#so glad we lose actual specificity and meaning for what amounts to a uniform

[bardandbear]

warning: DAV negativity

John: "So a couple of things, just to be super clear on this. There is no 'city elf/dalish elf' switch (for example) that you can pick in character creator.

I literally can't imagine a worse dragon age game to not differentiate the background options between dalish and city elf. WHY would you do this bioware? WHY? Best case scenario we're going to see an amalgamation of Dalish knowledge to general 'elf' knowledge (again, WHY???) or at worst we're getting Who's Mythal on steroids. I don't know which one I detest more.

[pridewhatpride]

"rival"

There you are. You. Asking for a GX Rivalshipping drabble with 'Rival' as a keyword. Here you go. I hope you're happy ;; The length is around 2k words.

Special thanks to @deadkura for proofreading, but I note that any and all mistakes are on me. They were just... my poor lab rat. Apologies, my friend.

That aside, there are no warnings that need to be given, this is light-hearted in tone. Nobody dies and nobody gets hurt, aside from Shou who happens to be there at some point and just succumbs to the need to get on with some semblance of a plot.

... It's on Ao3 because why not. Here.

The story is below the cut! Enjoy (or don't)!

____ ____ ____

Manjoume could vaguely remember the first time he’d watched the Battle City recordings. He couldn’t remember when it had been exactly, but he did know he’d been at a classmate’s house with a bunch of other kids. He had a faint memory of being pressed up against other children, all of them shouting and cheering along as the duel between Seto Kaiba and Yugi Mutou came to a roaring end.

… It had been noisy. And he’d found himself mildly annoyed. Not that the duel didn’t have him on the edge of his seat- quite the opposite. He was completely mesmerised by the unforgiving tornado of grace that was Seto Kaiba, most of all. Perhaps that was why he’d found the others to be so bothersome in that specific instance. It seemed very rude to him that they would take him out of the experience with their screams. Was that fun? Was it supposed to be fun? Was he simply out of the loop? Should he have been screaming, too?

The thing he could recollect with a surprising amount of clarity was some kid who’d grabbed his arm to get him off the couch. To this day, he still had no clue what his name was.

“Jun! Come on, I want to play Yugi! You can be Kaiba!”

He remembered muttering something about the suggestion being extremely stupid. The kid wasn’t Yugi Mutou and neither of them possessed any Duel Monsters cards. What was the point of just replicating what they had just watched on screen? They could just… rewatch the scene. But the kid had seemed to be very set on the idea and when Manjoume looked around to see expectant looks on the others’ faces, he ended up giving in. He remembered thinking something along the lines of: ‘Why me?’ And even in retrospect, it made very little sense. He’d never played with this specific kid before. He was a friend of a friend- or a friend of someone he thought was a friend at the time.

“Why do I have to do this?” He had ended up asking, not hiding any sign of his annoyance. “Because you’re like Kaiba!” “I am?” “Yeah! You always say mean things like him! And Taro says you’re like… super rich.”

The rest was a bit of a blur, but he remembered being the ‘Kaiba’ of the group, for as long as it lasted. Which wasn’t a very long time, admittedly. But it had been the one and only ‘friend group’ he’d found himself being a part of, up until he’d entered the dueling circuits, when people started sucking up to him either because of his early successes or just to see what could be squeezed out of the youngest of the Manjoume brothers.

Reminiscing about things like that was… weird, to say the least. He wondered why he’d been that stuck up, even as a kid. He just couldn’t figure out what exactly had made him believe that acting like he was above everyone else could get him anywhere at all. Of course he was aware of the futility of the act, now that he’d grown up and a few years had passed, but it turned out that knowing something on a rational level does not, in fact, equal being able to put it into practise.

… He knew why he was doing what he was doing, anyways. It had stopped being meanness for the sake of being mean when he knew he could get away with it and had stepped into habit territory. And he hadn’t been allowed to go to Duel Academy so that he could make friends who shared the same hobby. He had imagined that 3 years could go by in the blink of an eye if he got involved as little as possible. All that mattered was winning duels, right? And the last thing he needed in order to do that was to start caring about his opponent’s feelings, really.

The thing he hadn’t really considered was that, maybe, his winning streak wouldn’t last forever. He should have known that the outcome of a duel did not depend entirely on how driven one was. It was still fucking annoying to have to see everyone’s surprised- no, incredulous faces upon seeing him finally defeated. Finally, yes. Clearly people had been waiting for nothing more than to see him brought to his knees. It turned out they had firmly believed he had no actual merits outside of his family connections. They had their long-awaited confirmation. He’d lost a single fucking duel. Obviously he was nothing but a blowhard.

Well, good. Whatever. He couldn’t have cared less.

What did infuriate him, however, were the words that the idiot who’d defeated him had exclaimed, entirely unaware of the fact that he’d just completely crushed everything Manjoume had tried to build for himself.

“That was a fun duel! We have to do this again some time!”

He hadn’t cared to stay behind to listen to anything else the other had to say. The guy clearly hardly had a clue where he was or what he was studying to become. Who had allowed that moron to smile like that while trampling his pride? How the fuck had Manjoume let himself be defeated by someone like that?

May the fucker go to hell. Him and his dumb red uniform. Everyone in the Academy. They could fucking die for all he cared. And Manjoume would have probably laughed at the sight.

He really thought he would have. And yet.

As he was going over his deck, sitting with his back against a tree, doing his best to avoid anyone and everyone, he heard footsteps approaching, accompanied by two voices he felt he knew.

