#than to like a character who might last long enough to call you the idiot and asshole that you are

[utilitycaster]

You know what's interesting to me? For all people keep claiming at every juncture that perhaps Bells Hells will come around on the gods and see the harm they do (which, as discussed extensively, is, half the time, simply not intervening) not only have they never done so, but also they never quite cross the line into saying the party should join the Ruby Vanguard or aid them - and indeed, they defend against it - so what does this achieve? It feels like they're asking for a story in which the party stands idly by, which isn't much of a story nor, if I may connect this briefly to the real world, a political stance anyone should be proud of.

That's honestly the frustration with the gods and the "what if the Vanguard has a point" conversations in-game. What do we do then? Do we allow the organization that will murder anyone for pretty much any reason that loosely ties into their goals run rampant? The group that (perhaps unwittingly, but then again, Otohan's blades had that poison) disrupted magic world-wide, and caused people who had the misfortune to live at nexus points to be teleported (most, as commoners, without means of return). While also fomenting worldwide unrest?

Those were the arguments before the trip to Ruidus; with the reveal of the Vanguard's goals to invade Exandria, the situation becomes even more dire. Do you let the Imperium take over the planet?

And do the arguments against the gods even hold up? If Ludinus is so angry at them for the Calamity, what does it say that he destroyed Western Wildemount's first post-Calamity society for entirely selfish means? (What does it say about the validity of vengeance as a motivator?) What does it say that Laudna told Imogen she could always just live in a cottage quietly without issue before the solstice even happened? (Would this still be true if the Imperium controls the world?) What does it say that when faced with a furious, grieving party and the daughter she keeps telling herself was her reason for all of this, Liliana can't provide an answer to the question of what the gods have done other than that their followers will retaliate...for, you know, the Vanguard's endless list of murders. (That is how the Vanguard and Imperium tend to think, huh? "How dare your face get in the way of my boot; how dare you hit me back when I strike you.") She can't even provide a positive answer - why is Predathos better - other than "I feel it", even though Imogen and Fearne know firsthand that Predathos can provide artificial feelings of elation. Given all the harm Ludinus has done in pursuit, why isn't the conclusion "the gods should have crashed Aeor in such a way that the tech was unrecoverable?"

Even as early as the first real discussion on what the party should do, the fandom always stopped short of saying "no, Imogen's right, they should join up with the people who killed half the party," it was always "no, she didn't really mean it, she just was trying to connect with her mother." Well, she's connected with her mother, and at this point the party doesn't even care about the gods particularly (their only divinely-connected party member having died to prevent the Vanguard from killing all of them). So they will stop the Vanguard; as Ashton says, the means are unforgiveable. As Laudna says, it's not safe to bet on Predathos's apathy. As Imogen says, she's done running; the voice that she used to think of as a lifeline belongs to someone she doesn't trust. So I guess my question is: if they're stopping the people who are trying to kill the gods (and defense of the gods isn't remotely their personal motivation)...do you think the next phase of the campaign is Bells Hells personally killing the gods? Reconstructing the Aeor tech and hoping none of their allies notice? How does this end? Does your ideology ever get enacted? Or is this entirely moot and pointless and the story ends with Bells Hells saying "well, I'm really glad we stopped the people who [insert list of Vanguard atrocities from above]; none of us follow the gods or plan to, but honestly, the status quo we return to is preferable to whatever nightmare Ludinus had concocted in his violent quest for power and revenge"?

[twistedpink]

Mc inserts x TWST characters (Part two)(Part three)

(basically non-yuu pairings I think about instead of my inbox :p)

Ignyhide vice!Mc x Jamil Viper

Mc is probably twisted from one of the little demon goons, and it makes your contrast with Jamil charmingly obvious. You’re both vices in the basketball club with an outside connection to your wardens (you figured a physical activity’ll ward Idia’s eye away) and you both hate your jobs to a comedic degree. The connection is actually really sweet and subtle!! Atleast until book 6 when Mc is complaining about their ego trippy boss while basically eating out of Jamil’s hand, feeding him information like the layout and hierarchy of styx,, as Idia’s super exclusive assistant it’s only fair to give your guests a full tour!

“geez! And he just gets so flippy-floppy, yknow? He’s got this thing about energy drinks now so I’ve been diluting them, it’s such a pain!”

“It might just be a defect with housewardens. Have you ever heard of the incompetency theory?”

Card soldier!Mc x Malleus Draconia

okay picture this- Mc is comepletely wasted and coming off the high from a holiday party that was totally killer. You wander into the woods past campus and find yourself at a little abandoned cottage, it’s like 100% cozy enough to chill in before stumbling back to the dorms. You continue heading there for pregames/drunken shenanigans, meeting up with some hot guy that hangs around sometimes. You’re fully blindsided when your “little buddy” is kicking heartslabyul ass during a spelldrive tourney..

“Yoooooo, Mally, you must be really fun at parties. Want ta’ go with me?”

“I can’t say I’ve ever been invited to a “rager” before, but it sounds.. enjoyable. I accept.”

Ignyhide freshman!Mc x Deuce Spade

You’re a shaking mess during your first track meet. It’s a graduation requirement to take at least one gym class before the end of freshman year, and you’d rather die than take flight class with all those scary seniors!! Your vice had enough sense to convince you into not dropping out, he’d said that ���track is low stress!” And “you’ll enjoy it” >:( you can’t believe he’d lie to your face like that!! (Is this the AI revolution??) You guess it’s not too bad though, you’ve even started strength training with a new friend. He’s a little short tempered, but it could be a lot worse.

“hey, I had no idea ignyhide kids were into track! I thought it’d be too much sun,,”

“We’re not vampires. I wouldn’t clown on you for the tea in your thermos, so lay off.. heh, there’s totally a dormouse in there.”

Scarabia housewarden!Mc x Leona Kingscholar

It’s pretty rare to see Leona of all people in your reserved pool chair, but plenty of weird stuff’s happened during your senior case study. You’re this close to getting your big shiny diploma- and a little rest now and then won’t hurt anybody! Savanaclaw’s housewarden has only had his position since last year, and you’ve held yours through all four. After knowing of each other for so long, it’s only logical that you’d become good friends! (Not that he calls you that)

“So you’re graduating, huh? Hope that brat you chose’ll fill your shoes, you’ve worked pretty hard.”

“awh, you’re such a sap,, I’m sure you’ll like Kalim, he’s no idiot. I promise to visit whenever you decide to graduate, but it’ll be a lot easier if i get that job in the castle!”

Octavinelle sophmore!Mc x Jack Howl

Poor Jack has to deal with everyone else’s business on top of his own education, when does he get a break? That ramshackle prefect’s looking for leads on how to beat those twins in the water, and only one face comes to mind. You’re his coworker at his temp job, and you owe him a favour (atleast from your perspective, he doesn’t hold it over your head) because with your grades Azul’s got it out for you. He’s begging for you to help him out- and who are you to deny those puppy eyes?

“Jack you can’t tell him! The housewarden’ll make me quit, I need this job! :(((“

“woah, it’s not like I’m gonna blackmail you.. what kind of guy do you think I am?”

Savanaclaw freshman!Mc x Epel Felmier

You’re lost, stressed and so confused in your first year :( it feels like everything is going wrong all the time!! It’s probably like 10x worse because you’re very tall and so built, but nobody cares to peer up at the cute giraffe ears on your head! You’ve been challenged by so. many. seniors. (and you win against all of them, you’re no pushover) but you’re tired of the beef. Epel just thinks you’re the coolest person in the room, and is always saying he wants to get freaky fridayed with you. But he doesn’t get the struggle!! Atleast Jack cares enough to tell him you’re just not liking it at school, and it makes Epel kick into action- he’s not letting you drop out, so please wait until he transfers!!

Pomefiore Junior!Mc x Rook Hunt

You’re convinced that Rook c. Hunt is the worst guy in all of twisted wonderland (C for creep)! And it SUCKS because he went from your rebellious savanaclaw boytoy to.. whatever he is. (How’d you miss the warning signs when you were tongueing him??) You can always see his stupid bob in your peripheral- but you’ve rationalized that if you watch him, then he only sees what you want him to see! It’s keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, just until graduation. And it does work, until you realize you’ve given Rook an inch that he’s turned into a mile. You’ll probably never get rid of him now, but what’s the point anymore?

“Ah, mon cher! You always enchant me with your passionate gaze, I’m honoured to be the object of your attention!”

“uh.. sure thing, hon. Whatever you say.”

Diasomnia Senior!Mc x Idia Shroud

You’re a highly educated noble from the mysterious land of Briar Valley. You are poised, weirdly formal, and utterly incompetent with your newest area of study- contemporary technology. You’ve tried to convince yourself that it’s pointless, they don’t even use it at home! But if you want to travel anytime before the collapse of human civilization, it must be done. you’re insatiable with your thirst for knowledge, and completely enamoured with having first hand experience with every era of mortal tech. It also happens to be almost impossible to revive your “Kno-Keya” once it has decided to die. That is where Idia Shroud comes in.

“In exchange for the revival of my electronic mailing device i am willing to offer an extensive dowry befitting of your station and technological necromancy skill. Will it suffice?”

“I literally only charged your phone, uh.. WOAH, A DOWRY?? I don’t have the space for five horses!! I’m totally not prepped for the marriage route, I haven’t seen the wiki yet!”

[definitelynotafurinasimp]

Hii,do you mind if you make an scene where you and furina or any other characters fight and you ended up taking their cuddling privilege through the rest of the day? Thanks!!

Them taking away your cuddle privileges after a fight

characters: Furina / Nilou x gn!reader (separate)

warnings: none

a/n: ....you know... reading through the request one last time before posting this, it looks like I may have misunderstood smth *slightly*.

I hope this is still fine! If you want me to write reader taking away their cuddling priviledges after all just request it again and I'll try to write it someday!

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Furina

“I’m nowhere clingy!”

You’d have to be either deaf, stupid or oblivious to an unhealthy degree to miss your cuddling privileges being revoked. Furina had not exactly been subtle when openly declaring it after all. And while she may not have mentioned cuddling specifically, not trusting herself to not blush like a little kid at just the mention of it, you felt confident in saying that she had delivered her message well enough for even the most tone-deaf idiot to understand.

And yet, the exact same accusation that you had half-jokingly thrown her way and that she had taken such great offense to, turned the next few days into some of the best entertainment you had experienced in recent memory. Seeing an former Archon act dignified while at the same time having to fight the obvious urge to hug you the moment you were behind closed doors, only to then turn around and act like her embargo on hugging and cuddling was punishing you, was funnier than any comedy a human could possibly ever pen.

“So… about our argument a few days ago.” Furina spoke up the moment you returned to the table with your cooking, forcing you to fight off the grin that was threatening to pop-up on your face.

“So, about our argument a few days ago”, you repeated her words, intentionally ending on a high note to leave her waiting for your next words, only to continue to set up the table in silence.

“Are you- I-” she eventually stuttered out, only to stop herself before she could embarrass herself further. Her cheeks glowing slightly red as she tried to regain her composure.

“Who knows, if you were to apologize for your groundless accusations a few days back right now, I might just forgive you”, Furina graciously offered with closed eyes, avoiding to look at you in the process.

All the better for you, or she might have noticed the wide grin that had finally broken out on your face. For a moment you considered her ‘offer’. Sure, you missed cuddling on the couch as well and weren’t exactly the biggest fan of keeping up these kind of games…. and yet seeing her continue to needlessly die on this hill that so obviously harmed her more than you was very amusing.

“Wow, really? That seems very nice of you”, you mused with a smile while filling her plate with a portion before doing the same for yours and sitting down opposite of her. “Bon Appetit!”

“Oh come on. Stop being so stubborn! I’ve even given you such a good opportunity to apologize!” Furina's dignified act crumbled right before your eyes as she started to sound more and more desperate. You could practically hear her begging you to be the bigger person, and yet being small felt surprisingly great.

And yet you eventually- FINALLY gave in, much to the relief of the person sitting in front of you. “I am so sorry for calling you clingy Furina. I now see that I was clearly in the wrong and the one actually fitting the description of ‘clingy’ was in fact me”, your apology came out with a… healthy amount of sarcasm, and yet it was more than enough for her.

“...I’ll forgive you. Since you were nice enough to cook for me today”, she declared.

“I know I might be overplaying my hand here, but would you be so kind as to indulge me in a bit of cuddling later on? I’ve simply had to go on without it for far too long.”

“YES- Sure”, Furina immediately jumped at your offer before quickly switching back to her usual act, a wide smile plastered on her face nonetheless as she looked down at the food in front of her.

“It looks delicious, bon appetit!”

Nilou 

While the two of you seemed to have quickly moved past your argument, spending time together as if nothing had happened and avoiding to even mention the subject again, it quickly dawned on you that while you had hoped this to be one of those arguments noone had to explicitly apologize for and that was simply forgotten the next day, the other party involved seemingly was of a different opinion.

Not that Nilou said anything, she greeted you with the same sweet smile before chatting and going on small walks through the bazaar with you in the same manner as on any day of the week. And yet, whenever you as much as tried to initiate any kind of physical contact, no matter if hand-holding or hugging and cuddling, she’d dodge as easily as she breathed. At first it seemed like nothing but a coincidence, but after the dozenth time even you realized something was wrong.

What followed was a days-long standoff. Both of you trying to make the other one crack before yourself, while retaining your sweet and unbothered facade, and while there were moments where you could have sworn to nearly see Nilou instinctively grab your hand, she always managed to stop herself before anything happened.

And while you certainly could have continued with the act for weeks to come, you eventually decided to be the bigger person. For the sake of putting this childish game of chicken behind, of course. And for no other reasons.

“Sure Nilou. You win”, you disrupted the silence that existed between the two of you while Nilou was in the process of adjusting her stage, her movement grinding to a halt as she began staring at you in confusion.

“I wasn’t aware we were playing something. Did you have fun?”

‘Not aware’ your a- 

“Mhm, I am sorry about the argument”, you cut off your thoughts, immediately earning yourself a tilt of her head. After all this time you knew her clueless act to be nothing but an act and yet, when she looked at you like this you nearly found yourself doubting it all over again.

“Oh that? That was a whole week ago, did it still bother you all this time?”, she asked before finally finishing putting down the pot of flowers, quickly making her way down from the stage to join you and shooting you a sweet smile. “Don’t worry, I forgive you. I also didn’t mean everything I’ve said.”

If Nilou hadn’t suddenly grabbed your hand and started pulling you along her daily routine, you might have almost rolled your eyes, instead you found yourself thanking Lesser Lord Kusanali that you were indeed correct about your theory.

Bye Bye childish standoff, welcome back cuddling privileges.

[lynnaredfield3383]

Under 18 - DNI. Not my characters. Swearing, mentions of blowjobs & sexual references. (Met Denki & Bakugo during hero mission 2 years ago. Started dating Denki on/off, then sort of committed, then open).

Bakugo hated it. Hated the way Denki treated you. Hated the fact you accepted it. Hated the fact you couldn't believe you deserved more.

It twisted his gut to the point he was nauseous. You with that light up the room personality, combined with your killer smile and laugh.

Meanwhile, fucking Dunce face ignored you so he could grind between two random girls. You pretended not to care and that it didn't hurt, but Bakugo saw it.

Each time you met up with the group, your smile was a little weaker, your eyes a bit more dull, and your heart a little more broken.

So, when Denki stumbled towards the table with an arm around each of the randos waists, Bakugo was ready to blast him.

"Babe, you can head home, I'll be having company tonight, kay? Later."

Denki stumbled off before anyone could say anything, all eyes on you. You chose Denki, and you allowed him to behave like this. Jiro was the first one to reach out and cover your hand with hers.

"I'm gonna head home. And don't feel bad for me, we broke up yesterday, but he's not grasping it."

Bakugo's eyes shot straight to you at your admission. Standing, he nodded to Kiri and headed towards you.

"I can drive ya home."

You looked back at Bakugo and smiled.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

Bakugo walked beside you, hands in his pockets. The night was warm, but you felt a chill in your bones. The way everyone looked at you and realizing you'd allowed things with Denki to go on for too long,hurt.

Bakugo moved ahead of you to open the door before letting you get in. Once he started driving, you wondered why you couldn't get a guy like Bakugo. Honest, decent, and kind. Most people didn't get to see it, but you had.

"You really ended it with that idiot?" Bakugo tried to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah. I wanted to see the rest of you one last time, though."

Bakugo felt his chest tighten at that.

"You can still come out with the rest of us. Idiot only comes out when Jiro does. He's still hoping to steal her from Momo. Shit, I'm sorry, I shouldn't..."

"Its fine, Bakugo. I love your honesty, it's refreshing. Also not like I was blind to the whole pining for Jiro thing."

"Katsuki."

"Hmm?"

You turned to look over at him and saw what you thought might be a hint of blush on his cheeks. You laughed internally at your silly thought.

"Call me, Katsuki."

You bit your bottom lip, your mind running through all the things you wanted to say to him. In two years, he had treated you better than Denki ever had. You'd developed feelings for Bakugo somewhere along the first 8 months with Denki and wondered now if that's why he wanted to be "semi-official." Was there a chance Bakugo had liked you?

"Katsuki."

Bakugo swore his stomach flipped when you said his name. He hadn't expected it to have such an impact on him. Bakugo pulled into your parking lot, wishing it had been a longer drive.

"Don't move," Bakugo commanded you.

As you waited for him to open the door, you wondered if maybe Denki had bragged about your abilities in the bedroom. If that was the case, you could easily believe Bakugo was interested. I mean, who else gave their boyfriend's such good head their hands went numb?

"Thank you, Katsuki. You're a gentleman."

This time, you caught the slight blush as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm gonna walk ya to your door," Bakugo said allowing you to lead the way.

"This is good enough. More th..."

"Don't tell me that idiot never walked you to the door?"

"Only when he wanted to come in. It's no big deal," you chuckled.

"S'not right. You deserve more."

"Thanks for saying that. I dumped Denki because I'm ready for more or better or whatever isn't him," you laughed.

Bakugo followed you inside and went quiet. You tried to ignore your nerves, but he was right there. The guy you could never have and were never going to see again.

When the elevator stopped, you turned to tell him goodnight.

"Said I'm walking ya to your door."

You swallowed the nervous lump in your throat and nodded. You felt his eyes on your back and decided this was it. Your only chance and you were damn well going to take it.

Bakugo had known you for two years, and it wasn't more than a month before he realized he wanted you to be his. Now was his chance, and he couldn't find the words.

"Katsuki, I've wanted to ask you something for a while, but I..."

"You can ask me anything," Bakugo spoke bluntly.

"Okay. I've never had a one night stand. Would you be my one night stand?"

The expression he wore was frightening. A mix of anger and frustration. Either way you realized you fucked up.

"No."

You turned to unlock your door when you felt the warmth of his body against yours. You froze confused.

"I didn't mean to offend you...I just..." you faltered the words trying to apologize.

"I can't be your one night because I want to be your everynight."

His breath against your neck turned your legs to jello, forcing you to lean against the door.

"Everynight?" You repeated.

Bakugo took your keys and unlocked the door for you. You turned to face him.

"Hmm-mm. Starting tonight."

It was in that moment you knew you belonged to Bakugo, and he wasn't going anywhere.

**Of course he came inside, but Bakugo isn't one to rush, so you just watched movies. Then talked until you both fell asleep on your couch.**

[pascaloverx]

UNREQUITED LOVE

Summary: Being a new student is already complicated. But when you end up developing an unwanted crush on a schoolmate, everything seems to get worse. This particular schoolmate is romantically involved with someone. And to make matters worse, the popular school quarterback starts to bother you.

Author's Note: This fanfic will be short and set in the universe of the movie Bottoms (2023), directed by Emma Seligman, using the characters from the film. The characters do not belong to me. The fanfic will not strictly follow all the situations from the movie. I hope you enjoy it. Initially, there will be no adult content. There will only be inappropriate language and scenes of violence.

TWO FOUR

THREE

You don't want to be dramatic, but your first day at the new school is a much bigger challenge than you imagined it would be. After chemistry class, you had math with a teacher who spent more time flirting with Jeff than actually teaching anything. During the break, you couldn't avoid Josie and her group. It's not that you wanted to avoid her, but spending the time you should be using to eat in peace watching adorable couples seemed like something that would make you sad. Besides, from a distance, you saw Hazel's girlfriend with her at the table. The last thing you need is to see the girl you might be attracted to with someone else. So you ate alone in the bathroom, which is kind of gross, but you promised yourself that you would pretend it never happened. The rest of the day was almost as if you were invisible. That is, until after your last class, when you ran out because the bus that would take you straight home was about to pass near your school. But as soon as you turned, you collided with someone. The moment your body hit theirs, you fell to the ground.

"Can't you watch where you're going, damn it?" you mutter furiously. It had to be the number one enemy of peace: Jeff, the jerk quarterback.

"Look who's got a sharp tongue. Little nerd, you were the one who ran into me. But I think it's cute that you want to crawl on the floor to get to me." Jeff says, striking a pose like he’s Superman. You roll your eyes and try to get up. Without success.

"Your stupidity is honestly infuriating. I would never crawl to you. In fact, every interaction I’ve had with you today has been against my will. And since I’m being honest, calling me a nerd isn’t as groundbreaking as you think. There are a thousand other ways you could address me that would be more insightful and creative." You say as you struggle to get up from the ground. Your other classmates are already leaving the class you were in, and thanks to the idiot in front of you, you missed your bus.

"You should worry more about getting off the ground than giving me tips on what to call you, nerd," Jeff says, winking at you. Before you can think about kicking him, he moves away from you, almost skipping. How infuriating. As you finally manage to stand up, you notice Hazel watching you, as if she had been waiting for you.

"How long are you going to keep looking at me?" You ask as you brush the dirt from the floor off your clothes. The anger you're feeling right now could make you go after Jeff and kill him. But the truth is that you already have enough problems and don't want to be transferred again.

"I thought you'd want a ride. And it was a little fun watching you get up by yourself." Hazel speaks while exuding an air of amusement at your humiliation. You instantly roll your eyes.

"You don't need to give me a ride, walking home is the icing on the cake of this horrible day at school." You’re out of patience, especially since it seems you can’t avoid either Jeff or Hazel.

"Are you so afraid of being alone with me?" Hazel asks with a mischievous smile, which makes you a little indignant.

"Try to decide what you want to accuse me of doing, either I'm in love with Jeff or I can't resist you, Both aren't worth it." You say while looking straight into Hazel's eyes. Your concentration is all on not looking at her mouth and imagining what it would be like to kiss her lips.

"I'm still getting to know you. I can't say exactly which option is right. But come to think of it, you probably like me." Hazel is very confident while suggesting that you like her. How can someone you’ve known for less than twenty-four hours already deduce that, and be right about it? It’s insane.

“Alright, you win. I’ll accept your ride if it means you’ll stop talking and we can move on.” You say while trying not to admit any attraction to Hazel.

"My car is the one to your left. If you’d follow me, mademoiselle, I’ll take you home." Hazel says, pointing to her car while accompanying you to it. She seems eager to impress you, even opening the car door for you.

