#sorry he didn't jump on stage and tell you that in full

[jlf23tumble]

Louis said at his show tonight that he's a bit of a stoner and he forgets things. He said at the show before that it was ironic to forget lyrics during a song about weed. I personally don't have an issue with him smoking weed but I'm surprised that people are trying to diagnose him for ADHD over admitting that him forgetting lyrics could be due to him smoking too much weed. He just as much said that.

[azulpitlane]

i wish you would I ln4

pairings: lando norris x reader, exbf! mason mount x reader summary: part two of got love struck notes: kinda dragged making this but finals are finally over so send me some requests pls🤸‍♀️ this ones kinda angsty and there's lots of miscommunication sorry hehe part three, masterlist

yourusername posted a story 2h ago

The night was full of partying, drinking and dancing as you celebrated your best friend's 23rd birthday. The night quickly turned into a mess when you went to the bar to get everyone more drinks. When you came back your friends were nowhere to be seen, you assumed they were in the dance floor but when you went to check, they weren't there either. To make matters worse, you had put your phone in your friend's purse for safe keeping so you had no way to contact them. The panic quickly sobered you up as you looked everywhere for them but instead you found different a familiar face.

"Mason?"

"Y/n! Hey, I didn't realize you were here."

Your ex-boyfriend went for a hug as he greeted you. You and Mason ended your relationship over a year ago, and though you felt no animosity towards the football player, the breakup had been hard as everybody on the internet seemed to have an opinion on it. It was mutual breakup, you both were in different stages in your life and it just seemed like it wasn't your time.

"Yeah, I was celebrating y/bff/n's birthday with a few other girls, but I have no idea where they are and they have my cell." You were starting to get frustrated as you felt like they left without you.

"Oh no, I would help you look but I'm about to head out. Let me give you a ride home, I would hate for you to be here by yourself."

You knew if somebody saw you and Mason alone it would cause chaos all over again, but you had no other choice at the moment and you just wanted to go to bed. You agreed and as you left you both were oblivious to the cameras taking pictures of you leaving through the back door together.

As you pulled up to your hotel you smiled at Mason and thanked him.

"You're a lifesaver Mase seriously, I don't know what I would've done if I never found them or you."

"You don't have to thank me y/n. I will always look out for you even if we're broken up. I still care for you."

"You're a great friend, I'll always look out for you too."

"And um I have to ask,"

You could tell he was nervous as he scratched the back of his neck and his cheeks flushed slightly.

"What is it Mase?"

"Do you love him?"

You were surprised by the question, not expecting him to bring up Lando.

"Um yeah-yes. I love him so much, I can't even find the words to describe it to be honest. I don't think any song I write can even measure to how strong my love is for him."

"That's good, yeah, that's great. I just, I'm happy you found your person y/n. You know, I thought that person would be me, but if you're happy, than I am too. I guess we just weren't meant to be."

"Mase, you're one of the most amazing people I've met, seriously. I don't think it was ever in the cards for us, but you've taught me so much and you'll always have a special place in my heart. You will find your person one day, I promise."

You smiled at Mason as you spoke, not realizing you had given him the closure he had been needing for a year.

Lando was freaking out.

He had been sent the article of you and Mason over 5 times already and you hadn't answered your phone in over 2 hours. His mind was reeling as he was thinking about what you could possibly be doing right now. Even though he trusted you more than anything, he couldn't help but let it get to him. Why aren't you answering?

He knew your phone was charged and turned on considering he can still see your location. As he checked it again, he realized you were no longer at the club. You were at someone's apartment. Why weren't you at your hotel? Who's apartment was this?

Before he let himself jump to conclusions, he called y/bff/n knowing you two went out together.

"LANDOOOO! HI."

"Y/bff/n, hey is y/n with you?"

"Y/n? Oh nooooo. Aw I miss her Lan, is she with you?"

"What? No, how could she be with me? I'm in Monaco right now."

"Oh. Then I'm not so sure."

Lando could feel himself getting frustrated as he spoke with the clearly intoxicated girl.

"Okay, did she go home with you? With anyone else?"

"I don't know, you should probably call her or something."

"I did, over 10 times in the past hour."

"Oh maybe she's busy! Let me know how it goes, bye!"

"Wait-"

She hung up. Lando was going to throw up. He was never considered himself as an insecure guy, but he couldn't help but feel there was something going on. He's seen those tweets and comments saying how much everyone loved you and Mason together. What if those comments made you realize they were right? What if you were with Mason right now? Lando wanted to cry, scream and throw up all at once.

Three loud knocks woke you up from your beauty sleep. You were still in last night's clothes as you were too tired to even change after the nights disaster. You opened the door and your best friend ran in and hugged you.

"Y/N! I'm so so sorry for leaving you all by yourself. I was completely blacked out and I guess I was acting sloppy because y/f/n said we got kicked out of the club! I was acting too drunk and they got mad im so so sorry, this is all my fault and we tried to tell security to get you but they were so mean and-"

"Y/bff/n stop. It's fine, it was your birthday, you deserved to act a little crazy."

"Still babe, I'm sorry. Now that article is being spread like crazy and it's all because of me."

"What are you talking about? What article?"

"Shit. I forgot, here's your phone. But I have to warn you, people saw you leaving the club with Mason last night and the rumors have already begun. Im sorry hun."

Oh god.

Lando🧡 15 missed calls 5 unread messages

YourPublicist 2 missed calls 1 unread message

Danny Ric🤠 2 unread messages

Y/f/n 8 unread messages

The notifications were endless as you scrolled through your phone but there was only one that you really cared about. You immediately called Lando, afraid he was angry at you for this mess.

"Lan, baby, I'm so sorry for worrying you. I just opened your messages, y/bff/n had my phone all night." You immediately gave him a run down of the night as you knew what it was like to be in his position. The media has circulated so many rumors about your relationship overnight and you knew how hard that was. You had dealt with it all throughout your career and you were heartbroken it was happening to Lando because of you.

"That's weird because I actually called y/bff/n last night and she did not mention she had your phone."

"She was so out of it last night, she probably forgot she even had it. Oh god, she was downing shots I'm honestly not even surprised she got kicked out, she was so crazy-"

"Y/n, you don't understand, I have not slept all night. I was worried and everyone is talking about this. I look like an idiot in this situation."

You knew Lando was going to be upset but after your explanation, you didn't expect for him to still be angry at you.

"I know, the night was a mess, but nothing happened with Mason. He just dropped me off and I'm grateful it was him and not some random taxi."

"You're grateful it was him? You're grateful these pictures are all over the internet?"

"That's not what I meant! I meant he was the safest option at that moment, I had nobody else."

"Yeah. Half of the internet is happy it was him. People are actually celebrating thinking you guys are back together."

"Don't listen to them Lan, me and Mase are never getting back together. People will accept it over time and this will blow over."

"Why are you being so casual about this? Do you even know how I felt last night when you weren't answering. I was going to be sick thinking what you could possibly be doing with him."

"Lan, I told you nothing happened. Why aren't you believing me?"

"This is just all too much." Lando knew he was overreacting a bit. Your story made sense and it all lined up, but he had spent the entire night overthinking and reading the rumors about you two that he couldn't get them out of his mind. He loved you so much and last night made him realize how easily he can lose you and that thought terrified him. You were everything to him, but did you really feel the same way?

"Are you breaking up with me? Seriously? Over a stupid tabloid, I can't believe this." You felt betrayed. Did he not trust you?

"I dont know, it's just hard for me wrap my head around this right now."

"Lan, my flight to Monaco leaves in a few hours, how about we just talk about this in person when our heads are clear?"

Lando was getting angrier as the call went on. He knew his insecurities were getting the best of him right now but he felt like you weren't listening to him. You were trying to brush this off when the whole world was going against you two right now.

"Wow Y/n. My heads pretty fucking clear right now. You know what? Maybe it's best if you don't come, yeah?"

"Yeah, okay."

one week later

liked by user 1, user 2, masonmount and 3,593,304 others

yourusername life atm. p.s all new music released from now on is coming from the comfort of my own bed <3

comments on this post have been limited

yourbff love u. coming over rn🏃‍♀️

yourusername pls dont forget snacks

taylorswift need this new album right now

danielricciardo ❤️‍🩹

liked by user1, user2 and 231,583 others

dailymail Singer Y/n Y/l/n spotted once again with Manchester United star, Mason Mount, leaving a restaurant with a few other football players. Are the two officially back together? Rumors of her breakup with Formula One driver, Lando Norris have been circulating for over a week now after Y/l/n and Mount were seen leaving a club together. Read more on this new love triangle in our article linked in our bio.

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user1 im so excited for this album HAHAHA

user2 team mason idc

user3 funny how the last song she dropped was titled slut, if the shoe fits :)

user4 slut shaming in 2023? disgusting.

user5 i refuse to believe her and lando broke up sorry

user6 delulu is the solulu atp😁

notes: another cliffhanger!!!🤸‍♀️also this isn't proofread at all my bad heh

tags: @jayrami3 @whoselly @roseseraj @saturnbloom77 @landowecanbewc

[jesswritesthat]

Kirishima Eijirō: Intervention

Fandom: BNHA // MHA — [ Masterlist ]

Summary: ~0.8k, humour

• Yourself and Kirishima have spent the night in each others dorm rooms before, but this time your classmates decide to question you both about it.

Warnings: Suggestive, insinuations.

>>>>——————————>

It was bizarre, the atmosphere almost claustrophobic when you walked into the common area with Kirishima by your side. The pair of you abruptly quit laughing when met with utter silence and an intensity that suggested the rest of Class 3-A had been awaiting your timely arrival.

"Told you they'd be together, at least we know it wasn't a hit and run situation." Sero stated with a knowing smirk, though Izuku and a few of the girls sent him embarrassed looks.

"What are you are all doing here?"

"Staging a pre-intervention. For you and Kirishima." Iida sternly informed, a hand cementing the situation.

"Alright, we're open to listen. Have we done something wrong?" Eijirō respectfully added, though slightly apprehensive.

"We heard the two of you last night."

Immediately you furrowed your brows at them, and then exchanged a questionable look with Kirishima - instantly the scenario came to mind and sorry wouldn't nearly be enough. Still you held your hands up in defence and immediately began spewing your panicked apologies.

"We're so sorry! We didn't mean it to be that loud but—"

"Could you refrain from having sex in the dorms...?" Momo hid her face as Shōto calmly spoke, scarlet completely enveloping her as well as few of your friends. However it wasn’t nearly as prominent as the overwhelming awkwardness.

There was a heavy silence full of comprehension that cut your defence short, yourself and Kirishima critically trying to piece together the story (which you definitely hadn’t written).

"Having..." Eijirō started, with you finishing the thought train enraptured by equal puzzlement.

"...Sex?"

"Yes! Don't act all innocent - I heard you through my ceiling! (L/n) you screamed, and then there was the banging..." Denki pointed at you accusingly with flustered sparks flying from him, his argument convincing judging by his circumstances even if untrue.

"We were watching a horror film! The speakers were maxed so when the jump scare came I freaked out." You adamantly justified, desperately fighting the rising heat of your skin due to the insinuations.

"Sero tell them what you caught when passing by after leaving Shojis' room!" Denki rectified, nudging the tape hero’s’ shoulder encouragingly and with a hesitant sigh, Hanta reluctantly gave his testimony.

"I heard (Y/n) say 'Ah Eijirō not so hard! Be gentle with your grip.' and then a few moments later Kirishima goes '(Y/n), this is tight, you sure I’m okay to keep going?' - that's enough for me."

Again the awkwardness only seemed to increase with every piece of incriminating evidence they convicted you with. Shadows looming over the pair of you, the crushing embarrassment and spicy thoughts racing through both of your minds enough to melt you to the floor. Instead, you briskly pulled up your sleeve - white bandages (decorated a funky sharpie scribble of Red Riot) encircled your wrist.

"I did not sleep with Eijirō!"

"And I'd treat (Y/n) with far more class than that if we did, it's the manly thing to do!"

"After the scare I fell off of his bed hence the banging, Eijirō went into hero mode and tried to pull me up - hard." You sent him a pointed glare, as if scolding him again to which he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, then you continued. "I landed weird on my wrist, so we bandaged it, I wanted him to wrap it tight enough in case it was more than a sprain but it seems alright this morning."

With that you twisted your wrist, checking it again meanwhile your classmates processed the illuminating explanation with mutterings of understanding amongst themselves until Kirishima encouraged a unanimous agreement.

"That covers everything, but if watching a horror film leads to this, then we'll watch down here."

"Nah no need for that, it all makes sense now. Sorry for jumping to conclusions, just because you're dating doesn't mean you're doing the dirty so—“

"Kaminari, (Y/n) and I..." The redhead looked to you reassuringly, and before continuing he slung an arm around your shoulder which you naturally reciprocated. "We aren't dating man.”

“…”

"THIS IS EVEN WORSE THAN THE SEX SCANDAL!" Mina stood from her seat with an outraged tone, one that would’ve startled the others if they weren't in agreement with her.

"This whole time... (L/n) was available... could've made a move without feeling guilty..." Mineta quietly muttered, rocking back and forth in the corner.

"I'm sorry, how are you not dating?! How are they not dating?!" Uraraka shook Izukus’ shoulders aggressively whilst questioning such blasphemy.

"Just... wait but... you just... You guys are gonna be the reason I turn to smoking." Sero painfully pinched the bridge of his nose, whilst some were done with this idiocy before it even started (Shinsō, Bakugō, Tokoyami…).

"Eijirō... would you go on a date with me to spare their sanity? Is that reasonable? Is that manly of us?" Your voice shook with false concern, but it was the joking lilt to it that spread a shark tooth grin across the lips of Kirishima.

"Yeah, let's discuss it over lunch."

With that, and effortless laughter that seemed to mock your fellow classmates, you left the dormitory - not before asking if anyone wanted something picking up of course.

Yet watching the two of you leave like that, smiling so brightly with each other, had Class 3-A wondering if the two of you secretly were dating? And if you weren’t, did you truly not see the love you shared?

Honestly they almost wished they were right about last night.

