#oh no im ALL ALONE i sure hope no one comes out of the OMINOUS BIG CAT ENCLOSURE and comes FUCKS me

[ogatas-bunny]

Okii I will go to sleep tonight thinking about getting passed back and forth between Oggie and Kotetsu ❤️

[corrucyst]

oh no. im all alone. i sure hope no one comes out of the, ominous fog and comes fucks me

[suddenly-i-kin-oikawa]

Y/n Haikyuu Chronicles

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Childhood Friends AU ♥

Kids (3-10)~

You’ve lived next to each other for as long as you two can remember

Although he’s about 3 months older, you’ve always been close

You’re the one who got him into dinosaurs, btw. He didn’t want to watch Jurassic Park with you, but he’s always been a bit weak for you, lmao.

He had to physically pull you off of Yamaguchi’s bully’s and to this day you are proud as hell of it. 

When you guys have a sleep over, he always says he hates cuddling and goes to sleep with his back to you, but always ends up waking up wrapped around you anyway

For like a year and a half you were taller than him, but then this asshole got his growth spurt

He’s so soft, omg, he always remembers your favorite snacks so he can get you them

He saves you spots next to him

Holds your hand so “You don’t get lost like the idiot you are”

(Super easy to fluster at this age btw, especially when he’s called cute)

Tweens (11-13)~

This is when you guys first started getting teased for being friends

You offered to only hang out with him after school because you knew he hated the attention

He rejected that idea and called you an idiot

Not too long after that is when he started snipping at everyone, to your great amusement

(”Aw, look, it’s Kishi and n/n, are you guys going on a date?”) (”Oh, look, it’s the kid that said he could date anyone he wanted then started crying when he got rejected.”) (”Oh my gosh, Kishi no.”)

Eventually everyone just left you two alone, though it didn’t stop some kids for forming a betting pool about your relationship

This mf sprouted like a god damned tree, you are unable to count just how many times he’s rested his arm on your head or looked down at you smirking. 

You fix that though with a good elbow to his side when he gets cocky, the bastard. 

Whatever, enough about his growth. You got taller as well, just nowhere near him. Your more feminine aspects starting coming in as well, which got you some attention from boys before Kishi scared them off.

This time is also when you two started volleyball. You as the boy’s manager and sometimes practicing with the girls and Tsukishima bragging to you about his big brother who played for Karasuno High.

You remembered your friend mentioning that he’s never been to one of his brothers’ games before, so you decided to get two tickets so you could surprise him!

That was the first time Kishi’s ever ignored you for that long.

It was the last day of school when he showed up at your house with your favorite snacks, drinks, your favorite (of his) dino plush, and a playlist.

You called it your Kishi Care Kit, he called you a nuisance

He spent the summer making it up to you

Teens(14-18)~

He did not want you to become manager of the team, at all. That’s probably the closest he’s ever come to begging

You still did it though, lmao

In your defense, you maybe kinda was still scared he’d leave you like he did in middle school again. 

Anyway! This was also a good way of making new friends! Once you, Kishi, and Yama clicked, you never really bothered the make other friends.

This might also be your potential abandonment issues talking, but we’re not gonna go into that

However, no matter how many Kishi said you could do what you wanted, he found himself getting possessive.

Walking up to you and yanking you away from whoever was talking to you

Standing ominously behind you until the other person left

Verbally ripping apart the others person, you name it

Him being your childhood best friend, you might have ignored for a couple months but eventually you got tired of his hot and cold act and you two clashed

While you two were going back and forth, he said something he shouldn’t have and hurt you. You knew sometimes he was blunt, and borderline mean, but never to you. It hit harder then you thought it would.

You left before he could say anymore. He hurt you in middle school, and he did it again a year later. You should have left after the first time to save yourself the heart ache. 

Throughout the entirety of your guys lives, you’ve always been the one to go to him after a fight. Not that you were wrong all the time, but you know your best friend. He probably one of the worse people to ever fight with because he doesn’t apologize. 

Even after he ignored you for months on end and gave you those gifts, the words sorry never left his mouth.

You’ve always gone back to him, because he knew you would understand his short comings when it came the that flaw of his.

You’re not sure if you want to understand anymore

Almost three months later and countless awkward practices, he knocked on your window a little past 3 in the morning

You let him in, and you two are sitting across from each other. He’s staring at you while you hug Rex (the plush he gave you) and look anywhere but him.

15 minutes are silence goes by before he says anything.

“I’m so sorry, n/n.”

You hadn’t heard your nickname since before 7th grade

He apologized to you for multiples things

What happened in middle school, acting like he didn’t care, ruining your chances at making friends multiple times, what he said to you during that fight. It all comes rushing out and all you can do is stare at him because he’s rambling and his voice his cracking and are those tears?

You don’t bother trying to stop yourselves from hugging him.

Once he’s calms, you ask him why

Why did you leave me? 

Why did you ignore me?

Why did you hurt me?

He explained everything, not leaving a single detail out. And then it was quiet again.

“I love you.”

“You do?”

“How could I not?”

Time-skip~

You two dated throughout high school, collage, and are still going strong

Of course, you’ve had your ups and downs, but you pulled through.

Your both busy with your respective careers, or the beginnings of one, but you always make time for each other.

You always sleep in his arms at the end of the day, you book tours  at his museum specifically asking for him, and make it to as many of his games as you can. He also makes sure to wake you up with breakfast every morning with a kiss, eat lunch with you when your breaks sink up, and give you gifts 

Just to remind you

It was when he blocked his rival scoring the winning point when he told you to look under your seat at the end of the game

You, confused, did so, embarrassed he was doing this on live television

Then you saw it.

And you had never said yes so fast.

@alto-march-of-death​ .... Im back 👉�� WITH A GIFT I hope it’s not too bad, I wanted to surprise you so I couldn’t really ask for you opinion. I have been working on this for A WHILE and I’m so glad it’s done

[wienerbarnes]

Secret’s Out

Pairing: Bucky x Reader (Cheek to Cheek)

Word Count: 1,796

Warnings: not much, brief slight angst i guess

A/N: back on my cheek to cheek bullshit 😌 after this one, im going to be posting some oneshots that date back to some of reader’s background and times before bucky! which im excited for :D enjoy!

MAIN MASTERLIST | CHEEK TO CHEEK MASTERLIST

Another mission, another briefing. You get the alert the morning of, the last minute meeting blaring in your room as you make yourself breakfast. You sigh and turn the stove off, accepting that you won’t have time to finish cooking and make it to the conference room in the next five minutes. You take the time instead to get dressed in what you normally wear to briefings and take your coffee to go.

When you arrive, there’s no one in the room, no one besides Sam and Bucky. Was the meeting for nine and not eight? Are you freakishly early? Could you have actually stayed and eaten your eggs and toast?

“Do you know what this is about? Because he won’t tell me.” Bucky huffs at you playfully, not actually angry, but still annoyed at the fact that Sam refused to tell him anything that’s going on until you got here.

You shake your head to tell him you don’t and slowly make your way over to the seat next to Bucky as Sam’s voice booms in the room.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., lock the door.” A distant click is heard as your bottom meets the chair and Bucky’s face becomes more and more confused.

Sam is silent for a moment, seemingly trying to figure out what words to say and how to start.

“I found a video of you.” He says.

“... What?” You whisper in disbelief.

“I was looking into your background. Specifically your HYDRA background. And I found a video that needs explanation.” As if on cue, a video is displayed behind Sam.

You are seen sitting at a small table, a small blender to the right of you. You look dangerously thin, hair greasy and matted, dark circles under your eyes. You have a crazy look in them, a look Bucky hasn’t seen since the first time he saw you in prison. This isn’t prison though, he very quickly realizes. Besides your body growing rigid next to him, he just knows that this is a HYDRA facility.

You’re humming obnoxiously loud in the video as a large man - presumably a Hydra scientist -  steps into frame. He wears a light blue button down shirt tucked into slacks underneath a lab coat. The tune of Singin’ in the Rain is all that’s heard for the first few seconds of the video as you stare up at the man, watching him as he checks the blender.

“Shut up.” He finally snaps at you, growing annoyed with your loud humming.

“I’m singing in the rain! Just singing in the rain! What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again!” You yell out, screaming out the lyrics in tune before a loud crack sounds, as the man in the lab coat slaps you hard across the face.

Bucky flinches next to you and you barely remember what this video was. You’re more consumed by the fact that Sam was doing some kind of background check on you for some reason and the fact that there’s a video at all. I didn’t know they recorded me.

You seem to hold back a smile at the man, as though he told some amazing joke and you’re trying not to laugh, despite having been backhanded across the cheek.

“Turn on the blender.” The man commands.

“That’s a very nice shirt you’re wearing.” You compliment.

He ignores you as he waits for you to turn on the blender. Bucky looks closely at it, but the button is on the side closest to the handler. He takes a wild guess that they don’t expect you to just reach around and switch it on with your finger.

You suddenly remember what this video is. And you realize why Sam is so angry. This isn’t good at all.

“It’s a nice shade of blue. A calming shade of blue. Like a sky blue.”

“Shut up. Turn on the blender.”

“No, no, not a sky blue. More like a… cerulean.”

“So what, you like my shirt. Turn. The. Blender. On. Now!” He commands, voice raising as his patience wears thin.

“Cerulean… blue. A nice shade… of cerulean… blue…” You drift off.

That’s when Bucky sees it. A small label on the blender, Cerulean. Before his thoughts can spiral too deeply into the name of the blender, it's a loud whirring sound in the video, making him flinch once more.

Nobody touched the blender, it seemed to have powered on by itself and a wide smile grows on your face, the same one he saw in the other video he’s seen of you, when you escaped the Hydra facility. You giggle girlishly as the man leans forward and shoves his hand into the powered blender, blood splattering out of it immediately, spraying across your face and your smiling teeth and tainting the blue of his shirt and lab coat.

Four men crowd you, holding you by the head, by the neck, by the shoulders, gripping your chin even though you barely moved through the duration video and the shot switches to black before powering off completely.

Bucky finally peels his eyes away from where the video was playing to look at you, and you look terrified.

“Sam,” You try to start.

“Mind. Control.” He says.

“Sam -” You try again.

“You hid mind control from us!” He yells.

“I can explain! “You better, and I’m only giving you thirty seconds to do so.” He snaps.

“It - It was fight or flight! I don’t even know how I did that! I barely remember that video at all! I’ve only ever been able to do that one other time! Sam - Sam -” You stutter, “They injected me with all kinds of shit, kept me awake for days on end, fed me, starved me; they did anything to manipulate my body in order to manifest powers. You have to - to - to believe me, I don't know how I did that -”

You’re getting hysterical. You can not fuck this up. You can’t be on your own again. You can’t be living in fear all the time anymore, you can’t go back to that. You can’t be away from Bucky, you can’t lose Bucky, can’t lose Bucky.

“Sam, that’s enough.” Bucky finally speaks up.

“Buck, I know she’s your little girlfriend, but -”

“Sam, do you hear yourself right now?! Look at her!” You’re on the verge of hyperventilating and overall losing it.

Bucky doesn’t pay Sam attention long enough to hear anything he’s going to say before ducking down to where you hold your head in your hands.

“Can’t… can’t be alone again… no, no, no,… can’t” You mumble to yourself.

Sam takes a deep breath, calming himself in order to assess the situation before him, “Hey. Hey!” He snaps, catching your attention and making you look up, tears in your eyes.

“I may be angry at you for keeping this from me… but you’re not going anywhere. Do I wish you would’ve told me so I wouldn’t be surprised by some ominous video this morning? Yes. But we’ll figure it out. We’re a team and I’m not abandoning you. So stop the crying so we can deal with this. Because you need to tell me everything.” Sam tells you with seriousness in his voice, the Captain coming out.

You take a deep breath and wipe your tears, preparing to tell them everything you can remember.

…

You’re exhausted. You cried. A lot. Trying to sift through thousands of memories you spent so long trying to repress because you never wanted to remember them; you never thought you’d need to.

You tell Bucky that don’t feel like being around anyone the rest of the day, and you’re glad he accepts that, letting you have your alone time and leaving you with a promise for breakfast the following morning.

Meanwhile, Bucky calls up an old friend, someone he hasn’t talked to in years. But it’s the only person he can think of that might be able to help you get a hold of your powers.

He sits on his couch in his apartment, phone against his ear as the line rings, before an accented voice finally answers.

“Hello?”

“... Hey.”

“... Bucky? Is that you?”

“Yeah. It’s me. How soon can you be in New York? From wherever you are? I need some help.”

Morning comes too soon for you, though.

“Agent 51?”

“Oh… my god. What do you want?” You groan, loving F.R.I.D.A.Y., but hating her voice so early in the morning, with only seven minutes to spare before your alarm was supposed to go off anyway.

“Your training has been canceled this morning by Captain Wilson. Instead, he has requested that you meet him in Conference Room B.”

“Ugh, at what time?”

“As soon as possible, Agent.”

“Holy shit,” You sigh, accepting that you won’t be able to sleep anymore, “Fine, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” You hope that Bucky somehow knows your training is canceled and brings you breakfast in the conference room anyway as promised yesterday.

Making your way to the conference room with your coffee in hand for the second time in the span of two days - which you hope doesn’t become a routine - you might add, you make sure to rub a hand across your head, smoothing down any hairs sticking straight up at weird angles now that the hair is growing back. It’s only maybe an inch or two long, but not long enough to do anything to it and not short enough to ignore.

Entering the conference room, you see Sam, Bucky and some… woman, her back turned towards you. You close the door timidly behind you and Bucky turns around to greet you, styrofoam box in hand and the smell of bacon and toast hits your nostrils. Knew it.

“Brought you breakfast, baby.” He tells you with a smile, walking up to you to plant a soft kiss on your lips in Good morning.

“Ugh, ew.” Sam spews. The woman giggles at his reaction and you’re brought back to the stranger in the room.

“Who are you?” You ask, not really wanting to beat around the bush considering that Bucky just kissed you in front of somebody you don’t know, something he’s never done before.

The woman turns around and you take in her features. High cheekbones and big green eyes, she’s very beautiful but very… young. Like, really young. Younger than you, for sure, but not a teenager either. She wears what seems to be casual clothes, her nails painted dark with rings crowding her fingers. Her most striking physical detail, though, are the long waves of bright orangey-red hair, flowing across her shoulders.

She smiles at you sweetly, and you feel calm as she introduces herself, “Hi, I’m Wanda.”

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life Sequel (2/10) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words 1479 Chapter Summary: School is back into the schedule and everyone is busy. Marinette uses a school project as an easy way to get a video done and Alya pops by. Author's Note: I'm back! I'm so sorry for going MIA the past few weeks but school has been kicking my butt with projects. School comes first, tho! Hoping to get back into regular updates but my semester is about halfway over and teachers are picking things up. Keep an eye on tumblr/wattpad if things get postponed! Also the ending sounds ominous but trust me it isn't, I just wanted a good way to wrap things up.

Prev / Next / Masterlist

Life Updates

---

A few months into the school year

Adrien was still living with Marinette and her family. Though now he would have the mansion all to himself, he didn't want to be there. It was filled with harsh memories, and he couldn't even think about looking at the pictures of his father. Instead, he let Gorilla live there, rent-free and happy. He still accompanied Adrien when he went to Agreste Fashion, but he also knew Adrien could take care of himself.

But he couldn't leave Adrien alone after losing his mother, father, and closest thing to another parental figure. Gorilla was still there for him, picking Adrien up in the morning to get him to school, picking him up from school, and taking him wherever he needs, whether it be the offices or back to the bakery.

Marinette and her parents love having Adrien around. Tom and Sabine knew how hard it is for him, and letting him stay with them brought some normalcy into his life. Plus, he really enjoyed learning how to cook with them and even helping out in the bakery when it gets busy. They loved walking out into the living room to see the kids watching movies or playing video games, and waking up in the morning to find they fell asleep in the middle of their TV binge-watching time, all cuddled together.

Though it was more of an adjustment, Tom and Sabine also loved the Kwamis. Tikki is very sweet, and they love having Plagg taste test new ideas. Since Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't needed as much anymore, they're more like pets, but that doesn't change the love everyone has for them. Now with Marinette as the guardian of Paris' Miraculous, every so often, she lets them all come out to get a breath of fresh air. Being stuck in a box has got to be boring, and it's a lot of fun to see all the Kwami's interact.

Adrien loved the freedom of university and getting to study business. It was a lot to take on, but he was really excited to take Agreste Fashion in a better direction once he learned more and more. He may not be officially running it right now, and the COO is acting as CEO; he does get a lot of say in the way things go. When he first started, he immediately stripped Agreste Fashion of his father's name, and Gabriel is nowhere to be found; he will not let his father's bad choices run this business any longer.

While Adrien was having a great time with school, Marinette was stressing. Of course, she loved everything she was doing in her classes. She was finally able to take her designs to the next level and learn more than she could teach herself. Adrien already promised her a job at Agreste Fashion, but she's determined to earn her place and work her way up by herself.

Marinette had a busy week with a big project due. Since she's been distancing herself from videos (still posting at least weekly!), she figured to take advantage of the situation. Marinette had her camera set up to shoot the mannequin she was working on, and another camera pointed at her desk to get different shots for what part she was focusing on. She wouldn't post the video until after she got her grade back, but it never hurts to shoot something in advance.

As Marinette was carefully pinning a piece of fabric, she jumped at the sound of the trap door opening. "Ah!" She shouted when she poked herself. "Oh, Alya," She calmed down. "You scared me."

"I can see," She giggled. "I came to check up on you and bring you a smoothie," She offered her gift with a big smile. "And I wanted to see your work!"

Marinette gladly took the drink and nodded. "Thanks, nowhere near done yet. I'm recording the process for a video."

Alya gasped, acting offended. "And you're doing that without me, your camera operator?"

"You've been busy, too; I didn't want to stop you!" Marinette reasoned.

"Good point, but I'm going to sit here and help," She sat and sat on the chaise against the wall. Pulling out her laptop, Alya smiled. "I brought work with me. We can both work loving the company of each other," She said.

Marinette smirked as she got back to work. "Missing Nino?"

"Like you'd never imagine," Alya groaned back. "We talk all the time, but it's not the same. How's Adrien?"

"Honestly, better than I expected. He spends a decent amount of time at Agreste Fashion, but is always back in time for dinner. Speaking of, you want to stay?" Marinette offered, and Alya nodded in response. She yelled down to her mom to ask if it was okay, which Sabine said absolutely.

Alya started typing away at her computer to work on a paper while still making conversation with Marinette. "How are you all adjusting? I know Nino, Chloé, and I have gotten over most of it, but I'm sure it's different for you guys."

"Oh, you know, we're still working through it. Adrien sees a therapist, as expected, and it helps.  I think it just takes time, and school is definitely helping as a distraction. I can't imagine what will happen if Nathalie tries to contact him, but last we heard, she moved to the States when she was released. They made a compromise that she'd finish out community service there, especially since Gorilla said it would be more damaging to Adrien to have her still in Paris," Marinette rambled. "But other than that, good!" Marinette sighed, glad that she would be narrating the video in the editing phase.

Alya nodded. "I'm still shocked that he was a witness in court," She said. "But I'm glad he was. Though I don't believe her 'I was forced to!' defense, at least she won't be near us," Alya said. "It's a shame; she seemed nice. Well, before we found out."

Marinette shook her head with a slight laugh. "She scared me from the beginning. But so did Gabriel," Marinette reflected. They went back to work, having a few remarks here and there, and soon enough, they were called down for dinner. "Oh, Adrien, hey!" Marinette smiled when she got downstairs to see that Adrien was home, and had been, as he helped with dinner.

"Sorry I snuck in," He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "Hey, Alya, how are things?"

---

ahhhh i love Marinette's designs so much thEYRE BEAUTIFUL

when is this going to be in stores?? i need it like yesterday

I wonder when Adrien will give her a job at agreste fashion. we all know he wants to. but w h e n. I need my fashion power couple to take over the world

I loved Alya just chilling in the back, that's friendship. working independently but together (also is anyone else trying to figure out what they were talking about??) >Marinette Design's Reply Oh trust me it's nothing interesting. Just getting caught back up about school and life!

I'm so happy when you upload! Thanks Mari, hope you all are doing well.

I HEAR A NINO TRACK IN THE BACKGROUND IM SEEING HIM WITH JAGGED IN A FEW WEEKS AHHHHHH

one day we'll get a vlog from Marinette preparing for her first big time fashion show. With Adrien as a model. Manifesting it.

Marinette snickered as she read through the comments from her most recent video, and even replied to a few. She was waiting for Adrien to finish getting ready so they could head out for their date, and she was highly entertained by the comments. Only a few more minutes passed before Adrien came from the bathroom in a green sweater with a big smile on his face. "Ready to go, Milady?" He asked and held his arm out for her to take.