“You know, I can open a door myself. And I just noticed that you offered me a ride without knowing where I live. What if it’s out of your way?” you say while getting into the car and fastening your seatbelt.

“I think I mentioned wanting to take you to my place before dropping you off at yours so we could work on the chemistry project together, remember?” Hazel says with a mischievous chuckle as she starts driving. You look at her with a judging stare.

“You know what I think? That you’re taking advantage of the situation to spend more time with me. Which doesn’t make much sense since you were accusing me of liking you, but it’s actually you who wants to spend your free time with me, even though you’re already committed.” You emphasize while turning to look at Hazel, who is focused on driving but glances at you with a sideways smile for a few seconds.

“First of all, I’m not committed. PJ and I hook up sometimes, but it’s not a serious or exclusive relationship. And I never said I wasn’t interested in you; I only accused you of being interested in me. Don’t blame me for stating the obvious.” Hazel replies with such calmness. You regret bringing up her commitment status, realizing it might come off as jealousy.

“Well, whatever. Your personal life is none of my business. What is my business is where you’re taking me.” You say softly, trying to appear uninterested in Hazel’s life. Wherever you’re going, there are beautiful gardens along the way.

“Actually, it was cute to see that I sparked jealousy in you so quickly. You must be the type who gets attached easily, which is sweet. And we’re almost at my place.” Hazel says, glancing at you briefly as if to reassure you.

“As long as we only talk about the project, it’s fine with me.” You say, still trying to appear disinterested. Hazel chuckles and then parks the car in front of a large house.

“And what else could we do besides talk about the project?” Hazel asks, getting close to your face as if she’s about to kiss you. You, foolishly, close your eyes as if expecting the kiss. But instead, she simply removes your seatbelt for you.

“Are you trying to mess with me?” you say, still with your eyes closed, thinking Hazel has already pulled away. But when you slowly open your eyes, you find her watching you, not in a weird way, but as if she’s enchanted by you.

“I am. And I hope it’s working,” Hazel says, then moves towards you, pulling you in for a kiss. The kiss is gentle and surprising, yet overwhelmingly captivating. Her lips touch yours as if both of you were starved for it. For a moment, you lose yourself there in Hazel’s car, savoring the sweet taste of her mouth. Then her phone rings, and after trying to ignore it, she answers, interrupting the kiss. Noticing it's PJ, you decide to wait outside the car. So, you stand there, next to the car of someone who interrupted a breath-stealing kiss to answer her situationship.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Hello resident Eridan expert! 0u0 I was wondering if you thought he might get on well with Aradia? Thank you for your time!

Actually yes! In moderate doses. After Eridan's character development. The list I like to keep of his platonic friends, from most to least close to him, is like.

Nepeta -> Dirk -> Feferi -> Vriska -> Aradia -> Other

So I already talked about how he and Nepeta seem like they'd actually make for really good friends - the Heart player who can't help but see the good in him, and Eridan liking nice people and the fact that the two of them have a lot in common. I've also made mention before about how I think he and Dirk would have an extremely lethargic, almost transactional bro-ship where they sometimes beat each other to death. A completely neutral friendship, where they do not make each other better OR worse, they just help each other take the edge off the Prince Ennui. Using extreme violence.

He and Feferi are also not so different, and, honestly, they're childhood friends. She's pretty fond of him, and he's TOO fond of her, but after his character development and he fully gets over her, I think they'd be perfectly decent friends. He and Vriska have much the same deal, but I think their personalities mesh slightly worse than his and Feferi's.

If you're wondering why Kanaya isn't on this list, it's because she hates his dumb ass and always has. I think Eridan thinks he's really good friends with Kanaya. Kanaya has literally never respected Eridan even a little bit. Same with Rose. It's really funny.

So Aradia is kind of the last person out of the characters that I think I'd emphatically call "Eridan's Friend." Everyone covered in "other" tends to be people who are everybody's friend (like John) or basically tolerant of his behavior in small doses (like Dave).

With Aradia specifically, there's a few factors to consider; first of all, she has a pretty negative view of highbloods in general, calling them "hateful sn0bs" at one point. She's a lot more tolerant as the stewardess of the afterlife, because Alternia's gone and everyone else is dead, but I think it should still stand that she'd be sensitive to anti-casteist sentiment, since casteism colored so much of her life back when she was, y'know, alive.

But the reason I think they'd work as friends is because Aradia has a bluntness and straightforwardness about her that happens to mesh well with Eridan's suite of issues. He's actually fairly easy to manage if you're fully honest with him and set and maintain very clear boundaries, because he doesn't catch social cues, but also doesn't really see naked hostility, bluntness, or aggression as bad things.

And Aradia can be viciously sarcastic, but her natural tendency is to be very blunt and honest and call things the way she sees them. This means that if she's ever too annoyed by Eridan, she will let him know that as bluntly as humanly possible, and then happily fuck off, with Eridan generally no worse for the wear (although he may have a negative reaction in the moment. But Aradia's self-possessed enough to not really give a shit as long as she's not in the wrong).

The main issue between them is that I think Aradia would believe Eridan IS a nasty, casteist highblood, unless somehow given reason to interact with him for an extended period of time. Eridan didn't really talk to the lowbloods, and the two generally had no reason to interact, so she'd basically have no reason NOT to believe him when he starts spewing bullshit. Moreover, Eridan's the type of aggressive idiot that would outright admit that if they'd FLARPed together, there was every chance she'd wind up orphaned or dead (this is just a neutral fact to him), and then comment that maybe it wouldn't have mattered because she wound up dead anyway (again, just a neutral observation to him). Writing Eridan mostly consists of coming up with words that make you cringe.

Aradia is smart enough that I think any extensive conversation or time spent with him would make her realize how performative his casteist stuff is, and how little he actually cares about blood color. Since she generally never had reason to interact or care about him before (not even her friends are friends with him), this would pretty much shift her opinion from "idgaf about him, seems like a snob like the rest of the highbloods" to "oh... he's funny as hell. what's wrong with him".

Once she figures out that he genuinely doesn't mean any harm or offense by the awful dumb shit he says, I think she'd be willing to engage with him on mutual interests (they both FLARPed, so they're presumably both roleplayers, and they could probably bond over death - something Eridan is unfortunately obsessed with and Aradia doesn't have many discussion partners over). Emotionally, she'd probably keep him at arm's length - he has a lot of Issues and Problems, and she's not really interested in helping him handle them (she doesn't really bother with trying to cheer people up on the bubbles so much as just explaining what they can do now that they're dead, and letting them make their own decisions). Not that she isn't a nice person, but I do think it'd just be kind of difficult for her to have too much sympathy for a guy whose problems were largely caused by being too aristocratic.

But, like, she would also pretty happily call him "her friend," because she always cuts it short when it gets too real for her, minimizing her negative experiences with him. I think eventually, like training a dog, Eridan would figure out that Aradia is just Not The Friend For That, so it'd become less of a problem as time goes on.

She thinks he's ridiculous and funny, calls him up when she wants to infodump on someone and her usual buddies aren't around, and I think they'd play good DnD together with Nepeta and Vriska. Yeah I know Vriska killed her but she killed Vriska so they're even. The energy at the table is deeply weird but Eridan wouldn't notice and Aradia would get a kick out of it, leaing poor Nepeta to suffer it alone.

Anyway, I love that Eridan's assortment of platonic friendships is so haphazard. Nepeta AND Feferi, who hate each other. Vriska AND Aradia, who killed each other. And also Dirk is there. He's the DM.

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Don't you think it's funny cause actual canon gay characters in BL manga will say "I love you" but only the shounen bromance can spew out some of the most romantic shit akin to a 19th century poet writing a letter expressing his surpressed love for his lover 😭.....

Genuniely can't tell if it's bait or not, but I'm going to treat this ask seriously anyway.

Here, have some examples of beautiful and poetic expressions of love in BL media!

I'm going to start with my favourite murder husbands, Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu from Word of Honor/Faraway Wanderers!

This happens in episode nine, less than one third into the story- it's that early, they've known each other for like a week and are already able to tell they're meant to be. They've made their decision to be together, and over the course of the story:

They defend each other multiple times and fight side by side in multiple episodes, sometimes protecting their adopted kid/mentee Chengling as well

Zhou Zishu is willing to go against the whole martial arts society for his boyfriend. With zero hesistation, might I add.

They both know the other has done horrible things (lots of murder on both sides here) and that's not only okay, it's a big part of why they're soulmates and get each other so well!

Zhou Zishu is slowly dying (poisoned nails in his chest, long story) and Wen Kexing can and will risk his life to save him. Don't worry, they get a happy ending both in the show and the novel even if the show's last episode is behind a paywall and Netflix didn't even include it for some reason?

But enough about them, let's move on to the immortal fantasy genre boyfriends Hua Cheng and Xie Lian from Heaven Official's Blessing!

Please note how Hua Cheng is ready to accept Xie Lian in whatever state he's currently in- as a god, a fallen outcast, even grieving and angry and at his absolute lowest. He's stood by Xie Lian in his worst moments, even if at the time Xie Lian had no idea it was him.

Hua Cheng has loved Xie Lian for 800 years, ever since he was a boy Xie Lian saved from falling to his death during a procession.

Xie Lian became a god, then fell due to horrible circumstances, almost committed a war crime against another nation that destroyed his country, spend 800 years wandering the mortal realm as a poor cultivator with his powers greatly reduced, and eventually ascended to become a god again. Throughout it all, Hua Cheng loved him and did his best to help him and then find him.

They're both adorable and the definition of a power couple once they're reunited- no spoilers, but they eventually fight an incredibly powerful god side by side and win & the last scene in the story is them reuniting for good since there's no more obstacles to their immortal love.

Let's move on to my favourite Japanese BL, Our Dining Table (also available as a series that came out semi-recently, but the examples below are from the manga.)

Yutaka is a lonely salesman who meets Minoru, a restaurant worker and his much younger brother Tane grieving the death of their mother.

Yutaka and Minoru hit it off by bonding through food they cook and share. The series is incredibly heartwarming, and as seen above Yutaka becomes a much happier person thanks to both his new relationship and big brother-like bond with little Tane.

As a little bonus, the whole found family together!

This post can't be complete without Golden Stage (or Golden Terrace, as the English official translation calls it).

Fu Shen and Yan Xiaohan aren't even in love at this point! This is at the beginning of the story, when their marriage has just been arranged by the emperor and they're still bitter rivals.

Yan Xiaohan is already protective of his future husband- later on, he also builds him a mansion meant to accommodate his disability (nerve damage in both legs, which requires a wheelchair and/or crutches). They're both incredibly powerful military generals, and the emperor was an idiot thinking an arranged marriage would humiliate them.

Of course they fall in love, of course they're a power couple, of course they send each other letters through trained geese when they're separated during the war, of course they run to each other as fast as they can across a wide cold river when they're finally reunited! Of course they're important to me!

....Aaand how about some Wangxian to wrap up this post? They need no introduction, an absolutely wonderful and complex relationship in a complex fantasy/intrigue story available in several forms - the books, the animated series (as seen above), the live action series, the audio drama, there's so much!

Some of their most beautiful moments:

Lan Wangji writing a song for Wei Wuxian and naming it Wangxian. Years after it's composed, Wei Wuxian plays it and LWJ is able to recognise him even in a different body.

LWJ begs WWX to come with him to Cloud Recesses, to safety, after WWX makes himself an enemy of the whole cultivation world for protecting innocent people.

They confront the final villain together, and work together to expose his crimes. This is also when their final love confession happens, and it's hilarious- in front of everyone's salad, WWX declares he also wanted to sleep with LWJ.

Despite censorship, the animated series was still able to allude to their wedding, showing them in red wedding robes (unfortunately can't find a gif rn)

Respectfully, if you genuinely think BL doesn't have beautiful love confessions and displays of romance, you need to find better BL.

[vimara00]

Hello everyone, It's Vi! 💕 I had some 'Shoto vibes' today so I decided to write something about him. As always I hope you enjoy! Please comment, like or send me requests on my DMs (I don't know how it's called on Tumblr jajaja)

All characters reservations yo Horikoshi

Warnings: toxic relationship (not with Shoto) and swearing but fluff💕

~Always~ ShotoTodoroki

• Shoto and y/n had been friends since they entered the UA. Well, actually that's not so true...it took time for Todoroki to get used to others but the more he knew her, the more the walls he had put around himself where trembling down. It was a slow process but Shoto realized his days were better when she's around and that he smiled more just at the thought of seeing s/o but those things had nothing to do with his growing feelings for her...right?! He indeed liked her as more that a friend but she wasn't supposed to know about this till it was too much for his heart to take

• One of the reasons He never made a move (a part from being a coward) was because she already had a relationship or more specifically a toxic relationship. For someone who wasn't given enough love and care as a child, he could see miles away how terribly it was. She was always the one who ended up hurt by the asshole's sharp and cruel words, the one who took to much space and time and that would never be enough for him not matter how much she tried. He treated her as something that belonged to him, something he could show off to his stupid friends. He had so much power over her when he laughed about her dreams of becoming a hero in front of everyone saying he'll let her play the heroine but they all know she'll be just his pretty wife. And everyone was laughing, except her and Shoto, who wanted to throw up.

• With all he might, Todoroki wished to take her out of that relationship (and burn that idiot alive but that wasn't too heroic, was it?). However, y/n, who had such a beautiful soul, too kind for this world and even more kinder for that man, always ended up forgiving him and justifying his actions after the promises that 'he'll change, he'll grow, he'll be better' (quoting Maddie here hehehe)

Shoto had witnessed how abusive behaviors and unhealthy relationships could take an amazing woman to madness and he'd known that even if that asshole didn't fiscally abuse her, his words caught deeper than a knife. She tried so much to hide her low self-esteem but Shoto knew her better than she knew herself. He could see behind that fake smile and those eyes filled with sadness, how much she struggled to save her soul. At first, he had tried to convince her about leaving him but the last few weeks he came up with the idea of showing her how she should be treated. Not only the material things but the acts of service like making her favorite tea when she was studying or heating her hand when she was cold and the attention her boyfriend lacks off giving like just listening what her worries were or how her day went and remembering all she'd said by heart. It actually was not much work, he already did that but he added more enfasis to the lingering touches that she seemed to reciprocate. Shoto was sure she noticed his longing stares when they were watching a movie or how his hand always found hers when they were in a crowd room (cause he knows she hates being surrounded by many people) or the blushing mess he became when she'd found staring for too long. Todoroki could tell something in their friendship was changing and he couldn't be happier if it werent for the fact that the dickhead was still present in her life...

• However, He had enough when one night in particular that idiot decided to visit at the doorms and ruin their weekly movie marathon (the one Shoto and y/n always did in the common area when everyone was already sleeping but her boyfriend didn't have to know that she cuddle him under the covers that they shared) Apparently, he had important news to deliver so he proceeds to enlighten the mood by saying that he was offered an amazing job abroad and that she didn't have to keep on attending to that worthless school with those wannabe heroes and that she needed to hurry cause their plane leaves in three hours. Y/n open her mouth to protest but he interrupted her like always. To that idiot surprise and Shoto's too, y/n took a few steps closer to him and shouted 'STOP FUCKING TALKING! I'M TIRED OF YOU AND YOUR TWISTED GAMES. STOP LAUGHING ABOUT MY DREAMS AND MAKING ME FEEL LIKE I'M THE PROBLEM WHEN I COMPLAIN. I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! I'VE TOLERED TO MUCH OF YOUR BULLSHIT. I'M TIRED OF PRETENDING THAT I LOVE YOU CAUSE I DON'T. AND I WON'T GO ANYWHERE WITH YOU EVEN IF YOU WHERE THE LAST MAN OF EARTH. SOMEONE HAS ALREADY TOOK THE PLACE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD IN MY HEART AND SHOWED ME THAT I'M WORTH LOVING SO FUCK YOU!'

The room was silent and Shoto took this opportunity to grabbed that asshole and take him out the residence. Y/n will never know as Shoto would take it to the grave, that he had frightened her ex so he'll never come closer or even breath the same air as her EVER again

When he entered, he saw her trembling figure and the tears rolling down her cheecks and all he could do was embrace her body in hope of giving some comfort. Her face was against his chest as he caressed her hair delicately. Suddenly, she looked up at him and said 'I know its bad...you don't need to save me but would you stay by my side even after the storm?'

And Shoto responded firmly without a pause and without a doubt but with his entire being 'Always' and hugged her even harder

• A few days later, after things had calmed down, he confronted her about what she'd said and she confessed to him even if she wasn't sure that he'll reciprocate, she was glad that she found someone as great as him to love.

Shoto's had enough time to figured out exactly what he felt towards her so he make it his life mission to show her every day why he was worth of her love. No one will ever hurt her ever again and God forgive who'll try...

[forget-me-maybe]

1. and 24. for the fanfic ask thingy! I'd love 1. be Aradins pov (obviously I'm predictable 🫡) but 24. can really be any scene you'd like to geek out on.

thank you so much and sorry this took a minute! i'm kind of mashing the questions together.

Write a scene from [insert fic] in another character’s POV and 24. Which scene/theme was the inspiration for [insert fic]?

first of all, the ramble that may or may not make any sense:

so the scene, well, the fic, i chose to change pov of is never pull a punch for free. i think it's the least popular of the series but when i read through it i'm starting to think it might be my favourite this far.

and why might that be? well, the whole thing is inspired by the scene where we meet him outside the sundries (him saying "tin tube" lives rent free in my head). i think it speaks for how desperate he is, and going to attack the camp later adds on to that. not to mention the speak with dead dialogue where he says "enough to buy peace".

game wise we're only left with the choice to kill him if he does attacks camp. i interpret "enough to buy peace" as he wants to live. maybe not the life he's living right now, but he's got some hope, something to fight for. and i think he kinda hates that about himself too (he hates a lot of things about himself), because i feel like this is a man who's been disappointed more times than he's been positively surprised. and he knows he shouldn't have hope, he knows he shouldn't believe he deserves more than he's got.

the "born and bred" adventurer. he just wants to live on his own terms. and that means attacking. his last hope.

lucky him, i also want him to live. so this was born!

the original fic doesn't include the conversation outside the sundries, i don't remember why i chose to do that, i probably got lazy. so that was fun to add a bit of this time.

secondly, the story:

an unedited little rewrite, i hope you’ll like it! <3 

i'm still not 100% confident with writing his pov so this was good practice. and also a lot of fun!

me writing this: wow that’s a lot of violence  also me writing this: [slamming my fist to the table] they’re so in love it makes me SICK

cw: just some canon typical violence. no smut today i fear.

Making it back to the Gate should’ve been a relief, especially after the tendays spent on the detour to avoid the cursed lands. He also should’ve done so with the Nightsong in his hands, a substantial pay waiting, and a long night of celebration ahead of him. 

He should not be standing outside the Sundries, arguing with this walking pile of scrap metal. 

He definitely should not be doing that when the adventurer from the grove waltzes by the entrance as if she owns the fecking place. 

He can’t remember her name, not sure he even got to hear it. Doesn’t matter, she’s blue as the sea, might as well call her that. 

There are plenty of other things he remembers though, but he won’t linger on that. Rage and exhaustion battling in his mind. As usual, anger wins. 

“What’re ya lookin’ at?” he snaps at the tiefling. 

“I’m looking at the idiot who’s making all the noise,” she snickers. The wizard (he was a wizard, right?) in her entourage winces behind her. 

“I can knock ya out if the noise is bothering you.” The threat falls off his lips as easily as saying his name. They always do. 

“What’s your problem?” Blue sneers. 

“Get outta my face,” Aradin sneers, he isn’t sure why he keeps talking. “I’ve lost some good people to the owner of that shop. Offered a huge pile of cash to hunt down some relic called the Nightsong.” 

“The Nightsong?” she says, sounding slightly amused. “Guess I did what you couldn’t then. She’s in my room at the Elfsong.” 

Aradin takes a step closer, towering the tiefling with a deadly glare. Weapons unsheath behind her. 

Aradin ignores them, hissing, “hand it over.” 

Blue taps her chin with her clawed finger a couple of times, pretending to think about it for a moment. 

“Nope,” she says, popping the p. 

By nothing short of divine intervention, Aradin doesn’t grab his greatclub to strike down the tiefling where she stands. 

Instead, he watches her walk into the store, but not before she looks over her shoulder and mouths “I’ll see you around.” 

~*~

Oh, she’ll see him around, alright. 

Aradin is used to his attempts at persuasion and intimidation not working, they’ve never been his strong suit. 

Which means he’ll have to resort to brute force. And that just happens to be his strong suit. 

Barth and Remi were easy enough to convince, they’ve been through enough, it’s only fitting they’re with him to see it through to the end. 

The rest of the mercenaries he’s collected were not as easy, no one in their right mind would ever join a heist without at least being paid something up front, he sure as hells won’t do that again. Alas, his empty pockets only grant him this ragtag team of glorified bandits. 

Getting into the Elfsong is easy enough, pretending to drink (or drink and not drink too much) and sneak upstairs as the patrons start to leave the place. 

There’s no light from under the door to the suite, the only sound that can be heard is a mingle of snores. He knows there are at least two elves with them, meaning that it’ll only take seconds before their intrusion is discovered and the inevitable fight occurs. 

Aradin breaks the first lockpick. Not because of nerves, no, there’s an eerie calmness to him. The calmness of a man who’s got nothing left to lose. 

His second attempt is fruitful, the door unlocking with a satisfying click. He motions to the group to get their weapons ready. Without hesitation he swings the door open and enters the room. 

“You fucking idiot.” 

Feck, feck, feck, his mind reels. Their upper hand of arriving unnoticed is completely gone with the wind. 

He does his best to not let it show as he turns around to face the tiefling. 

“What are you doing here?” she hisses, as if it isn’t obvious. 

“We’re ‘ere for the Nightsong,” he simply says, trusting his greatclub and backup to speak for what words won’t. “Hand it over.”

“You really are as dumb as you look,” Blue spits. “Leave before things get messier than you can handle.”

“Can’t do that, luv.” He can’t leave empty handed. 

“I s’pose we do this the hard way then,” she sighs. 

The sound of battle is something he’s used to, metal clashing against metal, incantations being yelled across the room. He wouldn’t say he’s particularly fond of it, it’s just a necessity. Like knowing how to tie your shoes. 

Aradin sets his eyes on Blue, partly because someone has to and he’s closest, and partly because there’s a bit of him who wants revenge for her dirty fighting at the grove. 

Swinging his greatclub with full force, over and over again, she manages to avoid every single one of them, dodging where he thought it’d be impossible. Still, he manages to keep her at a distance where her shortswords won’t reach to do him any harm. 

Had they been outside, she probably could get away, use the space to get behind him and stab him in the back. Now, she can’t. And it seems to dawn on them at the same time, Blue’s eyes widening as she hits the wall with her back, Aradin’s lips forming a victorious smirk. 

Still, he’s not cruel, a bastard, for sure, he’s been told that enough times for it to be true, but he doesn’t take any joy in killing. So, he aims for her head with all he’s got, making sure it’ll be as quick and painless as it possibly could. 