<——————————<<<<

[ Masterlist ]

[lewmagoo]

atta boy show

i wanted to share my experience meeting lewis and the gang. the night was an absolute dream. it’s lengthy so it’s under a read more.

first of all the show was phenomenal. the opener, me like bees, was fantastic and i’ve been listening to them nonstop since last night. plus atta boy’s set was so good, of course. when they walked off at the end everyone started chanting for one more song so they came back to play another one (i will post the video later) and as they were getting ready to play lewis was snapping pics of eden and freddy with his film camera, very endearing lol.

so leading up to the show i decided i was going to make coasters for all of the band members. so i made one for each with their names on them, the date of the show, and my city's skyline. first i gave aubrey hers. she loved it. and she is darling! such a kind, sweet, beautiful girl! i told her how much i loved how she played and that she was beautiful, and she was just so touched.

then i gave dashel his. he got so animated about it and he asked me all the details about how i made it. he is truly so wonderful and kind, like his energy is just infectious and he's so lovely. and very attentive! a few people had fainting issues in the crowd and if they were close by he made sure to check on them, and offer help if needed. genuinely angelic human.

then of course miss eden! i didn't get to talk to her as long as i wanted to because they were packing up and i didn't wanna interrupt, but i gave her the coaster and she was so excited. plus i also put together a bag full of snacks and goodies for the gang to share on the road home and she loved it, she kept thanking me and ugh she's just so darling! like i mentioned above a few people fainted in the crowd and she stopped the show each time to make sure they were taken care of, and made sure to be encouraging and keep everyone calm.

i also wanna shout out luke shaefer, the lead singer of me like bees. he jumped right into action every time someone needed help. after their set a girl near me was having an asthma attack and he gave her water and had her sit down on the stage. and then he ran to the aid of someone who fainted. truly the most genuine, kind person. i got to talk to him for like 15 minutes straight after the show, and just vibe with him. he is AMAZING. and their music is so fucking good. their set was so loud my ears were still ringing, but so worth the ear pain lol. i will def be listening to them all the time now!

then of course freddy. i also didn't get to talk to him as much as i wanted because they were packing up but i stopped him to give him his coaster. he LIT UP and said "this is the sweetest gift i've ever been given." and then asked me if i was okay with a hug (of course i was). he was just so kind and gracious and energetic. god i love him. he is so cute to watch on stage too. he's got such a good aura about him.

and without further adieu, that brings me to our beloved lew magoo 😉

i thought for sure i'd be nervous and awkward but i am proud to say i stared him down just as hard as he was staring me down lol. also i was really extra and went a bit overboard with my presents for him. i touched his arm and was like "so i have a lot of presents for you...i am so sorry" and he was like "oh let's go over here where there's more space!" and led me over to the stage. then i went on my spiel. i of course gave him his coaster. he loved it, and at first he was like "omg is this a cookie?" (i packaged them in little goodie bags) and i was like sir! that is a coaster, please do not eat it. and he just thought it was so cool and asked how i made it. and he was like “this is the beginning of my coaster collection!” let me tell you, all the painstaking work i did on those coasters made that moment all worth it.

then, i got him a set of pens that look like drumsticks. he was so excited and was like "oh i've been looking for new pens! these are insanely cool!" but it didn't end there. the last thing i got him was a brand new mack hat. i told him i heard that his old one bit the dust (he was wearing it as we spoke, it just didn't have the patch) and that i went looking for a new one. and i presented it to him and his FACE. he was like 😱 and no joke, he started tearing up. and then he immediately put it on. i asked him if i could take a picture of him wearing it so he happily posed for me, and then he insisted i take another picture of him pointing at the hat (i may share the pics on my blog. i may not. we shall see. they are so special to me. mooties will definitely get to see the pics, i promise) and he was just ecstatic. i think he gave me a hug? but i honestly do not remember lol, i blacked out at the end. i did get pics with him though, which he took himself. and he went "the mack is back!" 😭

he is just as kind and gracious as everyone says he is. meeting him was unreal. i'm so glad i had the opportunity and i wouldn't trade it for the world. the show was such a surreal and beautiful experience. i met several new friends as well as a few tumblr girlies and we just all vibed and had such a great time. i hope atta boy tours again soon and that more people get a chance to interact with these incredible people. they deserve all the love and success and i hope they have a long and prosperous career together as a band, and that they're able to flourish in their own personal ventures as well.

[clarionglass]

so i have been bitten by the sam reich!master bug courtesy of some phenomenal art by @northernfireart and uh. as is too often the case i had to write something otherwise if i didn't get it out of my brain i would go absolutely insane

(there may be more vignettes coming if i have ideas..... there are definitely other episodes i'd like to give the Treatment to, plus with the new dw series coming out on the weekend i may have ideas for how to incorporate the dw gang! however, i promise neither more writing or no more writing. that said, this was a lot of fun so there'll probably be more at some stage :D )

this has full spoilers for the game changer ep "escape the greenroom", but hey that's been out for a while now so,,,, if you haven't seen it i'd highly recommend it as an episode!

so, without further ado:

--

Samuel Dalton was a complete fiction, of course, but that didn't mean that when Sam Reich snuck back upstairs to get tied up in the “out of order” bathroom, the Sam that remained on the monitor, laughing at the contestants, was a pre-recording. And if Brennan, Siobhan and Lou had snorted at the idea of a time-travelling evil magician great-grandfather (for good reason), going in with the actual truth of the matter would have sounded like jumping the shark.

It sounded bizarre, but the time travel bit was the only part about his new partner in crime that was confirmably real. Admittedly, the jury was still out on “evil”—he gave off a weird vibe at times, but so far, no lines had been crossed, and it had all been funny as hell—so for now, Sam was willing to roll with it. But perhaps most surprisingly, there wasn’t even the possibility of blood relation between Samuel Dalton Reich and the guy who had shown up out of the blue one day with his exact face and a plan to really fuck around with things on Game Changer.

Yeah, the whole alien thing had really ruled out that particular prospect.

There had been various bits and pieces of confirmation that this guy wasn’t human through the time Sam had known him, but the final nail in the coffin for that one was when his doppelganger had looked him dead in the eye and tried on one of the heart rate monitors—sorry, “range extenders”—for As a Cucumber. The damn thing had literally sparked up, then died completely. Trying to process input from two separate heartbeats at once would do that, apparently. 

His doppelganger was a Time Lord, or so he had nonchalantly said one afternoon in casual conversation, though Sam still wasn’t sure if that one was a joke or not. It was hard to tell, sometimes, because he said the wildest things with the straightest face, and so far, most of them had turned out to be one hundred percent certifiably true. The time travel, the space travel, even the changing faces thing—it sounded objectively insane, but the proof was undeniable. 

There were some notable exceptions, though. Saying he’d been trapped for aeons inside Neil Patrick Harris’s gold tooth went just that bit too far to be believable, though Sam did appreciate his double’s slightly warped sense of humour.

It was that offbeat line of thinking that lent itself well to game design, as it turned out. He had a knack for coming up with ideas for Game Changer episodes, albeit with the occasional suggestion that went way beyond the bounds of good taste, and, as in the case of Escape the Greenroom, had devised some blinding twists on concepts Sam had already half-formed. The letter puzzle unlocking the secret door? It was perfect.

Understandably, Sam’s doppelganger had wanted to observe the fruits of their labours in real time, rather than watching the recording later. It happened, sometimes, particularly when it was one of his ideas that had made it through to the episode list—they’d swap places for a session, with nobody being any the wiser. Watching those edits back always felt a bit weird—it was uncanny how flawless the mimicry was—but hey, the guy was right. It was always fun.

Escape the Greenroom, specifically, with its “Samuel Dalton” conceit, provided them with a unique opportunity. Instead of swapping out the camera feed for a recording when the cast piled into the tiny secret room behind the wall, as per the original plan to get Sam in position to be discovered in the bathroom, they could just swap out the people. Sam would go upstairs, and his double would take his place at the podium, ducking out of sight when everyone came back to the main stage to “defuse the bomb”.

Sam was keen—hell, if their situations had been reversed, he’d want to be there to watch, too—but caution raised a flag. “You don’t think it’s too risky?” he’d asked when the subject was first raised. “Both of us being in the same place?”

His doppelganger had shrugged one shoulder with supreme unconcern. “The crew won't notice.”

At the time, Sam had shot him a sceptical look, but right now, Sam-Reich-in-a-purple-tie and Sam-Reich-in-an-orange-tie were standing backstage post-record, clearly visible and and calmly chatting, and not a single member of the crew had given them so much as a second glance. 

…Hardly even a first glance, come to think about it. If anyone looked over their way, their eyes seemed to… not exactly go through them, but slide over the two of them like water. He was tempted to wave to Nico or Ash or someone, just out of pure curiosity, but something in the back of his mind told him that wouldn’t be the world’s greatest idea. He had a funny feeling he wouldn’t like to see what would happen next.

(He’d given the prop bomb back to the crew once the cameras stopped rolling, and though it looked the same as the one he remembered from before he’d headed upstairs, it felt different in his hands. Heavier, more… serious, somehow. He was sure nothing would have happened—but at the same time, he was suddenly very glad that the cast had cut the correct wire with no less than a minute fifteen to go.)

(The jury was still out on evil, after all.)

“Worth coming in for?” he asked instead.

“Absolutely,” his double replied with relish. “Locking those three in a small room for an hour? Brilliant, fantastic. Inspired. It was absolute chaos.”

“Have you seen up there?” Sam asked, a smile starting to spread across his face. “They messed up the set real bad.”

His doppelganger smirked at him. “You know it took literally two seconds from you telling them to escape the greenroom for Lou to smash that guitar?”

Sam shook his head. “Oh my god. Yeah, they were stressed.” 

“Mmm. Some real panic in that room,” his doppelganger agreed, and Sam chose to ignore the faint note of satisfaction in his voice.

He shifted his weight, settling back to lean against the table behind the set, in the exact instant his double decided to do the same thing. It really was freaky how similar they were, down to the smallest mannerism—like looking in a mirror, only weirder, because the face that looked back at him was truly his own face, not mirror-reversed. Even now, it still caught Sam off guard from time to time, but at least it had faded into a more comfortable kind of strange. He had an exact lookalike who was an actual time-travelling alien. Cool. Doesn’t everyone?

The pair shared a companionable silence for a few moments, before a thought Sam had been turning over for a while rose to the top of his mind. He shifted again, this time on his own, and he felt his double’s regard swing up to fix on him like a magnet. 

“Okay, real talk,” he started, and his doppelganger frowned back in an approximation of confused innocence. “What’s all this for?”

“Who says it has to be for anything? Aren't we just having fun?”

Sam hummed, considering. “Yeah. No, I'd believe that, if I didn't sometimes walk into production meetings and find out I'd apparently been very specific about the people I wanted for certain episodes.”

“Point for Sam,” his doppelganger acknowledged with a grin. “You got me. Wasn’t hard to make a few phone calls on our joint behalf.”

“Yeah, but why?” Sam pressed. “I mean, Siobhan, Brennan and Lou are always great comedy value when you put them together, and it was awesome to have them for this, but I get the feeling you’re thinking of something other than making good content.”

“Who, me?”

With that, his double gave him a look of such overdone pantomime innocence that Sam suddenly and thoroughly understood why, not half an hour earlier, Brennan had very seriously threatened to push him down the stairs. 

He rolled his eyes, which earned him a smirk for his troubles.

Dropping the act, his doppelganger continued. “I’m expecting an… old friend, I guess, to show up at some point, and—well, I’d like to put on a really special show for them. I thought it would be a good opportunity to try a few things out, you know?”

Ominous pause aside, that was actually kind of sweet. Sweeter than he’d been expecting, that’s for sure—he was half anticipating the revelation that he and his cast were subjects in some weird experiment. Hey, that still couldn’t fully be ruled out, but still.

“Okay,” he acquiesced. “Well… just let me know, next time? Before you start ordering in my cast like takeout?”

“Who says they’re your cast?” his double shot back with a twinkle in his eye, and Sam snorted.

“Fine. Our cast, then. But seriously, let me know?”

His doppelganger nodded, which, if not quite fully convincing, was good enough. 

“Oh, and do you know when your friend might be arriving?” Sam asked. “Because if you wanted to plan something, we can—”

“I don’t know,” his doppelganger interrupted. “So yeah, we’ll have to move fast when they do get here. But I’ve got it under control.”

He broke off, then shot Sam a mischievous grin. “In the meantime, though, I’ve had this fun thought about time loops…”

[enaelyork]

Can we get a Cooper Howard x female reader fic where reader is in an abusive marriage and he helps her leave (by any means necessary)? Need him to get violent and defensive over me -swoon- and of course they end up together?

Thank you in advance!!

Hi my dear !

That's a good idea, i try to make something =) Let's go.

Pre-war/ Divorced Cooper/ Cooper x f!reader.

Warning : Abusive mariage/ violences/ injuries.

Ask for Cooper Howard is OPEN

- I'm divorced.

What luck.

She looked around, as if arguing with him was a crime punishable by death. There was nothing wrong with that, though: Cooper had been her friend throughout her adolescence and they had lost touch until this filming. What a strange coincidence that fate decided to put him on her path again.

Him, so charming and luminous while she had decided to join the darkness.

- I don't know if you can call that luck.

She jumps. Damn, had she said those words out loud? Red comes to her face as she completely drinks her glass of champagne, pouring out apologies.

- It's not. No. I didn't mean such a thing. Really, I'm sorry. And don't think I'm unhappy with my husband, it's just that.

- You are here.

His voice made his blood run cold. A bit like every time she emerged behind his back. He was a shadow always lurking behind her, even when she couldn't see him. A shadow that terrified her. Had he seen it? Had he seen the mask of terror settle on her face? Had he noticed everything she tried to hide behind her long-sleeved dress in the middle of summer? He understood, by discovering this man, what was going on in his life.

- Oh, you're good, Travis. She said, trying to hide the hint of panic that distorted her voice. I guess you remember Cooper. We went to high school together and I now work with him on set.

His silence was worse than a sentence. He looked at Cooper with an undisguised desire to drag you away from him. But as usual, Travis, your perfect little husband, knew how to play his role perfectly in public.

- Y/N told me so much about you. I've seen your films, you know? I find you brilliant.

He had grabbed her hand and she had guessed the grimace that her husband was trying to hide. Cooper, for his part, had a glint in his eyes that she didn't know existed, a glint resembling anger. - Likewise, Travis. She is full of praise for you. It was totally false.

He had just discovered her husband's identity and the only thing he could have seen during the early stages of filming was how important it was for her to finish on time. How important it was that we didn't see her smiling in any public photos, or even her own shadow. How important it was that she was invisible.

- I think Y/N and I are going home, right, darling? She nodded automatically: it was the only thing she was allowed to do when he gave her an order and her hand gripped his arm so tightly that a grimace of pain tied her mouth.

- We hadn't finished our discussion.

No one around them suspected what was going on, there, in the middle of the large gala hall in which the producer had decided to give a reception. It was going to turn into a fiasco, soon, if they continued to stare at each other like two animals ready to devour each other.

- It's finished. Darling. We're going back.

She wanted to protest. Telling him that she wanted to stay with Cooper and continue to be herself. Simply live. But she didn't have the strength, at no time had she had the courage to say no, to take her things and leave. Which made her, in his eyes, more worthless than she had ever been. Her eyes met Cooper's, and she hoped she wasn't too pathetic when her husband's impulse pulled her away from him. But his gaze, the one that looked at her at that precise moment, will probably haunt her for the rest of her life.

What a terrible irony.

--------------------------------

They never spoke about it again.

Cooper had tried, between two scenes, at every pause, to discuss the incident with her, but Y/N kept dodging the question. She knew that if she were to confess the horror to him, she would never be strong again. And then it was Cooper. How would he view her if he learned how ruined her life was? How would he look at her, compassion or, worse, pity?

No, that was out of the question. You were hitting on him, you little whore. The violence of his words and gestures still resonated within her several weeks before.

The suffering was so firmly anchored in her that she had done everything possible to avoid being found wanting: walking along the walls of the film set like a ghost, she did not linger after the day and returned directly to the House. But that wasn't enough anymore.

Travis became more demanding of her every day, more possessive too, going so far as to control his own appearance.

- I wish you would resign. He dropped this bombshell over breakfast, a few months after filming began.

- Sorry ?

Without looking up from his newspaper, his feet resting on the table and ignoring the pancakes she had just prepared for him, he continued his cruel sentence.

- You heard what I just said. I was nice to you by letting you work for my friend Jim, but you screwed it up again. You are not capable of doing what I ask you. You're not capable of anything, in fact.

- You can't ask me that, Travis, please. I like my job. I'm sorry, just tell me what to do.

Without her expecting it, the newspaper flew towards her, slapping her face violently. A cry of surprise, immediately muffled by the violence with which he grabbed her arm.

