#probably will stop after slayer since the group is waiting for one to get leveled up

[pensiveotaku]

Things I did not have on my 2025 bingo card: Getting into OSRS.

[eryiss]

Summary: Freed and Gajeel were total opposites in every way, only connected by the guild. When they were forced to train together under Makarov's orders, they expected antagonism and mistrust. Instead, they were given a lesson in how quickly opposition can turn to attraction. The issue: let the budding relationship simmer away, or let it explode. [Freed x Gajeel Multi-chapter]

Notes: Hello everyone. I’ve been wanting to write something longer for this couple for a while, and this idea seemed quite fun. I hope you all enjoy it and maybe I can convert some of you to living Freed x Gajeel. Happy reading.

Links: FFN, Ao3, Chapter List

Chapter One - Makarov's Idea

As he walked towards the guildhall, Freed kept looking up at the moon.

The nights sky was cloudless and gave him an unhindered view of stars and the moon. It was a beautiful sight, but made him frown a little. The moon was large and nearly in its fullest state, a concern for the time of year. It had been some time since the full moon had coincided with the longest day of the year, and it seemed like it was going to happen again this year. The brimstone in his blood seemed to fizz at the idea, and he quickly looked away.

At his side, Laxus bumped his shoulder to get his attention. His frown told Freed that the dragon-Slayer had seen his concern, and he smiled to comfort the man.

"Nothing to concern yourself about," Freed assured him. "I've got it under control."

"Make sure you do," Laxus instructed. "No missions until it's over, right?"

"Of course," Freed nodded.

Laxus seemed to think the matter settled at that, but Freed wasn't so sure. The entirety of the guild - or at least those not already on missions - had been called to the guildhall that night. Makarov hadn't explained why he wanted everyone present, but it was entirely possible that they would all be dragged away on a mission and that Freed would be forced to act as if everything was normal. So promising that he wouldn't go on any missions was more wishful thinking than anything else.

Still, if he did have to go on a mission, he could handle it. Six years ago, it had taken him by surprise. Not this time.

"Let's take bets," Bickslow, unaware of the hushed conversation, stated mischievously. "Fifty-fifty odds of it being either a world ending disaster we have to deal with, or some weird competition so he can perv on the gals again."

Laxus winced at the second option, but didn't deny it.

"It better not be the second one," Evergreen huffed. "But knowing him, it probably will be. So I'll put five hundred jewels on that."

"Nah, it's been too long since we all nearly died," Bickslow shrugged. "Five hundred on the world ending. You two sticks in the mud gonna get involved?"

Freed had stopped listening to their conversation moments before, and found his worries back on the sky. The full moon had been scheduled in exactly one week, and it meant trouble for him. He should be making preparations in case he lost control of himself; this was all a distraction. He should leave town, just in case.

His team looked at him in concern, but remained quiet.

As they approached the doors, Freed's mind remained preoccupied. A hand clasped onto his shoulder and jerked him back, and he realised it was Laxus. He frowned, only then realising he had nearly walked into Gajeel Redfox. The dragon-slayer glared at him, arms crossed to highlight his biceps. He didn't have much else than his physical strength, Freed supposed, so he had to show it off.

"Idiot," Gajeel spat at Freed, and Freed nearly scoffed at the hypocrisy of the word. If either of them was an idiot, it was not Freed.

Gajeel was walking into the hall before Freed could retort.

"God, who put a stick up his ass?" Laxus muttered as he shook his head. He looked down to Freed again, looking worried. Perhaps he hadn't believed Freed's assurances as Freed had hoped. "You need to go back? He ain't taking over yet, right?"

"No, I was distracted, that's all," Freed assured him, but none of his team looked happy. "I'm in control of myself. But I've got plans on how to approach the demon should I need them."

"Can we help?" Evergreen asked.

"I'll ask if I need it, but I don't suspect it'll happen," Freed placated them. They were still unconvinced. "You needn't coddle me, I'm fine. Particularly when there's apparently a fifty-fifty chance that the word is ending. Though, I'm putting five hundred jewels on the competition."

Apparently, the mention of gambling, broke the ice.

When they got inside the guildhall, it was more crowded than normal. All the tables on the lower level had been taken, and as such they were forced to climb to the S-Class balcony and sit there. None of them particularly minded that, and they waited for a short while for the rest of their guild mates to file in and settle, drinking and talking as they did so.

Eventually, Makarov walked onto the stage and stood before the crowd of wizards. After a few shouts for them to be quiet, the room fell into silence.

"Thank you all for coming," He began after clearing his throat. "I'm sure you're all wondering why we're here."

"For you to creep on us," Ever mumbled, and Bickslow snickered.

"Fairy Tail is a guild with its bedrock founded on the principles of friendship. We work so well because we work together. Whereas other guilds maybe have one or two teams, we have many," Makarov explained, gesticulating as he spoke. "It makes me so proud that you've forged these relationships and implemented them into your working lives. Your friendship and love allows you to work together to fight harder and become stronger, side by side as friends. I'm immensely proud of you all, but as of late I've noticed a problem with your work."

He paused, and Freed rolled his eyes. Everything was so dramatic with him.

"While you're very good at working with your own teams, you sometimes struggle working with the guild members you're unfamiliar with," Makarov continued, as if this statement were a tragedy. "And sometimes your teams won't be available, and I don't want you not taking group jobs because your regular team isn't around."

"Starting to think I bet on the wrong side," Bickslow grumbled, taking a drink.

Freed found himself only half listening. Whenever Makarov made an announcement there would be a lot of preamble that Freed didn't particularly care to listen to; not when he had bigger problems to deal with.

Perhaps, if his demon did become more powerful under the moon, he could rune himself into a cage of sorts. That might work, though perhaps physical manacles and shackles might be more practice. His team would be able to help with that, most likely. They wouldn't be happy about it, but Laxus had seen first hand what could happen when the demon was allowed to take over without restraint. He would understand.

No. He was worrying for nothing. The demon was under control now. Besides, he should be listening to his guildmaster.

"So, to broaden your opportunities, I've come up with an idea," Makarov grinned. "For the next week, you'll be split into pairs that you don't normally work with, and you'll spend all of that time training together. These partnerships will be random, and by the end of the week you'll be fighting side by side in a tournament to prove how well you can work together."

Hm, maybe a distraction would work better than restraints. Makarov's idea was flawed to the point of pointlessness, but a week of training might wear his body out to the point his demon wouldn't have the energy to take over.

"And, I'm sure you're all thinking why you should care about this, so there's a prize set up for the team who wins," Makarov was grinning wider now. "Fifty thousand jewels!"

That sent a rush of excitement and talking through the guild. Freed found himself wondering where the money actually came from.

"That's not all. The fights will be ranked on teamwork, cohesion and communication, and at the end of each fight you'll get points based on how well you did," Makarov was running his hands together. "And the team with the least points will have to do a punishment, and the winners decide what it is!"

"Goddamnit," Bickslow mumbled, handing money to Evergreen. "Always about punishments with him."

"If you knew that, then you should have bet smarter," Evergreen laughed.

Freed ignored his friends, leaning back and watching as Mirajane brought out a large, ridiculous top-hat. It wasn't difficult to guess that this was how Makarov intended to randomly choose the teams; pick them out of a hat. Maybe Laxus was right and his grandfather was turning mad, but he seemed to be enjoying himself so Freed had no place to complain.

He would simply drink his beer, watch the chaos unfold, and use the oncoming disaster as a distraction.

——

Gajeel swallowed down his beer with a scowl on his face. When Makarov had called this meeting, he had known that whatever the old crow had to say, it would piss him off. When Makarov had made his announcement, Gajeel had been proven right.

A whole week with some random wizard seemed pointless. Gajeel worked alone, and only teamed up with people when needed. This wasn't going to work.

Fuck, it was such a waste of time! He could be doing jobs and earning his rent instead of fucking around with a stranger, trying to embrace Makarov's ridiculous mantra about the importance of friendship. Or if he wasn't making money, then he would have at least liked to relax and take some time to rest. He didn't want to make a new friend, he wanted to eat, sleep and maybe find a guy to take to bed. None of that would happen with some Fairy Tail mage hanging around his neck.

"Our first team is," Makarov began as he rummaged through the stupid hat he'd had made. "Juvia and Natsu!"

Dammit! Juvia was one of the few people he could have tolerated. The other was the bookworm, and Makarov would probably say them working together wasn't in the spirit of things.

Still. At least the salamander had to work with someone who extinguished his fire. That was funny.

"Kickass!" Natsu yelled into the crowd, standing up and pumping his fist in the air because he lacked self control. "We're gonna dominate!"

They wouldn't.

"If you'd like to meet up and discuss your plans then now's the time," Makarov stated, and Natsu was making his way to Juvia immediately. "And now it's time for the next team up," He reached into the hat again. "It's Evergreen and Lucy."

No loss there. Maybe he and blondie could have been okay, but Gajeel wasn't pissed the chance was gone.

Lucy looked up toward the balcony and waved at Evergreen a little intimidated. Evergreen looked resigned, but after some nudging from Bickslow, made her way down the stairs and started to talk to the woman. Gajeel absentmindedly wondered if the two had ever had a conversation, because they looked awkward around each other; painfully so.

Fuck, that was going to be him, wasnt it?

Maybe he could convince whoever he was paired up with to lie and say they trained when they just spend the week alone. But then there was the tournament, and the threat of some random punishment, and Gajeel had already been humiliated after losing the guild-wide race and having to dress like an idiot; it wasn't happening again if he could help it.

"Next up," Makarov reached into the hat again. "Bickslow and Gray."

"Fuck yeah, some eye candy at last!" Bickslow yelled, and people laughed. Gajeel rolled his eyes, watching as Bickslow leant over the banister and looked towards his teammate. "Wanna make a deal, every time you strip, I strip."

Gajeel could see Gray avert his gaze as if bored, but he was red in the cheeks. They were even redder when Bickslow tossed his shirt towards him, both men now partially stripped.

Well, at least he wasn't with that idiot. The two of them would be a mess.

Many other teams were announced, and Gajeel found himself more and more annoyed each time. The partnerships made no sense, most of the time their magics wouldn't compliment each other, and Gajeel knew that it would end in disaster. At best, half of the partnerships might end up having a fight with each other, and at worst people would get hurt because they just didn't work. How the hell did Makarov think this was going to work out?

Maybe Gajeel should have slunk out and not attended the meeting. He was running out of money for rent, and his landlord was a bastard just waiting to kick him out, so it made sense for him to get a job. Maybe if he left now he could avoid it altogether.

"And next we've got Gajeel," Makarov shouted, and Gajeel cursed. "And Freed."

Oh fuck no. Absolutely fucking not!

Gajeel was not working with that stuck up prick. A guy like that had clearly never worked a day in his life, probably grew up in a fancy ass house and only got into guild work because it was a trend to slum it with the other wizards. Everything about Freed - holier than thou - Justine screamed pampered brat. He would probably throw a fit if he got dirt under his fingernails. He was the damn opposite of a man like Gajeel, and he knew he'd struggle not to murder the spoiled shit before the week was over.

Could he even defend himself? He had magic, but as far as Gajeel knew, that only worked when he had time to prepare. Hardly practical in the heat of battle, and what would he do without it? He wouldn't have the balls to use his sword as a weapon, Gajeel was pretty sure of that, and he looked like a gust of wind could take him out.

Fucking dammit. The salamander was better than this!

He damn near walked out of the guildhall then and there, because he couldn't deal with an egomaniac freak for a week. But, as he went to move, he saw the egomaniac freak walking towards him, and he was not going to allow Freed to think he was running away. He turned in his chair to meet the man's gaze but didn't make a move towards him. Freed could come to him, not the other way around.

Soon, Freed was in his space, standing above him. His expression was as unimpressed with the situation as Gajeel felt. At least they could agree on one thing.

He looked up to meet the mans gaze. Freed was… taller than he thought.

"I think it's fair to assume neither of us want to do this," Freed said rather than greeting him. Gajeel was right, he was a dick. "And I expect that the way I train myself won't be the same way you do, so likely there's a chance we'll come to blows, so I have a proposition."

Huh, maybe Freed was gonna suggest they lie and only pretend to train together. Gajeel would agree, but make Freed squirm first. "Yeah?"

"If we went somewhere and tried to train how we both normally do, it would be an act of futility," Freed explained. "We have six days to work together. I propose that for the first three days we train however I wish, and you follow my instructions. For the latter three days, we train however you wish and I will follow your instructions. That way, we both get three days of training ourselves in a way we know works, and the week won't be a waste of time entirely."

Huh.

That wasn't what Gajeel had thought, but he could deal with it. He had to admit, trying to find a way that would work for them both would not work, so this meant he'd at least have three days to improve himself.

"Fine," He grunted. "But I wanna go first. You're gonna drag me to some library or something like that, and that's a waste of time. Might as well make it a rest day after some actual working out."

Freed sighed, as if dealing with a child, and Gajeel nearly kicked him in the balls. "If you insist,"

"I do."

"Well then, I'll see you on Monday."

"Guess ya will."

That was it, and Freed turned to go back to his table. Gajeel emptied his drink, then grinned. Three days where the asshole had to do as he said; that was interesting. Freed probably spent his life being pampered and spoiled, but not with Gajeel. Nah, he was gonna work. Gajeel was gonna put Freed through hell and love every damn second of it.

[skvaderarts]

Hiraeth Chapter 14: Affirmation

Masterlist can be found Here!

Chapter Fourteen: Affirmation

Note: Sorry this chapter is a few hours late! I live in that part of Texas where all the bullshit is going on with the power. Woke up the morning to a $50 electric bill FOR ONE NIGHT. My apartment is only 1100 square feet. The bill was $12 the day before that. Let that one sink in. But anyway, this is one of my favorite chapters so far! Very exciting stuff! I hope you like it! 

-~-

A gifted storyteller is capable of drawing their audience in. They are adept at holding a certain level of intrigue and suspense, forcing their audience to pay attention, lest they miss something crucial and ruin the experience for themselves. An inexperienced or lesser storyteller bored their audience or drove them away, serving as nothing more than a momentary distraction from the usual pace of their everyday lives. But under this very specific set of circumstances, no one present was sure where to place the experience they’d just suffered through. 

Each of them felt a great sense of conflict deep within themselves as they considered each and every word that they’d just heard. It was a strange and unsettling course of action, one that made them desire to do nothing more than curl up and withdraw from the subject at hand. They believed every word that they’d just heard, but they couldn’t tell if that was a good or a bad thing, especially when it came to the subject of the story that they had just been told. The fact that he was both the narrator and the main focus of the experience meant that it was entirely believable, but completely unfathomable, like a destiny nightmare that none of them wanted to look in the face. That would make it too real; give it too much power over them. But regardless of their stance on the matter, it had happened, and it did affect all of them to some varying degree.

V had always possessed a certain gift for speech, despite the fact that he wasn’t a man of many words. His tone, cantor, and temperament combined with a keen intellect and a nearly flawless combination of memory and repertoire meant that he was perhaps the most engaging person that they currently knew to talk to. But that entire combination became the absolute worst thing that someone could experience the moment that V decided that he needed to get the traumas of his past off of his chest and into the open air. After all, V was exceptionally strong-willed in regards to his emotions. When something affected him deeply, it tended to be negative, and it was almost certainly beyond the scope of what any of them wanted to know about. But if he was willing to give them a glimpse into his world, then they wanted to take the opportunity to peer inside and take in every bit of information that they could.

None of them really knew what to say when he seemed to reach the end of his horrifying tale of sadness and pain. Every word that he’d spoken had carried such a strong hint of anguish, terror, or apprehension that it made it physically unnerving to listen to, but as much as they now wished that they could take back the experience, they were grateful that he’d decided to share it with them. It put a lot of things into context that none of them had been able to understand before, and despite the fact that certain aspects of his life would now haunt them for the rest of time, they felt better for knowing them.

Was it possible to be grateful to someone for telling you something that you’d have been happy going your entire life without knowing? Because if it was, then they were. But if they weren’t, then would that make them too immature to comprehend the suffering of someone so near and dear to them? Was it selfish to desire ignorance while assuming that they were strong and powerful and possessed the necessary strength and tenacity to recon with such an experience, but simply chose not to in order to spare themselves the suffering that one who deemed himself weaker than them had already survived? Was that entire line of thinking too philosophical for a matter that was both so very complicated but oh so simple? None of them could say anything at the moment, so they didn’t say anything. They simply waited to be sure that V was either done talking, or that he was waiting for them to say something, anything to break up the tense silence that had settled across the snow like a blanket soaked in glue.

And after a while of waiting in silence, totally unsure as to what to do next, Vergil decided to break the silence between them. He’d never been one to follow the lead of others, and he sure wasn’t going to start now. And as far as the concept of taking the time to feel the weight of his words upon those who he’d directed them towards, he didn’t feel he had the time to waste. A direct approach was required in a situation like this, especially when there were so many questions that had been raised during his time speaking that could dissipate from his psyche like so much fog after a storm as a result of his prolonged wait. He had felt an intense desire to not interrupt V, owning to the fact that he feared that if he was stopped, he would love his nerve and decide that he didn’t’ wish to speak on such matters after all. But now that he was at least somewhat sure that his eldest son was done talking for the time being, he was ready to start asking questions. Best to catch him before his threshold for conversation was exceeded and he shut down like an engine in disrepair.

“...You said that you desired to pick a random direction and leave. Why?” Vergil adjusted his posture in his seat, his head coming to rest against his palm as his elbow planted itself firmly in the arm of the chair and the devil slayer in blue crossed his legs. It was all that he could do for the time being to placate the murderous rage that he felt brewing in the very back of his subconscious. Never had he desired to end the lives of so many people that he’d never met before. “And for that matter, where did your travels take you after that? Was the end result desirable?”

The young while haired summoner in black afforded himself a moment to ponder his father’s question before responding, unsure as to what to say. On its surface, it was a simple enough question. Vergil had no way of knowing how deep the answer had the potential of going. And it was a good question at that. It seemed that his father desired to simply take what had happened as an unwavering fact and build off of that, taking the time to let his mind settle before venturing forward. He believed him and didn’t seem to desire to question his motivations for doing anything that he’d done, respecting his capacity to make his own decisions. Or maybe even respecting the decisions themselves. He couldn’t be sure just yet. But there was a part of V that couldn’t help but wonder what Vergil might do with the information afforded to him now that he had so much time on his hands.

