said in the starting notes, this will be cross posted to my AO3! Feel free to leave me a comment here if you would like, or head over there if you have any comments about the fic at any point! feel free to send me a message/ask on here if you have any questions or comments, too! my inbox is open any time <3

if anyone would like me to start a tag list, let me know and i’ll get that done right away!

this fanfic is definitely my baby, so i really hope you guys all like it as much as i do!

thanks <3

[anangelicday-mrwolf]

Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 46 – I Heard Nothing

“Don’t kill him. Not just yet. We’d better figure out how big is his dagger and how much he managed to unsheathe and plunge it into our backs.”

Said M-21 to Lunark, who was rummaging her cloak.

“...Can’t guarantee I’ll remember that, but for now I’ll give you my word.”

Countered Lunark to M-21, who was turning away to get his clothes changed.

She was ready to warm up her joints, with nobody to send her away due to her rejection, when a sound stilled her steps.

“Lunark.”

Familiar were both the voice and the name. However, with the two combined Lunark jumped as if she were caught on fire.

It was the very first time having none other than Raizel calling her name.

She assumed only something important would have urged the Noblesse to delay her at such emergency; thus she obediently held her movements and waited for his following words.

Contrary to her assumption he merely stared at her in silence, and Lunark gently crushed her teeth against each other in anxiety.

She decided to ask for his understanding and save whatever it is for later if it falters in necessity. After all, the situation was dire.

Alas, that was when he chose to voice himself.

“At last I have come to see a promise.”

She could determine neither the purpose nor meaning of his words, and her pink eyes flipped like a pancake on a frying pan.

Before she could request for his explanation regarding this promise, Raizel began to retrace his steps back into his home. Apparently he never intended to keep her locked in her place for long.

At the same time, he left something that grabbed Lunark’s steps in their places for good.

“I shall count upon you concerning Frankenstein.”

She could not move for a while even after his disappearance.

She knew that the timing was outrageously wrong for her to speculate so, but it was as if she was watching a father who is sending away his treasured son to be someone’s husband.

‘Husband my behind. Snap out of it, Lunark.’

She had to shake her head to free her mind from idle thoughts. And by doing so, her brain brewed a duty that awaits her, sharpening her concentration to maximum.

Next up came rage, upon picturing a certain white-haired man; now she felt like punching herself in the face for not finding herself an opportunity to use his head as a shovel to dig up a grave for him when they were both elders of the Union.

With her fury driving her, Lunark finally kicked off and threw herself in the air.

Her mind was still keenly reverberating with wrath, shock that did not fade a bit, and hurried commitment.

On the other hand, a corner of her mind was echoing with desperation, and Lunark minced her lips as if her life depended on the action.

‘Please stay safe, Frankenstein... Please hang in there!’

*****

Few days later, Frankenstein’s island

“Welcome back.”

Frankenstein merely flapped his hand to 3rd Elder’s greetings and walked past him, which whipped the latter’s heart with cold biting sensation.

‘...He didn’t notice, did he?’

He knew, of course, that there was no way Frankenstein would know.

Because now he knew the recording device and camera Frankenstein implanted in him are no good.

And he wanted a word with the man regarding the matter.

He watched how Frankenstein was tramping forward, looking too exhausted he could bet the lord of the island would fall by simply having his name called, and he could feel guilt kicking and wrenching his conscience.

Are you sure it’s simply because you’re about to deny an exhausted man of his rest?

Muffling a voice whispering from a corner of his heart he could not pinpoint, 3rd Elder decided to speak.

“...Wait.”

Frankenstein, whose steps were weighed with fatigue, turned his head with much struggle.

Based on the fact that such ridiculously simple gesture was embedded with struggle, 3rd Elder could clearly see how serious Frankenstein’s state was.

That did nothing to make 3rd Elder change his mind, for this was the only chance he had.

“There’s something I’d like to ask.”

“...Be quick about it. I have a long way to go.”

Now that he was handed with the mic, 3rd Elder could not help but gulp.

‘...Just how did things turn out like this?’

The original plan was supposed to end with his immediate evacuation, instead of this confrontation.

‘...Who would’ve known our encounter would be led to this?’

Just a day ago, a weapon against heads of noble clans – or Sol, who has made the body his house and ride – presented himself at the island.

Here. Take it.

What’s this...?

It’s the chemical Union has been keeping. You know, the one that renders a substance its countersubstance. I believe I wouldn’t have to brief you about its use.

The man nodded, and that was supposed to be it.

Yet he asked Sol how he found out about this place, which ultimately rolled a snowball that raced all the way towards his conversation with Frankenstein.

I tracked down your whereabout. Do you remember what happened when you first ran into Ms. Helga?

Yes, but nothing in particular ha... Wait a minute. She did land a blow on my torso as soon as we recognized each other. Is this what you’re referring to? Speaking of which, after that Frankenstein did announce that my camera and recording device were jammed. Though he soon replaced them with functional ones.

Actually, that’s when Ms. Helga planted something in your body, and that thing is equipped with tracking feature. Forgive me for telling you now; she believed we shouldn’t tell you until we are assured that you’re with us.

There’s something inside me...? What did you do?

It’s a sort of distractor. We figured Frankenstein would leash you with a surveillance kit or two, so we requested our conspirator to come up with an anti-kit.

Conspirator? You mean...

Yes, he’s the inventor. It’s a mixture of a stealth device that absorbs sounds above certain decibels and a device that emits special signal to cause only noises for every type of footage-recording device. Both devices distract instead of destroying or freezing, so it would prevent Frankenstein’s knowledge, given that he calibrated his devices so he would pick up as soon as they are unavailable in function. And it’s a unique invention from its proposal to completion.

Shortly expressing marvel at devices that flaunted creativity, 3rd Elder feasted upon the thundering pounds of his heart.

If Sol’s words are as authentic as they could be, Frankenstein has been left in the dark concerning his behaviors ever since he met Helga.

Simultaneously, he could feel question nudging his cognition.

If his camera and recording device did not work properly after replacement, there is no way Frankenstein would not have pointed it out.

Nevertheless, the blonde scientist has never once sought him after replacement.

One excuse he could think of was that Frankenstein’s judgment is now fatally clouded, thanks to the sleeping issue he has been suffering.

Notwithstanding, his past history at Union was telling him there must be more than it seems behind this mystery.

And it was coercing him to find out more.

Sol, I know this is out of nowhere, but I need your help.

My help? For what...?

I’d like to find my voice and footage files Frankenstein would have collected so far.

With Sol’s hands in action, 3rd Elder could sneak a peek into Frankenstein’s personal files.

The firewall failed to stand against their infiltration, perhaps the network security compromised due to loss of connection during the failed activation of QuadraNet.

At the end of his navigation, 3rd Elder was turned speechless.

‘...How can this be?’

He could find records of his words and actions only from the times when he was beyond the shorelines.

The counterparts from the times when he was tucked within the boundaries of the isle were nowhere to be found.

‘Was he lying when he said he’s got his eyes on me on this island?’

Impossible.

That devilish homo sapiens will never do that.

We were adversaries to start with, and he’s keeping me alive just because he can make use of me.

Despite his uncertainties, 3rd Elder could not stop himself from dispensing the topic now that he was faced with the man of interest.

“Am I free of surveillance while I am on this island?”

In a flash, Frankenstein’s face marred with exhaustion and a bit of annoyance was sparked with icy glare.

Though the change did nothing, other than lightening the shade of the bags under his eyes by a tone.

“Don’t get me wrong. Before your return, I was reminiscing my days at Union and... Uh, I muttered something that you might take as a hint that I’m waiting for an opportunity to stab your back. Yeah, that’s right. I’m turning myself in, so you wouldn’t make a Dark-Spear-skewered meat out of me.”

The man did not miss how Frankenstein flinched albeit very faintly the moment he mentioned the cursed weapon.

Exhibiting none of his observations, he continued on.

“There’s a possibility that you didn’t check my voice print yet, but allow me to dare ask you, since you hadn’t burst into my room to throw a fit at me so far. Is this voice recorder inside me actually working...?”

Before either of them knew it, Frankenstein had fully turned to gaze at the speaker, who could feel his throat clenching as he witnessed how the master doctor was not even blinking.

I shouldn’t have asked. If only I can go back in time. If only I can have a word with the past me.

As 3rd elder was winding up bunch of thoughts, Frankenstein muttered, “...This is something students from my school used to say at a time like this: there’s a reason why sometimes it’s better to walk around in underpants than with smarty-pants.”

“...Beg your pardon?”

“That’s right. The voice recorder and the camera are off when you are in this island, via my judgment.”

The 3rd Elder’s face scrunched up so hard it almost looked foul: the one person ought to stay vigilant upon him was practically playing vigilant all this time.

“...But why?”

“Why? Isn’t it obvious? I’m not like Union, that’s why. I have no intention to keep tabs on each and every word and action of someone sharing my roof, like the Union lot had done. Most importantly, I happen to have a family. A family that had to go through horrible manipulation of body and mind under the Union. So there’s no way I’m doing what you have in mind. Now, if that answered your question, please excuse me.”

Frankenstein did not even wait for 3rd Elder to thaw from his mute stupefaction and promptly left.

That did not release 3rd Elder from his petrification.

‘He’s been neglecting me so far...?’

No, he was not neglecting me.

He was trusting me.

Perhaps it was too soon for him to employ the synonym of faith, but at least there was no doubt the way Frankenstein is treating him is different from the way he treats him.

When he explained why he was not keeping surveillance on him, the vocabulary he pulled out was ‘Union.’ Not ‘you Union folks.’ Or ‘your people.’

Which was a proof that Frankenstein no longer identifies him as part of the Union.

He thereby showed how he unconsciously crossed off 3rd Elder’s name from his list of foes.

As soon as he relished in the fact, he could feel something straining his heart.

And then he recalled what he had done at Frankenstein’s lab before his return.

Feeling something striking his chest, he turned halfway towards the lab, only to stop dead not after long.

The table was toppled, and the pieces of what used to lie on top cannot be restored.

‘...There was no other choice. This is for the Union. For the humanity.’

I heard nothing.

I. Heard. Nothing.

He endeavored to cover the fact that his hands are bloody, tagging definitely-not-nothing as nothing.

And he sprinted to get away from the crime scene on the double.

(next chapter)

Yes, 3rd Elder did feel guilty; yet he decided  to stab Frankenstein in the back. :’( And this isn’t the end of his appearance. Of course it’s not! Please stay tuned to find out what he does after this what his betrayal will bring about; I can guarantee that the result will be nothing close to meaningless.

[pixelatedrose]

Soulbound Part Five

First | Previous | Part 5 | Next

Ao3 link

Masterpost

Word count: 4,674

Pairings: platonic LAMP, Prinxiety, Logicality, background Remile

Warnings: Uncensored swearing, Implied self harm (skip starting from "so instead of trying to make it okay" to the break), fighting, talk of controlling parents, panicking, near panic attacks, crying, absent siblings, please tell me if i missed anything or if there's something you would like tagged!!

Summary:

Roman Prince and Logan Rose are soulmates. They’re platonic soulmates though. They both have the same Soul mark to prove it. But they both have one other soul mark, binding them to one other person. And when they find Patton Miles, it just so happens that they’re both his soulmate. Logan being his Soulbound Soulmate, and Roman being a platonic soulmate. But something feels missing. And it feels filled, shockingly so, when they meet a certain someone a year and a half after they found each other.

Chapter 5

  The next day at school was a trip for Roman Prince.

  The morning was as usual, and Roman had actually gotten sleep this time. And it was normal (save for his thoughts being preoccupied 65% of the time by a certain boy.) Until his third period with Virgil.

~~•~~

  Oooh!! He's cute! Roman thought walking into class before promptly scolding himself. No no! He has a soulmate! I'm sure of it! He doesn't want to be your friend. Roman warred with himself in his head. But he's still cute. You know you want to be friends with him. And even if he has a soulmate, that doesn't stop you from being his friend!

  Roman strut up to Virgil, who was curled up in a ball with his feet on the table, his hood up and his bangs obscuring his face and eyes. "Hello there J.D-lightful! How is my-"

  Virgil turned away from him. "Not in the mood, Princey." His voice was rough. Rougher than it had been the day before.

  Roman took another look at Virgil. And he really looked at him. His makeup was smeared and looked like it hadn't been washed off since the previous day, what he could see of his hair looked tangled and a mess. From underneath his messed up eyeshadow his pretty blue eyes looked dreary and tired and even a little red around the edges if you looked hard enough. The jacket and pants he was wearing were the same as yesterday and looked wrinkled as if he'd slept that way.

  Virgil looked like a mess.

  Roman sat down and felt an unreal amount of concern for the boy he'd met just a day ago. "Hey, are you doing alright? You don't look too hot there…"

  Virgil shook his head. "No…" He choked out. "But what's it to you anyway?"

  "Well, can't I be concerned for someone who looked like they got dragged out behind a car in the rain?" Roman chuckled slightly, trying to lighten the mood. He hated when people around him were hurting. He wanted to help. If he could, he would want to be the prince charming that saved everyone.

  Virgil chuckled lightly and Roman hid his smile. "Do I really look that bad?" 

  Roman shrugged his shoulders, smiling. "Creative freedom! I wouldn't say I'm above the occasional embellishment! But yes you look like shit, Virgil Sanders."

  Virgil laughed. He actually laughed! It was light and soft and no more than a chuckle, but it was bright with joy and it danced in Roman's ears.

  Roman was so distracted with the soft music of Virgil's laugh he missed his chance to say something before the joy faded from the pretty pale boy's face. "Sorry. It doesn't matter anyway." He huffed despondently.

  Roman perked up as an idea flooded his mind. "Hey why don't I help you fix your makeup and hair at lunch, yeah?" He asked sweetly and enthusiastically.

  Virgil's faced Roman and he saw that his face was flushed, and he was suddenly very concerned if he was running a fever as well and had to fight the urge to reach out and feel his forehead.

  What kind of train of thought was that?? Roman thought to himself.

  Virgil looked down and started playing with the edges of his sleeves. "I don't think that's a good idea, Princey."

  Roman smiled at the nickname. It was one he'd never heard before. He'd been called numerous names, many spread by rumors. Bastard. Prep. Player. Gay whore. Soulless. Homo bastard. Gay bitch. Slut. He'd always taken the names in stride when the moment came, but he knew what power names held. He knew how deep words could cut someone.

  He took a breath and responded. "Why not?"

~~•~~

  Virgil stopped. It was such a simple question. Why did it make his heart pound?

  Why not.

  That was a good question. Why didn't Virgil think it was a good idea?

  Because people will talk.

  Let them talk then.

  Because Roman has a Soulmate.

  But he can still be your friend.

  Because people will bully both of you.

  But then I'd have someone to stand with me.

  Because Roman is just pitying you.

  There it was. The reason it wasn't a good idea. Because it was borne out of pity.

  "Because I'm pitiful and I'm not so sure I'm the kind of person you want to hang out with." Virgil said with a fake laugh. Roman made a face when he laughed. It was a face that someone made when they smelled something rancid. As if listening to Virgil's fake laugh was like hearing what rotten fruit smelled like.

 "Well that's for me to decide and for you to find out how wrong you are about that!!" Roman laughed with such a charming twinkle of determination in his eye Virgil couldn't help but want to be his friend right in that moment.

  He huffed and hid his heated face in his sleeve. "Alright fine. I'll let you do my makeup during lunch, or whatever." He smiled but quickly turned it serious as he faced Roman. "But don't touch my hair. That's mine and I don't like people touching it."

  Virgil waited for the inevitable, 'But You said I can do it so I'm allowed to touch it' or 'Awh, but it would make me just so happy if you'd let me do it! And you don't want me sad, do you?' But instead all that came was, "Of course! If it makes you uncomfortable, I'll be more than happy to leave it alone, fair-faced!"

  What? That was new for Virgil. He was so used to his mother and other kids invading his space and ignoring him, he forgot that people could be better than that.

  Virgil hunkered down in his chair and the two chatted every few moments, Virgil dodging questions and making Roman carry the entire conversation. When Roman stopped talking to him though, Virgil grew anxious. Not of anything in particular, no it was more that Roman calmed him down when he was talking, so when he wasn't it was back to anxiety and worries that held no meaningl.

  The class ended and Roman asked what class he had next. Virgil told him distractedly and didn't connect the dots of why Roman would ask till he saw Roman waiting for him outside his classroom.

  "How did you get here so-"

  "Magic!" Roman interrupted. He held up a beat up hall pass.

  Virgil marveled at it. "How did you get ahold of one of these?"

  "Like I said, magic!"

  "You're a clueless moron."

  "I do suffer from Always Dumb and Hot Disorder, so I suppose you're right."

  "Wait what??"

  "Always Dumb and Hot Disorder! ADHD! I mean I am pretty hot."

  "Snrk, yeah sure Princey. Keep dreaming."

  "I'll have you know I'm made of 100% attractiveness and beauty!!"

  "Oh yeah? Does it say that on the tag? Right along with the price of $10.99?"

  "Oh how dare you put my price lower than the leftover makeup on your face!! I'm worth at least a whole 50 dollars! Per inch!!"

  "Per inch of what? Stupid? You know I could actually believe that one."

  "Well my Nightmare Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, I do believe I could make a fortune myself off the amount of snark you toss out of your mouth."

  "Only for you, Princey!"

  They arrived at the bathroom and Roman pulled out his own makeup supplies he kept on hand.