Blue’s quicker. 

Ducking right in time for his swing to miss, the force throws him off balance for long enough for the little devil to leap towards him, tackling him onto the ground. The impact has him landing on his arse, pain shooting up his spine. 

It’s nowhere near as painful as the feeling of her sword piercing through the muscles, bones and tendons in his hand to pin it to the floor with a crunching sound. He only has time to scream before her other sword finds its way to his throat, pushing hard enough to draw blood but not hard enough to kill him. Not yet. 

“Look at them!” she shouts and claws dig into his jaw, yet he doesn’t tear his eyes away from the tiefling, considering whether to give her some last colourful words or returning the favour with a gob of spit at her face. “I said LOOK AT THEM.” 

The claws dig harder into his face, had he not been seething with fury he would’ve felt them break skin. With one last defiant look, he faces the room. 

Doing a quick headcount, he realises he’s gravely underestimated their opponent’s numbers. Apart from the dragonborn, it’s nothing short of a miracle that the rest of them are still alive. 

Alive for about thirty more seconds, if he makes a generous assessment of the situation. 

“You already lost some of your crew searching for the Nightsong, are you prepared to lose the rest?” she asks, voice a strained whisper. 

His eyes flit between Barth, his movements are sloppy from exhaustion as he fends off a githyanki, and Remi, pinned to a corner by a red tiefling twice the size of Blue. 

“I’d rather not, but this is your last warning before I tear your artery.” Blue’s sword digs deeper into his throat. 

He thinks of Brian. How his guts spilled across the stone floor of the defiled temple. How life hadn’t fully left his eyes as they had to retreat. How that’ll be the same fate for his last remaining friends. 

“Have it your way,” he says, where he expected bitterness, he only finds relief. 

“EVERYBODY STOP!” Blue’s voice booms through the room. 

Except from a disappointed grunt from someone, the room goes completely silent. He locks eyes with Barth, nodding faintly to confirm Blue’s orders. 

Remi is the first to drop her weapon, the rest of his group following shortly. 

Blue releases her grip and gets to her feet, looking uncharacteristically coy for a moment before she yanks away her sword from where it’s lodged into the floorboards. A hiss leaves his lips when he’s painfully made aware that removing a sword from a hand almost hurts as much as having it put there in the first place. 

He doesn’t expect the helping hand, but with no fight left in him, he takes it and lets her pull him to his feet. 

“Send your crew away and wait for me outside.” Blue says, pointing at the door. “I believe we need to have a little chat.”

A murmur of voices and questions fill the room as he sends his crew away, being the last to leave he looks over her shoulder to where Blue seems to be attempting to calm down a huge lady with wings. 

Every single piece of Aradin’s body seems to be made of lead when he slumps down against the wall in the corridor. He inspects his hand, while it’s bleeding, it’s not enough for him to bleed out anytime soon. He tears off a piece from his undershirt to wrap around it. 

It’s not until Blue steps out from the suite with two bottles in her hands and closes the door behind her that he realises she’s in nothing but her now blood splattered nightshirt. Meaning the adventurers fought in their nightclothes while his crew was fully armoured. He truly was in way over his head, getting away from this fight with nothing but some nerve damage is a deal he’s not about to question. 

The tiefling props herself down next to him. 

“You’re an idiot,” she says. 

He’s inclined to agree. 

“So you say.” 

Blue looks like she’s satisfied with that answer. 

“How's the hand?” she asks. 

“I’ll live,” he sighs, a bit dramatically if he’s honest. “You fight dirty.” 

Blue uncorks one of the bottles she’s brought out with her teeth and pushes it into his uninjured hand. It takes him a moment to understand it’s a healing potion. No matter how many times he’s thrown back a healing potion, it’s still a strange sensation to feel the skin and bones knit back together. 

“I fight to survive,” Blue says with a shrug once he’s watched his skin close up into a pink scar. Another one for the collection. 

His next words fall off his lips without thinking. 

“Y’could’ve just done me in. But you didn’t. Why?”

She hesitates, busying herself with the second bottle she brought out. He recognises it from nights where he only remembers fragments. The gulp Blue takes tells she’s used to similar nights. 

“You’ve got your uses,” she teases as she offers the bottle to him. He takes an equally generous mouthful. She continues in a bitter tone, almost spitting out the words. “Perhaps I just think no one else should get hurt because of that bastard wizard.” 

“He is a right bastard,” Aradin concurs, lifting the bottle in a small cheer. 

“I just need to know you’re not going to attack us again,” she says, her face set sternly. The face of a leader. 

“Nah, lesson learnt.” He holds up his hand to emphasise his point. 

Blue hums something affirmative, her gaze falling onto the wall in front of them as she’s lost in thought. 

They pass the bottle between them in silence, shoulders pressing together. She runs way hotter than him and he yearns to lean into her warmth, with the adrenaline gone from his body he finds himself almost shivering. 

His eyes wander over her bare legs, his thoughts slipping back to the grove where she rode him senseless in the moonlight, how he'd gasped for air as she clenched around him.

When she turns to face him he remembers he’s a man with nothing left to lose. 

“We sittin’ here all night or what?” he asks, almost sounding impatient. 

“Cheeky.” Blue grins. 

[elyisium]

Retro wave

Synopsis: Every individual has something that they are missing or lacking in their lives, whether it be a person, a purpose, or something else entirely.

Will they be able to fill those gaps and find satisfaction or a purpose, or will they be left perpetually incomplete?

And what better way to describe this journey and character development than in a fan fiction? Where they embrace life to its fullest, make mistakes and grow while hiding their true flawed tint, that lost it's meaning long ago.

Will she finally achieve her childhood dream of becoming an artist? Using their smudged and sketchy colors to paint on the canvas of her life, or will she settle for more sophisticated one's?

Will the painting in the end be enough to engrave the memories passed together?

Warnings: Swearing, explicit profanities, illegal doings, VERY LONG.

Notes: This is the full version of my story on wattpad ‘Retro wave’ until now there are only five chapters if we count the prologue too, I only want to get some feedback and attention for all the work i put in it and for the readers to enjoy it as this isn’t your usual insert self story.

The background of the character is already decided and specific although the appearance is not, so you can perfectly put yourself in it without reading Y/N or anything annoying like that.

New topic, tattoos.

Often seen by those stiff elders with a closed mindset as something bad, permanent and idiotic.

How about I give you my perspective of it?

Tattoos aren't just stupid impulsive mistakes that last forever, they are one of the best ways someone can ever express themselves with; Words are useless to describe someone compared to the feeling of your fresh virgin skin being inked, making whatever part of your body a masterpiece. Flamboyantly taking away the virginity of your flesh.

Am I romanticizing it too much? Probably, but honestly who cares when you're being paid to do what you love?

After my last customer headed out, I took a deep breath and walked into the foyer of the shop which I personally customized, from the soft lighting to the comfortable furniture.

As I sat on the couch, spreading my limbs to then relax them, breathing in and out slowly, closing my eyes, focusing on the deep dark of my mind as existential thoughts started to flow into my brain.

Out of all I focused on one only.

Am I even making a difference?

This day surely has worn me out as it brought me to thinking about something so distant when I'm still young and beautiful.

Why bother thinking about legacy? I'm here now making most of the present moment, my future isn't written yet so screw legacy. I'll deal with that later after I've had my fill of fun and adventure, so don't talk to me about it.

I'm too busy living the dream, your dream.

It's reassuring to know that in my chaotic existence I'm not living under a bridge and have a place to call home.

But even chaos is born from something or someone; And I was born from my immigrant parents in Italy, just to be sent to my home country.

What a way to start life huh?

Only a couple months old and my parents already had enough of me, sending me to my grandparents with the excuse of learning their and now apparently my mother tongue.

Jokes aside, they loved me from the bottom of their hearts.

Four years later I came back to finish the remaining two of kindergarten and finally start primary school.

But oh boy, from there my life has been a downhill roller coaster of emotions. As childhood optimism had brain washed my mind into thinking it was going to be a wonderful experience.

Not realizing that from the very first day of school I was thrown into the cage of lions.

For the first, second and third year they weren't nothing but buzzing noises in the background, as I felt drained from being in that class.

As now I was in fourth grade, and already tired of everyone there but him.

Now you might wonder who this kind soul is?

Simple, my first love.

Brown wavy locks that gently swayed every time he tilted his head, capturing my gaze with those dark brown eyes.

With that little beauty mark under his right eye, that everytime he offered me one of his sweet smiles would make my heart melt.

But the thought of seeing him every day made me push through all of that.

I could relate to thinking it was simply him and I against the world. But there's more to the story. Love is blind, as they say, and we sometimes need time to accept it, one way or another.

Certainly being served the fact that he likes another girl in our class, wasn't the best.

I felt as if the world crashed onto me.

But maybe the other girl didn't feel the same? Maybe all of this was one sided love like most of the time between kids, I could just go and ask her if she feels the same.

Simple as that.

I was relieved to find out she didn't feel the same, my burdens lightened; Not realizing that by doing this little thing to relieve myself I broke his trust.

Making him the new target of mockery in our class, as that girl couldn't keep her mouth shut.

The classroom isolated me too, labeling me as the snitch, well deserved I guess?

But what hurt me the most was him slowly distancing himself from me, it was a gradual process. Yet the most painful for me, and heartbreaking for my parents to watch their daughter suffer from it.

After finishing my fourth year, I was transferred to a different school, one where I was welcomed with open arms. Spending my last year of elementary school there, forming good friendships as I grew more confident with each day.

I learnt the fine art of blending in while also standing out in society. Once I completed my fifth year in elementary school, I started my middle school journey, confidently prepared for whatever came my way.

However, fate had other plans.

I ended up being way too overconfident, and it bit me in the butt.

The universe had a way of humbling me and remembering me nothing lasts forever, each and every time you start from zero with the help of your past experiences.

So now you ask me how would I describe those three years of middle school?

Hell.

This time I was fortunate enough to have a loyal friend who was alongside me, Anastassia.

Together we helped each other and formed a lasting bond that would only become stronger as time went on.

She was one of those friends that even you meet again after a long time, I'm talking about months and years. It felt like time stood still with her.

Anastassia made the time fly by before you knew it, and with her by my side, I felt a timeless sense of comfort and peace. Whether we spoke of distant memories or made new ones together, it was as if we had never been apart.

After we finished middle school we had to part ways, she chose to focus on studying languages while I wanted to study art.

High school offered a much-needed fresh breath of air. There people seemed too occupied with their own personal struggles to bother with my actions, which brought back my laid back confidence that mixed with the release of dopamine.

I no longer felt restricted by the confines of social expectations or the constant judgment of others, instead focused on exploring who I was, and what I wanted from life in a less constrained and more meaningful way.

In less words I stopped caring about what others thought.

This newfound sense of freedom allowed me to truly come into my own, and shaped me into who I am today.

From studying there I also got to meet two wonderful girls that today moved and live with me in San Francisco.

First I came across Lara whose light brown shoulder length locks were highlighted with buttery blond highlights. Her eyes were surrounded by thin metal square frames, which perfectly empathized their beautiful vivid hue of maroon.

Lara's aura was like a magnet for those around her, drawing people like moths to a flame. Drawing the attention of boys who lusted for her and girls who envied her, leading to gossip and telling vicious rumors about her. Yet these attempts of destruction failed, as she continued to radiate joy and positivity.

Truly looking up to her for it, wondering what her secret was.

And so, the truth was unveiled.

One day, I found her smoking cigarettes in the school bathrooms, and the habit gradually became something I expected to find her doing from then on.

I had no intention of dictating her choices.

However, I still held hope that she would make a conscious effort to stop the unhealthy coping mechanism of smoking.

But despite her habit remaining the same until this day, many things about Lara have changed over the years.

Her hair for example, her once buttery blonde locks now styled in a choppy cut, with a side-fringe and even a bold red dye job to top it off.

These changes have altered her previously bubbly image, giving her a more mature and confident flair, though it's hard to say if that is simply the result of growing up.

Her charming and bubbly personality remains as captivating as ever, and she has not lost any of the charms and magnetic personality that constantly goes in contrast with Lia's one.

The living room everyday was an area of contention, Lara's smoking habit often irritated Lia through the smell that easily flowed through the apartment, as the confined space made it difficult to avoid breathing the smoke.

Arguments between them would always end in Lara sulking in the corner, while Lia walked away fuming from anger.

I don’t blame for her intolerance towards smoking.

She was an open-minded person, but when it came to smoking, she had zero tolerance. So, it's only natural that she would be upset whenever she caught Lara smoking inside.

Anger issues weren't the only trait that characterized her.

No, not at all.

As those curls of hers kept her craziness in check, but it somewhat from time to time it managed to escape from those lips of hers, making her say the most mean and absurd statements sound true and convincing.

If her lips were mean, then her eyes shall be the sweet ones. Green and hazel hues coloured those irises, as they held such beautiful mystery and charm.

And yet they also held a glimpse of her fiery anger and held up frustration, which sometimes exploded out, turning her captivating eyes into fireflies that burned through my soul.

A mix of raw emotion and magnetic influence made her memorable and endearing, as her presence was one that was hard to forget.

Lia truly was a girl of many colors and contradictions.

Although the two women have brought their fair share of excitement and adventure into my life, there's always room for more.

If the gods offer more and more delicious fruits on the branches of life, it would be a shame not to indulge in a little more of what makes it sweet and delicious, wouldn't it?

After all, life is made interesting by new experiences and challenges we encounter, and who are we to deny more enjoyment?

Not knowing I've jinxed for good my future, for thinking like that.

As the sound of the phone alerted me about a new message.

Unfortunately not notifying me about the consequences it will bring to my unsure future.

The number was unknown, but as I read the message and realized it was from Lara, I let out a sigh as I shook my head.

I was used to her borrowing other people's phones to send me messages or call me when her iPhone died, but I still felt a slight sense of annoyance.

Constantly reminding her to change it into maybe one of some other brand, whose battery didn't die immediately after being charged.

Fuck the aesthetic. Even an eighty year old could last longer in bed than those phone batteries.

With a groan, I rose to my feet, taking the keys of the shop out of my pocket as I slid one sleeve than the other of my cardigan.

I held onto my phone in one hand while the shop keys were in the other, as I exited the door.

After the store was properly locked up, I set my sights on the parking lot where I had left my 2006 BMW M3. Talking about it, it was probably the best deal I had scored in my entire life.

Quickening my pace while searching for my keys as I neared the parking lot, making my way over to the red sports car that stood out among the other vehicles, looking like a beast ready to devour the roads with its raw power and beauty.

After finding them, I unlocked the car and sat in the driver's seat, ready to drive away.

Starting the engine as now the powerful roars could be heard, feeling the humid air come in through the slightly open window, breathing the fresh yet familiar scent of the night.

With everything set, I put the car in drive and started making my way to the exit of the parking lot.

Speeding through the freeway, with wind coming through the window making the end strands of my hair fly back as adrenaline pumped into my veins.

But it soon came to an abrupt halt as I found myself stopped at a red light.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, traffic rules were sure pesky; Still I had to follow them, while I waited for the annoying red light to become green.

As the smooth, soothing tunes of "House of balloons" by the Weekend filled my car, my mind was at ease and my soul at peace.

Enjoying myself before the storm, commonly known as Lara, could enter my car.

Talking about the devil, there she was on the other side of the road talking with someone.

A man to be precise.

They still continued conversating, as I focused on the new individual.

His shaggy butter blonde strands swept to the side and his imposing lion tattoo were hard to miss, as they commanded attention.

Shifting my gaze at the now green light, I stepped on the gas pedal and proceeded toward the roundabout, making a sharp turn as I went back to them.

Parking my car just a few feet away from them as I yawned, hitting the horn two times to let her know I was there.

With a jolt, Lara turned to my direction to then say something to her companion earning a chuckle from him, while she motioned for me to come over.

Weird, she usually doesn't involve me with her flyings—What was she trying to pull here?

Frustrated from the long day of work I just compiled with her request, exiting my car and shutting the door behind me as I approached her and the man.

I looked at them to notice the blonde's stare was on me, probably he wanted me to burn holes into my skull for interrupting his moment with Lara.

At least that's what I believed until I was in front of them as he offered me a supposed charming smile.

"Nice to finally bump into the talk of the town." He made a little dramatic pause to then add.

"The name's Madarame Shion, but you can call me sir, if you're into that kind of thing." A devilish grin spread across his face as he introduced himself, his voice dripping with sarcasm and bravado.

You only needed to hear that, to know that he was the type of man who looks better with his mouth shut.

Eyeing Lara as she looked confused about Shion's introduction, considering her words before putting on one of her best smiles and finally breaking the awkward silence, "He is just a little full of himself today, don't mind him."

Wrapping her arm around his as she tried to justify him.

"I wouldn't call it being full of myself, more like pointing out the different possibilities my little minx." He remarked with a toothy grin, only a few inches separating his face from hers.

There was clearly something between them, but no way I was letting that guy try to woo her in some way.

"Right, a little minx huh?" I interjected with a sneer as it was now time to put this guy into his place.

And I surely didn't mind doing that.

"Well, if you're going to be throwing around names, then I suppose I can call you a douche." Locking eyes with him while my lips rose into a mocking smile.

Shion seemed more amused than annoyed by my response, as if he enjoyed this back-and-forth insult exchange.

Licking his teeth to then speak "If she is my little minx... Then you shall be my little vixen." This time leaning closer to me as he was trying to control the situation, perfectly knowing how to get under someone's skin.

It was futile trying to beat him this way, as it seemingly was his best field.

This would have taken time to bring him down from that supposed throne he believes he is on, and embarrass him when he is with Lara so she would leave him, but right now i didn't have the time nor the patience to do so.

So I did what I should have done from the start.

"It's late we should get home Lara," Motioning for her to come as I gave one last glance at Shion before saying "It was shit meeting you, hopefully I won't see that ugly face anymore."

Opening the door of my car as I waited for Lara that was still hesitant to leave.

"Why can't we stay out a bit longer? I mean, it's Friday night and we don't have anything to do tomorrow..." She said trying to convince me as her voice was dripping with disappointment at the idea of returning home so early.

Still I gave her one last look as an ultimatum, and she didn't do anything but walk in my direction complying to my order, sighing like a little kid since she was in no place to argue when I was the one driving.

The only one still calm was Shion watching us intently with a smug smile on his face as he added "Oh yeah? You're pretty annoying yourself,"

Both of us were already in the car as it didn't take much before we exited the momentary spot where I parked it.

"But that's what makes you endearing. Sweetheart" He concluded talking to himself.

Leaving him there, as the speedometer raised and lowered its pointer.

The car ride was silent until I stopped at a red light taking the opportunity to look at her, so maybe she will fill in the blanks and explain what the hell I needed to interact with him.

To which she just responded with, "Do I have something on my face?" Saying this as she moved the rearview mirror towards herself to check.

I was now looking at her like she just killed my family.

"How many times have I told you that the rearview mirror isn't to check yourself out!" Examining exasperated as I tried to fix the mess she just caused, only for her to start fiddling with the car radio as she browsed through the different channels.

Finally settling down for one to then look at me as she leaned into her seat, "So what do you think about Shion?"

To which I answered.

"I'm thinking about how much weed you've smoked to even see something in him," sighing to then add.

"Lara I'm seriously thinking you have a talent to find self centered assholes."

This story continues with a man whose ambitions drove him to obsession.

Kisaki Tetta, a man who both instills fear in others and arouses hatred. Not just any ordinary criminal, but rather, one of the men who rules the darker depths of the criminal underworld of Japan, pulling the strings behind the scenes and manipulating those below him to his will.

All in order to find peace and escape his weak past self, who failed to stand-up to the cruelties of this unjust world. By any means necessary, he sought to reach the position that he currently holds.

No one could oppose him, not even her.

Tachibana Hinata, his sweetheart. The girl in which words and praises he found shelter, words that even his own mother didn't say to him if there wasn't any perfect test score that accompanied his request of appreciation.

Her kind and straight forward personality truly caught him in its embrace. Making his past self desire more kind from the young girl. She was truly his first love, or at least in his eyes she will forever be.

She had saved him mentally, and yet he was unable to save her physically that fateful afternoon when they first met their hero.

Hanagaki Takemichi, a walking wannabe defender of justice. Mock him how much you want for being beat up after making his entrance, still he was able to offer her comfort and protection when she needed it.

He truly admired his bravery and was thankful to him for saving his muse, if taking the hit instead of her was considered saving.

Then so be it!

Next time he will be the one protecting Hina.

But there wasn't a next time and there never will be. Hina didn't get into trouble, and after that day her parents enrolled her in some self defense classes.

Yet their life's took different paths after they graduated elementary school, forced to part ways by the wishes of their parents.

Still managing from time to time to cross paths when going to buy groceries, it was fascinating to think about their friendship, going from being close friends at school to distant acquaintances outside of it.

He adored those moments he got to spend with her, her voice was so smooth to get him to space out sometimes

—Life was still good for him.

Or so he thought, till the start of the second year of middle school. Hina started to space out multiple times while they talked, which was very unusual for her.

This left the young man feeling confused as he tried to make sense of her behaviour. It was like she was physically there but her head was elsewhere.

In conclusion there was something else going on beneath the surface that Kisaki was unaware of; Still it wasn't that big of a mystery as she later confessed that she and Takemichi go to the same middle school.

Until here it was all fun and games.

Fool, he shouted victory too early and as a result he was taken back to discover she had been harboring feelings for the boy since their first encounter.

Otherwise from Kisaki, Hinata was and never will be a bystander especially when she was in love, more than ready to battle for Takemichi's one.

And weeks later in a spring evening, he was welcomed not only by allergies but also with the news of her being in a romantic relationship.

With none other than the crybaby hero himself.

He should have understood it by now, nothing good in this world comes for free and lasts forever.

He could cherish them from afar and trust them to not do anything stupid, but if he didn't take matters into his own hands; He would be just a passing phase for the lives of the two lovers.

His mind was a mess as many of his beliefs became doubts, but about one thing he was certain. He wanted her, the thing he lacked for that made him fall in love with her.

What his beloved considered pure platonic friendship for him became a full time obsession, not essentially on her but also on her so-called boyfriend.

Takemichi, the admiration he had in his regards

didn't take much time to turn into resentment and disgust.

Beginning to despise everything about him; Starting from that new bleach job that he got done, making him look even more of a bigger prick than he already was.

Ruining Hina's image with his choice of joining the delinquent world like many of their peers.

Sure he remained the same brave idiot he knew, still he became nothing more than a trouble maker to the public eye.

Always wondering why girls often romanticized being in love with delinquents, fantasizing any possible love story with them.

Couldn't they be happy with a regular guy?

How could troublesome and dumb clowns like them be attractive to girls?

Maybe it was their appearance? The charisma that some of them had?

No, it became crystal clear now. It was the seek of thrill in their life.

To have someone who will protect them, go on late motorcycle rides, boys who aren't afraid of judgements.

He was just a gifted boy with an average and easy life. Waiting for his happiness.

He had nothing to offer to no-one, destiny couldn't do anything with his useless life.