“It was something that I was accustomed to by that point. Something familiar when nothing else was. I’d spend the better part of my youth going back and forth to new and unknown places in the hope of a better outcome. But I learned quickly that while many things changed as you went from place to place, people largely stayed the same. And the problems that came with them only reset to start anew.” V grew silent, his eyes wandering across the room towards Nero. He sat quietly on the couch towards the right corner, twiddling his thumbs in complacent horror as though what he’d just heard had probably changed him in some profound way, or at had at least his perception of his older sibling in a substantial way. It was a stark contrast to Dante, whose uncharacteristic silence, thoughtful posture, and calm atmosphere mirrored his older twin’s in a way that was as fascinating as it was unsettling. V didn’t know what to make of it. “As for the end result of this particular expedition… well, it led me directly to you. It took a few years, but the result was worthwhile, I think. I was lucky enough to be taken under the wing of a group of outcasts, and I spent a substantial amount of time traveling and performing with them, only to end up in Redgrave City the night that you happened upon me. I was out for a walk when we happened upon one another on that street corner, and everything that has happened since has been nothing short of extraordinary. And harrowing. Especially that.”

The Darkslayer tilted his head to the side, leaning back slightly. “I take it that you do not remember much of what occurred that night, then. Perhaps that is for the best. The end result was, as we all seem to agree, undesirable. Though it was never my intention for my actions to lead to the consequences that they did, they did so regardless.” He seemed to consider his next statement for a moment before speaking, V’s retelling of his farrowing ordeal weighing on him in a way that he was not accustomed to. Oh, how things would have been different should he have been there. How the tables could have turned in their favor. But despite his best intentions, Vergil was more than aware of the fact that there was little that could be done about what’s he’d missed in his past. There was, however, a substantial amount that he could, and would do now. “Saddling you with a death sentence as soon as I discovered that you were alive after all was as far afield from what I intended as it could possibly be, but it happened anyway. Things never seem to go according to my plans. But I can only imagine that that may be due to my pension for creating them without taking every variable into account, and for not having all of the relevant information in the first place.”

Dante felt tempted to point out that Vergil had essentially just apologized to V, but he decided to leave the matter be. There would be time enough later. For now, he was going to take in the scene before him and silently contemplate his overall role in the situation. Though to say that the same part of him that felt somewhat responsible for Nero’s suffering as a child didn’t yearn to have been able to do something more for V would be a lie. Financially unstable as he was and always had been, he would have taken them both in without a second’s pause if given the opportunity. They would have all benefited greatly from having someone, anyone to call family. At least biologically.

V seemed to take his father’s words to heart. He’d been in situations of his own that lent themselves to the same vicious pattern of failure, regret, and sacrifice. It was what had led him to become the person that he now was. But he didn’t know Vergil’d particular brand of suffering, and he hoped that he never would. Although he could be mistaken, he was willing to believe that there was a part of Vergil that did in fact long for the time in their lives that he’s missed out on. The Darkslayer didn’t come off to him as the kind of person to willingly walk away from something so integral to him. Maybe it was time to get to the heart of the matter. After all, things couldn’t really get any more uncomfortable, could they?

“The vast majority of us do not plan for or wish for the consequences of our actions to play out in the way that they do, father, but that does not change the fact that we must account for them, accommodate them, and answer for them regardless of our desire to do so.” V crossed his arms loosely, making eye contact with Vergil in a way that unnerved both him and everyone else present. Something had shifted in V’s demeanor, and it was evident to anyone who spared a look at him. It was as if a certain level of inhibition had fallen away from him and he felt the freedom to say something that he’d always wanted to; the confidence to be heard and understood. “If I could have planned out every little detail of my life, it would have played out significantly different. I would not have spent my youth bounced back and forth between numerous orphanages. I would never have voluntarily chosen to be able to see the things that I was able to see. And I most certainly wouldn’t have undergone the extensive and invasive mental evaluations that I was forced to undergo out of the fear that I might actually be as insane as everyone around me seemed to collectively assume I was. But unfortunately, that is now how things went. But I can say for sure that I am done running from them. Whether I face them down or flee for my life, I will still have to do battle with them, so I might as well face my fate on my own terms.”

Nero and Dante gave one another a surprised look, the eldest of the two shaking his head as if he were physically trying to shake off how surprised he was. His eyes widened slightly as his eyebrows raised, seemingly taken by surprise as he lingered on the gravity of what V had just said to his father. As far as V’s normally sedate and polite tone and manner of speaking went, he’s essentially just put Vergil in his place and given him a piece of his mind, and the eldest Son of Sparda hadn’t said anything to correct him. Perhaps he was just impressed with the nerve he’d just demonstrated? Or perhaps it was something more substantial? It was hard to say when it came to his older twin.

Vergil leaned forward, giving V an unflinching piercing look as he seemed to dwell on his words. He half expected V to flinch or turn away, but he didn’t, and there was a part of him that was admittedly genuinely impressed by his eldest son’s sudden shift in tone. Something had seemingly clicked for him that hadn’t before, and it was evident for anyone present to see. For lack of a better way of putting it, after recalling such a harrowing experience, V just seemed utterly done with being at the mercy of his enemies, and it was time that he did something about that.

But there more to his statement than that, at least from where Vergil stood. V had just done something that he was confident that his son had never done before. He’d addressed him as just that: his father. In all the time that they’d spoken prior to that moment, V had been, for the most part at least, nothing but polite and upfront with him, but he’d never said anything that indicated to him that he was willing to verbally claim him as his father. And at that moment, he’d finally done so. Vergil hadn’t realized how much he needed one of his children to do that in a sincere way. Nero had called him as much before, but this was different in some way. There was no anger behind the abjection; no ulterior motive or thinly veiled layer of something secondary. No, it was just as simple as that. As simple as a son addressing his father as exactly that in a moment that told him that he was indeed making some headway with his sons. And as far as Vergil was concerned, he didn’t think that it was possible for him to be more internally pleased about that revelation than he already was. And although he hid it well, there was a part of him that was deeply touched by something that simple. For the first time in a long time, Vergil didn’t know how to take a statement that had been given to him at face value, and it was an incredible thing to behold.

“You have something you want to ask, don’t you? I can tell. Come out with it then. You’ve come this far in regards to expressing your desires. Why stop now? What is it that you truly wish to ask me? Because I can tell that there is indeed something that you desire to make known, and we only have so much time.” Vergil broke eye contact with V for a moment to turn his attention to Dante, his intention to speak with both of them clear. It seemed that his message was something universal between the four of them, a topic that none of them wished to approach, but were going to have to at some point. “It could be substantially less world-ending than you might imagine. Take it from someone who is less… adept at doing so when it actually counts.”

Dante didn’t miss his identical twin’s message. Neither did Nero or V for that matter. Though they were all equally taken aback by it, they were willing to absorb the context of it and accept that there was some truth to it. They did in fact all need to find a way to express their true thoughts and intentions more clearly with one another than they had been, regardless of the strides they’d made so far in regards to improving their communication with one another. Going forward, this was their chance to do something meaningful. They needed to seize it.

V looked at Vergil for a moment, his posture and overall demeanor softening significantly as he suddenly looked tired. It was different from how he usually seemed when he was in such a state, more emotional than physical. Talking about what occurred had drained him in a way that he was not accustomed to, and it showed, but he knew better than to simply give in and allow his inhibitions to get the better of him. Maybe he should just ask as his father had suggested? At this point, what could it hurt?

“I want to know why you didn’t know I was alive. And I want to know why I’m able to see the things that I can see. I’m willing to believe that it is… abnormal for a child to be able to do what I was able to do, even by the standards of our family.” V went quiet for a moment, blinking rapidly for a moment as he suddenly felt a rush of emotion that he couldn’t’ quiet place. “And I want to know if you would have come looking for us if you had known. What you would have done.”

The demon slayer in blue’s posture changed slightly. It was something that Dante picked up on more than the rest of them did, something that Vergil didn’t generally do. Even under the most extreme circumstances, Vergil never slumped, not even a little. Or at least, he’d never seen his twin brother do so. It was almost unnatural how such a small thing unnerved him. A quick look in Nero’s direction was all it took to see that he was watching the situation intently, seemingly invested in Vergil’s answer. Dante repressed the urge to sigh in discomfort. The stakes were high this time.

“Please. Don’t’ say something you’d normally say for once, Vergil. Just this once. This really isn’t the time to do that to them. Put them down gently if you have to. I don’t think that they are in the mood for that right now. Even if it’s the honest truth.”

Much to his surprise, Vergil looked over at him for a moment. It was as though Vergil had heard his younger twin’s thoughts. While his facial expression was largely unreadable, they both seemed to know at that moment what Vergil was going to say, it made them equally uncomfortable. Vergil, because he knew the truth, and Dante because he was almost certain that he didn’t want to. Nothing in the blue devil’s life was ever simple or good in that kind of way, and something told him that there would be repercussions for this one.

“Bold of you to assume that I didn’t look for you, V. I did. For countless hours in countless places until every just started to blend together into an amalgamation of all the ground I’d already tread before then. During the pursuit of what I’d lost, hopelessness set in and brought the bitterness that I’ve carried with me for so long with it.” Vergil paused for a moment, his eyes drifting over to Nero. This was not the kind of conversation that he could leave his youngest son out of, no matter how much he wanted to. There was no delicate way to put what he needed to say. All he could do was hope that they took it the way he meant it, and not in the way that they were entitled to. But that was their prerogative and their privilege, if one could even call it that. “And then somehow I looked up and I was in Fortuna. And I met her. And then I arrived in Redgrave City a lifetime later only to find that perhaps the only time I truly allowed my grief to consume me that the very person who had sought to comfort me in such a state had been left in a truly regrettable state as a result. And so had the result of our one fleeting night of passion.”

Vergil realized quickly that neither V nor Nero were truly able to take in the severity of what Vergil had just implied, or the fact that he’d been so open and honest with them about something he had tried so hard to keep buried deep within himself. A heavy sigh betrayed his true emotions, as did the sad, sly smirk that ghosted his face for the fleeting moment that he’d been unable to contain it. 

“I find it almost genuinely ironic that I managed to get myself into this situation twice without realizing it. I never considered myself unintelligent, by my actions certainly lend to that conclusion. Much as the horror of my existence has led to the trauma and pain that paved the dark path that I walked in solitude for the majority of my life, the regret I have caused and have left behind has been all that I have left in my wake.” He faced them all, accustomed to even attempting what he was doing at that moment. Vergil wasn’t entirely sure he recognized the actions that he was taking as his own, but he accepted the reality and the truth behind them nonetheless. This was long overdue, even if it was something that he truly didn’t know how to reckon with. But V’s words about the reality of taking responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions had resonated with him, and he could no longer deny that. “It is almost humbling how much I truly regret the depth of the suffering I’ve caused, and for that… I am sorry. There is more that I could have done that I did not, and I can only hope that it brings you some small measure of satisfaction knowing that it will eternally haunt me.”

For the first time in what felt like ages, Nero shook his head, a troubled look on his face. He couldn’t even begin to put into words how Vergil’s confession affected him, but he still felt the need to get something off of his chest. He had a lot of questions, but he knew he’d get to the root of them eventually. For now, he needed to say something that he now realized he’d needed to say for a long time, and he just hoped that it wasn’t too late. The things he’d experienced that day had affected him deeply in ways that he could never have imagined when they’d boarded the train to Lucia’s house. It was enough to physically give him whiplash.

“No, that doesn’t bring us satisfaction. Were not sadists. I mean, you might be but… More suffering isn’t going to bring any of us that. I’m pretty sure we’re all tapped out by now.” The short white-haired devil hunter sighed, unsure as to how to take the number of eyes that were on him at that moment. He wasn’t shy, but that didn’t make this any less awkward. It seemed that he wasn’t the only one accustomed to him being this serious. “Look just… fix it, okay? We both know you can. All of us do. You just fucking suck at forgiving yourself for literally anything you do, and it really shows. Stop kicking your own ass so hard, and start fixing the shit you broke in the first place. That’s our job. Nothing’s gonna change otherwise, ya know?”

Both V and Dante looked Nero up and down for a moment as though he’d been replaced by another individual that they didn’t recognize. While they shared his sentiments, they were still shocked to hear Nero be the voice of reason among them during such a heavy conversation. Maybe they had written him off too soon as a lost cause in that regard. Vergil nodded in agreement, a single barely noticeable gesture that carried a weight that he himself wasn’t entirely privy to. He would try as he had done with everything else that he had committed himself to in the past. It was all he could do. And he could only hope that it would be enough.

Just as they were attempting to figure out where they needed to go from there, the door swung open with a surprising amount of force to reveal none other than Nico. She was covered in a grey substance that looked like dust or ash, and a look of both shock and excitement adorned her face. She was practically jumping up and down in glee at whatever she’d just seen that had led to her returning so suddenly. The four of them shared an apprehensive look before turning to see what had captivated her in such an intense manner.

“Oh, for fucks sake! What the hell did you do this time, Nico?! We don’t live here!” Nero started before Nico hushed him, pointing over her shoulder towards something out of sight behind her. A resounding boom that carried both a strange sonic tone and a defining shake followed closely behind as if he’d triggered it just by willing it into existence. Now she had their attention. How had they not noticed that something more was going on? Had they been that focused on V’s retelling of his tragic and harrowing ordeal?

“Listen here, shit for brains. That is why I’m here.” She turned back towards the open door, gesturing for the four of them to follow her. “Get off your buts, grab your weapons, and follow me. You’ve got to see this!”

The baffled descendants of the Dark Knight Sparda all looked at one another before silently objecting in some way shape or form and then obliging her. At the very least, they needed to see what she was talking about. And by the sounds of that boom, it sure as hell was something. One could only hope that it was worth their time. And Nico rarely disappointed them.

-~-

Phew! That was an awful lot, wasn’t it! I like these long chapters though. And I especially like writing them after I have to deal with stupid stuff. Serves as a great distraction from the reality of the fact that I still live in this capitalistic hellhole. But that’s neither here nor there. I hope to see you in the comics! And as always, I hope you had a good day! I’ve had a few people use the form already, but I’d love it if you went and checked it out! I’ve compiled quite the list! See you in the comment section! Bye-bye!

[yoon-kooks]

Witch Hazel- Pt.3

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: FanficWriter!Jungkook, Idol!Reader, College!AU, Angst, Fluff

Summary: There are two students in your art class with a secret: you and the quiet Jeon Jungkook. You’re a problematic idol singer, infamous for your ice cold reputation and perpetual resting bitch face; he’s the artist and author behind the viral comic series based on a certain ice queen idol. After a blowup of destructive rumors, lost motivation and inevitable solitude, you stumble upon Jungkook’s comic and find a new and unexpected light.

Word Count: 2.7k

Parts: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // ?

A/N: i made an unintentional dragon ball z reference at the end of the previous chapter, and now this chapter is loaded with anime references LMAO dont worry if you arent familiar with dbz or sailor moon though!💖

As you approach the entrance to the mall, you have but one wish: Taehyung better show up before Jungkook. Not because you prefer Taehyung, but because you’re terrible at handling small talk and conversation—especially with a timid introvert like Jungkook. You’d rather leave it up to talkative Taehyung to prevent any awkward silences.

Unfortunately for you, however, your wish is not granted. Instead, you spot a bespectacled boy in a bucket hat and white shirt (not a hoodie for once!) sitting on a bench and taking pictures on his phone right outside of the mall. He doesn’t seem to notice you until he looks up from his phone and you’re standing right there with a tiny wave hello. Flustered, he adjusts his glasses and waves back, but that’s the extent of your greetings to one another.

So for the longest thirteen minutes of your life, a huge gap of nothingness sits between you and Jungkook on a wooden bench outside of the mall, waiting for Taehyung to show up. The boy resumes taking photos of the blue sky and the mall itself. You don’t get what’s so photo-worthy about an ordinary sky and the generic architecture of the mall. But then again, this is a boy who also probably has 256GB of storage space dedicated to pictures of his favorite idol (one of which is his lockscreen)—and you certainly don’t understand the appeal of Snow. Therefore, you do not bother asking the boy about his reasons for wasting storage space on certain photos. You wouldn’t understand anyway.

And since Jungkook is too busy using his phone for photos at one end of the bench, you decide to use your phone to text the missing boy from the opposite end of the bench.

10:13AM Y/N “Taehyung, it’s past 10. Where are you??”

10:14AM Taehyung “On my way baby. And don’t worry, I promise I’ll make it worth the wait 😉”

As both a desired and disliked idol, you’ve been called a lot of things: beauty, bitch, babe, ice queen, slut, witch. And you’ve put up with it because you feel like, to some degree, you brought it upon yourself. But you’re wondering what you did to deserve a “baby” from Taehyung. Because the last thing you want is for someone who’s kind-of-not-really your friend to make any sort of romantic advances on you when they know nothing about you.  

10:15AM Y/N “Who are you calling baby.”

10:16AM Taehyung “?”

10:17AM Taehyung “But you were fine with it the other night 🍆💦”

10:18AM Jungkook “monkaS”

10:19AM Taehyung “Wait”

10:19AM Y/N “What’s a monkas”

10:20AM Taehyung “Oops wrong chat LOL”

10:21AM Taehyung “Anyway I already told you guys yesterday that I wasn’t coming to the group project thing. I’m busy.”

He sends a screenshot of the group chat where he very clearly had said he wasn’t free. You must’ve missed that text somehow—a fatal mistake on your end because now you’re alone at the mall with Jungkook and it’s damn near impossible to talk to that kid when you can’t even relate to him. At least Taehyung could’ve broken the ice, but of course he’s too busy getting laid.

10:22AM Y/N “Can’t you fuck around later?”

10:23AM Jungkook “poggers”

10:24AM Y/N “What’s a poggers”

10:24AM Taehyung “Sorry I need at least 2 business days to cancel or change an appointment. I’m a man of my word, not a monster ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”

10:25AM Taehyung “But have fun on your date without me~”

10:26AM Jungkook “it’s not a date”

10:26AM Y/N “It’s not a date.”

At least you and Jungkook can both agree that it isn’t a date. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re stuck hanging out with him for a few hours to “get to know each other” for your stupid art project. How are you even supposed to get to know the boy when there’s nothing to talk about?

“What’s a monkas and poggers?” you ask, because your antisocial mind can’t think of anything else to say once the spam of text messages ends.

“Oh that…” Jungkook looks back down at his phone, scrolling through the text conversation to track down his cryptic messages. “It just means like oh my god and stuff.”

“In what language?” you attempt to keep the small talk going. But from the look of Jungkook’s shifty eyes, it seems you’ve probed too far.

“Gaming... language…”

“Oh.” As far as you can tell by his brief responses, the boy would rather not elaborate further. So you let the conversation die.

Instead, the two of you begin wandering around the mall, hoping it’ll spark any sort of conversation. Of course it doesn’t.

At least not initially.