Marinette nodded and linked their arms. She was wearing a casual dress with leggings, looking nice but not being overdressed. They were excited to have a nice dinner together and act like a normal couple, which they never really had. They left the Kwamis at home and were ready to enjoy the evening, ready for a night for just them. Gorilla picked them up and drove them to the restaurant, and they only had two rules for tonight: No discussing past superhero adventures, and stay off the phones so they can enjoy each other's company.

The rules were easy to follow, as all they wanted to do was sit, talk, and eat. Maybe their lives would go back to normal faster than they thought. They were happy and excited for the future, and both were happy to talk about anything else than the trauma they have suffered.

Marinette, however, did miss running around on rooftops with her cat.

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries  @toodaloo-kangaroo 

[hopeisour4letteredword]

innocent bones ch2

Summary: Apollo gets a wake-up call in a few ways. It’s okay, though--he’s got best-friend backup.

Link to AO3 in the notes.

“Goood morning, sunshine!”

“Blrgh,” Apollo says, more to his pillow than Clay. He rolls over and pulls the blankets over his head.

“Oh, are we grouchy this morning? I can drink both of these by myself if you wanna be left alone.”

Apollo peeks out from the covers warily. Clay dangles an iced drink in a plastic café cup tantalizingly over the bed. The morning is already hot, and only promises to get hotter; Apollo knows by the time he has proper clothes on, he’ll want something cold and sweet. He sighs and kicks the sheets aside, stretching.

“Why are you in my apartment?”

“Why were you sleeping with one sock on?”

Apollo looks down. Sure enough, he still has on the sock he’d yanked on at three in the morning. “...Fuck me.”

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” Clay says, batting his eyelashes, then cackles as Apollo swings a pillow at him and chases him around the room. When they reach the kitchenette, Clay successfully diverts his attention to a small paper bag of baked goods. Apollo allows him to exchange the pillow for a chocolate croissant. “To answer your question, I’m here to chill with my best friend on my day off, like we’ve been planning for, oh, the last three weeks?”

Shit. That’s right. Apollo scrubs the crust of sleep from his eyes, shoulders slumping. “Sorry. I remember now.”

Clay smiles easily and slides him the drink. Apollo sips. Peachy oolong tea with lemonade. “No harm, no foul. Seriously, though. Why the sock?”

“I had the most surreal fucking night,” Apollo says, and tells him about it. Clay starts laughing uproariously as soon as he mentions the teeth. He doesn’t stop until Apollo concludes with Prosecutor Debeste’s intervention.

“Oh, man,” Clay chuckles, wiping at the corners of his eyes. “How does this shit happen to you?”

“If I knew, don’t you think I would try to stop it?”

“I don’t know, would you?” Clay smirks maddeningly and bites into his muffin. Through a mouthful of crumbs, he drawls, “I’m sure you suffered so much with a handsome man vying for your attention.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, you disgusting goblin.”

“Ach, Herr Forehead,” Clay says, in the worst fake German accent Apollo has ever heard. “When I’m sad and lonely, you’re the first one I think of to cheer me up. Oh, how I wish you were here with me—“

Apollo seizes the pillow again. Clay rushes to get a grip on it before he can take a swing. They struggle for control until they both tip out of their chairs and go crashing to the hard, unforgiving linoleum floor in a heap.

“Ow,” Clay says. “Huh. I’ve had more exciting tumbles.”

“And Mr. Starbuck trusts you to pilot a rocket with him,” Apollo scoffs, feeling a bit ow himself.

“Please, I’m much nicer to Mr. Starbuck than I am to you, I don’t have to worry about fighting with him.”

They attempt to sit up. Clay somehow maneuvers their tangled limbs apart without injury to either of them. Apollo moves to stand, but Clay slings his legs across Apollo’s own before he can go anywhere.

“Hey,” Clay says, low and serious. “For real. You okay? You didn’t have any new nightmares because of all that, did you?”

Apollo winces. “...No.”

“What was that face for?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re an awful liar and you know it.” Clay frowns, concern creasing his brow. “You can tell me anything. You know that, right? You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. But I’m here for you, dude.”

“I know, space cadet. Calm down.”

“Alright, alright.”

Clay moves his legs out of the way. It’s Apollo’s turn to interrupt him before he can rise by dropping his head onto Clay’s shoulder.

“Worse than a nightmare,” he mutters.

“What? What’s worse than a nightma—oh, my God,” Clay gasps. “You had a sex dream?!”

“WH—NO!”

“MY BABY BOY IS GROWING UP!”

“I DID NOT HAVE A SEX DREAM!”

Apollo tries to smack him. Clay catches his hand and wrestles him into a headlock.

“The most important thing to remember is that this is a normal part of puberty,” Clay says, solemnly, even as Apollo shrieks with dismay. “Every growing boy—“

“I WILL KICK YOUR ASS.”

“Like you could? Alright, sunshine, let’s hear it. What’s worse than a nightmare, aside from a sex dream?”

“I don’t want to tell you anymore,” Apollo says, sulkily, voice muffled by Clay’s arm.

“Come on, don’t be like that.” Clay pats his head with his free hand. Apollo grumbles some more. “Is it really that embarrassing?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, then it’s about feelings.”

“Wh—how did you—I mean, what makes you think that?!” Real smooth, Justice. Apollo can feel the hot flush of mortification on his face.

“Honestly, dumbass, how long have we been friends? You think I don’t know how your brain works as well as you know mine?”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Yeah, you’re busy saving all your affection for Klav—ow! Don’t hit me!”

“Shut up! God.”

“You know you get to have a crush, right? That’s normal and okay.”

“I don’t want to have a crush,” Apollo moans, hopelessly. Clay finally releases him from the headlock so he takes the opportunity to bury his face in his hands. He hates catching feelings. He always blows it somehow. It doesn’t help that they never have these conversations anywhere less weird than the kitchen floor. “He’s my colleague. I need to be professional. Our working relationship is too important for me to fuck this up.”

“He got lonely while he was high on painkillers and called you at three AM and you’re still going on about professionalism?”

“It sounds stupid when you say it like that.”

“That’s because it is stupid.”

“Your face is stupid.”

“I’m serious, man. Like, if you wanted concrete evidence that he considers you a friend outside of your working relationship, it just got handed to you on a silver platter. There’s no way you’re the first friend he’s ever had that’s been a little into him.”

“...I guess that’s true.”

“Who knows? Maybe he’s a little into you too.”

Apollo gives him an incredulous look.

“It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to happen to you in the last year, that’s all I’m saying! And he has an awful lot of nice things to say about you for a courtroom rival.”

“We’re not rivals,” Apollo says, mostly on automatic. Clay ruffles his hair as they clamber to their feet.

“Sure, sure. Hey, speaking of things he has to say, has he said anything to you this morning?”

“How should I know? Somebody bullied me out of bed and I left my phone behind.”

“I’ll go get it, you eat breakfast.”

Apollo finishes his croissant. After a moment, Clay tosses his phone at him.

“Do I really have to check it right now?”

“If you’re gonna be such a big baby about it, I can check it for you.”

“Ugh. No, fine, I’ll look.”

Klavier Gavin, 9:04am

hey, i just wanted to apologize for last night. i hope i didn’t scare you too badly. i remember you saying i owed you one, so let me know if you come up with a way i can apologize.

Apollo lets out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Clay makes a questioning sound and a grabby hand gesture. Apollo passes his phone over, obligingly, and steals a chunk of Clay’s muffin while he reads it for himself.

“Totally normal,” Clay says. “See? It’s fine. You’re fine.”

“I’m fine,” Apollo echoes. He takes his phone back and sips absentmindedly at his iced tea as he types.

Apollo Justice, 10:38am

I’m going to change your contact name to “Teeth Theft Victim.”

How’s your mouth this morning?

Klavier Gavin, 10:39am

HF no :(

not the worst. definitely not as bad as it was last night!

i had some painkillers when i got up. mostly just feels a little weird rn

Apollo Justice, 10:41am

That sounds about right.

Klavier Gavin, 10:42am

did you get back to sleep okay?

Apollo Justice, 10:43am

Yeah, I’m fine.

Klavier Gavin, 10:43am

you’re always fine, HF ;P

Apollo Justice, 10:44am

I bet you think you’re clever.

I got plenty of sleep. Don’t worry.

Klavier Gavin, 10:45am

i am sincerely sorry though. seriously, let me know if i can make it up to you somehow

“Do I actually seem angry?” Apollo asks Clay, mystified. Clay peers over his shoulder at the message thread. “He didn’t really do anything wrong, considering his mental state at the time. I’m not trying to be brusque with him.”

“Tell him to take you out for coffee,” Clay says.

“What? Why? Where did that come from?”

Apollo Justice, 10:47am

All you have to do is not call me at 3AM saying ominous things without context again.

I know this is a terribly high bar to meet, but I have faith that you’ll rise to the occasion.

Klavier Gavin, 10:48am

you really thought i was actively dying, didn’t you?

were you actually on your way out the door?

Apollo Justice, 10:49am

I thought you had gotten roofied. Of course I was on my way out the door.

Klavier Gavin, 10:50am

my knight in shining armor ;)

“TELL HIM TO TAKE YOU OUT FOR COFFEE,” Clay yells, aggressively shaking Apollo by the shoulder. Apollo yelps and almost drops his phone.

“He’s always like this! It doesn’t mean anything!”

“I WILL DO IT MYSELF.”

“Do what yourself?! Take him out for coffee?! Fine! I hope you’re very happy together!”

“God, and you mean it, too. You’re hopeless, AJ. No game at all. Give me your phone.”

“NO!”

Apollo Justice, 10:52am

awerrttrtrtFSDFFG

Klavier Gavin, 10:52am

?? HF??

Apollo Justice, 10:53am

BRB

Have tio kickmny friendsd ass

Apollo does not kick Clay’s ass, because Clay has fifty pounds of muscle on him and Apollo hasn’t gotten in a real fight since he was a middle schooler, but he damn well tries. It’s the effort that counts. Maybe. Hopefully.

Apollo Justice, 11:12am

COFFREERE

Klavier Gavin, 11:14am

??????

Apollo Justice, 11:15am

TAKE HIM OUT TO COFFEE

Klavier Gavin, 11:16am

who am i speaking to??

Apollo Justice, 11:17am

DONT QWORRT ABT UT

Klavier Gavin, 11:18am

i’m a little worried about it

is Herr Justice okay??

Apollo Justice, 11:18am

YEA HES FINE

IM BULLYING HIMN

Klavier Gavin, 11:20am

that doesn’t sound very fine

Apollo Justice, 11:21am

I am so fucking sorry.

Klavier Gavin, 11:21am

are you alright?

Apollo Justice, 11:23am

I’m fine.

I’m with a friend right now and he decided to be obnoxious.

Klavier Gavin, 11:24am

by which i suppose you

mean he stole your phone

Klavier Gavin, 11:25am

That and putting me in a headlock.

Klavier Gavin, 11:25am

:(

Apollo Justice, 11:26am

I’m fine, honestly. We roughhouse all the time.

It’s mostly my pride that hurts.

“Bet you ten bucks he offers to kiss it better,” Clay says, slurping obnoxiously at the dregs of his iced tea. As winner’s spoils, he has retained eavesdropping privileges. Textdropping? Wiretapping? Fuck it, Apollo doesn’t know.

“He will not,” Apollo says, through gritted teeth, valiantly attempting to suppress the red-hot surge of embarrassment to his cheeks.

Klavier Gavin, 11:28am

well then, we all know you’ll survive that one :P

Apollo Justice, 11:30am

Ouch. Rub more salt in the wound, why don’t you?

“You owe me ten bucks,” Apollo announces.

“You motherfucker, you didn’t even take the bet!”

“It was implied! You would have made me give you ten dollars.”

Clay grudgingly pulls out his wallet and gives Apollo a five, three ones, and a fistful of change. He hands it over way too fast to have figured out how much the change is worth, but then Clay is actually good at numbers shit, so maybe he did. Anyway, Apollo cares more about the principle of the exchange than receiving exactly ten dollars.

Klavier Gavin, 11:31am

i prefer to think of it as a salve to help you heal faster

Apollo Justice, 11:32am

By making fun of me?

Klavier Gavin, 11:33am

by reminding u that u can pull through these hard times!

Apollo Justice, 11:34am

Sure.

Klavier Gavin, 11:35am

but hey, for real. do you want to go out for coffee sometime?

“YES,” Clay hollers, victoriously. Apollo wants to curl up under the table and die of mortification.

“I can’t believe you. He thinks he has to do this because I got inconvenienced last night. This is stupid, Clay, why would you do this to us?”

“Because,” Clay says, “He flirts with you, constantly, and you’re who he calls at three AM when he’s in pain and he wants to talk to someone to distract him, and you have a crush that can be seen from space. It’s my job as your best friend.”

“It’s really not.”

“Uh-huh. Tell the nice man you’ll go out for coffee with him.”

Apollo Justice, 11:39am

You really don’t have to take me out just because of what happened last night.

Clay was being absurd.

Klavier Gavin, 11:41am

okay, sure, i understand

but do you WANT to?

Apollo Justice, 11:42am

I mean. Yeah.

If you’re sure.

Klavier Gavin, 11:43am

i’m positive :)

Apollo Justice, 11:44am

Then coffee would be cool.

“Cool,” Clay echoes. “God, AJ, you’re a mess. I love you so much. Cool, he says, when the actual rockstar asks him out on a date.”

“You bullied the rockstar into asking me on a date,” Apollo snaps, red-faced.

“I didn’t do a damn thing to him except offer a suggestion. He didn’t get put in a headlock.”

Klavier Gavin, 11:45am

Großartig! i have a meeting tomorrow afternoon, but perhaps tuesday?

Apollo Justice, 11:46am

Tuesday is fine.

What time? Where are we going?

Klavier Gavin, 11:48am

let’s say 3pm? and it’s a surprise ;)

Apollo Justice, 11:49am

I won’t be footing the bill if you drag me out to some weird, fancy upscale tea bar.

Klavier Gavin, 11:50am

nein, don’t be ridiculous. it’s my treat

“Ooh, what a gentleman!”

“Can’t you stop reading over my shoulder and let me set this up in peace now?!”

“No, I just scored you a date and you elbowed me very hard in the stomach earlier. I earned this.”

Apollo Justice, 11:52am

Does that mean it IS a weird, fancy upscale tea bar?

Klavier Gavin, 11:53am

actually it means i haven’t decided yet

Apollo Justice, 11:54am

Ah. Foolish me, then.

How am I supposed to get there if it’s a surprise?

Klavier Gavin, 11:55am

oh, you can just meet me at my office and i’ll drive us there

...unless you’re still afraid of my motorcycle? :P

Apollo Justice, 11:58am

I’m not afraid.

But you better have a second helmet.

Klavier Gavin, 12:00pm

don’t i always, Schatz?

“You go on his motorcycle?” Clay says, outraged and oblivious while Apollo can feel himself going scarlet from the roots of his hair all the way down to his collar. “This is so unfair. You’ll barely get in a car with me, and you’re terrified of motorcycles. How long did it take you to realize you like this guy again?”

Through gritted teeth, Apollo says, “You drive like you’re trying to die young, and Klavier is the only person I know who consistently follows every single traffic law to the letter.”

“Sounds like—“

“Also, we work together, and basically every time I’ve gotten a ride from him has been to or from case-relevant locations.”

“—Like excuses to me. What does Schatz mean, anyway?”

“I don’t know,” Apollo lies. Clay’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. He’s not that oblivious, then.

“Uh-huh.”

Apollo Justice, 12:04pm

I guess so.

Klavier Gavin, 12:05pm

so tuesday at 3pm, meeting at my office, then?

Apollo Justice, 12:06pm

Works for me.

I have to go, I’m supposed to be hanging out with Clay today. But I’ll see you Tuesday?

Klavier Gavin, 12:09pm

tuesday it is! i can’t wait to see you ;)

and tell your friend i said danke, ja?

Apollo Justice, 12:11pm

Thanks, he wasn’t already being insufferable enough.

“Oh I’m the fucking best,” Clay says, gleefully. Apollo tries to hide a smile, but it’s pointless. Clay has already thrown an arm around his shoulders to squeeze him in a tight side-hug. “Who is the best friend in the whole wide world who probably just got you laid?”

“Clay.”

“Remember this when I’m done with my mission and I have time to date again, okay? I expect equally enthusiastic wing-manning from you.”

“You have literally never needed me to wingman for you,” Apollo says, with fond exasperation. “Besides, what happened to that alien boyfriend you keep insisting you’ll come back with?”

“Well, maybe he’ll only be my alien work-friend when I come back, and I’ll need my dear friend to help me push past my misconceptions about professionalism to find true love.”

“Good grief,” Apollo says, as the blush that had been steadily dying down on his face flares back to life. “True love? It’s one coffee date. Slow it on down.”

Clay opens his mouth, probably with the intent to say more wild shit about Apollo’s upcoming date (a date! With Klavier! Is Apollo still in a weird exhaustion-induced feelings dream?), so Apollo hurriedly jumps in to say, “So how did you want to spend your day off? Video games? Movies?”

“I want to kick your ass at Smash Bros,” Clay says.

“I think we can arrange that.”

“Almost as easily as we just arranged—“

“Pushing your luck, Terran.”

“I learned that from the very best,” Clay says, nudging Apollo’s shoulder with his own with a fond grin. Apollo can’t help but smile back.

“I guess you did.”

[nobeliumoxygenoxygenmisc]

asra || you are my sunshine

based on ‘you are my sunshine’ (>1.5k words) - moments in asra’s life, from small snippets of being with you to a journey to a certain island 

--

You are my sunshine

“What are you smiling about?” 

“It’s too bright. Did we forget to set up the tent again?”

Asra blinked blearily up at you as you gave him a quizzical look. “No? We’re inside the tent, Asra.”

“Oh.” He couldn’t help his grin from widening. “I guess I just mistook your brightness for the sun.”

Your answering blush and exasperated laugh was enough to last him the rest of the day, and even though you promptly dumped your blanket on his head, Asra did not regret setting up the conversation just to say that one line. 

My only sunshine

The ride back to Vesuvia was the same as always--the beast sprinting through the desert at breakneck speed, Faust entwined around him and watching their progress with delight. And yet every time he travelled with you, Asra swore he felt happier than the last. No matter if you were talking amiably about whatever had piqued your interest that day, or sleeping, like now.

This time, you sat in front, for he did not want you slipping off as you slept, but whether you sat behind or not, it was always a comfort to feel your presence, your breath on his skin, your hair tickling his face even as he buried himself in it, relishing in your scent. 

You shifted in your seat, mumbling what he made out to be something that sounded suspiciously like “Give me the food, Asra.” He chuckled, the arm around you tightening to reposition yourself. That was both a mistake, and not, for you woke up then.

“How long was I out?”

“Only an hour so far. You can go back to sleep, Y/N.”

You shook your head. “You can sleep this ti...” Your words trailed off as you yawned, and you ducked your head in embarrassment. You didn’t have to turn to see Asra’s smug expression.

“Yes, Y/N?”

“Sleep!” Faust said.

“Faust says sleep,” Asra relayed.

“Fine, fine, I get it you two. I’ll go to sleep again,” You grumbled, settling back into his chest as he laughed once more.

You make me happy

The shop was probably one of the most unconventional shops there was in Vesuvia. There was never a set opening and closing time, and most regular patrons just had to be accustomed to a kind of feeling they had to cultivate to determine whether or not they would be open. And yet there were times when handling customers and doing readings did become mundane, and too much of a routine for Asra’s liking. 

Still, you always seemed to make everyday just a bit different.

“So I didn’t know whether to buy the pumpkin bread or try Selasi’s new recipe because I know you were craving the pumpkin bread today but, but the new bread looked and smelled heavenly so I bought both and well, um, we have…” You mumbled the rest under your breath, seemingly too embarrassed to continue.

“We have..?” Asra prompted, giving you a reassuring smile. You looked sheepish, but Asra knew that whatever you did would never be able to anger him. 

“We now have nothing else for lunch or dinner now,” You finished. “I’m sorry!” You added quickly, continuing. “But we have lots of bread and I think bread for dinner is nice, right? Selasi’s bread has never failed us after all and--”

Asra did not like interrupting you, but he couldn’t help the laugh that spewed out. Pretty soon, you joined in, leaning against the counter to allow Faust to poke her head into the bags full of loaves.

“Y/N,” He began when he cooled down. “You don’t have to look so worried. Of course we can have bread for lunch. And dinner.” You relaxed, smiling. “Even if it’s just bread.”

When you had both settled down upstairs, you handed Asra his bread loaf and a knife, giving him a silly grin before saying, “Your meal, master Asra.” He snorted and took a bite. “Is it to your liking? Or would master Asra prefer another dish?”