  It was a lot more vast than Virgil would have thought. Foundation, powder, eyeshadow in the full rainbow of colors (including a deep purple that caught Virgil's eye), eyeliner, and even some sparkly shit Virgil didn't know the name of. (Virgil had always seen it in stores but had opted for just calling it sparkly shit rather than learning it's name.)

  Roman handed him makeup wipes and instructed him to remove his mangled mess of makeup that was already on his pale face.

~~•~~

  As Virgil took off the layers of product on his face, Roman could finally see just how tired he was.

  The bags under his eyes looked very much like the eyeshadow he had been wearing previously and looking at his eyes a little closer, Roman could see they were bloodshot and all in all, it looked like the poor boy hadn't slept in days.

  Roman felt awful for him. There was an odd pang in his chest when he saw the shorter boy like that. What in the world was it about Virgil Sanders that so soundly struck Roman's heart?

~~•~~

  Virgil finished with his face and saw Roman ready with foundation and sponge.

  "Alright, Charlie Frown, ready for your makeover?"

  Virgil rolled his eyes and Roman stepped towards him. 

  In fact Roman came very close to Virgil.

  In fact by the time Roman stopped moving, there was hardly four inches between them.

  And very suddenly Virgil was not alright again.

  Roman had almost completely drowned all of Virgil's fears and hurts and anxieties that had been clustering around him like a dark stormcloud the entire day.

  Roman had made the fact that Virgil hadn't slept that night, instead opting to sit and sob violently while reading the five years his mother had hidden from him, okay. He had made him forget it. He had made it alright.

  Roman had calmed the constant whirlwind of anxiety that was usually so loud that Virgil wanted to throw up to a low buzzing hum that Virgil had finally been able to ignore.

  Roman had made him happy to be there.

  Roman had made him laugh.

  Roman had made him smile.

  Roman had made him forget the marks.

  Roman had made him forget his mistakes.

  Roman had made him forget what and who Virgil was.

  And now.

  Virgil had everything crash back down.

  Virgil backed away from Roman, pushing lightly against his chest. "W-wait I don't think we should do this anymore…"

  Had Virgil not been so lost in the storm of his anxieties, he would have seen the way disappointment and worry flashed vibrantly across Roman's eyes.

  Roman's smile dulled to a softly worried one. "Is everything okay?"

  For some unknown reason those three words made everything worse for Virgil.

  No!! No, nothing is okay!! Everything is wrong and bad and awful and I don't know what to do or where to go and there's no one I can talk to and I'm just so alone and scared and nothing will ever be okay!!!

  Virgil wanted to scream and cry and fall over and he wished he could float around endlessly in the void of space and just silently sob and he wished he had something to distract from the bottomless pit of anxious trembling he had fallen into.

  "I-I'm sorry- I just- I can't-!" Virgil stumbled around his words before he backed away and fled the bathroom. He ran upstairs and into a different bathroom where he locked himself in a stall and cried silently, letting the actions of yesterday wash over him once again.

  Nothing could be done to make it okay.

  Nothing would make anything okay.

  So instead of trying to make it okay, Virgil could at least distract himself.

  So he fished out a pencil from his backpack along with his sharpener.

~~•~~

  Roman watched in pain and dismay as Virgil backed away from him and ran out the door.

  Something was very wrong.

  And it hurt that Roman couldn't help.

  It hurt that he didn't know how to help.

  Roman tried to brush everything off as he started putting away his materials.

  There's something wrong that I'm missing here...Is he okay? Is he alright? Does he need my help? Does he want my help? I want to help him...why do I want to help him so badly?

  As Roman was exiting the bathroom, his wrist exploded into a stinging pain. He nearly dropped his backpack as he grabbed his wrist.

  He pulled back the sleeve of his jacket and found nothing there. Once again it had been nothing but phantom pain. They had been getting more frequent in the past few months.

  The bell rang and Roman walked to his 5th period class where he would spend the time with Patton talking about Virgil.

  "-and then he just...left." Roman said, finishing his account of his interaction.

  Patton nodded his head slowly. "Mm, mm, Logan was right wow. I can't believe it, if I'm being honest, but Logan totally called it."

  "Called what?" Roman asked hesitantly.

  "You are absolutely head over heels for this boy."

  Roman stared blankly at Patton. A red blush exploded onto his face and he waved his hands. "WHAT?!" He shook his head violently and laughed. "No no no, you got this all wrong, Padre! I am not head over heels for Virgil!"

  "Virgil?" Patton suddenly looked curious. "As in Virgil Sanders??"

  Roman looked at his friend, the heat from his face fading. "Yes? Who else??"

  Patton brightened up. "I have him my 2nd period!! You never mentioned his name before and now that you have well it's OBVIOUS who you're talking about!!"

  Roman couldn't help but feel happy. "Really? You know him?"

  Patton laughed. "No! We just have the same class together! That's all!"

  Roman deflated a little and the class carried onward.

  And for the first time ever, Roman was anxious about his theater class arriving.

  When it did eventually arrive, it was so much more dramatic than even the title "drama class" could capture.

  Roman walked into class, dreading to face Virgil.

  But instead of seeing the emo sulking or completely avoiding him, Roman walked onto the stage and was met face to face with Virgil Sanders.

  Literally.

  Roman had nearly ran into the pretty faced emo who was just a few steps away from the door.

  "Hey," Roman started, his hopes of becoming the emo's friend having died to nothing but a sickly burning coal. "Look, I don't know exactly what I did, but I'm really sorry all the same. And you don't have to try and be my friend or anything if you don't want to. I'm really sorry for-"

  Virgil started laughing. It was a louder laugh. It was just as beautiful and sweet as his softly golden chuckle, but this one sounded bright and silvery, it had a bite to it, the way that the cold bites longingly into your skin during wintertime. His laugh was wonderful and sweet and it sounded the way peppermint tasted.

  Roman caught himself up in his laugh before he snapped himself back to reality and found Virgil shaking off the last bit of his laugh and saw the emo smiling sweetly at Roman, his deep blue eyes sparkling with joy and…something harsher.

  "Why are you laughing?" Roman finally found himself asking.

  Virgil straightened himself and responded. "I just thought it was funny," He ran a hand through his hair, brushing his bangs out of his face before the fell over his eyes again. "I was coming to apologize to you for running off so suddenly." Virgil shuffled his feet and played with the edges of his sleeves. His laughing tone turned serious as he avoided Roman's eyes. "I'm really sorry for that. I had a lot on my mind and I freaked out. And if you don't want to be friends, I understand...But I…" Virgil met Roman's eyes before looking back down at the ground. "I wouldn't mind if we hung out a bit."

  Though Roman couldn't see his face, he could practically hear the shy smile that Virgil undoubtedly wore.

  Mr. Sanders walked onto the stage and nearly ran over the two boys who were standing so close to the door.

  "Gah!! Oh! So sorry there, boys!" Mr. Sanders caught Virgil's eye and quicker than needed, he left to center stage.

  Roman, just barely, caught Virgil's pained and distressed expression before the emo threw his hood up over his head, obscuring his face.

  "Alright class! Let's circle up!" Mr. Sanders called brightly.

  Virgil walked over, his hood up and his hands stuffed into his pockets. He stalked over to the edge of the circle, as far away from the young theater teacher as possible. Roman followed, only to have an oblivious and lonely Rose shove herself between Roman and his very near new friend.

  "Hey Ro, guess what?" Rose whispered.

  Roman rolled his eyes. "What?"

  "There's, like, a really cute girl over there!!" She pointed to a tall blonde girl with a shy face and dark bracelets. Another emo, this one a little more subtle than the boy a few feet away from him. "Please be my super cool wingman!" She begged jumping up and down.

  Roman heard Virgil snort from behind Rose. "I-"

  "Alright, class! Today we're going to continue with group juggling, but with a twist!" Mr. Sanders brought out a bag and took an orange tennis ball out. "It'll be just like last time, except we're going to have an order this time." He looked in the direction of Roman, but not at him. "Virgil!" He called to the boy with his hair in his face and tossed the orange ball to him.

  Virgil had not been ready for that. "What?" Virgil asked and only just barely saw the ball coming toward him. The panic was clear on his face as he struggled to catch the ball, eventually having it drop to the floor.

  "What the hell, Thomas!!" Virgil shouted. Roman watched as he saw something boil inside Virgil. "First, you show up in my life out of the blue-"

  "Virgil, now might not be the time to-"

  "Fuck the 'Right time,' Thomas!” Virgil yelled. There was something raw and hurt in his voice that went so much deeper than being unready to catch a ball. “I can't deal with this much longer!!"

  Roman looked between the two and Mr. Sanders caught his eye. "Roman can you-?"

  "Stop it! Stop trying to avoid the reality of things! You can’t just brush it off because it’s uncomfortable or you don’t fucking like it!” Virgil ran a distressed hand through his hair. It had seemed like he’d forgotten everyone was there.

  Mr. Sanders’ eyes darted between his students and Virgil. His eyes landed again on Roman and the tall boy caught his pleading gaze.

  Take the kids back to the classroom, so I can talk to Virgil? Mr. Sanders’ look was clear enough. At the very least, Roman knew to get the others out of the theater.

  “Listen, Virgil! I do want to talk about this! We need to talk about this!” Mr. Sanders said, Turning his full attention to Virgil as Roman started whispering to the kids, herding them off the stage.

  “Then why aren’t yo-”

  Virgil’s pained shouting was muffled almost entirely by the big metal doors the led off of stage left. Roman was almost glad that he couldn’t hear them anymore. Something about the way Virgil was yelling made Roman’s chest twist into a knot and his stomach churn.

  Roman turned around and leaned against the heavy doors, letting a small breath out. He could still hear muffled shouts coming from the stage, though he couldn’t make out any words.

  “Holy shit…” One girl said with a small laugh of disbelief. “Emo’s got some sort of real shit with teach, huh?”

  “Hey!” Rman caught himself shouting, a little louder than intended. He calmed his voice and started again, softer. “I don’t know what’s up between Sanders and Virgil, but whatever it is it should blow over soon!” Roman kept his voice happy and light, but against the door he could hear something being thrown. Maybe a chair by the sound of it. Roman took another small breath. “Let’s just all head over to the classroom. I know some theater games we can play while we wait for Mr. Sanders and Virgil to get back.”

  As they all walked over to the small black-box theater that they used as a theater classroom, Roman hung back a little, sparing one last glance at the doors to the stage before heading over with the rest of the class.

  What the hell kind of second day of school is this??

~~•~~

  Virgil had been dreading his theater class all day.

  Roman had somehow, miraculously, stopped Virgil’s ever racing heart for a few minutes.

  And it wasn’t his fault.

  Thomas’s, I mean.

  He had just been trying to get through the day and had subconsciously picked Virgil.

  It was, however, Virgil’s fault that he had exploded. Maybe it wasn’t 100% his fault, as anxiety, nerves, and the pent up emotions of an anxious and nervous person do play a role in the doom of all things socially acceptable, but it was still his fault at the end of the day.

  And so here they were.

  Screaming.

  Or at least Virgil was cause goddammit he couldn’t take it anymore.

  All the hurt, all the betrayal, everything he had ever wanted that had been stolen from him, everything he had stuffed into little jars in his mind, all of it exploded.

  Right then.

  Right there.

  And by god did it hurt.

  It hurt so badly.

  It stung in his chest and burned in his throat and pricked at his eyes and pounded in his head and clawed at his lungs.

  And it hadn’t been right for Virgil to blame Thomas.

  But he had.

  “Then why aren’t you talking about it?!” Virgil screamed.

  "Because in the middle of my class is not the right time or place, Virgil!! Take into consideration the other kids!!" Thomas raised his voice for the first time.

  Virgil was upset. More than he thought he'd be. He turned to a chair and kicked it hard, sending it bouncing a few feet away.

  Thomas's tone calmed again, but it was still shaky with emotion. "Virgil you need to calm down, okay-?"

  "No, dammit!!" Virgil shouted, tears pricking his eyes causing him to panic even more. "I'm sick and tired of people telling me to calm down because they don't want to deal with me!!" He ran a hand through his hair, his breath was shallow and hard. He caught Thomas's eyes and read pain, panic, and above them, regret. It hurt. If Thomas was like Virgil had thought he'd be, if Thomas had been cruel and spiteful, if he hated Virgil, it would have been easy.

  But Thomas cared.

  And that hurt so much more.

  "Why didn't you-" why didn't you come and find me? "Why wasn't I-" why wasn't I good enough for mom to let me read those letters? "Why couldn't I-" why couldn't I have lived with my brother in my life?!

  Virgil could no longer stand as his legs gave out beneath him. The weight of everything in his mind had seemed to crush him.

  It was awful.

  It was bitter.

  It made him nauseous.

  Virgil sat crumpled on the ground and as his emotions raged inside him, he started to cry.

  Virgil felt a hand on his shoulder and didn’t need to spare the glance at Thomas to know who it was. All he had to do was lean into him and let his older brother wrap his arms around him in a soft, comforting hug that smelled faintly of butterscotch and cinnamon. Virgil buried his face in Thomas’s shoulder and fought sobs.

  This is what he missed out on.

  This is what he never had.

  This is what he wanted.

  An older brother who cared about him.

  And Thomas? He had only really known him for two days, barely. And yet he cared more for Virgil than anything Virgil had felt before then.

  He felt for the first time ever that he belonged.

  Thomas and Virgil sat there on the stage floor for a while longer, Thomas holding his younger brother in his arms and stroking his hair, Virgil sitting in his older brother’s arms and crying softly, slowly calming himself down.

  When Virgil finally calmed down enough, Thomas unwrapped himself from around Virgil. “Alright. Feel better?” Virgil nodded and Thomas continued. “Now then. We  have some things to talk about, I think.”

  Vigil nodded again and the two stood up, walking to the edge of the stage apron and sitting down, letting their feet dangle over the edge.

  “So,” Thomas started, looking out over the empty audience. “Are you okay, first of all, and second, do you want to talk about mom? Or would you rather talk about me and the letters first?”

  Virgil took a shaky breath. “I’m alright. And I think I’d rather talk about...Mom...First…” Virgil was reluctant to admit there was anything at all wrong with his home life, but deep, way deep in the cold dark basements of his mind, the place where all the painful truths hide themselves, he knew that there was.

  Thomas broke the silence. “Does she hide stuff from you often?”

  Virgil nodded. “She removed the lock on my door when I was eight, too. I have this wooden doorstop that I created as a makeshift lock, but I can’t lock my door when I’m away at school.” Virgil looked at his brother. “Did she do stuff like that to you?” He asked tentatively.

  “Yeah.” Thomas said, lowering himself down onto his back and string up at the electrics that were hidden by the proscenium. “She’d read my journals and all the old angsty poems I wrote. She would drink and smoke all the time too.”

  “Virgil nodded sadly, lowering himself down next to his brother. “I mean she’s not all that bad. She cares about me, and feeds me, and makes sure there’s a roof over our head…”

  “Despite that, that doesn’t necessarily make her a good person. She still doesn’t have any right to do what she did to you. If you hadn’t been her kid, she could be arrested for mail theft.” Thomas looked at his brother with a kind of protectiveness that only family harbors for one another. “The question I really need to ask you, Virgil, is this; Do you feel safe and happy at home?”

  Virgil opened his mouth to answer yes, but found he couldn’t do it. His mother would drink most nights and smoke often. She’d come home with someone new as her date every two weeks. She would make him do most things downstairs where she could see him and if he wasn’t within direct eyeshot, would be checking in on him every ten minutes it seemed. He didn’t feel in danger, but he didn’t feel safe. And he didn’t feel unhappy, but he didn’t have very many happy memories of the house with the strange yellow door either.

  Virgil shook his head. “No…” He choked out.

  Thomas sat up. “I have a proposition for you, then.” Virgil sat up too. “For the time being, until you graduate, you’re free to come by and visit me, or spend the night whenever you’d like. Unannounced or otherwise.”

  Virgil found himself lighting up at the prospect of being able to live with or at least visit his brother on a regular basis. He felt his face darken with doubt soon after though. “Really? For real? You’re not playing me here?”

  Thomas looked at Virgil with a serious expression. “Virgil, I want you to be safe and happy, and I’ve wanted to be in your life from the very first moment I knew you existed. When I say you can come over whenever you’d like, I mean it.” Thomas pulled Virgil into a quick tight hug before continuing. “I want whatever’s best for you, and only you know that. I just want to make sure you have somewhere you can go to feel safe and happy.”

  Virgil nodded. “I think…” He started, his mind whirling with possibilities and opportunities. “I think I’d like to come over and talk about the letters later today, Thomas.”

  Thomas smiled. “I think that’s a splendid idea, Virgil.”

Author’s note: Hey, Hi so uh...If any of you remember I said like half a week ago this would be out in a few days...So...Sorry about that. The chapter ended up being a tad bit longer than I thought it was going to be and I lost a lot of motivation for a day or two in there. I’m glad it’s at least on time though, and not late. Ideally it would have been early, like I’d said it would be, but what can ya do? Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoy this extra long chapter! Thanks again for reading it all!! love ya!