“Aniki, I still can’t believe you beat that guy- he’s an Obelisk Blue- and the top ranking first year at that!” … Is this- “He is? Well, that checks out, he was pretty tough.” That’s- Yuki Judai. No doubt about it. “But you beat him.” … Because that needed to be pointed out, how insightful. “Doesn’t everyone lose at least once?” No. “Not against Osiris Red students!” Exactly. “… Why does that even matter in the first place?” It just fucking does, asshole. “Because! A top student isn’t supposed to lose against just anyone, Aniki! I don’t think he took that well.” … Who the fuck would. “Why, though. He didn’t duel poorly or anything. We were pretty evenly matched, there shouldn’t be shame in that.” “Doesn’t that just make it worse?” “… Does it?”

He’d known they were about to pass him, but didn’t bother getting up or making it look like he hadn’t heard anything. He’d clearly been right about this Yuki guy. A complete idiot who clearly understood nothing of what it meant to be a duelist. He glared at the two as they walked by.

… Ah, so the other was Marufuji. A failure younger brother, much like him. How ironic. The boy looked absolutely devastated to see him, too. What, wasn’t expecting the woods to have ears, eyes and a blue uniform?

He furrowed his eyebrows as Yuki abandoned his carefree walking posture, disentangling his fingers from behind his nape and letting his arms drop to his sides. And then proceeded to point straight at him, as if he’d just seen a mythological creature prancing about. Tch.

“It’s Manju!”

… Was that supposed to be a joke? Why was his first thought that that would make for an awful pet name?

After a second of silence, he decided there would be no harm in responding as he usually would to his name being tossed around improperly. “It’s Man-jou-me,” he corrected, making it a point to hold a hand up to count the three syllables as he spelled them out. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not actually food.”

Marufuji’s hands shot up to cover his face, at least he had the decency to be embarrassed for his friend. … But Yuki just laughed. “What! My name isn’t so forgettable that you’d just mistake it for dessert, asshole!” And laughed harder. “I-“ he paused to catch his breath. Manjoume looked on, entirely unimpressed. Hopefully. “Look- look, I’m not the best with names, I didn’t-“ a loud exhale. “I didn’t mean to make fun of you, I swear.” “… Sure you didn’t.” He tried to keep his voice as hostile as he could. But he… couldn’t fully bring himself to shut the guy down. He supposed his laughter was just contagious.

“Glad that’s settled!” He turned around to face a barely still present Marufuji. “See, Shou? The guy isn’t so bad!” Ah. Right. It had almost slipped his mind. “Aniki- please, I get it, there is no need-!”

“I’ll be winning the next one, anyways,” he said as he got up. And that, apparently, was enough to get both boys to gape uselessly. For half a second. Because before anything else could be said, Yuki shot him a thumbs up and a wide smile. “I’m counting on it, Manjoume!” He couldn’t stop himself from smirking back.

It didn’t take long for rumours to spread about a supposed rivalry between himself and Yuki Judai. It turned out that most off the students of the Academy had very little to do aside from gossiping about such things, which was honestly just a disappointment. Perhaps that was why Judai ended up growing on him, despite everything. While he wasn’t necessarily serious or studious by any means, he was… passionate. He meant it when he said that he was looking to have fun and, to an extent, it was admirable. Enjoy the game no matter the outcome. Easier said than done. But in a sense it was… pleasant to get along with and play against someone who was so different from him.

On one specific evening, they had ended up staying out, discussing strategies and dispensing sarcastic advice- or at least that was what Manjoume was doing. Judai actually seemed quite intent on asking how he’d built his deck and why he’d chosen certain card combos rather than others. They had had a match a few hours prior and Manjoume had surprised him with some new faces. Manjoume Jun was a lot of things and predictable wasn’t one of them. And if the way Judai’s face lit up whenever he pulled a surprise play was anything to go by… it was clearly a trait he appreciated immensely, which it was something that made him swell up with pride. To the point where, when switching out cards, he would often find himself thinking about what Judai’s reaction would look like upon the big reveal of his new strategy.

“It’s always my pleasure to be your lab rat, Manjoume.” The response came in the form of a light shove. “Oh shut up, I like testing out things and, clearly, so do you.” Judai’s laugh rang out, light and unintrusive. “You’re right about that, at least.”

They spent some minutes silently studying eachother’s decks. Manjoume had been about to comment on the card ratio, before Judai blurted out something that made him forget all about it. “We’re kind of like Yugi and Kaiba.” And then a necessary addition, judging by the urgency in his voice. “If they had been actual friends, that is.” … Huh. One of his eyebrows shot up. “Don’t tell me it’s because you win most of the times and I’m a stuck up asshole who also happens to be rich.” Judai laughed, as he always did. And it was only fair that after being shoved earlier he’d playfully punch Manjoume’s shoulder. “That could be one way to look at it, I guess.”

A small pause followed. And the increase in intensity of the sound of shuffling cards suggested that Judai was… nervous. “What I meant to say is that we’re rivals. Like them.” Majoume scoffed, without any actual bite, his eyes set on a Polymerisation copy. “That isn’t specific to them. Isn’t it just… normal? To have someone you want to defeat, I mean?” “Hah, so you admit I’m the role model you’re striving to overcome!” “I didn’t say anything of the sort, dumbass.” “… Well, for me… playing with you keeps the game fun.”

Manjoume actually looked away from the Elemental Heroes he’s been adamantly staring at. He turned to face Judai, who seemed to have been looking his way for some time.

He would do that a lot. Make a joke, get a snarky reply and immediately say something serious afterwards. What an idiot.

Fun he said, huh? “Not that it isn’t fun in and of itself, but it’s different, I guess. I find that I actually do want to win, when I’m up against you.” Judai’s hand moved to play with his bangs. “I didn’t think I’d ever think twice about a lost duel, but I… kind of do, now.”