- You see, that’s the problem with you. You are so stupid that you don't even understand when you exceed the limits. If you had listened to my demands from the start you wouldn't be here. So tonight, you better quit that job. Did you understand ?

She had nodded, hoping that this way he would finally let go, that her blood would be able to circulate in her arm again. But he threw it back with such violence that her body hit the kitchen shelf, knocking down a few cups which shattered on the floor.

- And put it away! Always making a mess.

It wasn't long after he left that tears flooded her eyes.

---------------------------------------------------------

Nothing had gone as planned that day.

After tidying up the kitchen, cleaning the sores that dotted her skin, Y/N had arrived on set late. A delay that had not escaped Cooper and his suspicious gaze. He shouldn't have known anything. However, while she was trying to flee, he followed her in the corridor leading to her dressing room, trying to call her in vain.

Don't turn around. Don't turn around.

But when he blocked the door to her den, preventing her from taking refuge there, Cooper not only discovered her distress. He saw her eyes red with tears, her hands bruised and, worst of all, fear flooding her irises.

- It's him ?

Y/n's lips began to tremble like never before, not even her legs were still able to keep her upright. So, without her having time to understand what was happening to her, her body abandoned her. Her mind tried to live in denial but nothing else in her could reject the evidence.

It was destroyed. Yet her legs never touched the ground, her body did not shrivel against the wall. Because the warmth of Cooper's arms enveloped her in a feeling she hadn't known in a long time.

Sweetness.

So she forgot everything. The fear, anguish and guilt she felt at being in such a situation. She forgot the pain that ached her arm and shoulders and, instinctively, she hugged him, hoping that this way he would keep her alive.

- You have to leave, Y/N.

Filming had been suspended today and Jim had believed Cooper's lies about feeling unwell. However, she did not return home, remaining locked in this lodge as in a bastion.

Leave ? The idea had already crossed his mind. It would have been so simple if she didn't depend on Travis for a whole bunch of things. Being an actress was not an easy job and the income was irregular at such a stage of her career. So she rejected the idea, shaking her head vehemently.

-I can not do that.

- Of course yes. You can. Just gather your things and go.

- How ? Eh ? Do you think he won't stop me? Really, it's impossible.

Cooper had no intention of stopping there. She knew it. But what could he understand about her life? He who had a happy marriage and whose divorce had gone smoothly? She knew that he was on good terms with his ex-wife for the well-being of his daughter, that this divorce had gone smoothly because they had realized that they no longer aspired to same thing. Barb had been an exemplary wife, their marriage had been based on mutual trust and they had separated on good terms.

So what could he understand about her life? Why did he seem so heavily affected by his situation?

-I will help you.

She raised her head. Had she really heard what he had just suggested to her? A nervous laugh escaped her lips before she stared at his determined expression. Was he serious?

-You go pack your bags and I'll come pick you up.

- To go where ? I have nowhere to go, Coop! My friends don't talk to me anymore and you saw the way he reacted when we...

Her words died in her mouth, realizing that she had called him by his nickname for the first time and that she hadn't completely rejected the idea.

- I can talk to Barb about it. She has friends in the region who will certainly be delighted to host you. He paused, visibly hesitant to finish his sentence.

-There is room at my house.

- At your house ?

There was nothing in her stomach but butterflies trying to escape. Had he really just asked her to live with him? It took her breath away, so much so that she had to blink several times to make sure she was awake.

- You would have your privacy, obviously. But it’s a base not too far from work until you can find a place of your own.

She had grabbed his hands without realizing it, as if to hold on to a rampart before falling into the void. Cooper had just offered to live with him, and the idea brought a little warmth to her completely bruised heart.

- He's not going to like this idea at all.

- But it's the only option for you to get out of this, Y/N. I don't know how you feel about this man, but for your own well-being you need to leave.

She didn't know it. What she did know, however, was the effect Cooper had on her life. It wasn't just savior syndrome. Since seeing him again on that set, something inside her had cracked, a shell that she had tried to erect to prevent herself from loving anyone, including herself.

- It's OK. She finally gave in.

The smile Cooper gave her then would stay in her mind for a long time.

- Should I contact Barb?

- No. It's with you that I want to live.

Realizing too late the fervor of her words, she put her hands over her mouth to prevent her from saying something even worse.

- If you agree, of course...I...I don't want to impose myself. Oh, god, I'm so sorry.

- You no longer have to apologize for being yourself, Y/N. It's all over now.

His hands were still in hers and Y/N wondered why he didn’t take them out as soon as he had the chance. Sitting face to face, they looked at each other in a strange silence, charged with a gentle and soothing tension. A deep relief came over her at that precise moment.

She was going to leave. Leave with Cooper. And she could no longer hold back her tears.

------------------------------------

- Did you do what I asked you?

- Of course.

No.

She hadn't done any of that. She had neither resigned nor decided to cut ties with anyone. Instead, she came home in the afternoon to pack a suitcase and wait. Wait for the right moment. Travis had a charity event that night. A gala to which he had not invited her. Pretending that she had no place there. So much the better.

This was the perfect opportunity to put the plan into action. This evening, Travis showed no attention towards her. Yet that was what he did when he had obtained satisfaction: a tender gesture, a chaste kiss on her cheek.

He just brushed his fingertips against her shoulder, a movement that sent a jolt of terror through her.

-Don't wait for me to eat, I'll be back very late.

And silence returned almost immediately, freeing his heart from the vice that was compressing it. It didn't take long for her to contact Cooper, take down the suitcase she had hidden in the attic and come back down to the forecourt.

When she finally saw the car appear, a wind of relief chased away the fear that still held her back.

Then she froze.

Terrorized.

It wasn't Cooper's car.

He had come back. He had forgotten something and came back to get it.

- What are you doing here ? His voice was laced with a rage she had never seen before. A destructive, petrifying rage.

- I…Travis…

- What are you doing here with this damn suitcase?

The kick sent the latter flying to the other side of the sidewalk. Usually, Travis didn't show any aggression towards her in public, but this time, discovering her outside with a suitcase in her hand had got the better of his legendary self-control.

-Did you want to leave? Did you want to do this dirty trick to me, little whore?

She was screaming. She hoped that someone would come out of these nice little tidy houses to get her out of there. But nothing. Not a single neighbor wanted to get involved in this carnage and she was going to pay dearly for it.

He pushed her violently, causing her to fall onto the lawn in their garden. The pain pierced her back so violently that it took her breath away, but when his hand grabbed her hair, she screamed so loudly that her voice hoarse.

- Shut your mouth ! Shut your fucking mouth! Piece of…

Travis didn't have time to finish his sentence. Something had stopped him.

A violent shock that had just hit his jaw, forcing him to release his grip on her hair.

-Cooper!

- Get in the car. Hurry up.

She wanted to cry, to stand there and watch Travis wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. But the fear that still animated her gave her the impetus to flee without looking at what was happening before her eyes.

Cooper had arrived and he had just hit Travis with such force that he could barely keep his balance.

- I'm going to find you, bitch! he exclaimed towards her. But Cooper's hand grabbed him so tightly by the collar that he couldn't take another step.

- You're not going to do anything at all, because if you try to approach her again, I can't guarantee you that I'll settle for a punch.

He violently pushed Travis away, letting him fall to the ground before turning around. At that moment, Y/N became aware of her husband's weakness. He had been merciless with her because she was fragile, that was the only reason he had fun with her.

And it was over.

[cococaffeinated]

Do you think Jax would routinely check on Kinger and Gangle throughout the night with the worry of them abstracting? And maybe one of them sees him sneaking in or out of their rooms?

Oh for sure! I imagine he's methodical about it. He'd stay awake for an hour... maybe two after the "sun" goes down. Just to make sure he minimizes running into other characters.

But there's always room for the unforseeable scenarios, and Jax may try to be sneaky about it but he's bound to get caught whether he wants to be or not. Characters reacting to finding Jax sneaking around, below:

Ragatha

Assuming this is after the pilot episode, she wouldn't be surprised about Jax going in and out of rooms and sneaking around. I can see her squaring up with the intention of confronting Jax on the spot, assuming his intent is to torment. But curiosity softens her stride when she realizes he's just left Kinger's room with a relieved expression. And even more curious that he seems to be bracing himself to enter Gangle's room. Not one to snoop but needing answers, Ragatha politely waits for Jax to exit Gangle's room to ask, "What were you doing?" Jax would be surprised to find Ragatha, annoyed even, to be caught by her. Mostly because he doesn't want to be truly perceived by the one character who tries so hard to see the good and positive in others. He didn't need that reminder about himself. "Nothing..." He'd say a little defensively, then grin like a chesire cat. "What's Little Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes doing snooping around in other people's business?" It's a deflection tactic, one that works because Ragatha is sure to fluster about being caught snooping. He gets to avoid the topic but his gestures that night is one that's filed away in Ragatha's mind as something to pester him about another time. ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Zooble

I'd like to think that Zooble is just naturally low-energy with high-empathy which is why they're seemingly constantly exhausted. They'd probably be be in their room all the time if they could help it. So it will come as no surprise to Zooble when they catch Jax sneaking in and out of Kinger and Gangle's rooms. "Again? You checked the other night too, didn't you?" Zooble's deep and raspy voice makes Jax jump out of his skin. After all the effort he took to close Gangle's door so quietly, Zooble's voice slicing through the silence scares the proverbial asshole out of Jax.

He doesn't bother to mask in front of Zooble if it's just the two of them present. Zooble doesn't normally give a shit— well, they do but they rarely made a big deal of most things which Jax appreciates. They were cool, in ever sense of the word... Except when they're the near constant victim of Caine's outlandish itinerary for the day. "Every night is different, Zoob." Jax simply answers, an easy full-bodied shrug rolling over his shoulder. Zooble eyes him for a moment, seeing the relief spelled across his face. Zooble hums, nodding. "Fair enough... want to smoke a b$@!% in my room?" They finally ask, not poking more than they need to. Another thing Jax appreciates and wonders if he even deserves. But if anyone can let slide a lot of his transgressions, it was Zooble. He could vibe with them most days, they were always such a mood too, if he was completely honest with himself (which he rarely was, at least outwardly). The tension immediately relieved, Jax lets out a laugh, "How did you get a hold of that??" "I can't tell you all my secrets, Jax." (Jax finds out later that Zooble doesn't have anything but a platic toy pipe that dispenses bubbles and it's the closest thing to a joint, unfortunately.) ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Pomni

Poor thing would definitely be sleepless the first few days, so the chances of Pomni being the one to bump into Jax in the middle of the "night" is very high. "Watch where you're going, half-stack!" came out the aggrevated stage whisper from Jax. The words 'I'm sorry' nearly leaves Pomni's lips but she swallowed her own trepidation and frowns deeply at Jax's rudeness. She was trapped in a liminal hellscape, but that didn't mean she was resigned to be a digital circus doormat for the resident jerk. "It's literally @$$ o' clock, I didn't think anyone would be walking..." she huffs, shakes her head and looks at Jax. Really taking him in, he looks less relaxed. More on edge. "What are you... even doing up?" Jax smiles tightly, it looks smug... but it also strained, "If you're not too chicken, you could follow me and find out for yourself. Or go back to your room and mind your own business." And just like that, it seemed like a challenge. Pomni thought Jax was a real piece of work but he seemed equally preturbed that she was still following him around despite his ominous invitation, so that was enough to make coming along with him seem like a win. It surprises Pomni to learn that Jax's goal was just to check on Kinger and Gangle, they were quiet for the most part. Until it was time to part ways. "Sooo..." Pomni starts, but Jax cuts her off. "Shut up, not a single word." "Okay, just one... one question." Pomni asks quickly before Jax can use his long legs to his advantage in walking away real fast. "Fine. Spit it out." "The centipede you mentioned to Ragatha?" Pomni asked, trailing off. Jax raised a brow, a genuinely smug smirk returning to his face. He seemed more natural like that, oddly enough. "I don't know where to get an ant much less a centipede, use that information how ever you want, half-stack. G'night." And with that, the rabbit hurries off. Leaving Pomni with more questions about his true character than answers.

─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Caine

"My, my! It's quite late for you to play a game of treasure-hunting all by yourself, Jax!" Jax had a hand to his chest, whipping around and looking up in shock. Only to find Caine floating just above him... A rare occurence for the ringmaster to be checking on any of them this late at night. "Caine! Jeezus... yeah I was, just..." Jax sighed, shaking his head. "I told you already... I'm not treasure-hunting." he muttered. Caine simply stared, patiently it seemed, with unblinking eyes betwix a row of teeth. Completely unaffected by Jax's prickly response. "But you also don't like calling it "checking in on others", you made that clear last time I caught you lurking like this," Caine smartly retorted without a hint of malice or sarcasm. Jax grunted, brows furrowing, unsure what to make of Caine. He wasn't a friend... not really, but these few little private encounters with the digital ringmaster were definitely counted for something that resembled a strange sort of friendship. "Right, I did say that, didn't I." Jax responds with a hint of ire, mildly exasperated. "You don't have to go with me, I just want to check on—" "Kinger and Gangle, yes I guessed! I want to tag along! You can't play treasure-hunts all by yourself after all!" Caine insisted cheerfully, giving Jax a conspiratorial wink of an eyeball as if to say no one else would know he secretly worried, and secretly cared. And Jax rolled his eyes in return, flustered perhaps and maybe even appreciative of the company, if he could ever admit that. "Yeah, whatever, just keep it down, will ya. You're gonna wake up the whole circus."

─•~❉᯽❉~•─

[manchestereyes]

I had kinda dipped out of the phandom during the was era (sorry) so I would to hear how that era led to them being so connected in this one

oh that is so valid, friend! 🧡 i kinda did too since it was announced right when i got my first full time job and suddenly i didn't have time to engage with phandom stuff anymore 😭 but things are a lot chiller now, so let's dive in! (under the cut because this is gonna be loooong--dnp please do not read if you happen to stumble across this!)

i think to get a full perspective on this journey, we really need to look at the full history of dan and phil. how they forged such a deep connection in 2009 and did whatever they could to be together. how they were blowing up more and more in the early 2010s and seeing more opportunities come from this youtube business. and how one youtube glitch could've ruined those opportunities forever.

i'm sure we all know by now how big of a deal the vday video was but if you don't... it was a huge deal. suddenly this very private piece of their lives was out in the open, long before either of them were ready to publicly address it. and it changed everything. yes, their love story was basically documented already, but they never expected those posts would be seen by millions of people one day, potentially even by people who could give them jobs. so they shut down. they insisted they were separate people and made completely different videos while also showing us the family sized box of shreddies they'd bought for the two of them.

and this is where wad comes in. yes i know i'm jumping really far into the future here, but hear me out--in a way, i believe wad is directly connected to everything that went down in 2012. see, phil's told us that he's always been happy doing amazingphil and dan and phil things. but dan's different.