Tag list:

@anxietea-and-insanitea

@ghostboi-bambi

@scrunchiescrunchie

@badluckkaren

@ambrechandra

@nadja-chamack16

@athenashipsthings

@slitherynchiken

@crooked-harmony-student

@icequeenoriginal

@just-a-hufflepuff

[ultfreakme]

Some To Veer the Tides notes

Yes I know no one cares about this kinda shit but I worked hard on creating this fic and need to get this out of my system because it’s literally only in my brain and echoing in there and disrupting my life. This is just word vomit. If, for some reason, you actually got through all the currently 50k + words of my akafuri fic and want some more, here’s some notes-

Overarching themes:

1.       Sun and Moon

When it comes to AkaFuri, I use a lot of comparisons to sun, the sunlight, and metaphors regarding the sun. It plays a huge role, at least in my fics, in defining their relationship. Akashi seems to be influenced by the sun a lot. In his manga introduction, he was standing right in front of it, the light hiding his face(as far as I remember), and it stayed in my mind. He’s unreachable, and even if you manage to get close you get burnt. It can be cruel and kind, and it colours the sky in so many different colours and the one I most often remember when thinking of Akashi is the setting sun when the sky is red but the sun is this blazing ball of orange. (something like this)

Furihata’s always been filtered sun rays, the ones that peek through clouds, coming down like rain through leaves of trees. He’s Komorebi. His aesthetic and presence are meant to be gentle in the manga and he looks it. He looks sorta wispy and soft, the most beautiful and gentle form of sunlight to me. But it’s not something too many people think about because you get caught up in the grand colours of the sun.

(the pictures are here to make this less tedious. Also, nature’s cool.)

But they’re the one and the same. In the end they’re of the sun, from the sun.

In To Veer the Tides, a lot of the hard-hitting and emotional scenes happen based on the sun.

-          Their first conversation was in the dead of the night which is neither of their domain. They haven’t met eye to eye it’s a dodgy interaction where both of them are hesitant. Their first kiss was in the night too. A kiss may seem like progress but it was the worst possible decision to have been made then.

-          The time at the field was in full sunlight and it was the first time they met eye to eye.

-          One thing I was giddy writing, was Furihata’s birthday. It starts at night, they aren’t meeting eye to eye, Furihata’s not having a good time and everything sucks. But as the night goes on and it gets close to sunlight, they slowly start to understand something with each other. Furihata was so averse to Akashi until the gift moment and suddenly he’s like. “Okay fuck what is happening I was planning on avoiding you forever.”

Was it annoying trying to line up events to time of days? Yes. Did I do it? Abso-fucking-lutely because I’m horny for symbolism in stories.

Now the MOON. In this fic, Nijimura is the moon. Sun and Moon parallels are the bread and butter of romantic analogies and the “we’re totally bros” (a no-homo cannot fix this) build-up in queerbaiting anime targeted at boys which are enjoyed better by people who aren’t cishet men.

Akashi and Nijimura are like that. One can’t live without the other, they depend on each other. They are seemingly different but of equal importance. I straight up said it in chapter one. In this fic, NijiAka are the soulmates. But the fic is called ‘To Veer the Tides” right? It’s about defying fate and what’s supposedly set in stone. It’s about Akashi learning that just because you are always winning doesn’t mean you can’t lose, and that just because you hit rock bottom doesn’t mean you can’t get back up.

Also, I do love the idea of two people being made for each other, fitting perfectly, but I love the idea of two people loving each other enough to say “fuck it!” to fate just to be together more.

Had the siege at Rakuzan not happened, NijiAka would’ve been satisfied and happy together, it would’ve been perfect. For Akashi and Furihata to be anything real, I feel like something radical would have to happen because, as we all know, it’s a crack pair.

(Even MayuAka falls into the Sun & Moon, Light & Shadow analogy. No hate to both ships, y’all actually have canon backing ;_; which is always fun.)

We as shippers and artists are what made it something legit. You could hypothetically ship Kawahara and Kagami but literally no one does and just the idea of it sounds a little ridiculous right? Well AkaFuri is like that for people who don’t get it. But then we made it into something plausible (and the cute art and fics dragged me in, man akafuri creators are convincing).

ANYWAYS- something stupid and impossible needs to happen for AkaFuri to have a chance- and where did our beloved ship originate? When the blessed Chihuahua-Lion thing happened and Akashi, THE AKASHI SEIJUUROU, miscalculated. Something that shouldn’t be happening, happened. And Akashi fell so hard. It was a ripple effect from Furihata standing up against Akashi, the making that basket, Seirin getting pumped up again, etc(I’m not saying “uwaaaah Furihata caused that” cuz he didn’t, Kuroko’s responsible for pushing Akashi to change but shipper brainrot dictates that I mention it).

So something like that needed to happen. Thus, Akashi fell.

2.       Flowers

I started it for the aesthetics. Pretty boys in flowy clothes surrounded by flower symbolism. That’s how it began and then I accidentally put plot in it. It’s not as heavy as the Sun and Moon comparisons, but they do have a level of significance. Chrysanthemums are symbols of royalty and prestige in Japan, so obviously the Akashis get that. Camellias are for faithfulness. Zinnias, are for loyalty and perseverance. The flowers define the House, the state they’re in and the clans.

The biggest moment was with the Kiku and Niko story in chapter 12.

3.       The concept of  being truthful

The story, to one extent, is about how hypocritical and broken some of the land’s ideologies. If you look at it past the romance, it’s about how literally no one is sticking to the virtues of the land, or the basic decencies of being a human being. In canon, Akashi’s the ‘villain’.

I disagree.

The true villain of KNB are the adults. Teikou pushed middle school children into hierarchies in a basketball club just to keep up the prestige of their name. The coaches never approached the kids when they were emotionally broken and needed someone to ground them. Akashi’s dad pushed him so far that he developed a mental disorder.

We never see the actual villains and they’re never defeated. This is because in reality, the children are powerless. KNB lasts just one school year. What about when they get out? What happens when they face the real villains?

That’s what happens in this fic. They’re all more aged up, but Akashi suffered his worst defeat as a child in the conflict of adults. Now that he’s grown up, he stands a chance. The entire fic is, to an extent, the cruelty of the adults and the powerful.

People go on and on about honesty, truthfulness and being honourable but no one is, and no one should try to be so rigidly perfect. These phrases or virtues according to which people are supposed to live are taken to be used whenever it’s convenient for them.

Seirin is the biggest example of this because that’s where a lot of the story takes place. “Honesty Above”, but they’re always gossiping and rumours keep spreading like wildfire there. False and romanticized rumours. It’s what Akashi depends on to brush up on his reputation and it works.

Akashi didn’t really do much good in the grand scheme of things but his closeness to Furihata, Kawahara and Fukuda along with ratting out on Yuito and Toshi was enough to sort of sway their opinions on him. People used to be terrified of him in the main house but after a while he gets respect (though imposing and kinda scary).

Yes I’m trying to be a pretentious fuck but I’m no….idk insert awesome writer who actually can handle these kinda things. Writing like this is difficult ngl and I accidentally create analogies I don’t intend because of the already existing stuff.

Eg: To Veer the Tides- Nijimura’s the moon. What can ACTUALLY veer the tides and is associated with it? The moon. But Nijimura doesn’t have that big of a part in the story.

 Anyways, here’s my word vomit. You can use these analogies for your fics to and jump off these ideas cause’ I need more fics dang it ;_;

[settersprouts]

꠵ look at me : chapter four ꠵

パニック 。

"How in the hell did we manage to get in this situation?"

Iwaizumi's and Matsukawa's shared thoughts explained the worst possible situation they would be in : they lost Oikawa and Hanamaki.

"Damn, this is bad." Iwaizumi reached for his phone, dialing Oikawa's number for the seventeenth time. Of course, just like the other sixteen times, there was no answer : the call just went straight to voicemail. "He put his goddamn phone on silent, what the hell was he thinking?"

Matsukawa rubbed Iwaizumi's back, supporting his teammate. "I'm sure they're fine. Maybe they went to get food or something." He checked his own phone to see if Hanamaki had read his texts, but his results were the same as Iwaizumi's. "I got no answer from Makki. He probably turned his phone off as well."

Iwaizumi grabbed his own hair, practically tearing it out of his scalp. "Crap, they're really starting to worry the living shit out of me." Matsukawa snorted a little bit, taking Iwaizumi's hands in his own to force him to stop making himself go bald.

"Look, you need to calm down. If they were in actual danger, the last thing they need is you not thinking straight." Matsukawa flicked Iwaizumi's forehead. "So, just take a deep breath. Breathe with me. In for four, hold for four, and out for four." Iwaizumi matched his breathing with Matsukawa's, and after a couple minutes his mini panic-attack had gone down, and the veins that were popping out of his forehead earlier weren't visible anymore. Muttering a small thanks, he checked his phone again just to see if Oikawa had texted. It was the same as earlier; no answer.

"Hey!" Hanamaki's bright voice rang through both boys' ears. They turned to greet the huge smile plastered on the boy's face. "Sorry about leaving you guys, I got you some food!"

Matsukawa and Iwaizumi both let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. "About time," Matsukawa muttered, opening his arms to give Hanamaki a little hug. "Was 'boutta call the cops on your dumb ass."

Hanamaki scoffed, shoving two paper bags into his friend's arms. "Well, screw you. I even got yours and Iwa's favorite too."

Iwaizumi peaked over Matsukawa's shoulder as the latter opened the crinkled bag. Inside were two foil-wrapped packages, the smell emitting from the wrapping suggesting Hanamaki had bought some food. Iwaizumi reached inside and pulled out one of the packages, opening the foil just a little bit to reveal Matsukawa's favorite food, cheese-filled hamburg steak.

Matsukawa gasped, taking the food from Iwaizumi's hand and looking at it like it was his lifeline. "Makki, you are a literal angel. God bless. I love you." He took a bite out of the steak, closing his eyes and smiling. "No homo though." He added on in between bites, finishing the meat in under fifteen seconds.

He gave the other bag to Iwaizumi, which held little plastic containers with some agedashi tofu. He inhaled the food's scent, wrinkling his nose a little bit at the sudden waft. It smelled normal, but it wasn't like the tofu Oikawa and his okāsan⭒ used to make. Even though Toorū was a brat about making food for Iwaizumi sometimes, he still managed to cook something up that tasted absolutely fantastic. It kind of scared him.

Iwaizumi pulled out the container, popping the lid open and stabbing a toothpick into one of the tofu pieces, popping it into his mouth. "So, where's Crappykawa?"

Hanamaki shrugged. "Dunno. I think he chickened out." An unamused expression made its way onto Makki's face. "He's probably still pissed about Karasuno beating us, that he didn't want to watch them go against Shiratorizawa."

Matsukawa and Iwaizumi both glanced at each other as Hanamaki stalked off, hands in his pockets and everything. "Sometimes, I really wonder what goes on inside his head."

"Honestly." Matsukawa replied, as they both speed-walked to keep up with Hanamaki. "I've been meaning to ask you, how's 'Kawa doing?"

Iwaizumi stiffened a little at the mention of his friend. A thousand things flew through his head. Should he tell him? Would Oikawa get mad? How would Matsukawa take it? Would he call the cops? Would he believe him? Would he tell Makki?

"You know, if you don't want to answer, you don't have to. Just don't glare at me, you're giving me chills." Iwaizumi snapped back to reality at Matsukawa's words, realizing he was glaring daggers at his friend. He mumbled an 'oh, gomen'nasai ⭒ ,' feeling relieved when Mattsun waved it off like it was nothing. "If it's personal, I get it. I'd be pretty 'pressed too, if I was in his situation."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Matsukawa sighed, looking up towards the cloudy sky. "Well, Oikawa is an amazing captain, and setter. He tried for three years to make it to Nationals at Seijoh, worked his knee into a brace, and his chances were all swiped out from underneath him." Iwaizumi noticed his fist clenched a little bit, but decided not to mention it. "You know, I don't blame him for hating Kageyama. He was just born gifted, while Oikawa worked his ass off to get to where he is right now."

Iwaizumi nodded, remembering Oikawa's semi-hatred for the first-year Karasuno setter. "But, even so, that doesn't explain why he tried hitting him. You remember that, right?"

"Seriously?" Matsukawa turned his head to stare into Iwaizumi's olive-colored eyes. "I mean, sure, but he was having a panic-attack, if the things you told me and Makki were true."

"A panic-attack?" Iwaizumi looked at Matsukawa in shock. "Shittykawa? Having a panic-attack?"

Hanamaki slowed his pace so that he was walking alongside Iwaizumi and Matsukawa. "Yeah. From what you told us, he was breathing really fast and his pupils were small," he pointed to his own eyes while saying this part. "And he was sweating a lot more than he should have been, since he didn't practice all that much yet. Seeing Kageyama probably triggered his flight or fight response, and made him freak out even more."

Iwaizumi's eyebrows furrowed as the facts dawned on him. It all made sense now, why Oikawa had distanced himself so much more from Kageyama than he did before the incident. He'd avoid him at all costs, making sure he never came too close in contact with his underclassman : probably in fear of coming close to hitting him again. What if Kageyama triggered another panic-attack, and Iwaizumi wasn't there to stop him from doing something he'd regret?

Hanamaki looked at Iwaizumi's expression, clapping him on the back. "Oikawa's come a long way since then. That was what, three years ago?" He intertwined his fingers, flipping his hands and holding his palms to the sky. "He's doing a lot better now, and I'm really proud of him." He flashed a bright smile at them, which nearly blinded Iwaizumi and Matsukawa.

"Aw, man. I should've brought sunglasses." Matsukawa muttered, rubbing his eyes. Hanamaki laughed, slinging his arms around the latter's and Iwaizumi's shoulders.

"Let's just find some seats. Maybe we'll find Oikawa!"

⊱─ ‧̥̥͙⋅. ♔ .⋅‧̥̥͙ ─ ⊰

Iwaizumi muttered incoherent curse words as he climbed the fourth set of stairs, looking for Oikawa on the right side of the stadium now. "I know he's here. Why the hell is he so hard to find?" He, Hanamaki, and Matsukawa had split up, deciding that it would be easier that way to find the setter quicker and easier if he even decided to watch the match. Iwaizumi was about to give up when he noticed the familiar chestnut-brown tufts of hair that peeked over one of the chairs in the stadium. There he is, Iwaizumi thought, walking up behind his friend.

"Ah. So you're here too."

Oikawa stiffened, turning around abruptly at Iwaizumi's voice, probably expecting his childhood best-friend to yell at him. Fortunately for him, he didn't get that reaction, and he relaxed his shoulders a bit, but was obviously still a little tense. "I thought you said you didn't want to come, since it'll piss you off no matter who won," Iwaizumi said, as he hopped over the back of the chairs to stand next to his friend.

Oikawa smiled slyly, taking his arms off his knees and leaning back into the chair he sat in. "No matter who wins, I'm going to be able to see the faces of whoever loses."

"Man. You really are a piece of crap." Iwaizumi glanced at Oikawa, who's face now held his "oh so famous" setter pout. It really confused the latter how every setter he saw seemed to make that same face whenever something pissed them off. It was kind of freaky. Pushing his thoughts aside, he sat down just one seat from Oikawa, knowing that he would want a little bit of personal space while dealing with all the crazy emotions going on inside his head.

Oikawa leaned forward in his seat a little bit, his eyes dead set on the so-called "Chibi-Chan." Iwaizumi could've have sworn he saw stars in his eyes, like Oikawa was just taken aback by every move the middle blocker made. Hell, maybe even every breath he took. Iwaizumi watched as the orange-haired ball of energy scored a point, yelling out in triumph. Oikawa seemed to smile with his eyes a little bit, his complexion brightening by the second. It was obvious what team he was mentally rooting for, even if he didn't say so himself.

Oikawa turned to Iwaizumi, probably to say some snotty remark about Ushiwaka, before noticing the latter was staring at him already. Chocolate-colored eyes met olive-colored ones, a blush rising on the setter's face. Oikawa quickly turned his head, his ears noticeably flushed.

Fuck. He's cute.

⊱ ─ ‧̥̥͙⋅. ♔ .⋅‧̥̥͙ ─ ⊰

⭒ dictionary !! ⭒

¶-12 : okāsan, お母さん : an honorific form of address; used to call someone else's mother.

¶-18 : gomen'nasai, ごめんなさい : i'm sorry

** some of the dialogue in this chapter is paraphrased or taken from the actual scene in [ haikyu!! ] . this was not with the intention to pass it off as my own original work : it was only put there to fit the timeline and script of the anime/manga. all rights reserved to haruichi furudate. **

chapter 5 !

[bisexualsforprompto]

Guilt and Love Chapter 2

Marinette had heard of Gotham villains before, but seeing one in the flesh made her shudder. Sure she’d gone up against villains all the time, but Akumatized victims, save Lila, were terrorizing Paris against their own free will. These Gothamites did it for fun. Marinette knew she was out of her league but she refused to let anyone get hurt without a fight. Gotham didn’t have a miraculous cure, so those injured would stay that way. Marinette assessed the situation, each of the Joker’s henchmen had guns but they were nothing without their leader. Marinette knew Joker was brutal so her best bet would be to take him out while he expected victory. Marinette quickly formulated a plan, all she needed to do was give him enough rope to hang himself…

“Oh please don’t hurt me!” She said in her best damsel in distress voice. She saw Damian jump beside her, she knew he was confused but she just gave him a confident look that said, I have a plan. As the villains turned to face her and away from the crowd she laid it on extra thick. “I’ll do anything, just spare me.” She brought a hand up to her head, she was overacting a little bit but Gotham was known for its over the topness. The Joker walked toward her as he smiled thinking he found his newest target. As he sauntered over Marinette saw her opening. Swiftly, she swept his leg out from under him causing him to fall to the ground and moan in pain. She ran dodging bullets and punches from Joker’s goons and yelled, “Everyone Exit the building in an orderly fashion! Get out while you can!” People started hurrying out as Marinette held off the henchmen, being joined shortly by Damian and Dick. As the building evacuated Batman dropped in from a window. Seeing that his son, Dick, and this petite french girl were kicking a*s he took Joker over to the station letting the duo handle the rest.