For exactly 16 minutes (you would know because you’d been checking your phone every other minute as if time would pass any faster that way), you and Jungkook aimlessly walk around the mall without saying a word. And it isn’t until a new shop fills Jungkook’s eyes with sparkles that you spot an opportunity to make something happen.

The shop window is decorated with the cutest recognizable characters: Pikachu, Totoro, Naruto, Sailor Moon, and all their friends. The boy appears to have his eye on the green dragon summoned from seven Dragon Balls. He doesn’t say anything, but it’s obvious he’s interested.

Knowing him, he’d say no if you asked him if he wanted to go inside, in fear of being a burden and wasting your time. So you find a loop hole.

“Let’s go in here,” you say. He nods, obediently following you in but keeping a safe distance. While he’d say no to his own desires, he has a hard time saying no to what everyone else wants. Sounds familiar.

The first thing you see when you walk in is the magic girl section. As someone who grew up admiring Sailor Moon, you would’ve liked to have scouted out that section for nostalgic purposes. The only thing stopping you is the hoard of weebs in that corner. Jungkook, on the other hand, goes right in.

As he joins the frenzy over waifus and body pillows, you shake your head and make a U-turn towards the section with ninjas, pirates, dragon slayers, and Saiyans. The seven plastic Dragon Balls call out to you, just as they had to Jungkook before he got distracted by pink-haired heroines. If you could have one wish granted with the magic of the Dragon Balls, what would you even wish for? There’s not much that you want, except for maybe a life you don’t feel ashamed of. But not even magic would be able to help you with that.

Sighing, you pick up a display model of one of the Dragon Ball fighters and replace his natural black hair with spiky blonde hair to transform him into a Super Saiyan, an almighty hero to protect the world.

“What exactly is the science behind turning blonde when they unleash their Super Saiyan strength?” you mumble to yourself… and the quiet boy next to you. He has a tiny shopping bag with him, so at least you know he didn’t splurge on a body pillow.

“From an artist’s perspective, it makes it easier for people to distinguish between different power levels. Especially in the comics where it’s black and white, so…” Jungkook’s rambling fades out when he realizes you might not be interested in his weeby-artist mind.

“That makes sense,” you say, still fumbling around with the Super Saiyan’s spiky blonde hair. You’d thought maybe it meant something more significant. As if changing one’s appearance could make them stronger by hiding who they really are. “But I suppose not all plot details need to be that deep.”

He nods and picks up another Dragon Ball character, the bald kid with six dots on his head, and wiggles it in your direction. “Is this the kind of anime you’re into?”

You can’t help but sneer at the random but mysterious six dots on the bald head. “This and Sailor Moon.”

Jungkook’s magic girl radar goes off when you mention Sailor Moon. “Oh, so like heroes and stuff?”

“I guess,” you answer, though you’ve never really thought about it that way. It’s not like you intentionally sought out for anything involving superheroes, but it’s something you’d always been naturally drawn to. “Though it seems a bit childish to say it out loud, doesn’t it?”

“I’m sure everyone has wished to be a hero at some point in their life,” the boy says, glancing back at the seven Dragon Balls. “After all, heroes give us something to admire and believe in.”

“Exactly.” You set the Super Saiyan back down on the shelf and stare at the glammed-up Sailor Moon beauties from afar. For just a split second, you’re reminded of your fateful decision to become Snow. “Kind of like idols, right?”

Jungkook flinches, clutching onto his shopping bag as if you’re lowkey judging him for being obsessed with not only pretty idols, but also pretty magic girls. You weren’t planning on bringing up the topic of idols because it can be quite toxic for yourself, but it somehow slipped out of your mouth in the presence of the biggest Snow fanboy. Oops.

“Yeah, kinda…” He lets out a half-laugh, but it sounds forced, only to fill another round of awkward silence as you both exit the anime shop. Great, you’ve brought up another touchy subject and now the boy’s back on lockdown. And just when the two of you were starting to get on the same page.

“I mean… I used to look up to the Sailor Moon characters… because they were my idols… my heroes…” you stumble over your words in an attempt to salvage any momentum you had built up with Jungkook. Surely this is something the weeb can relate to and not feel bad about now that you’ve exposed a bit of your dark past.

“Really?” He tilts his head and eases his grip on the shopping bag. “Who’s your bias—I mean favorite—of the Sailor Scouts?”

You assume he’s asking because your favorite can say a lot about you. Do you prefer crybabies like Sailor Moon, smarties like Mercury, hotheads like Mars, muscles like Jupiter, or perhaps the one who fantasizes over becoming an idol? “Sailor Venus.”

Before responding, Jungkook shuffles through his shopping bag and pulls out a tiny keychain of Sailor Venus with her pretty long hair and orange sailor suit. “Me too.”

You wonder what that says about Jeon Jungkook.

-

By the time lunch comes around, long silences still follow into the food court but somehow you feel less pressure to fill in the gaps. You’re simply okay with being in the boy’s company. Something about it is almost as refreshing as the iced tea you’re sipping on.

As you down your drink, you stare intently at the tall stack of pancakes across from you. The boy’s plate of fluffy delicacies has to be quadruple the size of your tiny salad bowl that you ordered out of habit.

“Um… do you want some?” Jungkook points to his pancakes, but his eyes are glued to your lips—probably because of the drool and not because you share the same pout as Snow.

“No thanks, I’m trying to eat healthier, and I already splurged on pancakes the other day,” you sigh. Even though you've taken a step back from idol life, you feel the need to maintain your image and health for the sake of fans who may worry about you. It’s in your blood, and sometimes you hate yourself for it. “But honestly, you’re really tempting me, you know.”

“Here.” Before you can refuse, Jungkook plops one of his pancakes onto the rim of your salad bowl. “It kinda defeats the purpose of dieting if it makes you unhappy, right? But that’s why cheat days exist~”

“That’s true.” You take a single bite of your pancake, savoring its subtle sweetness. You can’t remember the last time you found pure bliss in something as simple as pancakes without worry. “Thanks, Jung-”

You’re cut off by the fact that the boy’s stack of pancakes vanished, only leaving traces of syrup on the plate and a cute little crumb on the corner of his lips.

“Did you just inhale all your food while I took one (1) bite?”

He swallows the food in his mouth and takes a sip of his milk. “Maybe.”

You don’t know whether to be shocked or impressed, but it made you giggle either way. “You’re a funny guy, you know that?”

Flustered, the boy scurries off to dispose of his food tray. You rarely hand out compliments, and maybe this is why. It probably seems too out of character for someone like yourself, and Jungkook’s fragile little heart can’t handle it.

You punch yourself in the face until Jungkook walks back to the table. Seeing as you’ve only started making a dent in your lunch, he captures a few more photos on this phone, this time of the mall interior and food court. Then he pulls out his sketchbook.

He begins by mapping out a blank page with light lines and dots. Little by little, he adds in the tables, the people, the food. And before you know it, he has the whole food court sketched out and you haven’t even touched your salad yet.

“Are you into architecture? Or like exterior & interior design?” You don’t exactly know the proper art terms for whatever Jungkook’s drawing, but it would explain why he always seems to be taking photos of wherever he goes.

“Yeah, architecture and design are cool.” He shrugs and doesn’t sound all that convincing. So he diverts the spotlight back onto you. “By the way, I mean this in the least offensive way possible, but you’re not an art major, right?”

“Are you saying that because I’m shitty at art?” you pretend to be offended, but you know he’s not the malicious type. “Or because I’m always carrying a guitar to class?”

“The latter.” You see a tiny smirk on the boy’s face as he continues to add in details to his sketch. He’d never say it, but you can tell he’s also thinking your art is complete trash. “Is it music theory? Or just guitar? Or songwrit-”

Bing! Your phone notification saves you from a potentially loaded question about an uncertain future in music, and you couldn’t be more grateful. It’s a new Witch Hazel update from jk.seagull.

You glance over to Jungkook, expecting him to have the same notification on his phone. But he doesn’t. “I would’ve expected you of all people to have notifications turned on for Witch Hazel.”

“Really? Is it because you think I’m that in love with Snow?” It’s Jungkook’s turn to pretend to be offended. You’re glad to see him lightening up and not taking things to heart.

“Are you not in love with Snow?” you tease. Jungkook freezes and so do you. Why the fuck would you ever ask him if he’s in love with an extension of yourself? You don’t want to hear the answer because it’ll hurt you either way. “Nevermind, don’t answer that.”

You quickly skim jk.seagull’s beautiful comic-style artwork and stop at a panel of Snow and the new bunny boy character squaring up.

“But doesn’t this look like something right up your alley?” You flip your phone around to let the boy see the cute art.

“Does it?” Jungkook looks up from his sketchbook and puts down his pencil.

“Yeah, it feels like it would be more your style than realistic architecture would,” you say, although his sketch of the food court is somehow more gorgeous than the actual food court itself. “But I don’t know… You’d be fine with anything in the art field, to be honest.”

To your surprise, the boy shakes his head at your phone screen. “I’m not cut out for something like that.”

“Coming from the best artist in our class,” you say unconvinced. He has to be joking. Or maybe just overly modest. “Obviously I don’t know how you are with storytelling and stuff, but your art is undeniably incredible. And you have a lot of passion and knowledge for comics and anime…”

“Thanks, Y/N, but I don’t think that’s the problem.”

[weightlossfunda]

I’ve spent the past year losing 80 lbs and getting in shape. A lot of people have been asking me how I did it; specifics like what diet I was on, how many times a week I worked out, etc etc. So I thought I’d just answer everyone’s questions by giving you guys step by step instructions on how you can achieve everything I have… IN JUST 4 EASY STEPS! Ready? Here we go!!!

1.) NO BEERThis is a big one, and one that you’ve probably heard before. Every time you drink a beer, it’s like eating seven slices of bread. That’s a lot of bread!

2.) PORTION CONTROLThis is especially true when you go out to eat at restaurants. A good trick to do is when your meal comes, cut it in half and right away ask for a takeout container, so that you can save the rest for later — and even better, if you start your meal out right by ordering lean meats and veggies, you’ll slim down in no time!

3.) HAVE YOUR HEART BROKENAnd not just broken; shattered. Into itsy bitsy tiny little pieces, by a girl who never loved you and never will. Join the gym at your work. Start going to the gym regularly, and even though you don’t know that much about exercise and you’re way too weak to do pretty much anything but lift 5 lb weights and use the elliptical machines with the old people, do it until your sweat makes a puddle on the floor. Then go home and go to bed early and the next day do it again. And then again. And then again.

Listen to stories of your ex-girlfriend fucking around with gross and terrible people, stories from your friends who think they are doing you a favor. Go to the gym and make more puddles of sweat. Buy books. Learn about different muscle groups and how they work together. Start eating healthy. Learn about nutrition. Plan out your week of meals. Try to forget her.

After work one night, go up up up all the way to the top floor of the parking garage and walk all the way to the back. Look out at the twinkling lights of the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles and think about how every single one of those office lights represents a person. Try to imagine how they feel. What they’re doing right then; if they miss someone special, if they wonder if someone special misses them. Then realize that most of those lights are probably shining into offices with no one in them except for a custodian or two. Realize you are alone, that you are staring at no one. Turn your collar up against the cold and drive home to a meal of a single chicken breast and steamed vegetables. Go to sleep. Go back to work. Go to the gym. Sweat.

Buy a scale. Pick a goal weight. Imagine the goal weight as a shining beacon on a hill. You are at the bottom, in the dark. Talk to her at work. Notice the awkward way she walks in high heels and her goofy smile when she looks over at you. Feel something clench inside your chest. Think about the gym and what muscle groups you are going to work that night.

Get on the treadmill. Push yourself to level 3, then level 4. Then 6. Run so fast you feel like you are going to die. Hit level 10. Pray for death. Think of how bad she makes you feel. Find the strength to keep going.

Late one night, make the mistake of looking at her Facebook and Instagram posts. Feel lower than you ever thought possible. Unfriend her and try to forget what you’ve seen. She is doing things with other people that you asked her to do with you. She is having a great time without you, and you are wasting your life listening to Taylor Swift on repeat and making sweat puddles on a gym floor.

Watch as your life shrinks down to four things: 1.) work, 2.) the gym, 3.) the food you eat, 4.) sleep. She wears the necklace you bought her and tells you that she got it “from someone who’s really special”. That night you discover that Slayer’s “Angel of Death” might be the perfect song to do squats to.

Start to make friends at the gym. Vince and you spot each other on Wednesdays; Chase and you spot each other on Fridays. You used to look down on bro nods and fist bumps — but since that’s how gym rats communicate, that’s become the language you speak most often. Work, Gym, Food, Sleep. Over and over. More sweat puddles. More fist bumps. You run hundreds of miles and lift thousands of pounds.

You start to see new people working out here and there and you realize you have done something you once thought impossible: You have become one of the regulars. Once in a while, you are the last one leaving the gym. You make a point to get to the gym earlier, but your workouts start to stretch from one hour to ninety minutes to two hours. You are now routinely the last person at the gym. You run. You lift. You make more puddles.

Your body changes slowly, then all at once — you are suddenly thin and muscular. You hit your goal weight, pick a new one, then hit it again. You go out and buy new clothes. You receive wave after wave of compliments. Your ex tells you that she’s seeing someone else. Your chest clenches. You feel exhausted.

That night you go to the gym. You listen to all her favorite songs. You run farther and lift more than you thought your body was capable of. It is a good workout. It leaves you numb. You go home and eat a single chicken breast and steamed vegetables. You go to sleep. You dream of a bottomless black puddle.

You’ve stopped drinking alcohol months ago, so now when you hang out at bars or parties you don’t talk to anyone new. But with your new body and new clothes, gorgeous women hit on you constantly. One time, a woman literally comes up to you and says she thinks you’d be good in bed and hands you a napkin with her number on it. As she is talking to you, her hand resting on your chest inside your shirt, all you can think of is how badly you need to beat your best time sprinting across the park across from your house the next day. That night when you get home you research the best shoes for trail running and click “buy”. The shoes are a hundred dollars. The phone number goes in the trash.

There is a girl you see a lot at the gym, who always does these weird leg exercises you’ve never seen before. She’s beautiful. You make it a point to not look at her — because you are overly worried about looking creepy like that guy in the blue shirt who never wears underwear and always hangs around the lat pulldown machine — but you notice this girl is always at the gym when you are, and seems to always choose the bench next to you. You turn up the Slayer and concentrate on making your puddles bigger.

Your ex parades her new boyfriend around, flatly ignoring you the entire time. He is taller than you, more ripped than you, better looking than you, and — according to the Greek chorus of your mutual friends — he comes from money. As you watch her introduce him to everyone but you, you remember how her blue eyes lit up underneath the ferris wheel on her birthday when you gave her those bracelets she’s wearing. In your pocket, your hand makes itself into a fist.

That night, you deadlift your body weight. You sneak a photo of yourself in the mirror and email it to yourself with the subject heading “You Are A Warrior”. The next day you are disgusted with yourself and delete it.

You make puddle after puddle after puddle and eat single chicken breasts and work and sleep and the weather gets warm and then gets cold and you know all of Taylor Swift’s songs by heart and the only things that exist in the entire universe are you and The Gym and then something different happens: a night comes where you are not the last person in the gym.

It is you and the girl who does the weird leg exercises. You end up walking out at the same time.

Her name is Melissa and she works in the building next to you. She’s worked there for two years. She asks you out to dinner on Friday, promising it’ll be healthy. The leg exercises are Pivoting Curtsy Lunges.

You start seeing Melissa a lot, both inside the gym and out. You tell no one. You add a couple cheat days to your week — for when you two get dinner and share dessert — and you start getting a lot less sleep. You phase out Slayer in favor of Springsteen. Vince and Chase note that you’ve stopped looking like you’re praying for death when you run. Your ex texts you late at night to ask you out to coffee, but you don’t write her back. You can’t remember the last time you fantasized about puddles.

One night you’re walking Melissa to her car in the parking garage and she is parked up up up all the way on the top floor. She says she wants to show you something and she takes your hand and leads you all the way to the back. You both stand there in the dark looking out over the twinkling lights of the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” She says. “All those lights.”

You tell her that yes, it’s beautiful, but it makes you sad. All those pretty lights mean nothing; they’re just shining into cold lonely offices with nobody in them. Melissa squeezes your hand and says yes, each light is an empty office — but they’re only empty because the people have all gone home for the day. All those twinkling lights aren’t sad; each one is a person who’s at home, happy with the one they love. And how romantic is that?

You look at her in the lights and she smiles. Something in your chest expands.

Late one Sunday afternoon you are writing out your rent check and realize it’s been exactly a year since you started working out. You think of all those miles you’ve run and those pounds you’ve lifted and chicken you’ve eaten and puddles you’ve made. It doesn’t seem that bad. You realize that it’s not about hitting a goal weight, or lifting a weight. It’s about being able to wait. Waiting, being patient, and trusting that life will slowly inch along and things will eventually get better. After all, change takes time.

But time is all it takes.

4.) NO FRUIT JUICE Too much sugar!!!

[medea10]

My Review of One Punch Man 2

[uaxreaders]

“If you Hurt them...”

Natsu x reader

Request number 2 is up❤️ thank you for your request. Sorry this one isn’t my best work I’m still getting used to writing for Natsu.

You made your way into the guild hall noticing your favorite people already sitting at a table waiting. Team Natsu had just returned from a mission that had been pretty far from Magnolia. Obviously you were excited to be back home and get some much needed time off as well as alone time with your boyfriend. You and Natsu had been dating for six months now and were known as one of the most powerful couples ever. With his dragon slayer abilities and your Fire make magic we were practically unstoppable.

When you neared the table Lucy handed you a drink with a roll of her eyes. The boys were already in a heated argument about one thing or another. Erza was trying to focus on eating her strawberry cake and ignore their usual antics. Wendy also sat at the table playing with Happy and Carla. All in all everything was normal for the guild hall.

“What are they fighting about this time?” You asked facing Lucy. She shook her head annoyed letting out a small sigh. “No idea I just hope they stop soon.” She replied rubbing her temples. “Yo ice princess and dragon boy knock it off!” You shouted making them both turn your way. Natsu smiled his toothy grin shoving Gray out of the way before sitting next to you.

“Hey babe! Didn’t hear you come in over ice stripper.” He beamed sending a small glare towards Gray who rolled his eyes in return. You smiled messing with his pink hair. “It’s good to be back that mission took forever!” You groaned laying your head on your boyfriends warm shoulder. Natsu snaked his arm around your waist resting his cheek against your head. “Yeah it was exhausting.