He played along, giving a contemplative ‘hm’. “What would the chef recommend?”

“More bread,” You said at the same time Faust squealed “Bread!” happily.

He smiled. “Then I shall take their recommendation.”

When skies are grey

Some days were hard. Long days in the shop, when the desire to travel had reached its peak, for one. And the anniversary of his parents’ death, for another. 

Asra had always thought he preferred to be alone for that day, save for Faust curled up around him. Muriel had understood, but he’d always ensured Faust stayed with him to keep him safe, and most importantly, grounded. Asra had never realised just how much your presence, even silent and still, was so, so wanted.

His head lied in your lap, face pushed into your stomach and his arms wrapped awkwardly around you. He wasn’t sleeping, neither of you were, but though it was silent and you mindlessly stroked his hair, it was enough. 

For now, it was enough.

You’ll never know dear

There were so many moments that you never saw Asra looking. 

Like the times when you laughed too hard at something--hopefully at something he had said--, eyes shut, doubled over, the twinkling of your laughter literal music to his ears, as cheesy as that was. Or the late nights when you and he talked about anything and everything, sometimes until your eyes couldn’t stay open but you continued to talk and listen. Or when you’d go into the market and he’d wait on the side as you bartered and bought whatever you two needed. Early mornings when you woke up later than him--admittedly rare mornings--, not awake enough to notice Asra’s gaze. When you’re talking about something that you’re passionate about, stars in your eyes, frowning a bit when you catch him just staring and not quite listening. 

So many moments that you never caught, just because you weren’t looking. So many smiles that were reserved just for you.

Always just for you.

How much I love you

“Clearly I love you more, Asra.”

“Y/N, there’s something you have to know.” You gave him a challenging raised eyebrow. “You need glasses, because what’s clear here is that I love you more.”

Rolling your eyes, you playfully pushed him away as you both lay in bed. “Hm, I’m not so sure about that.” You got up on your elbows, grinning down at him. “Let’s see, I wouldn’t be able to count all the ways I love you on all the hands of the people in Vesuvia.”

Asra grinned back, a mirrored challenging gleam in his eyes. “Ah, but I wouldn’t be able to count all the ways I love you on all the hands of the world.”

You momentarily pouted, before persevering for there was no way you were going to lose now. “I was wrong. I meant, I would need all the stars in the galaxy to count the ways I love you.”

He only smiled wider. “And I would need all the stars in all the magical realms and this one to count the ways I love you.”

“Oh, but are there stars in all the realms?”

“Maybe not all of them, but I already know the Magician’s realm does, and that’s already a galaxy on it’s own.”

There was a competitive glint in both your eyes now.

There was no way either of you were going to lose, it seemed.

Please

Arguments were rare. Of course, there were the almost daily play fights, sometimes even escalating into a pillow fight that constituted the only physical violence--if one could even call it that--between you two. 

But if anything became too strained, it was almost a tie to see who would apologise first. Sometimes you were stubborn, so most of the time Asra won. But other times he had to take a walk around Vesuvia just to get his thoughts into an organised order before he could return, and by then both of you were willing to apologise or compromise.

It was very, very rare that Asra left Vesuvia completely after an argument. For if there was one thing he had to do before going on adventures you couldn’t accompany, it was making sure you knew just how much he loved you before he left. You had once joked that it sounded too much like he was leaving for good and he’d told you that that would never be true. You had then said, “Well, don’t make it sound so much like you’re going to die out there or something, okay?” You two had shared a laugh back then, you playfully telling Faust to take care of Asra in case his fluffy white hair joined their cloudy brethren in the sky, leaving him vulnerable to whatever was out there.

Neither of you had thought that the day he couldn’t say anything to you would come.

Neither of you had thought that it would be you who would not return. For in a sense, you were each other’s homes.

Don’t take

Running through Vesuvia had never been as terrifying as that moment. 

Asra ran; Faust and him giving alleyways quick glances, every hooded face a look, scanning crowds and everyone and anyone who passed him.

The crowds thinned the closer they got to the docks. 

Shipments to the Lazaret that day had ended, so the docks were ominously empty, save for the few sails men tying up their boats. 

Asra had all but jumped into the one boat left untied, the sailor crying out in confusion more than anger, for when they saw Asra’s sweating pain-stricken face, they all but backed off.

Especially when they saw how he looked at the island with more fear than anyone should had ever known.

My sunshine

He had felt it.

He had felt it as if it was burning his own skin.

The flames tearing into him, melting his very being and yet, at the very same time, doing absolutely nothing.

For it was not him who had gone through that pain.

It was you.

The pain in his fingers was nothing compared to that. Compared to the ache in his chest, as if something that was supposed to be beating inside was not, as if it had been carved out and the weight of the object in his hand was not the handful of ash and dirt, but his own heart instead, slipping through his fingers.

Falling, falling, falling.

Even though you had brightness to rival the sun, Asra knew that those flames would have stopped at nothing to devour all in their path.

You were gone.

You were gone.

Away 

--

asra and angst just go hand in hand im so sorry. i was hoping my second arcana fic would be happier lmao - thank u for reading tell me if you liked it?

[analyzingadventure]

Oh boy have I not watched Psi for a long time, oh man have I missed out on Some Stuff (I’ve only heard the names of like three Digimon mentioned but oh man did those names alone come with Some Package)

Let’s watch episodes 25-31 then and catch up!

So just to recap, last time Agumon evolved to Mugendramon, fucked some shit up because Taichi totally 100% legit died, temporary evolved to WarGreymon I think (I can’t remember man lmao) and beat the shit outta DoneDevimon

25! Dive to the Next Ocean!

Uhhh who the fuck yeeted ElDoradimon into the sky

This is so bad

They should die so hard

OHHH CLOUD CONTINENT IS IN THE SKYYY YESSS I LOVE THAT

Have I mentioned how much I love seeing the kids interact with their non-partner Digimon (and vice versa)? Because I do, I love this a lot (even if it ain’t much)

Ohhh Mugendramon was so sexy... I wanna rewatch episode 24 but I really need to catch up on this first

ElDoradimon’s gonna die from that fall, right? His joints are gonna get pulverized

Zurumon! :D I love these lemon jelly goops

HIKARI!!!!!! Baby!!

I wish Taichi and co would be like, trying to even think about how they’re gonna survive the fall- like I know Leomon saved them but they couldn’t like plan to just Get Saved, IDK it’s kinda off-putting how they’re so calm

Leomon to the rescue tho! Finally!

Patamon is so chumby, v good

Holy shit Leomon punches HARD, a single punch just straightened out ElDoradimon in one go, holy fuck

Finally they’re worried about dying from the fall

What happened to the Agu and Gabu being too exhausted to fight (I’m sorry this is just a massive pet peeve for me, ‘esp cause there’s like no reprecussions for the Digimon for pushing themselves here)

(Like it’d be one thing if they managed to evolve out of desperation but this ended up being like bad for them and force them to take longer rests later or IDK kill them, but when you’re just like “I’m too tired to fight- oh wait my friend is slightly in more danger now than before, I guess I can fight again”)

(This is an issue with most MotW shows and even some shounen series (I’m looking at you Bleach) so it’s not unique to Psi, p sure Adventure had this issue to some degree too, but still man, it’s a massive pet peeve and bothers me so much)

26! Break through the sea monster barricade!

God I love that the Cloud Continent is actually in the sky

Quality content (slightly cursed maybe)

Seadramon! Honestly I really love Seadramon?? Like it’s such a simple, minimalistic design but... IDK man I love Seadramon, it’s such a cool Digimon

OH SHIT IT EVOLVED! :O

I’m sorry I am just so not interested in the real world crisis (in the show), it’s... I’m sorry it’s so Mundane and I’m here for the Fantastical

WARUSEADRAMON! THE SLIGHTLY MORE GOTH SEADRAMON!! YEAAHHHHH

God I wish Psi just had perma-evolution, so many of my issues would be solved with perma-evolution

Aweeee yeah, MegaSeadramon’s here too, now we got both of them, yeeeeee

I love how Hikari is just quietly judging the other kids

Y��all okay with talking about Taichi being in a different world right in front of Hikari? I mean She Knows Things and they all just got taken to back to that world but still like, should you try to be more inconspicuous maybe

Oh my god how many times have they used that clip of Falcomon throwing bombs in this episode- four? That’s a lot yo

Taichi’s gonna get vored again, press F for him

The water is so deep how is Zudomon standing- oh I need to stop asking these things

HIKARIIIIII SHE’S HEEEREEE YEEEEEE

27! To the New Continent!

"Hikari, who called you?” “I don’t know :)” Honey that is so ominous I love you

AGUMON COMFORTING HIKARI AAAAAA I LOVE THAAAT

YESSSSS I LOVE THIS

This image has heavy Digimon Kaiser energy in it

I love how Psi!Jyou is like a try-hard in trying to help (while OG!Jyou was always struggling with figuring out what the right thing to do was etc)

Is... is the enemy a Tortamon? Oh yeah it’s Tortamons

OH WOW THERE’S A LOT OF THEM

OH SHIT IT’S AN GROUNDDRAMON! OH GOD THIS IS GRUESOME

Ikkakumon’s gonna get vored, F

You know I never thought Grounddramon would be so chomby based on the Bandai art but I guess Groundramon’s a real chomper

“Everyone, give Angewomon your power!”

GIGA DESTROYER AAAAAAAAAA

OH IT’S THE BASTARD!! DARK KNIGHTMON!!! THE SEXY BASTARD!! The one I’ve heard an interesting theory about... But I ain’t saying anything fornow

PATAMON EVOLVES??? (On command which is kinda bs)

ANGEMOOOOOON YEAAAAAHHHHHH

NEW ENDING TOO, YAY

Ohhh this ending has such nice, soft but jolly energy c: Also yay Tailmon

28! The Children’s Fight for Survival!

BTW Patamon with angel wings was a lowkey hilarious visual, 10/10 would laugh again

Still don’t like how we just got Angemon on demand like that

Oh yeah, out-of-context I heard a theory that DarkKnightmon is Tailmon and hearing Dark Knightmon’s voice, yeah I can see that (not to mention their facination with Hikari)

Oh man those are some Big Wings

Whu happen, did the kids get yeeted back to the Human World?? Oh no they’re still here

I bet Angemon’s dead again lmao

LMFAO JYOU FINALLY GETS TO CATCH A BREAK--

NANIMON NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Oh Patamon’s okay- REALLY TIRED (thank you Psi) but okay

I NEVER DISLIKED NANIMON UNTIL THIS VERY MOMENT

I AM SO UNCOMFORTABLE

PLEASE GO AT LEAST 500 METERS FURTHER AWAY FROM JYOU, PLEASE

Hikari being worried for MetalGreymon ;__;

Aweee yeah HIkari’s special Evolution Powers are still here! GET ‘IM WARGREYMON!!

Whoop Hikari got spirited away, F (she’ll be fine, SkullKnightmon ain’t gonna do shit to her, I’m sure)

Hikari volunteered to go... ;_;

29! Escape the Burning Jungle!

THERE’S MORE OF THEM

I mean at least they’re all just chillin’ and enjoying the bath instead of just staring at Jyou. I’ll considder that an improvement

YEAHHHH MEGADRAMONS!!

Ooooo a single lil Lopmon, I wonder if this will be an important character later

I like Woodmon, Woodmon are cool and chill

YEAH, DEFEND THE SMALL AND INNOCENT!

WOODMON NOOOOOOO ;A;

NOOOOOO A BUDMON DIED!!! NOT THE BABIES!!!

What do you mean MetalGreymon hurt when the tiny Allomon bit him ON HIS METAL ARM

I- I need to stay quiet or else I’m gonna end up with too many questions. I mean I already have too many but the less I question it the better

Woodmon, Budmon, I love your energy, please aim for Tankdramon’s eye, you could blind that fucker with ease

PARROTMON?!

30! WARGREYMON AAAAAAA

Man I have been quiet through this entire episode so far lmao

ANYWAY CROSSMON! HELL YEAH have we seen Crossmon animated before?

GIGA DESTROYER AAAAAAAAAAA anyways I think this is the first tme we’re seeing Crossmon animated (unless my memory is garbage, which it might just be)

Aaaand Taichi is dead

OH, HIS CREST IS THERE

WHAT’S THIS

WHAT’S THIS

Agumon....... I love you..........

Man this animator is making Crossmon look vaguely too humanoid for my taste.... And MetalGreymon’s super fucking jacked yo

NEW SONG YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHH

OH THAT’S SOME SEXY SEXY ANIMATION

OH WARGREYMON’S HUUUGE BRO

HOLY FUCK GAIA FORCE ANNIHILATED ALL OF THEM (but didn’t cause any environmental damage? Handy!)

Lopmon’s totally like Cherubimon or something, right? Reborn Cherubimon, right?

31. MILLENNIUMON

HERE IT IS, THE HEAVY PACKAGE I MENTIONED, THE EPISODE TITLE THAT MADE PEOPLE LOSE THEIR MINDS WHEN IT GOT ANNOUNCED

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING PSIIIII where the fuck are you going yoooooo

God WarGreymon’s so fucking big holy shit

OH YEAH LOPMON’S TOTALLY LIKE CHERUBIMON OR SOMETHING (I mean it’s not a plottwist by anymeans lmao)

LMAO Skull Knightmon looked away when Hikari noticed them looking at her lmao tsundere ass fucker

Wait the temple was also on Cloud Continent??? Like that whole area was still a part of Cloud Continent?????????? The geography of this world confuses me yo

BAKEMON!!! THERE’S BAKEMON!!! I LOVE BAKEMON SO MUCH!!! GIMME THE GHOSTIES!!!

NOOO MILLE WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY BAKEMON BABIES!! FUCK YOU LEAVE MY GHOST BUDDIES ALONE

YESSSS CHERUBIMON

OH IT WAS MILLE WHO STARTED THIS ENTIRE FUCKING MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE, HUH

WAIT FUCK MILLE IS BEHIND THE ENTIRE BS IN PSI

...AGUMON CAN EVOLVE TO MUGENDRAMON, WHO IS LIKE, KEY COMPONENT #1 TO MILLE

OH GOD WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

AGUMON EVOLVING TO MUGENDRAMON WASN’T JUST A CUTE REFERENCE TO THE DARK MASTERS, IS THERE GONNA BE THING WHERE AGUMON IS USED TO RECREATE MILLENIUMON??? (And they have to get Agumon Out Of There like they had to extract Tailmon (and Meicoomon until they gave up) out of Ordinemon in tri.???)

ANGEWOMON!!! THERE SHE IS!!

PSI SAYS OFANIMON RIGHTS

Oooo we’re on Eternal/Mugen Continent... Oooo :oc

I like how Sora is the Dedicated Character who will be there when we get like Backstory lmao

METALFANTOMON?! :O YEEAAAHHHH (Ngl when I saw the pink scythe for a moment I was hoping for Jokermon.......)

Oh wow that’s a lot of MetalFantomons

Man Kabuterimon sure is flying quietly (I mean adding the flying sound effect probbaly wouldn’t add much here but... It’s so quiet)

OH SHIT WE’RE GOING TO ULTIMATE ALREADY

I am gonna say, because Psi is constantly moving, like there’s constantly an oncoming threat and the characters never get to take a fucking break (that’s longer than 5 minutes), it just... Because there’s no contrast between danger and peace, it makes the non-stop danger feel far less dangerous imo

DOGGO DIGIMON!!

KOMONDOMON!!

OH SKULL KNIGHTMON HAS MILLE

OH FUCK DUDE

There is one more episode out but sadly I can’t watch it yet because region lock. I do know there’s an interesting, familiar face in there tho and I’m excited for that!

I... I... I can’t believe he actually said that...

“They’re cool pants!” KOUSHIROU LMAO

Anyways, episode preview!

Aaaand nothing of value was seen there. I mean I do know what Patamon probably evolves into because I do follow the Digimon Twitter so like, I saw the relevant art they shared but ye

Anyways  a lot of these episodes were dull as usual, I didn’t feel like I missed out on much tbh aside from the sexy animation and the lore

This really drives it home to me how not having a villian of somekind just constantly present and active really makes a story so much more flat for me... Like I ain’t gonna argue Devimon or MetalSeadramon were interesting villians, but even just seeing them planning their next moves outloud and talking to their minions drove home what kind of people they were, and they weren’t even the most Packed-With-Personality villians in Adventure.    And while SkullKnightmon is there... they’re just kinda standing around. I don’t know much about them really and it makes me sad

(Look I’m sorry I’m a filthy villian-stan and not having interesting villians to stan makes me sad)

Anyways, as always, I am definitely looking forward to whatever the fuck Psi is planning on doing because 1. Holy Shit It’s Milleniummon and 2. Holy fuck we got WarGreymon and it’s only episode 31, what the fuck are they planning on doing with the rest of the series and indeed 3. Patamon evolves into what

[epizkage]

the first chapter of my good omens fic! its a uni au, the main ship is ineffable bureaucracy but there is also background ineffable husbands, hastur/ligur, and maybe future dagon/michael!  i’ll be uploading this to ao3 tomorrow, as well as uploading a page of sketches for each chapter both on here and on my art insta. thank you for reading, im grateful for any feedback at all!!  tagging as #ineffable neighbours on all platforms!! (here, ao3 and instagram!)

“Crowley, what the fuck?” Bee groaned, incredulous, as Crowley handed them another houseplant through the car window. They were sat in the passenger seat, knees near enough at their chest with how far forward the seat had been pushed, their lap and arms already full of plants which they may as well have been juggling in trying to make room for more. 

“I have to bring all of them, Bee, they’ll be lonely if I don’t.” Crowley answered sincerely, handing them another, which Bee shoved rather frustratedly into one of the cupholders by the gear stick. 

"Oh, don't worry about me-" Bee huffed sarcastically, taking the tray of mini cacti that Crowley handed them and sliding it onto the dashboard. "-I'll just be a fucking shelf, shall I? It's not like I wanted to say goodbye to our mothers or anything."

"Language, Bee!" Came their mum's joking voice, though from where Bee couldn't quite tell, their peripheral vision on both sides blocked by leaves and greenery.  

"Yeah, Bee, language." Crowley mimicked petulantly, having the gall to try and hand them one last plant through the window only to be stopped by a string of very colourful curse words. Bee managed, after a lot of growling and swearing and heightening claustrophobia, to transplant the innumerable pots into the vacant driver's seat, swinging the car door open with enough vigour to nearly hit Crowley as they made their escape.

The tiny battered car was stuffed to the brim, back seats folded down to make room for two lots of possessions, Crowley and Bee's lives packed up into boxes and stacked in the world's most audacious game of Tetris, scraping the roof and blocking the back window entirely; sure to make Crowley's already terrible driving even worse. 

"Arsehole." Bee scowled, stepping back from the car to join their parents on the pavement, all watching and doing nothing to help as Crowley attempted to strap a way-too-big suitcase to the roof.

"Don't call your brother an arsehole, dear." Their mama said jovially, nudging them in the side.

"He is a bit of one, though." Replied their mum - the other one - coming up to their other side. Bee smirked at the two of them, and busied themselves with rolling a cigarette. 

"Oi!" Crowley called, turning to throw them all a faux-offended pout, ignoring the suitcase for just long enough for it to start sliding off the roof. At the sight of him frantically trying to stop it from either hitting the ground or smashing one of the car windows, Bee choked on a laugh and dropped the filter they'd been holding between their lips, figuring it was karma for laughing as Mama rushed to Crowley's aid. 

"You could help, you know, dear sibling." Crowley yelled, way too loud for a quiet, late September morning, as he tightened the straps on the makeshift roof rack. The neighbours, inevitably, would talk amongst themselves - middle class businessmen asking "oh, aren't you glad that those bastard kids are finally going back to uni?" over a neat and orderly breakfast, wives responding "I never did understand them anyway, Karen mentioned Satanic witchcraft, but really I think they're just hippies." Maybe they'd even pop round with fake neighbourly intent, presenting the couple with a rehearsed spiel of "my Sophie left for uni again a few weeks ago, you don't appreciate the alone time until they come back!" and a horrid fake laugh when really all they were trying to do was nosey around and determine whether their neighbours were lesbians or just really good friends.

Really good friends, who shared a surname, raised children together, and held a garden party last year to renew their vows.

Bee ignored him and sparked up their cigarette. Both mothers shared a glance and rolled their eyes, and Crowley rounded the car to lean against it. 

"Is that everything?" 

Bee nodded through an exhale of smoke, and suddenly their parents had zoned in on them, Crowley being dragged into their huddle while Bee was made to extinguish their cigarette.

"Oh, we'll miss you, horrible children." Their mum laughed, pulling both Bee and Crowley into a tight hug and kissing them both, Bee on the crown of their head and Crowley on the cheek, before passing them off for Mama to do the same.