As Damian fought he finally understood why this girl was his soulmate, it didn’t really click that he had one until this moment. Seeing her fight like a bad*ss and use her wits was when he finally realized, ‘maybe I’m not so alone after all.’

~~~~~~~

With Marinette’s help the fight was over quickly, everyone had been evacuated and most people left the building completely unscathed, others with minor injuries. Bruce decided to check up on the French class, one to make sure they were okay and two to see if he could adopt the fighting girl with black hair and blue eyes. He was kidding of course about the second detail, well not really. As soon as he arrived he heard an Italian girl with brown hair yelling at the girl who had saved the French class.

“I can’t believe you were going to let Joker kill us all just to save yourself!” She fake sobbed as the other students comforted her, all of the class scowled at her. “Are you kidding me?! She saved you!” Bruce heard his son shoot back in French, ‘uh, oh’. That tone usually meant he was on the verge of murder. He walked over and ignored the looks of recognition. “Oh my god it’s Bruce Wayne! Didn’t you say you knew him Lila!” A pale short blonde squealed. The Italian girl rubbed her neck and chuckled guiltily. ‘God, I hope Bruce Wayne doesn’t know French’ she thought as she said, “Yes, but don’t mention it. We try to keep it on the hush hush so I don’t get mobbed everywhere.” Bruce raised an eyebrow. ‘F*ck’ Lila thought. “Is that so? Because I distinctly recall that I’ve never met you.” Damian smiled triumphantly, ‘that should knock her down a peg.’ Bruce didn’t dwell on the teenage drama, he didn’t want to be here when the liar was confronted, “I just wanted to see the girl who single handedly took down Joker and his men.” Bruce smirked as the petite midnight haired girl blushed. Damian gestured to her, “This is her. Marinette, mysoulmate.” Damian mumbled the last words and spoke them quickly. Bruce almost didn’t catch it, but he smiled a little and looked up to see both the girl, Damian’s soulmate, and Damian, himself a blushy mess. Damian didn’t blush, obviously this girl hit him hard. Bruce smirked until a caramel skinned girl with dyed red hair at the tips shouted, “Wait! I thought you were in love with Lila, Damian! How could you move on so quickly?! Especially for someone like Marinette of all people?” Alya scrunched up her nose at the word Marinette, like it was the plague. Damian almost growled, “First of all, I don’t know any Lilac girl! And second, I don’t like what you’re implying about Marinette, from what I’ve seen so far she’s the best one out of all of you!” It was deathly silent, Marinette shot a thankful glance up to her soulmate. It was still so surreal for her, having someone stick up for her and actually getting a soulmate! She never expected to ever get a soulmate ‘especially not someone so handsome’ Marinette mused.

Damian had defined cheekbones, a tan skin tone and piercing jade eyes. They were so much more gorgeous than Adrien’s, and his rugged black hair was styled in a way that was perfect. Marinette was grateful that he wasn’t just handsome, he stuck up for others and definitely fought well, maybe better than her. It made Marinette be even more attracted to him, and she barely knew him. There was only one thing Marinette thought could make him more attractive, a smile. He always seemed to frown, ‘I’ll just have to change that’ Marinette decided.

Lila seethed, everything was slowly tumbling down. Marinette had a soulmate now, Damian AND Bruce Wayne were there calling her out, and her classmates were starting to wise up. Lila looked for a fast escape and saw none. She was trapped, there was no way this could end well, so she did what always worked, cried.

Nobody noticed as Lila signaled behind her back. Directly following the signal was a purple akuma. It flew into her hair ribbon. ‘You’ll pay for this Marinette Dupain-Cheng’

“Yes Hawkmoth.”

(Just so you know, and before you ask I WILL explain how an akuma got in Gotham in the next chapter).

Tag list (let me if I missed you or you want to be added):

@interobanginyourmom

@beaversuenightly

@legendaryneckjudgestudent

@luciferge

@northernbluetongue

@Mandy984

@Zebrabaker

@violatiger8

@gingerdaile

@poshplumcot

@thanks-captain-obvious

@miraculous786

@superrrpc

@souleateralicestein

@mochinek0

@shamefullove

@satans-favorite-homo

@heldtogetherbysafetypins

@draco-kasai

@worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry

@synnesstra

@ace-aro-agender

@almstreet

@winter-gardenflower

@dast218

@novicevoice

@chaosace

@hypnosharkrebeldreamer

@emjrabbitwolf

@kuroko26

@eliza-bich

@mystery-5-5

@mewwitch

@shreky-boi

@zerotosiki

@imanerddealwith

[iliveinmyblanket]

Chapter one: I introduce you to my hoes

"fuck" I screamed, as I faked an orgasm for an Orangists in Holland. 

My name is Valentine Du Lac and I have the attention span of a goldfish. I’m Queen Anne of Austria, the spanish queen of france’s personal but probably not favourite spy (everybody knows that it was Madame D’Artagnan), quite frankly because I am a right pain in her arse. But I’m still often the one she sends out on a missions - no one’s going to care if a prostitute from the Court of Miracles has gone missing. She’s never said that, but it’s implied with the job.

The Job:  I was here to be the orangist’s lover and listen in on his conversations or force myself to listen in. Believe it or not Traditionalists are the most boring people I've ever met, which is funny because I've had to spend hours listening to Lucy Walters who invented the word ditzy. 

I'm gonna just give you a summary of me and Orange dutchman conversation. I forgot his name so I've just been replying to him as "sir" because quite frankly I don't have the attention span to care about man who assassinated some himbo named Johan DeWitt and his brother something deWitt -forgot his name to. I remember Johan because I like the name Johan, oh it's cornelis - see that's why I didn't remember it -what kind of pretentious name is cornelis? 

Anyway my job here was to get information, there was none, mainly because he already assassinated someone so he could stage a coup.

not really anything important. which really pissed me off, Anne really got freaked out by orange dutchman who were assassinating people and also got tipped off that traditionalists were heading to france.

which is bull. 

which is good because I don't ever have to see Orange Dutchman again.

Orange Dutchman gripped my hair, sniffing my neck and whispered, "will I see you again?"

A gave him a soft but fake smile, "of course sir"

No you won't, if you do, I will give you the deWitt treatment.

I smiled, kissed his cheek, and fucked off.

As you can tell I'm not one for too much detail in regards to things I don't care about.

All I am going to say is this is the story of how I and  two other bosses - Dominique Treville and Marie-Cessette Du Vallon; basically saved europe with our strength, swords, witty banter and aided by two himbos named Xandre and Raoul. 

get ready for adventure because we make it look bitchin'.

While I was heading back home, Dominique Treville - the daughter of the captain of the musketeer was also heading over there very quickly after reading a rather scary letter. whilst Marie-Cessette du Vallon already there she too lived at my home but had returned from a meeting with one member of the royal family. she  was now at the tavern with her fellow musketeers - Raoul de la Fare and Alexandre-Olivier D'artagnan. Marie-Cessette was the first female musketeer and one of the best of them.

now technically the home I am talking about is Paris, but you have to look inside further. not at the shiny places, not at the places that appear lively. I mean the place that looks dark, that looks broken. Look into the place that appears to be to be lifeless, but when you turn off the lights at the places that are seen to outshine everything. The place that is broken lights up like the sun.

The Court of Miracles.

The Court of Miracles is said to be the slums, the dirtiest part of Paris. that's according to the richest of Parisians. the court of miracles is the most interesting place in france, full of people of different races, of different accents, different appearances.  the most welcoming place in europe. though the structures were unstable, the society is most happy, most beautiful. see you were never judged for your job, or who you are, or what you did outside - as long as you didn't bring too much of that inside.

My mother moved from england after the english civil war, I was 16 years old, she was a whore just as I am now - puritan england was no place for a prostitute and her  out-of-wedlock daughter. She died a year later of syphilis, leaving a poor daughter penniless. 

So what does a daughter of a prostitute do, when their mother dies.

Becomes a fucking prostitute.

As opposed to non-fucking prostitutes. Years later a dark haired woman, with a blue dress and a black hooded, guided me to the palace and introduced me to the benevolent queen of france. it was suggested that I become her spy as I had caught the eye of many religious and royal officials. a women can never escape the male gaze, so why not use that to your advantage.

Marie-Cessette, whom was was an adventurous, resourceful girl, with a temper, and the first female musketeer. she was opinionated and did speak up when she didn't  agree with the men in her life. it's surprising neither of us became executed for being witches, men do not like being told what to do even if they are being outrageously pathetic. This night, this less than fine night because the sky was fucking pissing itself, Marie-Cessette was leaving a tavern in the court, she wore a white linen shirt, a blue leather doublet with the musketeers symbol (a crown) and black linen breeches with blue boots, and probably something gay like "I am gay" or "if found please return to Anne-Marie D'Orleans" I wasn't there, I'm under the assumption she was wearing that, that night considering that is the musketeers uniform not the “I am gay” part although they should have that as the uniform. Marie-Cessette had brown curly hair (proper curly, not some movie bullshit curly) that was short and tied in a bun.

Her eyes are dark and watchful. she was leaving to go to her uncle Aramis (not by blood but by heart).

Her father is the Musketeer Porthos du Vallon, who grew up in the court. he joined the musketeers when he 16. that was his only good choice out of the thousand terrible options for those born into destitution. That's where he met Aramis and Athos, the three of them becoming inseparable. that's where he met D'Artagnan -Xan's father, actually no he met D'Artagnan when D'Artagnan decided to stir shit up and duel three musketeers in one day. but that's another story, literally another story, literally in another book.

her mother Puce is known as the queen of the court, that means basically giving those in the court food and shelter, kicking people out that are stirring up trouble.

Puce and Porthos never had a son so even though Marie was to inherit the court of miracles crown, she was trained as a musketeer because Porthos wanted to raise one. did Marie get a choice? no? is she happy beating up misogynists? hella.

This girl that fought better than the manliest of men (although I wouldn't actual call them manly) was heading to her uncle Aramis, why? so he could deliver a love letter to Marie-Cessette's lover - Anne-Marie D'Orleans, the king's cousin.

so yeah isn't that like superillegal? yeah, not the homo part, I mean it is a bit. but like not as vibe checking as bedding the king's cousin when she is female.

guys be fucking whoever they want, but girls ArE ToO FrAgIlE aNd HaVE a ROle.

Meanwhile we go back to Dominique.  now Dominique she has had some pretty fucking horrible news.

Dominique Treville was the brunette usually snarky daughter of Treville, the captain of the musketeers. now nothing is snarky, everything for her is humourless. this morning Dominique had received news that  Treville had been murdered by the musketeer Aramis.

which as you can see is definitely not the case, why the fuck would Aramis the himbo who invented the word "straight ally" kill someone who he sees as a father?

he wouldn't.

But a girl who lived in the country with no knowledge of Aramis doesn't know. you probably shouldn't tell her that when she's a holding a fucking knife.

"put down the knife or you lose your neck"

Dominique turned slightly, noticing the blade that sat on her shoulder and centimetres away from her neck, while Dominique was standing over the Aramis who was sleeping

"he killed my father, so I wouldn't be protecting the murderer" Dominique replied agitated, she was in layman's term is done. with. everyone's. shit.

Marie-cessette - who was the owner of the blade had no Idea Dominique had another knife

Dominique batted the rapier away with said knife and pointed it at Marie.

If you want to understand how much of a boss Marie is, well just understand if she were to ever do a DNA test, it would show she's a hundred percent that bitch.  She grabbed Dominique's knife and punched her in the gut, then kicked her in the shins, Marie-Cessette proceeded to pick up her Rapier, as she did so, Dominique ran at her with her knife.

Aramis shot up from his bed and grabbed his rapier, held it against Dominique's neck and then held her in a choke hold.

"cessy, what in the lord's name is going on?" He grumbled sleepily.

Marie-Cessette shrugged and rolled her eyes as if to say that she did not have time for this shit.

"she says ya killed her pa?" she replied, swinging her sword aimlessly around.

"oh he a criminal? let me guess? " Aramis started and turned Dominique around so he could analyse her. "gang?  organised crime. has to be, you are clearly not parisian. too muscly, not pale enough. if I killed your father, then it was for a good reason"

Dominique scowled, bawling her hands into a fist as her nails dug into her palms. her breath increased in a mix of anger and fear.

"what good reason do you have for killing the captain of the musketeers!" Dominique roared.

The outburst caused a wave of deep silence. Marie's eyes dropped, she dropped her rapier. Aramis let go of Dominique and fell onto his bed.

Marie ran to him, to hold him.

"Treville, he...can't" Aramis cried hyperventilating, "no..he..."

Marie grabbed his face, which was flooding with tears, "don't speak"

Dominique was now fighting a war, either this was rather well planned or Dominique had been tricked. But Dominique was smart, there was no fakery in those tears (it wasn’t a youtube apology video afterall). 

Dominique dropped down, kneeling at the bed looking up at the sobbing man.

"you didn't kill him?"

Aramis shook his head, "he was a father to me, a father to paris."

Dominique banged her fists against the floor, and started to scream.

"who the fuck killed him then!" she yelled and ran out of the housing unit.

Marie started to follow her.

"cessy?" Aramis piped up as she started to exit.

"yeah mon oncle?" She replied solemnly.

"keep her safe, it's the least we can do to honour his memory." He asked her, before lying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling.

"I think she can handle safety on her own." she whispered.

"she can fight I'll admit." Aramis touched an etching on the wall, "but her recklessness will be a burden on her life."

Marie nodded and left the unit. She watched the girl with dusty hair. The daughter of treville was wearing a red corset, a dark, blue dress that fell to her knees, and black knee high boots, she wore a red tricorn hat. Dominique cut angrily up an apple with one of her knives.

"I want to help you!" Marie called.

Dominique rolled her eyes and launched a knife into a pole that was rather close to Marie's head. 

"thank you. " Marie sighed, grumpily. "I said I want to help you, not burden you. so stop being a bitch."

Dominique twiddled the other knife in her hand, "excuse me?"

Marie pulled the knife out of the pole, "you are the one throwing the knife at me. besides my mother, my father, your father helped build this citadel, are you sure you want to honour his memory by throwing blades into its foundations, and insult my family legacy." Marie shouted, despite not caring for family legacy.

"so what do you suppose I do then?" Dominique threw the apple off the balcony. "I'm back to square one."

"not if you let me help you" Marie replied, she flipped the knife and handed it to Dominique, "I'll take you to lieutenant D'artagnan, he can help us."

Dominique let out a deep exhale, and took the knife.

"I didn't get your name" Dominique said.

"Marie-Cessette Du Vallon" Marie held out her hand.

"Dominique Treville." Dominique took it and they shook.

"now let's get you to D'artagnan" Marie said, "oh and pick up that apple, rotten food is how sickness spreads, you heathen."

Dominique was rather sure that was not going to be the last time she was called a heathen.

Now it's for Xan and I's story. We a lot funkier.

[hamfistedmorals]

Rise of Skywalker: Initial Thoughts and Feelings

As a movie, it was engaging. As a Star Wars story, it hooked me. But as a conclusion to this particular trilogy? As a final chapter to the entire saga? Oh boy, was it a hot mess.

BEWARE OF SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

(Disclaimer - I’m one of the 5% of Star Wars fans that loved The Last Jedi, so that might influence my opinion, but I’ll try to keep things unbiased.) 

It was all over the place, and I mean that quite literally. 

We got to see so many new locations, and most of them seemed interesting. Unfortunately, because of the breakneck pace and the ticking clock, the film doesn’t spend any time developing these places apart from Exegol - and that’s only planet who’s name I can remember. Adding on to the map of a Galaxy Far, Far Away is always a good thing. But so many new locations in one movie, with our heroes jumping back and forth every ten minutes...doesn’t make this universe feel larger. Actually, it makes it feel smaller. In past Star Wars movies, it would take time to go from one planet or star system to another. But that really doesn’t seem to be the case here. If there’s one problem that’s been semi-consistent throughout this trilogy, it’s the confusion of timing. (What’s the point of the title crawl if Episode 8 is going to pick up immediately after Episode 7? But I digress.)

The Dyad in the Force is easily the most fascinating concept of the entire trilogy.

I braced myself for the movie to ignore the connection previously established between Rey and Kylo Ren, as it ignores so much of Episode 8. But no, Rise of Skywalker actually build on the bond between these two characters and gives us more amazing scenes of them interacting entirely through their connection in the Force. We learn that they are essentially a one-of-a-kind anomaly, that Palpatine can use to restore his life energy. Rey and Ben even learn how to use their bond by the end of the film. It’s a new idea that Star Wars hasn’t done before and I kinda love it - I just really wish they had explored it more, and better outlined what it is, where it came from, and how it works. Then again, after how much people hated the Midichlorians, I expect the writers are hesitant to give any answers about how The Force works. 

I also appreciated the official introduction of Healing, as a Force Power. 

Say what you will about some of the Force-Abilities introduced in TLJ, but this one makes perfect sense. So much so that I’m pretty sure it’s already a thing in Star Wars video games? It was well foreshadowed and it played a role in Rey and Ben’s final fight, as well as that heartbreaking climax. Honestly, I truly thought Rey was dead in that moment. I teared up, thinking that her parents’ sacrifice was for nothing. Wondering if Finn could sense that she was gone. Wondering what Ben would do without her, since he had no one else. To be honest, I almost wish Rey had stayed dead, since as it stands...we have a redeemed villain sacrificing himself to save the hero that redeemed him...sound familiar? If Ben had lived, and Rey had died, it could have been a tragic inversion of Return of the Jedi, instead of just a retread. But oh well. I had a feeling they were going to kill off Kylo Ren anyway. 