It’ll be good to be home for a little while. Just kick back and relax with my girl.” He smirked smiling happily. “Natsu and (Y/n) sitting in a tree k-I-s-s-I-n-g!” Happy sang hovering over Natsu’s other shoulder. “Shut it Happy.” He laughed while blushing. “But you looovvee her.” The small blue cat continued making both your cheeks redden more.

Wendy giggled too resting her chin on her hands. “You guys are so cute! I wish I had someone like that! She gushed. “When you’re older Wendy.” Carla smiled making the young wizard let out a small annoyed sigh. Natsu looked down at you kissing your cheek before the toothy grin returned to his face.

As we all discussed the mission a thought crossed your mind. “Tiring as that mission was, am I the only one slightly concerned with how easy the head thug went down? Like it barely took us any effort at all to take him down.” you said voicing your worries out loud. “For such a big hideout and the large group causing so much trouble he went down so easily.”

“I agree how could such low level criminals wreak such havoc on the village?” Lucy continued looking confused. “Nah I’m sure it’s just from seeing how awesome we are!” Natsu shrugged making both of you roll your eyes. “Oh yeah I’m sure you scared him so bad flame brain.” Gray snorted. Natsu stood up placing his hands on the table. “I’m a lot scarier than you pervert!” He shouted.

After a long day of hanging out and trying to keep the guys from starting a fight you were finally ready to head home. Wendy and Carla left first followed by Lucy who wanted a bath. Gray was next who went off to meet with Juvia. Natsu, Happy and you walked out of the guild hall into the dark night. “You sure you don’t want me to walk you home?” Natsu asked playing with your hand.

“Yeah babe I’ll be fine it’s not that far. Besides I just need to go grab a quick shower and some clothes and I’ll be over to your place.” You assured your boyfriend who grinned widely excited for the planned movie night. “We’ll see ya then babe!” He cheered pressing a quick but firey kiss to your lips. Parting ways You began your journey bsck home. It was merely a ten minute walk from the guild hall to your place and fifteen to get to Natsu’s.

The night air had a small chill to it that made you shiver. Being as it was so late everyone had retired to their homes already leaving the streets empty. The moon was just a mere sliver in the sky giving you very little light in between each scattered lamp post. It was pretty peaceful taking these walks around Magnolia. You were lost in thought about the beautiful city when the sound of a leaf crunching echoed behind you.

The sound stopped you dead in your tracks your blood running cold. Listening carefully You tried to pinpoint any other sign that someone was near. Your breathing and the quickened beating of your heart were the only sounds You could hear. Assuming it was just your imagination you continued along the road a bit quicker than before. Unfortunately you didn’t get much farther before hearing something else behind you.

This time you were certain there were footsteps following you. The two nearest street lamps flickered eerily before going out entirely. I was completely surrounded in Darkness now. “Guess I’ve blown my own cover.” A voice echoed from behind you. Spinning around you eyed the darkness ahead.

“Who’s there?” You called trying to make out what the mystery man looked like. It wasn’t a voice you were familiar with and it was doubtful whoever it belonged to had very good intentions. “No one you know yet doll. But you can call me Hotaru.” The voice introduced as he began stepping closer. Hotaru was now standing directly in front of you.

He was tall probably around 6 foot and skinny. His hair was black and spiked all over the place and his eyes matched in color. Dressed in merely a long black coat, black pants, and a white shirt it didn’t seemed like he was armed. “Can I help you with something my boyfriend is waiting for me at my place.” You asked crossing my arms. Your hope was he couldn’t sense the fear you were feeling.

He let out a small chuckle stepping even closer. “There’s no point in lying (Y/n). We know that Natsu isn’t there. Now if you be a good girl and show me where exactly that is this will go a lot smoother.” He smirked flashing a wicked smile. You tried to turn and run but someone much larger wrapped their arms around you pinning your arms to your body.

“Let me go ass hole!” You yelled trying to kick your legs at my captor. “If you simply tell me where that boyfriend of yours lives that can be arranged.” He informed you with his face inches away from your own. You pulled your face back spitting in his face and letting out a small growl. He shook his head making tch sound with his mouth. “Guess you’ll have to do as bait, bitch.” He sighed signaling to the man behind me.

You struggled as hard as you could to get your hands together to use your magic but before You could Hotaru snapped something on my wrists that felt like handcuffs. The man who had been holding you let go making you fall to the pavement. You quickly jumped to your feet attempting to use your magic only to find it not working. Both men chuckled seeing your your struggle. “Yeah that won’t work.

Kumori here put a little spell on those handcuffs that’s blocking your magic ability. You might as well stop struggling save yourself the trouble.” Hotaru laughed while the man he called Kumori joined him.you tried to make a run for it but Kumori picked you tossing you over his shoulder. “You assholes are going to regret this! My friends will find me!” You shouted.

“They’d have to find us first doll.” Kumori mocked. “Help, someone help!” You screamed at the top of your lungs while thrashing against the attacker. “Knock her out I’m not listening to her whining and screaming all the way back to the hideout.” Hotaru commanded. Before you could scream again you felt something hit you in the head. You watched helplessly as the wordl began to go black.

Back at his place Natsu stared at the clock confused as to why his girlfriend wasn’t sitting by his side already. “What’s takin her so long?” He sighed making his way to the window. Happy joined by his side looking worried. “Do you think somethin happened to her Natsu?” He asked sitting on the windowsill. Natsu looked down at the blue exceed before back out the window.

“Nah I’m sure she just took a longer shower than she meant to. Or maybe she’s just deciding what to wear? Girls do that all the time right?” He asked hopefully. Happy crooked his head to the side thinking. “Maybe, but doesn’t she usually steal your clothes when she’s here?” He asked making a good point.

“Let’s go see what’s up Happy.” Natsu said making my way out the door. “Aye Sir!” Happy cheered following behind his best friend. The two made their way down the road passing the guild hall. When they got just around the corner from your place Natsu noticed two street lamps had gone out leaving a majority of the road shrouded in darkness. It was odd to see they were the only two out when he was sure the bulbs were just changed.

“That doesn’t look good.” Happy gulped. “No it doesn’t buddy.” Natsu replied quickening his pace. The young mage was suddenly filled with worry about (Y/n). Sure she was strong as hell and quite the bad ass, but what if something did happen? A million bad scenarios began to cross his mind.

Finally they reached your door finding it still locked and all the lights still off. “Did she forget and go to bed?” Happy questioned trying to look into one of your windows. “I don’t think that’s it.” Natsu said coldly. He grabbed the extra key from it’s hiding spot and unlocked the door. The house was quiet, too quiet for Natsu’s comfort.

“(Y/n)? You here babe?” He called loudly making his way further in. He was answered by silence causing a pain in his chest. The house looked like you hadn’t been there since this morning. He practically ran into the bedroom flicking the light on. Your bed was empty and so was the bathroom.

“Where the hell is she?” He mumbled snagging the phone quickly dialing Lucy’s number. His heart was racing and he was starting to feel sick. Where the hell could she be? “I should have walked her home! Had I just walked with her this wouldn’t have happened.!” He exclaimed upset.

“Natsu why are you calling me so late?”

“Sorry Luce but it’s an emergency! (Y/n) walked to her place to change and I don’t think she ever made it home!”

“Huh what do you mean?”

“I mean I can’t find her anywhere!”

“Ok calm down I’m sure she’s fine did you check the guild hall? Maybe she forgot something as was grabbing it on her way over?”

“I’ll go look but I have a bad feeling about this.”

“I’ll meet you there with the others.”

Once they hung up Happy and Natsu hurriedly made their way over to the guild hall. When they walked through the doors they were greeted with a silent dark room. The only one who remained was a sleeping Cana who MiraJane had covered with a blanket. “(Y/n)!?” Natsu whisper shouted walking up and down the hall just to be sure. However he still found no sign of his girlfriend.

“Natsu did you find her?” Lucy asked running in the door. She was followed by Gray, Juvia, Levy, Wendy, and Carla. “Nothing it’s like she vanished.” He explained worriedly. “I take it you guys noticed the two street lamps?” Levy asked. Natsu nodded in response running his hand through his pink hair.

This whole thing was really suspicious. Natsu was beyond worried about you. The group spent pretty much all night out combing through the woods and looking everywhere. Natsu couldn’t help the guilt he felt. He couldn’t help but think this was his fault. He should have listened to you and Lucy about things not being over from the last mission. But instead he listened to his stupid cocky brain.

A week passed and still the guild found no sign of you anywhere. Your friends searched everywhere for her still coming up empty handed. Natsu was quickly getting discouraged. He was so worried he couldn’t sleep or focus and could barely eat. Lucy and Happy struggled to keep him going in hopes that she was still out there. While out searching a village near that of the last mission Lucy stumbled on something that made her smile.

She ran back to the group practically stumbling into Gray. “Guys! Guys look! It’s (Y/n)’s bracelet!” She exclaimed shoving the small piece of jewelry towards Natsu. His eyes got wide as he examined the bracelet. It was definitely yours he recalled giving it to you on your sixth month anniversary.

“It is hers!” Natsu gasped. “And look the clasp isn’t broken she must have removed it so we could find her.” Juvia pointed out. “Juvia’s right they must be near where Lucy found the bracelet.” Gray continued. Juvia smiled with a blush heari n her love say she’s right. Before the group could say much else Natsu was heading out the door.

“Well, What’re you guys waiting for! Let’s go!” Natsu exclaimed. The group ran out the door back into the woods where Lucy had picked up your bracelet. “This is it! Everyone keep your eyes peeled.” Erza commanded.

Meanwhile inside the base you were huddled in the corner your knees pulled to your chest. The room they kept you in was freezing and you still wore the cuffs that prevented your magic use. Your shirt had been turned to shreds leaving you with nothing covering your chest and your shorts practically falling apart. Bruises and wounds covered your skin from the torture Hotaru had put you through. You learned very quickly he possessed the black magic called torture magic.

The door slamming into the concrete wall made you jump surprised. “Are you ready to obey pet? Or do I have to make you listen again?” He chuckled making his way in front of you. “I will never tell you anything about Fairy Tail except that they will find you and kick your ass for this!” You spat angrily. He shook his head grabbing a fistful of your hair pulling you up to meet him.

“Stupid brat. Don’t you get it by now? They won’t find you. And if they do? Well that just means we’ll have Natsu in the palms of our hands right where we want him.” He said dragging you out to the main room.

When he let go of your hair he threw you onto the familiar platform. One of his thugs strapped another restraint to your neck connecting you to wall. Once you were in place the men sat back in the chairs. The first thing he did was control a barrage of knives sending them straight at your legs. You managed to miss all but one that pierced a few inches into your thigh.

When you Cryed out in pain the men laughed manically. A different thug dropped the temperature much lower than it already was while someone else sent a small wave Of water to cover your already shaking form. The shock of the water caused you to fall to your knees. The leader once again approached. “Sure you’re not gonna tell us anything?” He asked.

You stood up on shaky legs again refusing to give in. “Y-you can torture me all you want but I won’t tell you anything! I’ll never turn my back on Fairy Tail!” You shouted. The man shook his head frowning. “Fine, you leave me no choice.” He sighed.

With the snap of his fingers someone was moving you into a new room. “I’m afraid I’ll have to let Akihiro handle you. You see he’s new to our little team and isn’t nearly as nice.” The man said darkly. You were shoved into a room the door shutting behind you.

In front you stands a man that didn’t even look human. His muscles were huge he must be even bigger than Gajeel. He smiled picking you up by your neck. “I’m gonna have fun with you babe.” He said with a wicked grin. Although you tried not to show it you were beginning to fear you might die in this hell hole.

Little did you know at that exact moment your friends had made their way into the underground hideout. The small group had already taken down the first three floors. Natsu was destroying the place nearly burning several people to a crisp in the process. Once Hotaru was onto them he had Akihiro drag your now unconscious beaten form out.

“Well well well look who finally decided to show. (Y/n) here has been telling us so much about you.” Hotaru grinned. Your friends gasped at your appearance Natsu returning his glare to the man. “You chose the wrong guild to mess with man! I’m all fired up!” Natsu yelled preparing to attack the man.

“Not so fast Natsu you attack me my colleague here will snap her pretty little neck.” The man said gesturing to your captor. Your friends froze unsure of what to do. Akihiro moved his hands to your neck threatening to twist it. “If you hurt her!” Natsu growled taking a step closer.

“Your little girlfriend here is one stubborn bitch. Refused to tell us anything about you or the guild.” Hotaru spoke shaking his head dissapointed. “It’s a shame really this all could’ve been avoided had she just told us where you were to begin with Natsu.” Natsu felt defeated as he stared at your injured form. “After all you’re the one we wanted.” The man continued.

Looking between your brusied face and the tall man before him Natsu gritted his teeth together. “Fine. You can take me instead. You can torture me kill me or whatever but you have to let her go.” He said shocking everyone. “Aww the salamander must truly love this girl, it makes me sick.” The villain replied.

“Natsu what are you doing?” Lucy gasped. Natsu stepped forward towards the man his hands up in surrender. “You can break my soul. Take my life away. Beat me, Hurt me. Kill me. But don’t hurt her anymore.” Natsu said feeling weak.

Being as the man had his attention focused on Natsu Gray quietly and quickly fired ice around Akihiro’s wrists and ankles. This gave Natsu the opportunity he needed as he lunged towards the lead villain. He short fire his way knocking him into the nearest wall. The man who was previously holding you let your form collapse to the floor as he struggled to get free. Lucy opened Loke’s gate the two of them keeping him from doing anything.

Natsu went to continue his attack but was stopped by Erza. “Go help her. We’ll handle him.” She commanded her friend. Natsu let out an angry breath before nodding. He knew the red head was right, if he got his hands on that asshole he’d fry him for sure.

Natsu ran over to your side pulling you from the floor. The state you were in pained him more than anything he’d ever felt. Your skin was cold and littered with wounds. “I’m sorry love.” He whispered kissing your forehead pulling you up into his arms. Your eyes fluttered open weakly staring at your boyfriends features.

“N-Natsu?”

“Babe! Yeah it’s me! We came to rescue you.”

“I knew you would. I told those dummies my favorite dragon slayer would come to the rescue. Thank you Natsu.”

“What’re you thankin me for? I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”

You shook your head weakly pressing a kiss to his cheek. “You saved me Natsu.” You whispered. He smiled at you despite the tears that had filled his eyes. Gray nudged Natsu’s arm handing him his shirt. Natsu silently nodded towards his comrade before sliding the shirt onto your body.

When you returned to magnolia Wendy helped get you healed up to the best of her ability informing you it’d be a couple weeks before you’d be back on your feet entirely. Natsu still felt guilty about the whole situation but made sure he was taking the best care of you possible. You both decided it would be best if you moved in not so he could protect you but so you two would no longer have to say good night and go separate ways. He decided from the moment they found you that he would never let anything happen to you again.

[kokichi-and-co-imagine-blog]

If the V3 cast were to play Monster Prom, who would each character go for?

This is like, my third time trying to write this? I don’t know why it’s taken so many tries; it probably just has to do with getting cut off in the middle of the thought I was on. This may go a little more in depth then you thought it would, but that’s just because I want this to be as thorough as possible.

If you’re interested in Monster Prom, I recommend either buying it or just watching a playthrough of the game before reading this. There are going to be spoilers for certain routes along with secret endings that you can get, so… there. Now that I’ve been super transparent about what this entails, let’s get started.

V3 Dating Some Monsters!

Since this is a MULTIPLAYER DATING SIM, here are the groups of people I think would probably play against each other:GAME 1 -Angie, Himiko, Tenko, TsumugiGAME 2 -Kirumi, Kokichi, Kiibo, KaitoGAME 3 -Shuichi, Kaede, Rantaro, RyomaGAME 4 -Korekiyo, Maki, Miu, Gonta

We’ll talk about each game from top to bottom, ok?

Himiko would be player one after everyone insisted that she gets it (”Nyehhh, what a pain, I have to choose first?”). After picking Brian (Green) because he looked super tired, she waited for everyone else. Angie ended up being player two, and went as Vicky (Blue) because of how cute and happy she looked. Tenko chose Amira (Red) afterward because she seemed like she wouldn’t take crap from anybody along with the fact that she was the only girl left to choose from. Tsumugi was left with Oz (Yellow), but she didn’t mind it much; she thought his simplistic design was perfect for her personality.

Himiko didn’t really go for anyone in particular on her playthrough, although she got the most events with Polly. She did seem to like Valerie (The shopkeeper) but didn’t know that she was romanceable. At the end of the game, Himiko ended up going to prom by herself, and had a good time.

Angie went for Miranda because of how devoted she seemed to be to her kingdom! It was very impressive, and she didn’t bat an eye when she ended up getting the throne ending! Nothing like releasing a kraken to sneak a fish man into the school. (Tenko was a little concerned by Angie’s decisions through this route though, and kept an eye on her for awhile.)

Tsumugi was the only person in the group to try and romance a male, and even then, it was because she already heard of a certain secret ending with Liam- “Liam The Weeb.” She was super excited that they put a character in a game that you could see develop a love for something she has, and also had a good laugh when she muttered to herself about him requiring yaoi hands. After successfully getting it at the end, she already had been thinking of fanfiction ideas for a continuation of this route.

Tenko tried to get with Vera! Unfortunately, she wasn’t the best at reading the situations, and her stats weren’t high enough, not to mention everyone else kept getting a table with her at lunch! How was she supposed to be stepped on with affection by the powerful snake lady?!? When she was turned down at prom, she felt her heart break a little bit, but attacked Himiko with a hug saying that she would be fine as long as the little mage was there.

Before anyone could decide who would be player one, Kokichi took a chance to be Oz, but named him Ligma because Kiibo would inevitably ask the question of, “Why would you name yourself Ligma?” and he was absolutely ready to laugh at his response to the epidemic of ligma. Kirumi went next, choosing Amira because she “seems like a capable young lady.” Kiibo got Brian before Kaito could object to playing a girl, but the astronaut soon got his second wind by saying that girl power would trump the guys. He held his hand out to Kirumi for a high five, which she hesitantly accepted. 

“Ohhhh, I’ve heard how hard it is to get Vera! Don’t worry Kaito, there’s no way you cou-”

“I’M GONNA FUCK A SNAKE WOMAN AND NONE OF YOU CAN STOP ME.”

This is probably the most chaotic of the games due to Kokichi being able to egg on Kaito with no problem. Kokichi also decided to go for Vera, making it that much harder for Kaito. Kaito almost never got the lunch events with Vera, while Kokichi had his own agenda.

“You’re buying a used tampon? I know you’re messed up, but GOD, that’s a whole other level.”