This was a big mistake he had made; Waiting for people to walk right into his life, and then expect them to stay. Only one person did, Hina.

But even she could walk away like she walked in. He couldn't afford losing her.

And there he is thirteen years later. Still hasn't lost hope on having a relationship with her.

Looking through the car window, gazing upon some carefree birds flying in the afternoon sky;

The sun gave its last rays for the day, as the chilly air hit his face hinting the approaching of fall season.

How he wished to spend a peaceful evening like this with a cup of tea in his hand, enjoying the warmth of the sun while he still had the chance.

Instead he was in a car driving him to attend a meeting regarding the incompetence of his subordinate.

His appearance was absolutely flawless, with silken vanilla blond hair pulled back by a touch of old and practical gel as light danced across his blue scrutiny eyes which gazed at the horizon through the glasses he wore.

His outfit was a sharp beige suit, perfectly complemented by a tie that matched the hue of his eyes like no other combination could.

Finally entering the gates of the unique complex of coloured buildings. Tinted glass hiding the different illegal doings inside of them, prostitution being the main of course.

After all these were the Haitani headquarters.

Waiting for him in front of the main building was Hanma Shuji, his infamous right-hand man, a crazy bastard ready to do anything for some thrill and action.

His tall, lanky figure made it easy to distinguish him from the sea of people entering and exiting the structure.

Those golden irises bore sharp and fiery glares which were contoured by the lens of the glasses covering the man's eyes.

His gaze was lazy and casual as he searched for something to pique his interest, constantly moving from place to place and person to person.

Just when he spotted a familiar car pulling up, the bland expression was quickly replaced by his trademark mocking grin.

In just a split second he was standing at the curb, ready to open the door for Kisaki.

Without a moment to spare ready to greet him and show his efficiency and promptness.

Jokes on you, he just wanted to taunt him even this early in the morning by making various snarky comments.

After opening the car door, their usual dynamic began to play out.

"Kisaki! I see that you're perfectly on time and busy as ever…Wonder if you ever take a break?" Breaking the ice with a bit of light-hearted teasing, to then afterwards ask.

"What would the occasion be, if I may ask?" His boss didn't even give him a glance as he started to walk towards the entrance.

Hanma couldn't do anything but follow right behind him, this was a classic behavior Kisaki had in his regards, how could he blame him though?

He knew he was annoying and used that to his advantage, but these games weren't so effective on his superior.

Walking straight ahead to the elevator, it seemed like Kisaki was cutting in half the lobby. Which was teeming with low-ranking scantily dressed prostitutes.

To which his subordinate being the gentleman he was let his eyes wander around, like he hasn't seen this already multiple times.

Shamelessly observing his surroundings, and all of them had a good package, just saying.

And when he got to the elevator there was his boss waiting for him, spitting the most vile and hurtful words to him and his dick.

But honestly he couldn't care less of what the shorter male said, if he was alright with anything that brought him to feel the thrill.

And to top that off, what would be more satisfying than seeing the one that offered him that fall apart? As his childhood dreams shatter.

Silence filled the elevator ride, until unexpectedly the shorter one broke it.

"Has Shion updated you on his progress? Because from what I've been told, he's been wasting time smoking weed and drinking,"

'Annoyed' wasn't quite the right word to describe his attitude. Instead, he was getting fed up quickly with Shion's bullshit, I mean who wouldn't?

Despite the length of time that they'd worked together, Hanma didn't grow weary of his boss' behavior, enjoying the show whenever he could; Like it was just an ordinary day in the office for him.

Prior to dismissing the subject as unimportant, "It's not my problem that you chose someone so incompetent for such an important task."

Earning a sharp glare from his superior to then backfire.

"Oh really? Wonder who advised me to send him for it, you know what? You're right; It's my fault for listening to some worthless bastard like you."

Hanma raised his hands and casually replied, "What can I say? Guilty as charged." Accepting his guilt as a sign of amusement and carelessness, dismissing his boss concerns completely.

"Wow we got a comedian over here?" His companion said with a sarcastic tone. "You certainly seem to be enjoying this, don't you?"

He surely was.

"If you're enjoying this so much, how about you go fix his mess?" Kisaki snapped back with a sarcastic tone followed by a challenging statement, saying, "Surely you won't mind, since you find this so amusing."

By sarcastically stating that Hanma wouldn't mind, he implied that fixing the situation was his responsibility in the first place.

"Oh please, who got your panties in a twist? Why the hell should I be included in this? It's his fault man."

He very well knows how much of a selfish and reluctant individual Hanma Shuji is; loves to laugh about someone else's mistakes, but dream on to actually seeing him helping them.

"It's not for you to choose to do so, Reaper. It's an order." With these words, his superior made it clear that this was not a request but a demand that as his subordinate had to follow.

And of course his tongue-in-cheek nature had to butt in along with his nonchalant attitude, nodding his head in a gesture of mock obedience saying, "Then I shall comply with your request, my sir."

But he very well knew his and Shion's life's were at risk, which honestly added more thrill to the thing.

Then a ding concluded his last thought, indicating that they reached the top floor, letting his boss exit first to then follow right behind.

Two male figures were walking into the halls of the police station, one proceeding with his fast peace while the other tailing right behind him, trying to lose the distance between them attempting to reason with his companion on a matter this last one didn't understand.

Or let's rather say he didn't want to understand...

"Kazutora, can you be reasonable for one time? You can't decide to do things on your own, especially now that you're in an organization!" There he goes being ignored by his friend, again.

Chifuyu was concerned about Kazutora's behavior, as the latter was consumed by guilt and self-blame due to Mikey's disappearance.

It turned into casual sex in a futile attempt to escape his own guilt and the memory that haunted him.

"Let me put it in a language you can comprehend. I'm exhausted at having to deal with so much paranoia every day," With a slight turn and a sharp exhalation, he faced Chifuyu, his eyes tired as he continued.

"If we continue like this, someday that picture on that board may turn out to be our single and final memory of Mikey!" For once, he truly did understand him, lacking the desire to blame him instead he wanted to free him, just like he did when he saved him from the grip of an abusive father.

It was explicit that his friend blamed himself for Mikey's crimes, and Chifuyu couldn't reason with his stubborn ass.

"Have a nice day Matsuno." With this last statement he made his way to the stairs.

He only hoped he wouldn't do anything too reckless like he did in the past...

But he clearly underestimated his companion.

In a certain way, he was able to relate to Kazutora, as the latter was similar to his younger self of thirteen years ago.

However if he in his teenage years failed to accomplish a much simpler rescue plan, statistically talking it's not like his friend had a much bigger chance of succeeding, if not lower.

Arriving at a point where he wondered if he should drag Baji's corpse out of the grave, revive him with some kind of ritual, so he could knock some sense into Kazutora's head, first with punches and then words as he usually did back in the day.

Seriously speaking though.

The concept of a gang originated from the ambitions of Mikey but especially Baji during their childhood; As the last one idolized Shinichiro, the older brother of the first one.

Also best known as the commander of the first generation of the Black Dragon, the most powerful biker gang in Tokyo back in the 90's.

The duo harbored the desire to follow the footsteps of their idol, wishing to create a gang of their own and live out their youthful fantasies.

So when the right time came, with the help of those who would eventually be known as the core members of its creation, namely Sano Maniiro, Riyuguji Ken, Baji Keisuke, Mitsuya Takashi, Hayashida Haruki and Hanemiya Kazutora, they officially gave life to Toman.

Even if the latter ended up in juvenile detention, it didn't stop the enlargement of it.

As the gang was more than just a part time thing, as it had a cherished place in the hearts of the captains and their vices.

And three years later it was living fully its era of gold, being recognized as one of the most powerful biker gangs of Tokyo.

But with the fall and loss of Baji, one of its linchpins, it became more and more fragile as time passed, somewhat still managing to have their influence over the city.

Thanks to some scum of members doing dirty work to archive it.

One thing was known for sure by the members, if Mikey was in command with Draken alongside him everything would have gone just fine.

Not knowing that the commander lost both of his parents at the age of three, being raised by his older brother Shinichiro and grandfather Mansaku who taught him the ways of karate, from which he made a name for himself in the streets.

The Sano siblings were just like a group of bowling pins, put in line one after the other connected by bad luck.

Another individual who had a lack of luck was Kurokawa Izana, their non-blood-related relative, fruit of the love of a Filipino woman and man.

Unfortunately, after her companion died, she found herself looking after the young boy on her own. Until she crossed paths with Masaru Sano, father of Shinichiro and Manjiro.

They became lovers and were together for a brief period until she passed away as well.

But he wasn't so heartless to not take the young boy with him, taking him under his wing as he went to live with his new flame, Karen.

And at that moment, they also had an infant daughter, Emma. Who he left behind as he also made his departure to the underworld.

Not even after she just turned three, her father's last paramour abandoned her in front of the Sano household, as she took her leave, and never returned back.

While she was introduced to her half brothers, her previous one wasn't doing very well.

Unlike her he was dropped at an orphanage, left to himself.

But despite the hardships, there was still hope for Izana as Shinichiro sought after him tirelessly.

After his grandfather had a talk with him, and nominated the young boy that lived together with Emma and Karen before they all parted ways. He was determined to locate him, to hopefully make him become a new member of the family.

And he does find him, instaurating an amazing sibling bond between him and the soon to be Sano.

Making him believe in that fairy tail, where everyone gets their happy endings but the villain.

Over time Shinichiro begins to talk about Emma and Manjiro too, giving him updates and telling him their adventures hoping to fuel the curiosity and excitement of the younger boy, but no success.

One thing he did fuel though, the young albino haired boy's jealousy in the regards of Mikey.

Believing the boy was trying to separate him from Shinichiro, he refused to let another loved one get snatched away from him, as he viewed the older sano sibling as a father-like figure in his life.

Taking a firm stance against the notion of letting the boy take the only thing remaining that could fill the void that the loss of his parents had created in his life.

But either way he had to be taken away from this world to early repent for his sins.

And just like this the bowling ball had hit one of the side pins that would later take two more down with it.

Starting the countdown for the lives of the other two Sano and our one and only Kurokawa.

Second to fall was Emma, Izana following right behind her leaving Mikey now all alone.

Waiting for the ball to eventually hit him.

So yeah he became a somewhat untraceable suicidal crime boss, in flip flops.

Ok he sounds too silly if we describe him that way, but he is Mikey so being silly is —Correction was his nature.

And what better way was there for the search to continue other than staging a reunion with the past division captains of Toman?

Reviving the organization, as now it slides sides and cooperates with the law to extend the reach of effectiveness in the search.

Working together while risking our lives for a better cause, which was stopping Manjiro and making him exit from that corrupted mentality so his name won't be stained by different numerous crimes.

That was our main goal, while the police wanted Bonten to fall apart, trying to capture most of its executives and associates, slamming them into jail and leaving them to rot there.

Lunch break; And those four motherfuckers were still in the office discussing business, well actually, only two of them were seriously discussing business while the other pair had discarded their jackets, loosened up their ties and opened the first buttons of their white shirts as they were busy hugging and laughing, just being the regular obnoxious drunk duo.

Remembering embarrassing past experiences, until the alcohol would no longer make them feel it's stung on their throat.

"Do you remember that intoxicated exotic dancer who wanted to provide you with a lap dance, but accidentally slapped you with her tits in your face?" The older Haitani inquired and then added, "I have never laughed so much in my entire life, I tell you!"

This was one of the many amusing escapades that they lived through together whilst being part of the Tenjiku and later the Kantou Manji Gang.

Chuckling his pal added.

"She was worse than a bitch in heat, the impact that came with it, and the weed effect nearly sent me to the depths of Hades, no cap!" This statement earning a snort from Kisaki,

while Rindou had become accustomed to dealing with drunk imbeciles.

So this was very common for him to not say usual in his daily life.

"If you ever require a prostitute's services for your trip into the so-called land of freedom, you know who to contact. I have a few fresh faces this week, and who knows maybe they can help you enjoy it to the fullest!" Ran's face broke into a smug and happy grin, as he offered his ex comrade the opportunity to indulge in some pleasure even out of the state.

However, the younger Haitani was clearly unamused by this show of generosity. He may not have shown it explicitly, but his mind was filled to the brim with irritation.

"Hold your horses, until we don't receive the order or further instructions we can't start any new negotiations with third parties, so refrain your fantasies together for another time." Collecting his papers and putting them into a folder.

Kisaki got up after he finished his paperwork, as his presence wasn't needed anymore.

"If you excuse me gentleman. I have some other important matters to attend to, so now I'll take my leave."

Matters my ass, he just wanted to leave as soon as the meeting was over, since the next few days will be brimming with work-related responsibilities and meetings; So he needed as much rest as he could get.

He might have the brain of a genius, but a brain doesn't work if it's not taken care of.

Rindou was about to tell him to get his dog with him, but it was already too late as the other business man was already out of the door.

Leaving him with not one, but two annoying drunken pricks.

He hated his job, at first it was fun until there wasn't any thrill in his life as everything was now routine.

He very well knew that once you get in Bonten, you can't leave.

Not alive at least.

Exactly, in exchange of what they always wanted as teens, they had to give their freedom and loyalty in return. But they didn't have any other choice.

Or let's say he didn't have any voice in chapter...

Two best friends, on the balcony; Violating the now deep black color of the sky with white and gray free spirited hazes.

The smoke danced along that void which gave the buildings a defined shape, floating lazily into the darkness of it, disappearing into the night sky just as soon, almost seeming like it was absorbed by it.

While I absorbed Lara's blabbering about Shion, as nicotine gave me the patience I needed for it.

"And when our eyes locked into a curious dance, I wondered; Who could he be? What has he seen in his life to make him pick my eye?" She concluded by taking another hit from the cigarette.

"It's a waste of effort, Lara. Just by viewing him one can tell he is more of a rake than a real-life criminal or thug, whatever he claimed himself to be,"

"You should really raise your standards, for your own good." I sighed out, flicking the back of my cigarette as the ash dropped down the railing into the street.

"Is that so? Funny coming from a woman who sent nudes to her lover before they even hit their third month, I doubt you're in a position to speak about such matters of morality." She retorted, rolling her eyes dismissively.

"Really? You're picking something that happened almost a decade ago so you could counter what I have just stated?" I replied, as the tone of my voice was disappointed while my face displayed an irritated grimace.

"Il lupo cambia il pelo ma non il vizio." She shrugged, looking to the side.

"Can you please listen to me, and stop behaving as if you own the world while I'm trying to advise you?" I was now furious, dropping my cigarette on the balcony tiles, firmly stomping on it and kicking the butt out of the railing.

"This individual is not good for you, I am trying to help you not get another heartbreak, like the one you had in junior year; With a guy who by the way was seven years older than you!" Rubbing my temples while I spoke in an attempt to soothe the headache that I was starting to feel, as I added.

"You want me to remember my mistakes from the past? Fine by me, have it your way, but don't think I won't reciprocate since you're no saint either." I concluded as now I was fully annoyed, while my eyes betrayed the fury I felt towards her shitty remarks.

"You always get your way! It's honestly so annoying how you establish your argument as definitive truth, and nothing can prove them wrong in any circumstance," Lara stated, unable to suppress emotions as her voice rose to match mine, expressing the pent up frustration and the feeling inferior to me even if she was older.

"I know I'm stupid and keep making the same mistake over and over again," She declared, as if she had nothing to lose by making me see her vulnerable side.

"But it's too late as now I'm addicted to that type of person, despite the fact that they will fuck me up." As she continued to vent her feelings to me, her voice became lower and lower.

There always was a sense of beauty she saw in her circumstances, no matter how bad they were. Despite the challenges, she would always point out a hint of good and cling onto it.

Nonchalant of the consequences.

"Let's join Lia on the sofa, and enjoy the match of football. We shall discuss this another time." I exhaled deeply, trying to turn her attention to some light entertainment.

"But I haven't finished my cigarette!" Protesting, as she held the carcinogen stick between the middle and index finger of her right hand.

In no time, the cigarette was swiftly thrown over the railing, by me as it flew down to the street where it crashed on the ground; Putting an arm across Lara's shoulders, guiding her inside.

Welcomed by the triumph screams of Lia, spinning around in the air her team's scarf, as apparently gli Azzurri had scored against the Brave Blossoms.

Her joy was palpable even to the neighbor next door, as he banged his fist against the wall while cursing at us to keep it down. Reminding us that it was late, and there were other people residing on the second floor.

We did nothing but laugh to our heart content at it.

"We'll surely try, cariño~!" I shouted back in a playful tone, with a hint of flirtatiousness in my voice.

I had a soft spot for our neighbor, Mr. Garcia; The handsome Spanish teacher, who recently moved into the condo weeks prior. With his suave personality and dazzling charisma, how could one not?

His anger issues were on another level though, maybe those were the reason his wife divorced him.

But one thing I know for sure, I would have chosen Spanish instead of French in middle school if he was the teacher.

As only the idea made me caliente between my legs.

Only to be dragged back to reality by Lia as she sat us down on the couch, to then accommodate herself between me and Lara, keeping us at a short leash, so to speak.

"It would be appreciated if you kept your lustful scenarios to yourself, at least until this match finishes." Lia expressed with a tired sigh.

"Oh come on what's wrong with letting your fantasy run a little wild? Plus who wouldn't fall for a dilf like him-" I answered as Lara playfully hit my shoulder chuckling, before Lia cut us off putting both of her index finger on our lips.

"Shh shut it for now..." She whispered strictly, eyes glued onto the screen of the TV.

The camera now shifted its focus to Tommaso Allan, who had the ball passed onto him by one of his teammates. In a swift and decisive move, he rushed forward, and successfully managed to overcome an opponent who had initially blocked his path. He was in the process of searching for an ally to pass the ball to, when Kanji Shimokawa suddenly tackled him to the ground, catching him by surprise and seemingly causing him to lose the ball.

"Now that's a hunk!" Lia remarked as she viewed the slow-motion replay of the action on the screen.

Only for me and Lara to shut down her affirmation.

As the game progressed, the Italian team was in advantage, netting two more touchdowns, prompting Kanji to utter a series of curses in the meantime, his anger being quite apparent.

Takeomi glanced sideways at his companion, cigarette between his lips, taking a long drag before saying. "You worry too much buddy,"

"They are playing on their home ground, with that huge advantage I'm sure they are just being a little playful with the opposing team just to put on a show and then get serious reversing the situation."

To which the fake blonde answered with a serious demeanor, "One thing I know for sure, and that is their victory over the Azzurri. I'm not taking another loss from our national team." He stated.

To which the other male answered.

"Then try not to get any white hair from the stress, it would ruin that dye job." Taking a long drag from his cigarette as he talked to his colleague.

While their two younger superiors played pool in the background, the pink-haired freak wasn't having any bullshit from his smoke addict of an older brother.

"Can you shut that trap of yours and stop smoking like you're mourning someone!? It's so fucking annoying to smell the smoke of your cheap cigarettes!" Talking, more like spitting words as if he was speaking with the lowest scum on earth.

"Suck it up Haruchiyo, your weed is no better." He firmly stated puffing out the smoke.

"It's Sanzu to you Akashi, stop acting like we're close and playing family, we both know you suck at it." Snarling while he glared at the older male.

"Fair enough, I just thought you missed my figure as an older brother." He laughed to himself.

While his little brother scoffed at his antics, dispising him from the very bottom of his heart.

Applying some chalk on the cue stick, as he got ready to make his strike.

"You talk as if you've died, which unfortunately you didn't. Anyhow, who would miss such a parasite as you?" With a swift and precise motion hitting the little white ball, as it went rolling full speed colliding with the brown one, "The world would just lighten from such burden if you did." He concluded as the ball fell into the hole.

"Oh- come on now, you talk as if I've ruined your life, or in this case as if I was the only one that did-" Being cut off by Mochi esulting as the Brave Blossoms finally scored a point after a back and forth between the two teams.

"Take that, you pasta eating bitches!" He was aware that the Azzurri were still ahead of a point but had so much faith in his team to win, as his nationalism kicked in.

When the two charismatic figures of Bonten entered the room.

Or more like one entered while having the arm of the other on his shoulders, as he helped him walk inside.

"Ahoy there, mates! Terribly sorry to keep you all waiting, I was busy chugging down copious amounts of liquor." Stumbling forward for a couple of steps as he gripped tightly the fabric of his brother's suit, the older Haitani made his entrance.

"However, I've recovered somewhat and I'm ready to enjoy some time together with you beautiful, beautiful people!" The man drunkenly declared, while his sibling dumped him on one of the minibar stools.

"Stay put, alright? Don't do anything dumb." Putting his brother in a position where he wouldn't fall off the stool from squirming around.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Rindou. I can take care of myself, even when I'm tipsy. Seriously, don't you trust me?" He proudly stated.

"There's nothing to be so proud of, Ran." Only to be cut off by the other, "I mean, I know how to handle my booze!" As the two got into a back and forth over the situation, which only got more chaotic and interrupted Kokonoi's efforts to concentrate and get some work done.

The ladder was immediately caught by their words, as he grew annoyed by all the interruptions to his work.

"Can you stop being so loud!? I'm trying to focus and you're making it almost impossible!" He snapped, his patience quickly running out with the ruckus.

The younger Haitani was already fed up after all the bullshit he had to deal with today.

As the situation wasn't helping, and his patience was quickly running out. He was ready to explode, and this slight form of provocation pushed him over the edge.

"Screw off, dick cheese! This isn't a place for work. Stop thinking about more ways to make money when we don't need it right now, you capitalist prick!" He exclaimed not able to control his temper anymore, as now he just wanted to exit the room not wanting to completely lose it.

And he did just that leaving his drunk sibling over there with the other lad, quickly making his way to the elevator.

Ran, being the drunken flirt he is, decided to break the silence between them with a bold claim, "Don't listen to him, gorgeous. You can consider this room your workplace, and if anyone else says otherwise, let me take care of it. I'm quite the big deal around here." Clearly still drunk from the alcohol, he mistakenly thought the white haired man was a woman.

Who seemingly caught his attention so he wanted to shoot his shot and earn some chuckles from, but he only received a disgusted glare from his comrade.

"For the love of all that is holy, please just trip over a knife and leave me alone." He face palmed in utter exasperation, as just the idea of having to deal with Ran's drunken antics was just too much for him to bear. He returned to typing on his laptop, trying his best to avoid Ran and hoping he wouldn't interrupt him again.

He was wrong, Ran was right behind him, his arms draped over his shoulders as he leaned over to whisper in the other man's ear, "Oh come on, don't you like attention? Especially from such a charming man like myself." Continuing to hit on the supposed woman he believed his comrade was.

"I like respect and boundaries, don't you know personal space is a thing? Stop being a creep and keep your goddamn hands to yourself, geez." Wanting the other to get the point and leave him alone, he wasn't going to sugarcoat his words to not sound offensive.

Still the rather tipsy individual took it personally.

"Me a creep? Please, I'm a gentleman." He started, quickly retracting his hands from his companion's back.

"Is there any difference? A gentleman is just a more patient and pleasing wolf in sheep's clothing" He retorted with a roll of his eyes, not impressed by the behavior of his companion.