It feels like they did have plans for Finn, but never properly carried them out. 

Rise of Skywalker very clearly implies that Finn has discovered that he’s Force-Sensitive. Which is a good idea, it just comes out of nowhere. Apparently, that’s what he was going to tell Rey - JJ has clarified it. One problem...that’s not a detail that should be confirmed in an interview. It should be answered within the movie. There were two separate conversations about Finn wanting to tell Rey...something, but the film never comes back to that or gives it any conclusion. Likewise, the idea of Finn being force-sensitive is only ever foreshadowed, never brought to light. Overall, Finn got some great moments, like when he met Jannah and got to connect with another former Storm-trooper...but his overall character arc in this film never got off the ground. 

Was it just me...or was Poe constantly angry throughout the movie? 

I don’t know if this was just Oscar Isaac’s frustration slipping through, or if it was meant to be the stress of the war, or something...but Poe was in a bad mood in just about every scene. But just like with Finn, this never gets resolved or even really acknowledged. Didn’t Poe go through an entire arc in the last film about learning to be less of a hot-head? For some reason, he and Rey are at each other’s throats...even though the end of the last film hinted that they found each other attractive? He does get some backstory as a Spice Runner (though they don’t explain what that is. Maybe it’s answered in one of the books, I dunno.) and we get to meet Zori, who is truly a charming and compelling character. Even if she was only written in as a final “no-homo” to Finn and Poe, I wanted to learn more about her. 

They did Rose dirty. They did her so dirty.

She should have been an official member of the squad in this film, not relegated to cameos. There was no reason she couldn't have been more involved. Her romance with Finn should have been addressed. Even if it was just him gently letting her down, they ought to have mentioned it. Regardless of how you feel about Rose and that particular pairing (Personally, I adored her) it's downright strange that she's so absent from the story when she was a main character last time. Gee, I wonder why this was done? Could it be because the character was eviscerated online by a group of hardcore “fans” who compared her to Jar Jar Binks? Who not only made racist, sexist, and body-shaming comments about the character - they drove Kelly Marie Tran off social media? It really seems like downplaying Rose in this film was a direct response to how unpopular she was, and that isn’t fair to the character or the actress. It just seems...cowardly.

The CGI on Leia...could have been better. 

Not gonna lie, it might have been safer to simply reveal Leia’s death in the title crawl and open the movie with her funeral. Don’t get me wrong, I was initially quite impressed with how they managed to re-create Carrie Fisher. It was nice to see her training Rey, and we even get an answer to the age-old mystery of why she never became a Jedi. But as Leia’s scenes went on, the cracks started to show. It became very noticeable after a while that she would never adjust her standing position or really move at all. So many of her lines were shot to avoid showing her face while she spoke. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why it looked this way. I’m just saying that as a viewer, I noticed. Leia’s death scene was the worst offender of this. By the way...what exactly killed her? She apparently gave the “last of her energy” to call out to Ben, but...nothing beforehand indicated that her health was failing, so why would a simple telepathic message consume all her life energy? She’s done it before. Either way, the death scene was kinda lame...but other characters reactions to it? Hit me right in the feels. Chewie’s breakdown tore me to pieces. I wanted to hug him. And as for Ben...

 That Han Solo Cameo

I’m impressed, first of all. We all though Han could never come back since he wasn’t force-sensitive, so he wouldn’t get a spirit form. But the great thing is, Han didn’t come back - not really. It was all in Ben’s head, hence the lines echoing his father’s death. I love how Leia’s death, compounded with Rey healing Ben and all but telling him that she would be with him if he wasn’t on the dark side, is what ultimately swayed him to turn back. When he called Han “Dad...” In that broken voice, and Han just said “I know...” Honestly, that was the best scene in the movie. Ben previously said to Rey that the Dark Side was in her blood, so she couldn’t escape it. It was so clear that he felt that way about himself too, which may have been part of why he turned. Seeing Han was a perfect reminder that he had more than just Vader in his ancestry. 

Chewie’s “death” was the other scene in the movie that took my breath away. 

Echoing the Force-Battle over Anakin’s lightsaber, Rey and Kylo Ren have a tug-of-war for the ship Chewie is on, and in her rage, Rey accidentally conjures Force-Lightning and blows up the ship, shocking everyone. It demonstrates Rey’s power, as well as her natural leaning toward the Dark Side (through anger.) It also foreshadows her lineage. Plus, the whole concept of accidentally killing your beloved friend..It’s got so much tension, so much emotion - it’s fantastic. Only one problem...Chewie survived, and we find that out not even five minutes later. Honestly, it’s the last movie. Anything goes, you can kill off main characters, even beloved main characters. All of the emotional drama that this scene brings to the table stops mattering once you find out Chewie’s alive. I would love to see Rey actually have to deal with the consequences of what happened, for the movie to explore how it makes the other characters feel about her. On the other hand, one of my first thoughts after it happened was “Geez, if the fandom hated her before...” All the fans who complain Rey is a Mary Sue (She’s not) Yeah, they’d never, ever forgive her if she was responsible for Chewie’’s death.

I can’t decide how I feel about Kylo Ren repairing his mask. 

When I first realized it was happening, I was disappointed. In a way, it undoes his character growth in Last Jedi when he rejected his hero worship of Darth Vader - and even did what Vader could not, slaying his master and living to succeed him. Kylo Ren surpassed Vader once he stopped trying to be him, and that was awesome. But between bringing back the mask (with the painfully on-the-nose line about the “cracks in your mask”) and the reveal that “Snoke” is still alive, all of Ben Solo’s coolest moments from TLJ have been reversed. On the other hand... the Kylo Ren mask is, and always was, a symbol. In TFA, it reflected a pretentious attempt to be more like Darth Vader. But in this movie, it seemed to reflect Kylo Ren embracing the image of being the “Big Bad.” much like how Luke embraced his status as a legend, just before he died. And I’m not gonna lie, seeing the words “Supreme Leader Kylo Ren” in the title crawl was quite satisfying. Not to mention, at the end of the day...it’s all an act. Kylo Ren has always tried very hard to be “evil” but his heart just isn’t in it. He’s trying to be something he’s not - so maybe it’s okay if the mask comes back. 

Let’s rip this band-aid off: Bringing Palpatine back was a mistake.

If they needed a greater-scope villain for the climax after Ben was redeemed...why not use Snoke? Apparently, they’re the same person anyway, and people were mad that Snoke died without having a greater story to tell. Palpatine’s return goes entirely unexplained. He just hand-waves the issue by quoting Episode 3. As a viewer, why should I feel triumphant when Rey kills him at the end, when as far as I know, nothing is stopping him from returning again? After all, he survived certain death before, and we don’t know how he did it. (This is what I mean when I say the film is good by itself, but highly flawed as a continuation of existing Star Wars.) Palpatine’s return devalues Anakin’s sacrifice. It weakens both Vader and Kylo as villains because it removes their agency - we now know they only turned because Palpatine manipulated and groomed them. They’ve made him the greater-scope villain of every single trilogy, which just feels weird. I always thought the overarching villainous force of Star Wars was supposed to be, y’know, the Dark Side and it’s tempting call. That anyone could potentially succumb. But speaking of this film rejecting the idea of “anyone” being special...

Rey...did not need to have a bloodline. 

You need Palpatine to have a reason that he’s so intrigued by her? You’ve already got that - she’s part of an anomaly in The Force that no one’s ever seen before. Need a life-changing shock that pushes her closer to the Dark Side? All you have to do is let Chewie stay dead, and have it be her fault. As much as I have genuinely loved Rey’s character growth and I always enjoy watching her, I can’t help but feel like giving her a bloodline at this point was at least partially done to mitigate the claims that she’s “too powerful.” Not to mention, it ruins the reveal at the end of The Last Jedi, and it’s one more thing that makes the Star Wars universe feel smaller. Coming from a powerful bloodline shouldn’t be a requirement for changing the fate of the Galaxy. Sure, Force-Sensitivity is often hereditary, but not exclusively. Besides, there are more people out there attuned to the Force that just the Skywalkers, Palpatines, and Kenobis. Why couldn’t Rey just be one of them? If Star Wars really is going to go on forever, it can’t simply be the continuing sage of two or three families screwing up the Galaxy. 

What’s up with the super-rushed tone of the ending? 

So, Rey and Ben share a kiss - whether or not you ship them, this moment is wholesome, heartwarming, and so earned -  But then Ben immediately, and I mean immediately falls down dead. He doesn’t get any last words or even a last moment. (Come to think of it...does Ben have any lines at all after his scene with Han? I...don’t think he does. That’s just weird.) Nope, he just fades into the Force so quickly that I didn’t even realize what happened at first. Rey makes it back to the Resistance base and reunites with her friends, but they don’t share any dialogue either. No final moments, not even Finn telling Rey that he’s Force-Sensitive. Disney gets to check off their diversity clipboard by having two nameless women kiss in the background, and Rey then visits...Tatooine, of all places, to bury The Skywalker twins lightsabers. Because you see, a Jedi’s Weapon deserves respect. Burning them? Shameful. But burying them, A-Okay.

Rey is never shown mourning Ben Solo.

Whether or not you think he “deserved” redemption, the film clearly sided with the idea that he did. It based a lot of it’s conflict on Rey and Ben being a hero and a villain who also cared about each other. Going so far as to include the Dyad, and give them a kiss scene. So it’s bizarre that Ben’s death doesn’t seem to affect Rey. She doesn’t even have any sort of reaction to it, but she does have a gold lightsaber now. Which is so incredibly cool that it baffles me that they didn’t let her have it sooner. She never gets to really use it. A random local shows up, for no other purpose than to ask Rey who she is. Rey looks on to see Luke and Leia’s Force-Spirits give their blessing (No Ben, for some reason.) And she then introduces herself as Rey Skywalker. Because they had to justify that title somehow, right? Then the scavenger-turned-jedi, who started out all alone on a desert planet but found a family through her travels...ends her story all alone on desert planet. Hey, wait a minute-

The problems of this trilogy boil down to the fact that it had two writers, with two different visions for the characters.

Perhaps the death of Snoke, the introduction of Rose, and Rey’s lack of lineage directly conflicted with J.J.'s plans for the new trilogy...but The Last Jedi happened. It's canon now. Trying to pretend otherwise doesn't "fix" that. Having moments that directly contradict the previous film, even taking intentional jabs at it (looking at you, Force-Spirit Luke) is a waste of time and honestly feels...kind of immature? As a writer, I’m sure it isn’t easy, but you've got to work with what you have, follow the ideas and plot threads introduced, or else none of it will feel organic. So many moments like repairing Kylo Ren's mask, bringing back Anakin's destroyed saber, giving Rey a bloodline...they just cause whiplash.The only arcs that really continue through each movie are Kylo Ren's redemption, and Rey's identity issues. The writing of Episode 9 does everything it can to erase the ideas of Episode 8, and as a result, the entire trilogy feels directionless. The story feels like its at war with itself. I understand if Rian left J.J. in a compromising position, but sometimes you have to let go of ideas if they can no longer work in your story, however much you want them to. And, not to pick on J.J. too much, but...if he really had a major plan for the trilogy, then why didn't he stay to write Episode Eight? He left the second chapter of the trilogy to an entirely different writer, so...what did he think was going to happen? 

It’s a good movie. It really is. I was on the edge of my seat. If you’ve never seen the first two films, you’ll likely enjoy the hell out of it. But if you’re hoping to get a satisfying conclusion for the characters you’ve grown to care about...well, I’ll just say that I didn’t find that here. 

[c4l4mityv4in]

The World's Favorite Star (A Bokuaka fanfic)

Chapter 1: "Take Me Out To Dinner First" Bokuto's POV

Notes:

Blessed second day of Samhain to all who celebrate (pronounced Sohwin)

I'm so proud to finally post my second fic please don t hesitate to leave kudos and a comment or more and tell me what you think of it <3

My Name is Bokuto Koutaro,

I'm a Volleyball player in my school's club and I'm currently at [Unknown name] Middle School

Our club Manager is this insanely cute boy, Akaashi Keiji, he's one year younger than me, he knows so much about Volleyball and he would've probably been a good player then too if he tried.

One time, he even told me he'd want to play alongside me in high school.

He is probably the smartest person I know, he always knows what to do whenever I'm feeling down. Today is Valentine's day and I bought the biggest bouquet of flowers for him, that shot was expensive but definitely worth it.

Akashi was known for having rejected dozens of girls and guys last Valentine's day and he tried to make it the least awkward as possible, telling girls he's not into women and telling guys he already has a crush on someone else. Every guy that was into him wanted to be that "someone else", so what made me different from the others? I was just another desperate Pansexual that fell head over heals for the most beautiful boy that ever existed. But I was his star, that's what he called me, and I'm convinced that MUST mean something. No homie calls another homie his "star" in a no homo way, no amount of saying no homo would be able to cancel the homo out of that sentence that I fear has worked on me one too many times.

I approached his classroom's open door around lunchtime, he was the only one there. But how should I do it? I had a big ass bouquet behind my back and it would be OBVIOUS what I wanted to say. And then lightning struck, I approached his desk with the flowers behind my back, put my best acting mask on and spoke up, "AKAASHI!", just saying his name gave me butterflies, "not to sound rude but you're into guys right?", my legs were shaking. I think I'm a terrible actor. He looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes,

"Hello, Bokuto-san", if you think you're polite than you haven't met Akashi, he's the most polite person I have ever met. "I am actually, why?" I couldn't back out anymore, "So like, if I ever wanted to ask a guy out, how would I do it?" Akashi was frozen for a moment, his blue eyes looked at me and I was about to freak. The fuck. Out.

"I guess it depends on who you plan to ask out, but", he paused. "You should honestly just go for it. The worst that can happen is getting rejected", he added.

"Just go for it. Stop standing there like an idiot!" I thought to myself. I had the flowers, I had Akaashi alone. It was now or never!

I revealed the bouquet from behind my back, which was definitely visible even from behind, and out of panic I shoved the flowers in his face.

"D-Do you want to marry me?"

I had never been more embarrassed in my entire life. How did I mix up "go out with me" and

"marry me"?

Akashi started laughing, of course he did. Why would he want to go out with me? ESPECIALLY after this.

He pulled something out of his backpack and pointed it towards me, "How about a date first?" I lowered to bouquet so that I could see him, he was pointing a rose towards me. No, he was giving me a rose.

"You really wanna go out with me?", I was shocked

"I was going to ask you out today anyway, you just made it easier for me", I swear his eyes turned into literal hearts, or maybe it was my eyes that did that. "I'm not saying I don't want to marry you, just take me out to dinner first", he said nonchalantly. All I know is that he took my bouquet, I took his rose and he kissed my cheek, barely a millimeter away from my lips and that I had a date with the cutest boy in the world.

I was on cloud 9 the whole day, at practice I kept sneaking glances at Akashi and got a balli thrown at my face because of it. We decided to meet at the Valentine's Day Festival that night, Tokyo really went all out no matter the festivity, the whole thing was Love themed and there were couples everywhere. I put on my best clothes but you couldn't really tell with the jacket. Akaashi lived next to his parents' library, his parents are like, the coolest ever but that's not what we're focusing on here. He came out with a cream jacket and he had one of the roses I gave him earlier behind his hear, it had some kind of gold colored wire around the stem and his ear so it wouldn't fall out. "Good Evening, Bokuto-san", he said with a huge smile on his face, his voice was happy but shaky. "Uh-Uh...Hi! Um- so- well-", he grabbed the left side of my face and interrupted me, "Don't stress it, Bokuto-san. Take your time", he reassured me.

"You look beautiful tonight, Akaashi", I said completely flustered and looking away. His face was also pretty red.

"And you look so much like my dream husband.", he teased me again

"Oh my god! I got my words mixed up once! Will you ever let me live that down?", I asked hiding my face in my hands

"Not until you marry me", he said completely serious and smiling at me.

"Can I hold your hand?", he asked me, extended his hand and looked away.

I grabbed said hand and squeezed, "You don't even have to ask."

The Festival wasn't that far away so we decided to walk there, we were so nervous we looked like robots holding hands as we walked there.

First we got something to eat on the go, I got a Yakisoba Pan while he got a simple Melonpan.

• There were a few street performers dancing which we stopped to admire, Akashi pulled out a little notebook from his jacket pocket,

"Whatcha doin?", I asked

"Just sketching the dancer", he responded

"Looks pretty accurate", I pointed out

"Thanks! It's just a hobby but I would love to work in the art field some day", he said

"You totally should, you're really good", I said He blushed, "You're just saying that to be nice"

"No, I mean it! You have some actual talent you know?", his face got even redder but he had this adorable, dorky smile on his face, "Thank you"

On our way to the ferris wheel I won him a huge panda plush at one of those shoot the can games, which took several tries. When we got on we were both visibly nervous, this was a small cramped space we had to share, what if I said something weird and he'd get totally grossed out and we had to sit threw the awkwardness for the whole ride?

As the ride started Akashi squeezed my hand a little and lightly put his head on my shoulder and with that simple act all my anxiety faded away.