Little did Kaito know that Kokichi had started the cult ritual secret ending, and was planning to finish it. After fumbling around with her and failing to live up to Vera’s expectations, Kaito got turned down at prom, and was pissed when Kokichi got the secret ending! Why hadn’t he been paying attention to what the midget of the group was doing?! He wasn’t sure, but Kokichi was having a good time cackling and “reassuring” Kaito that he was too dumb and not logical enough to have gotten her route anyways.

Kirumi liked how Liam carried himself, and was more than happy to try romancing him. She seemed to have relaxed while playing this game despite the constant bickering of the grapes in the room. With no failed events, Kirumi went to prom with Liam, and appreciated how secretly funny he was under his hipster demeanor.

Kiibo was being crushed constantly by Kokichi and Kaito after making the grave mistake of sitting between them. He did his best not to let that get to him, but he was distracted for the majority of the game because of him. Before he could choose the last question of the personality quiz at the beginning, his hand was knocked and he accidentally got started on Damien’s route. He spent the majority of the time asking Kirumi questions about if it was normal to be that angry and destructive. He was especially concerned about how Damien had dead bodies in his home! However, he successfully took the demon to prom.

(After his failure, Kaito spent hours playing the game and trying to get all the endings possible. He ended up getting stuck on romancing Valerie.)

From the very beginning of this game, Shuichi and Kaede promised each other that they wouldn’t get in each other’s way, and would help each other should special events requiring the extra boosts in affection come up. Rantaro was happy to do his own thing along with Ryoma. This was probably the calmest group of people to play the game.

Rantaro chose Oz before others could, just changing the name to his own so that no one would get confused. Shuichi chose Amira, but Kaede asked if she could change the name for him without him looking. When he eventually turned back, he was named “Sweetchi <3,” and he was a stuttering mess about the ordeal. Kaede went as Vicky, keeping her name as is, and Ryoma went as Brian, naming him “Myach.” No one knew why. Like, at all.

Rantaro decided he liked how excitable Polly was, and how every event with her was like an adventure. He liked being a part of her party scientist shenanigans, and watching her tell a sugar daddy to marry a llama. Which he did. He got the secret Party Science ending with her, and was super calm. Originally though, before dating Polly, he really hoped that Aaravi The Slayer was romanceable.

Kaede accidentally started the Blobert route, which made everyone’s day (”you can date… a blob with a hat?” “You’re just jealous of his hat, aren’t you?”). Getting to give everyone ridiculously specific greeting cards, including a corpse. Regardless, she was super happy to hear how much everyone loves Blobert, and decided that he would always be her favorite. (Shuichi was taking some mental notes through this playhthrough.)

Shuichi ended up going to prom with Miranda as a ghost. It was an accident that he even got on her route, and he still wanted to at least have a successful run. He went to the shop and saw the ghost costume, he was too interested to not buy it. Going through all the cutscenes, he thought Liam getting frustrated was a little cute (Though he wouldn’t dare admit that to anyone) and was happy when he managed to go to prom as a spooky little guy!

Ryoma saw the gentleness in Scott’s heart, and was taken by it. he wanted Scott to be the happiest boy in the world and stay unaware of the hardships that come with life. He ended up successfully going to prom with the werewolf, and was surprised at how fun it was to play a game with other people at the same time. He could probably get used to this.

“I don’t care what fuckin’ player I am, titless- just lease me the fire girl because she’s SMOKIN’ like yours truly!”

“... I think I’m already regretting playing this game with you.”

After Miu made a big deal out of it, she ended up with Amira. Maki chose Vicky, changing the name to her own. Korekiyo chose Brian, but named him Shiso Asobi. once again, no one knew what was with the ridiculous name. Gonta was left with Oz, but he had no problem with that! He did, however, have problems with changing his name. His hands were a bit too big for the keyboard.

“REVERSE ROMANIAN WILKINSON? I don’t know what she’s on, but I fuckin’ LOVE her!”Miu was all over Polly and how ridiculous she could be, including her Reverse Romanian Wilkinson ending. She wasn’t sure what the penguin mask was for along with the guacamole and bag of beads, but just imagining what it was getting her hot all over. She successfully pulled it off, and then proceeded to bother Kiibo about trying it with her.

Maki was attracted to the way Scott acted like a certain astronaut she knew, so she just couldn’t ignore him. getting the correct choices on his route was super easy for her, and she smiled just enough to get Miu on her case for a little bit. At the end of the game, she wondered if she’s been wanting a man who’s essentially like a puppy.

Gonta didn’t want to romance anyone! He just wanted to have the best time he could making people happy. Unfortunately for him, his actions brought him to the orgy ending. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he was asking everyone around him why they weren’t wearing clothes. Miu was yelling angrily because she hadn’t been informed that such a route even existed, and Maki just sighed out of frustration. Korekiyo wasn’t surprised given the rest of the games content, but he found humor in Gonta being the one to get such an ending.

Korekiyo wasn’t originally going after anyone. He just wanted to experience what it was like to play a game about dating people with, well... other people. However, when he basically summoned a powerful monster from the totem of zgord, he changed his playing style to fit accordingly. With a high enough charm stat and being able to take a tentacle monster to the prom, everyone was slightly disturbed, besides Miu. She just wished that she could be a part of that action.

[recentanimenews]

Crunchyroll Features' Favorite Anime of Fall 2018!

The Fall season, and 2018 anime with it, are finished. We’re looking at a lot of big anime titles wrapping around into 2019, so now is the perfect time for our editors to honor our favorites from this season before the Winter premieres begin. This was a huge season with a ton of big returning titles, so it was particularly hard selecting our Top 3 from the season. You can check out our top anime from summer season, see how our picks compare to our most anticipated titles, or scroll down and check out our favorites!

Peter Fobian

Fall 2018 was absolutely ridiculous. The season looked huge going into it with the shonen fighter RADIANT, returning giants JoJo AND SAO, and 2 mega hyped isekai in Goblin Slayer and Slime. Oh yeah, also a new TRIGGER anime. Then it got EVEN BIGGER with some unknown quantities turning into awesome favorites. We’re still riding the crest of this wave into Winter as so many of the top series are continuing, but the ones that are coming to an end this year really left an impression on me.

ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

This might be the single biggest anime dark horse that has emerged since I started following seasonal anime and that was kind of part of its design. Everything from the show to the promotion was masterfully orchestrated, with the studio giving away little more than the title and Mamoru Miyano’s gorgeous face leading into the season. The way this anime took both tourism and idol anime to the extreme with one of the best concepts and pretty meta. The writing was on point, the comedic timing was perfect, and it even had great emotional beats. I’m really hoping a few of those loose plot threads mean a season 2 because this anime could easily deliver more.

SSSS.GRIDMAN

I watched the first episode of this series back at Anime Expo 2018 and was extremely surprised at how serious it felt. Although it loosened up during the fight scenes, Gridman has to be TRIGGER’s most reserved project to date with some really great storyboards, character drama, and a slowburn mystery that are typically absent from their high-octane visual circuses. It even stuck the landing. This series wasn’t just good in its own right, but really proved TRIGGER is about to deliver in multiple styles of storytelling.

Golden Kamuy

There's never enough space to talk about all the good things in Golden Kamuy. The story is an amazing treasure hunt/survival game in a wonderfully articulated historical set piece of Hokkaido, Japan following the Russo-Japanese War. The characters are as adorable as they are psychotic. The mysteries just keep building up. The violence is magnificent. The food looks delicious. This manga has a the best bit of everything and continually shows new faces as the story develops. Hopefully the wait for more of the manga wont be too long.

Ricky Soberano

Woo! This fall season has been a chock full of great anime that varied from each other in many aspects so I ended up staying consistently caught up with almost everything that came out this season and shows that haven’t stopped going. Trying to pick three took many rounds of questioning from myself to the people that I care about and the conclusion was ‘Ricky loved everything.’ However I came up with my top three by only choosing the ones that made me 110% happy every single time I clicked to watch the latest episode.

Fairy Tail Final Season

  I’ve been a diehard Fairy Tail fan since the beginning (tattoo on my hip for proof) and frankly I’ve cried during every episode this season simply knowing that there will be no more of this amazing shonen that has saved my life more than once after this is done. This season exceeds expectations by not only doing a victory lap and bringing on almost every character that has ever shown up in the show but also by tying up every loose end, answering every burning question, and naturally showing every individual guild member’s badass power has gotten to a level so high up that one could barely fathom. Each episode has me screaming at the screen from the new insane revelation that they just revealed.

As Miss Beelzebub Likes It.

  I don’t usually watch cute anime. However watching Beelzebub be super encapsulated by the presence of fluffy things, show her an affinity for tasty snaccs, and captivation for adorable animals pulled me into a hug as warm as an alpaca sweater and I never want it to stop. The color palette of pastel glory has kept me in a happy mood all season and the stories told are ridiculous but make for a never ending sweet dream.

Run with the Wind

  This was a wild card for me since I may’ve ran track on high competitive levels but I don’t have a preference to sports anime. However the cast of 10’s journeys not only as runners but also as individuals take place with such high stakes on the line made it hard to not want to continue watching especially since the show did well to realistically show competitive running and the realistic sacrifices and training that goes behind it. With such high tension and drama circulating, I was truly on the edge of my seat the entirety of every single episode.

Nate Ming

Y'know, I thought I was gonna watch more JoJo… but I got my mom into JoJo over Christmas break, so that's gotta count for something. From retail hell to the frozen wilderness of Hokkaido to the sacred ring, my Fall 2018 season was full of emotional ups and downs… and I'm still screaming about that season finale for Golden Kamuy.

Skull-faced Bookseller Honda-san

All the built-up trauma from working retail and customer service for almost half my life came back in one huge wave with Skull-faced Bookseller Honda-san. No anime this season has made me laugh so hard I pulled a muscle (I'm not joking), and no anime this season has made me curl up in the fetal position remembering the insanity of working a Harry Potter book launch at Borders. But aside from all that, Honda-san himself is refreshingly positive and upbeat--work is work, it's tiring and frustrating, but if you love what you do and like sending customers home happy, it's all worth it in the end.

Golden Kamuy

The treacherous journey to find the stolen Ainu gold continued with a second season, bringing back our favorite characters while introducing plenty of new faces. Unexpected team-ups, shuffling of group rosters, and then pitting everybody against each other kept me watching every week, needing to know what was coming next--and that infuriating season finale means I'm absolutely tuning in for whenever season 3 starts airing.

Hinomaru Sumo

I keep joking that "no cowards allowed" is the tagline for this intense adaptation of the Weekly Jump manga, and it's a pretty fair assessment: characters may feel doubt and fear, they may question the decisions that led them to get into the ring, but there's nowhere to run in sumo, so finish the fight and worry about the details later. This show has so much heart, and I'm here to continue cheering for Hinomaru and team into 2019 as we head into its second cour.

Nicole Mejias

I gotta say, this fall season was STACKED with a whole bunch of great shows from start to finish! It was a season where my queue was at its fullest and trying to find time every week was actually a bit challenging to make sure I watched everything. There were so many shows that I ended up liking way more than I thought I would, so it was difficult to pick a top 3, and in some cases I feel my top 3 are mostly continuing from things I really enjoyed before, or last season; but that said, this was a tough season, and if I had more than 3 slots, I’d be in even more trouble picking!

Golden Kamuy

Golden Kamuy is a must-have on my list, and frankly should be on almost everyone's! I really had no idea what to expect from the series when I first heard about it, but whatever I thought it was, Golden Kamuy surprised me with it's amazing characters, fast and severe action, and its balance of comedy and suspense. As the second season draws to a close and some of the serious questions are about to be answered, I'll be waiting to see what's next for Sugimoto and Asirpa in the future. I probably would never get tired of this series, so I'm hoping we hear about a new season soon. Golden Kamuy is a series of feel almost anyone can enjoy, and I hope more people get sucked into it like I did!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

JoJo's is one of my favorite series of all, and when Golden Wind got announced I was extremely excited to see what was in store for me, since it was the JoJo part I knew the least about. Part 5 really does have a unique feel to it, from the mafia trappings to the unique and interesting Stand abilities, and now that things are really getting underway, I'm excited to see what's next! Giorno and the rest of the gang are quickly becoming one of my favorite collections of JoJo heroes, with their mix of fun chemistry and personalities, and I can just see Part 5 being in my favorite anime lists throughout 2019 too!

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

I'll be honest: I'm not a big isekai fan. I've never really found the power fantasy aspect of them interesting, and so I've usually found myself giving them a few episodes before getting bored or finding myself watching something else. Slime really grabbed me, though, because from the first parts of episode 1, I thought I was in for a similar experience, but it soon turned things on their heads! While Rimuru is super powerful, the world built in Slime is fascinating, and all of the interactions between characters is great. Also, seeing Rimuru put the smack down on baddies is incredibly satisfying! I'm excited to see where this series goes and how Rimuru's little collection of followers and hangers on grow!

And that's our editor's favorites for the Fall 2018 season! I'm surprised no anime got repeated twice except for Golden Kamuy with 3 votes, which is a fitting send off to an awesome series that reached its conclusion this year after an insane climax. But there's more to come. Prepare yourself for tomorrow when we'll be putting up our most anticipated titles for Winter 2019!

---

Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[kaette-kita-slayers]

Slayers Smash 5-1 - The Shadow in the Blue Sea

In addition to the interviews, I'm hoping to go through a bunch of the short stories and write up detailed summaries, starting with Slayers Smash, since I don't think that there's much out there in English about these. (I might go back and cover some of my favorites from Special, though.)

Anyway, I'm starting with the first story in Smash v.5. No particular reason for the choice, other than I just bought the book and read it for the first time. :)

The Shadow in the Blue Sea

The story opens with Lina in a restaurant in the port city of Oakman, confronting the visibly nervous proprietor. Some sorcerers from the local guild had brought her there to have croff fish, a seasonal specialty, but Lina was immediately able to tell that she had actually been served sword mackerel. She had briefly considered not saying anything, not wanting to embarrass her companions, but then decided she couldn't let him get away with it (plus she wanted the real fish!)

Trying to figure out what to say to Lina, the man glances over at the other sorcerers for some reason, but they are suddenly interrupted by the sound of a bell outside, and shouts of "It's him! He's here!"

Lina jumps up and runs outside, followed by the other sorcerers, and finds a crowd gathered, all staring out at the ocean. In the distance, she can see a small island and some boats; all of the latter are fleeing back to the port. Suddenly, a shadow rises from the depths and leaps into the air, washing several boats away.

"... What the heck was that...?" I muttered unconsciously. The thing had already sunk back into the ocean.

It was about the size of a reasonably large dragon, and it looked like what you would get if you took a mackerel pike, made it really huge, then added gangly limbs. More than anything else, it looked like a child's drawing of a fish with arms and legs added as a joke.

The fish (?) jumps around a few more times, tossing the ships, then vanishes. As the townspeople go to assess the damage, Lina demands answers from the other sorcerers. After some embarrassed silence, one of the group, a forty-ish man named Quantum, offers to explain everything, and they head for the Oakman Sorcerer's Guild.

Quantum dejectedly tells Lina that the guild had been hired to investigate why the croff fish, already difficult to catch, had been steadily decreasing in number. They discovered that the croff fish are a variety of sword mackerel that tends to be delicate and not very fertile. Unfortunately, ceasing fishing would destroy the town's livelihood, so they turned to sorcerous methods to solve the problem. They first experimented with creating copies, but found that was too costly, so their next idea was to create fish chimeras---specifically, to make a giant version of the fish by combining it with a water dragon, a Ragon fishman, and some bamboo shoots (for flavor).

"I... I see..." I gave a vague reply.

Setting the bamboo shoots aside for now, I had questions about who, exactly, knew what a water dragon or Ragon fishman tasted like, and why, but I let it slide since the answer would probably be terrifying.

Dubbing their creation the "Macro Croff", they released it into the ocean, where it quickly grew far beyond its predicted size and became a nuisance. Then they heard that Lina was on her way to the city...

"If Lina Inverse, so famous for having only two modes: eating and rampaging, found out that she couldn't get croff fish, she'd go berserk, no mistake!"

"Hey!"

"It was clear as day she'd cause massive damage to the city! The Macro Croff wouldn't even compare!

So the only thing we could do was fool her with some imitation fish so that she wouldn't notice anything was odd, and have her leave peacefully---and fast!"

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" I screamed. Quantum jumped and broke out in a cold sweat, finally realizing what he'd let slip running his mouth.

"Uh, no, when I said we were going to fool you, I meant in a good way, not a bad way!"

"How could I possibly take anything you just said in a 'good way'? I was sure you were going to hire me to take out the Macro Croff, or something like that."

"Hire you? Oh, no, we certainly wouldn't do that!" Quantum said in response to my grumbling, waving his hands frantically and continuing, "If we asked you to do something like that, the whole place would be wrecked---er, I mean, wrecked in a good way, of course!"

... Does this guy think that he can redeem anything by following it with "in a good way"?

Lina restrains her anger, not wanting to prove the sorcerers right, and argues that the rumors about her are overblown; it's just that there are times when she has to resort to violence to keep a situation from getting even worse. Quantum immediately asks her to take care of the Macro Croff for them, and Lina agrees, in return for a fee and a full-course meal of croff fish.

Two days later, she sets out before dawn on a fishing boat, her plan to have an entire fleet of boats fishing to draw out the Macro Croff, then attack. After a while spent quietly waiting, the fisherman piloting the boat suddenly begins putting up his tools and tells her that her target has appeared. Although Lina can't see anything yet, she trusts that he knows what he's talking about from experience and orders him to head back to the port like he normally would. Chanting a spell under her breath, she notices signs of panic from the other boats and the surrounding wildlife.

A dark shape appears in the water, heading for the fleet, and when it jumps, Lina fires off a Dragon Slave. In the split second before it hits, the fish tears some scales from its body, throws them into the air, and the the spell hits them instead. Lina can't believe her eyes.

After the explosion, the fish is nowhere to be seen, and the fisherman assumes he was killed, but Lina knows better.

That evening, Lina returns to the inn she's staying at, since there's nothing else to do---everything closes and opens early, to fit the fishermen's schedule. She analyzes what happened earlier. A Dragon Slave will naturally target whatever it's used against, but the Macro Croff managed to fool it by creating another target made of pieces of itself---the scales. Thinking up a defense like that would naturally require a high level of intelligence, not to mean knowledge the fish couldn't possibly have, so Lina finally writes it off as an instinctive reaction that coincidentally worked.

However it came about, the fish now knows how to defend against a Dragon Slave, and Lina is sure it wasn't killed, since no body was found. She brainstorms, trying to figure out how to kill it. Anything that would leave a body behind is out, since she suspects that if anything is left, they'll have it cooked and served to her instead of the promised croff fish---she doesn't want to eat some weird chimera.