"We'll miss you both too." Crowley replied, his smile showing clearly all of the anxiety he was trying to keep hidden.

"Don't worry, kiddo-" Bee slapped him on the back as they spoke, a rare moment of genuine and open kindness flashing between them and making their mothers smile from ear to ear. "-Everyone's nice, you know that."

It was Crowley’s first year while Bee was going into their second, and Crowley was to move in with Bee and their friends that they’d met last year. Crowley had met them all before, too, even considering them friends of his own after spending a lot of time at Bee’s flat, though nothing could help keep the anxiety at bay. 

Truth be told, the poor kid looked like he might cry, and so with a sigh Bee decided to take control.

“Come on, we gotta go, I’ve got all the keys and I don’t want Hastur or Dagon tearing into me for making them wait.” 

Crowley looked understandably dejected, but nodded nonetheless, and with one last long family hug the two bundled into the car.

Bee got in first, bringing all of the plants back into their lap to make room for Crowley, who soon after slid into the driver’s seat, hands balled into fists on his thighs as he took a deep breath.

“It’ll be okay, kid.” Bee tried to be reassuring despite their voice sounding bored and their face being almost entirely blocked by plants, but Crowley smiled at them anyway.

“I know, it’ll just be weird to be so far away.”

Bee nodded with a hum, both of them waving goodbye to their mothers, before they set off for their new house-

-which was fifteen minutes away, in the city. ~

Crowley and Bee had managed to unpack the car and near enough move everything in before the first of their housemates even showed up, perfectly chaotic and exactly at the wrong time, as Crowley battled to fit the giant suitcase through the front door while Bee laid on the sofa and did nothing to help.

Her arrival was made known by three things: the sound of Britney Spears’ ‘Womanizer’ muffled through car windows and getting ominously closer until coming to a head as she pulled up, a crash as the aforementioned car hit the lamp post outside the house, and then a loud, blunt exclamation of “fuck.”

“Ah, Dagon’s here.” 

She ran out of the car, leaving the engine on, door open and music still blasting, and gave Crowley a hard clap on the shoulder as she pushed past him and threw herself into Bee’s lap, only to be promptly deposited onto the floor.

“Aren’t you guys buzzed?” She grinned, red hair messy and falling into her face, partially covered by a black baseball cap that said “women want me, fish fear me” on the front.

“I was until you got here.” Bee fired back playfully, snatching the hat from Dagon’s head and shoving it on their own. It was way too big and the peak fell down over their eyes every time they moved, and they readjusted the size, quite intent on wearing it for the rest of the night, as they got up to help Dagon unpack her car.

Dagon had brought with her far too much of what she didn’t need and far too little of what she did; half of her car being taken up by a giant fish tank (“I’m going back home tomorrow to get them, I hope they don’t miss me too much.”) while the tiny suitcase on her passenger seat apparently held all of her clothes for the year. The music, still Britney Spears, was only turned off once Dagon had unloaded the car completely (as Bee and Crowley had discovered, she had created a playlist of every single Britney Spears song on Spotify), by which point many of the neighbours had already given them some rather distasteful looks from behind their net curtains. 

With the playlist blaring again, now through a speaker upon Dagon’s insistence, the three of them had split up to investigate the house. The outside was irregular and dirty-white, made complete by a wooden door with chipped black paint and a half shiny, half rusted number six nailed to the wall. The inside was no better, old carpets and ragged papering complimenting holes in the plaster and rusty radiator pipes.

None of them had even bothered to look around the place before signing the contracts - an offer of cheap rent and ‘satisfactory’ facilities more than enough to sway them.

Bee had taken to the garden, itching for nicotine, and they extracted a cigarette from behind their ear, scattering loose tobacco through their mess of black hair and making no effort to even acknowledge it, let alone remove it.

The garden was small, narrow and void of greenery completely, except from a pitiful looking tree that looked more like a long twig that had been plunged into a patch of gravel than anything that had ever been remotely alive. The ground was plain concrete, mossy and damp and unappealing in every sense, resembling an alleyway more so than a garden. Bee thought it crunched nicely beneath their thick-soled boots as they walked, and that was enough for them.

They hopped up onto the shoddy brick wall that ran the length of the garden fence, almost barreling straight into the tree-that-once-was, and once they’d found their footing they paused to light their cigarette. 

Crowley would be sure to try and bring the thing back to life, of that they were certain. 

Eyeing the fence, Bee was sure that it would fall down before the year was up, what with the rot and knot-marks and holes between the panels; and they suppressed a laugh at the death-rattle it gave when they kicked it. They spared a glance over into their neighbour’s garden, and then their nosiness overcame them and they draped their arms over the fence entirely, wrinkling their nose a little at how nice next door seemed in comparison. 

It was a wide, open space and the tiles on the ground looked brand new and almost shone under the early afternoon sun. Bee didn’t feel in the least bit bad about dropping cigarette ash all over them. In the middle was a patch of neat green grass, in the far corner a russet-painted shed, and the entire back fence was painted with a sunset-inspired mural.

Inside the house Bee saw a lone girl, busy packing things away into the wall units in the kitchen. Bee found themselves very intrigued, her deep brown skin flawless and shining with a rich gold highlighter that caught the sun every time she moved, and she wore a loose, ruffled white shirt that flowed with her movements and made her look like an angel. 

For someone so seemingly put-together, she’d sure picked a rough neighbourhood to live in.

Bee stopped staring, then, and as they turned to duck down behind the fence to finish their cigarette they met eyes with Crowley, making his way out of the back door to join them.

“Dagon’s setting up her tank," He waved vaguely behind him as he spoke, up on his tiptoes to peer eagerly over the fence. 

"What's next door like?" 

"Nice." Bee replied genuinely with a nod, waiting for Crowley's hum of approval before continuing. "When's your boy moving in?" 

Crowley choked, and Bee snickered when his face flushed almost as red as his hair.

He had started dating a boy named Aziraphale, though Crowley would only ever call him Ezra, Zira, or Angel, over the summer, having met online and hit it off in a fresher's group chat for their university. 

"Weird name." Bee had commented, and then had immediately taken it back upon remembering that their legal name had very nearly been Beelzebub.

The two had met up a few times, and soon become an official item. Bee could still vividly remember the absolute joy on Crowley's face when he'd found out that, arguably through some sort of divine intervention, Zira would be living just next door when term time started.

Who else he was living with, however, Bee and Crowley hadn't the faintest. All Zira had said was that there were four of them, two second years and two first years, and all of them had met through family friends, university societies and extra curricular youth groups. Nerds.

"Uh, h-he-" Crowley cleared his throat, removing his sunglasses as if it'd help him think better, brown eyes so light they almost shone yellow darting this way and that but never meeting Bee's own. "-He should be here tomorrow, or the day after."

Bee smirked at him, quirking an eyebrow. 

"You'll have to introduce us.”

Crowley very quickly brushed it off with an awkward nod.

“What do you think the rest of ‘em will be like?”

Bee finished their cigarette and stubbed out the end on the wall, little ashy embers flying back at them as they flicked the filter in the general direction of the drain by the back door.

‘Get something to put your dock ends in-’ Bee reminded themselves as they followed Crowley back through to the living room. ‘-Asshole. Think of the planet.’

“Insufferable, probably.” Bee shrugged, leaning back against the sofa and crossing one leg over their knee, their foot beginning to twitch and shake out of habit. They decided not to mention the girl they’d seen in the kitchen, knowing full well that Crowley would mislay the information to Dagon, who in turn would mislay it to Hastur, over-exaggerated and not at all true stories of Bee and the mystery girl somehow being an item forming from nothing more than boredom and a need for drama.

“Yeah, probably.” Crowley’s reply was half-hearted, paying no real attention as he instead stared down at his phone.

“Zira likes them, though, so I’m sure they’re nice enough.”

Bee made no effort to reply, but if they had, it would’ve been cut off. First by a crash, followed immediately by the second customary exclamation of “fuck” of the day. 

It was beginning to feel like home already.

[midnigtartist]

6. The super long kiss that wasn’t intended

He knows he should be watching the treeline. Sat beside Nott at the front of the cart, Molly knows that he ought to be scanning the tree line for any potential threats to their merry band as they weave their way through the valley. But he just can’t seem to get himself to focus on the slow passing trees as Nein marches southward. His gaze keeps slipping from the road, as he glanced over his shoulder at the wizard curled up in the back of the cart.

As to be expected, he’s got a book propped up in his lap. One of the spellbook he keeps strapped to his side, Molly notes, as he carefully and meticulously sifts through their recent spoils. The faint hum of arcane energy hangs in the air around him. It pricks at the back of Molly’s neck, making the hair there stand on edge and that’s why he’s been so distracted, and certainly not because Caleb looks so darling and content with his task, a small smile curling at the corner of his lips.

No, Molly thinks wryly to himself, it’s certainly nothing to do with that. Not at all.

He swings his legs over the side of the cart bench, earning and disgruntled yelp from Nott as she’s jostled by the movement. Molly ignores this, instead watching Caleb’s, dare he says, giddy smile as the pearl clasped tight in his hand dulls, and he picks up the bracelet he’s been inspecting. Sliding off the bench, Mollymauk seats himself cross legged at the perimeter of Caleb’s pile of spoils, resting his cheek to his fist.

“Anything interesting?”

Caleb starters, but only a little, his head jolting up and eyes blinking as he takes in the new addition to his ring of shiny things. Molly offers him a curling, close mouth smile in lue of a proper greeting.

Caleb nods, pulling at his beard. “Ja, this-” he gestured vaguely over the lot of stuff, a crooked grin on his face. “This ist gut. There is a lot a usefully things here.”

“Almost finished then?” Molly asks.

“Oh yah, I just have to look over these rings for Jester, you know, and then that will be all of it but ahhhh- you have come over here? Is- is there something you need?” the thrill the magic gives him, seems to bear wearing off and Molly can see Caleb slowly receding back into his shell. And that simply won’t do.

He shrugs “Not particularly. This is fascinating, by the way.”

Caleb lowers his gaze to his spellbook. He twiddles and twists the pearl between his fingers and Molly tracks the movement because that’s fascinating too. Caleb’s long fingers rolling the small bead between them is truly something and he can feel the slight flush crawling up his neck.

“You have seen me identify objects before,,,” Caleb mutters.

“And I find it thrilling every time!” he says. He leans forward so his elbows are pressed into his knees. “I think it’s just wonderful, that. How you can learn all of that stuff just from looking at it for a few minutes. It’s very impressive!”

Caleb shrugs, but Molly spies a phantom of a smile touching the corner of his mouth and he finds himself beaming all the wider for it.

“Well you know, there is a bit more to it then that but it is ahhh,, nerd shit.”

“What I’ve learned from traveling with the lot of you terrible people is that nerd shit tends to be the shit that keeps us alive. It’s very useful shit. Don’t sell your shit short Caleb, it’s very good shit! Quality, even.” he says. Somewhere to the right of him, he can hear Jester cackling. He keeps his eyes and his smile trained on Caleb, who’s actually turned a bit to face him.

“Ha ha.” it’s not a laugh, not really. It more just the noise, but it’s so endearing that Molly’s insides squirm with delight at the sound. “I suppose you are right- about that at least.”

“You’d be surprised by how much I’m right about, actually.” Molly says.

This time Caleb does laugh, even if all it is a huff of air. “Mister Mollymauk.”

“Mister Caleb”

The pearl rolls between his thumb and forefinger. “Would you like learn a magic trick? I, you know, I have tried teaching Jester before, and umm, Beauregard but, they don’t, well, they really do not have the patience for this sort of thing.”

He cocks his head to the side. “And you think I do?”

“I have seen you mend your coat.” Caleb says, actually leveling his clear blue gaze on Molly, effectively pinning him in place. “That embroidery is your handy work, hmm? Something like that takes a lot of time.”

Molly draws back so that he’s sitting up straight. “Well as flattering as it is to know you keep eye on me.” Caleb flushes. “-I don’t think I’m quite clever enough to do what it is you do dear.”

Magic, at least, the magic Caleb does, seems to require a lot of reading, and reading has never really agreed with Mollymauk Tealeaf. It makes his eyes hurt and his whole brain revolt against him, can even give him a terrible headache if he forces himself to work at it for too long.

Caleb’s brows draw together, forming deep creases between his eyes. “It is not that hard.” he says.

Molly flashes him a tight smile. “Yes, but I’m not that smart.”

The wizard shuts his spellbook with a forceful snap that makes Molly’s tail jump and curl up behind him. “Come here, Mollymauk.” Caleb says, commands really, Molly thinks with a shiver. “I will not force you, if you do not wish, but do not withhold just because you think that you might not be clever enough. I will be the judge of that.”

“Well when you put it so nicely,,,” Molly says, praying to the Weaver that he sound relatively unaffected by whatever that was. He slides over so that he’s sitting next to Caleb, instead of across from him. “So, what will I be learning then?”

Caleb hesitates, but only for a moment before he opens his book back up, and shuffles over so that Molly can see the pages, balancing it on his knee.

“Something simple, I think.”

“Oh goody.”

Even the creak of the branches in the wind sounds ominous, which Molly thinks is rather ridiculous and painfully cliche. His blade, glowing with a warm, white light, is wrapped up in the tails of his coat to dull it’s radiance as Molly creeps along low in the brush. The Nein had decided, against Molly’s better judgement, decided to travel a few hours past sunset.

“The next town isn’t that far, guys.” Jester had told them, brandishing the map with the same ferocity with which she handles her sickle. “We’ve been on the road for daaaaaaaaaaays and my feet are getting all tired and gross from walking so much and I just want to sleep in a bed and not in the grass and wake up with like, bugs in my hair and stuff.”

So they’d marched on, and now they’re paying the price because not only is it a good couple of hour past sunset, but they’d been assaulted by some ruffians. Taking advantage of the exhausted state of the party, they’d managed to stop them, rob them, and make off with Jester’s haversack of holding. With so much of their valuable shit in that bag, they’d decided to give chase, and had gotten spread pretty thin in the processes. Which, isn’t such a bad thing, Molly’d been able to pick off a few of the bandits, spread thin themselves, quickly and quietly. But he’s worried about everyone else. If they were unlucky enough to run into more of the bastards then they could handle alone, with Jester possible very, very far away. That could make things a bit more sticky.

Of course, they’re all pretty capable, decently strong. And yet,,, Molly’s worried about some, specifically squishy members of their party.

He’ll- they’ll be fine.

He marches on deeper into the woods.

A bit of time later, the sound of muffled voices hit Molly’s ears. Not long after does he spy the flicker of firelight through the leaves, painting speckled shadows along forest floor.

Molly pauses a moment, tucking himself against a rotting old tree trunk. Peeking over the top of it he can just barely make out a group of darkened figured, hooting and hollering like idiots around a makeshift camp. Why do petty thieves always do that? Make a whole fucking ton of noise that gives away their position. Every single band of thieves he’s ever run into does it. It’s just not smart. Though, if they were smart enough to understand that they probably wouldn’t be out here robbing well seasoned mercenary groups, he thinks. He counts the shadows, or at least he tries to. The back lighting from the fire is fucking up his night vision but he thinks he sees four or five distinct individuals. Too many to take out alone.

Reaching into his pocket with his free hand, he pulls out a little piece of wire. Its difficult, harder with only one hand, but he manages to wrap the bit of copper around his finger and brings it up to his lips. He points out into the woods in the general direction he thinks he saw people running. “Found a group of them. Looks like five maybe? North. Just past that one rock that looks remarkably like a penis. Oh ! and you can reply to this message” he whispers into his fist.

Molly does this eight more time, hoping that if he casts a wide enough net he’ll be able to get in touch with at least some of the Nein. Between not knowing exactly where everyone is and the, frankly concerning, fizzle of the spell against his lips he not sure how many of them got the message. On the fourth time, he hears Jester’s cackling rattling around in his skull. It’s a horrible bizarre feeling that makes his skin tingle,and not even in the fun way.  On the sixth one he hears Beau’s exasperated “real fucking mature, man” and has to stifle a chuckle. On the last one, it’s Caleb’s voice ringing around in his skull.

“I see the rock you are talking about. oh- ja it does look like a dick.” He says. “I am making my way over to you now.”

Molly waits, one eye on the trees around him, one on the group of bandits, watching for any strange movement. Maybe one of them will come over here to take a piss. He could take them out nice and quite, and that would be one less shit head to deal with.

The bushes to his right rustle and Molly tightens his grip on his sword. Caleb comes sprinting out of the underbrush towards him, crouched low to the ground to avoid being spotted. Molly can’t even even get a word of greeting out before Caleb is suddenly upon him, hands reaching to curl around the lapel of his coat.

The wizard is positively beaming at him, his face cracked with a wide smile Molly has only ever seen him give Nott. His eyes are practically glowing, wide and excited and full of pride. He’s on Molly in an instant huddled against the rotten log alongside him and Molly is stunned.

“You cast message!” Caleb says, barely able to keep his voice to a stage whisper for the excitement. His hands come up, cupping Molly’s face between them and immediately the teifling feels himself start to color. Thumbs rub over his cheeks, Caleb squishing his face between his calloused palms “You cast the spell, you did the thing that I showed you! Oh! I am so proud! I am so proud of you! You are brilliant Mollymauk. I could kiss you!”

Well, that makes Molly’s heart do all sorts of ill advised and complicated gymnastics in his chest.

He puts a shaking hand on Caleb’s knee. “Don’t say thing you don’t intent to follow through on, Mister Caleb.”

Brain seeming to have caught up with his mouth, Caleb pales, then flushes a deep scarlet. His hand stay cupped around Molly’s cheeks, though they do lessen they’re squeezing a bit. His gaze falls past Molly’s right shoulder. “I ahh- right. I was- well I got a little excited I suppose,,,”

“Happens to the best of us.” he gives Caleb leg a friendly jiggle “Your secret’s safe with me”

Caleb chuckles.

They don’t move. They’re still dreadfully, painfully close. Annoyingly, not close enough. He watches as Caleb’s gaze flickers back over to his face. Watches the way his sharp, ever curious blue eyes trace the curve of his palm where it’s pressed into Molly cheek, all the way down to the corner of his mouth. He leans in.

The center of gravity suddenly shifts and Mollymauk Tealeaf finds himself crashing against Caleb’s warm mouth. Its quick, but it’s everything.

Caleb presses his lips firmly to Mollymauk’s for a brief moment, pulling him in with the fingers still curved around his jaw. Molly gasps, fingers tightening around the fabric of Caleb’s pant leg. He lets his eyes flutter shut. And then the warmth is gone and Molly opens his eyes to see the wizard staring at him, wide eyed and flushed. Still his hands don’t move from Molly’s face.

“I should not have done that. I-”

Molly brings his other hand up to the back of Caleb’s neck and pulls him forward. Their lips meet again and Molly can taste the crackle of arcane power that lingers on them. It shoots a thrill down his spine. The hand on Caleb’s knee tangles into the coarse fur lining of his coat and Molly sigh, deep and wanting against the other man’s mouth.

To his glorious surprise, Caleb responds in kind. His hands begin to move, one sliding down his face to rest at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, those long, scholarly fingers spanning across his throat, making Molly shiver. The other tangles into the short curls at the back of his neck, drawing Molly even closer.

Molly breaths through the kiss, eyes shut tight as he focuses on the feeling. Of dry and ragged ruined lips against his own. On the slight scratch of stubble against his chin and the rough pads of Caleb’s fingers on his skin. He feels exactly like he looks, coarse and rough around the edges. Nothing like the soft, sweet smelling hired company that Molly’s used to. He finds he likes this much better. The earthy smell that clings to weather battered skin, mixed in with faint hints of whatever spell components line Caleb’s pockets. Licorice and molasses.

Caleb sighs against him, tilting his head for a better angle.  Molly puts all other thoughts out of his head. Forgets about the bandits at his back, and his friends stomping through the underbrush. Even forgets about their stole bag of good. He put his facilities to better use, memorizing the shape and heat of Caleb’s lips against his own

Molly parts his lips and prods at Caleb’s lower lip with the twin prongs of his forked tongue, makes a soft sound of pleasure as Caleb’s fingers tighten in his hair. Caleb jumps under his hands, pulling away. He desperately wants to follow, but Molly let him go, keeping fingers folded against the lapels of his coat, half  to keep himself grounded, half to keep Caleb from bolting before he can find his voice again.

“Don’t you dare apologize for that.” He crooks out after a moment.

Caleb stares at him with blown out blue eyes. He swallows, runs a hand across his jaw. His fingers linger against his lips. “Ja- okay,,, That was ahhh-”

“That was good.” Molly assures him, stroking fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

Caleb nods, looking a little unsure. “Gut, ja. You know, uhh maybe we should- should, you know- maybe we could do that again, sometime. But I think we should probably take care of those bandits first.”