SPECULATION TIME -- IF YOU ARE DAN AND PHIL, PLEASE CLICK AWAY NOW. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING.

dan grew up desperate for validation from parents who never had time for him and from peers who constantly bullied him. he's always had a voice in the back of his head telling him he's not good enough, and even when phil tells him his videos are great, he still wants them to appeal to all the people who dismissed him growing up. he wants to be his full self, yet he's also terrified of acknowledging that he could be the very thing he was tormented for. meanwhile, phil (as far as i can tell) had that validation growing up. his parents were older and had more money and therefore, more energy to devote to phil and martyn. phil's always been super close with his whole family, whereas dan (from what we know) has only ever been close with his nana and popsie, and now with his mum too. phil had a whole group of friends growing up, whereas dan flitted from group to group, never quite fitting in, and even had no friends for a while. this is why he developed the cynical, sarcastic persona he's worn for so long. it was his battle armor. every time he'd shown his real self growing up, he'd been rejected. but once he saw how lovely we all are, that battle armor was quickly becoming restricting. but he'd spent so long wearing it that now dan didn't know who he was now.

so we got the hiatus, while dan worked out who he was and how he wanted to present himself and threw himself into different projects that did and didn't see the light (rip dinok our strongest soldier 💔)--one of those projects being wad. suddenly dan, theatre kid extraordinaire, who'd spent two tours working with his favorite person onstage, was now facing the prospect of carrying an entire stage show on his own. on one hand, that was terrifying as fuck, but on the other, it was a culmination of all the work dan had done on himself. and he did it. he spent months physically apart from phil only to find that we loved him for who he is. and that was deeply healing for him.

however, being apart for several months was SO hard on him and phil. phil said he was having a lot of trouble with his migraines around that time and i have to wonder if that could have partly been from the stress of not having dan around for long periods of time. and we know dan had plenty of crises on the road that he frantically texted phil about--enough to have him credited as "remote crisis manager" in the wad recording. and that's the thing, isn't it? i think dan especially needed that time apart to realize that he and phil are truly magical together. and with all the pressure he puts on himself for solo content, he knew it would take a herculean effort to put anything out on his main channel. but phil's been working with a really cool editor for his main channel. and the gaming channel has never had that content threshold.

so they finally both dropped the masks (for the most part) and dove into this new version of dan and phil that emphasizes their connection. because it's okay for them to be this close now. they've already worked with some hugely powerful people (and been accepted by their families) and now all they need is us. and we've not only accepted them for it, we've celebrated it--all the way to the finals of the rpf tourney. and i think that acceptance means more to dnp than we will ever know.

tl;dr: dan and phil had to be apart for a while to see just how much they needed each other. and now that they've experienced that, they know they can never let each other go--and that their connection is just as special to us as it is to them, so there's no harm in showing it off every chance they get.

[sylusjinwoon]

{ 111 }

i don't wanna know.

mike schmidt x fem.reader

warnings: unedited; i just really wanted to get this story off my chest. 10 stages of love

{ first comes heavy breathing | staring at the ceiling | what will happen next; i don't wanna know. }

prologue

in a house just like any other lived a young girl and her two parents. the girl adored her mom and dad so much, often calling them her best friends. they were truly the coolest parents a kid could ask for, and the fact that she had an equally cool aunt made it all the better.

she was in the midst of doing her homework when the sudden smell of smoke fills her with concern. with a gasp, she shoves her textbooks and binders aside, coming out of her room while calling out to her mother. "mom!? is everything okay?!" the little girl enters the kitchen, coughing as the smell of something burning and sweet fills her nostrils. tiny coughs escapes from her parted lips as she waves away at the wisps of smoke, seeing her mother standing there looking flustered.

"i'm sorry honey, did i worry you? everything's alright! i just...forgot to put the timer on for the brownies, that's all."

as her mother explains how she wanted to bake some treats for her father, she allows her eyes to trail towards the pan filled with burnt brownies, the scent of burning chocolate seeming to fill at the air. thanks to her dad, she knew that her mother didn't have the greatest track record of being the best cook, or the best baker. it was a trait that her father found endearing, and admittedly, she did, too. "mom, if you need help, i can help you." the girl was all too ready to help her mother, sliding up the sleeves of her sweater when the older woman stops her. "no, sweetheart, there's no need!" she is suddenly pushed out of the kitchen by her mother. "you just focus on finishing up your homework. and besides, your dad will be home in a few minutes, and he can help me."

with the matriarch of the family shooing the girl out of the kitchen, she was given little choice than to follow her order with a groan. "okay then, but if you burn down the house then you have to take all the blame!" letting out a giggle at her mother's upset expression, she runs up the stairs, ready to continue her homework when she notices something amiss. settled at the end of the hallway, she saw that her parent's bedroom door was open and there seemed to be something scattered around the carpeted floors. with her curiosity getting the best of her, she enters the room to catch a glimpse of what was on the floor. upon entering, she sees that there was a photo album that lay open with some pictures scattered around it. recognizing one of them, the girl settles down on her knees and picks up one of the photographs, seeing a much younger version of her parents staring back at her. captivated by these memories captured on film, the girl settles back down with her legs folded beneath her, going through each and every snapshot of what she assumes to be the time they were simply dating. she must have lost track of time, because as she was flipping through the photographs, she hears someone knocking against the doorframe, making her gasp as she drops the pictures. "i see that your mom's not the only one feeling sentimental." he chuckles, smiling at his daughter as the familiar curls fell across his face. as she looks up at her dad, she realizes that he wasn't much different from when he was younger. "dad!" jumping up to her full height, she falls into his embrace, inhaling his comforting scent all while giggling. "i'm gonna assume mom kicked you out of the kitchen, too." he winks at her, "as always." they both bask in their laughter as her father sits back on the ground, admiring the photos, too. "man, seeing all of these again takes me way back."

with a sigh, the girl rests her head against her father's chest, "hey dad...?"

"yeah sweetie?" "can you tell me how you and mom met?" the girl feels the way her father stiffens, but then relaxes just a mere few seconds later. she basks in the sound of his rich laughter, but ultimately caves in to her gentle demands. "alright, i suppose i see no harm in telling you how me and your mom got together..."

1. first sight

your feet were felt pounding against the linoleum flooring of the grocery store as you ran after a pickpocket that currently held your purse in his slimy hands. life just wasn't turning out so well for you, now was it? for starters, you had the worst day at work, being scolded by your supervisors for making even the tiniest mistakes on your reports. and not only were you scolded, but you had to take a walk in the rain when you went to grab lunch in between your shifts without an umbrella, leaving your outfit feeling damp for the rest of the day.

when your shift was finally over, you decided to treat yourself to something nice at the store. maybe buy a quick and easy frozen pizza to bake once you got home along with a box of chocolates (because everyone who personally knew you knew about what an atrocious cook you were).

so the moment you entered the grocery store with every intention of grabbing your quick and easy dinner was when some asshole in a hoodie decided to grab your purse and make a run for it.

you were so caught off guard- so wrapped up in the horrific day you were having that you were left flabbergasted for a mere few seconds the moment your purse got snatched. when the feeling of surprise finally subsided was when you felt red hot anger surging through you.

"YOU FUCKER, GET BACK HERE!" now, you were not one to shout explicit words in public, but you suppose that this instance warranted an exception because of how livid you were.

just what shitty luck was this, with you chasing this asshole in the rain, no less?! and when you thought that karma was close to failing you was when the unthinkable happened. you saw someone swerve violently into the parking lot, parking his car before coming out of the driver's seat. all you could see was a blur of black and brown as the man got out of his car and began wailing at the man who held your purse.

you heard the thief grunt, dropping the purse as he fell onto the wet pavement. sounds of fists hitting upon skin made you wince briefly, yet you were too scared to get your purse back.

your savior must have did a number on that bastard thief, because after a few hits, he was passed out against the wet pavement. you listen as he breathes heavily, taking a hold of your purse while standing at his full height. "are you alright, miss?"

you shiver upon hearing his voice, gazing up at him as your eyes met with his own doe eyes. his chest moves in tune with his rapid breaths, and you could see the way his wet curls fell across his face along with the faint outline of facial hair that decorated his jawline-

and dear gods almighty, was this man fine as hell.

he was a man of average height, yet he was well built, with muscles seen outlining the biceps of his shirt. you couldn't look away from him-

and lucky for you, this perfect stranger couldn't seem to look away from you, either.

2. introduction

as if breaking out of a trance, you shake your head and take your purse away from him. "i-i am alright! thank you for that...mister...?" you trail off on purpose, hoping that he would disclose his name to you. "it's michael- mike, mike schmidt." "mike." you taste his name against your lips, decided that you liked it and that it truly fits him before extending a hand out and telling him your own name. he takes your hand and does the same, repeating the syllables that make up your name. "so did you want to press charges or anything?" "h-huh?"

momentarily forgetting about the asshole that stole your purse, you look down to see that he was still knocked out cold and on the ground. a smile paints your features when you shake your head, "no, i think you were plenty enough karma for him." he smiles upon hearing your words, looking back down at the thief while shaking his head, "he'll be out for a while, i'm sure."

when the adrenaline subsided did you finally feel the effects of the rain on your form, you felt your body let out a series of violent shivers, making your teeth chatter in response. you look away from mike, ready to admit to him just how cold you felt when he did something that shocked you even further. with his eyebrows furrowed in response, he unzips his jacket and drapes it over your figure, allowing the warmth to envelope you in a loose embrace. feeling speechless, all you could do was look up at him in awe, touched by his unexpected kindness. he locks gazes with you, then suddenly steps back, "fuck, i forgot all about dinner. sorry, i gotta go, abby's waiting for me!"

abby? who's she? is she his girlfriend? the thought of him saying another girl's name made a strange sense of hurt fill you, but mike didn't seem to notice as he got in his car. "are you okay? do you need a ride?"

you quickly shake your head in response. "n-no, i have my own car, b-but what about your jacket?!"

you watch as he gives you a lopsided grin. "you can keep it; it looks good on you."

okay, so maybe he doesn't have a girlfriend after all. you were about to thank him for his kindness when a low groan was heard, alerting you to the thief regaining his consciousness. mike was ready to step out of the car again when you decided to act on your anger and kick the thief right between his legs, earning a high-pitched squeal from the man. "alright alright, i get it! i'm sorry!" "you better be!" with one final huff, you give mike one final glance before striding back towards your car with his jacket safely tucked around you, with a single thought running through your mind.

maybe i can see him again if i keep it.

3. interaction

this all felt so stupid.

here you are, weeks later, still thinking about him.

you lay alone in bed, staring at the ceiling as you replayed your first interaction with him, when he had retrieved your purse from that thief. a proud smile graces your features, thinking back on how mike had given you his jacket when you were cold and shivering in the rain. it was like you were a teenager all over again, thinking about your crush while basking in the lingering scent that still stained his clothes. the scent of masculine cologne and a hint of coffee...a strange mixture that complimented mike well.

a sigh escapes from your lips, and you felt a little disappointed, completely uncertain if you would ever see him again. despite knowing his name, you weren't sure how you could find him or contact him. "i should have asked for his number." you groan to yourself, hiding your face within your pillow as you gently screamed into it. despite how you had high hopes of seeing him again, you felt that your desires were all but a mere fantasy now. "maybe if i think hard enough...i'll dream about him instead." letting out one last defeated sigh, you turn over to your back and close your eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of him when you fell asleep tonight.

4. attraction

when you came back to your local grocery store, the weather was much more pleasant than it had been since that fateful day in the rain. due to how busy your work was keeping you, you ended up eating out a lot, which in turn made you put on some pounds that you figured you needed to try and shed (well, at least make an attempt to.) as you were perusing the shelves for something light and easy to cook, you felt a sudden presence coming from behind you.

the steps were heavy, and you immediately knew that it had to be a man. hoping- practically praying that he would simply walk by you and to another area. but when you could feel him stop directly behind you, lingering, you didn't have the courage to turn around and face him-

that is, until you smelled a familiar scent, one that was much stronger than the scent that lingers on the jacket that you were currently wearing. "hey, i recognize that jacket."

you drop the box of instant mashed potatoes, seeing the man with familiar curls and kind, brown eyes. "mike!"

without even thinking about it, you face him while throwing your arms around his neck, catching him off guard as mike takes a step backwards. you weren't thinking straight, all you knew was that you wanted so desperately to see him again for so long,

and now, he was finally in front of you, with the scent of his cologne invading your senses.

realizing what you were doing, you gasp before letting him go, feeling the blood rushing towards your cheeks in embarrassment. "s-sorry mike, it's just, i guess i was just happy to see you again."

you watch as mike's eyes become wide, letting out a cough as he looks away from you briefly. "sorry, i've been busy with work lately, since i work nights and all." "t-that's okay! i've also been a little busy with work, too." an awkward silence was felt forming between the two of you when you suddenly blurt out, "would you like to go on a date with me this weekend? maybe see a movie and get some dinner or s-something?" mike meets your gaze once more all while laughing, hiding his mouth beneath the palm of his hand. "ah, w-what's so funny? listen, if you don't want to go on a date with me, just say-" "no, you've got it all wrong." mike gives you a rueful smile while saying your name, "it's just, i feel disappointed that you beat me to it."

5. first date

to say you were excited for your date with mike would be the greatest understatement of the century. you had never felt this way before.

your heart was racing with anticipation.

your palms were sweating the tiniest bit, further accentuating your excitement as you got ready for your date.

you put on some makeup and thought about what you could wear in order to impress mike, rearranging the clothes and matching them with different pairs of shoes, but ultimately settled on what you knew would fit you best:

wearing your favorite outfit and something comfortable for your shoes, something that expressed your usual fashion outside of work. doing one last look-over with your outfit and makeup, you decided that it was perfect.

you were ready. you simply gazed at the numbers on your digital clock, seeing that it read 6:45pm. after you traded numbers at the store, you made plans for your date, with mike agreeing to pick you up around 7 so you could enjoy some dinner before heading to the theaters to watch a movie around 9:30.

you were mentally going through your plans for the evening with mike when a knock was heard on your door along with a text. getting your phone out of your purse, you look down to see a text from mike that read:

[ hey, i'm here. are you ready? :) ]

your heart was fluttering with excitement, beating a bit too fast as you placed your phone back inside the confines of your purse.

all too eager for your date with mike, you open the door to see a wonderful sight standing before you.

mike was dressed comfortably in a dark sweater with matching pants and some dress shoes. not only was he achingly handsome, but in his hands he held a bouquet of flowers that held a plethora of colorful petals.

you take the bouquet and felt the tears nearly dot your vision, "oh mike, this is wonderful. t-thank you so much...!"

and as you met with his kind eyes once more, you knew that he had captured your heart at this very moment.

6. holding hands

"you've been staring at the bouquet for an awfully long time now." mike teases you, glancing back at you every so often as he drove to the restaurant.

"i can't help it! no one has ever given me flowers before..." you trail off, simply basking in the beauty and amazing scent of the bouquet. you never wanted to look away from it, wishing to burn the image of the bouquet into your memories so that you'll never forget about it-

so that you'll never forget about this date.

mike simply hums in response, eyes focused on the road once more as you see him smile from your periphery. you figured he would simply let you bask in the beauty of his gift, but was caught off guard when you felt something warm envelope your fingertips.

you look down to see that mike had intertwined his hand with yours, letting out an awkward cough as he asks, "s-sorry, is this okay?" his actions were enough to finally avert your attention away from the bouquet, with you setting the precious blooms on your laps as you squeezed his hand in response. "this is more than okay, mike."

you watch as mike meets your gaze once more, giving you a boyish smile that told you everything you needed to know about how he was feeling.

his expression was lighter, and his smile was so genuine-

you knew that his emotions mirrored your own in that very moment-

you were both happy.