“Oh yeah, sorry- Welcome to the magical world of normal people who don’t necessarily win every single time.” “You speak like I’m not the only one who’s beaten you.” “So do you, asshat.” Judai’s expression morphed back into a smile. “It’s refreshing to have a genuine challenge. If you were to quit I would probably lose my interest in playing, too.”

Ah. That part of the Yugi-Kaiba rivalry. He felt like he started to understand.

“Keep dreaming, Judai. I’m not quitting anytime soon. I vowed to never let you off the hook.”

He thought of what he could or should say next. A part of him suggested: ‘You make it fun for me, too.’ That wasn’t in his style, however.

“But I have to agree. I’d get really bored if winning were to become too easy. You’ll die before I allow you to quit, Judai.”

[aes-k]

The Murderer From Block D

Characters mentioned: Min Yoongi, Jackson Wang, Park Jimin

Genre: Thriller(?)

Summary: A wide-eyed boy begins his new job at the SDC, little does he know there’s a big storm that lies ahead.

Words: 2K

‘In Korea's most populated maximum security prison, Seoul Department of Corrections Facility, there are four blocks separating inmates based on their offenses.  Each block is guarded by a team of special ops specifically trained for the area and is on watch by both men and security cameras 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.  They are listed as followed:

Block A:  Inmates are placed here for minor offenses, such as theft, tax evasion, and traffic-related incidents.

Block B:  Inmates are placed here for offenses such as robbery, DUIs, B&E, and drug related charges.

Block C:  Inmates are placed here for charges related to assault, sex trafficking, and gang related violence.

Block D:  Inmates are placed here for battery, assisted suicides, terrorism, and the most popular of all, murder.’

"God dammit, I'm going to be late!!" the boy huffed, throwing his arms up in the car as traffic was at a standstill, once again.  Normally, he wouldn't care too much about it, but today was completely different.  Today was his first day of his new job at the Seoul Department of Corrections Facility, or SDC for short.  After graduating from the military service, he applied to be a police officer in his hometown of Daegu to be closer to family.  But after evaluating his training and paperwork, the police academy decided to transfer the boy to something that would suit him better.

He sighed, putting his left hand forcefully back onto the wheel as he took a sip of his coffee, relieved that traffic was beginning to move slightly, but at the same time not at all.  The radio wasn't going to calm him any, especially since all that was playing at this time of the morning were talk shows, and the fact that he woke up past his alarm didn't make things any better.  He made a mental note to take the alternate route tomorrow.

When he finally arrived, he quickly grabbed his things and rushed out the car door, locking it with his keys as he ran to the door of the facility, careful not to drop any of his scorching hot coffee onto his shirt as he's done once before.  He approached a help desk window, bidding the woman good morning.

"How may I help you, sir?"

"Hi, I'm the new guard, Min Yoongi," he introduced himself, feeling his heart calm a little more now that he was physically inside the building.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Min, I'll grab the Warden for you so you can go through the paperwork and get your uniform, after that you'll be assigned to your qualified block," she smiled, holding up a finger as his sign to wait while she paged the warden.

"Just breathe, Yoongi, it's alright.  You'll only get assigned to some middle aged guy that stole a pack of Viagra from a gas station or something," he mumbled to himself with a slight chuckle, but also found it funny because it might actually be true.

Footsteps caught his attention as he saw an average height blond in uniform walking towards him with a warm smile on his face.  "Are you Mr. Min?" he asked, holding out a hand, "Jackson Wang, I'm the Warden of SDC, it's nice to finally meet with you," he greeted, shaking the pale boy's hand so firmly he thought it might fall off.  "Right this way, if you please," he guided and Yoongi rose, following him into a separate office and taking a seat across from the man's desk.

"So, I see you've done military service, actually a top member of the bomb squad," he raised his eyebrows.  "I never would have imagined."

Yoongi shrugged with a faked laugh.  "Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't handle a big package."

"Well, it looks like you're more trained in physicality than we thought.  You earned an honorary medal, your record is completely clean, and excelled in the physical training as a cadet.  I'm impressed," Jackson commented, setting aside Yoongi's file and opening up a laptop that had every guard on file and their placement.

"It looks like Block A and C are completely filled, so you'll most likely be assigned to B or D, depending on where the hours are needed.  But in the meantime, I'll grab your gear for you and let you get changed in the locker room.  When you get back, I'll have your assignment."

Yoongi nodded and grabbed the uniform from the taller man and walked across the hall to the locker room.  He eyed himself in the mirror with a face full of pride as he put on the black pants and shirt matching in color.  His shoes were shined, and belt neatly tucked in, making him feel like he had just won the lottery.  Putting his things into an unclaimed locker, he headed back into the office where Jackson laid out a few things on his desk for the other.

"Here is your gun, a taser, a pair of handcuffs, pepper spray, a bat, and a walkie.  Oh, and don't forget this," he added, handing Yoongi a gold pin with his name engraved on it, attaching it to the pocket of his left breast.  Now it felt official.

"And it looks like you'll be assigned to Block D, Mr. Min, good luck, and your higher up will meet you near the security room to handle your training hours."  He bid farewell, shaking hands with Yoongi for the last time and leading him out.  Yoongi, being at the SDC for the first time, approached the window near the entrance once more.

"Excuse me, could you direct me to Block D?" he asked with a smile.

The lady's eyes widened, which sparked sudden fear within the boy as she eyed him up and down.  "Down the hall, take the fourth right and you'll hit it head on," she explained.  He bowed and thanked her, but before he began his trek he heard a door shut behind him and fast heels clicking on the floor to see the woman holding out a vest to him.