Lina's thoughts are interrupted by a knock. She gets up to answer the door, wondering who it could be when the city is mostly asleep, and stops when she realizes the sound came from the opposite direction, where the window is. She decides that it must have been a bird or something, because she's on the second floor. Then she hears it again.

Then it hit me.

Normally, no one would ever use Levitation and show up for a visit outside your window, but unfortunately, I have an acquaintance who's anything but normal.

Lina sighs and opens the shutters, solely because she knows said acquaintance will force her way in if Lina doesn't. She is greeted instead by the sight of a gigantic fish head, and the Macro Croff apologizes with flawless politeness for disturbing her. As she stands there, dumbfounded, he tells her that he's aware that she would likely kill him if they had another confrontation, so he's there to explain his position and hopefully find a peaceful solution.

"You can talk," was the first thing out of my mouth after my brain finally began working again.

"Yes, it's a hobby of mine," the Macro Croff replied.

A hobby. Okay then.

He tells Lina that he met the fish of his dreams, but her mother refused to let them marry because he isn't a mackerel. In the end, they managed to get her to agree, but only on the condition that he stop the humans from fishing.

He has taken care not to kill anyone, since he feels grateful to the humans who created him, whatever their intentions might have been, plus...

"If I took human lives, the hatred would only lead to greater resentment, and in the end, possibly even all-out war between man and mackerel."

Yeah, pretty sure that's not gonna happen.

At the end of his story, he begs Lina to leave him alone, bowing his head. She thinks for a moment, and then tells him he's not serious enough about his love. She points out that he's fighting a battle that can never be won permanently, and that even if she gives up and leaves, they'll just hire another sorcerer or warrior to kill him. His girlfriend's mother was obviously just trying to keep him occupied, not give him a chance. Lina recommends that the Macro Croff just run away with his love, since she wouldn't want him to die fighting humans.

I could see the moon and stars in the night sky.

I'm standing here, giving advice on romance to a giant fish outside my window, in the dead of night. What's wrong with this picture?

Pushing aside questions about what was wrong with my life, I continued...

The Macro Croff agrees and leaves.

The next day, Lina and Quantum gather the city's fishermen to tell them it's safe to go out on the ocean. The men are naturally doubtful, of course, and while Lina is trying to persuade them, the Macro Croff suddenly splashes down in front of them. Lina demands to know what in the world is going on, and he tells her that his mother-in-law found out what he was planning and tossed him all the way to the port. Everyone is shocked to find that not only can the fish speak, Lina seems to know him. Annoyed, Lina gives a one-sentence explanation, which they have no choice but to accept.

Lina asks what kind of fish the Macro Croff's mother-in-law is, and he replies that she's a mackerel, of course, just a bit larger than usual, as they can see for themselves. Lina searches the water for a giant shadow, but sees nothing. A fisherman recalls that his grandfather once told him there was some enormous creature out there. They then notice that the island looks like it's moving, and the Macro Croff confirms that the "island" is really the tip of her fin.

"You said she was a mackerel! A MACKEREL! Not some weird monster!"

"She's always been on the large side. She told me she was bullied as a child because of it."

"That is not the issue!"

Quantum points out that fish will keep growing as long as they live, and that the Demon's Ocean isn't far away. Lina is skeptical of the idea that Mazoku influence is the cause, but everyone else accepts it.

Leaving aside the question of how the mackerel came to be, Lina prepares to take her out, but the Macro Croff begs her to stop and threatens to fight back if she's killed. They're interrupted by a single fisherman, who suggests that maybe they could just stop catching mackerel.

Problem solved! Humanity and mackerels establish a peace treaty, with the humans agreeing to release any mackerels accidentally caught, and the mackerels agreeing to raise croff fish for them. Lina gets her reward, and everyone is happy. Except the croff fish.

Notes

Not much, except that the Macro Croff is actually called the Croff Macro, but that doesn't quite work in English.

[fuckinsteverogers]

Olympus Has Fallen: Chapter 3

Character Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Athena x Steve Rogers

Word Count: 2.2k

Rating: 18+ Series

Warnings: Fluff, Cute ass shit, also stalking.

Synopsis:  Athena works for a tech company that happens to find itself with a new client, Stark Industries. Her centuries of hiding are about to be thrown out the window, but will she find allies in the Avengers at a time of crisis or will she fight alone and risk destroying herself?

Author’s Note: I kinda wanted to post two today, or maybe I might post the 4th as well after this, I haven’t decided. Anywhoozle, feedback is always appreciated. I hope you like it.

I watch the sweat drip down my forehead through the mirror stretched along the wall in front of the Stairmaster. I rub the soreness in my thighs as I climb and climb and I imagine I’m climbing the steps of the Eiffel Tower. I imagine I’m far away from the upper east side and in a foreign country, basking in the sun or drinking hot chocolate in the cold, but I’ve run for centuries trying to escape the people calling me a demon.

I hear the grunts from the men lifting weights over Slayer playing through my headphones, and it occurs to me that if the Avengers wanted to kill me, they would have at least tried to stop me walking out of the tower. They probably wouldn’t have succeeded, but they would have tried.

I’d made a conscious effort to be more alert during the last fortnight since being confronted by the group of superheroes and had noticed black SUVS and people in black hoodies and combat boots trying to stealthily follow me. They kept a safe distance, but I was yet to determine whether they were keeping an eye on me to either protect me from others or protect others from me.

I distantly think about what I’m going to have for dinner as I lift my weights, and do my deadlifts, and I walk past countless restaurants on the way home and I notice the person in the black hoodie is remarkably bigger in muscle mass as of yesterday. I climb the stairs of my apartment building and groan at the ache in my thighs, and I notice the black hoodie actually come into the building today.

I climb the fifteen floors and the black hoodie stays two floors behind me, I regard them with clear eyes, and catch a glimpse of theirs. My brain begins to swim and ocean breeze flitters past my nostrils and I know who it is immediately.

I jam my keys into the lock and wait, turning the knob, flinging the door open, and wait for the black hoodie. He rounds the corner, sees me waiting and stops, head down, hoodie concealing the blonde hair.

“I know you all are keeping a safe distance, Captain Rogers, but please… Join me for dinner,” I invite, smiling to him. His shoulders square and he lifts his head, my eyes meet the oceans and I feel lightheaded, probably from the hard work out and my need for sustenance.

“I’m not sure I should, Ma’am,” Captain Rogers replies in the silky-smooth voice that I want to wrap myself in.

“Come on, you must be hungry from stalking me,” I say cheekily and walk over the threshold to my apartment. The room smells like lavender and I leave the door wide open for him to make his mind up. I dump my bag, slip off my shoes and pull the chicken from the fridge.

The chicken is diced and the oil is hot in the pan when Captain Rogers finally makes up his mind, entering and closing the door. He pushes down the hoodie of his sweatshirt and removes his boots, not necessary but appreciated.

“I hope you’re okay with a curry,” I tell him as he lifts his eyes to mind, he nods, mouth still in a hard line. “Would you like a drink? I have beer, I think?”

“Water should be fine, Ma’am.” I move and fill a glass with iced water from the fridge and place it in front of one of the bar stools, forcing him to come within touching distance of me. I notice how weary he is, careful with each step and each movement, almost as if worried that I might get angry.

He does as I expect him to, shuffle towards the breakfast bar and seats himself on one of the swivel chairs and sips the water leisurely. I watch the beauty of the man before me, so struck with how unbelievably breathtaking this man is even compared to the many Gods I’ve met. Eyes bluer than the oceans Poseidon controls, hair silkier than Aphrodite’s, skin more golden than even mine, and voice smoother than Hera’s as she nurses a child.

I throw the chicken into the pan to brown, and once cooked I put in the sauce to simmer. Regarding Captain Rogers who has awkwardly sipped through half of his glass, I press my hands into the counter and lean towards him, he looks at me alarmed.

“Captain Rogers, I was wondering if you could answer some of my questions?” I ask, moving my head to his level and searching the eyes that are bright and innocent. His mouth twitches slightly, enough for me to notice.

“You can call me Steve, Ma’am,” He replies, voice soaking through me, and causes my eyes to visibly flutter.

“And you can call me Athena, Steve,” I reciprocate the first name basis, he smiles slightly and I notice the weary fondness stretch across him as the tension in his shoulders loosen. “Now, are the Avengers following me because you think I might hurt someone?”

Steve’s eyes flash surprise, and his smile vanishes into confusion. “Tony has done extensive reading on your history, he doesn’t believe you a threat and nor do I,” Steve replies truthfully, I see the glint of trust in his words and I smile wide without thinking. I’d never heard trust in someone’s voice when speaking about me before, I’d been met with fear my entire existence.

“Then what’s with the security detail?” I ask, stirring the curry before turning the pot of water on to boil. Steve releases a breath and I hear him stand from the chair, I see him round the bench before I feel him. He brushes a hand on my hip and I have a very sudden urge to lean into the touch, but it’s gone within a second and he leans against the bench.

“Tony and I don’t believe you are a threat to us or anyone else, but that doesn’t mean all the Avengers agree,” Steve replies, I gather a glint of regret in his voice, regret for telling me that maybe. I understand where he is coming from, and I understand where the Avengers that don’t trust me are coming from, I haven’t given them any reason not to.

I pour the rice into the boiling water and stir the curry once more, I don’t bother replying as I grab plates from the cupboard and uncork a bottle of wine, and pour myself a glass.

“Do you drink wine, Steve?” I ask, taking a sip. He looks from watching the curry simmer to look at me, the corner of his lips raise.

“Only with beautiful women, Ma’am,” Steve replies, and I smile, and his eyes flash for a second, “Athena, I mean.”

“So, I shouldn’t pour you a glass then,” I insinuate, I place my glass down and stir the rice, turning the tap onto hot water to drain it once it’s fully cooked. Steve shifts and I feel his presence inch closer, turning I see I’m right with my body a few inches from his.

“You are spectacularly beautiful, Athena,” His mouth curves and I have to look down before I give myself away, the smile on my face still evident. “Many men have probably assured you of that over the centuries.”

“You’d be surprised. Just because they built the Parthenon for me, doesn’t necessarily mean that men aren’t intimidated by me,” I reply quickly, pouring the rice into the strainer. Swirling it through hot water, “I don’t date usually, I’m a terrible liar with those I feel connection to.”

I make the plates and pour another glass of wine for Steve, who takes it eagerly. I leave leftovers on the stove and just as I had thought, Steve questions whether he can have seconds, I nod eagerly and watch with a fondness growing in my chest.

“What did you mean when you said that you weren’t a superhero if history had anything to do with it?” Steve asks as I wash the dishes, leaning his head in his hands, I watch as his hair falls onto his forehead and note the way it tumbles.

“I haven’t always been so secretive with my origin. Apollo and I came to earth to help the mortals, with this ignorant idea that we could rid the world of war and famine and disease, we succeeded in some parts, but failed in others. We couldn’t stop the black plague, and were failures in stopping the extinction of integral species,” I sigh, draining the water from the sink and wiping my hands on my tights, my chest tightening but I continue for the sake of the man’s concentration completely on me. “I was naïve, and during the Salem Witch trial era, I revealed my existence to Salem, and was met with harsh words and pitch forks. I thought I could help these people, but they threatened to kill me. I ran and never stopped running, I move to a new city every few decades to feign off the questions about my age.”

“How long have you resided in New York?” Steve questions, enthralled by my story. I smile, and move to sit beside him, sipping on my third glass of wine.

“It has only been three years last month. I was in Rome before this,” I tell him, rubbing the muscles of my thighs as they ache, he follows my hands and his mind reels.

“How about we retire to the couch and I’ll massage your legs as you tell me stories of your life?” Steve offers, I meet his eyes in surprise, my hands stuttering as I dig my fingers into the muscles.

“You don’t have to do…” Steve interrupts me by grasping both my hands and tugging me towards the couch, obviously eager to hear more tales of my long existence.

I watch him sit, beautiful against the cream sofa, and I sit beside him, leaning against the arm rest, and drape my legs across his lap, the curve of my behind pressed to his thigh. He brings rubbing the sore muscles of my thighs and I begin talking, starting from a random spot in history, telling him about Apollo and I. This goes on for a while, he massages my thighs, then switches to my calves, then back up to my thighs, his eyes watching his hands and his ears listening intently to my words.

“We were in Brooklyn, Apollo and I, on July 4th, 1940 and we went to this dive bar. I remember that year, I had dyed my hair black and had grown it all the way down to my lower back, and was wearing this bright red dress that night. We were on vacation, and Apollo pulled me to this bar and we danced all night. I remember listening to the band and wishing that I could live and die in this era, instead of having to live through all the war and famine; it was the first year of the war, a war I couldn’t stop, but we danced, and basked in the dull lights and the laughing people. It was like there was no war in the world, like these people didn’t care what was happening on the streets, they just danced and laughed and drank,” I told him, remembering the night like it was yesterday.

“What bar was it?” Steve asks, I look at him and notice his eyes wide, and see that he has stopped massaging and his hands are motionless on my thighs.

“O’Connor’s. It’s closed now,” I tell him, feeling the clench of his hands on my thighs as I let the words slip my mouth.

“I knew when you said black hair and red dress, but I wasn’t sure,” Steve blubbers, I place my hand on his shoulder and he turns to look at me, shifting himself and my legs to almost pull me onto his lap. “It was my birthday and Bucky had taken me out to celebrate before I enlisted in the war, and there was this beautiful woman in a man’s arms and I had sat and drank my beer and wished that was me. She was so beautiful, I had thought, and it was you.”

My eyes widen and my jaw goes slack, I had been so invested in dancing that I hadn’t looked at anyone sideways, if I had I would have seen him. I remember the music that night as it floods my head, soft and carefree. I remember the happiness I felt and I’m transported to that time as I watch the beautiful man in front of me wish he had asked me to dance.

I suddenly don’t want anything more than to be here with him, and I pull myself up onto his lap, his hands finding my hips, and I look into his ocean eyes. I fall deeply into them, and press my thighs to his, and wrap myself in the man I wish I had met in that 1940’s dive bar, but we are in the 21st century and neither of us can get drunk off of wine, and I press my lips to his.

And suddenly we are dancing, and I feel weak and his hands are on my back and in my hair and I feel more like a goddess than I have in millennia.

Permanent Tag

yoursupernatural   |   niallandsebastianaremylife

Feedback are always appreciated and tags are open!

[arkus-rhapsode]

Fights I would’ve wanted in the Alvarez Arc

Erza, Bisca, and Max vs Ajeel

I was okay with the canon fight but if we had Erza along with a character who can specialize in sand magic to tip the scales in their favor it would’ve been more smart. Erza saw Ajeel’s magic before the war and if Erza is smart she and Makarov (who also knows about ajeel’s power) would’ve made a strategy to combat him. Erza using the wind and sea swords would work for damaging Ajeel and have Max repel and reflect the incoming sand storms. Then when Bisca uses jupiter to weaken Ajeel instead of Ajeel still having strength to move and still use magic and Erza taking him down from there, have the weakened Ajeel try to use a sand magic attack but due to his weakened state have Max absorb in that sand attack giving Erza an unobstructed shot at a weaken Ajeel. Also if you wanted set up for this, on the calm before the storm night have Max think about for just a little bit he was able to stand up to Natsu and how great it felt.

Lucy vs Brandish

Instead of waiting till the universe one crap have this fight off the bat. Lucy really should not be going to her apartment during a freakin war and having a bath with a villain. Maybe have Brandish sneak in using her reduction to turn small and get to fairy heart in the basement but then Lucy intercepts her. Brandish see’s who Lucy is uses Marin (who she still had on her at the time) to teleport the two of them to another location where they can fight weave the reasons for Brandish’s anger during the fight. Then have Aquarius come and try to explain things. This also takes Lucy away from Natsu or Gray and she has to make it back to the guild on her own.

Thunder God Tribe and Jenny vs (Fake) Wahl

I think the thunder god tribe was used fine in this fight in canon but remove ichiya and replace him with Jenny. Why? Because Jenny was the one who introduced Machinas into the series before Wahl. Jenny can then explain how Ichiya rallied the guilds and when all seemed that himself is a machinas have Jenny try to take it over fail but then reveal she was buying Freed some time to whip out Absolute Shadow.

Natsu, Sting, Jura, and Hyberion vs God Serena

Okay we’ve never had a one on one with Natsu and Sting so they can actually bond and show how they help each other grow. Also, Sting and Natsu are 2 of the strongest attack based dragon slayers. But also have Jura so we can gauge the strength of Serena. But also have Hyberion because he is the second wizard saint meaning he is the closest in rank to match Serena. Give Serena his back story and then use that arrogance to their advantage and beat him.

Wendy, Chelia, and Orga vs Dimaria

First put a limit on the the time stop then have wendy and chelia’s team work be the big thing that pushes it but also allow Orga, who is probably the most powerful god slayer to face off with Dimaria and help give them and edge. Ultear doesn’t need to show off and have instead of third origin have Orga seeing as how he’s the oldest reveal a secret of god slaying magic that could’ve competed with dragon force but it comes at the cost of scraifing your magic. Have Orga volunteer but then because injury have chelia do it.

Laxus vs Wahl

You can pretty much keep this similar to cannon just maybe have a text box or something explain what mercury fulminate is.

Elfman and Lisanna vs Jacob

First change Jacob from a master assassin to a master melee specialist (Jason statham has been both) Just have a simple knuckle buster brawl between Jacob and Elfman then when Jacob uses stealth have lisanna use take oveer: rabbit to hear where jacob is and Elfman is able to continue the fight. Also Elfman finally sees this as a chance to protect Lisanna for almost killing her.

Gajeel, Levy, and Rogue vs Bradman

As much as I like Rogue have him and Levy play support but since Gajeel has the iron lungs have him be the big fighter against Bradman. Then you can keep the big dramatic dragon force. Now instead of Bradman pulling Gajeel into the underworld have it be due to digesting all those anti magic barrier particles that Gajeel has greatly shortened his lifespan but even if he only has 5 or 10 years left just have him vow he wants to spend them with Levy.

Minerva and Yukino vs Heine and Juliet

If they are members of the Irene squad then they should be very strong but not Spriggan level that way two characters can actually land some hits on them. Great way to show us Minerva and Yukino’s advancement as well as being a battle between teams of black and white dichotomy.

Mirajane vs Irene

Do not put Irene on Acnologia’s level, with Mirajane we have a better established scale of Irene’s power. Have her only use enchantments to fight Mira but then if it looks tough make it look like Irene is about to prepare for a roar attack but stops when she sees acnologia coming then use universe one. This way better foreshadowing with Irene and Mira doesn’t get shafted this arc.