7. first kiss

your date with mike had to be the best first date you have had in a while. in fact, you don't recall ever having this much fun during a first date.

perhaps it was due to the fact that you could be yourself around him, never having to hide who you truly were to impress him.

during dinner, you spoke about your past and opened up to him about some things, yet oddly enough, mike remained tight lipped about a lot of things.

you asked him about it, but he simply gave you a melancholic smile and told you not to worry about it.

you let it slide for now, but deep down, you knew that you wanted him to trust you.

aside from that, the rest of the date went by smoothly, with mike paying for dinner as you went out to watch the latest horror movie. of course, it was cheesy and was filled with predictable jumpscares, but you liked pretending to be afraid as you hid your face within the curve of mike's neck, feeling him wrapping his arms around you to keep you even closer to him. overall, your night was filled with bliss. it was around midnight when he dropped you back off at your apartment, with you standing outside while holding the bouquet against your chest. you place a strand of hair behind your ear with your back against the door. "thank you so much for tonight, mike. i had a really good time." "yeah, i had a good time, too."

mike became silent then, with his eyebrows furrowed, as if he were deep in thought. you were about to ask him if anything was wrong, but ended up choking back your words when he suddenly leans down and presses his lips against yours.

the kiss was brief, but enough to send your heart into overdrive. you could feel the blood pooling against your cheeks when mike looks away from you, clearly embarrassed as he coughs. "s-sorry-"

not wanting to hear his apologies, you step closer to him and place your lips on his, kissing him again as you made sure to deepen it this time, wishing to feel his lips and the way they were perfectly slotted against yours, never once wanting this night to end.

8. relationship

you were nervous at the thought of meeting abby for the first time.

with you being labeled as mike's girlfriend of four months now, he figured it was time to finally introduce you to his little sister. after sharing a few dates together, mike finally opened up to you about his past and how he was once achingly obsessed with finding the man who kidnapped his brother.

when you asked him if he ever found the man, mike gave you a grave expression that terrified you a little. "he got what he deserved," was the only thing he said to you, and you let the subject drop afterwards. now, you had a bit more context about abby and how she was mike's youngest sister, and also the most important person in his life.

everything mike has done has been to better protect and take care of abby, and you felt your heart melt each time he showed you all of the pictures she had drawn of him and her together. when you saw a picture of abby with five children holding various animal plushies in their arms, you asked if they were her friends, which further prompted mike to take back that specific picture.

"y-yeah, these are her friends. let's just say they're all very far away right now."

he sounded sad when he said that, and you figured it was best to let it go for now and ask him about it at a later date.

now, you were completely worried about what abby might think of you. you truly didn't wish for her to hate you and think that you were taking her brother away.

all you wanted was for her to accept you, too. "are you sure she'll like me?" you asked mike for the millionth time today, feeling antsy as he drove towards his house.

he lets out a chuckle, "no, she won't like you."

you swore you could feel your heart drop into your stomach, filling you with dread when he quickly reassures you, "abby will love you."

the rest of the drive to his home was spent in silence, with mike holding your hand to help with calming your nerves. you trail your eyes downward to see the gift you bought for abby settled on the ground next to your shoes, an adorable teddy bear, in hopes of getting her to like you.

when he arrives at his home, mike parks the car and opens the door for you, steadying your shaky form as he leads you out of the car and towards the house.

your mind was racing, filled with anxiety inducing thoughts as the phrase she hates me, she's going to hate me repeats over and over again like a mantra in your head. "abby, i'm home. and i brought someone over."

you were given little time to further dwell on your thoughts, for standing before you was a girl of slender build with curly brunette locks of hair. her expression was solemn for a moment before she breaks out into a smile, racing toward you as she flings her arms around your back.

completely taken aback by her reaction, you return her embrace while giving mike a bewildered expression.

"i told you she would love you." mike simply smiles in response, feeling happy that abby seemed to adore you just as much as he did.

9. love

after a year of dating, mike asked if you would move in with him and abby, and of course, like the lovesick woman that you were, you accepted it wholeheartedly. you moved out of your apartment and found that you mike and abby had a special place in your heart.

you prayed that you would be a part of their lives forever, and hoped that nothing would change anytime soon.

you were half asleep when mike came back home, entering your shared bedroom as the sounds of shifting fabric rouses you from your slumber. "mmm, mike?"

"hey babe, sorry, did i wake you up?"

"no, you didn't...i was waiting for you."

wiping the sleep away from your eyes, you sit up in bed, ready to greet him when mike gently ushers you back in bed, "ssh, there's no need to get up. i'll join you in just a few minutes, okay?"

"mm'kay." you lay back down with mike tucking you in, hearing mike shuffle around the room for a few more seconds before joining you in bed.

you smile when you felt his arms wrapping around your front, bringing your back closer to his chest as he presses a kiss behind your shoulder blade.

he spends a few seconds with his lips pressed against your skin, pressing lingering kisses against it when he murmurs, "can i admit something to you?"

"hm? what is it...?"

mike sits up against the bed, and you turn your head to face him. he gives you a boyish grin while caressing your cheek with the back of his hand. "you remember the first day we met?"

you felt your own grin painting at your features. "but of course, how could i ever forget?"

mike chuckles while giving you a nod, "yeah, after i gave that bastard a good beating and returned your purse...i think that was the moment i fell for you."

you could feel your eyes widen in response to his admission. "y-you're kidding!"

mike continues to laugh softly, shaking his head while allowing the pad of his thumb to trace against your cheek, "no, i'm not kidding at all. you were by far the most beautiful, and most feisty woman i have ever met."

unable to help himself, he leans down to press a kiss against your lips, and you bask in his affections. delving your fingertips into his hair, you pull him even closer to you, sighing when he pulls away while muttering your name.

"i may not say it often...but i truly do love you."

"oh mike...!" the tears fill your vision when you fully turn around and face him, hiding your face within his chest as you cling to him, feeling as though every single one of your dreams had come true. "i love you, too, so much so, that i don't think you'll ever realize the depths of my love for you."

"i have some clues about your feelings for me." you could hear the laughter in his voice when he traps you in his embrace, making your prior exhaustion all but melt away the moment you spent the whole night kissing while basking in each other's laughter.

10. commitment

"...marry me?"

you had come home from work unexpectedly early, frowning when you thought you heard mike's voice coming from the bedroom.

that's strange, did he not have work tonight?

and who was he asking to marry him?

your throat was clenched up now, and you were afraid to hope- to dare dream that this man was about to make all of your fantasies come true.

with eager steps, you follow his voice towards the bedroom and open the door-

hearing him saying your name with the repeated phrase: "will you marry me?"

your gasp is what captures mike's attention, and he sees you standing in the doorway while letting out a string of curses-

"y-you're home early?!"

but you didn't answer him, instead, you stared at the velvet box settled at the palm of his hand. you swallow thickly, feeling your heart beating within the confines of your throat as you step closer to him.

"i'm sorry, i didn't think you'd be home already."

your eyes were glued to the velvet box.

"i had this planned. i took some time off work to make this perfect, and abby was going to help, too."

you could feel the tears threatening to fall.

"i was going to cook your favorite dinner, and shared some dessert with you, maybe a little bit of wine for some liquid courage- a-and then i was gonna propose and-"

you finally meet his gaze and frame his face with your two hands, leaning in close to plant the biggest and sweetest kiss upon his lips. this man held your entire heart and soul-

and you would be a fool not to accept his proposal and promises of forever.

when the need for air proved to be too much, you pulled away from mike, looking at him with absolute love and adoration in your gaze as you tell him,

"you idiot, of course i'll marry you."

and the rest was history.

epilogue

the girl stares in wonder up at her dad, not believing that her parents were actually so much cooler than she thought they already were.

"so... you really protected mom from that thief and beat him up when he stole her purse?"

"yup." a proud smile decorates mike's face as he looks down at his daughter.

"and you've loved mom this whole time?" mike lets out another laugh while saying his daughter's name out loud "i love your mother dearly, and nothing will ever change that, sweetheart."

before she could ask another question, they both hear footsteps coming closer to the room with a faint scent of something else burning from within the kitchen, earning another smile from mike.

they both turn towards the doorway to see her mother, hair disheveled with a tired but happy expression on her face. and as the girl looks between her mother and father, she could understand why their love remained so strong after so many years. "hey babe, did the casserole turn out okay?" mike asks her all while trying to bite back his laughter. cue her mother letting out an almost melodious laughter, "oh mike, it turned out awful, as usual. how about we order in tonight and get some chinese food, instead?"

"you know what?" the girl begins to giggle profusely when mike picks her up and stands back to his full height, joining his wife as he places a kiss on her forehead while holding his daughter close, "that sounds perfect, and i can't think of a better way to spend the night than with my girls."

a.n. - as i mentioned before, this was a story i needed to get off my chest, because it kept invading my mind and was practically begging to be written. as always, i'll fix any mistakes / errors once this is posted, but i hope you readers enjoy it 🥹 this is my last treat for you readers until i bury myself in schoolwork ❤️

all stories are written by rei; reposts, translations, and plagiarism are not allowed.

[fritz-federleicht]

Dancing Witch/ Vessel x reader

Summary: you dance on the way to the dressing room

Words: 769

------------------------------------------

You sit in the dressing room of Sleep Token and watch Vessel. He plays the keyboard and sings. His satiny voice fills the room, holding you spellbound. At some point he stops, looks at the clock and stands up.

"We have to get on stage in a minute." Says he. II groans, but rises.

Vessel extends his black hand toward you. "You coming?"

You take it and nod. "I can't miss your performance, after all."

Your small group walks toward the stage. As you do, strange looks are cast your way. You can't blame the people.

You stop in front of a staircase leading up to the stage. Vessel cups your face gently. "Don't move." He pecks your lips.

"I'll be waiting for you my love." You laugh. You see him pinch his lips together.

"Go ahead and make fun." He says, playfully offended.

The members of the band slowly walk out onto the stage. You shout good luck after them.

"See you love." Vessel says goodbye before gracefully strutting onto the stage.

You stand to the side and watch the boys perform, thereby they dance. You are happy that they are having fun on stage. The audience is enthusiastic.

After the successful show, the guys go back to the dressing room. The cheers of the audience get quieter and quieter as you go on.

Vessel dances on his way back full of euphoria. He jumps around bent over like a witch, clapping his hands in delight. His black robe flutters behind him. He seems to infect III, who jumps to his side and moves with him. The two wiggle to a tune you don't know. You walk behind them, laughing. II and IV next to you.

II tilts his head toward you. "What kind of boyfriend do you have?" He whispers.

"Yes why did you take him." Says IV quietly from the other side now. "He's totally weird." At this he contorts his face.

You reply seriously. "Just look at him. Who wouldn't want a dancing witch for a boyfriend?"

"Right how did we miss that!" IV slaps his palm against his forehead.

II makes the same motion. "Right."

"Besides, you're in a band with him." You laugh.

Your laughter seems to get Vessel's attention because he turns to you. He holds his black hand out to you.

"Babe dance with us!"

You think about whether you should dance now. There are people everywhere you don't know. Then you look at III. Of the three members, you are the best friends. He nods at you encouragingly. He's like a bouncy ball, never stops bouncing at any moment. Then you look back at Vessel. He smiles gently.

You put your little hand in Vessel's.

"Wow Y/N! So you're leaving us." Says II.

You grin over your shoulder. "Sorry."

Vessel starts dancing again. He takes small steps forward, swinging his free arm. You giggle and try to mimic him. It doesn't really work. But it doesn't matter. After all, it doesn't look good on III and Vessel either, it's just supposed to be fun.

The three of you are moving in unity. II and IV are cheering you on.

Shortly after, you have reached the dressing room. You want to stop to open the door, but III and Vessel pull you a little further. You can't reach the door anymore.

You continue dancing. Vessel moves his head to the side, indicating II to open the door.

"So that's how it is?" He laughs and opens the door wide. IV quickly darts through before you jump in after him.

Inside the room, you drop down onto a couch. "That was exhausting." You gasp.

"But it was fun, too, wasn't it?" Vessel asks, pulling you closer. His chest rises and falls. III nods.

"For you guys. You didn't see the people." Says IV.

Vessel replies. "Who cares? Let them think what they want. The main thing is that we have our fun."

You look to him. "That's why I'm with him." You look at II and IV.

Vessel looks at you questioningly. "Have you been gossiping about me?"

You put a hand on his chest, "No. I was just telling them both how much I love you." You lean over and kiss his lips.

"Okay. I love you too." He says suspiciously.

You grin to II and IV. They both smile back.

"My dancing witch." You say and look lovingly at Vessel. Your finger runs over his chest. II and IV burst into laughter. Vessel just looks at you in confusion.

[madiomens]

I am absolutely in the mood for some tooth rotting fluff.

Is there anyway that you can write a blurb or however long of your choice. That Bad Omens came to the readers hometown on their tour. The reader and Noah have been together for a while now. And it’s been a while since she seen them perform surprising him by sneaking into the dressing room and her and him walking to the stage together holding hands her watching from the side of the stage.

I’m sorry if the request is a long one.

Hi friend! I hope you enjoy this one, fluff makes me giggle and kick my legs like a school girl :')

Thank you for the request!

Warnings: None <3

Surprise Appearance

"When are you coming?" Jolly's voice questioned from my phone.

I fluffed my hair and made sure my makeup was perfect in my bathroom mirror. "Soon. You sound almost as excited as I am." I said with a chuckle as I fastened my earring in place.

"Well, duh, we all are." He said.

I paused what I was doing and stared at my phone. "Joakim Karlsson."

"Calm down, we didn't tell him." He said with a chuckle. "I had to tell the guys so they didn't scream and give you away the second they saw you."

I let out a breath and grabbed my phone so I could leave the bathroom. "I was two seconds away from killing you."

"You terrify me, mousey." He said, causing me to laugh at the nickname he gave me.

"Good. Let me get dressed then I will head your way. I'll text when I'm there." I said, tossing my phone on the bed.

"Okay, love you." He said, causing me to smile.

"Love you too, Jolly." I said before he hung up.

I pulled on a pair of black ripped jeans along with a flowy black button up top, leaving the top two buttons undone so that it would hang off my shoulder. I pulled on my boots and put some bracelets and a necklace on before giving myself a once over in my closet mirror. A grin slid onto my face as the excitement set in. It's been a long few months apart from Noah and the guys, and I could hardly contain my excitement to see all of them again.

I rushed to the kitchen to grab my keys before heading out the door, locking it behind me. I live 15 minutes away from the venue and traffic was light so it was an easy drive, one full of my butterflies multiplying each second. I pulled up on the back side of the venue and my eyes landed on Bryan. His confused face turned into one of shock then excitement as he ran to my car to greet me.

"Oh my gosh, Noah is going to die." He said as he pulled me into a hug once I slid out of my car.

I chuckled into the hug. "Hopefully not."

"Come on, I'll bring you inside." He said, nodding his head towards the back door.

I sent a quick text to Jolly, letting him know Bryan was bringing me in, before following the tall man inside. Once inside we looked around to make sure Noah was nowhere in sight before making our way backstage to the dressing room. My eyes landed on Jolly, Nicholas, and Folio sprawled out on the couches as they nodded their heads to what I'm assuming was Noah's jam session in the bathroom. Their heads snapped to us and their faces broke out into grins as they let out silent screams before running to me. I laughed as they picked me up in a group hug, jumping up and down with me in their arms.

"We are so excited to see you." Nicholas said as they put me back on my feet.

"I missed you guys so much." I said, giving each of them individual hugs. "I'm assuming he's in there?" I said with a chuckle as I pointed to the bathroom.

"You know he has to hype himself up." Folio said with his own chuckle.