"You're going to need this for Block D," she looked at him with a worried expression, holding out the vest to him to which he was confused.

"Is this for the training?" he asked with a cocked brow, putting it on and adjusting so it fit tightly.

"D-Do you know what Block D is?" she questioned, almost unable to form words.

Yoongi shook his head.

"It's the murder block.  Death Row."

Pounds were heard on the solid doors that decorated the halls of Block D in response to a sinister laughter that seemed to be heard almost every single day.  The laugh was one of almost a child's, mixed with a pure evil that only few people in this world contained.  It was never directed at anything particular, but it seemed to create only one thing for the person it came from: happiness.  

"Will someone shut him the hell up!"

"Someone outta kill this motherfucker before I do it with my own two hands."

"Park!" yelled an aggravated guard, slamming his baton across the bars that covered the window of the psychopath's door, "shut your damn mouth before we send you to the hole."

More laughter echoed from the room in response, this one was a sound of humor.

"You think I care?  Take me there, tighten those handcuffs around me tighter this time, I like feeling helpless," he teased with a wicked smirk on his face, grabbing the bars around the door.

"Keep laughing, Park," another threatened, "it's one day closer to your execution; we'll see who'll be laughing then," which instantly cut the laughing and caused the boy's jaw to tense.

"I'm glad I won't have to deal with this shit anymore.  Damn fool's making me go insane..."

"What's that?" the inmate tilted his head with a smile, "I'm getting a new toy?"

The guard rolled his eyes.  "I've heard this one's a veteran, Park, he won't play any games with you."

He licked his lips at the thought of some fresh meat entering his territory, already conjuring up plans on how he would mess with the newbie to make him quit his job.  Once he flirted with a new guard and made him so flustered and uncomfortable that he quit the day after he started, much to his accomplishment.

The inmate's name was Park Jimin.  He was in for life for the murder of three people, put on Death Row at only age twenty.  He hadn't committed the biggest crime of Block D, but he was infamous for his mentality; causing everyone around him to lose their shit within minutes each day with his sinister laugh, permanent smirk, and his tendencies to make people undeniably uncomfortable.  

He had pale skin, black hair that almost covered his eyes, and noticeable arm muscles that caused the sleeves of his uniform to tighten around his biceps.  His plump, dark pink lips were constantly chapped due to the amount of times a day he licked them, not having any access to chapstick.  He was only allowed outside for one hour a day, and his meals were brought to him through a slot in his cell door, the only window in the whole room being the one facing into the hallway, never getting to see the light of day until his one hour of daily freedom.

Due to his crimes, Jimin wasn't allowed to have a toothbrush with a handle, nor a razor, nor anything to write with or on.  He was considered highly dangerous, guards near and for his cell always carrying automatic weapons and bulletproof vests, ready to take action in case the boy were to suddenly snap.

He hadn't been in contact with his family since his trial two years ago, and often found himself thinking about them.  He had a younger brother, Jihyun, who was most likely into his second year of high school, and two happy parents who always gave them the world.  If there was one thing Jimin regret about his crimes, it was definitely throwing away the privilege of seeing his family.

Jimin perked up at the sound of two voices and footsteps nearing his cell and he rose from his bed, peaking out the window to find the origin of them to see the Warden and an armored guard nearing him.  A smile grew on his face as he scanned the appearance of the new face, subconsciously biting his lip as he took in his beauty.  He looked very thin and vulnerable, despite his weapon and him being experienced with such a thing, but Jimin couldn't help but think of all the things he would do to the small blonde.

"Park, this is your new assigned guard, Mr. Min," Jackson introduced, patting the shorter on the back.  Yoongi gulped as he made eye contact with his inmate, immediately feeling powerless against the criminal.

"Park Jimin," he introduced himself, smiling even bigger after they were left alone while the other guards prepared a practice range for Yoongi.  The new guard stood directly by the door of Jimin, properly holding his gun without sparing the raven a glance or another word.  To this, Jimin chuckled and leaned towards Yoongi's ear.

"I'm going to have so much fun with you."

[h-eckers]

First of all... Yes

A/N: This was actually requested by @allipotterhead1 (my first request, may I add) and I got a bit carried away but I didn’t want to miss anything out, I hope you like it, I tried my best!

Request: “Jughead x plus size reader, where their relationship is a secret. In which the reader is Kevin's sister and one time they have a heavy make out session and Kevin, Veronica, Betty and Archie just walk in on them and Betty and Veronica are losing their shit because they ship it so hard, Kevin is totally sweet but excited and already plans their future but Archie asks him why he would date someone like her? I know it’s really specific but I can't get this idea out of my head and I'm an awful writer... (And I don't mean to hate on Archie, I really love him, but I love me some good angst)”

Word Count: 2,761 (jeez, this is long)

Warnings: Angst, Archie’s a bit of a dick, there is a swear word, and some makin’ out.

“I’m sorry, Y/N.” Veronica said across the booth at Pop’s, you could tell how genuinely she meant it and you knew how much effort she’d put in to help you out but honestly you weren’t that upset by it. Sure, your confidence took a bit of a hit but hey, you’d expected this outcome going in.

“Yeah, we shouldn’t have pushed you to try out.” Betty looked like she was about to cry she felt so bad about it all but you only smiled and shook your head, “I should have realised Cheryl would do something like that, I understand she’s going through a lot but she doesn’t have to be such a bitch, especially to you.”