“Don't be a killjoy, sweet cheeks! Why waste those lovely locks if you aren't gonna put them to good use? Maybe they'll look even better with my fingers through them and you on your knees." He said with a cocky demeanor, leaning on the counter holding his head and looking dreamily at his colleague back, as if imagining the various things he wanted to do with 'her'.

Ran was high on his own fantasies of romance and sex, while Rindou was high on their own professional success.

Making his way to their boss' office to report the process of their successful deal with Kisaki, hoping that their superior, Mikey, would be pleased with that accomplishment and tell him and Kokonoi to begin making the necessary investments into their new deals.

Rindou, after stepping out of the elevator to the top floor, was met with the warm glow of the sunset as the sun was slowly setting in the horizon. Within thirty minutes, night would fully sweep over Tokyo, giving the window one last glimpse before heading to the boss' office.

Firmly stepping through the double doors, closing them behind him. He glanced up at his boss, making eye contact with the man piercing black irises.

Despite his lanky and short stature. He was the epitome of 'don't judge the book by its cover.'

As his presence was intimidating, making the executive quick mental note to keep the report short; The faster, the better.

"How did it go Haitani? Hopefully you gave a good image of Bonten." He asked even though it seemed more a threat, making the thirty year old man stand straight.

Breathing out, relaxing as he recollected his thoughts, he started to give his report about today's meeting he and his brother had with the heads of the Tenjiku criminal organization, Kisaki and his left hand man Hanma.

It was hard for Mikey to remain calm and focused while listening to Rindou talk about them, considering the men were the ones who caused the death of two of his siblings. Still, managing to stay silent and not show the frustration he felt.

With a quick hand gesture shutting the other man up, before he inquired, "Was Hanma much of a hassle during it?"

Rindou quickly shook his head, "He was knocked out shortly after Ran got him to try some of the new booze we ordered from China," he explained before adding "Just as you had told to operate."

Another hand gesture telling him to continue, as he complied with his boss' order.

“He wanted to have some other drinks so we gave him a vip pass to one fo our most known nightclubs, for later we prepared a royal suite at one of our five star hotels.”

Instead of going through all this trouble he could have shot that adrenaline freak, leaving him to die alone like a bastard in the corner of a cold and lost alley, people wouldn't even notice about his disappearance. Nobody would care honestly, not even the police.

But his boss' orders weren't optional, and Rindou would much rather follow them and tolerate the other annoying asshole for that short period of time, than suffer the wrath of Mikey's so-called 'loyal mad dog.'

As being skinned alive by him doesn't sound so appealing to no one. Whatever he has to do he will do it, and get the job done.

"He will depart to San Francisco tomorrow at 7 am sharp. At least this is what I know from the information Kisaki gave me." He concluded, fixing his tie as he awaited further instruction or questions from his superior.

After a long period of them just staring at each other as silence surrounded them, the boss moved his arm over the landline, his fingers pressing a button before speaking.

"Kokonoi, come to my office and bring Ran along with you." The boss says to the other person on the line, in a firm and clear tone.

And not even five minutes after three people enter the office out of the two requested.

"I was told there was going to be some top-notch food here," The still intoxicated individual exclaimed, ready to engage in whatever entertainment that was happening currently. However, despite this, the pink haired individual accompanying this person mentally scoffed and was annoyed by his drunken behavior.

Nevertheless, the person's sotic expression remained in front of the king that he followed, regardless of the irritation caused by the inebriated idiot.

With Kokonoi right behind them, closing the doors after entering with his laptop in one hand a dossier on top of it.

"You told me you were taking me to your hot female friends, but I see no beautiful babes, no sexy girls, just a bunch of ugly dudes in an office." Rather disappointed by the lie Kokonoi told him to get his ass moving as soon Mikey required their presence there, Sanzu wasted no time in dropping Ran on the leather couch like he was a sack of potatoes.

"My hot bitches-" was as far as the drunk individual's complaining got, because he was abruptly interrupted by Sanzu placing his hand over his mouth, trying to shut him up, only to have it licked away in the process. The other man was disgusted by the behavior of the drunk individual, and his annoyance was starting to show.

"What the hell you freak!" he exclaimed, clearly surprised and not expecting this to happen. He quickly pulled his arm back, Kokonoi offering him a handkerchief as he proceeded to walk towards Mikey.

Placing his laptop and the folder on the desk of this last one, as he began to state the analysis he made about how much would their earnings rise out of assimilating Tenjiku into Bonten, with the ultimate goal of absorbing them completely after removing the top two heads.

"What about Madarame Shion?" Sanzu questioned about the third head, Kokonoi confidently responded by saying.

"He is no threat. He's easy to bribe with some money and power, maybe be generous and add a couple of women for him too..." He paused looking at Rindou before continuing.

"But if his appetite isn't satisfied by that, two bullets can shut his mouth for good, and make him grateful that we ended his life quickly." Showing no hesitation or remorse as he made his statement, clearly not bothered by the slightest to have a guilty conscience.

As long as it serves the greater interests and goals of the criminal organization he loyally serves, fill his pockets and mouth, he will do that and much worse.

"What do you think, boss?" Sanzu looked to Mikey for an answer, waiting to make sure they were all on the same page.

Ready to follow whatever came out of his mouth.

As his boss was still contemplating the situation, thinking about the best move to make. Finally deciding to go along with the plan suggested by Koko, believing that there shouldn't be any trouble with the third head of Tenjiku as long as they had a fool-proof plan to bring the man over to their side, and if not get rid of him.

Pulling out of the folder the documents before giving it one last adjustment, as he and Rindou put their signature on them, handing them to Sanzu and Mikey so they could do the same, as they both read what the contract was about before signing too.

Officially declaring their agreement, now they just had to wait for the outcome, and ensure that everything proceeded according to plan.

"Now we have time to give this to Kisaki, while I need you to give this to Hanma as he will go overseas tomorrow morning." Kokonoi directed Rindou, sticking out with his hand a piece of paper from the folder for him to take.

In the middle of the nightclub, surrounded by the loud music and boisterous atmosphere, is a man. Average height and a lean type of build, with a face that is so charming even now when it displays nothing more than indifference.

He was familiar if not used to having ladies of the night by his side as they swayed along the music, one in particular, his favorite.

The young woman was basically a walking feast for the eyes, her figure a perfect example of what the male gaze perceives as the ultimate beauty.

As she back faced him, his hands under hers as she guided him to feel every curve he already knew of her body, as they moved along the rithm of the music.

Still failing miserably when it came to Kazutora, as his mind was elsewhere, and she was nothing more than another Saturday night for him.

And while she tried to win his attention for hours, only to see her efforts fail, something much simpler had managed to get the job done. And that was a buzz from his phone, tucked away in his jeans pockets.

Quickly making his way across the nightclub towards the bar, presumably intent on finding a way to end his night on a more positive note. However, the woman was not about to give up that easily. She followed closely behind him, trying not to loose him in the sea of people.

When he reached the bar, the man paid for his drink, before giving the woman some gas money to call an Uber. This sent the signal loud and clear that he had enough partying for the evening, and the lady was forced to accept defeat.

He needed to fully focus on the task at hand he gave himself, still he wasn't no ungrateful bastard as he bid her a swift goodbye, planting a quick kiss on her cheek as a sort of consolation.

Walking out of the club leaving her behind. Reviewing the intel his most trusted subordinate had sent him.

"Roppongi huh?"

Haitani's well known turf. Still half of their subordinates liked to say they were loyal, in reality they are just a bunch of dumb assholes that with a little money and lies you could buy.

Cracking the engine to life as soon as he got on his motorcycle, a loud roar filled the mostly empty parking lot due to the late hour.

Taking a hold of the handle bar, rubbing it to gain more speed. He then performed a half circle turn to then speed off down the wet streets of Shibuya.

The streets were empty, except for the occasional low-life thugs or wannabe gangsters. He enjoyed nights like this, as it was just him, his motorcycle, and the cool wind that brushed across his now rosy cheeks. The blonde streaks in his hair blew freely, adding even more beauty to this moment.

Taking the exit onto the highway, it started to get boring.

Until he noticed a luxurious car in the distance, it seemed to be a black Mercedes-Benz.

Surely expensive to maintain, from the looks it seemed it was brand new. Although he couldn't see the owner, unfortunately as this rich bastard had black tinted car windows. But surely he seemed to be in deep thought as he moved with a slow monotone peace.

Then an idea came to his mind.

Letting the car gain a good distance, before going at maximum speed just right beside it. The roars of the motorcycle surprised the driver that much he swerved off into another lane. Luckily, the driver hit the brakes with all his might saving the car from making an accident.

Kazutora burst into laughter, not caring about the person in the car he almost killed. According to him, it was the driver's mistake to be distracted and wandering off with their thoughts while on the highway.

And since he considered himself to be a good cop, he saw it as his duty to remind him of this simple rule.

In his style and way of doing it.

The two figures that exited the car didn't catch his attention for long, as the situation had given him enough fun for today. Turning back to focus his attention on the road and on his true goal that night —visiting one of the night clubs owned by the two charismatic brothers.

Unbeknownst to him, the ones that he almost made go astray were none other than the two brothers, and the psychopath with a pink mullet of their superior.

The younger Haitani was outraged after the incident, and furiously started shouting calling the driver of the bike all sorts of names.

"That bastard!" The man yelled, his tone raging with fury.

In spite of his subordinate's outrage, Sanzu saw comedy in the situation and couldn't help but crack up.

"Calm down, bro. This is hilarious. it almost felt like we were going to die there," His coworker said with a wicked grin, as he closed and leaned into the car door.

Rindou was now fuming with outrage as the Joker wanna be continued to go at it.

"What? It's not my fault nor his that you drive like an old lady," The individual shrugged, unconcerned.

"You sick fuck! That damned bike almost caused us to crash! I might drive like a grandma, but who does he think he is acting like a maniac on the road?!" Storming back to the car, upon reaching it he opened the car door and forcefully closed it behind him.

Sanzu stayed out of it, sighing in annoyance as he left the younger Haitani some time to cool off, before they could carry on with the task given by his king.

While all this chaos happened, Ran was in the back seat, knocked out.

And not even five minutes after they were back on the road.

The speedometer showed numbers escalating rapidly, reaching higher digits after mere seconds had passed.

Street lights pass their bright ray on the car bodywork, somewhat trying to clean it from all the shady businesses that they have used it for.

Chase Atlantic blasting from the radio, as the man with the pink mullet sang along the lyrics. Only to be interrupted by the news.

"It seems that the trend of illegal car races came back, California has been full of reports. Especially in the cities of San Diego, Los Angeles and lastly but not least San Francisco."

As the news reporter continued their broadcast, Sanzu lowered the volume as he looked at Rindou before saying.

"Seems like Shion is already at work." He snickered still looking at whom he was speaking to.

While the other guy thought nothing but how idiotic people were to follow a trend, just to be known as some sort of crappy underground superstar. Not knowing how much of a hypocrite he sounded.

He and his older brother did follow the trend of being delinquents too, but they had more style and charm than those scraps.

"San Francisco huh?" He mumbled to himself.

Rindou only knew the city thanks to the books at juvie.

Remembering it's characteristic monuments such as Alcatraz, the ruthless prison known world wide, the Golden Gate Bridge; A red and white vortex that makes you enter a colorful mix of colors and cultures, where cheap and expensive coexist.

These were the words that the author of the book chose to describe the city.

Hanma tomorrow would go there to help Shion, his old gang pal, as the mission given to him by Kisaki wasn't such an easy task.

They should be there just for a few days, just to find a good location out of the public eye, and then be back in Japan without getting noticed.

The police have been on their tails in this period of time, with the help of that damned Toman.

As they reunited the gang, this time to find and bring back Mikey and his fucked up mind. With Takemichi being none other than the leader, yes that's right a weak bitch like him is the top dog.

He was good with words, Rindou admits, but words can't bring you anywhere. Violence must accompany them, at least that's his ideal.

Still he found it hilarious how they believed that with the power of friendship they could bring back his boss, who honestly just needed to be sent to a psychiatric hospital along with his loyal mad dog that was now sitting beside him looking at his phone.

But at least they had the balls to do something he would never do, and that was going against Mikey.

As if it wasn't Sanzu hunting him down for betrayal his subconscio would take his place. Guilt tripping him of leaving Ran alone, breaking the promise they had made at each other from the very start.

He couldn't handle the type of life without anyone beside him, like he had Ran for his entire life.

So running away was, and forever will be just a fantasy.

Since we were into the topic of old friendships, two other old friends were seeing each other right now after many years.

Junpeke, a once lively individual, had become much more tame over the years. His once stylish and edgy haircut was still the same, but his spark seemed to have been lost.

And now he happened to work at one of the many clubs the Haitani owned, he was just a low ranking subordinate of theirs nothing really special.

Still Kazutora found a way to use the position of his old friend in something useful to him, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered meeting him again after all these years.

Both of them not wasting much time, walking though the dark corridors headed straight for a door that was labeled 'Staff Only'.

Once through the now closed door, they entered an area that was most likely a dressing room, as Junpeke immediately got to business, pulling a waiter suit, from the nearby closet handing them to Kazutora.

As the latter changed into them pretty quickly, taking out keys and wallet from the orher pocket of his jacket along with his phone.

"Now that i have completed everything you've asked me for, it's time for you to hold up your end of the deal," Junpeke stated, a smug smile made it's way on his face as he added.

"Give me the money, and you can go and do whatever your heart pleases with Hanma." As if he wasn't in a dangerous situation at all.

"Of course, a deal is a deal after all." Kazutora seemed used to his arrogant behavior as he searched though his jacket pockets, pulling out two rolled stash of twenty five bills worth ten thoused each.

For you folks that don't want to do math, it's basically around four thousand dollars.

Not wasting anymore time the other took it and began to count them.

"What? Don't you trust me Junpeke?" The man with long hair pulled back and tied into a low ponytail asked his former friend, however the ladder didn't respond to him.

He looked around to make sure everything was left as they found it, then both took their leave walking to the door.

Not all bad things come to harm you, and Kazutora had learned one important rule during juvenile detention, and that was; Never let anyone walk behind you, especially when doing shady business.

Of course the ex-juvenile delinquent took this opportunity, knocking his childhood friend unconscious, sending his live location to one of the police officers he had under his command, and carrying the man outside the back exit and dropping him inside a dumpster.

After successfully taking Junpeke out of the picture he went back inside the building, now walking through the corridors that brimmed with sex workers that offered him lustful gazes and sweet chuckles.

He payed them no mind, as they were only doing their job.

Entering the large underground club lounge of the hotel, he was met with a scene of chaos. Music blasted in the background, ladies dressed in vibrant colours and styles moved back and forth, forming a veritable bouquet.

Just as he was taking in the sight, his eyes scanned the various tables as they came across the man he was looking for, he was surrounded by a circle of ladies, as they stuck to him like glue or looked to get closer.

Hanma Shuji, a man with many words for him, but clown was the most fitting, as his lazy smile was exactly the same of a fool.

And Kazutora couldn't wait to wipe it off his face, as it would look better when he will shove him behind the bars.

As if by fate, a tray carrying two alcoholic drinks was suddenly placed in his hands by a waitress, confusing him for a waiter, shouting at him to bring it to the table where the infamous reaper was.

And of course after knowing that how could he not spit into the drink to top it off?

Not a smart idea to do it in the middle of the dance floor, as he was grabbed by the collar from a bulkier man with an angry expression on his face.

If you were at a club and brought a drink, only to see a waiter spitting into one of the same type that you ordered, it would certainly put some doubts in your mind about your own drink.

And since alcohol can often make one's inhibition lower and impulse control harder to manage, it's now wonder that the man got so aggressive in a quick time span with Kazutora.

"Who do you think you are, spitting into drinks like that?!" In the midst of the loud music and partying, the sound of that sudden shout got the attention of those nearby.

As the partygoers turned their gaze towards the source, witnessing the man violently shaking the 'waiter'.

This situation surely ruined the cheerful mood there was in the club, as people didn't know if the accusation was true or simply a misunderstanding.

"If you don't want to give us our money's worth, then don't bother working here at all?!" Kazutora didn't even bother defending himself, he was too busy getting his face sprayed with spit from the angry shouts of the other man.

This whole situation ruined their night, as his voice surely would give the others a headache if this continued.

But one in particular.

And that was Hanma Shuji of course.

Making his way through the crowd of people as he left all the ladies behind, and when he got there he was met with the familiar face of Kazutora.

Seeing his ex comrade getting into a heated confrontation, how could he not intervene to help him? Jokes aside he quickly made his way to the two, putting his hand on the angry customer's shoulder, before saying.

"Now now, what's with all the hoopla?" he asked with a somewhat dismissive tone, taking the situation lightly.

But this seemingly innocuous gesture seemed to spark a fire in the customer, who was now fuming with anger.

"Who do you think you are, you bastard?!" he growled at Hanma, his voice practically dripping with fury. "I'm a powerful criminal, you think you can just go and mess with me like this?" he continued, his rage growing with every word.

Hanma, however, remained unfazed and replied to the customer's threats with a lazy smile, "Or what? What are you going to do? Enlighten me," he retorted, his lazy smile remaining on his face despite the customer's rage.

"Are you challenging me?! I can take you and break you like a breadstick, you lanky beanpole!" The customer shouted, angry at Hanma's continued lack of fear and respect for him.

"You don't seem to be in the right mood, mister." He said before adding "How about you go on a little timeout and drink some water, hm-?" And that was it, the final straw.

Suddenly Kazutora was free, as the man who was gripping on his collar turned to the taller male.

"I'll kill you four eyes!" He shouted, finally snapping.

"Four eyes? Make it six, because from how drunk you are." The other one had enough, and decided to resort to physical violence. As he ran at Hanma, fist ready to punch him hard on the jaw, determined to wipe that lazy smirk off his face.

Still as we all know this was a piece of cake for the reaper, as he dodged the strike with ease. Getting under people's skin was his profession rather than being a criminal, this was routine for him.

Kicking his opponent's feet, making him trip and fall on the dirty dance floor, that from the various partying of the night was all sticky, either from drink spills or obsolete substances.

As the bouncers came and took the man on the floor, as he continued to sprout profanities at the two.

Once the chaos of the situation subsided, Kazutora understood it was his cue to leave and get out of there. His plan being ruined by some drunk bastard.

Hoping to slip away unnoticed, but he was way too positive and confident in his skills not to notice Hanma's hand on his shoulder.

"Not even a 'thanks, old friend?" The familiar voice cut through the air. Even if he was facing the other way, the ex Valhalla number three could feel his ex superior lazy smile.

"Hanma, long time no see," he said, "You've changed quite a bit, and it seems like you've acquired the habit of grabbing people by their shoulders?" He said with one of his best fake smiles he could manage to hide his irritation.

"I could say the same for you," he responded humorously, "you still look as fresh as new! Mind telling me your secret?" With a light-headed tone, he joked about his friend's transformation.

"Oh, y'know. Just grew my hair out a bit," lightly tugging some rebel strands of hair framing his face, "and eleven years of prison did their work." He playfully scoffed.

"You're as sassy as ever, huh?" Hanma replied teasingly, "How about we get some drinks and catch up on the lost time?" Wrapping his slender arm around his old comrade's shoulders, who seemed to not be interested in having to chit-chat.

Ultimately, he accepted the offer, ending it with "Why not?"

Both perfectly knew who the other was, but just for tonight they'll forget it over a few glasses of Mojito.

[vigilskept]

Oooooo WELCOME TO DADWC! Can I get Nelaros/Tabris “A tentative kiss”? :>

ty for the prompt!! a little post-wedding moment for chaya/nelaros here (around ~10 years prior to the the events of the city elf origin bc this is a double tabris worldstate!!)

warnings for some mentions of offscreen canon-typical racialised violence & character death (adaia tabris), pre and post-wedding jitters

words: 611 | @dadrunkwriting

As the door closed between them and the drunken festivities just outside their new home, the anxiety she'd somehow kept at bay all through the ceremonies seemed to creep back up on Chaya.

Leaning back against the door to look up at Nelaros — her husband, Maker, it still made her head spin even to think it — it was a relief to find him looking back at her with a nervous smile on his own lips.

“Was it anything like you expected?” he asked, and she couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head.

It couldn't have been farther from it.

The truth was that she had expected to feel sick to her stomach with dread. She had expected to call in a favour from someone, anyone to stage a distraction so she might find an opening to run away.

To the docks or to the Dalish, it didn't matter. Anywhere would do, so long as it was away from this marriage.

In the end, she hadn't been able to bring herself to even try it. There was so much joy, just outside their door. An uninhibited, foolish joy she couldn't remember seeing in anyone's faces in months, since the disappearances had started stacking up, her own mother's the last in a line of them.

Relief had come to Chaya in the form of a dagger retrieved from filthy hands and bathed in blood, but it had been short lived, paid back with elven blood spilled in the streets.

She knew of no one less fit for love, less fit for motherhood, but in the face of the happiness that seemed to overflow in the streets and alleyways as they passed through to receive the alienage’s blessings, her fears had seemed so small. A shard of glass in the face of a river's rushing current, edges worn down into something something softer, more suited to being strung onto a necklace than drawing blood.

And so she stayed, looked into her betrothed’s clear blue eyes and spoke her vows.

Even now it feels less like a mistake than it should, looking into those same eyes in the dim firelight.

“I don't know if I'll make you happy,” she admits, glancing down at the new, golden band adorning her finger, “but I promise I’ll always try to do right by you.”

Here in the quiet of the home that will be theirs for years to come, it’s a far truer vow than any of the words she’d spoken before the Chantry Sister who presided over their ceremony.

Her breath catches in her lungs as Nelaros takes her hand in his own.

“It’s enough,” he promised, nothing but warm certainty in his eyes as though he had any idea how he might feel in another year, in ten.

He knew her no more than she knew him, yet he insisted on believing the best of her. She couldn’t help but find it a little foolish, and yet she was hopelessly endeared by it all the same.

For how little distance remained between them, it still took an awful lot of courage to close it. A kiss had never felt like a promise, the way it seemed to with now, a mere brush of her lips against his own as damning and reverent as any of their vows.

If the holler rising up just outside was any indication, some idiots had been peering in the window, waiting for just that before pouring another round of drinks.

She rolled her eyes, more fond than irritated despite herself as she pulled her husband along by his arm, deeper into the house so they might rid themselves of their audience.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Live Blog/My thoughts scene for scene ish for OFMD S2 Episodes 1-3

FULL SPOILERS FOR S2 EPS 1-3. Including a post credit scene for Episode 3 that includes a teaser for the episodes 4-5 and discussing scenes we haven't seen from the trailer.

My long form stuff usually gets seen by people outside of my circle so before this long post I want to preface with this-

Hi! Izzy is my favorite character. As of right now I have written just under 240k words about this guy and spent most of my time in this fandom in Izzy spaces. If that is a problem for you, this might not be the read.

But I got fed a 5 star meal and already see this season is a love letter to the fans and I am here to appreciate it. 