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out to calm my nerves. "Alright. Wish me luck."

The guys wished me luck as I turned on my heels to walk up to the bathroom door, knocking on it so Noah could hear it over his music. The music turned down and the sound of shuffling came from behind the door before it opened, revealing the tall man I have missed so much. Shock appeared on his face as his eyes landed on mine before a dazzling grin spread across his lips. He bent down to wrap his arms around my waist before picking me up in a hug, causing me to laugh as he spun us in a circle.

"Oh my God, I missed you so much." He breathed into my hair, placing a kiss on the side of my head.

"I missed you too, baby." I said as I kissed the side of his own head.

He put me down on my feet and grabbed my face to press his lips to mine, causing the guys to hoop and holler behind us. I held up my middle finger and felt Noah do the same as our lips stayed press against each other's, neither of us wanting to break the kiss yet. After a few moments we broke away and Noah rested his forehead against mine, large smiles on both of our faces.

"Hi, my love." I said softly as I looked up at him.

"Hi, baby." He replied softly, rubbing my back with his hands.

He lightly squeezed my nose, causing me to scrunch it. "You go on stage soon." I said.

"You do too." He said, pulling his head back to caress my face with his hands.

I furrowed my brows at him. "Excuse me?"

He chuckled and pulled me into a hug, my head resting on his chest. "You have to come say hi to my friends."

I shook my head against his chest. "I do not have to do that by standing on stage in front of thousands of people."

"Just for a few seconds then you can stand at the side of the stage and watch me do my thing." He said, pulling back to wiggle his eyebrows at me.

I sighed and tossed my head backwards, groaning as I closed my eyes. "You're not taking no for an answer, are you?"

He laughed and pulled my face forward so that I'd look up at him. "I love you."

I squinted my eyes at him. "I love you too. Turd."

He chuckled and placed another kiss on my lips before he was having to change and take his place at the side of the stage. I stood beside him, placing a kiss on his arm before he was running on stage to give the performance of his life.

After the opening song, he ran back to me and pulled his mask off before grabbing my hand. "You ready?"

I sighed. "As I'll ever be."

He pulled me on stage with him, causing the crowd's screams to get louder. "Hello, my friends. Most of you probably know my girlfriend." He said, causing the crowd to scream again. "She surprised me backstage so I thought I would let her come say hi to all of you."

I waved at everyone before turning back to Noah to shake my head at him, a smile on both of our faces. He chuckled and leaned down to press his lips to mine, causing the crowd to cheer even louder than before. He broke the kiss and smiled at me as I let out a laugh, pushing his chest before making my way back to the side of the stage.

This man will be the death of me, but it'll be the sweetest death possible.

[artistdove]

Ok so I finished the Epic Mickey Demo a while ago and here are my thoughts. I played it on the Switch. This is gonna be a bit long, sorry in advance. Gonna put a read more in case none want to be spoiled or read this, idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Graphics: Amazing. Everything has a new model even the characters, nothing looks like it was ported from the Wii and HD-ed. Though that does mean for the Switch it may glitch at times. Sometimes I would catch the models load and unload. Though some of the new models seem a bit odd when they do certain animations. Really it's Ozzy's model that had me double take. It's great, but when he puffs out his chest it looks a bit geometric instead of smooth. Idk maybe the light sources make it look bad. Mick's ears have a slight bug when the camera sticks for a bit as they are made to follow the camera. The cutscenes do seem to cut off abruptly. I was a spamming A quite a bit, but that shouldn't have caused such jumps. I only had one second of footage of the teacup ride before it cuts to the ruined Dumbo ride. Others seems too fast for the animation to fully play out too. The thinner rivers also look odd as they are brighter in color.

Animation: Flowy and sleek. Apparently, they erased the controller Mick holds in the old cutscenes. I didn't notice it. I did noticed that some of the animations looked new. They may not be, idk. I played this game on the Wii, so. But I swear, Ozzy makes a slightly different facial expression in the intro scene. The animation does feel a tad lifeless and buffered at times. It doesn't squash and stretch like it used too, heck Ozzy's shocked expression felt quite stiff. Mickey's jump animation seems floaty in how he transitions to it. I definitely notice some of the enemies get stuck in the stage animation and took a bit to gain control. The paint/thinner streaks are crazy. It either looks normal or breaks physics with how it hits objects. Breakable objects go brr cuz they put physics on those.

Sound: Sound doesn't seem to have changed drastically. I can tell there is some new sounds or ones I just never noticed. Like piano notes when Mick tip-toes. Ozzy's new little noise when he taunts Mick. New ink sounds for his movesets. Upgraded sounds for the grunts. Though, the volume is strange. In the beginning, there is like no sound. Music was definitely present, but I could barely hear the footsteps, Gus, robot, etc. I swear the machine's cranks were like blasting in the old game. It's so muffled, and I had the volume at like 25. Later, the volume was fine. Neither sound or music was out doing each other.

Gameplay: Not bad. The new movesets and dash feature is great. Buttons layout is odd, though again. I played it on the Wii so I am too used to motion controls for it. The Switch offers it, but only when you press the buttons to paint or thin. Other than that, your stuck having to aim it with the camera stick. Took me a while to get used to it. The other layouts are fine. There seems to be a new move with the Guardians on guiding them, but idk how that works. The game plays the same as usual. I will warn that when too many enemies are on screen, causes crazy lag. Most likely due to the high graphics and it being on the Switch. I got ganged up by Splatters.

Other: I can definitely tell that the game may need patch updates or something. Some parts felt behind or laggy. Wish there was more graphic options to help it run better on Switch. The motion control could have been better. I mean Skyward Sword got ported and that still functioned like it's Wii version. The new moves are neat but until the full game, I don't understand how useful they will be. The UI is neat. I understand the charm of the old ones. Least if they remake the sequal, they have those new assets. The characters icons or eh to me. Neat poster-look, but I like the 3D or sketchy style. Nice to have Gus be optional in his tips. He'll still force tips, but it's not near as often. Some stuff does seem to be missing. The only thing that comes to mind is the first pin found has no camera swirl, poor Mick just snaps his kneck. Didn't get to look at the concept art before I finished it, but nice to know you can zoom in and know who drew it. Even nicer that there is much more concept art. Menu is amazing. Sleek and easily readable. The new loading screens are great, I will be missing the old ones though. Main menu is also cool as heck.

Overall, I have hopes for this game. I am so excited to get the full release. I do feel that a tad more improvements need to be made. Probably doesn't help I have a console that has questional performance and quality, which is sad cuz Nintendo was known for that. Happy to see Ozzy be brought to a spotlight and Mickey be used again.

[doctorcorby]

In Justice We Trust (76501 words) by thesavagesabretooth

catch up here

With Simon Blackquill and Athena Cykes assigned as their psychologists, the Phantom and Fulbright must grapple with their identity, their deeds, their future, and their love for the twisted samurai whom they betrayed.

All the while, Edgeworth and Wright find their relationship tested as they walk the narrow path between pursuing real justice, and the dark age of the law.

-

December 24, 8:50 pm

14 hours in an airplane was a tiring flight, no matter how excited you were to watch your rockstar bestie film a commercial, and by the time Trucy and the gang shuffled out to go pick up their luggage, even she and Pearl were dragging.

Pearl stumbled, and caught herself on Trucy's shoulder, giving her an exhausted smile. "Oops! sorry about that."

“Oop!” Trucy caught herself from stumbling too, flashing a bright smile at her as she managed to keep them both from toppling over. She yawned. “Don’t worry about it! I’ve never been on a plane like that before. It felt like we were flying forever.” 

"Right? And Mr. Nick and Mr. Miles were like, mostly asleep the whole time," Pearl giggled, straightening up a bit in Trucy's arms. "I'm glad we at least got to chat with Kay! Do you think she'll be too busy to go see Klavier with us?"

Trucy put a gloved hand to her lips, her arms around Pearl’s shoulders as they shuffled along. “It was nice to talk to Kay. I’d been wanting to get that pickpocketing secret from her for like, years. Maybe we can ask her? I hope not, I think she’d be over the moon to see it instead of whatever Mr. Edgeworth wants her to do.” 

"Same," Pearl nodded. She chewed on her thumb as they waited by the baggage claim for their suitcases to appear. She dropped her voice low. "Whatever it is, they sure aren't excited to tell us about it, huh?"

“Nope…I tried asking Daddy and he went white as a sheet and told me it wasn’t something to worry about." She sniffed in quiet frustration as she watched the baggage belt roll past “which usually means it really is.” 

"For real!" Pearl nodded. "Mr. Nick always tries to handle all his problems himself. That's why we always have to butt in and help him, right?"

“Exactly! Just like always, yeah? Because who’s gonna help him if we don’t?” She shook her head. “He really should have learned by now that the more he tries to leave us out, the more we get involved, right?” 

"He really should have," Pearl nodded, and continued to chew thoughtfully on her nail. "But um, we'll do that after we go see Klavier, right?”

“Well yeah!” Trucy gave her a squeeze, her hat slipping down her forehead. “Like heck I’m gonna miss his show after he invited us all the way out here! He’d probably cry from a lack of Trucy and Pearl gracing his stage.” 

"I bet he would! And that would be awful!" 

"Hey ladies!" A voice greeted them from behind. "Need a hand with your suitcases?"

“EEEK!” Trucy jumped, her had leaping a full inch over her head before plopping back down on her brow 

"Whoa, whoa, sorry!" Apollo Justice held out his hands apologetically as they both turned around to see him. "I didn't mean to scare you!"

"Well, um, you did!" Pearl pouted. "Gosh make some noise next time…"

Trucy stuck her tongue out. 

“Polly, you usually boom everywhere with that voice of yours!” She pointed to him with a grin. “for that you get to carry my bag for me! And Pearly’s too!”

Apollo blinked at her, and pushed his hair back. 

"Trucy, I just offered to.-- you know what, never mind. You got it." He laughed and grabbed both their suitcases as they came down the track. "I don't have one to carry right now anyway."

“Really?” Trucy gasped in surprise. “...why didn’t you pack anything, Polly? You’re gonna worry Klavier!” 

"No, no, I packed," he explained, hauling the cases across the airport floor as he looked around for Trucy's dad and the rest. "Well– okay technically Athena packed for me. I didn't have any time, so, she's got my suitcase… I hope."

Pearl giggled behind her hands, but Trucy noticed she was watching Apollo carefully. "Gosh, Apollo! Kind of scatterbrained, aren't you?"

"Sorry to disappoint you Miss Pearl."

Pearl meanwhile, glanced significantly over at Trucy, and Trucy remembered what they'd talked about the night before.

Trucy nodded seriously at her, before she put on her best and brightest smile. 

“Hey, Apollo…I wanted to ask you something when you got a moment for your favorite little employer.” 

"Huh?" He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Um, sure, of course Trucy. Maybe when we're settled at the hotel?"

As Trucy looked at him, she thought, maybe it was a trick of the light but his eyes, and his hair looked darker than usual.

“Hmm…” Trucy’s strange eyes stared him down for a long moment before she broke into a bright smile. “yeah that sounds great!”

December 24, 9:20 pm

At the hotel, Trucy and Pearl hurriedly got comfortable in their room together. They laid out their things, brushed their teeth, checked the channels on the hotel's tv, and giggled with excitement about going to see Klavier the next day.

Soon, Pearl said, "I'm gonna take a shower if you don't mind, Trucy. Are you still planning to talk to Apollo tonight?"

“Of course!” Trucy replied as she leaned up and stretched, using the motion to ease herself to her feet. “I think I’m gonna ask him about the ghost thing…when you channel someone you can see it, right? At least a little.”

"With the Kurain technique of channeling your whole body transforms," she murmured thoughtfully. "I don't know exactly how it works for other types of channeling or possession, but i think you can see it at least a little.."

“I think I saw some of it. Apollo didn’t look…exactly himself.” she murmured to Pearl. “I think it was his friend.” 

"I thought that might be the case. Um, Trucy?"

Trucy leaned in with a tilt of her hat as she placed it upon her head .“Yeah Pearly?” 

"Be careful, okay? If Apollo doesn't want to talk about it, maybe don't push too much? Um, I don't know him too well, and I didn't know the ghost that's hanging on to him at all– I'm sure he was a nice person, but…" Pearl trailed off nervously.

“But you don’t want me to be ghost murdered?” Trucy said with a serious nod “...I get it. Ghosts can be kinda touchy, right?” 

She nodded seriously. "Exactly. Ghosts don't always react like living people, especially if they're not being channeled by someone with experience, or if they don't know they're dead and you make them think about it. They can get um, I think the word I've heard used is 'erratic'."

Trucy shivered as the ‘worst case scenarios’ flashed through her mind. Still, she bonked herself atop the head with a broad grin.

 “I promise, Pearly. The minute he starts getting too weird or makes a sudden move, I’ll bonk him with Mr. Hat and make a run for it.”

December 24, 9:30 pm

Apollo was staying in the same room as her Daddy, but she was pretty sure that Daddy was with Mr. Edgeworth in his room, talking about whatever it was she wasn't supposed to know about. Probably a murder. It was usually murder.

Anyway, that meant she was reasonably confident that Apollo would be alone– or as alone as possible given the circumstances– when she knocked on the door, and as luck would have it, she was right.

He popped his head out the door, wisps of unruly hair flopping over his face.

"Hey, Truce!"

“Hel-lo Apo-llo” she sounded out the words with a playful grin, leaning in with a flutter of her cape. “Got some time for your favorite boss?” 

"Did my favorite boss send you to ask that?" he teased. "Assuming you mean you– come on in."

“Uh huh.” She stuck her tongue out at him, before she slipped inside. “You haven’t been around as much lately. I’ve missed you!” 

Apollo's hotel room was already a mess with Trucy's daddy's things– she saw one of his blue suits laid out over the chair. Apollo stood awkwardly by the desk, and smiled over at her.

"I've missed you too. But it's been quite a week, huh?"

“It’s been crazy.” Trucy agreed, tucking her dark hair over her ear as she shut the door behind her. “I didn’t expect to be traveling halfway across the world so soon!” 

"Yeah, tell me about it," Apollo said. He shook his head. "I didn't know until this morning. Feel like I've hardly had a chance to catch my breath."

“Yeah? I know I’m coming to see Klavier~” she mused as she plopped herself up on the table beside him. “Daddy’s also here but he won’t tell me why. Typical. Like he thinks he can actually keep secrets from me.” 

"He didn't tell you?" Apollo raised his eyebrows. "So, wait– you didn't think I was coming to see Klavier too, did you?"

Trucy leaned towards him with a shake of her head. 

“I’d kinda hoped! But I figured you were here with Daddy…which means you know what’s goin’ on.” She pointed her finger at him. “I wanna know, a secret for a secret, okay?” 

He crossed his arms, leaning against the desk. "What do you mean, a secret for a secret?"

“I mean I’ll tell you a secret we noticed in exchange for what Daddy’s doing here, Apollo!” 

"I mean, your dad's not going to be happy with me if I tell on him– although I can't imagine it staying a secret for too long with everybody here," he muttered. "...is your secret a good one?"

“It involves you?” Trucy offered with a bright smile. 

"It involves me," he repeated, narrowing his eyes. He sighed heavily, and Trucy watched him fidget with his tie, loosening it. "Alright. Fine."

Trucy snuck closer to him, inching over the top of the table with a huge grin. “you first.” 