“Guys, I swear, I’m totally okay with it. I guessed this would happen anyway, I only tried out because I knew how much you guys wanted me to, and it’s not even my thing. I promise you, I’m 100% fine, girls like me aren’t cheerleaders.” You laughed a little and shrugged, sipping at your milkshake. You definitely weren’t a small girl, no matter how it was put, some people called you ‘plus size’ or ‘chubby’ and other people who wanted to hurt you just called you ‘fat’ but either way it didn’t bother you, you knew who you were and you were also a Keller, so anyone who wanted to screw with you had your father to deal with anyway. Not only that but Kevin had always been incredibly protective of you, and growing up with your brother the way he was meant you developed the perfect amount of confidence.

At about that moment as Betty and Veronica shared a look and calmed down slightly, Jughead jumped over the back of the booth and slipped in beside you knocking the table and almost spilling your milkshake, thanks to your reflexes you managed to steady it before it went everywhere. “Can’t you cool it with the parkour when we’re indoors, Jug?” You asked and he rolled his eyes.

“You’re hilarious.” he said sarcastically, as Archie came and took his seat at the table like any normal person would.

“So, what are we talking about?” Archie asked, leaning back in his chair and looking around at his friends, “Oh, wait, Y/N how did tryouts go?”

“As expected,” you hummed, swirling your straw around in your drink and shrugging, “apparently I’m ‘not a good fit’ for the River Vixens, I think here that means, they don’t have a uniform that would fit me. Not everyone can be a size 2.” You laughed and Betty and Veronica both looked guilty again but you smiled at them reassuringly. Under the table you felt Jughead’s hand slip onto your thigh and you smiled to yourself, he was always so worried about you. You took the opportunity to reassure everyone. Especially Archie who was now looking at you with clear pity. “Jeez, guys, I didn’t get hit by a truck, I’m okay. My heart is not bleeding because I can’t prance around a football field… No offence.” You said to Betty and Veronica but they just laughed.

“So anyway, moving on, are you guys all coming tonight?” Veronica asked, straightening up in her seat as her signature sly smile appeared on her lips.

“I am.” Archie said immediately, smiling back at her. Betty shifted in her seat a little.

“I don’t know, parties aren’t really my thing.” She mumbled, pulling on her sleeves nervously. Veronica’s mouth fell open a little.

“Excuse me, but you are coming Miss Cooper. I have decided. You are way too hot to be locked up in your house constantly.” She smirked and Betty attempted to stutter out a coherent response while she blushed.

“Well, I guess.” She smiled a little, “Y/N, is Kevin going?”

“Why yes, my brother will be attending because if there was ever a place for drama it’s a house party at Thornhill, and he just lives for the drama of it all.” You chuckled and so did your friends.

“I don’t have to ask Jughead if he’s coming.” Archie teased and Jughead smiled an obviously fake smile.

“I would rather skin myself than get involved in your teenage immorality, thanks.”

“Of course you would,” Archie sighed, “but are you coming Y/N?”

“Let’s see,” you stated calmly, “am I going to Cheryl’s party after she- just hours ago- completely rejected me from her cheer squad? I’m gonna go with a solid pass on that. Besides, I have to work on the article for the Blue and Gold.”

“I can help if you want,” Jughead offered, “I was going to work on it anyway.”

“Sure, you can come over if you want, my dad’s got tons of stuff in his office and I know where he hides the key.” You suggested and he nodded once.

“…Alright.” Veronica sighed, “Well, while you two squander the best years of your young lives, we should be getting ready to actually enjoy ourselves.” She smiled and stood up, Betty followed quickly behind her and Archie eventually got up to follow them.

“See you guys tomorrow.” He said, Betty waved and they all left the diner together, you looked over at Jughead and smiled softly, he smiled back.

“I missed you today.” You said and he moved his hand under the table to find yours.

“I missed you too.” The two of you hadn’t really intended to keep your relationship a secret, but when you were working on the Blue and Gold together a few weeks ago and he kissed you, you’d been entirely alone. Since then you’d just decided not to tell anyone, you were both relatively private people and neither of you were in love with the idea of being centre of attention, so you stayed quiet. That and the fact that your father was entirely too protective of you, but you knew he couldn’t help it, he was just worried.

Not long after, you and Jughead left the diner and headed home together, your dad was still at work, and Kevin had already left to meet up with the others by the time you arrived home, since you were alone you set up in the lounge room, you both got out your laptops and the notes you’d been tirelessly working to gather, put on the true crime channel, and got to work.

For the first half an hour you spent your time comparing alibis and statements, piecing together the mystery of Jason Blossom with what information you had. You looked up from your laptop and your boyfriend was looking back at you, biting the end of his pen, completely spaced out. “Uh, earth to Jug,” you laughed, “what are you staring at?”

“You. Obviously.” He said and you scoffed a little, rolling your eyes at him.

“Cute,” you muttered, looking down and trying not to make it obvious that you were blushing, “can you maybe… stop staring at me?”

“What do I get if I do?” He asked and you looked up again only to be met with him smirking at you. ‘Why is he so hot?’ you thought to yourself.

“What do you want?” you asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow towards him as you closed your laptop and put it back on the coffee table in front of the couch you were sitting on.

“Nothing dramatic,” he shrugged, mimicking your action and putting his laptop to the side, “how about a kiss?” he shrugged, pretending to be innocent.

“Are you telling me that all you want is a kiss, and then you’ll stop staring?” You asked and he nodded firmly,

“Don’t you believe me?” he queried and you snickered at him.

“I guess I’m about to find out either way.” You grinned and shuffled over to him on the couch, you leaned in close to him and his arm wound around your waist and pulled you into his lap, you somehow managed to react fast enough to get your legs either side of his so you were straddling him and he smirked at you. “Dude, come on.”