Have you ever felt so comfortable with someone where you'd wish you could be with them all the time and a moment alone with them felt like nobody else was on the planet except for you two at this exact moment? That's how life felt in that moment. And those few minutes of silence felt to me like a thousand words had just been spoken. I was actually kind of sad the moment ended when we had to get off the ferris wheel.

"You're still sleeping over right? I don't want you to walk alone this late at night", he said although it was just 10

"Yeah I'm not a fan of the dark really and I have all my stuff at your place already anyway.", after I said that I could almost see the gears turning in Akaashi's brain,

"Wanna go to the love tunnel?"

Notes:

Some things that weren't detailed here will probably be more detailed in Akashi's Pov.

So yeah you're going to have to wait for Chapter 3 for the love tunnel and sleepover.

I gotta give you a reason to come back now don't I?

Hope you liked this Chapter, Lots of Love,

Sasha <3

[asarahworld-writes]

The End of My (Sophomore) Year Chapter Three

Read on AO3 | Read from the beginning

Addison’s parents had protested, as they had known they would, but had come around with a strict promise to be home before sunrise.  Zed thought that that was rather generous of them, seeing as how they had really only met him once before, and that had been under somewhat falsified pretenses.  Not to mention the whole talk they’d given him about picking Addy up at one.  And the fact that they were only fifteen. But he wasn’t about protest more time with Addison.

“Hey Zed, what if we made a slight detour before I take you home?”  Addison was up to something, but after a magical night with her, there was nothing he could deny her.

“Whatever you want, Addy.”  If Zed had had a beating heart, it would have been bursting from his chest.  As it was, there was something tightening in that area.

Addison smiled.  “Tonight’s just been so wonderful, I don’t want it to end,” she admitted quietly.

Zed grinned.  “Text your parents.  Tell them, I don’t know, you’re spending the night with Bucky.”

“I’m not sleeping with you, Zed.”  Addison paused.  “Just sleeping together.  No funny business?”

Zed gagged. “You think that I’d try to have sex with you when my little sister is in the same house?”

“Well, you are the star of the football team.”

“Um, I’m gonna try and forget that you even said that, Addy.”

Addison pulled her phone out, hitting the speed dial.  “Hey, Bucky… no, not yet.  Um, listen, could you tell my parents that you’re picking me up?  No, no I don’t actually need a ride.  Bucky, I promise, I will owe you one.  Something major.  Please?”

Bucky protested and Zed easily filched the phone from Addison’s hand.  “Bucky, I swear to you that Addison will be safe. We’re just tired; she doesn’t want to walk all the way back to her place.”

There was a hiss through the phone.  “If you do anything to my cousin, I will kill you.”  There was a pause.  “But it’ll be because you hurt Addy, not because you’re a zombie.”

Zed ignored the threat, zeroing in on the implied agreement.  “Thank you,” he said awkwardly, hanging up.

“He agreed to cover for us?”  Addison was shocked.

“More or less,” Zed lifted her up, spinning around.

“What about your Dad?”

Zed scoffed.  “He won’t care.  In fact, he’ll probably make ‘special’ caulibrains for breakfast,” he joked. “Two parts cauliflower, one part ‘special ingredient’.  Wanna take a guess at what the special ingredient is?”

Addison gasped, bringing her hand to her chest for good measure.  “Don’t tell me – it’s cauliflower?”

Zed grinned, noticing that Addi had tried to hide a yawn in her gasp.  “Come on, let’s go.”

Once they were safely in Zed’s room, Addison realized just how tired she really was. She kicked her sneakers off and watched her boyfriend silently dig through his drawers.  “You probably don’t want to sleep in your skirt,” he said, awkwardly handing her a pair of faded purple sweatpants and a worn tee.

“Thanks,” Addison took the clothes, opening the bedroom door.  “Um, which door for the bathroom?”  Zed smiled, remembering that she had never been in his house before.

“End of the hallway by the stairs.”  Zed watched as the door closed softly, then quickly changed into new boxers.  He debated putting on a shirt, but ultimately, it wasn’t worth the extra effort of trying to quietly find something clean. Zoey was a light sleeper nowadays, and the last thing that he wanted to do was wake his little sister.

When Addison returned ten minutes later, her face was pink and her short hair had been twisted into pigtails.  Zed was sitting at the desk.  “Hey,” she smiled softly as she noticed that he was nearly asleep.  “Zed, don’t fall out of the chair.”  Addison took Zed by the hands and led him back to his bed. Zed was too tired to protest as she lay down next to him (practically on top of him) on the narrow bed.  As he drifted off to sleep, he could have sworn that she’d whispered gar gar ga za.

When Zed woke up the next morning, it took him a minute to realize what the heavy mass on top of him was.  Who would have thought that a tiny cheerleader could crush the star fullback of the football team?  Addison’s face was warm against his bare chest, her breathing peaceful.

“Zed!” Zoey’s voice echoed down the hallway. “Zed, how many caulis do you want today?”

Addison was in his bedroom (in his bed).  Zed certainly didn’t remember going to bed, he’d meant to sleep at the desk.

The phone buzzed.  Carefully, Zed reached around his girlfriend’s sleeping form and picked it up. It was a simple text reading ‘Good morning sweetie!  Let us know when you leave Bucky’s, see you tonight. Xo, Mom. Zed couldn’t help but scoff at the Mayor’s message, quietly replacing the phone.  Now that all the other distractions had been dealt with, he could focus on the most pressing one.

Somehow, he had to disentangle from under Addison and make it to the bathroom.  Where she had decided to position her knee certainly wasn’t helping, either.

“Zed, are you awake?”  Zoey bounced into his room, just in time to see her brother dive back under the covers. “Zed, Dad’s making breakfast!” She pouted when he didn’t answer, then said: “If you don’t come down soon, me and Puppy will eat alllllll the breakfast.”  Zoey turned, skipping back down the hallway to the kitchen.

Now to extricate himself from his girlfriend.  Any time he moved, Addison would move with him.  Rolling onto his side had her pressed against his back.  Lying on his back, and she would smush herself against his side.  Zed absolutely loved it, which was exactly why he needed to leave and go to the bathroom. Heaving himself out of bed, Zed pressed a soft kiss to Addison’s forehead, before he trudged to the toilet and cleaned up.  It had been so easy to not want to be with Addison before…  Zed forced himself to think of something else as he washed up.

On his way back to his room, Zed ducked into the kitchen.

“Morning, son!”  Zevon greeted him cheerfully.  “Just in time for the last of the caulibrains!”

“Hey, Dad. Uh, listen, uh, don’t freak out, but, uh, Addison’s here.”

Zevon gave his son a disapproving stare. “Zed.”

“Dad, it’s fine. Nothing happened, I swear. Addi just didn’t feel like going home. Hey, I told her you might make the special caulibrains for breakfast.”

Zevon shook a spatula at his son threateningly.  “Zed, when that girl goes home, you and me are going to have a serious talk.”

“Dad, no, Dad, it’s not like that.  I swear, we have health classes in school.”  It wasn’t completely a lie, but all the textbooks dealt with the living, and not the undead.  “Besides, do you really think that if I was gonna… do stuff, with Addison that I would bring her home?  I’m not going to screw my girlfriend around my dad or my little sister.”  Zed didn’t mention that they had barely made it to first base, gagging at the thought of his dad walking around the house when he was… He didn’t even want to try and imagine what it would be like if Zoey was around.  “I’m going to wake Addison,” Zed ducked out of the kitchen, returning to his bedroom where Addison was beginning to wake up.

She looked so beautiful, half-asleep in his bed, wearing his shirt.  Sitting gently on the bed beside her, Zed hesitantly lifted his hand and stroked her hair back, tucking the strand behind her ear.  “Good morning, gorgeous,” he whispered tenderly.

Addison’s eyes popped open at his touch.  “Zed?”  She sat upright, her hand catching his as it fell from her head.  “It was real,” she murmured softly.

“Uh, my dad knows you’re here and I’m pretty sure he’s going to expect you downstairs for breakfast.”  Zed rubbed his hands against his face in disbelief, before looking around the room. He walked over to the door, picking up a jacket.  “I’ll, uh, let you get dressed.”

“I’ll be down in ten minutes?”  Addison picked up her clothes and Zed awkwardly backed out of his room.  Once downstairs, he could hear the faucet running.

“Don’t you want breakfast, Zed?”  His sister asked, coming around the table with Puppy.

“Zoey, what would you say if I told you that we were having a very special guest over for breakfast today?”  He knew that he was grinning, and his excitement only piqued his sister’s interest.

“When Eliza comes here, she always does my hair first thing.  It hurts.”  Zoey started counting off the people who might be in the house.  “And Bonzo is an even better boy than you.”

Zed had to smile at that.  When Bonzo had learned that Zoey loved dogs, he had upstaged every one of Zed’s performances by not only barking, but with games of fetch and peppery kisses on Zoey’s cheeks.

“And if it’s not Bonzo or Eliza…”  Zoey was absolutely adorable when she was confused.

“Hey, Zoey,” Addison stepped into the kitchen, smiling anxiously.  “Good morning, Mr. Necrodopolous.”  If Zed’s father had any opinions about her spending the night, he kept them to himself, offering her a plate of fried cauliflower cakes. “Thanks.”  Still smiling, she took her plate to the table, sitting in the chair that would place her beside Zed, and across from Zevon.  Breakfast, though a quiet affair, was punctuated by bubbling commentary and questions from Zoey.  Everything from the football game (champions) to how Puppy’s training was going (“he’s getting better, though!) to the most random questions that Zoey could think of (“why can’t zombies have cool latin names like everything else?  Did you know that humans are also called homo sapiens? What if we were homo sapiens citrea viridia???  Lime soda people!)

Addison collected the plates from the table, bringing them over to the sink.  Zevon looked from her to his son, raising his eyebrow meaningfully.

“Hey, Addi, you don’t have to do that.  It’s my turn to do the dishes.  At least let me do the washing.”

Addison giggled.  “Sure. Just let me dry my hands off,” she flicked her fingers at Zed, water droplets speckling his face.

“Don’t start anything you don’t intend to finish, Addi,” Zed stuck his hands into the dishwater with a bit more force than necessary, causing the water to slosh over the countertop.

Once the dishes were cleaned, and the kitchen dried, Zed and Addison headed out.

———————————————————————————————————–

So from research into zombies and a basic grasp of biology, my understanding is that Zed (and other male zombies) could get an erection because the Z-band allows him to process his emotions and not be full on monster and because his skin isn’t mottled/discoloured, there is clearly some blood circulation.  That being said, I would assume that an erection can be a quite intense feeling, and that the Z-band should react to that.  However, since Zed has hacked his Z-band, I’m guessing that there must be some sort of corrupted file (especially since he went full-zombie)… But then there was the software update.  So I’m guessing that if he gets too into it, then the Z-band would react and shock him. But there’s a certain lenience there because who knows how energized a zombie would need to be shocked? Clearly, Zed can be excited and experience dopamine, as he’s shown being happy in the movie.

My research:

“…can a proper, read Romeo, zombie get an erection? Quite clearly no…their brains while remaining active on a basic level would not be able to process the emotional level required to enter a state of arousal and even if that was possible the lack of blood circulating the body would leave their diseased member as flaccid as Pele in his advertising viagra-era.”

https://zombipedia.wordpress.com/articles/can-zombies-get-an-erection/

The Latinized lime soda people comes courtesy of Google Translate.  After all, lime soda + humans = zombie!

As for zombie physiology… being undead, theoretically, Zed should be colder than humans, but that would mean that he is also more susceptible to cold.  However, he’s also undead.  From lime soda.  So, I’m claiming artistic licence and Zed has a colder internal temperature, but his body is also not as responsive to external factors.  How does this fit in with my above theory?  His arousal stems from his attraction to Addison as a person, and not as some sort of reproductive instinct.

As an added note, I can not believe that I have been writing fic for ~5 years and I’ve never actually bothered to do any research into this.  Not necessarily about zombies, but men.  As a second addendum, I can’t believe I’m writing fanfic about zombies and this is what I’m researching.  (I can’t believe that I have half a page of author’s notes either.) I’m writing a multichapter DCom fanfic. That’s new too.

Stand tall, Zoms!  (But I don’t think most of us hit Milo’s purported 6’3 (“including the hair"), as claimed in one of his youtube vids, wiki says 6’1”…)

[pjdredful]

The AV Club

Chapter 8

 “Get it together, losers. Move!” The all too shrill shout makes me pull an ear bud out and glance around for the source. For a second there are just too many people from the Winter Formal Committee milling around for me to get a good look and then they part before her in a hurried and nervous wave of bodies. There are bullies and bitches in every school in America. There are bullies everywhere. At work places, in grocery stores, in parking lots and at summer camps. It’s just a sad fact of human life. There are jerks everywhere you go. So I’m not surprised that there is yet another one here in my school but I cringe a little internally when I see the face attached to the voice. Oh God. Mo notices my utter lack of movement and stops fiddling with the light board to stare too.

 “Evie…is that…” I just nod once and swallow a little convulsively. Audrianna Saveedra. My worst nightmare in the flesh. It isn’t that she’s just a bully. But she’s my personal bully. Orson was always a dick but he never once came close to the horror and humiliation of Audrianna. It’s almost too much for my brain to compute, her being here of all places. Deep brown eyes scan the group assembled for a minute, as if she’s judging us all already. Her gaze passes over me and I let out a slight breath of air that I know no one can actually hear. Maybe its relief that she seems to not recognize me that makes me start to ease back against the hard metal of the folding chair. Or just sheer stupidity.

 The laser like focus redirects and swings back my way and I’m pinned by her stare. I pale just a little when her lips curl up in a very Grinch like smile before she clicks her way over and stands right in front of me. I try really hard not to flinch but it happens when the hem of her skirt brushes my knuckles gone white from gripping the box of mics and cables perched precariously on my lap. “Why Evelyn Rossi, I thought that was you. I didn’t know you went here.” Liar. I know she’s lying because her smug little pig nose crinkles just a bit in too much amusement. God. I can’t even believe I once thought she was cute.

 “Yeah. What uh. What are you doing here Audri?” It’s too casually said. Too familiar and that makes her smile even more. See I was hoping it would seem nonchalant and cool but it actually came out a little more nervous than intended. All it ended up doing was reminding her that we have a history and that I remember all of it. Mo looks back and forth between us for a minute, unsure if he should say something or not.

 “I go here now. Daddy has a new pet project going and it just makes sense for the family to be closer. Blessing is more than two hours away you know.” I know. I give her a non-committal hum and a slow nod, still watching her like she may lunge viciously at me any second. Like a snake swallowing a scared little mouse. And I’m the mouse. “You know…” She leans forward a little conspiratorially and I lean back just a hair. “If I had known you were going to be here I would have brought my camp album.” Whatever color had finally risen to my cheeks vanishes in an instant. I’m sure that album is filled with all the horrible things she did to me at camp every year. Including my spectacular and totally blindsided expulsion from the closet thanks to her.

 Mo finally clears his throat a little pointedly and she turns her dark haired head towards him with a jerk making the long perfectly styled locks fling casually over her shoulder. I wonder if she practices that. “So you’re here at this committee meeting why?”

 The predatory smile widens and I have just a fleeting second to think ‘shut up or she’ll notice you!’ in Mo’s general direction. Of course. He’s not a mind reader. And I don’t think he noticed my face before his words tumbled out. Either way, it’s too late now and we both know it from the look in her calculating eyes.

 “I remember you. You’re that Jewish boy from camp. What’s your name again? Slowmo? Momo? Homo?” My teeth grind together at the last part. Not because I think she’s calling him gay. I know exactly why she’s mentioning it. A reminder that she knows all my secrets and most of my past.

 “His name is Mo.” She gives a slow nod as if to say ‘oh yes of course, how silly of me’. Like that makes it alright or something.

 “Ah. Mo. I think it should be obvious by now don’t you? I’m here to organize this committee. Properly.” Properly. It’s those little snide comments that she says without so much as a flicker of emotion that gall me. The implication that we’re just too podunk to have a school dance and do it right. And okay yeah maybe I think it galls me a little bit more that this is the third committee meeting in a week and we still haven’t picked a theme or know what the hell we’re all doing yet. “We can’t do anything so tacky as…I don’t know…Under the Sea or….whatever the little theme was last year.” Under the Sea. Which is just dumb because it’s a winter ball. Why would Under the Sea be a good theme for that?

 Several people shift nervously and glance at each other. It’s probably pretty likely those are the ones that were pushing it the hardest. It makes me want to champion the theme just because Audrianna doesn’t think it’s good enough. “We haven’t actually picked a theme yet. So…” I trail off rather stupidly because I don’t know what possessed me to speak in the first place or what the hell to say next.

 “Hm. So I gathered. Well if you two are done playing with your….” She makes a vague gesture to the collection of sound and light equipment in boxes around us. The disdain on her face is clear as she realizes that this is all the equipment for the dance set up and it won’t be up to her standards. “We should just get started. I think a fundraiser should be the first order of business.” Audri clicks away with a twirl of her skirt and starts calling the meeting to order.

 “How exactly did she just walk in and take everything over without a fight?” I just look at Mo and shrug a shoulder. He didn’t have to deal with her much but he should remember her from a few of the camp mixers that shoved camps Little Hawk and Buffalo Trails together once a summer for a night of awkward slow dancing and sugary fruit punch. “Oh right. She’s Audrianna.” My one consoling thought is that she doesn’t have a gaggle of minions. Yet. Still our county is small and the towns in it are even smaller. Which means that Audri can have her cronies up to see her reigning the school with an iron fist at any time. I smirk but it’s not at all confident and becomes less so when Audrianna starts the group brainstorming for fundraiser ideas.