A smile splits Molly’s face. “Think we can take them, just the two of us?

“No.” Caleb hands come back around to cup his cheeks, then slip down, coming  to rest against the front of Molly’s coat “We are pretty tough, but you said that there were at least five of them. I do not want us taking any unnecessary risks.” he starts fidgeting with Molly’s coat, adjusting it on his shoulder and smoothing out the silk with his hands. “Clever boy.” Molly says, fondness laced into his words.

Caleb doesn’t meet his gaze, but he does smile.

The sound of twigs snapping catch their attention and moments later Beau comes slinking out of the bushes, a new bruise swelling up over her eye. Caleb hands fall away. Molly keeps fingers pressed lightly against the side of his knee.

“That’s a good look on you.” he says, once Beau is close enough.

“Thanks asshole.” Beau wedges her way between the two of them, elbowing Molly in the stomach as she does.  

He whizzes out a pained laugh.

[istheresomebodywhocanimagine]

Tomorrow Never Came PT. 6 (SMUT)

Summer is gone, and with it, your mysterious stalker as well. It’s been two months since the confrontation in the bar, and you’ve mostly forgot about his ominous warnings - but now you realize that you have only half a year to finalize your plan of attack with nothing to go on and no idea what to do. So, you take a risk, one that almost completely ruins everything and gets you caught out by Roger. And speaking of Roger...

Read PT. 1 here | Read PT. 2 here | Read PT. 3 here | Read PT. 4 here | Read PT. 5 here

(a/n: DOT DOT DOT so I forgot one of the guys names was already William SO I changed creepy future stranger guys name to Weston srry im a mess. also..... this is IT folks FINALLY the roger x reader fluff/smut i have been waiting to write we’ve all been waiting for in this series. its.... something)

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay, darling? I can let Roger go on his own, he’s a big boy.”

Freddie was curled up with you on the couch, having forced his way into an impromptu cuddle session with you after he saw that you were bundled up in a blanket, drinking tea and scribbling in your notebook. He felt terrible, seeing as he and Roger were going to a party that night, one you’d opted out of on the claim that you were working on your resume so you could get a better job than the café.

“Freddie, go on,” you laughed, giving him a gentle shove, and he exaggerated your strength as he pretended to nearly fall off the couch before laughing and giving you a shove in return. “Go on, you scoundrels. I’m happy right here.”

Roger was watching from the front hallway, leaning against the wall and smiling at the banter between the two of you. He looked good tonight, mouthwatering, actually – he was clad in one of Freddie’s black silk shirts, only the bottom half of it buttoned, and several necklaces laid across his dainty collarbones. The silk shirt was tucked into leather pants, and he topped it all off with black messenger boots, having refused to put on Freddie’s platform boots for a good part of an hour. There was something missing, though, and you couldn’t put your finger on it until you literally spotted it on the dresser as Freddie passed it, bumping the brim with his shoulder.

Freddie and Roger were about to leave when you scrambled to your feet, calling out, “Hey, wait a minute!” Grabbing the black newsboy cap off of the dresser, you padded over to the two of them, stopping in front of Roger as he raised an eyebrow before ducking his head, letting you put it on for him. “There. Perfect.”

Freddie rolled his eyes playfully before giving your side a pinch and kissing you on the cheek, then flouncing out of the door and leaving you alone with Roger for the moment. Roger watched Freddie with a small grin, then turned back to you, a questioning look in his eye.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go?” he asked, fixing the cap so it laid right on his head. An unruly hair stuck out and caught on the brim of the cap, so you reached up to tuck it back into its original place, smiling.

“I’ll be fine here, Rog. Don’t have too much fun without me, though,” you warned jokingly, and Roger gave you a goofy grin before leaning in and quickly giving you a peck on the cheek, starting out the door.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!”

And with that, he’d closed the door, leaving you in silence as you walked back to the couch, slumping down against it and sighing. It was always nice having the flat to yourself, but tonight you were on edge a bit. Deciding that a nap would be the best to take your thoughts off your mind, you crawled back under the blanket, getting comfortable again as you closed your eyes, dozing off quickly to the sound of cars honking and dogs barking outside your window.

When you woke again, it was significantly darker outside, and you sat up to yawn and stretch, a heavy weight settling over you in the room. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but something was making you uneasy still. Maybe it was the fact you were half a year closer to that day and just as nervous as when you began, or just the fact that you were still planning on completely winging your ‘save the day’ tactic. Or it could have just been the terrible Chinese Roger had basically forced you to eat because he swore up and down that it was the best.

In any case, it was too dangerous to be as confident in your ignorance as you were. But at the same time, you remembered your uncle’s warning that the past would fight back if you were to impose on their daily lives – that’s why he’d urged you to move into this apartment. It provided a decent enough vantage point without letting you interact with the two. You’d cut it close with your mom, but thank God it was in a different part of the city. You were reclusive enough as it was, staying inside all day on Sundays to avoid chancing a run-in with her, seeing as she came to church every single weekend. You’d hoped you could go the whole time without seeing her to make it hurt as little as possible, but that moment in the little market had eliminated any chance of that.

6 months without seeing your mom was rough. Even if she wasn’t mentally there for quite a while before you’d came here, she was still your mom, and to see her suffer like that was hell. It was almost worse being here, but you had to remind yourself that barely any time was passing there. She most likely wouldn’t have even moved an inch by the time you got back, which was horrifying and relieving at the same time. Hopefully, if you managed to pull this off, she would be moving when you got back.

God, the thought of her smile when you got back. You felt a small smile come to your lips as you stood back up, ambling over towards the window to peer out of it. Night had settled in, the streetlights making the front of the church even more ominous as you gazed down at it, humming to yourself. “All for you, mom.”

That’s when you saw them. Both of them, William and Ted, exiting the church, standing on the steps. The street was mostly empty, and they mulled around on the steps as they pulled out packs of cigarettes, lighting up and seeming like they were deep in conversation as you stared at them in mild horror. A faint dizziness took over your senses, but a pinch to your arm by yourself brought you back to reality, and you scrambled to find your shoes and a light jacket before you were flying down the stairs.

What came over you, you had no idea, but you had to get down to that alleyway to hear their conversation. You felt like you owed it to your mom, and you needed to know what type of guys these were before everything went down. As you rounded the last set of stairs, heading down it, you heard Weston’s voice in your head, and you skidded to a stop as your hand came to rest on the door that let outside.

“It can’t be fixed.”

“Oh, fuck you,” you muttered, pushing open the door and stepping out into the cool night air. There they were, right across the street, chumming and smiling like they weren’t some of the scummiest people on this side of the city. They took no note of you as you crossed the street, slinking into the alleyway next to the broad staircase before you settled your back against the cool stone of the wall surrounding the steps, crossing your fingers that they weren’t planning on taking a stroll.

“Stop while you’re ahead. Reset.”

Shaking your head, you pushed Weston’s voice out of your mind again and tried to focus on the two morons that were literally maybe 10 feet from you, just on the other side of this wall. Scooting over to the edge of the wall for optimal listening, you curled up as small as you could, hiding yourself as you started to register the sound of two men talking.

“Yeah, we should be able to get something set up soon.”

A drag from a cigarette. A pause. “Diane said she’d be able to come and help tomorrow.”

Not your mom, but you wondered if it was the same Diane who your mom had brought over for dinner a few times when you were a child. She was frail mentally and physically even in your early years, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when she passed away around your pre-teen years.

“Heh. Diane.” An awfully lecherous snicker was shared between the both of them, and you almost gagged at the sound of it. Honestly, they sounded horrid, and you seriously questioned your mom’s judgement of them as good people in the first place. But then again, this could be how they spoke in private. They probably didn’t have a clue that a 21 year old from 2018 was sitting on the other side of the wall in a pile of trash, spying on them. That didn’t excuse them, of course, but it definitely explained the lack of judgement.

“Did you hear she’s seeing Dan now?” Dan? Your Uncle Dan? You’d never know he dated Diane. This convoluted mess of people was quickly overwhelming you, and you started to feel dizzy as you tried to keep up. “What’s he live, a few blocks over?”

“Yeah. I’d like to pay her a visit right now, know what I mean?”

Eugh. Gag again. One of them cracked up, laughing before you heard the sound of a light stomp, probably putting out a cigarette. “No disrespect to Daniel, but how is he getting it from a girl like that? She is one gorgeous piece of ass, I’d like to-“

You knocked over a can of trash as an earsplitting ringing sound started resounding in your head, making you double over in pain. It took all of your strength not to cry out for help, and in a daze, you crawled over until you were curled up behind a trash can. One of the men’s shadows appeared around the corner moments later, and you held your breath as you tried to recover from the ringing that was slowly fading. Pressing your eyes shut, you felt hot tears rolling down your face, faintly hearing something akin to “Probably a rat getting frisky. Let’s go inside.”

It felt like years as you sat out in that alley, your eyes shut tightly, fighting the ringing, but it was still there, faintly, and you opened your eyes as you sighed in exasperation. But the sigh caught in your throat as you came face to face with your mom, 2018 mom, sitting in a rocking chair across the alleyway.

“You’re saving me and not Diane?” Her voice was eerie, an echo of herself as she tilted her head impossibly far to the side, too far to be a physical reality, and your mouth dropped open in horror as you watched her, unable to move, unable to speak.

As soon as you blinked, she was gone, no evidence of her presence there at all, and you could feel your body scrambling to your feet, although you weren’t cognizant and telling yourself to do so. Leaden feet carried you across the street, hurtling you through the front door of your building, and before you knew it, you were up the stairs. When you rounded the corner to your floor, the nightmare continued.

Your 2013ish era mom and dad were smack dab in the middle of the hallway, screaming at each other. The sound was deafening, like someone had taken a stereo system and put it together in your brain before cranking it up to full volume. Clutching at your ears desperately, you sunk to the floor as you tried to block out the sound of them bickering, but it was no use. They were there, in your brain, screaming their heads off. It felt like you were 15 again, yelling desperately to try and break them apart, but nothing worked. They were too far in, too far gone to go back on what they’d said now. The arguing would go all night long. Your head was pounding as you dug your fingers into the side of your face, more tears spilling out of your eyes as you started to beg, plead for it to stop.

Another blink. They were gone. The sound had stopped abruptly, and you were alone in the hallway. Face wet with salty tears, you glanced around like a trapped animal, spotting a clock on the wall. It was just before midnight – you’d only been out in that alley for maybe 20 minutes. And yet, you were exhausted like you’d just spent a day running nonstop.

Slumping back against the wall, you let more tears run down your face and closed your eyes, your head falling back with a thud against the wall. “Fuck me, Dan wasn’t joking,” you choked out, wiping some mucus out from under your nose with the back of your hand as you tried to take deep breaths and calm down. Understatement of the century, the past will fuck with me .That was a fucking nightmare, not just a casual ‘Don’t do that.’

You could hear someone coming up the stairs and you sighed as you tried to will yourself to your feet, but nothing was happening. All of the energy in your body was gone for the moment – it would take a literal miracle to recharge you.

“Y/N, bloody hell, what happened to you?” Roger’s voice rang clear through the faint buzzing now in your ears, and you looked up at him while shooting him a pitiful attempt at a smile. “You’re bleeding!” His observation was slightly horrified, his worry only amplified by the slightly tipsy state he was in.

“Am I?” you wondered aloud, holding a hand up to your face and coming into contact with a small stream of blood running down the side of your face, pooling near your hair from the angle you’d been holding your head at. Must have been digging my fingers in harder than I thought. “Shit, I am. I’m sorry.”

“Christ, don’t be sorry,” he muttered, crouching down to your level and nearly falling off balance as he did so, holding on to the wall near you before repeating himself. “What happened to you?”

You shrugged, wiping away the rest of your tears before laughing softly at the state of yourself. “I’m a clumsy moron, I guess.” After that, you made finger guns at Roger and started to close your eyes, mortified that he of all people was the one to find you like this. As your eyes fluttered shut, you felt a strong hand encircling your arm and vaguely sensed that Roger was pulling you to your feet, leading you down the hallway back to the flat and pulling you towards the bathroom once you’d gotten inside.

In no time at all, you found yourself perched on the closed toilet lid, Roger cleaning up the blood from the side of your face as he watched you with an apprehensive expression, not sure what to make of finding his roommate out in the hallway, crying and bloody.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d ask if you were on the rag,” he joked as he dabbed at the side of your face, chuckling when that got a small smile out of you. “Just taking the piss, don’t beat me.” After another pause where you didn’t even attempt to pick up the conversation, just watching him with a guarded stare, he swallowed hard. His cheeks were a bit red from the alcohol in his system, and you could tell he was overheating in the cramped bathroom from the small amount of sweat forming on his forehead. “Y/N, you worry me.”

That made your heart flip as you furrowed your eyebrows, the expression change enough to make Roger pull his hand away shakily and fumble for a band-aid, nervously avoiding what seemed like a critical look from you. “Why are you worried about me?” you asked, genuinely curious as to why this 70’s sexpot of a roommate was even halfway concerned with your well-being when he was literally on his way to becoming one of the biggest rockstars of all time.

“Because,” he mumbled, opening the bandaid and applying it carefully as he avoided your gaze, more for his sake than anything. “You’re my flatmate.” An eyebrow raise from you made him sigh, and he dropped the wrapper in the trash before starting to clean up his mess. “Okay, you really want to know? Because Buzzed Roger is about to get real.”

“Third person,” you reminded him, and he gave you a nasty look before starting to wash his hands, clearing his throat.

“You go and work all hours of the day, write a bunch of shit in your notebook when you’re here, we have to beg you to come out with us, and when you do, you end up leaving early or…. or, I don’t know, like that one night, when you ran off with that old guy without checking in with us, and then came back looking like you’d just been through the wringer!”

“Didn’t know I had to check in with you before I left with a guy,” you replied, almost in a haze as you watched him dry his hands, looking at you with an unfathomable expression.

“Well, damn it, you should!” he replied irritably, throwing the towel down on the counter. The sudden outburst actually shocked you, and it must have registered on your face as well, because he was immediately apologizing out of his ass for freaking out. “Shit, no, I’m sorry, god damn it, I just found you all beat up in the hallway and now I’m yelling at you, just hit me, I’m such a knobhead-“

“God, Roger, I’m fine, breathe,” you interrupted, climbing up off the toilet and coming over to look at yourself in the mirror. “Woof.”

“Woof?” he repeated, also looking at you in the mirror. Your face was tear stained, but free of blood, and the redness around the rim of your eyes had mostly disappeared by now. He thought you looked as adorable as ever. Sure, you were a bit messy from your brief stint as a spy, but he didn’t know that, and he marveled at the way you managed to make his heart skip a beat even when you were fresh from crying.

“Just looking a bit rough, is all,” you murmured, wiping at your under-eyes before sighing and making your way out into the hallway, headed for the kitchen. “How was the party?”

Your attempt to change the subject was not lost on Roger, even as drunk as he was, but he chose to mostly ignore it since it seemed to bother you when he’d asked about it. Instead, he followed you to the kitchen, watching you grab two glasses of water. “It was alright. Freddie’s fucking plastered and left without me, so I came back here ‘cause…” he trailed off, shrugging and pursing his lips a bit.

“Because why?” you asked, taking a drink of your water before you handed him his, which he accepted gratefully. The smile on his face as he took a drink rejuvenated you a bit, making you feel less dead, so you decided to crack a joke to see if he bit. “You miss me?”

“No!” he replied defensively, an even deeper red covering his cheeks as you sipped at your water, just watching him. Getting no reaction was even worse than getting a bad one to him, and he stuttered as he fell over his next words, a certified hot mess in a silk shirt and leather pants. “I didn’t mean no like that, God, I meant- I came back because- ugh! Fine. Yes, okay? I missed you. I wanted you to be there with us. It made me sad when I thought of you being here all alone, without us, without me and Fred.”

Despite feeling like you’d just crawled up through the crust of the Earth, you couldn’t help but smile slyly at that, forgetting all about the nights events. “Roger Taylor missing me? I feel honored.”

“You should,” he muttered, taking another drink and trying to hide his embarrassment with a biting tone as he avoided eye contact once again. “I don’t even have to ask if you missed me, I already know the answer to that one. Freddie misses me even when I’m gone for two minutes, so you? You were probably missing me before I got out of the door.”

“Well, someone’s got an ego,” you mumbled, finishing your water before sitting the glass in the sink. Roger laughed at your comment, following you as you made your way to the couch, grabbing your hand and trying to tug you to your feet when you attempted to lay down. “Hey, I’m trying to sleep here. Obviously, I’ve had a rough night.” Although you had obviously had a terrible night, you secretly hoped he would disregard your words and stay, or something similar to that.

And he did. He mocked your voice in a high-pitched imitation as he wrapped his other hand around yours, pulling you to your feet. “You’re mad if you think I’m going to let you sleep on the couch tonight. You’ve had a rough night.”

Groaning playfully as you let him raise you back to a standing position, you followed him down the hall, smiling far too widely at the feeling of his hand around yours. “Rog, you don’t have to share your bed with me. I’m fine.”

“Tell that to the bandaid on your face.” Rolling your eyes, you followed as he led you into his room, letting you go sooner than you’d wanted him to, and you gave him a teasing deadpan look before you crawled into his bed, grumbling playfully. “Oh, don’t pretend you aren’t happy to sleep in a bed for once.”

“You’re not wrong, actually.” You had to laugh at that, and as you laid down on your back on the far end of the bed, Roger chuckled and began to unbutton his shirt. He strolled over to the closet as you watched him, silently admiring the ripple of his understated muscles under his skin as he shrugged the shirt off, tossing it into the closet before starting to unbutton his pants. Out of politeness, you shifted your eyes up to the ceiling – as much as you would enjoy the view, you had to restrain yourself. “If you really wanted to know, yes, I did miss you once you guys were gone.”

“I told you, I already knew,” he teased, crawling into bed once he’d gotten in to boxers and a tshirt. When you scoffed and rolled over to face away from him, he laughed and tugged you back down to your original laying position, propping his head up on his hand and he looked down at you. “Don’t ignore me. I can kick you out of here lickety-split, sweetheart.”

“You wouldn’t do that. You’re too much of a softie,” you snickered, pulling the covers up over your shoulders as you turned on your side to face him, clutching the edge of his duvet.

Raising an eyebrow at that, he gave you an almost insulted look before he spoke. “Roger Taylor, a softie? I’ll have you know-“

“When will you ever stop talking in the third person?” That irritated him a bit, and you could tell from the way his mouth twitched as he tried to calm down and not say something snarky back.

“You’re being real mouthy for such a weak thing, you know that?” he asked, sitting up a bit on his elbow and daring you with his eyes to talk back. It was almost like he wanted to you to, like the banter was fueling him, getting him closer and closer to snapping.

So, you did. “Weak thing? That’s rich, coming from you.”

Now he was pissed. “You little rotter, you- I ought to…” he trailed off, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fist, searching for the right words to say. But nothing was coming to mind, not until you prompted him.

“You ought to what, tough guy? Shut me up? I’ll have you know my right hook is mean and-“

Roger’s hand clamped over your mouth all of a sudden, silencing you immediately and making your eyes widen a bit as he stared you down with something unmistakable in his eyes. You’d seen it before, but never quite this pronounced. Hunger. A ravenous hunger, almost to the point of lasciviousness. But there was still a fondness in the way he held your jaw, his fingertips just tight enough to silence you but nowhere near tight enough to leave any marks. And then his fingertips moved away, uncovering your mouth and quickly running over the small bandaid on the side of your face, his breath hitting your lips and smelling of alcohol and something minty. His thumb stroked at your chin once, then took a hold of it with his thumb and index finger before leaning down over you and pressing his lips to yours.

He was impossibly gentle with his kiss to contrast that fierce look you’d just witnessed, testing the waters before he got in too deep, and that set your skin on fire. You tangled with the fact that Roger Taylor, your roommate of 6 months and currently one of your closest friends on top of being a future fucking rockstar, was kissing you. It took you more than a moment to realize you’d been frozen in your spot, but when you did finally realize, you moved your hand up to his wrist and halfway wrapped your fingers around it, barely gripping his arm as you kissed back while your brain was going haywire at the current situation.

Gentle kisses quickly gave way to frenzied, impetuous kisses, the overwhelming smell of alcohol and Roger’s cologne more intoxicating that any liquor you’d ever tried before. His hands explored your body languidly, taking his time touching and feeling anything he could get his hands on. You were about the same, your hands sneaking underneath the back of his shirt and coming to rest on the heated skin of his back as he slipped his tongue into your mouth, swirling it around yours and eliciting a quiet purr of appreciation from you in response.