Please be warned. I personally think this season should have a warning on it for how it handles suicide, suicidal ideation, substance use and relationship abuse. I will be going in depth on this but handle it with respect as someone whose lived shit like this.

My first watch was without subtitles and on a big old tv screen. I I decided to miss a few things my first watch, choosing to turn off subtitles, and get surprised by dialogue and delivery(as I tend to read ahead). This watch is to confirm lines, appreciate delivery, and more. 

I have not read any meta, and this is blind before I see how all my mutuals freak out!!!!

Lines that fucked me up will be bolded. Just know I want to write an essay about them, and would given the chance. (sorry for spelling errors I watched this twice + stayed up for an extra 10 hours😅)

EPISODE 1:

I liked the recap, but I don’t think it’s enough for casual viewers who watched it maybe once ALSO. That Edit of Izzy’s ‘namby-pamby crying for his boyfriend’ IMMEDIATELY into the Toe Scene got a laugh out of me, because OWW. How had we not thought of that? 

I LOVE THE DREAM SCENE. Izzy beating him fair and square, but still losing. The stab in the killing side? THE MELODRAMA. The way this confirms Stede sees Izzy as a ‘big bad’ he needs to defeat to ‘win’ Ed. Him having the most 1 dimensional view of both him, Ed, and Izzy. A view how Stede is still an idiot unable to see nuance in people. Izzy smiling? The way he mutters his last words> God I love Con O’Neill. Let’s watch him maybe die 8 separate times and call it a season. 

It also got a good laugh out of me. Did I predict that that it was a dream when the teaser came out? Yeah. Still funny as shit.

‘Can’t be worse than you moaning Ed, Oh Ed’ FUNNY AS SHIT. 

I liked the ‘customer service’ montage. Swede, you deserve all the love you get. You are in good hands.  I think Stede’s part of this episode was just to lighten the rest of it. Hello to an antagonist of this season, and narrative foil to Stede, Prince Ricky.

I know it doesn’t matter who did Ed’s back tattoo, but the irony of Ed trusting someone enough to get it done is just funny. 

(Wedding Scene) I SQUEALED WHEN WE GOT THE RETURN OF ED’S EVIL THEME. Also, calling his crew the devils ‘kids’ is so fucking funny. HELLO CLASSIC ROCK IVE NEVER HEARD OF??? Welcome to the OFMD playlist. I love the montage of ‘Ed is working everyone to death’. Izzy got to threaten an English sailor. I know he’s happy with that. 

Yes. The wedding thing was absolutely over the line. RIP Ivan, you will be missed. I can’t wait for Frenchie to break down, and congrats to all the people who wrote Frenchie as emotionally distant, you’ve won! 

THE WAY IZZY SOUNDS SO TIRED ‘Yeah. They got cake.’ ALSO. Did I miss the knife throwing scene?? Was that just for the trailer? I think it was in a past edit and they removed it.

‘Can’t do the job? Someone else will’ (Ed to Izzy)- Izzy felt that he mattered to Ed. This one line reframes their entire relationship. This fucks Izzy up. I theorize as the main reason Izzy never did anything was because Ed was his captain. But they were still friends. Close. Trusted partners.  But Izzy is still expendable. Even after all this time. He is nothing. Maybe he knows Ed is doing this so he rebels, and kills him, but maybe he doesn't. Izzy cares about loyalty... we'll see.

Yes. The Izzy scene hurts. But after watching Ep 2, this is nothing. 

‘It is your job to-to follow my fucking orders’ (Izzy to crew) THIS IS NOT HOW I THOUGHT THIS LINE WOULD BE USED. Because he knows. He knows he’s fucked, and he’s struggling to accept the fact that he’s looking down the loaded barrel. He knows that he can’t make these people listen to him, not any more. He’s alone, and now the one thing he can do(be Ed’s first mate) is about to be stripped from him. Hell, it already is.

Spanish Jackie. I love you. I love you so much. Extort those fuckers. Semi clean water and education is a big deal! Also, this season overall is a HUGE win for my fellow Pete fans. Funny bastard. 

I have thoughts about Prince boy, but they can wait until he does something.

Stede’s flaw has always been his naivety, habit of judging once and never really questioning it, and his ego. Prince is able to take advantage of it. I don’t trust him. I think he’s a spy. I also like thinking Spanish Jackie is collecting husbands to certain tasks like it’s Pokémon. Need a bartender? Customer service husband. The books? Math husband. New Swedish husband? Masseuse.

HI IZZY ED SCENE ----

‘Because it’s fuckin’ treasure.’ Izzy. Izzy I fucking love you. God. The way he stiffens up. Knowing them not following orders means he will lose a toe. Fucking god. 

This to me confirms that Ed really wants to get Izzy to kill him in in ep 1. He will tear down every good memory they have just to get Izzy to give in. He doesn’t care about their past, he just wants to die. Izzy is a convenient violent punching bag because he can’t leave. He knows fully well that this crew doesn’t listen, and blames Izzy for a fact he can’t change. It’s fucked that he's shoving Izzy into this corner but he doesn't think there will be consequences. 

Honestly. I think Izzy knows his partner is at this edge, but he can’t do anything. This is why he gets the guts to talk back. Both here and later in front of the crew(more in a second).

The ‘you know me better than anyone has ever known me’ (Izzy to Ed) line kills me. Because it’s honest. For the rest of these episodes Izzy is so fucking honest It hurts. He can’t lie. Not to himself, not anymore. Not to Edward or the crews. He can't take advantage of any situation, or turn the tables. All he has is his words. He knows this, and yet here he is. Facing this abuse, and trying, because he wants to fix it. But he knows he’s not enough to snap Ed out. 

‘I have love for you’ (Izzy to Ed in cabin)Present tense…fucking hell. Izzy tries to pull Ed out by showing his soft center, and we can tell from Ed’s dismissive reaction that he already knows all this. But Ed isn’t talking. Izzy can’t read minds, he wants to help. I know he felt adrenaline spring through him after the confession, and with loose lips, he says just the wrong thing. HI MICROEXPRESSIONS ON CON. FUCKING AHH

‘Hang on Ed- Captain.’ (Izzy to Ed as Ed is marching out to the crew)OW. OUCH. OOF??? IZZY PANICING???? Trying to stop this???

The look on Izzy’s face when Ed holds the gun to himself is not shocked. Hurt, and he immediately closes himself off, like he genuinely thinks Ed would do it.  That’s what hurts. Also, I don’t know if hes doing a high pitch voice to imitate Izzy, but that’s my view of it. 

‘PACK IT IN' (Screamed by Izzy to Ed) THATS MY MAN!!! Stand up to Ed being shitty! GOD. Frenchie’s little head shake. Trying to warn Izzy, to tell him no :((((. But Izzy doesn’t care. He knows he’s not got too long left, so he might as well chew Ed out, to say the things everyone is thinking but are too scared to say. God, the way Ed teases the answer in front of everyone. -Say his name and I will shoot- sitting right there in his eyes, and Izzy GRINS and he says ‘Stede fuckin’ Bonnet’ and that is finally enough of an excuse for Ed to shoot. 

Look at the way Ed nods his head as Izzy says it, not even letting Izzy finish before saying it. He's done. All the other performative versions of violence, of being Blackbeard he does, I see a reason to say 'he's doing this as self hurt' but Idk. It feels like he wanted to, and now he can. So he does. The way everyone reacts hurts me. The way Ed steps over him, the way Ed pushes Frenchie into Izzy’s job. 

I know many fans, and myself before the show aired, thought the leg shooting would be too much. In all honesty. This is how I’d want it written. This entire episode has showcased Edward’s grown resentment to his friend mixed with self destructive impulses. Some might view this as being too much, but given episode 2, this is such a big fucking moment I can’t even comprehend it right now. 

Do I think Izzy’s love confession pushed Ed to this panic- ESPECIALLY after his last confession ended in Stede running away? Maybe. But I think Ed was mentally in a place where he couldn’t react with anything BUT dread. Thus making the Stede call back even worse. But I don’t know. 

That’s one end of the spectrum of how this scene can be interpreted (Ed shooting Izzy’s leg felt unjustified/uncalled for at this point in the story) now lets turn it around (The ‘Izzy deserved it’ fuck heads)

Lets be 100% clear here. 

I view Izzy turning the crew to the English was a catylist, BUT not a cause for them getting captured. Stede was wanted for murder, and would have gotten caught eventually. Hell, the fact Blackbeard was on the ship in S1 was a lucky guess that Chauncy was happy to take advantage of, that IZZY HAD TO SIGN THE ACT OF GRACE to get Ed out of.  

Can Ed hold Izzy responsible instead of taking accountability for his own actions? Yes. This episode shows that’s basically how he sees it. But we as fans are basically shown 5 different ways to view Izzy as sympathetic here. 

Now: Moving back into the episode (after 500 words of that…damn)--------------

Ricky is so dumb…. I don’t know if I love it or not.

I love ‘Susan’ (Zheng Yi Sao) but have some thoughts. I enjoy her, the way she holds herself like Ed did in episode 3, drawing that parallel. That and her Izzy narrative mirror of a first mate. Also, I hope the Swede and Spanish Jackie have a lovely season. I love them so much. 

(Yes! I got to inform the family of the history of the Queen of Pirates. I love what I do. )

One of my favorite crew scenes: Jim and Fang failing to correctly remember the story. I LOVE IT. I agree Archie, Jim trying to help Fang feel better is so fucking GOOD. Mixing the legend of the Monkey’s paw and Pinochio while cleaning up Izzy’s blood is so fucking…much. 

Hi another song I have never heard of??? (The whistle one, you will be going to the Ed Izzy divorce playlist)

Ed is pulling a Stede. Running away from every problem forgetting they dont exist. The second something tries to change he snaps. It hurts looking at Frenchie clearly trying to balance his family and Edward’s lack of empathy. I fucking love this episode, and think it’s up there for my favorites. This is a trend that will continue. 

EPISODE TWO:

Maybe my favorite piece of writing in ages. Can I just say they are Fucking WILD to call the Izzy/Ed episode ‘Red Flags’????? BECAUSE DEAR GOD

I watched the recap. It’s like, 3 scenes of stede, with Izzy geting shot and the final scene of Zheng Yi Sao. 

Classical song in opening: Etude No. 1, Op, 25. Going into the writing playlist. 

Buttons sleeping with his feet up, maybe to be close to the sea?

Now. I am going to use this moment to discuss a large criticism I have. The cutaways to scenes from S1. Now, do they feel fast, and awkward, yes. Should the writers trust their audience to tie the call back together? Yes. But for a casual audience I think these scenes are VERY necessary if you haven’t watched the show. I think they should be taken out, but I get why they’re there. 

‘Run From Me’ by Timber timbre THIS IS A FUCKING ED/IZZY SONG IN THE SHOW?!?!??!. WE DID IT. WE GOT 1! I don’t see any way how you could tie this is Ed/Stede. A song about the fear of hurting others and needing to always push people away. After last episode??? I fucking… I teared up on rewatch, because FUCK. It’s a scene with Ed playing with the dolls, but Izzy’s presence is right THERE. 

OMG OMG OMG- A PIRATE SHIP IS USING THE BELLS SYSTEM TO KEEP TRACK OF SHIFTS????? (Kind of? Not really? She just rang a bell. But just give me this).

Wee john & Buttons, I love you. ‘YES QUEEN!’ I CACKLED! I love the mispronouncing ‘China’ gag. 

‘I decided to take a chance on you…because’ Because they’re allies. Stede taking ‘soft’ as a compliment gives me life. 

LUCIUS!!!!! I FUCKING LOVE THEM!!! THE ‘OH MY GOD’ CALLBACK!!! THE HAPPY CREW SONG RETURNING?? 

I love that Stede is immediately like-*the vibes are off. What happened to my boy.* as soon as he sees him

Can I also say, I love that when we transition over to the Revenge, we see it from the front, sailing into frame. It’s such a good shot. 

I love that Ed is obviously in a manic period, FUCK. WHAT IF HE WAS CRYING OVER KILLING IZZY??? He wouldn't…but other than that, I can’t see specifically what he was crying about. 

‘No more booze, no more drugs, and more importantly, no more Izzy’ WHEN I TELL YOU I GASPED WHEN IT WAS REVEALED IZZY WAS KILLED THE FIRST TIME. God. Not by Ed, because Ed would never, but by FRENCHIE. No wonder they had to edit ‘Stede’ over that in the trailer… 

‘The new first mate always kills the old first mate’ - Okay, this bugs me. It’s not that the first mate is killed because ‘it’s law’. First mates were usually picked by their captain, but the Captain was democratically chosen. The first mate is loyal to the captain, as that is their job. The reason the first mate was killed when replaced was because the new Captain feared the old first mate could start a mutiny, and use the friendships built against a new person in power-

OH SHIT. DOES THIS MEANS ED KNEW IZZY WOULD MUTINY???? SO HE ORDERED FRENCHIE TO KILL HIM??

HOLY FUCK! :0

EDWARD YOU CONNIVING LITTLE BASTARD!!!!!

Hi secret passage :) To all the authors who also wrote them as tiny little hallways in the walls, rip. How did no one notice an extra room.

IZZY!!!! MY BOI

God, Izzy just knowing he’s fucked, and wanting to die now before Ed finds out is so fucking GOOD. ‘We just had him asleep’ JIM he’s a 50 year old man fading in and out of sleep due to an infection, not a toddler. I love that Izzy is just…so done. He didn’t expect the crew to help him out 🙁

HELLO OTHER SCENE IN THIS EPISODE I DIDN’T EXPECT TO LOVE-

God. I think my problem with Lucius in fanon was that he was always treated like he was above it all. The therapist. The loving partner. The jokester. But he has actual depth and Nathan is a brillian actor.

Hi Buttons being a sea god. I love that I wrote him as being creature adjacent ages ago. Bro can read Chinese AND got a fun magical ability. I can’t wait for that to pay off. 

THE OTHER SCENE I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT. Pissed off Ed being so fucking cheery when confronting Frenchy is so unnerving. Ed isn’t dumb. He knows. He knows the moment he caught Frenchie with that box that he was helping keep Izzy alive but he needed it confirmed. Which Frenchie did. 

(This is the point where my bro woke up so I rewatched everything with him)

Dear god. CAN WE CLEAN IZZY? Bandage that leg? ANYTHING?

‘But he’s out dick’ (Jim to Archie about Izzy and why they want to keep him alive) FUCK YEAHHHH!!! I love it, but can we not do this in front of a passed out Izzy?

Oh, the way my gut dropped the first time I saw Ed on the stairway of the secret room. Keep that man away from him.

GOD THE WAY I FUCKING GROANED WHEN OLU MOVED THE SHIPS ON THAT MAP. I am so happy the show is portraying how a flagship of a fleet works!!!

Lucius smocking to relieve stress and sooth his anxiety. All that to not think about what's happened. THAT and Pete being the ‘softer’ partner, gives me life. 

Izzy/Ed scene in the hidden room.

HI IZZY! ‘Up in leg heaven’(Ed to Izzy) Does this line read like bad fic? Yes. Good think I write fic and think it's fucking hilarious.

I fucking CHERISH this scene- 

‘I dreamt you killed me.’ ‘good for you’ (Ed to Izzy, Izzy to Ed)I FUCKING LOVE YOU IZZY- you are so tired of Ed's shit. I would put the entirety of this scene and every micro expression from Izzy if I could. ALSO ‘Eddie????’’ WHY- FUCKING- THAT WAS A FANFIC LINE AND IT'S MAKING ME SAD :0.

We are so getting a flashback next episode, aren't we? Even if we don't I'm so satisfied seeing the past closeness hinted at in these 3 episodes.

‘Clean up your own mess I’ve been doing it my whole life.’ I fucking LOVE HIM!! Even when he's suffering through an infection he won't let Ed walk all over him. Then Ed gives him his gun. LITERALLY TELLING IZZY TO STILL CLEAN UP THE MESS. 

‘I loved you…best I could.’ OH FUCK> OH FUCK!!!!! How did I MISS THAT ON MY FIRST RUN? IZZY/ED CONFIRMED???? THE FUCK???? ED ADMITS THAT HE FUCKING LOVED HIM!!! FUCKING KILL ME. ALSO PAST TENSE! That better be because he thinks Izzy is dead and not that he doesn't love him anymore :((( 

I loved Stede mentoring Lucius in talking btw. 

‘Save the rest for Pete’ (Stede to Lucius) Aw. Stede can’t be the therapist. I also love that Pete got freaked out. It makes me happy. 

I love this whole pre-storm scene. The way we can see Ed adjusting the canon into the mast to blow it down. The general storm vibes. The tension. The way it reads like the fuckery scene in ep 4 with the storm. Ed being steps ahead. But instead of Ed doing something clever he's doing something self destructive.

‘Run From Me’ start playing in the background up again when Lucius' line about being broken and learning to cope. LEADING RIGHT INTO THE STORM SCENE- AHHHH.

The way JIM STOPS ARCHIE FROM FIGHTING. Literally replicating their arc from S1.

THE WAY IZZY SHOOTS ED TO PROTECT THE CREW FROM ED LITGHTING THE CANON WICK. THE FUCKING PAN UP REVEALING IZZY IS ALIVE AND *EMPTY*

‘YOU INDESTRUCTIBLE LITTLE FUCKER’ (Ed to Izzy) THESE TWO I SWEAR TO CHRIST!

GET ‘EM FANG! PROTECT IZZY

God I fucking love this episode. So fucking much. The fact Ed/Izzy divorce has multiple suicide attempts built in makes me feel things. I wouldn’t expect anything else. 

==============================================

EPISODE 3

‘I know, it’s been a day!’ (Zheng Yi Sao to Shadow guy)

I love the scene of her bargaining with the guy and think Zheng Yi Sao is going to build a pirate army to take over the Republic. She’s already taken over China. This is just for pride.

GOD I love the scene of Stede going through the ship. Mainly because it lets us see the hallway, and tells me more of the Ship's anatomy but that's not the point. 

I don't know how the Crew survived the storm, but DAMN. I'm so proud of all of them working together. We were all right to write fic like that.

Izzy just casually being devalued by Stede and how he just IMMEDIATELY looks to Frenchie. OW. FUCKING OW. Also the way Izzy said 'Bonnet' at the start of this scene makes me so happy. 

I ZONED OUT A BIT- FORGOT TO WRITE

Now we’re at the scene of Stede cleaning up the knives. Leading into Izzy and Stede bitching. I love this scene mirroring the one where Izzy tells Stede to ‘plumb the depths’. Because it’s a moment where Izzy tries to be honest to Stede, but it doesn’t work. I FUCKING LOVE THIS SCENE SO MUCH. Izzy holding his tongue just a bit trying to warn Stede. A person he is actively jealous of. Hell, he even takes accountability for his actions. He even tells Izzy a half truth that they didn’t kill Ed. 

IZZY IS FUCKING TRYING. BUT STEDE IS TOO STUBORN!!!! Why does Izzy always need to be the voice of reason, it’s bad for him :( He needs someone to treat him seriously. 

I love that Hornigold has all of Ed’s mannerisms from the start. That and all of Hornigolds memories are what Ed remembers about the things he hated about the man (the crab thing)

Is it sad that Ed is excited to live a normal life, but his gut(Hornigold) tells him not to be so naïve? Yeah. But I’m mad at him, so give me a day. 

I love Izzy in the jail scene. ALSO WHY IS FRENCHY LEANING THAT CLOSE TO IZZY-HELLO?? Izzy crying, closing his eyes. Not able to keep Ed safe because he still tried SO HARD to keep his body semi stable. They think he’s probably dead, and Izzy still keeps his corpse safe. EVEN AFTER ANYTHING. HE STILL LOVES HIM! :D D:

This is where the Pirate Queen isn’t fun anymore for me. I liked her, but then she threatened Olu if he said no?? I don’t like it! Especially as it seems Olu didn't get the hint.

The escape overall is very fucking sweet. Especially Izzy shushing people. I makes me happy :)- Also Buttons being a good first mate and giving orders as soon as they touch deck.  

I’M SORRY- IZZY THNAKING STEDE I saw it the first time, and freaked out, but the second?? DEAR GOD! I fucking love him. Give this man a hug. 

Also! I think the Mermaid scene is my 'Ohh Daddy' from S1. It’s a bit.. .much, I like the metaphor a lot. Eh. I don't know. I think they should have blured out Stede's face a bit with water. Reveal it's REALLY Stede when he gets closer. Hide the budget a but more or do a far away shot vs up close. Pretty but just a bit off.

ALSO: IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE Ep 3 POST CREDIT SCENE DO-AS I’M SPOILING IT. As a person who is writing a ‘cured object’ thing for this fandom… watch this undo like, 40k of my own words. Please let Izzy be a bit of a skeptic but he generally follows the vibes cause ‘legends’ ALSO murder lesbians!! ALSO IZZY/STEDE woops, sorry, IZZY & STEDE FRIENDSHIP ARC!!!

SO FINAL THOUGHTS: 

Things I didn’t like:

Dislike how we glosses over the discussion of a poly/open relationship for Oluwande and Jim. They both thought eachother were dead, so it doesn’t give me the ick as I bet some will. But the way Jim joked about it still felt wrong.

Glossing over Lucius’ trauma a bit with the puppet joke. I found it a bit in poor taste. 

The fact Izzy is on the episode ‘cover’ for episode 3 on Max, revealing he didn’t kill himself in ep2. I forgot about it midway in, but remembered it on rewatch. Like? IDK

The lack of content warnings, I get it, but damn the suicidal ideation stuff +mania episode+ abuse hit hard. 

It went by a bit quick, but they wrote themselves in a corner. The slow building dread of Ed being a dick, vs Stede just working at Jackie's to get money. So they started when everything was falling apart. AND they need to get The Queen and the Prince established. Judging by the next few episodes, hopefully it will slow down. I prefer this to skipping those things, obviously. But I was much more interested in Ed’s side of the story than Stede's.

Things I do like/Standouts:

Hi Con O’Neill. Can you start paying rent the way you live in my head? Seriously, every scene Izzy is in he steals it. I assume people are a bit peeved that Izzy is getting more attention than Olu&Frenchie&Jim & whatever other character a person likes. But I really think they sewed it in well. Seriously, it’s heartbreaking, and everything I could have asked for. I Love Every Delivery. I see these episodes as enough to turn people slightly sympathetic if they were haters of Izzy before.

ALSO: IZZY SAVING THE CREW. Putting himself in danger FIRST so he doesn't hurt anyone? Jim immediately seeing this and trusting him in the future. I can’t wait to see friendship bloom between him and the crew. That and Izzy's own self destructive habits get broken down as he learns to respect himself outside of hierarchy and Ed. Yes, even like this I want to fuck that man.

Stede- I enjoy that he seems more comfortable with the crew. Especially Pete and Buttons. I don’t have much to say, but I hope this new Izzy training episode means he’ll learn to trust Izzy. Not too much to say, but that's a good thing! Here soon instead of Ed being the focus of the 'deal with this' stick it will go to Stede 'I'm the captain :(' Bonnet

BUTTONS OH MY GOD- My favorite head canon became canon babes!!! I love it. I’m here for it. He's having a lovely time.