Crime Sorciere vs Neinhart

Olympia comes out of the water near Hargeon and then they find Neinhart who brings back Simon and Zancrow to deal with Jellal and Meredy but bring back Brain for the oracion seis. We have conflict of how Brain was basically a father to them but Cobra points out he was just using them but then Brain poses the question is Jellal just doing the same. That way all of them can make the choice to stand up to Brain/Zero. While Jellal and Meredy take the other historia’s. Also keep in the Gray and Lyon vs Historia Ur, and Wendy vs Historia Ezel, as for Erza just bring back Kyouka. Then Jellal knocks down Neinhart but refers to them, crime sorciere, as the seven stars.

Warrod and Wolfheim vs August

Great way to introduce August’s power without Mest being a dumbass

Everyone vs Invel

Okay have universe one cause all guilds to regroup then have the minor characters like Hibiki, Ren, Yuka, Millianna, Bacchus, Rocker, Rufus, Reedus, romeo etc. Fight against the giant force of soilders that Invel has used Ice Slave on to manipulate them easier (And maybe surviving Spriggans like Ajeel and Jacob as well as cutting out historia wahl, bradman, and serena). As well as having Irene add Enchantments to try and turn this to their favor. But let every minor character contribute. Now not like pages of character moments but maybe 3-4 panels of each character contributing. Then have a big entrance with Gildarts and Natsu who met because universe one and have that signal the second wind.

Gray vs Invel

Having an Ice user and not letting Gray fight him is like having sword user and not letting zoro fight him. Gray goes after Invel and they have a straight up bloody knuckle fight but when Gray uses demon slaying magic and Invel mentions giving into madness have it be in his head while Gray more aggressively beats Invel that way we believe Gray is actually falling to darkness more than just “my not girlfriend died”.

Kagura and Sting vs Larcade

First make Larcade’s magic look like it should then have Kagura get a longer fight with Larcade then have Rogue come in to give Sting the white shadow dragon powers.

Team Natsu vs Irene

All of team natsu finally regroups after being separated for so long take Irene. If the meteor must be included cut out the erza breaks her bones and have it be a group effort to take it down. Irene can reveal the dragon seed to Wendy and Natsu. Then Erza using a multitude of armors to fight against Irene can get the finishing blow using that dragon slaying enchanted Katanna.

Gildarts vs August

Stay the course

Natsu vs Zeref

Have them fight but have it all be interupted by Acnologia.

Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Laxus, Cobra, Sting, and Rogue vs Acnologia

Have this huge fight with each DS showing their skills and how their development changed them. Finishing Blow can be because of END.

END vs Gray

The last fight of the arc should be these to simultaneously trying to reach each other and in the end let it be Natsu who admits to his own selfish wishes wants to die for everyones sake. Gray says he can’t kill a friend but Natsu mentions home many will die if END is released and if he can live with knowing that everyone he loves will die because of Zeref’s demon.

[liaroflesbos]

ToG Chekov’s Arsenal

So I just caught up with ToG again and oh my god. Just... I have so many questions so I decided to make a Chekov’s Arsenal, a list of questions that have been raised in or by the story that will come back up eventually, to sort out some of my thoughts and for later reference/personal satisfaction when we understand things better. Some of these may be answered somewhere that I didn’t see and if you contact me I’ll add your questions to the list too. Here we go: 

Wangnan/Princes of Zahard

- What does it mean to be prince of the red light district? Does it just mean that he’s an unwanted/forbidden prince of Zahard or does it reference where he was born or what he does/would rule?

- What does Hwa Ryun mean when she says that Wangnan is the greatest mistake of Zahard and the ten families? Now that we understand a little bit about who he is, this still doesn’t make absolute sense… why was making a prince the greatest mistake of all and none of the other shit they’ve done?

- How will this be changed by the rumor that the coming of the prince of Zahard will open the next floor? Wait--maybe this is what Gustang means when implying that Baam is the real prince, that he fulfills this role that the prince is supposed to fill.

- Why does Repellista say that the princes are going to “come back”?

- Has Wangnan returned to his “alone asshole” hair of the first chapters??

Irregulars

- Why did Phantaminum stop himself from killing Zahard after bursting into his castle like that?

- Why did Enryu want to kill a Guardian??? Who the fuck does that benefit

- Generally, given what we know about the Universe, Phantimum and Enryu don’t seem to align with the other large powers in the tower: Zahard+Ten Great Families, FUG, and Wolhaiksong.

- Why did Enryu and Phantaminum skip the whole Guardian of God bit that Zahard, Urek, and Baam all at least approached?

- Why was Baam in that cave to begin with and why was he physically unable to leave? Why was only Rachel able to come down to him, and then she could go as needed? Where exactly were they--not in the outside world (since there are no stars) and yet still able to open the tower doors?

- Like everything about Rachel tbh. Why does FUG keep her around and in such an active way? What is she doing with Emily? How does she get people like Yura and Cassano to trust her? What’s the Traveller still doing and how is he going to be in her group w/out Cassano?

Princesses of Zahard

- Why did Enne Zahard go crazy? What does Enne know about her parents (including that mysterious asshole Gustang)?

- What does Garam Zahard want so badly as to kill her own sister for it? Will we meet her on the Floor of Death?

- What exactly is Maschenny Koon plotting? How does it conflict with Yuri so heavily--something to with collecting the 13 months to open the 135th level? How is Maria Koon involved in this plot? And while we’re on that subject, how did baby!Koon manipulate Maria into becoming a princess of Zahard?

- And the important question for me: how will Koon handle a princess vs. princess war if the two sides have Yuri & Androssi on one side and the Koon princesses (Maria) on the other?

- Wtf is Repellista plotting or watching being plotted?

- The princesses story clearly has shit going on but we don’t really have specific questions yet--I’m sure we’ll have a princess arc soon (probably in the next season given hints from the Name Hunter arc).

Hwa Ryun

- ?????? Everything? How do you know so much Hwa Ryun?? What are your motives?

FUG

- How did Baam survive the Administrator’s test on the second floor?

- Just, like, everything about Grace Mirchea Luslec. Namely: What/who are the other 10 Great Warriors who helped Zahard and why are they different from the 10 families? Why did he want to “adopt” Baam? Also where is he and why does he want so badly to bring Zahard down?

- We now know three slayers: Grace Mirchea Luslec, White, and Karaka. There are eleven in all with Karaka as the last. Who are the other eight? I bet we meet them.

- Why does Karaka cover his face and whole body?

- What does FUG even stand for? 

Current Plot Issues

- Why is Karaka on the train really? Could he be looking to murder Baam on the Floor of Death where there is no guardian? Or is he part of whatever plot Rachel is leading?

- What’s the door he finds in the latest chapter?

- My most pressing concern right now: will he Wangnan on the Floor of Death???

- Why doesn’t Rachel tell Hoaqin about the princes of Zahard and Wangnan’s importance, instead rather letting a future FUG slayer continue to assume that she’s incompetent?

- I wonder if the theme of the princes of Zahard plotline/themes will reflect Cassano and Horyang’s story in some way? If this being used/created, this being forced to be a weapon or a god (like Baam) will come up in some other way?

Other?

- What is it in Leesoo’s past that makes Anak want to stay teamed up with him?

- Will we ever see characters such as: Evankhell, the “teacher” of the workshop, Phantaminum, the Blacksmiths...

- Wtf was Paul Bidde Gustang doing with the Workshop? Has he betrayed Zahard at this late stage in the game and why would he risk giving power to an organization like FUG? Does it have something to do with his daughter Enne the Princess of Zahard? And why would Baam be the “real” prince of Zahard? And who the fuck did he talk to over the Radio?? Another ten families head or maybe Repellista?

- I’m waiting for Baek Ryun (co-founder of Wolhaiksong with Manzino, ruler of the 77th floor, top ten Ranker) to show up and be important somehow too lol

- What’s with the two knight-type guys who both have ignition weapons and the last name Hong?

- Who exactly is Arkraptor’s daughter? And which family is his wife from--from the kid’s look, maybe Arie?

- Why does Evan stay with Yuri? Do guides pick one person to follow? Why is Evan’s ranking so fucking high?

[skvaderarts]

Apocrypha Chapter Twenty One: Expedition

Masterlist can be found Here! Thanks!

Chapter Twenty One: Expedition

Notes: Can we talk about how amazing Bury the Light is? Ok, good. Just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. Moving on!

(-~-)

Considering the fact that he’d spent the better part of the night trying to ignore the feeling of tiny toddler toes digging into his back, the darkslayer had slept relatively well.

It had been challenging to him to even tolerate the concept of sharing a bed with another living being at first, more or less due to the fact that he had not done so in over two decades. Add to that the fact that he was still adjusting to the sensation of sleeping in a bed again after spending a lifetime in the underworld, and the fact that he had a difficult time sleeping through the night because he’d trained himself to wake up almost instantaneously at the slightest sound as a defense mechanism to prevent his enemies from being able to easily sneak up on him, and you had a recipe for an unpleasant night’s sleep practically evening. But there wasn’t much that the little boy could to to sway that outcome one way or another. Vergil was going to be cranky come breakfast time regardless of how little or how much he tossed and turned in his sleep.

Practically the second that the sun dared peak over the threshold of the windowsill, Kyle sat up and yawned, repeatedly jabbing Julio in the back with his free hand as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Once the middle child was up, so was his older brother. That was simply the way the children did things. As soon as Julio was roused and somewhat capable of functioning, he jabbed his little brother back, an action that immediately led into a poke fight. Had an adult, especially Vergil, been awake to see it, they would’ve more than likely dissuaded them, but the only “qualified” candidate was trying his level best to just tune out the world around himself and get a few moment’s rest.

Well, that was until Carlo woke up.

As if from nowhere, the little child sat up in the bed next to his grandfather and whimpered in frustration. His tiny child brain was incapable of processing the concept of lethargy, and as such desired nothing more than to turn back over and go to sleep. The main issue with that plan was that he didn’t comprehend this idea, so his only recourse was to become immediately flustered and frustrated. Clearly seeing that they had probably woken their baby brother up by accident, the two older boys shared a glance between one another before Kyle went to his younger sibling’s side and tried to shush him while Julio tentatively attempted to wake Vergil up in a manner that he assumed wouldn’t get him a stern lecture later on. Or worse, simply upset him.

Julio didn’t have the slightest idea why the older man was so… antisocial? Was that the right word for it? Regardless, he wanted to stay on his good side. While he wasn’t scared of him by any means since he assumed he meant them no harm and that Nero wouldn’t have entrusted them to someone who was a danger to them, he still didn’t want to make someone he barely knew upset. Vergil was supremely intimidating, especially to a small child. He didn’t want to be on his bad side, especially since he knew that he would probably tell Nero. The last thing he wanted was his father and his grandfather to be upset with him.

“Um… mr. Vergil? Can we go downstairs? I wanna find our mom.” Julio asked quietly as he gently prodded Vergil’s shoulder. He paused for a moment, waiting for Vergil to turn over and face him or sit up so that he could tell if he’d heard him, but he didn’t move. Still, right as he was considering repeating his request, the child stopped short of raising his hand to repeat his action. Something told him that Vergil was awake and probably just considering his request before delivering a reply. He couldn't be sure, but it just seemed like it to him.

“... Do you have any idea what time it is?” Vergil said in an almost hushed tone, still not moving. Not a single muscle shifted aside from the motion his lips made as his vocal cords moved in the proper manner necessary to assist in the production of the vernacular required to render his request audibly detectable. (Wait… what? Wha?)

The young boy glanced over at the analog clock that sat on the bedside table, unsure as to what the time had to do with anything. He’d overheard someone mention that breakfast went until noon, so he could only imagine that they hadn’t missed it yet. The others wouldn’t leave without them, right?

“Um… It’s nine o’clock, sir.”

Vergil sighed, still not moving. “Is that AM or PM, child?”

Julio furrowed his brow and glanced between Vergil, the window, and the clock, wondering for a moment if simply pointing out the level of light in the room would be an action that could get him into trouble for being rude. It was clearly morning. The sun wouldn’t be out if it wasn’t unless they’d been transported to another planet during the night. And if that was the case, they had an entirely different problem on their hands. After signing under his breath, he shrugged nebulously and decided to respond. After all, what harm could it do?

“That would be nine AM. It’s morning.” He made an earnest attempt to cover up how confused he was by the obvious question he’d just provided an obvious answer to, but Vergil caught the tone of his voice effortlessly. The blue devil slayer didn’t really care one way or another. He simply wanted to see what the child would say to him. He was Nero’s son, after all. Perhaps being around Kyrie or ever the adults at the orphanage they’d adopted him from had taught him some manners. He was inclined to assume the former as opposed to the later. 

From what he understood about public childcare institutions, especially the ones based in remote places like Fortuna, the concept of individual children receiving one on one time with the adults that supervised them was a completely foreign one. They more than likely had no time or interest in making sure that every single child was taught perfect manners, unless it served to expedite their adoption.

Why oh why did he have to meet Nero’s mother in Fortuna?

There were so many places he could conjure up that would've been preferable to that hyper-religious cultist paradise. And yet, there he’d found himself, digging through the archives that the Order of the Sword possessed, more than a little invested in finding out what -if anything- they could tell him about where his beloved father had disappeared to. To this day, Vergil had no idea where Sparda was or what had become of him, and it drove him slightly insane to consider it for any length of time. While it was realistic to assume that he had died and that he simply would never know, Vergil found it incredibly difficult to do so. After all, if the legendary Dark Knight Sparda had been struck down in combat against some unknown advisory, shouldn’t every demon in the underworld know about it? In all the time he’d spent in that accursed place, he’d never once heard such a rumor pass through circulation. The underworld worked on a different time rhythm than the human world did. Their little three day excursion turning into six weeks had been a perfect example of that. What was less than half a century to a seemingly immortal population?

He needed to stop thinking about it. The children needed to be returned to their parents. And he needed to find something to eat before he became even more irritable than he already was. After all, it was far too early to develop such a negative disposition towards the rest of his day. He hadn’t even ran into Dante yet. No, he had to pace himself or this day, like every other day, would get the better of him. There were too many possible undesirable outcomes to contend with to get so befuddled before even parting ways with his bed. He would get the children dressed and ready to meet back up with the rest of their family, and then he would plan accordingly from there. But first, the breakfast bar. He truly did need a snack.

For the sake of the hotel, he hoped they had something with blueberries in it…

(-~-)

Sun pierced the delicate green leaves as a cool breeze blew in from the north. The mountains parted, allowing an ample forest to line its borders. The creek that snakes across the ground in front of them had originated farther up the pass, it’s spawning point basically invisible from where they currently stood. And all the while V couldn’t help but wonder how in the hell he had allowed himself to be talked into this group hiking trip with the girls.

Nero had cited a desire to spend a few hours alone with Kyrie, a request that had garnered a few surprised looks and a teasing whistle from Dante, but they had resolved to head out without him, leaving the young devil hunter to his devices and at the mercy of his lovely domestic partner. Dante had decided to stay behind as well, stating that there was something he wanted to look into. While V was certain that probably had something to do with the fact that the girls hadn’t invited Vergil on this trip due to his lack of presence at the time they had decided to embark on it, he still wasn’t sure why he had decided to come at all. There had never been a time in his entire life that he had aspired to go hiking. Yes, he did enjoy nature in all it’s wild splendor, but he was also woefully clumsy, and clambering up a steep embankment was liable to get him injured in one way or another.

The group had stopped for a moment to catch their breaths when Patty chimed in, more than likely uncomfortable with the silence that had settled over the group. He’d realized that she was the talkative sort practically the moment he’d first seen her, though they had yet to actually introduce themselves to one another. She seemed friendly enough from what he could tell, however, and the others clearly adored her. The young blond woman had been around for quite some time and it showed.

“Ok, so like, I’ve just gotta ask… Does anyone know where we're going?” Patty asked as she gestured to the wide open space around them. She was clearly taken aback by the expanse laid out before her.” Because I like walking around in the woods as much as the next girl, but if I have to get Dante to find us out here or something, it’s going to be super embarrassing and he is never going to let me live it down. You know how he gets.”

“Look, your guess is as good as mine, Blondy. I don’t live here, either. Not even close.” Nico shrugged as she stood up from fixing her shoe. She’d managed to get caught on a fallen branch, and was having a hell of a time picking all the little pieces of debris out of her foot. “What I can tell ya is that V has a magic chicken, and that magic chicken is gonna help us find our way back if we get lost. It’s about the only thing it’s good for besides roasting over a campfire on a stick. A big stick because it’s a big chicken.”

V sighed, already aware that his avian companion wasn’t going to take that comment lying down. He could feel Griffon itching for a fight already, and he was still in his dormant form. The second he manifested, he was probably going to raise hell. For whatever reason, the mouthy bird had a special type of hate reserved for those who referred to him as a chicken. Perhaps he didn’t enjoy the idea of being edible? If so, he was in for a rude awakening if Shadow ever got particularly hungry…

As expected, Griffon suddenly materialized in front of him, clearly riled up and ready for a fight. His beautiful iridescent blue wings sparked it traces of electricity as he flapped furiously in place, shooting Nico an especially angry look. She just stared back at him, he hands on her hips. “You got somethin’ to say, lil chicke? Because you look upset. Better cool off before you roast yourself from the inside out.”

“Why you- now you look here missy, I’m no chicken! I’ll have you know, I was very dangerous in my heyday. You wouldn’t have wanted to mess with me when I was a few hundred sizes bigger!”

Nico shrugged, unthreatened by the mouthy bird. Picking fun at him was one of her favorite pastimes.” Then I would've just needed a bigger net… and a much bigger grill, because it sounds like there would’ve been leftovers! Now unless you're gonna help me fix my boot, go bother Trish or somethin’. I’m a lil busy.”

Griffon mumbled something under his breath about how he’d like to help her, earning him a stern look from V. While the summoner knew he wouldn’t actually do anything to Nico and she wouldn’t do anything to him, he still didn’t need him getting any ideas. Griffon was a crafty sort, and basically everything he did had some sort so wicked streak involved. The last thing he needed was Griffon accidentally igniting some of the dry underbrush and setting the entire forest alight. V had come there to enjoy the splendor and spectacle of nature, not destroy it. Rampant industrialization would do that at some point in the future without any needed input from him. All he needed to do at the moment was not trip over any of the rocks as he made his way to the precipice of the hill. 

Supposedly, there was a lake up ahead. That was the entire reason he’d hauled his beach gear all the way out there. After spending an entire day at the beach, the rest of the team had come to the conclusion that hanging out at the beach for hours at a time with nothing of real substance to entertain themselves with got relatively dull surprisingly quick. And while the pristine waters of the bay area and the shops were fun to look at and good at taking them for every cent that they owned, the forest provided much appreciated things like privacy, shade, and silence. The forest was obscenely quiet compared to the boardwalk, almost uncomfortably so. V almost had to almost physically fight off the urge to smirk as he considered all the quality reading time he might get in during this little expedition. Maybe camping was worth it after all…

“So, I don’t think we’ve talked before! I’m Patty Lowell. And your… um?”