That perked him right up, making him double his efforts as he moved his hands to your ass, gripping it and pulling you on top of him as he rolled onto his back. Straddling his hips, you pulled away to catch your breath and sat up, Roger’s heavy eyelids fluttering open to find you pulling your shirt off and looking down at him, panting ever-so-slightly from the breath-taking makeout session you’d just engaged in.

Really, he didn’t say much, but his demeanor and expression gave everything away as his hands came to rest on your thighs, his eyes devouring every inch of skin you’d exposed by the simple action. And then he was pulling his shirt off too, tossing it to the side as you pulled your bralette off, hissing at the cool air that suddenly directly hit your nipples.

The feeling didn’t last long, however, for Roger sat up and immediately started to place sloppy kisses along your collarbone, making his way down until he left an open-mouthed kiss to one of your nipples, teasing the other with his thumb and making you shiver. Running a hand into his hair, your let your eyes flutter shut as you zoned out, reveling in the feeling of Roger’s mouth on you, hot and desperate.

For a moment, you questioned whether doing this was okay in the grand scheme of things. After all, what if this was the magnum opus of fuck-ups you could do here? But then Roger’s hand ghosting up your thigh before grabbing your ass distracted you, making you breathe out his name in surprise before pressing your ass back against his hand. His grip tightened just a bit when your hips shifted over his and your clothed core briefly passed over his cock, which was beginning to strain against his boxers a bit.

“God, do that again,” he mumbled against your chest, resting his forehead against your collarbones as you began to grind down against him, his hands flying to your hips to guide you in just the right way to drive him crazy. Soon enough, his hips were rutting up against you, needy for any kind of friction he could get. The two of you rocked against each other, getting yourselves off just on the feeling of what could happen if those layers of clothes were eliminated.

Sooner or later, you supposed you’d seen this coming – you and Roger – but never did you imagine it would be so impromptu. Sure, you’d done your fair share of flirting back and forth, but this had been so out of the blue. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he was still slightly intoxicated and you were at your most vulnerable, but you didn’t care anymore. All you cared about was getting all of Roger, skin on skin, body to body, fully being one with him.

“Rog,” you almost moaned, tugging his hair back so he’d look up at you. With a half-focused grunt, he raised his eyes to yours as he slowed down his hips, looking delectably keyed-up with his fucked out eyes and parted lips. “Have you got a condom?” you asked, taking his face in your hands so he’d focus completely on you. Nodding as his shaky, irregular breaths hit your lips, he licked his lips and nodded over to the desk.

“Top left drawer, to the left in the very back,” he managed to say, hardly wanting to let go of your hips but doing so once you pressed a kiss to the corner of his lips before crawling off of him. He watched as you went, pushing his boxers down and off without tearing his eyes away from the curve of your ass that was peeking out from under your shorts, which you dropped to the floor on the way to the desk, leaving you only in some panties that left even less to his imagination. Digging through the drawer, you finally found one and snatched it up, putting it between your teeth before shimmying out of your panties too as you turned to face Roger again.

A small smile played at the corner of his lips as you made eye contact, and you found yourself blushing as you took the condom wrapper out of your mouth, carefully making your way back over to him and trying to subdue the redness of your cheeks. Coming to kneel between his legs, you tore the package open with the help of your teeth and pulled the condom out, glancing up at him to find him watching your hands with interest. So, you looked back down and started to roll the latex on to his impossibly hard member, keeping your touch light, which made him squirm a bit and grip the sheets until you’d gotten it on fully. Then you threw your leg over his hips, straddling him again and leaning forward to meet him for a kiss, which he eagerly reciprocated.

His hand took on a firm grip of the nape of your neck, keeping your lips against his as he wrapped his other arm around your waist, flipping the two of you so that he now had you pinned down to the mattress. Taking his cock in his hand, he ran the tip along your folds, velvety smooth and practically dripping at this point. You moaned into his mouth when he pressed the tip against your entrance, wrapping your arms around him and trying to press his hips closer to yours, which he took as an invitation to push into you. A strained groan left his mouth as he pulled away from the kiss, and when he bottomed out, you felt him still for a moment inside of you.

After a short and sweet pause, he started moving again, beginning to thrust in and out of you at an initially unhurried pace. All he focused on at the moment was the small whimpers and moans of appreciation that were leaving your lips irregularly, making him groan your name as he rolled his hips achingly slow, wanting to savor the moment.

But you couldn’t stand it. The suspense was killing you – you needed the frenzy, the rushed passion, or you’d get lost in your thoughts again, and you didn’t want to ruin this moment. So, you rolled your hips up to meet his thrust, letting his head fall into the crook of your neck before you murmured in his ear, “Fuck me, Roger. Let me have it.”

He trembled at the sound of your voice, nearly failing to support his weight on his arms before he nodded, breathlessly pressing a kiss to your shoulder. Then he began to thrust faster, harder, and the sweet, high-pitched moans that you let go were enough to make Roger let out a string of curses before burying his face in your neck, panting harshly as he dug one of his hands into your hips, pounding into you at a feverish pace.

“Oh my god, Roger,” you breathed out, curling up your fingers in his hair and against his back as you felt your eyes flutter shut. Your back arched up in pleasure when he angled his hips, thrusting deeper and slower for a moment, and an almost-pornographic moan tumbled out of you, gaining an equally sinful moan from Roger in response.

“You’re so fucking hot,” he mumbled between pants, trailing love bites along your shoulder before snapping his hips forward and eliciting a surprised cry of pleasure that was sure to wake up all of the neighbors. “Wish I could have fucked you senseless the moment I met you.”

“Wouldn’t have been opposed,” you laughed brokenly, cut off by another snap of his hips that buried him deep inside of you. “Oh my god¸ you’re-“

You cut off as you felt a shiver run up your spine from the feeling of Roger moving his hands to your shoulder as he sat up a bit, using your shoulder as leverage so he could continue to thrust deep into you. He was still sweating, probably worse now, but so were you, so you didn’t mind. His hair was an absolute mess from your desperate tugs on it, and he looked about as close to an orgasm as you did.

“I’m what?” he asked, slowing down his hips for a moment and expertly rolling them as he watched you expectantly. It took all of your remaining brain functions to try and remember what you were going to say, too focused on the way he filled you with each thrust to recall the whole thing.

“I said you’re so good,” you breathed out, and with a low moan that caused another shiver to run down your spine, Roger sped up gradually, sending all of your senses haywire as you neared your high. “I’m close, Rog.”

“Let go, sweetheart,” he groaned, gazing down at you through heavily lidded eyes as he steadied his pace, reaching down to rub your clit on top of that. The overstimulation was enough to send you over the edge, and you squeezed your eyes shut as you came, Roger still pounding away into you while you chanted his name like a prayer, over and over, experiencing probably one of the best orgasms you’d ever had.

Roger felt himself getting sloppy as he watched you ride out your high, and a strangled groan left his lips as he sped up his thrusts, chasing his own high in the wake of yours. You opened your eyes finally to see how close he was, so you wrapped your legs around his hips and dug your heels into his back, pressing his hips towards your as you tugged him down for another kiss again. “Come for me, please, Rog,” you begged between kisses, Roger only responding with a broken moan before he pulled away from the kiss completely He thrusted into you a few more times before letting out a long, drawn-out moan and spilling out into his condom, rocking his hips forward a few times to ride out his own high.

“Y/N… oh god, Y/N,” he panted, resting his forehead on yours as he finished himself off. Reluctantly pulling out once he was done, he crawled off you to dispose of the condom, coming back with a towel from his closet to clean you up. You closed your eyes, throwing an arm over them as he did so, absolutely exhausted from the whole day, and almost found yourself dozing off before he crawled back into bed with you, still completely naked but far more satisfied than before. His arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you into a spooning position with him, but it seemed more intimate than anything. The fact that you two were still completely nude didn’t seem to arouse any overtly sexual feelings – you just wanted to be in his arms, and he just wanted you in his arms. It was mutual, the unspoken affection between the two of you – no words needed to be said as he pressed a small kiss to your shoulder before settling in and pulling the blanket over the two of you.

You didn’t even have to say goodnight, the both of you just dozing off in each other’s company. For two people who could never shut up around and about each other, you were, for the first time, completely silent, just happy to be alive, and happy to be in love. Love? Am I in love with him? God, how scary is that? Roger made a quiet noise in his sleep and twitched a bit, pulling you closer and nuzzling your shoulder.  So worth it, though.

PT. 1 PT. 2 PT. 3 PT. 4 PT. 5

taglist - @crosmopolitan @just-ladyme @rogerfxckingtaylor @fourmisfitz @shae-is-not-ok @moreinfinite @fruityfreddie @poachedhazontoast @strawberryfields-forever @imladrs @psychoticobsession @ladylannisterxo @rebelrebelyourefaceisamess @destiel-stucky4ever-loki-queen @wanderingsami @stardvstial @iminlovewith-rogers-car @glowungeyes  @mercurys-bike @mazzelloplots @beaaatle @sitonmyhot-seatoflove @siriusly-a-nerd @sunshine112 had troubles tagging

message me/reply to this to be added to the permanent taglist OR just this series (please specify i promise u wont hurt my feelings)! REQUESTS CLOSED

[shidiand]

How do you imagine Tenco's Story ending in your head?

that is a GREAT but UNEXPECTED QUESTION freshlybaked "spider" bread and i'm really happy to have the opportunity to try and answer this ageless question that has burned within all of us in the tenco's story iv waiting room community since 2013. it is an incredible coincidence (or is it? 👀) that i was just talking to Risa about tenco's this (edit: yesterday) morning so i am extra double super in the mood to talk about Tenco's Story today. so excellent of a coincidence is this that i am tempted to refer you to them in case you wanted to hear their thoughts on the matter that would probably turn out super cool, but that is neither here nor there; let us talk Tenco's Story.

i of course must mention my unadvertised and modestly detailed commentary on tenco's i-iii at https://shidiand.tumblr.com/tencos, presenting slightly interesting facts in an unwieldy and difficult-to-use format, but as it dates back to june 2017, i want to take some time to understand my feelings about the series once more.

tenco's story is a series that has a lot of meaning to me.

i took on my current name of shidiand in november of 2013. i was still in 11th grade at the time, 4th year of high school, and a very socially isolated person. i should say i was introduced to touhou in 7th grade, 2010, so i was still working through a 3 years-strong phase of trying to simultaneously both find an outlet for and bottle up an endless wellspring of awkward weeaboo-gamer nerd energy at the time.

i had my first real foray onto the internet in 2010, tried out twitter, followed some RPers and other people who had Cool Touhou Usernames. didn't really go anywhere. i had maybe 50 followers, i dont really know the count but it was definitely a) double digits and b) pretty low. didn't know what to tweet about. didn't know how to hit it off with others. i think there was basically maybe only 3 other people i ever properly interacted with. oh shit i was playing league of legends at the time. oh my god. i really did play league of .. oh my god. let's move on.

aw shit im super digressing amn't i. well.

this is just how it goes when i write essays on tumblr.com.

i'm afraid you're just along for the ride at this point so please do your best to enjoy it.

i got kind of tired of twitter at the time because i didnt know what to do with it. didnt know how to interact with people and didnt find the people i was following interesting, so i ghosted on out of there by the end of 2012. didnt deactivate it until like 2015 but at that point that was just burning away my dark history. anyways. november 2013.

--im taking a lot of time here trawling through old files on my computer, my tumblr blog, notification emails still lying around in my gmail inbox from twitter, the dropbox i didn't actually use but it had several tenco's story pictures on it but i deleted them so this was useless, ... to trace the timeline of this story and im really seeing a lot of remnants of dark history here you know? did you know i wrote a letter to a girl i had a crush on valentine's day 2014, slipped it into her locker, and anxiously hung around nearby at lunchtime to see how she reacted at lunchtime? i certainly didn't, or at least i made darn ass sure to forget about this incredible virgin incident and not remember it, ever, until i came across the records of it that i thoughtfully preserved for the me of 5 years later today. ok well now i have to read the letter to see if it was as bad as it just sounded there brb

ok so the good news is that it was actually very focused on being positive and full of admiration for the cool things she did instead of being a confession letter so i am very glad i was able to be a respectful chad 5 years ago, but the bad news is that the jokes, the actual sentences i put together. oh my god. but i mean. well. at least i got the spirit. its certainly a step up from this other person in my grade, WEEABOO ANDREW, YOU MAY RECALL THIS STORY AND HIS NAME FROM PREVIOUS STORYTIMES, THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND who came to school on halloween once cosplaying kirito from sword art online and got very possessive about people asking if they could hold his black replica plastic sword, and probably worse, dropped a "will you be my girlfriend" letter into the locker of my homie and fellow trombonist samantha, who was a little bit nerdy, hung out with the anime-likers who were actually sociable and fun to be around so you can imagine why weeaboo andrew was into her, which had i) a direct quotation from SAO chapter 16.5 (origin of the famous "glopping noise" line), and ii) a condom. jesus christ. i dont want to talk about this any more. next topic.

i also put this drawing of iku nagae and her skarmory (actually an albinoss from 18 DRAGONS) on the other side of the letter because it was the coolest thing i could think of drawing at the time. and i completely agree with 2014 me because it IS super fucking cool. hell fuckin yeah

https://shidiand.tumblr.com/post/76301993387/iku-nagae-ft-that-thing-that-supposedly-is-a

alright that was a fun little trip down memory lane but lets get back on track. november 2013. i started anew as shidiand. still awkward, still learning how to express myself and looking for my place among others. i followed some touhou bloggers, hung around r/touhou a lot as well. in december i got my first tablet for christmas, a wacom bamboo splash. i still use this thing! the usb cable disconnects if you bump it so i have to find just the perfect position to sit in whenever i want to draw, but its served me well. anyways. i was just starting to play around with digital art but i remember, probably just before new years, for some reason i wanted to find out more about tenshi hinanawi (i don't remember why. tenshi wasn't even one of my favourite characters at the time) so i went googling and right there on zerochan i found this:

https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=23525572

this was during my dark souls phase so i just went BANANAS at the sight of this. this was literally the coolest image i had ever seen in my internet life. That image alone made me want to draw in hopes that I could make something as cool as that someday.

it wasn't immediately after but i soon discovered tenco's story, and it was love. kannnu was my very first artistic inspiration, and for a long time, my only one. i absolutely idolized them at the time. since then, ive found other artists to look up to, in a more healthy manner, but to this day i still look up to kannnu, still admire their work a lot.

i played around with drawing, followed the lives of people on tumblr, started reading touhou fanfiction, made a new twitter. i met a lot of new people along the way. some people i havent stuck with, some i cut ties with, and some people i still keep in contact with today. over those long 5 years of being shidiand, i found a name (i used to use shidian and then shid, but someone called me shidi once and i realized that was a lot better), how to reach out to others, how to express myself, places that i could feel included in. this is why i owe a blood debt to evelyn, who permitted me to kneel at her throne and was like "yea ok you can join my discord server u seem cool". evelyn, if you were confused by me ominously mentioning this blood debt/blood oath in a tumblr reply 1-2 years ago, this is the context. those 5 years were like a coming of age of sorts, that i never had when i was in high school.

and my love for tenco's story, that inspired me to draw that day, has been with me since almost the very beginning of my time as shidiand. from the beginning, i have always encouraged people to READ TENCO'S STORY, like the kin of those who cry PLAY MELTY or WATCH SYMPHOGEAR. i think my very first sidebar description was something akin to a prayer, written in very choral language, hoping for the day tenco's story iv was completed, ..., "meanwhile, furious shitposting". kannnu's work, finding delight in whatever they chose to draw, has been at my side, all along. my true mentor, my guiding moonlight...

so that's why i still to this day love tenco's story so much.

let's talk about tenco's story.

tenco's story is a story told through single pictures. the plot is vague, and details are sparse. dialogue is rare. we only know what has happened; we seldom know why. furthermore, there are many gaps between scenes that the reader is left to fill in for themselves; we see only snapshots that form an hazy outline of the events that occurred, and must imagine the rest. motivations and explanations fail me. but even with a barebones plot, tenco's story has themes, and if nothing else, those have to be carried through.

the main theme, of course, is journey and travel, but there are also other ideas, too. i actually think they start to change as the series goes on:

book i, where tenshi runs away from home, is about striking out on your own. it's a very fun and unpredictable journey, together with a friend.

book ii, where tenshi and iku are separated, forces tenshi to find and rely on companions of her own even more. but they do so, and they are able overcome hardships, and there is food and festival.

book iii marks a climax, reasserting tenshi's goal of finding the sword of hisou. i feel like the journey shifts from a travel (visiting) to a path forwards (making your way through). perhaps this is just something i get from knowing the locations from dark souls (Anor Londo, New Londo Ruins, the Great Hollow), but the locations start to give more of a sense of verticality, like they're emphasizing tenshi's climb to the summit. the hardships and enemies are the greatest they've been yet, and right when they near the top, tenshi and iku start to bleed. the book ends on an uncertain note.

if i had to describe the type of journey and travel that tenshi and iku undertake, there's this sense of wonder at discovering new places, wandering from vista to vista in delight, but also a sense of conquering, making it through a difficult patch. the sequence from pages 2-44 to 2-51, taken together, convey this sense of overcoming the best. it's one of my favourite parts. again, although the tone definitely starts to lean towards struggle in book iii, i think tenco's sense of wonder really is the heart of the series. there's no map of the world, no predicting where tenshi and iku will end up next. and through their travels, though they come across many enemies, they also find friends -- places of refuge, places full of life, people who will look after them for a few days, companions who will stay with them for the rest of the journey. at the end of book iii, we see a long haired tenshi with purple hair being impaled by the sword of hisou (3-33, see also this extra illustration that risa pointed out to me http://sinnnkai.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-195.html), and regular short haired tenshi continuing on her journey (3-42). if we ignore the out-of-story images where tenshi has the sword of hisou, tenshi has actually only ever used her sunlight blade (2-24, 3-26, etc), so i think that the long haired tenshi on 3-33 is a different person altogether. (if i had to guess, she might be the purple haired woman in the top left of https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=35443328 as we have never seen that woman appear anywhere.) she probably has something to do with the flashbacks at the end of book ii and she might somehow be short-haired tenshi at the same time, but this is just speculation.

however, in 3-43, tenshi's hair is rather blue, so i don't know if this is the purple haired woman or not. if it is, tenshi is probably still fine and closing in on the summit, but if it isn't, then it's very worrying to see a picture of tenshi without any of her companions. it's very ominous.

meanwhile, iku, while climbing the red carpeted corridor, is stabbed, and disappears for a few pages. there's a black page, a shot of a shrine that strongly resembles the hakurei shrine, and a picture of iku standing behind someone in a tux, with the line "In the past, I was saved by the lady I was serving, you see?". and then iku wakes up in a field of flowers.

i think what this scene makes clear is a theme that has continued to appear and reappear throughout every book of "being saved, being aided by someone's kindness".

i think another theme that is implied and has to be addressed by this story of running away from home is "return". something im imagining is that the reason tenshi makes finding the sword of hisou her goal is because she wants to have something to prove herself with, to vindicate her when she comes home. but i don't think she needs to prove anything, and i ultimately think that she would be happier spending the rest of her life exploring.

so i think this should be what happens in the ending.

open on iku's journey, and give her a long sequence of travel without seeing tenshi. underline her newfound resolve. she climbs to the summit with albinoss, and finds the rest of tenshi's companions fallen. and in the last room is sword of hisou tenshi, who has lost herself, and it comes down to iku to bring her back. after a difficult battle, when both of them are on their last legs, iku is unable to stand any longer. but at this moment tenshi sees her companions struggling to get back up and reach her, and that's what brings her to her senses. and iku gets to see how many friends tenshi's been able to make on her own, and they finally and properly reunite. together, tenshi and iku carry each other out of the last room.

i don't think it's necessary to return to heaven. as a conclusion, dedicate some time to tenshi and iku travelling together. they're on their way back, revisiting old friends who helped them along the way, enjoying the journey. their last stop is the house of the elderly nawis (1-42). tenshi shows off the sword of hisou; she decided to keep it not as a trophy to show her family but as proof of the bonds of her companions. surrounded by friends, tenshi and iku decide to part ways with each other, knowing that the other will be alright. iku drifts among the clouds once more, and tenshi sets off for the horizon.

that's the plot that i'd write/just wrote. i don't really expect tenco's story iv to ever come out, though. i mentioned my first sidebar description earlier in this essay, but of course, you can see that it's been changed. 2 years ago, i read my hopeful prayer once more and was struck with a terrible melancholy, so now it reads this: "having come to terms with the fact that tenco's story iv will never be released, i can still live, knowing that the spirit of the journey will live on through kannnu's original works [...] meanwhile, furious shitposting".

on one level, tenco's story is a story, but in the process of following it, i came to think of the work itself as a journey too. you can constantly see kannnu's improvement between and even within each book. they have always drawn whatever they liked; what plot matters in the face of "I wanted to draw a beautiful sky." "I wanted to draw a fantastic battle." "I wanted to draw Dark Souls and Monster Hunter and Pokemon and Brave Fencer Musashi and Bokura no Taiyou and Touhou."

its not really kannnu's style to go back and tie up old ends. they just draw whatever makes them happy. so as i watch them continue to draw beautiful places and fantastic creatures, new characters heading out on journeys of their own or just enjoying their everyday lives, it's as if tenco's story never ended. the limits and consistency of that world ignored, and a new one springs up; in a way, the world of tenco's, which had such thin boundaries, just gets bigger.

but even so, having said all that, i still see them draw that short-haired tenshi from time to time. it makes me happy to see them remember tenco's story with such fondness. often crossing over with orion or roar or elweiss, you can see tenshi on another journey.