 There are a mix of them. Some stupid. Some okay. All of them met with an impenetrable cold stare letting everyone know they fail miserably. It’s almost funny and that little bit of nervous tension in my gut causes me to do something so dumb that even I want to smack myself in the back of the head. I laugh. All eyes drift toward me and I immediately stop laughing. My toe taps the floor experimentally and Mo elbows me with a whisper. “Stop looking for a Hellmouth to fall into.” He’s right. There’s never a Hellmouth when I need one and really what would I do if one actually opened at my feet?

 “Is there something amusing Evelyn? Are your fellow students’ suggestions just not good enough for you?” Oh you bitch nugget. Until I laughed she was thinking that exact thing. It was written all over her face and we all could see it. But it’s just like her to turn it around on me. There is no better way to gain support than by making someone else the bad guy. I clear my throat and roll a shoulder in a shrug before sitting up a little straighter. I have to fix this. Somehow.

 “No. Not at all.” It’s a little too quickly said and a few snorts and irritated looks are thrown my way. Mo starts to sit up himself like he wants to say something but I just clear my throat and sink a little lower in my seat. Eyes start drifting back to Audrianna, already looking to her for guidance. Gross.

 “Well then any suggestions? Since you seem to think no one else here has a better idea.” I never said that! Of course if I sputter and try to deny it she’ll only wave it off. The damage is done and I can see it in the accusatory looks directed at me.

 I’m not really so great under pressure so I fidget a little more and squeak out breathlessly. “Car bake thing?” Car. Bake. Thing. My face burns at the condescending laughter she sets off in the group. It’s not that I don’t know what they are. Car wash and bake sale. They are the staple of every high school booster club or fundraising experience. But put on the spot like that, the way she’s making me look like I’m the snob…I just couldn’t make the words come out right.

 Audri stops laughing after a minute and purses her lips as if having to explain something to someone as dumb as I am was distasteful to her. “I think you mean car wash and bake sale.” I resist the urge to mock her tone and roll my eyes. Whatever. Thankfully she takes her focus from me and sighs to the group dramatically. “I was told the school doesn’t even have enough in the budget to hire a DJ for the entire dance. We’re going to have to get creative people. Think big. Think grand.”

 The alarm goes off on my phone and I silence it quickly. I slide the box of cables over into Mo’s lap and grab my messenger bag from the floor. Mo looks at me with a slight frown. He knows I’m going to meet up with Lirae to talk to her guy or whatever about following Tony around but I think he’s kind of annoyed at having to be stuck with Audrianna for the rest of the meeting. I give him an apologetic look mouthing sorry before trying to sneak out the door. I can just barely make out the sound of laughter as the door closes behind me, no doubt sparked by some mean spirited comment. And I’m pretty sure I know exactly who made it. I shake it off and jog the rest of the way from the tech room to the field. It’s not that far really and there isn’t any need to run but I need to get rid of some of this anxiety churning my stomach.

 I can see Lirae perched on some bleachers at the very top, her silver aviator’s flashing in the sun when she turns her head. The wind lifts a curl, pulling it out of the loose pony tail and dragging it across her face. Lirae’s head twists toward the wind and the lock blows back away from her. It was effortless and simple and somehow a thousand times hotter than Audrianna’s perfectly timed hair swish. I take the steps up carefully and drop myself on to the bench next to her. “Hey.”

 Lirae looks up, leaning back on the rail behind her and smiles. “Hey yourself. How was the meeting?” I don’t want to talk about it so I just wave vaguely and make some unintelligible mutterings. “Oh yeah that’s totally how those things go.” She laughs in amusement and leans in to nudge me playfully with her forehead. “You ready to go?” I like that she just accepts my non answer with a quiet joke. She doesn’t push me. It’s kind of part of why I like her so much. Everyone always wants me to just talk about things and stuff. Like all of the time. Not Lirae. She gets me and just lets me be me and it’s nice. Comforting.

 “Yeah. Mo says the boys will meet us after at the clubhouse. Orson is still pissed the door won’t stay up and wants another crack at it.” I could tell him why it won’t. My dad is a contractor after all and I’m totally a daddy’s girl when it comes to hanging out in the garage. But it’s more fun to watch him struggle to be a manly man. Lirae chuckles and I lean into her side a little more. We’re not exactly cuddling but we’re sitting pretty close and having a lot of little casual touches. Not unusual for us but it seems a little more charged these past few days what with the kissing and all.

 “Are you going to let him keep trying to get it right or just butch up and fix it for him?” It’s my turn to laugh now and I shrug.

 “I dunno. I kinda like watching him get it mad at the door like it’s defective.” It’s not like the door is fancy or anything. It was just a standard door we managed to pilfer from one of my dad’s renovation work sites. It would have gone in the trash anyway but only because it was old and kind of ugly. But that is perfect for the shack. At least it matches the structure. We make our way down the steps carefully, reaching the bottom at the same time. Lirae tugs me around by the arm when I start to head to the gate instead of the parking lot in the opposite direction. The momentum of it spins me around too fast and I put my hands up to keep us from crashing together. We do anyway and my reflexive jump back causes me to misstep. Lirae’s arm comes out like a whip, snagging around my waist to keep me from falling. And that only serves to make us over balance and topple back against a very hard concrete trash can. It hits my hip painfully but at least it saves us from falling completely to the ground.

 Although we’re now kind of awkwardly leaning against the trash bin without moving and in my case barely breathing. So close. Soooo close. “This is totally your fault.” I open my mouth to argue that and snort.

 “How?!”

 “You bumped into me!”

 “Because you grabbed me!” I laugh even though this is awkward and my hip hurts like a son of a biscuit. Her laugh echoes mine and her brow comes up before she pointedly looks down between us.

 “Oh yeah? Well it looks like you’re the one grabbing me now.” I blink once in confusion and let my eyes drift down between our chests. And that’s when I realize I’ve had my hands on her boobs this entire time. How does this keep happening?? I pull my hands back quickly and clear my throat. Boobs. Nope. Don’t think about it. Boobs. Damnit! My face is burning and I know by the tone of her laughter that I’m beet red.

 “Well that wouldn’t keep happening if you weren’t so…breasty.” I don’t…that’s not even a word. I just shake it off as she laughs and pulls back enough to let me wiggle away.

 “Oh so it’s my boobs’ fault you keep touching them. Classy, blame the victims.”

 “They keep touching me!” My defensive tone makes her laugh even harder and I duck my head to try and hide my own smile. Fine I give up. I throw my hands up in defeat and Lirae takes one with a little squeeze. “Okay. Are we going now or are you going to continue to assault me with your bosoms?”

 “Dude…you just said bosoms.” She laughs again tugging me toward the lot. I let her lead the way when I realize we’re headed to Orson’s truck. Well. More like his grandmother’s truck. It’s an old Ford Bronco II that has seen better days. It belonged to Orson’s granddad and she never had the heart to sell it so it was her daily driver. I hop in to the passenger seat and buckle my belt. It is hot as hell and I crank the window down as Lirae gets the truck started. “So what do you think?”

 Of? I look around and frown. “What do I think about what?” Are we still talking about her boobs? Because those are good.

 “My new ride.” Who’s new ride? Hers? Which? This car? I open my mouth but close it with a click before starting again.

 “Grandma sold the truck to you??” She nods full of pride as she pets the steering wheel. It’s seen better days yeah but it’s a pretty solid ride. The idle is smooth and strong and not at all like Mo’s Taurus. I run a hand over the burgundy dash board and smile. “It’s great Lirae. This is so cool. But like how did you pay for it?”

 She shrugs and I can see the slightly embarrassed but clearly pleased expression in her eyes when she turns away to put the truck in gear. “My um foster mom bought it for me. I got a 4.0 and I’m gonna get to graduate this year with everyone." It's huge for her. HUGE.

 She’s never stayed anywhere long enough be able to show any kind of accomplishment or get any kind of validation or reward for doing anything. Things changed for her when she was placed with her current foster mom, Janine. It wasn’t like things changed overnight or anything but slowly Janine has managed to convince Lirae that she wasn’t about to get rid of her any time soon and that she did have a safe place she could call home. I lunge as far as the belt will let me and wrap Lirae in a tight hug. “That’s awesome! Why didn’t you tell me you got a 4.0! I need to start cheating off you in World Civ by the way. We should celebrate!” My tone changes going from excited to playful as I bob my head a little “I know what’chu want girl.” Yup she knows what’s up.

 It’s kind of really adorable that she blushes at whatever I just said. “If you say ice crea…” my tone doesn’t change even a little.

 “Ice cream cake, y’all!” Lirae covers her face with her hands for a second then shakes her head with a laugh. Who doesn’t love ice cream cake? The devil, that’s who. “Yeah girl. You know you want it.”

 “You’re a dork.” That is one hundred percent true and I give her my best cheesy grin as she starts to pull out of the lot.

 “Whatever. You love it.” She doesn’t say anything to that but she doesn’t have to. It takes me a second to realize that Orson is probably going to be annoyed that he didn’t get the truck for himself. “Does Orson know?” She flicks her eyes at me then away going a little quieter as we drive. It makes me start to wonder why she’s acting like talking about him is awkward. We talk about him all the time. Or we used to anyway.

 “Yeah. He’s cool.” She’s a little shifty about that but I let it go because I’m not sure I really want to delve into that whole thing right now.  Lirae changes the subject on me as she lowers the radio. I look back from the window at her and raise a brow. “So listen. When we get there. Do not, Evie, DO NOT freak out.”

 I blink once at that. “What? Psh. No. I’m not gonna freak out, why would I freak out?” I’m totally going to freak out. And probably only because she told me not to. I think she knows it too because she rolls her eyes and takes a left on to the main drag before speaking again.

 “Because that’s what you do. Freak out.” I don’t say anything for a minute, just deciding if it’s actually worth it or not. I shrug like it’s nothing, making a dismissive wave with a hand because it’s no big deal. “Evie, I love you but you still look at me like you’re gonna freak out.” Well. She has a point but it’s probably not for the reason she thinks. And I’m going to totally ignore the fact that she said she loves me because if I don’t I’ll fixate on it for the rest of my life. So moving on.

 “Okay first of all it is not at all my fault you were a juvenile delinquent in your former life. And not to put too fine a point on it you did totally shake me down for my pocket change the first day we met. Furthermore, I only look at you like that because I’m usually trying not to get caught staring.” At her chest.

 Lirae reaches out and smacks me playfully as she drives. I can’t help but notice that she’s laughing and it makes her face look totally different. I like it. “Okay if you bring up that lunch money thing up one more time…”

 “You’ll what?” I’m honestly curious. “Ditch me for the star football player?” We just keep tap dancing around the whole weird love triangle thing. God, I can’t believe I actually used the phrase love triangle in reference to myself. It feels like so much bad romance novel even I want to throw up a little.

 “Shut up.” I snicker at her response but let it go as I watch the town slide past us. Truthfully it’s not really that funny because she and Orson are pretty tight and like I said before, they’re more on again than off again. It’s a worrisome situation for me. I don’t even know where I fit in. I mean I know we have on occasion recently made out but I have no idea what this is beyond that. “I’m serious about not freaking out though. If you look too nervous he’s going to think something is wrong.”

 I frown slightly. “What exactly am I going to be freaking out about?” She goes silent. I frown deeper. She doesn’t say anything at all she pulls into a parking lot of a rundown strip mall. It’s not the best part of downtown but it’s still light out and there doesn’t seem to be many people even around. We park and Lirae pauses after opening the truck door sighing as if she thinks it’s better to just get it over with now. That does not at all make me feel better.

 “I don’t know. I guess nothing.” It’s too casual and that makes the hairs on my neck stand on end a little. I get out of the truck, making sure to slam the door a few more times when it keeps popping open again. It finally catches with a click and I spin on a heel nearly plowing into Lirae. “Okay he might maybe kinda hit on me.”

 Oh. Well. I clear my throat and give a slow nod. “Oh.” I’m not really sure what to say to that. “Why would I freak out about that?” She gives me a look, her lips going tight before she rolls her eyes at me and starts walking.

 “Just come on already.” I have to jog a second to catch up to her. We’re almost at the door to the beauty supply and nail shop before I realize it’s our goal.

 “Uh…are we in the right place?”

 Lirae smirks as she pulls the door open and saunters in like she’s been there before many times. I follow along behind her trying not to look like I obviously don’t belong. I’m halfway sure I’m pulling it off when Lirae stops in the middle of an aisle and puts a hand on my chest to keep me from continuing on. “What is wrong with you?”

 “What?”

 “Why are you walking like that?” Like how? I blink at Lirae and clear my throat.

 “I don’t know what you mean. I’m just being cool. Like. Chill. Lo-pro.” Lirae gives me a very slow blink and turns away. I am apparently NOT pulling off any of that. This is probably what she meant about freaking out. Note to self, pimp-limp does not equal cool. I have to jog again to catch her before she waves at one of the nail ladies and ducks behind a beaded curtain leading to a hall. We pass an open doorway to what looks like a storeroom before stopping at a closed door. Lirae knocks a complicated staccato before opening the door and waltzing in like she owns the place.

 “Hey Chuckles.” The guy she’s talking to looks over his shoulder from his game of dominos and grins widely. He has spinners on his gold teeth. I didn’t even know that was a thing. For a second I’m mesmerized by them wondering the how and why of it all.

 “Hey Rae Rae!” He’s easily six and a half feet when he stands and pulls Lirae into a bear hug that lifts her feet from the ground. I can feel my lips pulling down in a frown and I have to force myself not to have resting bitch face. “Damn girl I thought you forgot how to get here. Where you been at?”

 “Nah just been busy doing that whole school thing. This is my girl Evie. Evie, this is Chuckie. We go way back.” I know that she didn’t mean it like I’m her girlfriend. It was probably totally just a ‘this is my friend who is a girl’. And really it shouldn’t make me all flustered and bubbly inside but it kind of does. I just wave at Chuckie when he gives me a nod still trying to decide why I’m there at all. “How’s business been?”

 He narrows his eyes at Lirae and then at me again before he shrugs and settles on to a futon couch against the wall. “It’s alright. You lookin’ for work again?” The way he says it is just a little predatory and it makes me wonder when she worked for him before and what she did. Lirae gives him a shrug and settles on an overturned bucket leaving me to stand awkwardly a little behind and to the side of her.

 “I’m good on that but I could use some help with something. It’s personal.” She doesn’t have to look at the other guys still sitting at the small folding table. They all lay down their tiles and get up without complaint. Lirae must know them from before as well because they wink or reach out to nudge her playfully as they leave the office, closing the door behind them with a solid click. Chuckie’s attention goes directly to Lirae as soon as we’re all alone again.

 “What’cha need?” His tone is oddly quiet and professional and that just weirds me out because he looks anything but professional. It’s probably the tattoos he has on his face instead of eyebrows that’s throwing me off.

 Hazel eyes drift to me and I give her a nod. Lirae reaches into her back pocket and takes out a business card. It’s Tony’s. “We kinda need this guy followed. Nothing big. Just see where he goes, what he does, who he talks to. No contact.” Chuckie takes the card and reads it then leans back in his seat.

 “What’s the dude look like?” This time she slips her phone out from where she stuck it in her bra and flips to a picture of Tony. How did she even get that? I frown slightly and raise a brow that she just smiles and shrugs off. I may never find out how she managed that. “I know this building. I got Marcus running this block. Lots of customers in those corporate plaza offices.” I don’t know why his statement makes this all suddenly more real but it does. We’re really doing this. This isn’t just investigating the paranormal. Now we’re investigating people. Lying bastard Tony people, but a real person none the less.

 “You’re not going to ask why?” I wasn’t planning on speaking at all but the question just came blurting right out of me. He gives me a look as he hands Lirae back her phone, his fingers lingering a little too long for my comfort.

 “Don’t need to. If Rae Rae is asking it’s for a good reason.” Okay. Well. That answers that. He definitely isn’t going on my Christmas list any time soon but at least he’s not into asking too many questions.

 Lirae smiles at him and punches him in the shoulder. “So what’s it gonna cost me?” Chuckie looks her up and down like he’s wondering how far he can push her with me sitting right here.

 “We can call it square if you go out with me again.” Oh. OOH. Oh shit. They were a thing. THIS is why she didn’t want me to freak out. My eyes cut to Lirae but she’s looking directly at him giving him a look I can’t quite see from my spot.

 “You know that’s not happening. How much?” Well at least I know he’s not really competition. I hope. It’s hard to compete with someone who’s a foot taller than you and wears your body weight in gold on his teeth. Chuckie waves at her like it’s her loss for not choosing the date. Though date may be putting it politely.

 “We’re cool, Rae Rae. I got this.” So that’s not so bad. We don’t have to pay him any money but I get the feeling that he’ll be asking her out again. His calculating dark eyes flick over to me then back to Lirae. He’s probably wondering if I’m here to keep him from asking again. I’m not so sure he’d be wrong if he thought that. “So what is it? Mr. Football? ‘Cause you know I don’t care about your little boyfriend. I know you ain’t in love with him.” Wow he’s still going for it. I thought he would at least wait until next time to bring it up.

 Lirae stands and tucks her hands into her back pockets and she starts for the door. She pauses to look over at him with a lazy smirk on her face. It’s…kinda of super hot. “That’s exactly why he’s not my boyfriend anymore.”

 “So then?”