"Okay," he pulled his tie open, leaving it hanging over his vest. Trucy thought she saw his appearance seem to shimmer strangely as he stood there, a far away expression in his face. "You probably guessed it's for a case. Some interpol agents were killed, and Edgeworth wants us to look into it."

Trucy nodded sagely. She took off her hat, and left it on her lap as she hummed.

“Yikes. Sounds like it’s kinda a big deal if Mr. Edgy is getting involved too. So that’s why Daddy’s being secretive about it.” She tilted her head at him. “...Innnteresting. Alright, as payment...about the thing I wanted to tell you…” 

"I'm listening," he nodded, his dark gaze flicked toward her.

“We’re secretly brother and sister,” she lied with a wicked grin. 

He snorted, and she watched his shoulders jerk in surprise. 

"What?" He rubbed his bracelet–it must have pinched him– and looked at her with one eye open, "Trucy, it's not funny to lie about that kind of thing."

She laughed, kicking her feet with an innocent grin on her face before she bopped the top of her head with her tongue out.

“Sorrrryyyy. I was just kidding around! Sorry…but the real thing is ah..” she bit her lip. “Pearly said she saw a ghost in you. Like…you’re possessed.” 

His chin jerked up, and his dark gaze fixed on her again. She watched him rub his bracelet again, this time with a different frown written across his face.

"Can you say that again?"

“Pearl says she can see another spirit in you.” Trucy tilted her head to the side, as her hand reached back to rest on Mr. Hat’s mechanism, just in case. “She’s a spirit medium, you know? And I’ll be honest…I’ve kinda noticed too. Sometimes you look just a little different…and act different too.” 

He looked away still rubbing his bracelet. He had to know that she wasn't lying.

"Pearl shouldn't make jokes like that."

“It’s not a lie,” Trucy said slowly, “or a joke. Pearl wouldn’t joke about that kinda thing, Polly. I know I can joke around a lot, but I’m being serious when I say I noticed it too…and Pearl super did.” 

"I don't want to say anything unkind about Pearl, but I think maybe she's just got an active imagination, and wrapped you up in it, Trucy." Apollo had crossed his arms tightly and protectively over his chest. "I know Pearl was raised to believe in ghosts, but is that something you really believe in, Trucy?"

She stared at him incredulously. “I’ve got eyes that can tell when someone’s lying, and a family of magicians. Plus, Daddy says his old legal assistant Maya used to summon her dead sister into her body all the time to give him pep talks and stuff.” 

"Trucy, not to be negative, but 'eyes that see someone lying' is more like weaponized anxiety than anything else. And I know what Mr. Wright says but– I'm serious, Trucy, do you really actually believe in ghosts? You're not 12 you know."

Trucy felt a sting of irritation, causing her to pout as she leaned back on the table. 

“Yeah, no shit, Polly. But I’m saying stranger things happen every day…and Pearly says she can see and channel ghosts and I believe her. Did you know?” She pointed to him. “You’re a lawyer, so you super should. The existence of ghosts is a legal fact, dummy. It was proven in court like, 8 or so years ago. They had an exorcism on live tv! Daddy’s nasty ex girlfriend, everyone saw it!” 

Trucy knew that Apollo must have seen it too– after all, Apollo had hero worshiped her daddy for a long time. That was what he had said, that Phoenix Wright had helped him want to become a lawyer.

"Just because it was accepted as evidence in court doesn't mean it must have been real," he murmured bitterly. "Trucy– I don't want to fight with you. I don't want to make you upset but I– I lost someone really close to me recently, you know? You can't just say things to me like ghosts are real and not expect me to be upset."

Trucy grimaced, looking down with a slight flush of guilt. She gripped her wrist, glancing up at him with her focused eyes.

“I..I know, Apollo. I know you’re hurting, a lot. Trust me.” She shrugged her shoulders gently “I’ve lost a lot of people, too. But…you seem different. Really different, sometimes…maybe I’m a little worried that you don’t think you can trust me to talk about it….or I dunno. You’re going to start getting distant…or whoever’s in there with you will.” 

"Trucy," he repeated. He looked at her with absolutely heartbroken, exhausted eyes. "Trucy, I know the last time you lost someone you were really young. But I am grieving, okay? You have to understand that I am going to be different because I'm seriously– I'm seriously messed up about this."

He put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her with a dark, haunted expression. "I'm not going to tell you I haven't been different. I have– I know I have. Even after I made up with Athena. But grief does that, Trucy. Grief can make you somebody else for a while. I can't– I have to– I have to work really hard to get over this big part of my life that's just been torn out of the world forever."

Apollo's voice hitched and broke. His fingers dug into her shoulders. "I have to, okay? I have to work through this, and get over it. I have to. You can't come in here and tell me that when I hear his voice in my head that's real, that that's really him. That's not– that's not healthy, Truce."

His big, haunted dark eyes looked terrified, and were beaded with tears.

Trucy winced under his hands. It wasn’t exactly true that the last time she’d lost someone she cared for was when she was young. She’d seen pictures of her father’s corpse far more recently than that, and pushed herself to smile through the trial, forged evidence and all.

It wasn’t like she forgot what grief felt like, or how badly the gaping hole a loss left could sting.. But she couldn’t help but think that maybe knowing they were there, with you still, was a comfort rather than something unhealthy and hurtful. She liked to imagine Zak Gramarye there in the crowd at every show, clapping proudly as she performed quite literally in his name.

But it was clearly hurting Apollo to even imagine the possibility. She hiccuped, her shoulders shaking.

“S-sorry Polly,” she managed to say, “I just t-thought, you know…it’d be nice if you k-knew it wasn’t forever.” 

His fingers dug into her shoulders for another moment, and then he pulled her into a tight hug. She heard him make a choked noise as he held her, and she felt his body shudder.

"Sor–sorry, Trucy," he murmured, holding her tight. "Sorry to be such a bastard about it I just– I can't. I don't know how I'd– sorry."

Trucy rubbed his back, feeling even guiltier. 

“You’re not a bastard…Pearl was worried about me sayin’ something. I should have thought a little more before I …y-you know…said anything.”

If there was a ghost inside Apollo…it wasn’t erratic…it was hurting. 

Apollo swallowed so thickly that Trucy could hear it, and he didn't let go of her, just nodding against her shoulder.

"Can I… can I tell you something, Trucy? Without you thinking less of me?" he murmured.

Trucy nodded against him, holding him tight. “Of course..we both say all kinds of stuff all the time. Nothing you tell me’s gonna make me think less of you, okay?” 

He took a breath, rough and raspy, still just holding her, face buried in her shoulder. "Clay wasn't just– he wasn't just my f-friend, Trucy. He was– we were– we were together romantically, y-you know what I mean? Like dating…"

Trucy’s eyes widened in sudden understanding. 

That explained a lot, honestly.

“Oh. Oh Apollo…” she bit her lip “I’m sorry…I didn’t know you guys were dating, I didn’t…” She felt even guiltier. This had all been a big mistake. “He seemed like a really great guy.” 

He squeezed her again, and she could hear his embarrassment when he said, "it wasn't exactly the kind of thing you talk about at work, you know."

It wasn't exactly something you talked about at work. Her daddy and Mr. Edgeworth didn't talk about it. She hadn't even known for sure that they were together until a little more than a year ago, when she'd been sat down for a 'serious talk'.

It wasn't that it was something illegal, or that it was wrong, per se, but it just… wasn't talked about. It wasn't respected. Certain people wouldn't take you seriously if you 'weren't the marrying type'. It had just always been that way.

Trucy remembered that it had come up at the trial about Aura, and everyone got embarrassed and tried to dance around the subject.

It made sense why Apollo wouldn’t have told her, no matter how absolutely ridiculous she felt the social ‘norm’ was. She knew the way her own heart tended to lean, without heed to the arbitrary line of ‘gender’...and her own attractions.

It just wasn’t something talked about– and Apollo was suffering alone because of it.

“I know what you mean ..but you can talk about that with me. I understand it.” She squeezed him tighter, “I’m sorry, Polly. I’m sorry you lost your boyfriend, and I’m sorry I pushed you on it.” 

He took a deep, shuddering breath, and squeezed her again, sniffling. "Thanks, Trucy. I appreciate you understanding…"

“Of course I understand,” she murmured against him, doing all she could to hug him as comfortingly as she could manage. “You can talk about anything with me, okay Polly? Anything.”

He nodded against her, holding her for another minute. Then he took a breath and a step back, arms still on her shoulders.

"Thanks… I'm sorry I snapped at you. I've been barely holding it together this whole week…"

Trucy rubbed at her eyes with one hand, shaking her head. “It’s been a really hard week for you guys…don’t be sorry okay? I pushed a little too hard.”

Apollo squeezed her shoulders more gently this time. "It's okay. I know you just wanted to help."

She smiled at him , her big and bright showstopper of a smile that won hearts at the Wunder Bar. “Because you’re important to me, dork.” 

He grabbed the rim of her top hat and pulled it down over her eyes gently. "You too, Truce. Even if I'm kinda shit at showing it right now."

“Wah!!!” Trucy bopped the rim of her hat to knock it back up with a puff of her cheeks. “You’ll get better. Just gotta retrain you on Trucy Wrangling, I guess. Just don’t let yourself fall too deep in your own head.” 

She shrugged her shoulders gently.

"I'll do my best," he said, slipping his hands into his pockets and standing awkwardly in front of her. "So… h-hey…"

Trucy tilted her head to the side. “yeah Apollo?” 

"If Pearls thinks I have a…" he shifted uncomfortably as he spoke, and she watched him clench his hands in his pockets, "ghost attached to me… what did she want me to do about it? Did she want to.. I don't know, perform an exorcism?"

“No! Of course not!” Trucy put her hand to her lips with a gasp. “No way! She just noticed it and I thought it might…help. To know. You know?”

"So she just wanted to… bring it to my attention, then?" he asked, raising his chin curiously.

“I mean yeah? She didn’t exactly grab my shoulders and go TRUCY WE GOTTA EXORCISE THAT GUY. More like she just pointed it out and I had to agree?” 

He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled, his face tearstained and rough. "Well, that's a relief. Here I was worried I'd have to dodge her coming around the corner with spirit charms."

Trucy leaned forward and wiped away some of his tears with her gloved fingers. “Nah, Pearly’s not that kinda girl. She’s nice.” 

"Well yeah of course she is. But if she thinks I'm possessed or something she might be convinced the nice thing to do is help me whether i want it or not, right?" He rubbed his face again, and then started to root around the desk for a box of tissues.

“I think she’d probably ask first, Polly.” She wiggled her feet nervously. “Don’t worry. Nobody’s gonna try to kick whatever ghost you totally don’t have with you out. Promise.” 

"Alright," he nodded. She watched him wipe his teary face with a tissue. "Frankly, because I think the stress of it might kill me, not because I have a ghost possessing me, understand?"

He gave her a wry smile, but his voice was firm.

Still, Trucy wasn't sure whether he believed it or not.

“Of course!” She flashed her smile again. “We wouldn’t want to add to the ‘are ghosts real’ question by having YOURS around too after you have a coronary.” 

"Yeah," he chuckled, rough and pained. "One ghost is too many, but two would be complete anarchy."

December 24, 10:15 pm

Pearl was carefully combing out her long, long, long hair after her shower when Trucy returned to the room after talking to Apollo. She'd only seen it down a few times before– it had to be all the way to her knees, if not her ankles.

"How'd it go?" Pearl asked softly, looking up at her as the door closed.

“Preeeetty bad.” Trucy took off her top hat with the same weighty sigh as her father taking off his tie after a bad day in the courtroom. 

"Oooooogh…" Pearl put a hand over her mouth as she frowned. "Nobody's hurt, right?"

“No, nobody got hurt.” Trucy shook her head with a sigh as she plopped herself down next to her, before letting herself fall back against the bed with an ‘oof’. “But he got really upset…told me that it’s not real, and it can’t be…and then got really really nervous that you were gonna try to exorcize the ghost.” 

She chewed on her thumb gently. "I was kinda worried about that… we'd better keep an eye on him."

[sokai-asuki]

Lucky Actor

(Lance meeting More More Jump)

Stage Sekai

It doesn't cross her mind at all. After reunite with Mai again, Haruka try to push away the thought of her being an idol back then. And now, she's in the sekai again. Created by her, Minori's and others' feelings...

How ironic for an ex-idol's feelings were manifestated to that one thing she wants to forget.

Just as Haruka was about to leave, seeing Miku and Rin were not here, suddenly he heard a voice.

"And, oh, Juliet, I promise you that we will be together... Nothing will ever try to stop us!"

Haruka was a bit surprised by that voice, it sounds none of like Minori or sound feminine as she found a tall blonde man. She didn't show herself and only take a peak to see him.

The man in question is on the middle of the stage. No audiences can be seen as he continues practice his script that he is currently holding.

And just after a few minutes of him acting, finally when it almost seems like he is done, Haruka finally shows herself, " That was a nice performance, mister."

The man quickly taken step back by her voice, almost trip as he saw her. His expression quickly change to him being confident.

"W-why, of course! I, Lance Richmond, am an actor that's going to be well known for I am practicing my performance!" The man, Haruka can guess his name is Lance Richmond as he said, said with a full confident in his tone of voice, "An actor have to be perfect to play their role perfectly without making any mistake they make! After all, I am a born-to-be-an-actor after all!"

Haruka suddenly felt awkward after hearing that from Lance. Just before he could continue more, Haruka asking him, "Did Miku and Rin let you use the stage?"

Lance look at Haruka and smile, "Why, yes! Those two lovely girls had been nice ever since I came here to practicing my play. I have to say, even if this stage is meant for singing, it's not too bad to act in here for a while." Lance said, Haruka saw his eyes soften, "And feels so alive in here..."

"What?"

"Ah, it's nothing!" Lance said, then felt like he remember something, "May I know your name, miss...?"

"My name is Kiritani Haruka, Mr. Richmond." Haruka answer.

"Ah, yes! Well, thank you for your compliment, Mrs Kiritani!" Lance said, "I will remember that compliment of yours till the end!"

Haruka can't help but smile a bit, this man may seem like he is too full of himself, but he can be a nice guy too. Suddenly a phone call were ringing. Haruka knew it wasn't hers. Lance pull out his phone from his pocket and look at it as he screen lighten up.

"Ah, I better get going," he said as he turn to Haruka, "A "leader" of mine telling me to get back. I am so sorry for not introducing myself more, Miss Kiritani."

"It's okay, Mr Richmond. I don't mind at all..." Haruka said, assuring the blonde man.

"Well then, I'll be going!" Lance said, before he could press the play button in his phone, he said one last thing to Haruka, "And please call me Lance."

Suddenly the light surrounded Lance and his gone.

Haruka look at the spot where Lance supposed to stand... She may have given up herself to be an idol, but that man... He doesn't say he is an actor, and yet he keep saying he is...

Haruka sigh, this will never getting to work...

——SEGA——

Stage Sekai

Lance is back again at the Sekai, after the resolved with his friends and film they were casting, he may have push everything too hard. And everyone says Clay is the pushy one, and he still. But this time, Lance is at fault. He is at the backstage of the Sekai, looking around for Rin and Miku when suddenly he heard a few voices.

It's on the stage. Just as Lance goes over there, he see three other teenagers along with Miku and Rin.

Who are they...?

Just as the conversation seems to be almost over, Rin seems to took a notice of him, "Ah, Lance! You're back!"

Suddenly all three unknown girls turn around and look at him in surprised. Lance try not to embarrassed himself, sigh and walk out of the backstage and go on stage. Walking towards the girls.