“You can move if you want.” He offered and you just stayed there, pouting a little and blushing, you didn’t want to move and he damn well knew that.

“Shut up.” you mumbled, leaning down to capture his lips, it always felt incredible when you kissed, it wasn’t like it was a rare occurrence or anything but it felt perfect every single time. Your hands slipped up his chest and rested on the side of his neck, his arms moved around you and pulled you in closer until you were pressed against him tightly, you swore you could feel his heart beating. You felt his hands move to rest on your hips, his fingers drawing little patterns against your skin, you shivered and you could feel him smirking against your lips.

While you were off guard he took the opportunity to grab the backs of your thighs and guide you so you were lying down on the couch and he moved so he was hovering over you, smiling down as his eyes ran over your body again. “Juggie!” you whined, blushing, “You’re staring again!”

“Well, you know how to stop me.” He grinned and you rolled your eyes, putting you hand on the back of his neck and pulling him down, connecting your lips again, humming pleasantly at the sensation. He moved against you, getting as close as possible, you bit his lip gently and he grunted quietly, your free hand moved up and you took off his beanie tossing it to the side so you could tangle your fingers into his hair. He moaned softly and you responded by pulling him closer to kiss delicately along his jaw, he was entirely lost to the sensation.

“Uhm, I’m definitely glad we decided to ditch that party.” You heard your brother’s voice and you almost screamed, you pushed Jughead off you and you both scrambled to sit up awkwardly. Neither of you had even heard the door open but it obviously had because Kevin, Archie, Veronica and Betty were all standing in front of you, wide eyed and searching for any words at all.

“I hate to be rude but can you guys like… leave?” You squeaked awkwardly, trying to keep your voice steady. Kevin smirked and herded his friends off towards his room carefully.

“No, wait!” Veronica protested adamantly, “I have so many questions!” but Kevin just lead them away, and you were definitely grateful because you were far too flustered to answer any kind of questions right now.

You entirely avoided everyone the next day, and so did Jughead, neither of you wanted to have to face your friends, but if there was one place unfortunate things were bound to happen it was Riverdale. So later that evening, when they were hiding in the back booth at Pop’s, they were cornered by their friends. “Oh god, please no.” You whined to yourself as they sat down. There was silence for only a moment.

“So, first of all… yes.” Veronica said, smirking widely and Betty was smiling so big it looked painful.

“I am so so happy for you two, this is so perfect!” Betty squeaked, clapping a little and absolutely beaming.

“It’s basically perfect!” Veronica said as though she was stating a scientific fact, “Also, it’s good to finally have confirmation that Jughead actually has feelings.” Veronica teased

“Oh, haha, you’re so funny.” Jughead grumbled, he always had a comeback but you were just sitting there blushing like crazy, thankfully these comments were harmless, embarrassing but it was nice to know your friends supported you.

“I can already see the wedding,” Kevin grinned, “which I assume I will be maid of honour for, and obviously I will have an input in the planning.” He announced, obviously having decided, “The cake has to be red velvet, it’s all about the drama you know. Oh and I already have ideas about the dress.”

“Do tell!” Veronica piped up and your eyes widened and you stood up.

“Okay, well I’m going to the bathroom.” You said hastily, escaping the booth, “I don’t actually have to I just want to escape before you start naming my future children.”

“Actually! About that!”

“No! Kevin oh my god!” You squeaked, shuffling away before anything else could be said.

Once you were gone Veronica turned to Archie, furrowing her brow a little. “Archiekins, why haven’t you said anything? Jealous you aren’t getting anything in the post-Grundy Riverdale?” she joked and he rolled his eyes.

“No, I’m just adjusting, she’s just not the kind of girl I imagined you’d be into is all.” He shrugged and Jughead immediately frowned, turning towards him with an incredulous look.

“Why’s that?” He asked, trying to decipher what he meant.

“Well she’s just... I don’t know, isn’t she a bit big for you.” If Jughead thought he could genuinely take on Archie he would have jumped the table at that exact moment.

“Excuse me?” Kevin snarled at him, Betty and Veronica couldn’t actually think of anything to say, no one had expected that.

“C’mon guys, you know what I mean, she’s just not, I mean…” he stumbled over his words for a moment, “She’s no Betty or Veronica is all I’m saying, visually.”

“No, she’s Y/N.” Betty said, anger lacing her words and burning in her eyes.

“Yeah, and last I checked you don’t have the right to judge.” Veronica scoffed.

“True,” Jughead said calmly, “after all, at least I know her real name, at least she’s my age, and at least she’s not my fucking teacher.” Everything fell silent around the table, completely and entirely silent. Archie opened his mouth to speak and couldn’t, he tried a few times to no avail.

“Jug, I didn’t mean anything by it, I just-” Archie was interrupted as you reapproached, you could cut the tension with a knife and everyone was glaring daggers at Archie, you chuckled nervously.

“Wow, guys, I was only gone like two minutes, what happened?”

“Nothing happened, Y/N.” Jughead said venomously, his eyes never leaving Archie as he spoke, “We’re leaving now.” He stood up and grabbed your hand, you stuttered for a moment, entirely confused.

“Jug, I’m sorry.” Archie called out as you left the diner with your boyfriend, his hand in yours. You could tell he was angry but you were almost afraid to ask.

“What was he sorry for?” You enquired, your voice quiet and he cleared his throat, looking over at you with a tight lipped smile.

“Nothing, babe.” He said quickly, you stopped walking entirely, your hand slipping from his.