[archer3-13]

Fire Emblem Heroes Book III,Initial Trailer First Impression: Spooky Scary Skeletons are 4 edgy 8 me

the long and short of it is that im pensively optimistic about what’s in store, especially from a story angle, but that theme song can go suck a donkey’s tit.

anyways, book III and it seems were gonna be doing the tango with spooky scary Victorian skeleton warriors and a scary lady with a big ass scythe. Fuck Yeah!

so ignoring the theme song since it’s just... fuckin awful or at the very least unfitting, lets get into this by first talking about

THE TRAILER

So I gotta admit, i enjoyed this one a lot more then book II right off the bat.

opening on some flowers, we immediately know that shits gonna get fucked but my story telling instincts are telling me that this might possibly, probably, definitely, be a metaphor for this characters happy childhood in her kingdom when it was not fucked however

shit got fucked, unsurprisingly. instead of the villain looming ominously overhead like fucking doctor claw or no-heart however, we get a shot of our new hero twirling into the villains strangely comforting embrace by accident which does get me curios since it might imply, heaven forefend, that she willingly sold out her kingdom or home or whatever to the devil here and now has to fight to get it back and correct her own mistake in some sort of possible and interesting character arc here? just my take on it anyways.

moving on, we get these idiots in the woods as the fuglyness of them gives me whiplash from the actually pretty rad looking duo earlier. I kid but seriously if lokis a 0-2, alfonse a 3-5, then the hero and villain of book 3 are at an 8-10 each. my point being, there is quite the contrast in my opinion. anyways, alfonse is looking sad lost and afraid and loki’s pouting since she probably gonna be barely relevant yet fucking intrusive again.

also sharenas there in a similar state to her brother.

also veronicas just kind of there, and im getting a bit worried since we just got lokis douche smirk a few seconds ago and veronica just seems to kinda be there again.

the promotional shot, so shits about to get real again!

we get a nice shot of these two new lovely faces, doing the naruto run for a bit when the leading runner decides to pull out his fancy sword with an intense close up, definitely indicating that hes probably gonna be a blood knight of some sort. anyways he and alfonse begin to fight with blood knight pushing alfonse back and red energizer lady decides to fight

alfonse as well. man it is not alfonses day here is it? anyways, psychidelic drugs kickin at this point and the floor dissapears under alfonse as he starts to sink into sticky black goo well reaching out to sharena as-

oh?

oh! well, sharenas dead now and alfonse just can’t take the death of such a... memorable sister... and so he crys well the black goo decides to try and eat him if hes not gonna sink himself. this transitions us nicely to

our new hero looking into her dagger to see sad alfonse, and then she begins crying on a battlefield of weapons, with the heroes trios main weapons clearly in the fucking foreground implying they all died horrible deaths. quick, happy flashbacks to imply she, or you, or someone is thinking of all the good times!

there we go.

i did not kill her it’s not true, it’s bullshit, i did noooot

oh hi mark

we get this nice panning shot of a battlefield littered with weapons, implying corpses, as the hero and villain of book III stare each other down with the villain being a smug fuckin asshole and the hero clearly ready to cut a skeleton bitch.

our hero does a slight turn of the knife, and looks determinedly ahead as the trailer cuts out.

so, aside from the theme song being kinda out of place in my opinion (like, i guess it works for being unsettling but it really does feel like some marketing exec being 8 edgy 16 me cause he thought the kiddies would like it) i rather enjoyed the trailer. it set up a lot more and teases a lot more interesting story elements and ideas then book II did, its grim oppressive atmosphere is nicely out of place in comparison to feh’s other stories, it’s just better shot and paced as a trailer, and the characters look like they have an interesting history going on. speaking of looks...

THE LOOK

cause i was not expecting to be digging the look as much as I do. well the fiber glass looking stuff, that i feel was intended to be spoopy etheral light, on the villians looks a bit cheap and silly and hides the skeleton bones a bit much requiring a second closer viewing to catch that they are spoopy skeletons, the overall look im really liking. 

the sword general especially has a get up that reminds me of a reanimated suit of armour and if they had leaned into that by giving him a helmet i think it would have been even better, but for what it is he looks pretty good and threatening. the other major complaint i have aside from them not leaning into him being a reanimated suit of armour by giving him a helmet is that his face looks to much like alfonse’s which annoys me. mind you, it could be leading into some sort of plot twist later on so if it is, all i can say is i hope it’s a good one.

the lady general looks the weakest of the three in terms of visual design, but thats not as bad as it could be since she still looks a hell of a lot better then anything book II produced. still, the red stuff hiding her skeleton bits looks the most like plexi glass. Although thats about the only thing i outright dislike on her, aside from not leaning into spoopy skeleton territory more, it really does hold her design back in my opinion. i mean, fucks sake make it look more like ethereal light, add some armour here and there if need be, and boom it would be another winner of a design.

hel here, the big bad, has no such problems however. I love every bit of this lady, and i dont even care that if the glowy bits of her were actual skin she would have a design that’d comfortably fit in with kill la kill. she’s a lady villain, which isnt a requirement but something im damn well happy with especially if she ends up being well written, and she has many things i love in villains and characters in general. grim reaper theme, Victorian goth aesthetic, a black, white, and purple colour scheme, tattered flowing cloths, long wavy hair, a threatening appearance and most importantly shes a spooky scarcy skeleton. a purple spooky, scary, skeleton. I will cherish you forever, and i am crossing my fingers and praying to you that your well written and entertaining. plz be good, plz be good, plz be good...

oh right, and the mandatory good guy/gal of the book. well that bit sounds dismissive, i honestly gotta say that im digging her a lot as well. shes not a spooky scary skeleton sadly, but the victorian gothic elements of her design work really well, and shes nicely distinct from the heroes trio this time unlike fjorm who was basically sharena 2.0. im gonna hope shes well written as well, so that i can seriously grow attached to the new hero this time cause from her design alone.

so yeah, looks wise im digging this a lot more and though the artist for this is clearly Yusuke Kozaki, an artist ive vocally disliked in relation to fire emblem for a while now, i feel ike his style works to much better effect here with the ridiculous bdsm Victorian gothic style and the darker colours.

GAMEPLAY STUFF

nothing particularly interesting to note, mythic heroes definitely sounds like a dumb cash grab and i dont feel the aether arena quite has the pull in terms of gameplay to justify hinging a new summoning type gimmick on.

on a much more important note though...

beast units, huzzah!!  and tibarn and nailiah seem to be some of the first ones up which is even better! not sure what the gameplay video is implying on how their gonna play though, since it seems a bit gimmicky and raises the question of how that gimmick might effect manateke units, but they are here so thats cool. bird pirate king is ready to roll!!!

OVERALL

all in all, from the look and what the trailer hints at alone, i am optimistic, but the caution comes with what sounds like very lukewarm gameplay deals which might not keep people hooked for very long. idk, im looking foreward to it but im not gonna be heartbroken if its third verse same as the first.

[coffeetoxication]

the link to ch 9 of without hesitation doesnt work :( btw love your fanfic so far!! i adore the characterization that youve put in

With the witching hour rolling in and Ren being wide awake due to the number of naps that he’s had today, he was playing around on his phone while Stimpy is fast asleep. After their little fun that they’ve had in the bath including having a long make out session in the shower, Ren couldn’t really get Johnathan out of his mind. He hasn’t really texted him ever since this morning and he was starting to worry if he was making Johnathan feel left out. With a sigh, he got out from the bed quietly as he could and went downstairs towards the kitchen. He was debating if he should make some coffee or not. Though he didn’t want to be too wired, he pulls out his messages to see if Johnathan messaged him yet.

Of course, nothing.

Putting his phone down on the kitchen counter, he peeked through the blinds of the window to look to see if there was anything going on. To his surprise, nothing. However, he did notice …. something just across the street. No, it was someone. Someone leaning against their car with what seems to be a cigarette in his hand. Considering that the guy was right under the street light, his hat had completely overshadowed his face. This was creepy beyond Ren’s comfort levels. The fact that this guy was just …. standing there and possibly staring right at him made his skin crawl. The guy probably knew that he was in there. Ren thanked himself that he didn’t turn on the living room lamp on. Though making sure that all windows and doors are locked is a must.

“Creepy fucker.” Ren mumbled to himself as he quickly went to make sure that all doors and windows were absolutely shut and locked.

God only knows of what this guy wants. Frankly, Ren didn’t WANT to know.

Kitchen, bathroom, living room, guest room, … everything seemed locked and untouched from the first floor. Now, the last room to check was upstairs bedroom and bathroom. Looking up, he suddenly hated on how the stairs looked. Dark and ominous. Letting his imagination get the best of him like a scared child. Thinking such irrational silly things like hands coming out of the walls and underneath the stairs and drag him away.

“ … run up the stairs you fuckin’ pussy …” Ren tells himself, taking a deep breath and closes his eyes tightly.

Just like that, Ren ran up as quickly as he could, almost tripping a couple of times.

Reaching upstairs, Ren felt the relief overcome him. Knowing that Stimpy was in the bedroom practically snoring made him feel calm for once. Tip-toeing around the remaining rooms, Ren felt something that was rather … off. He really couldn’t put his finger on it, but it felt as if he was being watched. He didn’t dare to think that there were more of them out there. God, he had hoped and prayed that the one by the street light is just the one.

Making sure, and very much sure that he was going to regret it, he goes by the bedroom blinds and goes to check outside carefully. The worst part of it was that it was completely dark. Not even the street lights were bright enough to pierce the darkness of their backyard. In a way, it kind of relieved him. If it was too dark to see outside, it would be too dark for anybody to see anything from the inside. It was possibly his own paranoia that was making him feel this way. He was contemplating about calling the cops, but the guy would’ve been far from gone by the time they get here. What would he tell them? That some creepy fuck was outside his house and he had no idea of what he looked like? Yeah. Sure.

With an exhausted sigh, he got into bed slowly and crawled inside the covers. It was hard to believe, but Ren was scared. Very scared to the point where he began to shiver.

Feeling Stimpy’s warmth radiating from him, Ren scooted himself closer to him. Even tightly wrapping both of his arms around Stimpy’s. Closing his eyes tightly. Ears picking up the clanks and creaks of the house resting making him think it was someone lurking around.

“S-stimpy …?” Ren whimpered, “S …… stimpy?”

With a few shakes and even a good harsh nudges with his knees, he finally got him to wake up and to cease his obnoxious snoring.

“Mmmmm, hmmm?” Stimpy groaned, one eye peeking at Ren.

“I … I can’t sleep …….” Ren whispered.

“Oh? …..” Stimpy rubs his eyes, almost on the verge of falling asleep again. “How come?”

Ren wanted to tell Stimpy about the man he had seen. However, it would probably turn out to be one of those cliche scenes where he would say something and then the man would be long gone by now. Ren didn’t really know of what to say. He was conflicted if he should tell another lie or tell Stimpy of what’s really going on for a change. Did he really need to worry about it? Would he really understand? Probably not.

“N-Nevermind, … I’ll tell ya in the mornin’.” Ren mumbled, pulling the covers over him.

“Mmmm, …. okaaayyy …” Stimpy yawns as he wraps an arm around him.

From there, Ren felt an immediate sense of security. Stimpy pulling him into a sleepy embrace made him feel so stupidly warm and fluttery inside. Letting Stimpy do whatever he wants, he closes his eyes to drift into a calm sleep.

*~*~*~*~

With the remaining hours left before sunrise, Johnathan remained awake in the home of Mr. Horse. The environment around him was … overwhelming. He wasn’t used to being in homes that were filled with expensive furniture, antiques, and bookcases larger than himself. All he’s ever known was cheap hotels, trailer parks, and beat down apartments. Everything was a struggle. To do what he had to do to keep a roof over himself along with his father, it didn’t matter how filth-ridden the place was, it was home.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t envious. To be in a high-class house like this, it was like a dream. A dream that was his a long time ago back in college. How all of his hard work studying and working long-shifts would pay off. How life would owe him in the end.

But life has it’s own set of rules. How cruel and unfair it can be. Johnathan understood that reality. If only his father would. If he knew then of what he knows now, none of this would’ve happened.

However, …. there’s no point dwelling on it now. Johnathan was far too tired to really cause his body anymore stress. He didn’t want to bother to look at his phone either.

Maybe a book would help. It’s been a while since he’s really picked up a book. Not that he wanted to. Just never found the time.

Getting up from his bed in the guest room, he makes his way towards the living room as he turns a lamp on. The hardwood floor cold beneath his feet, it was oddly comforting. The room itself had a cozy atmosphere. An unlit fireplace with a widescreen t.v above it, two leather reading chairs, a couch that looks to be soft to the touch, a mahogany book case that was filled with a variety of books it seems, and finally … a simple rug in the middle of the room. Letting out a content sigh, Johnathan begins to scan through the book case with the tip of his index finger. Psychology, sociology, psychopathology, neuropsychology, philosophy, some written by independent authors about their experiences as therapists, and … even some poetry. H.P Lovecraft, Tennessee Williams, Sylvia Plath, and even Edgar Allan Poe. Haven’t heard that name since high school, he thought. Feeling nostalgic, he pulled out the book of which contained all of Poe’s notorious writings and poems.  

Johnathan remembered how he had to do a report about Poe and what writing of his influenced him the most while Ren had Emily Dickinson. The echoing voice of Ren’s complaining ringed in his ears.

“Seriously, how am I supposed to understand this poetic shit? If I really wanted to be THIS depressed I would’ve gone through my ol’ man’s ‘secret’ stash.”

“The whole point of understanding these poets, Ren, is that they’ve used this type of writing to expel their anguishes even if may seem out of the norm. Not a lot of people back in those times really understood depression or how to properly deal with it.”

“Okay there, Mr. Analysis, no need to go all out on me. Ya might choke. Who you workin’ on?”

“Edgar Allan Poe.”

“Hmm, never heard of ‘im. Is he just as depressing as dickson or whatever the fuck her name is?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, but he has a unique style of writing. He kind of adds a little bit of horror in his works which gives it an extra edge to it, but I guess if I had to pick any of his works that I can relate to in a sense, is ‘Alone’.”

Alone.

Flipping the pages of the book, Johnathan had found it.

From childhood’s hour I have not beenAs others were–I have not seenAs others saw–I could not bringMy passions from a common spring–From the same source I have not takenMy sorrow–I could not awakenMy heart to joy at the same tone–And all I lov’d–I lov’d alone–

“And all I loved … I loved alone …” Johnathan whispered to himself, frowning as he did.

The nostalgia he felt now were tugged heart strings. Feeling the repressed pain that he had felt all those years were now swarming like a dropped wasps nest. This was not how he wanted to spend the rest of the night. Being all melancholy in a home that wasn’t his.

Deciding to put the book away, he started to look for something less depressing.  

While searching, his ear caught the sound of the floor creaking only to realize that someone was stepping inside of the living room. It startled him as he swiftly turned his head to find Mr. Horse by the entrance way. With his heart racing he stepped back from the bookcase as if to say “I wasn’t touching anything!”. However, seeing a small smile on Mr. Horse’s face made him relax.

“I see that you have taking a liking to my collection here …” He said, his voice hoarse as if he had just woken up.

“Y-Yeah, … I c-couldn’t really sleep, so I thought that reading would help. I … didn’t wake you up, did I?” Johnathan looked down, rubbing his arm in embarrassment.

“Of course not. I suppose you can call it an intuition. I always know when one is restless, so my body acts accordingly.” Mr. Horse shakes his had, placing a hand on Johnathan’s shoulder.

Johnathan can’t really have himself to forget on how gentle Mr. Horse with. The way he talks, how soft his touch is, and the welcoming aura around him makes Johnathan wish that he knew more people like him.  

“So, … may I ask of what is troubling you?” Mr. Horse took a seat on the couch, patting the spot right next to him.

With a deep sigh, Johnathan sat right next to him as he drooped his head. Elbows resting on his thighs with his fingers holding his chin, he wasn’t sure on where to start.

“Just …. everything. Me questioning of my own sanity, my … fucking dad, the thought of the mafia looking to serve my ol’ mans head on a silver platter to the head honcho, and ya know … asking myself of what the fuck I’m doing here.” Johnathan said, “Why ….. did I have to come here ….?”

Lowering his head even more, Johnathan felt as if he was tearing apart inside. He felt so lost into everything that it was hard to really try to tackle all of these problems at once. Johnathan had always had this sense of pride that he could try to outcome any situation even if it meant life and death. However, one could only handle the same situation multiple times to where they have come to the end of their rope. Johnathan, … was very much at the end of his …

“My dear boy, ….” Mr. Horse starts, “It doesn’t take a therapist to know on how much you’re currently going through. How emotionally and mentally straining everything is on you.”

Johnathan could only scoff at the obvious, not that Mr. Horse was wrong but just how true his words are.

“If I may be so bold as to give you suggestions to make it easier not only for you, but for your father as well. In return, you have to do something for me.”

“ …. Suggestions?”

“Yes. Now, listen carefully …”

[tumblunni]

More thinking about the story big sis Bane is from

Lol this is SO awkward how on earth did i create the bff/mentor supporting character before ANY OF THE REST OF THE PLOT but man its been so much fun thinking up different stories she could fit in

* i was talking with a friend and they suggested she'd use a warhammer in battle ans now im like "hmm yes this story must be a game with combat" and that at least narrows it down a bit! I absolutely support her being a buff blacksmith cuddlebug who protects her friends with her fists as well as her mentorly perfectness. Also this friend said they're gonna design me a cool battle outfit for her IM SO EXCITED HOLY SHITTTT

* I'm not sure if the character she's bffs with would actually be a grandpa or just.. Grandpish? I just have this sense that its someone frail and depressed who doesn't believe they deserve friends and family, and they're all hermitty social anxiety until they meet this blacksmith lady who is like Fuck I Will Devote All Of My Considerable Power Towards Making Your Life More Alive. Seriously man i love Bane SO MUCH already!! She's basically a shonen hero archetype?? THE GRAMP AVENGER! Or a grandma or a dad or a whoever this person ends up being COS IF LITERALLY ANYONE IS IN NEED OF HELP SHE WILL BE THERE!! THE BANE OF DEPRESSION!!

* oh but im pretty sure that neither her nor the grandpa are the main character? I dont know why but i just feel like they would be better experienced from an outside view. I wanna be someone making friends with them! Also i feel like the protagonist should maybe be a young kid hero? Like, represent a different archetypal family role in this lil found family of hugs and sads.

* first initial idea- grandpa is a mysterious dark sorcerer and you are his apprentice! Or rather he just SEES himself as a dark sorcerer? Like all magic is considered evil, so even thougj he chooses to use his powers as a town doctor saving lives he still feels like he's a cursed monster. So he has an awkward dynamic with his apprentice cos he just Does Not Know How To React to someone hero worshipping him like this?? Like this orphan kid just came out of nowhere yelling BE MY TEACHER and hugging him and he's like OH NOOOO I CANT LEAVE THEM TO DIE IN THE COLD and theyre like SEE THATS PROOF YOURE GREAT and he's like NOOOOO!! xD i think a sort of "guy who never planned to be a gramp but had grampness thrown upon him" And he rose to the occasion spectacularly!!

* Another idea is that potentially instead of just being a random orphan, protagonist apprentice's backstory is shrouded in mystery? I was thinking maybe of a reveal that gramps actually did use to be a grandpa and his granddaughter died, and the protagonist was his failed attempt to ressurect her using dark magic. And for a long time he's been holding out on the hope that he really did bring her back, and that the protagonist will be able to recover her memories if he just tries hard enough. But as he grows to know you and love you like his own child, he realizes that you're your own person. (Or, well, your own homunculus?) And he takes responsibiluty for the new person he created, and helps you deal with finding out that you're not human, and you just form this very strange cute little family together with also the badass blacksmith lady yay! Also possibly LGBTQ elements because why not? Have the original dead grandkid always be a different gender to the protagonist, and them being trans could resonate with the themes that even though you're a clone you're your own person. And maybe have some sweet sad dream sequence where protag meets the ghost of the dead kid and you see a vision of what they might have looked like if they grew older. So throughout the course of the story you've become very different looking, and now you can embrace your big sibling for the first and last time, and feel like you really are a family. And they tell you to take care of gramps *sniff*

* Another idea is that maybe the protagonist is a secret government weapon? Like the gramps is still a dark sorcerer but instead of the dark incident in his past being a dead family member, its that he was part of a team of magic scientists and found out that his coworkers were crossing moral lines in their pursuit of power. So he finds a bunch of people locked up in a lab being turned into monsters and he managed to save only one of them during his great escape. And now he's trying to hide from them and raise this poor little monsterized kid to have a normal life.