It genuinely took V a minute to register that the young blond woman was talking to him. While they were not particularly far apart in age, he was considerably taller than her, so she just slid below his range of detection without much real effort on his part. That and her talkative nature had earned her a spot on his list of people that he tended to tune out. He had nothing against her, but he just liked to hear the silence inside of his own head every now and then. From what he could tell, she was quite nice, however.

“My apologies, Patty. You can call me V. I intended to introduce myself sooner, but I was… preoccupied.” He said, leaning over slightly to get a better look at her. She looked up at him and smirked, nodding in approval. He didn’t seem to need to elaborate any further as to what had held him up. Still, he was somewhat surprised upon reflection that he had managed to make it through an entire train ride and a dinner with her present without speaking to her even once. He wondered for a moment if she thought he was avoiding her. Hopefully that wasn’t the case.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you! I didn’t think Dante had any family for years before you and Nero showed up. He used to seem so sad sometimes, but now there’s four of you guys! Who would've ever guessed that would happen?” Patty seemed elated as she practically skipped along the path next to him. Despite his towering height compared to her, his commitment to careful foot placement meant that he had to walk considerably slower than he normally did. He didn’t feel like falling on the loose rocks that dotted the river banks they were walking near.” Your his… nephew, right? Like, your Nero’s brother? Older or younger? I bet you're older. I don’t know why, maybe you just seem like you're more mature or something.”

V shrugged slightly and nodded. He wasn’t entirely sure if he’d consider himself more mature than Nero. Perhaps he thought things through a little longer before enacting his plans, but his younger sibling was bright and capable in his own right. Not to mention the responsibility he’d helped take on by helping Kyrie adopt the children. Where were they, by the way? He was willing to bet that little Carlo would enjoy the woods. Maybe they would meet up with them later?

“You’d be correct in that assessment. I am slightly older, although by what margin, I can’t say. We have different mothers.” V said simply, cursing himself internally as the ascended the steepest part of the embankment. The lake was becoming more visible now, though it seemed to be closer to the size of a very large pond than a lake, per say.

Patty made a face as though he’d just told her something absolutely scandalous. He could tell she was being dramatic on purpose, but she’d done so nonetheless and it was honestly somewhat entertaining how animated and excitable she was. To be fair, the idea that Vergil had managed to get multiple members of the opposite sex in bed with him during his youth while Dante had no children of his own was quite interesting in its own right. Maybe she wasn’t too off base after all.

As they reached the top of the hill and approached the pond, V took in the area around him. The scent of fresh water and wet leaves permeated the air as unseen birds chirped and crickets rubbed their legs together to produce their melodious song. Despite the ever present fact that the forest was simply uncomfortable quiet still nagging at the edges of his subconscious, he decided to push his concerns aside for a little while and try to relax. He was determined to make the most out of the situation, especially considering the way yesterday had gone, and it seemed that everyone else was, too.

He could only hope that Nero and Kyrie didn’t make… well, anything else.

Three was enough, as far as he was concerned.

The compact house they called home simply wasn’t big enough for any new editions.

(-~-)

Well, this was fun to write! Only two or three chapters left of the Beach Arc, and then they return… and then the fun really begins. Cue the Phantom of the Opera theme, because things are about to get… dramatic.

[bestfriendforhire]

Children of BFFH, Entry 56

 Looking over the imperfections in the stone of the large pillars holding up St Giles’ Cathedral, I kept reminding myself to stay calm.  Yesterday had started off well, despite the quadruplets’ absence.  Doc had shown us some of the history around Hadrian’s Wall, such as Coria at what might have been its height.  After she had reached the right era, she was able to stay focused on it as we continued along the wall.  Unfortunately, Alaric showed up, and I was stuck deflecting his attention from the rest of the group before he distracted any of the others.

 Today, my parents had business with the Scottish Parliament while the rest of us toured Edinburgh.  The rest of the adults had left us in the company of David again, who didn’t have a clue how to handle Alaric even as well as I did, so Four easily persuaded David that we should split up when Alaric wanted to rush ahead from the start, quite obviously to avoid Crazy—who had grown irritated when Alaric kept trying to command what Doc showed us.  At least Four, Messy, and Deo joined Alaric and me this time.

 Wrapping his arm around my shoulders after he unceremoniously plopped down beside me, Alaric said, “Come on, Aid, let’s get out of here.  No one will care.”  He often acted like I was his favorite, which wasn’t because we were only a month apart in age.  Alaric was aware that he was growing slightly stronger than me physically, and loved to demonstrate it.  Four was his actual favorite, for obvious reasons, made obvious by Alaric’s tendency to simply accept what Four said with no argument.

 I barely kept myself from sighing.  The reason we weren’t moving on from the cathedral before the others were done with Greyfriars Bobby was due to Messy wanting to see the history of the cathedral as much as Ella had wanted to see the actual terrier.  With Messy wanting to stay, Four was instantly on her side, which meant getting stuck alone with Alaric yet again or being obstinate and risking Alaric causing a scene.

 “Fine.  Scott Monument or Edinburgh Castle?” I questioned, already planning to beg Messy to show me what I missed later.

 “The castle, of course!” exclaimed Alaric, standing up with a grin.

 “I’ll come along too.” announced Deo to my surprise.

 “That’s the spirit, my elven friend!” exclaimed Alaric as he gave Deo a rough hug.

 Today, Deo had chosen the appearance of what could easily pass for an elven boy.  He was slightly taller than me, his hair was long and straight, and he had pointed ears partially hidden under his hair.  Even his outfit might pass for elven if examined closely.  There were runes from Middle Earth’s Elvish embroidered in silver along the hems of his shirt, which could easily pass for a tunic, and he was wearing black leggings as well.  I had been wanting to ask him all day if Aspy had put him up to the look, but I didn’t want Alaric butting into the conversation.

 “Are you sure you don’t mind seeing Doc’s visions?” I questioned, giving Deo another out.

 He shrugged under Alaric’s arm.  “I’ll just get someone to show me later.  We don’t see Alaric often, right?”

 If Alaric had my abilities, he would’ve noticed the wink that made me certain Deo was doing this for me.  I’d need to come up with something extra special for Deo’s birthday this November.  I projected a :Thank you.: into his head as we walked toward the door, receiving an :Anytime.: in return.  Four and Messy obviously heard us from where they were lounging, so I didn’t need to tell them where we were going, or why.

 :You really don’t need to give in to his whim.: stated Messy, sounding concerned.  :Restraining him wouldn’t be too hard, especially if Valeria pockets him.:

 :Everyone will be happier this way.: I replied, appreciating the thought.

 :You won’t.: she argued.

 :I’ll be fine if you show me what I missed later.: I assured her.

 :Gladly.: she told me, smiling.  Though most of the others could show me some of what I was about to miss, Messy’s memory was at least as good as mine, probably better.  She’d be able to give me every detail perfectly.

 Stepping out into the bustling, cobbled street, I did my best not to pay too much attention to what I felt around us.  Sensing heat in such a large area granted me knowledge of  too many private moments, leading Mother and I to have many awkward conversations that my siblings never had.  Mother preferred being aware over blocking things out, but she still taught me a trick to dull the sensation somewhat by attempting to focus that awareness on a specific point or person down to the molecular level.  Boring as that exercise was, it did help somewhat.

 When Alaric randomly decided to head right onto Bank Street, I asked “What are you doing?”

 “Let’s have some food!” he exclaimed.

 “It’s barely eleven.  Are you really that hungry?” questioned Deo, seeming as surprised as I was.

 “Doesn’t Marco tell you to try food wherever you go?  I’ve never tried anything Scottish before, so might as well now.” insisted Alaric with a grin.

 “Or later when we meet my parents for dinner.” I pointed out.

 “Then too, but we’re here now and have some time.  You know they’ll spend hours at the cathedral.” he insisted, sauntering over to a bar, and holding the door open for us.

 Stopping Deo before he walked inside, I said, “You know we’re not going to drink, so why here if you want food?”  The heat from the kitchen showed me a surprising variety of foods being prepared.  This place was obviously a restaurant as much as a bar, but I wanted to know what Alaric was doing.

 Alaric sighed and informed us “I got us a table here before I even asked you to come along.  You probably already see the food, so just step inside already.  You really hate surprises, don’t you.  Fine.  I also arranged for us to take a more convenient tour of the castle.”  Being a Slayer, he could communicate telepathically with most anyone descended from a Slayer, even poring through their memories like a film or forcing them to act as he wished.

 “Thank you, Alaric.” I replied, relieved that we weren’t here to cause someone trouble.  I refrained from telling him that I wasn’t a fan of his surprises as often as not, but I went ahead and followed Deo inside.  There were a few surprised looks from the patrons who noticed three kids walking in alone, but the gray-haired man with the neatly trimmed beard was obviously expecting us, nodding his head to Alaric before guiding us to a table.  I did my best not to grimace when he nodded low to me as well.

 To the Slayer family, I was a prince, thanks to Father retrieving Excalibur years ago, but we did our best not to get involved with that idea, despite Alaric being the head of the Slayer family.  Surprisingly, even he couldn’t dismiss the notion outright, since an elder Slayer had established it.  I was just thankful none of the staff back in Caerllion bowed anymore.  Father hadn’t cared for it, and Mother helped him find a way to dismiss the custom without upsetting anyone.  Unknown to most, the land would thrive forever due to Father’s connection to the sword.

 The moment we sat down, food started coming out of the kitchen.  I recognized the haggis being served with turnips and potatoes, though I hadn’t tried it before, but I didn’t know the white soup, which smelled of haddock and potatoes.  Then there was a baked salmon with onions and bacon, black pudding, and grouse.  I took a few pictures to upload with my guesses at the recipes later.  Marco always liked to see how our cooking skills were progressing, and he could probably pinpoint the exact recipe purely from my memory when I would share the sensations with him later.

 The food continued to come for well over an hour, much to the astonishment of the few patrons who were still nursing their alcohol.  I unfortunately knew the details of how Deo was managing to keep up so well with a few trips to the restroom.  His control over his body was as disturbing as it was incredible.  Of course, many would find the way I could incinerate food in my stomach to be disturbing as well.

 After thanking the proprietor, we made our way to Edinburgh Castle without any other surprises.  Then we took a somewhat leisurely tour of the castle before I warned Alaric that the other group had arrived.  Surprisingly, he agreed to get them the same tour, though he still didn’t want to wait for them.  He probably was hoping they’d be delayed until dinner with Doc allowed to touch what she wished to see into the past.  Whatever his plan, the day could have gone much worse.

[x-fantasy-is-my-reality-x]

Attack on Titan Short Story Collection: Towels

               The thudding of many pairs of soggy boots clamored down the halls of the Survey Corps. Screams echoed loudly down the empty pathways; today was the mandatory legion-wide training day, which had ended up in a massive rainstorm. Despite the raging weather, Erwin refused to let anyone inside until all the drills were finished. Thus, they had trained hours into the torrent, which only seemed to get worse as it progressed. Everyone was soaked, recruits, squad leaders, Captain Levi, and even the Commander. And the moment the stubborn, blond-haired man announced that training was over, it was a free for all to the showers.

               The boys and girls had branched off, the females noticeably calmer than the males. Throwing aside rank, everyone stampeded to the restrooms, which there were only two of in the entire place. One for the girls and one for the boys. The doors were slammed open, Jean and Eren scrambling at each other to be first followed by the other recruits, the elder members of the Corps a little less eager than the newer soldiers to be drawn into a wild boxing match for a shower. Poor Armin was nearly stampeded over, only saved by Mike as he grabbed his arm before he could fall.

               “Hey! I got here first horse-face!” Eren snarled at Jean, pushing at him with his shoulder. They had both simultaneously chosen the same shower head. Most of the males clumped together with their familiar groups, leaving the 104th in the rightmost corner of the area.

               And of course, leaving a bunch of teenage boys to roam free to fight for a bath would end in nothing but chaos. There was only about one waterspout for every three heads, and everybody was chilled to the bone. Whoever was last would get no hot water. To save space, Erwin had torn down all the stalls, but being in a mass of drenched men arguing naked in front of each other didn’t seem to bother them as much as not being able to wash off all the filthy rainwater and mud.

               “I’m freezing!” Connie whimpered, covering himself.

               “Come on guys, why can’t we just all take turns?” Reiner tried to separate the Eren and Jean, who were about to start throwing punches.

               “He started it!”

               “Try that again, you suicidal maniac!”

               “What the Hell did you just call me?!”

               Meanwhile, the shy Bertholdt just tried to quietly sneak under a showerhead without being shoved into a wall, all the while pieces of soap started flying in the air as Jean and Eren started going at each other, ignoring Reiner and Armin. Connie, the shortest male there, was nearly trampled to death as other teenagers joined in, desperately brawling for a shower.

               The older soldiers weren’t having much better luck either.

               “Gunther! I got here first!” Olou growled as the two had a stare-off. Eld, who had managed to get there before either of them, just sighed as he water poured over his head watching them bicker.

               Captain Levi and Commander Erwin were the last to make it, though immediately two showers opened up since no one wanted to face the short man’s wrath. He already looked murderous, with deeper bags around his eyes than usual, probably from shouting at all the recruits and rescuing them from breaking their necks the entire day. Erwin didn’t look much better; his usually neat golden hair was in disarray, and he too looked exhausted. Neither of them even bothered to comment on the chaos. People were wrestling on the floor, and objects flew around smacking random people in the face.

               Mike, who was lucky enough to get a shower since he was so large no one wanted to fight him, stood gazing at the wall, not seeming to be leaving anytime soon. Another soldier, Gelgar, was in a heated debate with Hange’s assistant, Moblit, both under the same shower as another pair of soldiers tumbled at their feet.

               The younger soldiers were beginning to push into their superiors’ space, but Levi still didn’t spare them a second glance. As long as they stayed the Hell away from him he didn’t care, he just wanted to get out of the damn monkey house as quickly as possible. After watching a good portion of them fail in ways he never thought possible during training, he was more than ready to retreat to his private quarters and settle down with a steaming cup of tea. Their shrieking was tolerable, for now. Either way, he could just give them a punishment sometime later when he didn’t feel like collapsing under a flood of water. It had been so busy lately, preparing for their next expedition that he hadn’t slept a blink in four days. Most of the higher-level officers had barely slept, too.

               Their fighting still hadn’t reached him yet, since everyone gave him and Erwin a wide berth. Levi still had enough energy to glare at them after all. Still, there were other things he would have rather done than stand completely nude in the middle of a bunch of aggravated soldiers fighting each other for a goddamn shower. And the people who had won their showers didn’t seem to be wanting to leave anytime soon, since it had been a good fifty degrees outside, pouring frigid water on everyone. Eventually, the disagreements began to cease.

               Everything was de-escalating until someone had the genius idea to twist a wet towel and deliver a stinging blow to some unfortunate soul’s behind. Levi was still scrubbing the soap out of his hair with his eyes scrunched shut when a loud slap echoed across the bathhouse, seeming to emitted from the corner with Eren and the others. He wasn’t sure exactly who did it, but once he found out he was going to shove it so far up their ass that they’ll be shitting pieces of it for a week. The slap was immediately followed by a shrill screech, and then everything fell apart. Every boy under the age of seventeen decided that wet towel blows were the only way to go, and scrambled madly for their linen.

                “I’m not dying here!” Connie howled, waving it around him wildly, hitting a few people who couldn’t dodge fast enough. Unfortunately, Armin happened to be standing close enough with his back turned to be hit directly across the thighs, and he tumbled down wailing.

                Jean and Eren were still locked in battle, this time trying to strangle each other with towels instead of fists. Several unlucky people who were close enough got caught in the crossfire, and everyone began invading each other’s spaces. Moblit slipped as he was backing up, falling backwards onto Levi who was then pushed into Erwin, the latter who seemed to be dozing off under the showerhead.

                Hurling obscenities at the terrified assistant, the quick-tempered captain thrust him off and stormed towards the middle of the conflict, leaving Erwin extremely confused as to how he ended up flat on his back on the floor and Moblit on the verge of fainting.

                “Hey you pieces of horseshit, cut it out!” The senior members all shrunk back when he passed, but most of the younger ones didn’t seem to notice him over all the hollering. He was nearly knocked over when Bertholdt tumbled backwards, dragging Reiner with him when he stumbled over someone hunched on the floor.

                “I said,” Levi inhaled, and his squad all held their breaths, wincing as they prepared for what was coming. “SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I WILL GIVE ALL OF YOU SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT!”

                That was when a sharp, stinging pain erupted on his ass, undoubtedly from someone’s stray towel.

                The entire room fell silent as he processed what the Hell just happened. Even Eren and Jean had stopped quarreling to gawk in horror at the fuming man standing in the middle of a pile of wet bodies. At that moment anyone in the room would have preferred to be devoured by a Titan than to wait for what was to inevitably come.

                We’re so screwed, was the only thing that flashed through everyone’s mind at that instant.

                “All of you shitheads,” He said dangerously low, anger radiating off him and killing every hope of survival they ever had. No one had thought it was possible that someone that small could ever hold that much terror. “ARE GOING TO BE SHITTING TOWELS FOR THE NEXT FUCKING MONTH!”

                None of the recruits from the 104th Cadet Core had ever felt the agony of being whipped by a wet towel going one hundred miles per hour, and no one ever would since that day.

***

                “Why are they all standing?” Christa whispered to Ymir, who just shrugged nonchalantly.

                “I dunno. When are they not being weird?”

                “And why is Captain Levi scowling like that?”

                The Titan-slayer had a good thirty feet radius around him, and even the Commander was a bit fearful to sit within that distance. They had seen horrors that would haunt their nightmares for all of eternity that night. Some of the older Scouts who had not been fast enough to escape his reach also fell under his rage, and most were grumbling cautiously to the ones lucky enough to be able to sit down without feeling like someone had set fire to their backsides. All the girls could only stare curiously at the males, most of whom were standing up with their meals and wincing with every move.

                “Hey Connie,” Sasha leaned over to him, talking softly. Even she was affected by the unusual atmosphere. “Why did most of you guys limp in here? What happened?”

                Connie could only mumble something about towels and the devil, and none of the other boys seemed any more responsive to the probing.

                “Let’s just say, none of those brats know how to really whip a towel,” Levi stalked past, smirking smugly as he went to go wash his plates.

                And no one dared to place their towel within his reach in the bathhouse since that day.