 Her smirk gets wider and she shrugs as she swings the door open. I think Lirae is enjoying this as much for his reactions as mine. “Said he wasn’t my boyfriend, didn’t say I wasn’t taken.” She clucks her tongue at him and winks as she pulls me along behind her. I have just enough time to give a half wave and a squeaked out ‘thank you!’ before we’re too far down the hall for it to matter. Okay then. So she’s taken. I let that tumble along in my brain, my feet moving on autopilot through the shop. It isn’t a big place but all the shelves are stacked high with all kinds of cosmetic chemicals. The smells give me an instant headache and I groan.

 My hand goes to my messenger bag instinctively reaching for the bottle of Advil tucked in a pocket. I’m relieved when we exit the shop but my headache only intensifies as dusk deepens around us. I thought it was the smell of the place but even outside my head throbs evilly. This is not the kind of headache Advil can fix but I pop two in my mouth and dry swallow them quickly.

 “Hey… you okay?” I give her a nod and blink a few times to clear my focus. It’s still too bright out for the street lamps to go on despite the growing shadows as the sun sinks on the horizon. Unease settles in my stomach and I glance around at the dilapidated shops in the strip mall. A thrift store, a tattoo parlor that could give me hepatitis just from looking at it, and a pawn shop. Everything else looks empty and abandoned. This isn’t the greatest place for us to be right now. In the back of my mind I realize it must be my beacon radar going off.

 “We need to go. Like now.” Lirae glances around quickly but doesn’t see anything out there that would make me react like this. It doesn’t stop her from taking my hand and starting toward the truck a little faster though. The wind kicks up and drags a plastic bag across the pavement in front of us. It rises off the ground in an updraft and floats a few inches into a narrow walkway between two buildings directly in front of the truck. My feet stop suddenly and Lirae gets jerked back a little by it. “Wait.”

 There wasn’t movement exactly. I can’t really be sure what made me stop. I just know that there is something there. A few more tense breaths pass before the sun finally dips low enough for the lights to click on. A hum of electricity starts but the bulbs only flicker for a second before going dark again. Lirae looks up at them but I haven’t peeled my eyes from the darkness of the walkway. I need light.

 The second I think it the lamp splashes light into the walkway. That’s weird. The source seems to be lower than normal. I glance up but the street lamps aren’t lit. Then it dawns on me. It’s me. I’m the light. Oh crap. “Oh shit, Evie. Your eyes.”

 “I know.” And so does whatever is watching and waiting.

 “What is it?”

 “I don’t know but we need to get out of here before more come.” My free hand comes up and wraps tightly around my sigil trying to ground myself before I go full on spotlight again. We start forward together toward the truck and whatever is in that alley. It’s almost a relief when we get into the car unmolested and slap the locks down on the doors but that feeling vanishes when the wind slams into the truck with a hard gust. Lirae and I scream a little in surprise. Okay. I scream a little in surprise. Lirae just jumps and gives me a ‘don’t do that!’ look. “Just go!”

 She doesn’t argue, she just puts the car in reverse and backs out faster than she normally would. Something dark flashes in front of the headlights but it was too fast to make out. Lirae mutters a curse and peels out of the lot. I start feeling better the further we get from the strip mall. Gradually my light dims and my headache eases. I still haven’t stopped clutching my sigil but I don’t think I can let go even if I wanted to now. My hand has cramped around it from gripping so tightly. “I thought that thing was supposed to keep this from happening.”

 She looking at me from the corner of her eye as she drives and I sigh. “It’s a little touch and go sometimes.” She snorts at that and without looking at me, reaches over and squeezes my hand. That reminds me.

 “So you’re taken?” This is so not the time for this. I know it and she knows it. But here it is because I need to be distracted from what almost just happened. I need a distraction from the heavy weight that comes with the knowledge that my time of safety is running out quickly and I need answers now.

 “Maybe.” I raise my brows at that but she laces our fingers together in my lap. Okay. Maybe I don’t need to hear it again. We drive in silence for about 45 seconds more before I realize that yeah I kinda do need to hear it again.

 “So like…”

 “Oh my God! Yes Evie. I’m taken.” She didn’t say by me but I decide not to push it because her side eyed glare at me says I might not like her next response. I grin happily at her, content with just holding her hand as we ride.

 “Kay.” My easy surrender earns me a suspicious look but then she smiles a little nervously at me. Like this is new for her too. I guess maybe it is. We’ve never talked about it but I’ve never seen her with a girlfriend before. Well I’m pretty sure my brain is going to overheat now from obsessing over every single word between us today. I may think of nothing else ever again.

[roxydrawskhstuffs]

CHAPTER 2

“Shoutout to KingOfGamesYohgiMotto. Thank you for the donation, man. This means a lot to me and to my channel.” Riku says at the his microphone, punching buttons on his PS4 after seeing a notification that one of his subscriber just donated $10 in his Paypal account. Making sure he pronounced the the username properly or as much as possible got it right.

He also sneered a grin, remembering the name of the protagonist in that same card game he and Vanitas had played when they were playing “Strip and Drunk Duel” on Saturday dubbed as “Drunkterday”, This was their only leisure time aside from streaming their gameplays or casting official ESports games tournament.

They sometimes stream their drunk games where they only open an invitation link on  their private Discord channel for the first 200 people who wants to watch them lose their dignities. The last time they did stream their drunkard gameplay, half of their subscribers dared them that whoever loses should kiss the winner. The match was intense but in the end, Vanitas won making Riku lose his virgin lips as he kissed Vanitas for the first time.

His raven roommate laughed, his cheeks red from all the martini he dranked (both have different tastes. Their subscribers even asked if where do they buy their alcohol. The two said in unison that it was “classified information” and would never tell where they got it), he joked the camera asking their subscribers if he should wear lipstick so that the evidence of them kissing will be visible and fans would have proof that Riku whacked the raven’s for suggesting such embarrassing thought.  

“Come on, Reeks, hun, we homos. We’ve already seen each others dicks since high school.”

Another whack in the head, but this time, Vanitas was actually whimpering in his drunkard state telling that it hurts. “Fuck you, Vani. Don’t even give them more fanservices we’ve already doing.”  Riku grabbed a glass of homemade margarita. Drinking all of its contents as liquid courage for he was about to be doing. “You fuckers better not be recording this or so help me God I’ll delete my channel. Goodluck finding me on the internet!” Warning at the camera.

The kissed came and lots of the people in their discord channel died from their fanservice.

In behalf of the 200 subscribers who died after seeing VanReeks doing a torrid “Kissing Booth” kiss scene.

You will forever be in the hearts of the  VanReeks Pornsite Discord channel.

Riku’s phone pinged notifying him about that his pay from the gaming company have finally been transferred from his PayPal. Thank God, he can finally pay Vanitas for the rent of his room. He didn’t question why he was the last of the two of them who receives his pay from the XIII Organization Gaming Authority. Riku has two hunches: 1) The gaming company likes Vanitas or 2) The gaming company just hates Riku. The raven assured his silver-haired friend that they get the same amount from the company. Why Riku was always late, he had no idea.

Onwards to his gaming stream, he was so focused on the game he almost missed the stream’s chat.

daisu777: omg bruh the verum rex was totally awesomesauce! If it wasn’t for u, i never would encounter this beautiful gem of a game! More power to your channel

gamergurlhoe2k19: Reeks! You are so beautiful! I became a gamer bc of your channel. Pls notice me senpai ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

zoeeeeeV9: luv ur channel bruh, just wanna ask if what other games you going to stream? Would like you to see horror games like Fatal Frame and Silent Hill. TIA

delicsnakekuu: how’s it goin bro? Thanks again for the recommendation about Verum Rex. Game was overkill! If you want, I can get you a copy of Devil May Cry series. Just send your PSN account deets so I can prep ‘em.

More power to your channel, bro! Peace out.

GayForMastahTenebrae1234: Riku! OH my god finally caught up and joined one of your livestreams. You are such an adorable and cool streamer. I always watch your contents and your stream casting together with Vanitas.

I live for VanReeks so much I ship you with each other. Ajksdhasjkhdjaks plssforgivdisfujohoe

I got a source from one of your fellow followers that Verum Rex will be having its own anime adaptation and there was a fan gathering for it. Will u and Vani be coming in the event?

bitchachosnachoZ: WHAT?!

DAFUQC?!

AXEwithanL: STFU!!!

S T A  H P

natsuckiss: bitch where did u get that info?!

dAth0EGAMING:  qsgywcsknwnshs fam.

LINKKKKKK!!!!

LINK!!!

AXEwithanL: LINK!

bitchachosnachoZ: for the love of Riku my King, give me the link!!!

The entire chatbox was in chaos, spamming chats about sauce, link, and some info that it was real that Riku almost totally forgot about the said event.

“Oh crap. I forgot about the event,” he mumbled in his mic but his voice was heard and his fans speed-typing chats like “omfg”, “Riku did you mean…”, “omg shut up”. Riku really do loved his circle of fans and their creative language that sometimes, he adopt the words and expressions into his everyday life. Looking at the camera, he grabbed a white envelope showing it to his fans. A wax seal was present with a sigil of the The XIII Organization Gaming Authority visible. “Yeap, me and Vani are definitely invited in the press conference of the game.

It’s going to be hold on tomorrow at Radiant Garden Hotels & Casinos,” his channel’s chatbox went wild. Incoherent fangirling, fanboying chats spam him. Congratulating the game streamer how successful and worth playing Verum Rex. They even praised him for not giving up in playing the game that half of the gaming community went wild, quickly buying the game. Every gamers was hooked into the storyline spreading it like a virus.

He also added that no additional information was enclosed in his invitation aside from the trailer reveal, casts, animation studio, etc. “But hey guys, they might dropped the second installment of Verum Rex pretty soon seeing after that cliffhanger ending. I’ll inform you guys about it. I wouldn’t put that in my channel but you can follow me on Twitter @tenebraeriku for anything. I also have an upcoming giveaway raffle if I reached 300k followers. The prize would be a Platinum Edition of Verum Rex. Me and Vani will be signing the CD case itself so goodluck. Mechanics will be posted soon.” Riku gazed at his wall clock, it was almost dinner time and he hadn’t cooked anything yet. Hovering his character, Riku moved his game persona towards the nearest save point, calling it a night and rest. He also assumed that Vanitas is almost done with his cram school. Riku had no idea what he was studying but he supported Vanitas in whatever plans he does.

Saying goodbye to his followers, Riku shut down his desktop, camera and PS4. Stretching his arms, the silver-haired walked towards the kitchen to make dinner. Vanitas would likely want something that will make him be awake since he streams at midnight.

“Fried rice and chicken curry then.” Riku says, gathering the ingredients needed in the fridge. All necessary ingredients gathered, the silver-haired started chopping everything.

A few minutes passed by, the entrance door flew open announcing Vanitas’ presence. “God, I’m beat. What’s for dinner, Mom?” Vanitas jokingly says flopping his body on the couch, face buried in the throw pillows. Riku laughed at the Mom joke saying that it was fried rice and curry. With a speed like lightning, Vanitas was already at the table, utensils in his hand waiting for Riku to put his food on the table. Clasping his hands likes a prayer, Vanitas uttered a Japanese word “itadakimasu” before digging into his food. Vanitas was a pureblood Japanese while Riku was half-Italian, the two of them just clicked when they were put together as roommates when they were still in college and now successful and professional adults, the two still share the same rent space as they did, saying that it was their memento to each other but they were still plan to find a penthouse that the two of them will share, hence their shared bank accounts.

“Speaking of events,” Says Vanitas stopping his eating. A sauce dripping in the corner of his mouth. “Reeks, do you have anything to wear for the upcoming gathering?” Shaking his head, still have no idea on what to wear. There was nothing fancy in his fashion wardrobe aside from the suit and tie he wore on graduation and it was the remembered that fit the fancy category.

It was so outdated, Riku would never wear the same clothes for a gathering full of rich people. “No.” He replied, digging on his own plate of food. Confessing that he needs to buy clothes for the event. His raven roommate propositioned that to come with with him to go shopping along with Vanitas’s “Venty Wenty”.

“Ah. The mysterious boyfriend I presume?” said Riku with one eyebrow raised. Vanitas pointed the stabbed chicken skin in the fork at Riku, defending the accusation. “He’s real alright. The idiot’s already pestering me to meet you. God,” remembering the way Ventus (‘that was his full, I just gave him a dumb nickname which in turn he actually liked it and the name got stuck’ the raven explained) had asked him so many times about Riku and when will he met him. “I’m his boyfriend and he’s more interested in meeting you. Talk about a stab in heart.” Riku laughed assuring him that there was no way he will take Venty Wenty away from him.

“But if he is, what you call, adorable, then I can’t promise anything.” jokingly retorted and the raven scowled. The raven gasped saying “Bitch, that idiot is mine.” to Riku but knew that it was only a joke. After dinner, Vanitas offered to wash the dishes ushering to go to sleep already. It was almost time for the raven to do his livestream gameplays and his followers requested NieR: Automata. Riku hadn’t played the game but will definitely add into his list to play/stream.

The giveaway!

“Oh.” Riku exclaimed, he told Vanitas that he was going to give away about the signed copy of the platinum copy of Verum Rex. Vanitas nodded. “Just give it to me a week before prior.” and Riku went towards his room. Scratching the back of his head, the silver-haired yawned, he grabbed first his phone to check onto his twitter page and turns out the followers he’d received just went tripled!

From five hundred followers to four thousands making him smile. “Seriously, these fans.” Riku then messaged Axel, the company’s Marketing head.

Friday morning came and Riku got up. Preparing for his daily routine: wash up, bathe, do a run around the neighborhood, make breakfast and stream. Since it was the day of the gathering Riku announced to all his social media accounts that he could not go online and stream games. Leaving his room, he heard noises coming from Vanitas room, probably still streaming.

Creeping up inside, his raven roommate was in his pjs, D.Va headset and controller on hand. His room was almost as neat as Riku’s but more chaotic when it comes to designs: there were a lot of rock band posters pin up in his wall, a glass case full of saberfaces servants figurines from that series called Fate, his video-game console cabinet was also present on the view, there was also a corkboard beside his bed where a photo of two children with different hair color. He couldn’t make out due to its small size. On view, Vanitas looked up to Riku and nodded focusing on his game. Riku crossed his arms waiting for the raven to scold him to leave his room. “‘Vani, any thoughts if you’re going to put a tattoo on your shoulder blades like Eve does in NieR:Automata?’ Yeah no. I do think the tatts are rad but that is not my style, either I’ll choose something more tribal-ish or vintage.”

A chat question?, he presume. Riku mimed about the clothes shopping and Vanitas nodded. “Alright, this concludes today’s stream because,” ushering his silver-haired friend to come closer towards the camera. Riku obliged and could see his and Vanitas face on the monitor. The chat started going wild again. “Me and Reeks have a date with the mall for buying fancy clothes. Say hi to my followers Reeks,”

Annoyed, Riku decided to humour Vanitas and did what was told. “Yeah, so hello and good morning everyone. Sorry I had to take Vani away from you guys. We actually going to have a date.” and kissed the cheeks of Vanitas. The chatbox, went wild. Again. “Gross! Do not do fanservice stuff outside the porn discord channel”

3m0_k1d: wat?!

roxie31: reeeeeeeeeeeee

internal screaming

HokageSasukinks: Σ(||ﾟДﾟ)ﾋｨｨｨｨ

g a y

Korabendings: dude

//drips holy water to screen and eyes

awsawadsd: jwbsohjdhskndooh

sum1 hold me  

VANREEKSIZHREAL: I SHIP!!!

VANREEKS IS CANON YOU ASS

GamingGeekarooo: jesus my eyes.

Stop this im gonna unsubscribe you if you do that

VANREEKSIZHREAL: OMG YOU SAID NO FANSERVICE OUTSIDE OF THE DISCORD CHANNEL.

MAY I KNOW THE LINK?

“You are so so so dead, Tenebrae.” Vanitas says with death reflecting in his golden orbs. His silver-haired friend just grinned, amused at whatever he did that triggered Vanitas to show his other side.

“Bring it on, Vani.”

Vanitas was the first one who spotted place where they would meet Ventus. Riku just shrugged following him towards the center when a loud “Vaniiii!!!” screeched and looked for the owner of the voice. Vanitas wasn’t kidding about Ventus being adorable. The person in questioned had a very brunette-blonde hair with spikes with spikes much more ridiculous to Vanitas, he wore faded green tank top combined with a dirty-white trench coat, ripped jeans and black converse. The only accessory he had was a heart-shaped with four points on the lower part in his left ear.

Vanitas waved his hand as the boyfriend wrapped his hands on Vanitas’s waist and kissed his cheek. Riku’s inner thoughts were already laughing or maybe screaming for how cheesy the two were. The brunette boyfriend apologized for being late (not really but Vanitas likes to make Ventus feel bad about himself) saying that there was an old lady that needed help into getting to the bus station when she was carrying a large paper bag full of groceries.

The raven just rolled his eyes. “You never do say no to a help, aren’t you?” Ventus laughed  saying it was in his nature to help those in need. Ventus just realized Riku’s presence. “Oh! Sorry for leaving you out. I presume your Riku Tenebrae?”

Riku nodded. “And you must the famous Ventus Wayward aka ‘Venty Wenty’.” At the pronounced of the nickname, Ventus face reddened covering his face with his hands. Too cute. Embarrassed that Vanitas told him about the nickname. Vanitas raised his hands innocently. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. We don’t keep secrets from each other tho.” He put his hand on Ventus bottom lip, pleasing and cooing him the brunette that he shouldn’t make it a big deal.

Seeing the two of them being lovey-dovey was too much annoying the hell out of Riku. “Hey, if you two lovebirds done with your public display of affection. Can we go to the actual task at hand? You know, shopping? For clothes?”

Guilty at hand, Ventus apologized nudging his boyfriend to do the same thing. “Sorry for having a lovelife, Reeks. Never knew you were such a jealous type.”

“For once, Vanitas. Just shut up.”

PREVIOUS                         NEXT