* OR another idea is maybe taking this oc idea i had for a mismagius belonging to charon, because when i headcanon i tend to headcanon so deep i give everyone a full party and every party member needs a deep backstory too, lol. Anyway in that original pokemon version this mismagius was a lot more like an original ghost critter anyway i guess. His name was Hex and his concept was sorta like.. Charon meets kid charon? The other pokemon i gave him were all cute and bubbly to contrast him so i wanted to have one who was equally cynical. But also Hex is actually just a little kid even though he tries his damn best to be a Big Scary Evil Demon You Made A Contract With In Exchange For Great Power but really he's like a nine year old larping as one XD i think the whole concept could work better if he really WAS a magic spirit demon thing that this sad grandpa made a contract with in order to get the power to make his dreams come true. But also he's kind of a reject amoung other contract demon spirit thingies, and he's Really Just Babbu. I had this really sad idea for how he first met his trainer back when he was still a pokemon oc. From charon/new oc grandpa's perspective he found this big ominous scary demon lord and made an unholy contract! But from the demon's perspective he was just a tiny pathetic lonely lil kid who'd been hurt too many times by everyone he once trusted. So he grew to hate all those monsters who make friends with humans, and tried to act all egotistical like he chose to be alone. But eventually he just couldnt take it anymore and he decided he'd just go with the next human who tries to take him. Even if theyre evil.. Itd still be better than being alone. So he put up all those barriers around his true self and was so reluctant to trust gramps, but eventually being togethee has helped him regain his faith in having a happy life, yknow? And meanwhile grandpa is just like "oh god oh fuck youre a BABBY oh god how did i never know WHO WOULD LEAVE YOU ALL ALONE!!!" "Dude im a demon its not exactly normal to care about my wellbeing." "FUCK THAT, I AM YOUR GRAMP NOW"

* so yeah lol loads of different ideas about what the story could be, all kinda similar at heart but wildly varying from an innocent cute protag to grumpy cynical who's secretly an innocent cute protag, lol!

* in any case whoever you are and whoever gramps is, Bane is still be love u as big sis and support u thru the everything, yes

[restlessmaknae]

Walking on thin ice // I. (Im)possible

Baleful powers and icy hearts collide and no one knows what would come out of it. A girl who doesn’t want to be seen and a boy who desperately wants to be seen.

❄ Pairing: Jack Frost!Yoongi (BTS) x Elsa!Joohyun (Red Velvet’s Irene)

❄ Supporting roles: Joonmyun (EXO) as Santa; Kibum (SHINee) as Easter Bunny; Hayoung (APink) as Tooth Fairy; Mark (GOT7) as Sandman; Yerim (Red Velvet) as Anna; Myungjun (ASTRO) as Daylight

❄ Basics’ post: setting & long summary & cast

❄ Genre: angst, drama, fluff, fantasy

❄ Chapters: I. ❄ II.  ❄ III. ❄ IV. ❄ V. ❄ VI. ❄ VII.

Look what you did to her! You can’t do anything but to hurt people. You are a monster.

Said the loud, intriguing voice in Bae Joohyun’s head and even though she tried her best, she couldn’t shake off that unwanted feeling that was slowly engulfing her. It was like she was listening to her thoughts through an earphone without being able to hit the ‘stop’ button. The words were haunting her, whispering into her ears wherever she went. She couldn’t get rid of them, the voice got louder and louder as time went by.

What have I done? She gulped as she rose from her seat beside the bed and shifted her gaze to the pale, tiny body in the giant hospital bed. The young girl’s eyes were closed, looking like a baby as she was sleeping safe and safe. Her breaths were steady and uninterrupted. The sight of her little sister unharmed made her relaxed for a few minutes. Yerim is okay. For now.

She looked at Yerim for the last time, her eyes going over every single detail of the girl’s growing body. The long, chestnut brown curls of her hair, the usually blushing red cheekbones that were paler than ever, the little freckles on her nose and the bracelet around her wrist which represented their strong family bond. Only two little letters were written on the material; A and E. Anna and Elsa – their childhood nicknames.

She looked at her own bracelet and made an attempt to take it off. She didn’t want Yerim to be connected to her in any way anymore. How could she hurt her little sister? She had no idea how to control herself when was panicked or even slightly anxious and it was only a matter of time someone would get hurt. Joohyun would never ever hurt anyone on purpose, especially not her beloved little sister. She couldn’t risk another outburst. She had to leave her behind. She had to protect her and only by being away from her, could she make sure that she was safe.

First, it seemed that Joohyun wouldn’t be able to get rid of that oh so familiar bracelet that she hadn’t taken off ever since they got the pair of jewellery from their parents. However, as she strained harder, she managed to succeed in a matter of seconds. Then, she put it on the bedside table with trembling hands, still trying to cling onto for a few seconds. But as Yerim suddenly snored louder, she knew she had to go.

She can’t see me. She sighed heavily as the thought nestled into her mind. She glanced at Yerim’s sleeping figure one more time and hurried out of the room as quickly as she could. She didn’t want to imagine Yerim’s heartbroken expression when she finds out that her sister was no longer there with her. Yet, Joohyun tried to reassure herself that it would be the best for both of them if she left.

You are dangerous. You can’t be around people. You need to hide. These words wormed their ways into her thoughts more and more frequently; she wasn’t able to escape from the sneaky voice in her head. It was stronger, louder and more malicious than ever.

Small wonder she trembled like a leaf as she left the hospital, hoping that she would never need to come back. She hated hospitals and everything that was related to hospitals – the horrible smell, the blinding white walls, the lip nibbling of the patients and the unpleasant memories that chained her to the place.

She was wandering around for minutes, not knowing where to go to find solace. How could she find a shelter when she was her own enemy? When she was a ticking time bomb that could explode any minute? How could she remain calm and composed? How, how, how?

In the end, she decided to sit down on an abandoned bench near the Han River. Luckily, nobody was around, she was completely alone for the time being.

Joohyun sighed with relief and watched the crystal-clear water in its usual peace and tranquillity. Gosh, how much she wanted to have her old life back! She wasn’t the happiest person on Earth but she was fond of her ordinary life as a twenty-one-year-old college student. Now, everything was falling apart. Her life changed in a blink of an eye and the glass bead of her old self fell to the ground and scattered into tiny pieces. What was she supposed to do? Was she even able to fix anything? Or should she merely start a new life and accept her destiny? Be ready that worse was still yet to come?

She was so lost in thought that she could barely notice that someone sat down on the bench beside her. She didn’t look sideways but hoped that the stranger would leave soon. She was craving some time alone because she was terrified that she would hurt more people after her own sister. Yerim was in the hospital because she couldn’t control her power and it was the cruellest way to pay a price for having such an ominous ability. Freezing things was supposed to be fun, most people would think this way. However, unleashing powers by accident and striking your little sister in the heart is not fun at all. Joohyun almost died of shame and regret when Yerim collapsed in front of her. Her feelings were totally out of control and the more she was afraid to hurt her, the more pain she had caused.

Suddenly, the stranger got to his feet and Joohyun drew another sigh. Although she thought that he would leave, he started walking back and forth, right in front of her. She noticed that the young man wasn’t wearing shoes and had light clothes despite the chilly weather of an afternoon in November.

“I give up. She can’t see me.” He muttered in a low, manly tone which surprised Joohyun because she imagined a much more gentle and youthful voice to the odd-looking boy. He looked like an innocent teenager with his pale skin, blonde hair and shabby clothes but sounded like a grandpa. Was he dressed up as a character from an anime? Was he going to a roleplay?

Joohyun looked up from her intertwined hands, furrowing her eyebrows in question. She didn’t know if she should speak up or not but there’s no way the boy was talking about anyone else considering that they were the only two people around.

“Are you talking about me?” She inquired indignantly, tilting her head in contemplation.

To her surprise, her question almost scared the hell out of the boy. He visibly bounced a little as he realised that she was talking to him. He seemed to search for the right words to say as he hesitated for some seconds. Though those seconds were more than enough for her to check him out.

He was indeed a young guy, probably around the juvenile age of twenty yet there was something really peculiar about him. At first, Joohyun couldn’t pinpoint what it was, yet she almost facepalmed when she realized the most interesting feature about him. Apart from his bare feet, the most striking thing about this guy was his icy, ocean blue eyes. They were so cold and lifeless, stern like winter itself and deep like the Pacific Ocean. His eyes looked old like they kept hundreds of years of horror and wisdom in them. It was scary. Plus, why was everyone so fond of dying their hair almost-white-blonde these days?

“Look…” The boy started awkwardly as he ran a hand through his messy hair. There was an undoubtedly embarrassing pause after his sudden exclamation. “Me and my friend, Tooth−“ He continued quickly but bit his lower lip as said Tooth’s name out loud.

Joohyun gave him a frowning look, not sure who the hell was he and what on Earth he might have wanted from her. She was certain she had never ever seen anyone like him before. She would have remembered such an odd figure. He was already suspicious looking like a homeless kid, he didn’t have to mention a friend whose name was Tooth to make her regret her choice of striking a conversation with him.

Though the continuation was more than enough for her to make her move.

“So Hayoung and I saw what had happened.” The white-haired guy confessed absent-mindedly, shrugging like he was talking about his grocery list, not the fact that he and another person had seen what Joohyun could do with her unwanted power.

Bang. Saying that she was shocked would have been an understatement. She was thrilled, her heart almost missed a beat. But as soon as she got back to her senses, she jolted up and started running away from the boy as fast as she could. If he was going to hurt her, she could still use her power to stop him. Even though she didn’t exactly know how to control it, the guy probably didn’t know about this little detail.

“Please, let me explain it!” The boy shouted after her as he tried to catch up with her. Unbeknownst to her, he was much faster and appeared exactly in front of the terrified girl a second later. He looked like he was trying to plead but Joohyun had no time for solidarity, nor silly questioning. She needed to get away from him as soon as possible. If he knew something, she was up for no good.

That’s why she turned around right away and started walking in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, the boy was pretty fast, so he was by her side by the next second.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, okay?” She exclaimed furiously, furrowing her eyebrows in a not-so-subtle way. She was already on the edge due to the events a day before, so he wanted nothing else but to hide away from the world and herself. Yet, it seemed that if the accident wasn’t already enough, she also had to deal with a clingy stranger. “You can report it but I’m not going to jail.” She stated fervently, her voice shaking a bit.

The boy looked puzzled for a moment but still maintained the eye-contact, looking like the type who would examine her by looking fiercely into her eyes.

“No, you don’t get it. I’m just trying to help.” He raised his arms defensively, making an attempt to clear the tension in the air. The fierce sparks in his eyes proved that he was speaking the truth yet she couldn’t believe any stranger who witnessed what she was capable of. She knew the situation too well. I’m just trying to help. Sure. But was he even able to help her? Was there anyone out there who could help her?

“Oh yeah, sure.” Joohyun snorted way too mockingly. “By taking me to a mental institute or something like that? Or using me as a weapon for the government? No, thanks!” She grumbled angrily, rolling her eyes at the boy’s intentions.

She already felt the anger boiling up inside her and her heart rushing dull. As she noticed the frustration rushing through her body and uncomfortable chills running down her spine, she stiffly put her hands into her pocket. She didn’t want to strike the boy in the heart, even though he was kind of getting on her nerves. She wouldn’t be able to live with more blood on her hands.

“No, you really don’t−“

“I’m warning you!” She immediately cut him off because there was no use of listening to a weird stranger’s misinterpretation. Maybe that white-haired, icy eyed guy was crazier than ever. “Go away or I’ll use my power to make you!” She blurted out without giving much thought, yet she tried her best to sound as confident as possible.

However, the anime-like guy didn’t seem to take the threat too seriously. He raised one of his eyebrows in question and stated out of the blue:

“You can’t even control it!” He scoffed like he was belittling her power. Joohyun was taken aback by his behaviour. Who was he to talk so casually about something so mysterious and inexplicable? Who was he to know about such things? Was he a specialist in supernatural powers? Was he even aware of the seriousness of the whole situation? Or did he think that it was fun because it was only a game for him? If he attempted to piss her off, he definitely succeeded.

“What makes you think that? Are you a stalker or something?” She grunted at him, trying to scare him away. What if he was just toying with her to see if she was responding the way he wanted?

“Do you really want to know?” He snapped back, nervously massaging his temples. Oh Lord! No, obviously not, that’s why I asked! She glared at him, edgily gritting her teeth. What on Earth could he want from her?

“What? You know what? No, I don’t want to know. Just get lost for God’s sake!” She cried out in horror and was about to break down in front of that weirdo. After all, she was just a twenty-one-year-old girl who had previously discovered that she could freeze things and create icicles and snowflakes with her bare hands. Unfortunately, she couldn’t figure out how to use her powers safely. For starters, she hurt some innocent pedestrians who slipped on the frozen puddles which she had created when she was trying out her unknown abilities. After that, she hurt her own sister because she wasn’t able to control the explosions. It was too much for her at once. It hadn’t been even a week or so that she found out about her ability and she had already caused so much pain.

On top of that, there was that anime-like guy with his constant questioning who was slowly driving her crazy. Half of what he had said didn’t make any sense. Or at least, not to her and she was too tired to make an attempt to understand what he was trying to do with her.

“My name is Min Yoongi but most people know me as Jack Frost.” He announced flatly, looking incredibly bored like he had said the exact same introduction for the hundredth times already. He even yawned in annoyance!

Joohyun couldn’t have been more dumbfounded. Did he really expect to know any Min Yoongi? Let alone a so-called Jack Frost? Was he really going to a MondoCon as she assumed? Was Jack Frost an anime character?

“Well, it does ring a bell but I’m not sure. Are you a famous therapist?” Joohyun guessed with a shrug of her shoulder. That Yoongi guy was more than hurt by her response. He gasped like he was some world famous superstar that she hadn’t heard of. Oh please, she had enough drama to deal with lately, she didn’t need to deal with people like him.

“No.” He shook his head after he got over his sulking. “I’m a Guardian.”

“A what?” She yelped, trying hard not to laugh out loud. Yeah, sure, that boy was a guardian. But a guardian of what? The British Queen? And what was that supposed to do with his offer to help her?

“A Guardian.” He repeated impatiently, pronouncing the world slowly and clearly like he assumed that she was merely too stupid to know the meaning of the word. She rolled her eyes in response. “Along with Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Sandman and Santa Claus. I believe I don’t have to introduce them but I’m the Guardian of Fun and I’m capable of manipulating ice and snow.” He added with a mischievous smile and Joohyun had to realize that this was the first time she saw him smiling. She couldn’t deny there was something far too attractive about the small curves of his lips but when she noticed she was staring at him, she shifted her gaze to the ground instead.

“So… you’re like me?” She whispered coyly instead of making a total idiot out of herself for gazing at him. There was an uncomfortable pause after her sudden question and when that Jack guy finally spoke, his voice came out hoarse.

“Well, we’re still not sure what are you and why do you have the ability to freeze things…” He suddenly stopped, probably not sure what to say but then, he cleared his throat and continued. “But yeah, we’re quite the same. Except that I’m more than 300 years old and exactly know how to control my power.”

Joohyun nearly fainted after the jaw-dropping confession. She had to close her eyes for a second to straighten her thoughts. It was too much for her. It was all too much. She wanted to reassure herself that all he said was a big, fat lie. There was not even a bloody person on Earth who could have been more than 300 years old! It was just too surreal and unbelievable. On the other hand, everything seemed to be possible after she had realised that she was able to freeze things and create snow. That seemed impossible a week before but now she had to come to terms with her newfound power and all its downhills.

“Prove it!” Joohyun spoke up abruptly, wanting to see for herself if he said the truth or lied the whole dawn time. “Show me what you can do!”

The Guardian didn’t seem to mind her request yet he carefully looked left and right before he reached his hand out and pointed at a puddle which slowly froze. If it wasn’t enough of an evidence, he walked one step closer and created tiny snowflakes above Joohyun’s head. She stared at him open-mouthed, not knowing what would be appropriate to say in such a situation. She was ready to confront him if he was bluffing but she wasn’t ready to face him if he told the truth for real.

“O-okay…” She murmured embarrassedly while looking into the boy’s eyes which were full of mischievous playfulness. He enjoyed it, she realised. He was capable of such an ominous thing and he was smiling! How could he to do that? To know that he can hurt others with his power? Still, he remained totally calm and reassuring. His eyes had these bright sparks which looked like little shooting stars hovering on the sky.

“Well, I know it’s a little too much but I’m really trying to help. Once, I was in your shoes and I know it’s not easy.” That Jack guy explained suddenly much more patient than ever, however Joohyun suddenly felt cornered. It was all too much at once. It was all too sudden.

“I don’t need help, guide whatsoever Frost−“ She said ironically, it was her way to defend her. She started building defensive walls around herself, so that no one would get in. After what had happened to Yerim, she knew she shouldn’t get close to anyone. She wanted to persuade herself that she didn’t need help but obviously she did. She was just too afraid and headstrong to admit it.

“Excuse me!” The boy looked puzzled after her sudden change of mind but at the same time he seemed more worked up because of his new nickname. Joohyun knew that she was probably too much but she was more than devastated by the fear that she could hurt him. She didn’t in the least intend to do so even though he was confusing her more than ever. But she really didn’t know how to deal with her power and that’s why she tried to push him away.

“I’m serious. Get lost!” She tried to dismiss him while she ruffled her hair in frustration but immediately put her hands back into her pocket. She was almost pleading because she didn’t want to take more shame and pain.

“You really want to learn the hard way?” The Jack guy looked at her, making his doubt clear. A half-knowing, half-confused look came into his eyes while his voice was full of clumsy fondness.

“You really don’t get it?” Joohyun yelled agitatedly, her voice slightly shaking. She couldn’t hold herself back, not anymore. Everything that happened to her in the previous weeks was weighing down on her and she wanted to shake off those painful memories so badly.

“I’m dangerous, I can hurt you. Well, I don’t want to but I still can. Look what happened to my sister! I didn’t want to hurt her but I freaked out and that thing just came out of my hands and it stroke her in the heart. And now she’s in the emergency room and doctors are still trying to save her life…” She freaked out, her whole body trembling with great fear. The sudden outburst wasn’t intended but under the pressure of the boy’s demanding gaze, she couldn’t help herself. She needed to let it out.

When your biggest enemy is your own mind, it’s hard to fight it. She also wanted to tell those voices in her head to shut up but they wouldn’t listen. So, she wanted to push him away before things get even more out of control.

“I appreciate your effort but it’s for your own sake. Believe me, you don’t want to be by my side.” Joohyun shook her head decisively but Jack looked persistent. He seemed more than confident, hands still tugged into his pockets, looking straight into her eyes.

“It’s up to me whether I would like to be by your side or not.” He declared stiffly and dropped a sigh in insecurity. Joohyun assumed that she scared him enough yet he didn’t show any sign of fear. He didn’t even budge.

The more she stared at him, the more her heart started to thump. She felt the blood running through her veins, the voices in her head screaming even louder and more furiously. Her hands began to shake. She couldn’t take it anymore; the fear overcame her confidence and before she could realise what she was doing, she defensively held her hands up in front of her face and felt the usual energy which came when creating something icy. Oh no!

She shifted her attention to the boy who was holding an icicle in his hands, eyes widened in both surprise and relief. Joohyun brought her hands to her mouth, not sure what to say or do. However, Jack Frost seemed perfectly calm and unharmed, thus he was the first to break the silence.

“You see, I can take care of myself.” He admitted with a smug grin, throwing away the already melting icicle. When their eyes met, his gaze wasn’t resentful, not even a little but her heart wasn’t at peace. Even though she didn’t hurt him this time, she could still have. “Come on! I’ll take you somewhere and teach you how to control your power.” He offered matter-of-factly but he didn’t even show sympathy or care. He was just a boy who tried to help but not even in the least intended to get emotionally closer to her. Well, that’s good for me, right? No emotions, no doubts.

Jack Frost reached his hand out to her and she only hesitated for a moment before she took it. When you think that you’re a monster, you feel that there’s no one whom you can trust. Not even yourself. So how you can trust someone who’s just as distant and cold-hearted as you are?

The answer is pretty easy: you can’t. But you still have to.