ALSO FRENCHIE!!! Hi babes! I missed you being a clever badass! I'm happy Ed didn't stab you.

Them taking Ed’s issues seriously. We got hints of addiction/abusive behavior last season, but they took that and ran with it. Add that to self destrictive behavior that scales up with every scene. Plus the one line from Lucius about how some people can’t be fixed…good stuff, I like how we're handling mental health. I’m not happy with him, but we have time. Taika clearly had fun. I also see myself in his mania and self-sabotaging behavior (non violent, but still wish washy moods for my part)

That and Izzy/Ed being what it is… I believe that Ed genuinely loves Izzy the only way he can, but it’s not enough. He can’t love Izzy the way he needs. Ed needs to apologize, obviously. I won’t be able to forgive him ‘till then. I don’t think Izzy should until he’s able to pull away from him a bit. 

Let's just say I can't wait till next week when we get lesbians and one of my favorite tropes.

(@ing mutuals I know have seen it that I would love to yell with @gydima @born-on-a-beach-teach @treesofgreen BUT do feel free to shout down below!!!)

[somany-fandoms-solittle-time]

In A Sentimental Mood: A Ruggie/Yuu Oneshot

Some quick Housekeeping! This was originally meant to be a song-fic but the only time I remembered to/felt inspired to write was nearly the middle of the night (as writers do lol) so I didn’t have enough mental energy to splice the lyrics together into the story. Instead, I listened to the song on repeat while writing, like, HALF of the fic but I thought it was cute enough to fit the vibes. The narrator's voice and descriptions were hard to keep consistent as well as concise, but whatever. I don’t think I properly matched Ruggie’s speech pattern but I think it’s close enough to ‘random, working class teenager’ for now.

Also! It’s an X Yuu but I’m pretty sure I used all GN! Pronouns so please feel free to read it as an X Reader (who’s the Ramshackle Perfect). It felt kinda awkward to not describe the character or use open descriptors (like Y/N, HC, etc.) but feel free to add any notes or styles to try out for an open reader audience. Honestly feel free to comment or message any feedback lol! I don’t have a beta reader atm (I might ask either my gf or my IRL friend who’s also into TWST) but it could be fun to have a random stranger react to my writing so they’re disconnected from personal feelings and whatnot.

 I have a fic introducing my oc a little interacting with the Pop Music Club, but it’s making out to be longer than expected so between writing for my own AU/ocs story I’ll be posting cute lil song-fics as well as crackhead interactions lol! Maybe a few headcanons as well. I’m not sure if I would have ever actually started writing fanfics (or writing in general) instead of simply daydreaming about it if it wasn’t for @twst-beam and @krenenbaker , so a quick dedication for them for lowkey lighting a fire under my ass. Not only have you opened the creative floodgates, but actually gave me the motivation to actually TRY and put it into action. Anyway…. ON TO THE STORY BITCHES!!! ENJOY THE THE SWEET HYENA BOY (who weirdly looks exactly like my Boyfriend, lol) AND COME REALISH IN THE CHAOS~

In A Sentimental Mood:

A Ruggie/Yuu one-shot

It had been a long day. Scratch that–it had been the longest year of Ruggie Bucchi and Yuu’s life! However, there was something especially trying these last 24 hours. Maybe it had something to do with how this was the first day off the both had (that lined up) in w e e k s and they STILL BOTH got called in to run some nonsensical errand. Or maybe it’s because when the First Year Squad were supposed to be babysitting Grim the entire first floor of Ramshackle got absolutely trashed. 

Something about stupid bets, idiotic magic competition, and a prolonged chase. Afterwards, Rugs and Yuu had to help clean up! The aftermath of the wreckage was too much for the Hodge Podge group of freshmen.

What really topped the day off was the mission impossible scheme the couple failed to pull off. Originally, the two were simply planning to “borrow” on one Leonas (numerous) credit cards while the latter was passed out for an all-expenses-paid date out. It’s not like they were about to rob the second prince blind! Just a few trips to their usual thrifting stops, maybe hassle with a local boutique and then some semi-fancy free grub. 

Instead they got caught two shops in when they decided to grab some food before being totally weighed down by paper shopping bags. Since they had a later start, Yuu suggested getting dinner to the new uppity wine-and-dine.

“C’mon Rugs~ When are we gonna have another chance to dine like Kings? And on a Royal Dime at that!” they foolishly (but successfully) tempted the poor Hyena into a little more Mischievous than the two realized.

Too bad their Dinner Date got cut short from one of the waiters recognizing the Sunset Savannah Royal Seal on Leona’s card. It took an hour and a half of being corralled into a backroom, 3 ominous threats of calling the police, snarky back talk and just general arguing before Leona strutted into the Restaurant and vouched for his underclassmen. Seeing the lazy Lion not only WAKE UP, but come off campus was a bit of a surprise for the thief couple. 

What wasn’t as surprising was his smug, diva face while declaring that they would need to pay him back for disturbing his nap. After hasty, and admittedly sheepish, promises to the Prince, he collected his missing card and strutted back to campus. Luckily, he was secretly a bit of a softy towards his unofficial Vice and the magicless Perfect that saved his life (and probably his status for not ratting him out to his older brother). It’s safe to say while making the switch a decent stack of Thaumarks was placed in Ruggie’s wallet.

So yeah, in a word, the day had been a bit of a shitshow. A clusterfuck of misfortunate events (and if it weren’t for Leona, Yuu and Ruggie would not only be in some kind of jail but also flat broke). 

But finally–finally–this hardworking hyena Beastman and the Ramshackle Perfect were about to have some peace and quiet! A moment for just the two of them. A small, precious moment late at night. After the longest night of their collective lives, the two were able to cuddle up and appreciate what they had. Even if all they had was encompassed by long, tiring days and horrendous luck… and having the bend to the whims of some of the brattiest Divas of NRC.

Regardless, this time isn’t about them. It’s about Ruggie Bucchi and Yuu enjoying what left they had of their day off, Damnnit!  

“Ya’ know,” Yuu hummed into where their face was buried for max comfort; Ruggie’s chest. “Today wasn’t a total bust.”

Ruggie snickered sarcastically as his left hand paused its petting motion through his significant other’s hair. He was clearly only humoring his lover's thought process, yet paying attention all the same.

“I’m just saying it wasn’t a total loss,” they began to half-jokingly argue, “I still got to spend the day with you. Besides, you gotta admit it was pretty funny watching that stupid manager’s annoying face drop when Prince Grumpy strutted in all pissy!”

“Shee Shee Shee! Fair enough, Sugar! Good thing he didn’t realize Leona’s always cranky… or that His Majesty~ was mostly just pissed he had to wake up.” Ruggie answered playfully.

“It was kinda sweet of him for letting us, mostly, off the hook though. He even let us keep our goodies along with that sneaky bonus,” Yuu mentioned while lazily motioning towards the small mound of shopping bags and the miscellaneous items inside.

“Pleeeease~ He probably spends more on a single earring than we did with his card and cash combined,” Rugs pouted enviously. To emphasize his pout, he completely encircled Yuu with his arms and clutched them tightly. He was hanging onto them tighter than a swiped snack from the cafeteria on Doughnut day.

“I don’t know,” his partner giggled in response, “Leona’s been such a softy lately… but his whole dark and brooding reputation gets in the way a bit.”

“Dark and brooding?” Ruggie snorted, “Dunno if Leona’s habits of lyin’ around counts as dark and brooding.”

Yuu tried to suppress their elated smirk at feeling the slight tremor of quiet laughter. “True, that’s more of Mal’s stick isn’t it? Angsty and depressed?”

“Nahhh, that’s Idia’s thing! Also, I still can’t wrap my head ‘round you calling Malleus by some nickname.” His laughter died down as he scrunched his nose at the thought of his partner so buddy-buddy with one of Twisted Wonderland’s most powerful mages. And a crown Prince… with servants and castles and-

“You do realize that Malleus is like a GIANT kid right? I mean, yeah he’s some super powerful wizard-”

“Mage!”

“...whatever. He’s an absolute beast when it comes to magic and whatnot, but he’s got this whole ‘homeschooled only child’ vibe going on and honestly? It’s a little pathetic, in a cute stray way.”

Ruggie didn’t really know how to feel about his partner’s revelation. On one hand, he knew they were just friends and had befriended each other longer before Yuu realized Malleus’ status. That didn’t necessarily make it any easier to cover up the inherent inferiority or the slight unsettling fear. Good thing they didn’t feel the usual pressure of this world’s social ladder… but that doesn’t mean they won’t start worrying if he stayed lost in thought for too long.

“.......what was your world like for you to turn out so weird?” 

“Hey!”

Ruggie continued to laugh, but it came out a little bit strained. Yuu finally glanced up in order to catch a glimpse of their boyfriend’s adorable pout.  His lightly scrunched eyebrows and the way his ears seemed to fold-in on themselves made him look like a grumpy puppy. Absurdly cute, but clearly bothered, and they both had had such a long day t wouldn’t be right not to cheer him back up!

“Oh, c’mere!” the Perfect said through teasing giggles as they flipped Ruggie over to switch positions.

Rugs was currently (and quite contently) snuggled face first into his lover's chest; enjoying the sound of their heartbeat along with the comfortable extra cushioning. His arms reached slightly down to wrap around their waist snuggly as the two pairs of legs naturally crisscrossed at the joints. The moment he fully relaxed was when Yuu started to softly pet his bushy hair and scratch along the base of his ears.

Pure Heaven.

“Were you getting grumpy because I kept mentioning Leona and Malleus?” the Perfect lovingly taunted now that he was trapped and attacked (with euphoric head scratches) in his weak spot. Truly, an idiots mirage of paradise.

“C’mon Sweet Cheeks! Ya Couldn’t’ve least let me keep my pride?” Rugs whined, quickly going back to frowning deeply but unable to hold it for long. There was no chance in all of Twisted Wonderland he could stay “upset” while his precious Dandelion Fluff’s fingers softly caressed his sensitive ears. At least he could cover-up the way he melted, burying himself further into their figure. Luckily, Yuu was already squeezing him closure with a burst of affection,

“Don’t worry, my silly Hyena, the only one I was focused on today was you. The only one I wanted to spend time with was you. And the only person I think of from dawn till dusk, and dream about the whole night through, will always be you, Ruggie Bucchi.” Yuu declared playfully, then slowly breathlessly serious with a sappy amount of affection as they watched Ruggie's tail wave faster and faster.

“Shee shee shee,” Rugs bashfully replied, “where did all that come from outta nowhere?”

Yuu wistfully sighed, “I guess I’m just in a sentimental mood.”

The two shared some playful hushed whispers until Ruggie had to turn his head to hide a yawn. His attempt was futile however, as Yuu caught it–but instead of teasing him over it they simply snuggled him closer and quietly sang an old, sweet crooner love song from their home world. Despite the long day, it felt blissfully short as the two peacefully drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms. 

[burnthoneydrops]

What Time Has Done (Part XIII) Benedict Bridgerton x Original Character Series

Synopsis: Fed up with Emmeline's disappearance, Benedict takes finding out the truth into his own hands

Requested: no

Warnings: none

Word Count: 2601

A/N: Hi! Here's the next part of What Time Has Done! Let me know what you think and if you're enjoying it or not haha

Emmeline

The words on the newest Whistledown sheet shake on the page as my hands will not cease their movement. I scan the words over and over again to make sure I am reading her correctly, and every time my heart drops more and more. How on earth did she know? I suppose I should have expected it to come out eventually but I was holding out some hope that the mysterious woman would have been deaf ears for the news to fall on. What an idiot am I. There is frantic knocking at my door and answering it is the last thing I wish to do, but depending on who the person on the other side is, they might have half a mind to barge in anyway. 

“Come in!” I call, noticing how my voice trembles as I do so. 

“Em,” the person sighs. It is Graham. I turn to him and my eyes cannot hold back the well of tears anymore. He rushes to my side and I drop the Whistledown pamphlet, causing a light whooshing sound as it reaches the carpeted floor. His arms are around me in a matter of seconds, and I throw my hands over his shoulders as another wave of tears force their way out. 

“What are we to do?” I ask in between recovery breaths. 

“I do not know, sister, but that is not for you to be worrying about right now,” Graham tries, but the insecurity in his tone does nothing to aid my current state. 

“I suppose I should have known our lie was not going to last forever,” I shudder, sitting down on the bed. 

“Now now, it is not your fault-”

“Will everyone stop telling me that! First Papa, then Andrew, now you! Just because you say something is so, does not mean it does not feel like it. You all tell me this ordeal is not my fault and yet I am the one who insisted on going to University. I am the one who caused this large amount of bills! It is! It is my fault!” I cry, putting my head in my hands once I am finished. 

Graham is stunned, not sure what to say for a moment before he sits down next to me, choosing to say nothing at all. Instead, he places a comforting hand on my back and allows me the space to let my frustration out. 

Benedict

“Has Benedict seen this?” Eloise asks Colin, the latest copy of Whistledown in hand. 

“I do not believe so, why?” Colin asks. Eloise shoves the gossip sheet in Colin’s hands. “Oh, dear Lord,” Colin sighs as he reads the page, realising what has his younger sister so worried. 

“Dear Lord indeed,” Eloise nods, grabbing the copy back and reading over it again. “Is this really why her entire family has been hiding away?” Colin refrains from speaking, but the look on his face shows that he knows something. “What? What is it?” Eloise looks him in the eyes, searching for an answer. “You know something! Tell me what it is!”

“Not so loud!” Colin grabs Eloise’s arm and drags her out to the hallway. “The gossip sheet is unfortunately true,” he looks down at it before looking back at Eloise. 

“You knew? For how long?” Eloise questions. 

“Not long, but Anthony figured it out before I did”.

“Brother will not be happy when he finds out about this,” Eloise says worriedly. 

“Finds out about what?” Benedict, in his perfect timing, had emerged from another room and now stands behind the pair. 

“Nothing!” Eloise proclaims as she turns around to hide the sheet behind her back and face Benedict. 

“What have you got?” Benedict gives her a look with a tilt of his head and a small smile. He reaches behind her to grab it, but she moves her hands above her head. As if she forgot for a second that Benedict is in fact taller than her, she leaves him enough space to grab it with his free hand and he laughs. As he begins to read, Colin and Eloise share a worried glance. 

He looks up at the two of them with a hardened expression. “Is this true?” Neither of them respond, which is enough of an answer for him. 

“Did either of you know about this?” Benedict looks between the two of them quickly, hoping one of them will answer him. “Say something!” he cries when neither of them do. 

“What is all this noise about?” Lady Bridgerton enters the hallway from the drawing room. 

“Mama, did you know about this?” Benedict throws up the gossip column. 

“What does it say dearest?” Lady Bridgerton grabs the sheet from him, leaving the three children in front of her to wait anxiously as she glances over the page. “Oh no,” she frowns, gathering the reason for the upset. “I can guarantee you I knew nothing about this”.

“I knew,” Colin grabs everyone’s attention, stepping forward with a guilty look on his face. 

“You knew? And you did not tell me?” 

“Anthony didn’t think it wise, brother, truly I-” “Anthony knew as well?!”

“We were waiting until we could figure out a good time to tell you!” 

Benedict does not respond, instead choosing to march down the hallway to the main stairs, running down those as he calls for a carriage. The horsemen cannot move fast enough as Benedict’s foot taps incessantly on the pavement outside of the Bridgerton residence. His mind races with a million questions about the predicament ahead of him, but he is more acutely hoping that Emmeline is alright. It does not miss him that a drink might help the anxieties of the current moment, but he thinks better of it. The carriage ride is all too long and he wonders if it would have been faster for him to arrive on foot. Benedict pounds on the door of the Castillon family, hoping for the love of God that someone will answer him. 

A butler answers the door and Benedict shoves in through the door and stands to face him on the other side. “Please, tell me where I may find Miss Castillon,” he sighs. 

“I’m afraid she is unavailable at the minute,” the butler looks at him with a hard expression. 

“Tell her it is urgent, please!” he begs. The butler does not budge, and Benedict groans in frustration. “Fine! I’ll find her myself. Miss Castillon!” He calls as he starts to wander through the house. 

Emmeline 

“Miss Castillon!” I hear Benedict calling from somewhere in the house. It couldn’t be. “Miss Castillon!” he calls again. 

“I’ll tell him to leave,” Graham stands up. 

“No, no,” I stop him. 

“What would you like me to do, sister?” 

I pause. “I do not know,” I frown, sitting back down on the bed. 

“Miss Castillon please!” Benedict calls again, his voice closer this time though. 

“I will speak to him, you stay here,” Graham turns out the door before I can even attempt to stop him again. There are hushed voices down the hall and I start to pace, wondering what they are discussing without me. After a few moments, a knock resonates from the other side of my door. 

“Sister?” Graham calls before opening the door and walking back over to me. “I believe you should talk to him”. 

“I do not know what to say, Graham”.

“Then tell him the truth,” he looks at me, grabbing my hands in his and giving me a small smile. 

“I cannot,” I frown, shaking my head. 

“You can,” he nods. 

I stay silent for a few moments before letting go of Graham’s hands. He tells me he’ll be right here, waiting in case I need anything, and I nod, walking toward the door. Benedict stands in the hallway and I turn to face him as I step out of the doorway. He catches my eye and his brows furrow in worry, but there is some sense of relief present as well. I do not know what to say, and it feels like we stare at each other for eternity, neither of us sure how to proceed. 

“Miss Castillon-”

“Emmeline, please. If you are to try and comfort me, I do not need the formalities,” I laugh lightly, trying not to look directly at him. 

“Alright, Emmeline. If I could just have a moment of your time. I just want to talk to you”. 

“As you wish”.

“Is Lady Whistledown writing the truth?” Benedict asks, his brows furrowing in concern. 

I pause for a moment, not entirely sure how honest I want to be at this moment. Sharing all this information with him feels like an overstepping of boundaries; that which we have hardly set in the first place. Besides a few meetings prior, what had Benedict and I really shared? Something in the way he is looking at me persuades me to tell the truth, and I nod. 

“Why did you not tell me?”

“And make public my family’s shame?” I question. 

“Surely it would have been better than this!” 

“I did not know that this was going to happen. I do not even know who thinks I am Lady Whistledown to begin with!” I pause, and after a few seconds, continue with, “But yes, my family is currently in a crisis because I decided three years ago that it was a necessity that I go to University which would not have been allowed given my sex but my father had connections and managed to make a deal. He had assured us that those debts had been paid off but evidently they were not and I suppose that the people on the other end had grown tired of waiting for their repayment so they started coming after my father with more urgency”. Benedict looks greatly confused. 

“And that is why you went into hiding?” 

“Mama did not want anything to become obvious after the news had been revealed within

the family, so she thought it best for us all to hide and let the information digest in private so as to not have one of us reveal something to an uncaring member of the ton”. 

“I see,” he pauses, looking as though I had thrown a few stones at him. I suppose with the amount of information I had just relayed to him, it might have been a few stones equivalent. “I could have helped you, Emmeline. I still can-” 

“I do not need your pity Benedict. If your pity is to be disguised as comfort than you may-” 

“Do you truly think so little of me?” This causes me to stop. 

“I beg your pardon?” 

“Do you think I travelled unannounced, burst into your house, worried sick about you, simply because I pity you?” 

“You had not explicitly given me a reason not to assume as such,” I state, but I can feel the foundation of my own argument cracking as I do so. 

“You are a truly infuriating woman, you know that, yes?” 

“However could you mean?” I question, crossing my arms over my chest. 

“I did all these things, went out of my way to talk with you at stuffy dances and soirees because I care for you Emmeline. And due to my siblings’ input I have learned that I was not being subtle whatsoever about it so surely you must have noticed it as well?” 

I am not sure how to respond. Is caring different from loving a person? I do not know how one differentiates the two, especially not Benedict, but he seems sincere in his tone and I cannot help but want to believe him. I can hear Graham in my head telling me not to think too long about it, but I cannot bring myself to formulate and answer worthy enough. 

“A friend of mine told me that one is allowed to follow their inspiration, and so here I am. Please, Emmeline, say something”. 

“Perhaps I have been blinded by my own attempts at subtlety to notice that my thoughts and feelings may have been reciprocated,” I finally respond, hoping the message translates how I intended. 

“Thankfully that was not subtle at all,” Benedict says, almost laughing. “This situation will be resolved Emmeline, you have my word”. 

“And how exactly do you plan to do that?” 

“I am not certain yet, but I am sure I can conjure something up. Eight minds must be better than one, yes?” He says, referencing his siblings as well. 

“I imagine they would, yes,” I say with a smile, “but even then, it is not your-” 

“You promised to heed my every word, did you not?” 

“I’m sorry?” “That day in the park, you promised to heed my every word. So do just that and believe that I will see to it that this is all sorted”. 

I fight the urge to tell him once again that I do not need someone to fix my problem for me, but timing does most of the fighting for me, as my mother ascends the stairs. She looks between Benedict, myself, and then back at Benedict before outwardly questioning his presence. He mentions something about how he was just leaving and shoots me a wink as he makes his way down the stairs and back out to his carriage. Graham appears from my doorway, a smile on his face. I am to assume he heard most of the conversation as he looks quite pleased with himself.

“Was there a reason Benedict Bridgerton was just in our hallway unannounced?” Mama questions, slightly angry. 

“He was merely on his way out after our discussion, Mama,” Graham covers, looking at me to get me to nod in agreement. I do so hastily. 

“Indeed, I simply ran into him on my way from the garden”. 

“And why, may I ask, were you coming out of Emmeline’s room?” Mama turns to Graham. 

“Benedict had offered to teach him a thing or two about art and I had mentioned to Graham that I had some copies of landscapes in France he could use for reference,” I cover this time, sending Graham the nodding message. 

“You two know the current rules regarding house guests. If it weren’t for the circumstances I would pay it no mind, but I suppose I am grateful it was a Bridgerton at our house. It could have been a far worse member of the ton”. 

“We promise, Mama, it shan’t happen again,” Graham replies. 

“For your sakes, I’d hope not,” she says as she begins walking away. 

“I take it that went well,” Graham walks closer to me. 

“Our conversation with Mama? It could have gone worse I suppose,” I shrug, watching Mama walk further away. 

“No, the conversation she interrupted”. 

“As if you did not overhear the entire thing,” I give him a suspicious look. 

“I did not! Maybe…just a bit of it,” Graham puts his hands up in defence. 

“Graham, we are not necessarily a family of good liars.”

“Quite right, Sister”. 

I look back in the direction of the staircase and replay my conversation with Benedict in my mind. Never had I imagined someone being so forthright about their feelings, though I suppose artists are known to wear their hearts on their sleeves. The thought gives me butterflies, yet they are soon sinking as I remember the context that brought on the conversation in the first place. How he can be so confident in his ability to turn our situation around is beyond me, but perhaps we shall have to wait and see. 