“He said something about me didn’t he?” Jug head didn’t answer straight away but his silence was all you needed, your eyes were already stinging with tears as you imagine what one of your best friends might have had to say about you, “Was it about my weight?” You didn’t want to ask, you already knew the answer, and it was only confirmed by your boyfriend’s silence. You fiddled with your sleeves, looking at your toes and sniffling quietly, “Oh.”

“He doesn’t know anything, one too many violent tackles where his head hit the ground.” He spat and you shrugged weakly, usually you were so strong about these things but Archie was one of your best friends, or he was meant to be.

“Am I- Am I good enough for you?” Your voice came out weak and shaking, you were terrified he’d say no or stay silent and confirm your fears. Instead he approached you immediately, taking your face in his hands, forcing you to look at him and wiping away the tears that had fallen onto your cheeks.

“Listen to me, I don’t care what anyone says, you are perfect. There isn’t anything in this world that even compares to you, nothing comes close. You are beautiful and you are spectacular and I don’t care now, nor will I ever care about your weight. You are smart, and funny, and talented, probably more talented than I am which physically pains me to admit and I love you for all that you are, every single part of you, even the squishy bits.” He smiled and you chuckled quietly, sniffling softly.

“I love you too.” You got out, and he leaned down to kiss you gently and full of love, what Archie thought of you didn’t matter. As you stood there, looking into your boyfriend’s eyes, it became apparent that you were his entire world and that was okay, because he was yours.

[takerfoxx]

“Fires of the Sun: Epilogue” Thoughts

All right, let’s wrap this up.

Okay, starting things off with Yukari's scene, her bits with Byakuren and the remaining SDM crew are pretty self-explanatory and don't require a whole lot of commentary. I am going to say that I actually have no idea where Sakuya's character development is going to take her, save that this sort of quiet, reserved, no fucks given madness thing she has going on right now is…sort of intriguing. She's gone beyond rage, beyond grief, beyond hate, and is, at that moment, more dangerous than she's ever been. And though I haven't planned where it's going to take her just yet, I am interested in finding out.

Bringing Koakuma back was always a given, though the manner went through some changes. Originally I had planned for Shinki to be the one to receive the request and have her reject it out of hand because of rules or some such, only for Yukari to show an uncharacteristic amount of kindness and snap at her, causing Shinki to relent. However, some last minute changes in the previous chapter meant that Shinki was no longer available, so that scene unfortunately had to go. I also was thinking of having Koakuma still be wearing her Serpentine Marauder uniform upon being summoned back. Theor natural consequence of that would of course have Yukari recognize it, draw some unfortunate conclusions, and immediately start interrogating the poor little devil. Honestly that would have been the better choice, as it opens up numerous plot and character opportunities, but at the time I was tired and didn't want to expand things any more than they already were, so I just had her show up naked like a proper summoned succubus and left it at that. The poor girl was already having a rough day anyway.

The final bit with Satori and co. gave me some issues. At that point, I was growing concerned about the runtime of Yukari's scene, especially when compared to the later ones, and felt that her having a third encounter would make it a little tedious, and considered giving it its own section. However, that disrupted the flow of how these loose end scenes were being set up, and everyone was already there anyway, so screw it. Fortunately, in reading it over, it wasn't as bad as I feared, so that worked out. Also, originally I was just going to have her yank Jun and Utsuho over in a couple of sentences, but given what Utsuho had been through, she deserved a little more. However, her scene with Jun was in danger of running too long, as they started to have a serious discussion of their relationship thus far and Jun's bullying of her, and while that would have been interesting, the focus at that moment needed to be on Satori's return, so it was trimmed. But in doing so, it seems a little abrupt and out of place, so perhaps that wasn't a fantastic idea after all.

As for Satori herself, she should thank her lucky stars that her original plotline got scrapped. It was a little awkward dividing her time between her affectionate pets and talking to Yukari. I still get a kick out of her mind-reading answering all of her question instantaneously, and am very glad that that's back. I did have to use my mental wayback machine to recall everything that she wouldn't know as well as everything she should know and remind myself that she did get a good look at Yuuka's true form. Also, I don't care how much he's slipped out of relevancy. Soulja Boy will always remain a form of torture.

The scene from Yuuka's POV (or what's left of her) was short, but worked very well. I'm not really one for flowery, poetic language. Slightly sarcastic and to the point is more my style. But I did try to slow things down and get a little verbose when trying to describe Yuuka's condition. After all, Mima's lovely speech to her was only going to be a few paragraphs, and I really wanted to drive home just how unbelievably broken she was. I mean, the burns are one thing, but Yuuka is have now officially fallen off the crazy tree and hit every branch along the way. Funny thing about her fourth wall breaking thing: originally, it was done simply to set up some gags in the future, have her interrupt the author's notes and stuff like that. But the execution proved to be even bigger than I had expected, and once it was there and started to get a lot of attention, I realized that now I had gone through with it, I needed to take it seriously. Having her be a Deadpool sort of character cracking postmodern, self-referential jokes wasn't going to do it. And going the full Stephen King route of having her break into our world and kill me or something like that would be too honky.

So instead of just making it be a silly thing or drive her to do something way over the top, I decided to let that one peek she got be the whole plotline. That was all she was ever going to see. There wasn't going to be any cutting into other Gensokyos, no entering our world, no including me as a character, outside of those talking directly to the audience bits. She was just going to get a quick look, long enough to realize what was going on, and have it bring everything crashing down on her. Her status as a fictional character was going to literally drive her nuts, cause her to question everything, have an existential crisis, and essentially drive her mad, which is pretty ironic, considering what she is. She would try to deal, become obsessed with storytelling conventions, and over time delude herself into believing that she was the main character. And as such, Yidhra the Outer God, a being beyond comprehension who would literally drive lesser mortals insane by her mere existence, was in turn driven mad herself by something she couldn't understand. Karma, baby.