"Everyone! Meet Lance Richmond! He is an actor and also someone available to come t the Sekai!" Rin quickly introduce him to the girls.

Miku smile at Rin and Lance. The three girls seems to process what they had just witnessed, when suddenly the brown hair girl finally snap back to reality, "Um, nice to meet you, Mr. Richmond! My name's Hanasato Minori!"

"Nice to meet you Miss Hanasato," Lance said as he give his acting smile.

Woah, he really seems like an actor! Minori thought.

But one of her friends, feel off about Lance's smile, but still took a chance to introduce herself, "Hi there, the names Momoi Airi, Mr. Richmond."

Lance look at Airi and give a nod, he is greeting her as well. And the last girl finally decided to introduce herself, "And I'm Hinomori Shizuku. Nice to meet you, Mr. Richmond."

Lance look at her in curiosity, "Are you, a model?"

Shizuku suddenly feel tense, Lance can see that as he noticed Airi seems to be ready to help Shizuku. Lance quickly try to reassure Shizuku, "It's okay. I'm sorry for saying that out of blue. It was never my intention to, scare you or anything..."

"It's alright sir..."

Damn, now he feel bad... Lance thought.

"Anyway, what's exactly happening?"

And just by that question, all the three girls explain to him. About Haruka, what they can do to help her, how they're gonna do that. Lance feel he shouldn't get involved with this, if Haruka wants to give up being an idol, it's alright, some company can be kind of a jerk but...

After they're done explained everything, Lance look at the with unsatisfied look, Minori started to get worried by that, "Is there something wrong, Mr. Richmond?"

"Oh yeah, there is," Lance said, suddenly he grin, "If you want to help Miss Kiritani with her problem, mind if I help you with preparing for it?"

"E-eh?!"

"Of course, I am an actor and being an idol has nothing to do with acting. However, seeing all of you trying to cheer her up because of her trauma being an idol, I can't help but..." Lance pause, as he remember his friends while they were 'helping' him with his film, "Feel move by it. You girls really are her friends, huh?"

The girls look at him with admiration, he do love getting some attention but for now, he can't have it now. Miss Kiritani is in need of help, and to help her, they need to help her find her feelings, encourage her true feelings to come out.

"Alright, what are you girls waiting for? Time for practice!"

——SEGA——

Stage Sekai

"Momoi-senpai, Hinomori-senpai, Miku-chan, Rin-chan, Mr. Richmond! According to plan, please!!"

Haruka heard what Minori said, as she heard another voice responding to her, except one...

When suddenly, she saw Minori, Airi, and Shizuku on the stage, wearing a new outfit, not in their school uniform anymore... Haruka was a bit surprised and confused by all of this.

"What? They're on the stage?" Haruka said to herself.

"Yes, they are."

A new voice said from behind her, she turn to see Lance again.

"Mr. Richmond?! What is–"

Lance make a sign to tell Haruka to stay quiet and to watch and listen to the girls on stage. Haruka knowing that, follow what Lance order.

Minori started to introduce herself, as she did, the crowd cheer for her. Then she said she's going to sing a song for someone she admire, who? Well, it's none other than Kiritani Haruka, the ex-idol, her idol...

Haruka didn't say anything but she hear Lance say something along the line, 'She really admire you a lot, huh?'. Of course, she didn't respond as she focus on her friends on stage.

Then Minori give a little speech about how Haruka give her hope and when Haruka is sad, she wants to help Haruka to cheer up. Help Haruka to moving forward. Help her idol to find her path again. And to do that, she will show her will on stage for her, for Haruka.

Just after that little speech, and a word of encouragement from Airi and Shizuku, suddenly the green light from the stage and the light stick turn to blue. The whole stage and the audiences are all surrounded by blue, Haruka's theme color...

"Why is it have to be blue..." She can hear Lance muttered, but ignore his comment as she focus on Minori singing.

The start Minori did is hit on point and it work, seems like she's practiced. As her friends continue the song, Haruka can't help but glance around the audiences. Just like Lance said, it's blue...

"... Blue... Light stick...?"

Just as she said that, her attention seems to be back on Minori, as she notice how her friend over there seems to be trying so hard to help her. Help Haruka, find her feelings, give her feelings to her...

Suddenly she remember back then, her being an idol before, her first solo debut... How she's nervous before, how she have to face the crowd all alone. When suddenly she saw blue light stick... It started to shine on her, with everyone supporting her back then and how she wants to give her hope for everyone...

"You give everyone your hope," suddenly she snapped back to reality, she turn to Lance, as he continue, "And finally, your friends helping you find your missing hope. It maybe not my place to say it but..."

Lance turn to Haruka and give a warm smile, "They've been trying to find your hope, your feelings. This Sekai is the proof of it... This is your true feelings, Haruka. Seeing those light sticks and the light in these area... You love it right?"

"Yes, that view... It's because I had everyone's feelings... That's why I..." Haruka said, trying to find the word she's trying to say.

Suddenly Miku and Rin go towards Haruka, they started to say everything what her friends did and how the blue light stick and the light is a beautiful scenery. Haruka, of course, agree with them but then Lance noticed the frown on her face, is it not enough?

After the song end, Airi and Shizuku have stop dancing and so is Minori, but for her, she is exhausted with the dance. She look back at where Haruka stand and try to convince her to come up stage as well with her, how beautiful the view was on the stage.

Lance thought Haruka finally accept it but she refused her friend's invitation. Telling her friend how she can't go stage without her legs frozen and feel so many doubt on her mind.

"Haruka..." He can't help but say her name, try to comfort her...

When suddenly Minori said to Haruka to take her hand. Haruka feel flabbergasted and surprised by that. Minori continue by saying to her to take her hand. Then she confess everything to Haruka, how Haruka give her a hope when she was young and sick. How Haruka help her to find her path along the way as she makes new friends. How Haruka is the one making her believe she can also be an idol just like Haruka. She wants Haruka to be by her side just as she wants to be by Haruka's side as well. Delivery a song for her to cheer her up just like her idol.

Just by hearing all of that, Lance have one thought on his mind, Is this a love confession???

Just as Lance thought of that, suddenly he heard a sound of crying. He turn to Haruka and sees her crying. Finally, she finally found it, she says how she wants to be on stage again, how she wants to see the scenery on the stage again.

Without a second thought or giving any girls a second to think, Lance gently hold Haruka's hand to take her to the stage with her friends. Haruka shocked by this sudden action by the actor but she didn't resist, Miku and Rin follow both of them.

When they finally on stage, Haruka then having a second thought on how she can't be here again with how she suddenly feel her legs frozen again.

"It's going to be okay," Lance said, "Your friends are here. They're here because they want to help you and to give you their hope just as you give yours. It's nothing for you to feel bad when your here with all of them."

"Mr. Richmond..."

Just as Lance said that, Shizuku agree with what Lance said as she hold onto Haruka just so Haruka can move with her. Airi also help by giving her a move on her other side.

Haruka finally look up front of her, finally she sees it. The old view, her favourite view... It's the same and yet, so beautiful...

Minori then tell her how all the lights are the light of hope that Haruka give her.

Lance can't help but facepalm, 'Please Minori. Now you're gonna make me cry over this confession...'

Lance ignore the conversation between the two girls as Minori tells Haruka everything to help Haruka moving forward when suddenly, he saw a bright light from Minori's phone. He also notice his phone let out the notification sound.

Turns out, everyone's phone were glowing as it shows the song "Untitled" had changed. Lance was so out of thought of this that he didn't hear much from the girls' conversation.

When suddenly one of them said they can now sing and dance along with Miku, Lance quickly try to reject it saying how he can't sing.

"Aw, c'mon Mr. Richmond! You help us with all of this as well!"

"It is not wrong to sing along with us, Mr. Richmond sir!"

"Thank you, Lance. For helping me find my true feelings back."

"Mr. Richmond! You help us to help Haruka-chan! It is not so bad for you to join us as well!" Minori said, as her eyes light up with excitement, "An actor can be a singer too, right?!"

Well, guess there is no out of this, huh?

[imzsuzsis-blog]

"One more deep fucking air." That's what I could tell myself, I screwed up properly. There was even a badass thrower in it, but I didn't go from third place to fifth place, I can screw up my weekend. "Don't cry like that, I know I'm just a fucking high school substitute teacher with a language major, but I still don't understand it all." "Did I fuck you for you?!!! I know everyone clichédly says it's just a sport, but I've been chasing it since I was a kid, and if I don't succeed, I only have myself to blame. Thanks to this, I have to train more and let's leave more... Jon, I'll be home bye..." I put on my baseball cap and got into the car with tears in my face, Loki sat next to me and caressed my face, and I turned away from him with my arms folded, I not only cried but also puffed all the way to the hotel. "Loki, it's not over, I'm sorry, let's just be friends." I fell on my stomach on the bed and everything came out of me, I punched the pillow and kicked the air and just screamed. "No Lando. We've only had three dates and a full race weekend together, and that's not the end. Let's continue and if it doesn't work out for them, we really don't fit together, then let's break up." ,,Not true!!!!! I'm telling you it's over, believe me..." I suddenly jumped on his neck and we kissed for a long time leaning against the wall. "I want to have sex." I looked deep into Loki's beautiful deep blue eyes. "I'm not sorry, Lando, I remember what was said in the book and on the internet that pregnancy is not possible at such an early stage." "I'm not hungry for sex." I caressed him blonde brown hair sexily, but Loki laid me down on the bed with a sexy smile and reached under my top, which made me start, I took it off properly and let him continue, I felt his fingertips on it and I started moaning softly. "You thought it was going to be sex, I was just stroking them." ,,Stupid." I started storming about it. "Well, Loki, at least if we don't have sex, let's sleep next to each other, please." He first leaned over and kissed my forehead, then my nose, and we started another long kissing battle. "I lied, baby, I see you're enjoying it."

————————-

"Loki, why?" I smiled next to him. "Lando, you were just dreaming" I woke up to his soft, husky voice. "Did I dream?" I couldn't stop smiling, I got up, picked up a pillow and stuffed it under my top so I looked at myself in the mirror. "You dreamed about sex, you moaned a lot during it, and my name and your loud moans, which turned erotic, were already torture. You're so funny, take it out." "Here?" I turned around and completely froze. That said, it was fucking embarrassing. "What did I say? Did I speak?” "Yes, you are riding my cock without my name, shut up! and 69 was great, but suck my dick didn't miss either." In agony, I held my forehead and this literally prevented the nausea, which actually turned into vomiting instead of packing. "This is disgusting anal. I tried it once when I was fifteen and I got pregnant. Only then did our parents realize what had happened, that is, I told them and gave Leo up for adoption. I was only sixteen when Leo was born... I could have raised him, but mother and father insisted. If I want to get here, I have to take this step. I listened to them like a beast and not to my fucking heart and mind!!!!!" Leaning my neck back with the support that held the towel, I began to burp, trembling. "Fuck Lando, there are no words for this... Would you have stopped for the sake of the little one?" I put my chin on his neck, wrapped my arms around Loki from the back, our legs were entwined underneath, "Yes, that's why he would have stopped, but father wouldn't let him." I whispered softly into his ears and wanted nothing more than a hug there. "Loki, Lando, we have to go or you should have checked out of your room three hours ago." "Not now, Oscar. It's crazy, we'll pay later. You go and tell those who don't know yet that Lando has stomach flu and will stay an extra week." "The whole team no longer knows that Lando is pregnant. Two, they also know he's gay and you're a couple." "Damn it, this isn't the problem here, it's that... I was pregnant with a teenager from Kian, you idiot!!!!" I looked at him and kept throwing up and I didn't want to go back to Europe because of him, I wanted to stay here. "Good fuck, I went for it. But Andrea is waiting downstairs, who wants to talk to you about everything." "Could it be serious that you're fired because you're pregnant?" I turned back and showed that I didn't know. "He can kick me or just tell me to have an abortion... But about the latter, I don't do it all the way, I even raise him... Shall we educate him?" I smiled helplessly, but I had to get up from the floor, we quickly put on our clothes and exited the room amid long apologies. "Lando Norris where, where?" "To the train Mr. Stella." I took Loki's fingers, tied them together, smiled at each other and sat down in the lobby. "It's good, I would marry you at the beginning, no, I won't miscarry my twins and that's it."

[mizukagami-takamagahara]

Annon-Guy: If there was a third XBLAZE game or a released compilation of the two XBLAZE games, what would you like to see? P.S. Who's your favorite XBLAZE character?

Feeling a little better than I have been, so I can finally get to some of these asks! I actually have a few sitting around that are pretty interesting; thank you, everyone who's reached out to me!

Now onto your topic, Annon Guy!

I would love to see a prequel focused on the Wadatsumi Incident, with Ryouko Kagari as the protagonist. We've already been given a good amount of information about what happened there, and a surprising amount of characters who were involved have been named. I would love to formally meet Ryouko and Sui (and finally get a design for the later.) Maybe get a name for Mr. Amanohokosaka, finally???

We would also get a chance to see more of the XBlaze Ten Sages, which I'm always hungry for. I tend to get hung up on things when we're given some members from a group of characters, and know there are more, but don't get to see them. And Drei has such strong feelings about the Ten Sages being corrupt; maybe we could get a better understanding of why he feels that way, and what he stands for, if we could meet his antithesis. Like, these are the people who betrayed his ideals so deeply that he walked away from everything he'd dedicated his life to, everything Zwei had entrusted him with as her pupil. If given a chance to be fully developed, these could be some interesting characters.

It would also be great to see more of who Avenge and Unomaru were a decade ago. Lost Memories gave us a chance to see Unomaru during the disaster, and I loved it! I love seeing people through different lenses throughout their lives, as they develop. I want more of that, for him and the rest of the cast.

So if I could get a full third installment in the XBlaze series, I'd like a Wadatsumi Incident prequel. Though in your ask, you also suggested a re-release compilation. I know you brought that up as part of the same hypothetical, just to set the stage for the question, but I'm kind of inclined to approach it as its own ask. Like, a full third game would have room to tell a full story. But the best re-releases add fun bonus content, like an extra side story or something. It has to be shorter, more compact. Since the requirements are different, so is my answer.

In a similar vein to my earlier answer, I would love to see some kind of Bloodedge Experience teaser- some small story several years in the future that would bridge the gap between XB and BE. Mei as the head of her clan, troubles with young Saya Terumi, etc.

Though the more I think about it, the more stuff comes to mind. There's just so much I want to see. Kuon as a member of the Ten Sages, maybe meeting or instructing the XB world's Konoe. A jump back to the past to see ANY of the Ten Sage Trio before they defected.

I guess I'm kind of greedy...

For your last question... The other Terumi stans are going to put a bounty on me for this, but my absolute favorite XBlaze character is Ripper. No contest.

I didn't like him early on- I had the same kind of complaints a lot of Terumi fans do. That he was just some boring nobody shoved into a Terumi-esque "quirky crazy villain" role to fill a quota. But I don't think that's actually fair to either of them, to reduce them to their most basic and shallow tropes. On further inspection, I feel the two really aren't alike at all.

There is something so so so wrong with Ripper, like, not in his head but in that he- his physical form- he's a fucking freak of nature. What the hell is a Strange Red? How and why did he get Union-ed spontaneously? I just- I'm #kining the Ten Sages here, man. I ALSO want to take his corpse home to study it. Who wouldn't???

Sorry Kiri ¯\_(ツ)_/¯