[shipskicksandgiggles]

ELLIS!! 5, 30, and 40 and make it ✨️star wars✨️ (you're free to choose who in star wars hehe) <3

REY!!! these are so original trio coded I love them. your wish is my command <3

read In Rare Form, also on ao3

prompts (from this list): “You’re so small, it’s like your body can’t contain your excitement. It’s really funny to watch actually.”, “You have main character things happen to you while having the attitude of a quirky side character, and I love it.”, and “Are you fucking colorblind? That’s purple.”

Luke, Leia, and Han hadn’t gone on a mission together in long enough that they shouldn’t have been able to click back into sync so quickly. That didn’t stop them from doing exactly that though.

Luggage was slid into cubbies, they took their places in their seats, and after some preflight checks from Han and Chewie, they were on their way to their destination.

It was a longer journey than most, so they actually had the time to sit back and relax for a couple days. It also gave them a chance to catch up since, even when they were positioned on bases together, they didn’t really have a chance to talk about anything outside of business as usual.

Chewie took over the pilot’s seat while the rest of them sat around the table, exchanging stories from the various places they’d been without each other.

“So there I was, kneeling in front of the king of this outer rim planet, about 30 seconds out from being decapitated, which R2 had called before we’d even landed the X-Wing when this lunatic of a robot somehow managed to cause a diversion almost as big as that one on Tatooine. I managed to get us both out of there in the chaos, but long story short I’m not allowed back on that planet unless I marry one of the king’s children, which I think I could do, I’m just not really interested.”

“You think you could?” Han asked incredulously.

“Oh yeah, he has one son who’s totally my type, and seems interested enough in me, but I just don’t think our marriage would last and then I’d be even worse off. I think I’d be banned from the entire system if we got a divorce.”

“What the fuck?”

Leia, ever the diplomat, tapped on the table in front of her. “I’m not sure I could find a way around that for you, so you’re just going to have to successfully marry him or never go to that planet again.”

He nodded. “I’m pretty sure I can avoid going back, I doubt they’ll need me again.”

“Around you like the only Jedi in existence? You’re one of the most powerful people in the universe, they might need you,” Han pointed out.

Luke shrugged.

“You have main character things happen to you while having the attitude of a quirky side character, and I love it,” Leia said, planting a kiss on his cheek as she got up from her seat. “You really have no idea how important you are in comparison to everyone else, do you?”

“I’m just doing my best.”

“That’s ridiculous, if I had your reputation, I don’t even know what I’d do,” Han said.

“You’d be a menace to every known star system,” Leia told him. “You already use my name enough to get in places you probably shouldn’t.”

“You know about that?”

“I have my sources. I’ll go check in with Chewie to make sure we’re still on track so we can get some sleep before we land.”

~~~

Leia was also the one to wake them up a couple of hours before they entered the atmosphere. She was always the early riser of the group, which was impressive considering how Luke was raised. He was also an early riser, but it was like Leia existed in a perpetual state of wakefulness.

“Get up and get dressed, idiots. We want to hit the ground running.”

“Isn’t this a peaceful mission?” Han asked. “No violence required, making Luke an overpaid bodyguard?”

Luke threw a pillow at him from where he was still lying down.

“Yes, but if we get all the bureaucratic stuff over and done with quickly, we’ve got enough time to do some sight seeing, and I’ve heard that this planet has some truly magnificent museums.”

“Museums?”

“There’s also some wonderful scenery if you would prefer to go hiking. Waterfalls and fields galore.”

“Sounds like a wonderful day, too bad I’ll probably be stuck at the shipyard until you get back.”

Chewie chose then to howl from the cockpit, and Leia smirked. “No you won’t be. What do you say, Han? Want to walk around museums with me all afternoon?”

Luke propped himself up on his stomach, watching the exchange from over his pillow.

“I’ve never seen you like this before, my god.”

“I’ve been looking forward to this trip all week, and I won’t let you ruin it for me.”

“You’re so small, it’s like your body can’t contain your excitement. It’s really funny to watch actually.”

She paused in her bouncing and smacked him as he ducked into the bathroom to change.

“He’s honestly not wrong,” Luke said, risking being hit with the same pillow he’d thrown at Han a few moments prior. “You are in rare form right now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this excited.”

“Well I didn’t exactly have much opportunity when we were in the middle of a war, now did I?”

“Fair enough, I guess.”

He rolled onto his back just in time for her to actually throw the pillow back at him. “Museums, Luke!”

“Yes, I heard you the first half a dozen times. It sounds like you’ll have a lovely afternoon. I think I’ll explore a bit unless you need your overpaid bodyguard.”

“I’ll bring Chewie with me, you boys can explore all you like.”

“Fantastic.” Han re-emerged from the bathroom, buckling his belt. “Let’s do this shit.”

~~~

The morning had actually gone off quite well, which meant that Leia and Chewie were peacefully exploring one of the capital city’s many museums.

Luke and Han, as per usual, were not so lucky.

“I told you not to touch anything!”

“I didn’t! And I told you to go left!”

“Clearly you don’t know your left from your right. It doesn’t matter now.”

“No, we’re just running from the people shooting at us, as per usual.”

“I’ll try and get Leia on coms, cover me.”

Luke dove behind a bunch of barrels behind one of the stalls in the marketplace, and hoped Han would be effective enough at covering him.

“Leia? Leia? Come in, Leia.”

“The blaster shots I just heard out the window better not have been because of you.”

“I have bad news. How fast can you meet us at the Falcon?”

A sigh crackled through the small speaker. “Better idea, meet Chewie and I inside the museum. They won’t be able to get their blasters through security without a significant delay.”

“We also have blasters.”

“You can use the force to get around that.”

“That’s true. We’ll be there in a few.”

“Luke, you better be done back there!”

“Yep, we have a plan. Run for that side street and make a right on the first turn. Head for the museum.”

“The Falcon is the other way!”

“Have a little faith, Solo. Now move!”

They ran, and their pursuers followed them.

“Which building was it? It’s the orange one up ahead, right?”

“Are you fucking colorblind? That’s purple.”

“Whatever it is, it’s the one directly in front of us, correct?”

“Yes, but holy shit do we need to come back to that later.”

They made it through the doors, and security didn’t hassle them about their weapons thanks to Luke bending the force around them. Leia and Chewie met them a few rooms later.

“You got away?”

“Barely. Also we need to take Han down to medical when we get back to base.”

“If he’s hurt there are local hospitals.”

“I’m not hurt,” Han grumbled. “I called the building orange.”

Leia paused to process this. “I see.”

“Han can’t,” Luke mumbled, and Chewie bellowed.

“I hate all of you, when can we go back to the Falcon?”

“As soon as the palace guards I called come and arrest whoever attacked you we can be on our way,” Leia said. “Why I let you two go off on your own is beyond me.”

[bluejay-writes]

Heaven is a Misnomer - Chapter 5

Fandom: Shall We Date?: Obey Me! Rating: Teen Chapter 5 Wordcount: 3412 Characters/Relationships: Jake (Exchange student OC) / Raphael Summary: First night and first morning in the Celestial Realm, punctuated by nightmares.

You can also read this on AO3, if that's your jam!

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Chapter 5 - Evening and Morning, the First Day.

Likely unsurprising to the rest of his dorm mates, Jake took the first possible opportunity to escape to his own room once dinner was finished.  He didn’t notice the concerned eyes of his new friends following him, nor the concerned ones of the few angels he’d met.  He was busy thinking about how he was possibly going to survive an entire year here having already alienated the head of the Celestial Realm in such a short amount of time.

Is he homophobic? Jake wondered, as he closed and locked the door of his room.  As he’d shown with the girls earlier, he really was notably gay if anyone tried to look.  Something about him just exuded a “boys only” vibe, he supposed. And Michael was biased against him because of his sexuality, he wouldn’t be the only one.  Jake was prepared for a year of shitty bias, but that didn’t mean he was excited about it.

With that thought rolling around in his mind like poison, a knock came at the door, startling him so hard he dropped the packet of papers they’d gotten at dinner.

“Shit.” he hissed, and bent to pick up the scattered papers. If it was Michael on the other side of that door he didn’t want to be a literal mess the first time he laid eyes on the man in a one-on-one situation. “I’ll be right there!” He called towards the door, glad in that moment that he’d compulsively locked it, and that Shiny had shown him the key so that he didn’t have to fumble around like an idiot just minutes ago. He wouldn’t have had the brain after supper.

Once he had the papers stacked up and set on the desk, he walked over to the door, unlocking it and opening it gently.  The person on the other side of the door was none of the people he’d considered might have come to check on him after dinner, and he was entirely uncertain how to greet them.

“Oh. Hi, Feniel, Sorry for the wait, I…”

“Are you alright?” He asked, suddenly. “Sorry for interrupting, I just came to tell you something, but you look… off.”

Jake waved him off. He didn’t know the angel well enough to tell him anything. “I’m fine, I just got startled by the door and knocked my packet down. Wanted to pick it up before i opened the door.”

Feniel nodded at that, and Jake was relieved that the Angel seemed to take his words at face value.  It was true enough, but implied he was doing way better than he actually was.

“Well, Jake. I just wanted to tell you that this room next to yours is usually mine, but since Simeon is down in the Devildom for the exchange program, he said that I could use his room for the duration, so… I won’t be in my room, but will be across the foyer in his, if you need me for anything.”

“Oh.” Jake said, nodding. That made sense. “So who’s going to be staying in your room?”

“For their sake? Hopefully no one.” Feniel said with a self-deprecating smirk. “My room is punishingly tiny.”

Jake gave him a dubious look, and Feniel gestured at the door behind him. “Don’t believe me? Come look.”

He stepped out and looked into the room next to his. It really was tiny. Barely large enough for a twin sized bed and a chest of drawers. 

“Whoa.” he said, eloquently.

“Yeah.” Feniel chuckled. “Now you see why I borrow Simeon’s room any time he’s away.”

“I do.” Jake nodded. “You could fit that room into the one I’m staying in like three times over.  How come your room is so tiny?”

“It’s a long story. It wasn’t always my room.” Feniel shrugged. “I could tell you sometime, if you want. Just not tonight, you look done in.”

Jake was, in fact, at that moment stifling a yawn.

“You’re not wrong. Not sleeping last night wasn’t fixed with a short nap this afternoon, that’s for sure.”

“You didn’t sleep last night?” Feniel looked concerned, and Jake learned in that moment that he had no idea how to handle that kind of concern from someone who was at best an acquaintance.

“Yeah, well.” He shrugged. “Nerves. New school, you know?”

Feniel chuckled. “I wish I knew. I asked to go to the Devildom, but they turned me down.”

“Huh.” Jake said, wondering what the process had been like.

“Ooh, we’ve devolved into one-word responses.  You go get some sleep, Jake. I’ll see you at breakfast in the morning, and we can share our rants about not getting what we expected already out of this exchange program.”

Jake laughed. “I’ll definitely be there, I’m on cooking duty already tomorrow.”

“Have fun with that, you’re with Gabriel. He’s a great cook, you could learn a thing or three from him.”

“Oh, sweet.”  Jake wasn’t a bad cook, he just wasn’t a cook at all.  His mom did all the cooking, and there wasn’t a place for him in the kitchen.  Not as far as his dad was concerned, at least.

“Anyway, goodnight Jake.” Feniel said, turning with a wave.

“Night, Feniel.” Jake said. He shut and locked the door before letting out a long sigh.  Feniel seemed pretty okay.  He was still nervous dealing with any of the angels since they seemed to follow Michael without question, and that angel was terrifying.  Jake wasn’t sure what it was about Michael that set him off earlier.  But he’d been as afraid of the man at dinner as he often was of his father, and he wasn’t particularly interested in that being a dynamic he needed to manage ever again, thanks.

Determined to make a fresh start in the morning, Jake went to the wardrobe and looked through it with a closer eye. Yes, the school uniforms remained baby blue polo shirts and khakis.  But there was also a neat stack of underthings, a caddy of bathroom necessities, a stack of pajamas sitting on a shelf, and white sneakers in the bottom of the closet.  He felt the same relief he had earlier at the existence of pajamas that looked like something he’d actually wear.

Too tired to consider a bath before bed, Jake slipped out of his clothes, depositing them in the empty hamper before putting on the pajamas from the closet. They were perfectly oversized and cozy, which implied they were actually chosen for him, not just generically. Weird. They probably asked his mom about his sizes or something.

As Jake plugged in his C.C.C. on his bedside table, he paused.  Nia hadn’t gotten back to him after he’d sent the selfie with Shiny before dinner.  Hopefully things were just busy and exciting for her down in the Devildom, and she wasn’t having the stressful mess of a time he was having here.

He reached to shut off the light and realized… he’d never turned it on. It was still bright as day outside, and his curtains were sheer.  Was he supposed to just sleep with the sun still on?  Fuck, fine. Whatever. He was tired. He could nap during the day, he could get a whole night’s sleep during the endless day. It was fine.

As his eyes started to drift shut, Jake’s last thought before sleep was simply to be grateful that he was tired enough to sleep and not plagued by his usual insomnia.

Jake woke with a start, looking around his familiar bedroom.  This was wrong. Something was wrong. It was too quiet. Something had woken him, for sure, but there was nothing making a sound, not even the television downstairs that seemed to be on 24/7.  He got out of bed, and padded over to his bedroom door, opening it slowly before looking out into the hallway.  No sign of either of his parents.  Moving carefully, certain to the very core of his being that if he made any fast movements he’d be caught in an instant, Jake made his way downstairs.  What he saw horrified him.  The front door was open, his mother’s suitcase sprawled out just past it, the contents scattered all over the front step.  Now he heard the way the screen door rattled in the wind. He wondered why he couldn’t hear that upstairs, but put it out of his mind. He had to find his mother.

“Mom?” He called quietly, still worried about being heard and caught.  He strained his ears for any sound he could hear, and there was nothing. No wait. There. In the kitchen.

Jake moved as quickly as he dared to the kitchen, and what he saw there made his vision swim.  His mother lay in a pool of blood, bruised and battered and cut, like she had been torn to pieces by an angry beast.

“Jake.” she rasped at him, fear clouding her eyes. “Jakey, you have to run. Get out. Your father—“ the fear in her eyes grew larger and unfocused, as if she was looking over his shoulder at something

Just then, a shadow covered the entire room, and Jake turned to see what was blocking the light—

Jake sat bolt upright in his bed in the Celestial Realm, his heart pounding out of his chest.

“Fuck.” he said, shakily, pushing his sweaty hair back out of his face.  There really wasn’t much else he could say after a nightmare like that.

After a few minutes of breathing and counting, Jake felt a little more stable, and reached for his phone. He needed to message his mother and make sure that she was okay. She’d know exactly why he was asking, of course. He could never keep his nightmares from her, and he was certain that being on an entirely different plane of existence would not stop her caring motherly powers.

His room was bright as day. It had been the exact same brightness when he went to bed. Maybe he could get Mom to send him some blackout curtains… shit. Mom.

Jake > Mom: Good morning, mom! Sorry for the early message. I just got worried. Is everything okay?

Figuring he wasn’t going to get a response right away, and very certain he wasn’t going to be able to get any more sleep, Jake grabbed the shower caddy and a uniform out of his closet and went to take a shower at some unreasonable hour of the morning.

The dorm building was absolutely silent.  There were no sounds of people snoring, or of anyone else even vaguely considering being awake at this hour.  It was the same kind of eerie that his dream had been, and Jake spent his shower just waiting for something terrible to happen.

When he returned from the shower, clean and smelling acceptably of what seemed to be Rosemary and Mint, his device was blinking. He realized that with the sun constantly on, he had no instinctive guess as to what time it was. And his watch was telling him all kinds of wrong information.

Jake plopped down on his bed and unlocked his device. 5:30 am. Well. That was as unreasonably early as he’d felt like it was, for sure.  Ah, a message from his mom.

Mom > Jake: Don’t worry, it’s not early here. Nightmares, Jakey? I’m doing fine. Mom > Jake: I’ve moved out of the house, staying with a coworker for the time being.

He smiled. Of course she was staying with a coworker. They were all good people, for the most part. And everyone loved his mom.  He’d have expected her to just stay with Nia’s family if they didn’t live so close that it’d just be like not moving out at all.

Jake > Mom: As long as you’re safe. Mom > Jake: Of course, honey. Good luck on your first day. Jake > Mom: Thanks, Mom.

Jake ran his hands along the legs of his pants while he tried to decide what he should be doing with his morning.  At least the fabric of the horribly chosen uniforms was nice to the touch. There was a ray of sunlight in his dismal fashion future. A tactile, soft, ray of sunlight.

Before he forgot, he set his watch, and wound it to match what his device was telling him the time was.  Better not to be completely confused mid-day. He just hoped their days were still 24 hours, else he was done for.

Steeling himself against what was going to be a long day on broken problematic sleep, Jake grabbed the dorm rules syllabus and scanned through it for what time he was expected to help with breakfast. 6:15?  It wasn’t even 6 yet by this point, but maybe he could take some time familiarizing himself with the kitchen if he went and got started now. Maybe if breakfast was ready a bit early he’d have more time to pick up his first day supplies from the office before classes started.

The kitchen was just as easy to find as Jake figured it would be.  He was expecting maybe labeled cabinets and some expected recipes. What he wasn’t expecting was to see Gabriel already working on breakfast. Before 6.

“Oh. Am I late?” Jake said, peeking in the doorway.

Gabriel startled, but smiled.

“You’re not late, I decided I wanted to get started early today and make something nice for the first day all of you exchange students are here.  You’re here earlier than I expected, though!”

“Well, yeah. I woke up early.”

“Ah, you must have been who I heard in the shower around five, then.”

“Sorry, did I mess up your routine?”  Jake winced. He hated being in the way.

“No, no. I have my own bathroom. I’m just not used to anyone else being up this early. I’m usually awake because someone’s broken the internet again.”

“That again sounds ominous. At least for your sleep schedule.” Jake said with a chuckle. “So, Gabriel, how can I help?”

Breakfast was ready with minimal input from Jake - Gabriel had him set the table for everyone, and cut up some fruit for a fruit plate. Mind you, it was weird looking fruit.  One of the apples was red on the inside like a strawberry, and there was a starfruit looking thing that was blue and glittery on the inside.  Even blueberries weren’t actually blue, and Jake was dubious. Gabriel assured him that everything that wasn’t safe for humans or demons had been banned from the dorms for the duration of the exchange program, so he shouldn’t worry about it and try anything he liked. He’d basically had everything else ready to go on the stove or in the oven by the time Jake got there, and Jake was happy he hadn’t waited until 6:15 to come down, or there wouldn’t even have been that much to do.

Everyone had good things to say about breakfast, which made Jake happy.  Sure, he’d cut up fruit and put plates on the table, but even Gabriel spoke to how grateful he’d been to have Jake’s help. It was a bit overwhelming.  Much like the blue starfruit, which was so sugary he was sure it was a candy and not a fruit.

In what was probably the most unsurprising reveal of the day, Shiny and Aya had decided they were walking Jake to class.  And Bunny was damned if she was going to be left out. Cue the four exchange students walking to the school office together to pick up their things.  At least someone had the decency to put together notebooks and pens as well as their school books so that they could take notes and otherwise be prepared for success.

Jake remembered reading that they were being given a stipend for necessities, and that it would be good of them to spend from their first stipend to get a bookbag delivered from the local delivery service.   He also remembered in a very visceral way the advertisement from said delivery service. “Harp Express”, which ‘locals just call us X these days’ their ad said - though he doubted it. Their slogan proudly proclaimed ‘Be Not Delayed’. Jake shuddered at the business pun. That was… definitely… a slogan. Also their logo had too many eyes. Biblically accurate logo. No thank you.

Supplies gathered, they went their separate ways to their first classes.  Jake’s first class of the morning was Virtues.

Is patience technically a virtue?  Jake was going to ask just to be a smart-ass the first time he had a chance.  Jake slid into a seat that didn’t look like it was going to get him yelled at for taking someone’s seat, and pulled out his phone. He still hadn’t heard from Nia, so he decided he should text her naggingly until she responded.  It occurred to him that he didn’t know if the Celestial Realm and the Devildom were synced time wise. Given all the time zones on earth, probably not. Which meant he should check so he didn’t text at some ungodly hour.  He should also confirm things with Mom, since she said that it wasn’t too early when he texted at 5-something.

Jake > Mom: Hey, just want to get it in my head so I don’t text you at bad times - what time is it there right now? Mom > Jake: About noon! You? Jake > Mom: It’s about 8am. Mom > Jake: Ooh, Alaska time.

Jake chuckled. Sure, sure, the Celestial Realm was Alaska. That tracked.  Next, Nia.  He’d ask about time if he managed to get her to respond about anything else.

Jake > Nia: Hey. How’s the devildom? Not too full of torture and blood? Jake > Nia: I saw your hot boy pic. Is that really Satan? Nia > Jake: Totally is. He’s supposed to be the Avatar of Wrath, but he’s actually a sweetheart who reads as much as I do.  That selfie is in his room, btw.

Oh hey look at that, she responded right away.

Jake > Nia: Hey, what time is it there? Nia > Jake: About 10am? I mean, I think? Yeah, my D.D.D. says 10am.  It’s always dark here, so… I honestly never know what time it is unless I check. Jake > Nia: I know the feeling kinda, it’s always bright out here. And it’s like 8am here. So not too far off. It’s Noon at home. Nia > Jake: California is Hell, you heard it here first. Jake > Nia: Only if that makes Alaska Heaven… Nia > Jake: I think they swapped names. Jake > Nia: Seconded. Jake > Nia: Have you met the Celestial Realm transfers yet? Nia > Jake: Not yet. I haven’t met the other human exchange student yet either, though we locked eyes in class earlier. He’s… a time, if my housemates are to be believed. Jake > Nia: What do you mean? Nia > Jake: Remember Solomon the Wise from history? Jake > Nia: Wait a damn minute, the other human exchange student is some old dude? Nia > Jake: He doesn’t look that much older than us, his hair is silver though. Nia > Jake: It’s weird, he reminds me of my dad a little. Jake > Nia: Is it the jokes? I bet he makes dad jokes. Nia > Jake: Haha I have no idea. But I’ll totally try a dad joke on him tomorrow. Jake > Nia: Or you could ask him if he really would have split that baby in half. Nia > Jake: THAT. I am going to ask him that. Jake > Nia: How’s your uniform? Mine… has khakis. Nia > Jake: Oh no! I’m in mine, let me take a mirror selfie. Nia > Jake: [image] Jake > Nia: Dang, girl! Your makeup though! Nia > Jake: Crazy good, right? I had the Avatar of Lust handle me this morning. Jake > Nia: Handle you? Nia > Jake: OMG Jake, Not like that!!! Jake > Nia: I jest, but be careful, okay? Nia > Jake: Duh!

Jake was still chuckling about Solomon the Wise when the classroom started to fill in with normal students. They looked for all the world like they could have been his classmates back in high school. A little bit more visual age distinction, but like, not a ton. Freshman level college classes age diversity maybe.  But they also… just looked like people. If he didn’t know that they were all angels of some variety, he would never have guessed that he wasn’t just in some pretentious boarding school.  Maybe if he just pretended it was an exchange program to a pretentious boarding school, it’d go by faster.