Reimu's scene was to establish how tense the whole battle would have been to something unable to participate. She, Reisen, and Remilia filled the roles of worried loved ones stuck at home, desperately waiting for any sort of news. And as is my wont, that news was delivered in the silliest manner possible. Y'know, the whole Tengu newspaper business has a lot of fun possibilities. I've been frequently annoyed by clickbait sites like Knowable and whatnot as of late and how irritating their set-up is that I realized how much the Tengu would love such a set-up. Steal other people's stories, compile them under a huge, annoyingly attention grabbing title, and then cut them up in the most irritating way possible to squeeze every cent out of advertisers. And you ever notice that when they say stuff like, "Number three is shocking!", the actual number three doesn't really stand out all that much from the others?

Though that aside, you really have to feel for Remilia here. Her whole humble pie arc was intended to break her down from being a smug snake and make her a more sympathetic character, but damn did it go far. As for Reimu, I'm not too sure where her story is going to go from here. I mean, I know what part she'll be playing during the big climatic scenes in the future, but as for how she'll handle the news of Mima's heel turn or anything involving Rin Satsuki or her friends or whatever, I have no idea. Will she stay at the shrine or will Yukari end up moving her somewhere safer? Will Alice get to teach her magic or not? What is she going to do with her time until the shit hits the fan again? I just don't know yet, but I look forward to finding out.

On a side note, I did plan a cutaway to Alice and Shanghai, but realized that I didn't have anything for them to do that would add to the chapter, so it got cut. We can always catch up with them later.

And then we get to Rin's scene. This one was a big hodgepodge of points I needed to hit and trying to weave them all together. Okay, Flandre had to acknowledge the trauma of losing her old friends, check. Some banter with Rumia, check. Seija got knocked out again so she doesn't ruin the scene, check. Daiyousei's still got her snowglobe because the hell I'm gonna let it get left behind, check. Kogasa's still crushing on Wriggle, check. Doremy gets a proper introduction (and finally an accurate description of her tail) and helps Rumia sleep while making Rin jealous, check. And all the kids had to finally get named as well. I already knew that Kogasa, Doremy, Sekibanki, Kurumi, Seija, and I guess Sara would be among them. As for the rest, I had already discarded Clownpiece (too strong), the Prismrivers (unlikely to be there), anyone not a loli for…obvious reasons, or anyone part of any specific cast herd. I briefly considered Ringo, but didn't really feel like it. I did scour the remaining PC-98 characters, so that's why there were so many demons. Hey, Yuuka's been to Makai before. To fill in the remaining slots, we had Rengeteki as the obligatory fairy and the glasses-wearing Kappa from the Kappa mob. I almost added one of the nameless PC-98 midbosses, but decided to go for the Kappa instead.

And on aside, Doremy's introductory scene was a hoot. I'm not a huge fan of the newer characters, but she was a lot of fun. She and Cirno are going to get along just fine.

Then we get to the final bit, where Rin discovers the bodies of her parents (and yes, that's what they were, everyone already knows it so I'm not spoiling anything). No real behind the scenes thing with that. It just felt like an appropriate way to wrap up her arc before the hiatus, having her return to the place where her story began and finally get some closure with her origins, even if she hasn't figured out who they were.

In regards to lady Meika, again I can't really talk about who she is and how she's connected to the plot, save that she is something that several characters' individual plotlines are building up to, and her bits take place long after Imperfect Metamorphosis's finale. I did drop several hints though, a few of which have already been picked up on. Not all though.

And then, at last we cut back to Hina, who's been conspicuously missing ever since the Shadow Youkai got sucked out of Rin. That was deliberate, as I wanted her scene to be a surprise, as a final, dark reminder that Rumia Yagami isn't gone for good just yet. Anyway, remember how I mentioned being stunned that I was finally getting to write a scene that had been planned years and years ago? Well, this was that scene, and it felt eerie to finally get to do it.

Though on another aside, I tried to make the whole author notes breakdown even wonkier, even to the point of including ASCII art and weirder formatting. Alas, went and ate it all up. Stupid limited formatting options.

So yeah. That's it. That wraps up Fires of the Sun. Looking back, I'm really happy with how it came out. Were there weak spots and areas that could have been done differently and done better? Yes. Where there parts that I skimped due to, and let's face it, laziness? Yes. Did it surpass The Storm as intended? I'm…not sure. The thing to remember is that when The Storm happened, it was sort of a trendsetter for this story and, and this is going to sound arrogant, for Touhou fics in general. I got a ton of notice in the English Touhou fandom for that mini-arc, mainly due to the surprise inclusion of Lovecraftian elements and Yuuka's big fourth wall break. Also a lot of controversy as well, but hey, free publicity. But that was years ago, back when IM was still on the rise. Now the hype's died down, people have gotten used to it being around, so it just doesn't have the same impact as before. It was more of wrapping things up from that big shocker rather than being another big shocker. Marisa's death came close, but not really to the same level.

So no, I don't think Fires of the Sun matched the impact of The Storm. It's more polished perhaps, and maybe the fight scenes flow better, but it doesn't have the newness The Storm had. But that's okay. This was for everyone who stuck around to see what would happen, a way of bringing about some measure of closure before putting this ginormous story on the shelf. And in that regard, I feel it succeeded nicely.

So…I guess that's it. Wow, okay, Imperfect Metamorphosis is now officially on hiatus. Thank you all so much for reading, and be sure to stick around! More stuff for Subconscious is to come!

Cheers, everyone!