#thank u cat for inspiring me to actually finish since I started right after we chatted abt art <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[fxreflyes]

the Dog Star✨

[spiderling-space]

This idea is inspired by @zozobegone ‘s this post 

Setting: Grim goes platonic yandere mode when he realizes MC is going to go back to their world

It is written from Grimm's perspective

Italics indicate thoughts

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The Great Grimm

Warning: Unhealthy dependency and friendship

"Henchperson, give me those candies!" Grimm ordered (Y/N) after trying so many times to reach the top shelf.

"Aw, you couldn't reach yourself?" (Y/N) had seen Grimm jumping and trying to climb to take the candies. They didn't do anything but watch him fail for the last 10 minutes, they couldn't help themselves as he was being so cute. "What's the magic word?"

After grumbling a little, Grimm spoke coercively, "Please..."

"That's a good boy!" They patted him on the head before grabbing the candies and giving them to him. 

He started devouring them the moment he got his hand on the candies. He thanked them quickly before focusing entirely on his food. They were just so delicious, he couldn't resist it!

"Honestly Grimm, what will you do once I'm gone?" They sighed as they took a seat in the kitchen.

The words didn't register for Grimm at first. "Eh?" He stopped eating for a moment and looked at them. "What nonsense are you babbling about?"

"Hmm? Oh! Well, you know, it's been months and lots of progress have been done. Crowley finding a way for me to return home is right around the corner." They spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That birdman doesn't do anything but whine and pin all the tasks on us."

"I convinced him to do the actual work and he made a progress on finding a way for me to go home." (Y/N) stood up, walking toward him and kneeling to his height. "I'll give you a secret, I haven't told anyone this." They gulped before smiling, "Crowley found the way for me to go back. We just need ingredients and get some tests done then I'll be able to go back. I haven't told others about it yet because I wanted to have something concrete but since you are like my second family, I wanted you to know first."

Huh, he thought.

Grimm continued eating, ignoring what (Y/N) had said who got up and left the kitchen after sharing their secret. At that moment, it didn't bug him at all since he thought they were joking.

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It didn't even pass a week that (Y/N) started to tell the others that they would be leaving soon and ask their help to get the ingredients and spend their last days together. Meanwhile, Grimm became more and more irritable as the days passed by.

Grimm didn't have a family nor a friend. When he opened his eyes to the world, he was in a back alley by just himself. He fended for himself and decided to become the greatest magician when he heard people talking about Night Raven Collage. He didn't have anyone who supported his dream nor he needed one. He would accomplish it on his own and show everyone how great he was. Of course, things didn't go as planned and he got thrown off the moment he revealed his true self at the entrance ceremony and was even threatened to get eaten. What's worse was that when he returned to NRC, showing the persistence of an NRC student, he was about to be thrown again. That would be the case if it weren't for (Y/N) sticking up for him. He wasn't a sentimental monster and he hated to be called cat by (Y/N) despite his catly activities as they called it. However, deep down he knew it was because of (Y/N) that he became a student in the NRC, getting one step closer to achieving his dream. Heck, he and (Y/N) were considered one student together.

It wasn't just (Y/N) creating him an opportunity that made him care about them, it was everything. They studied together; they slept on the same bed, shared meals and snacks, played games, did homework, complained about the school and students together. Not to mention, how much he enjoyed getting petted, belly rubbed and washed by them. They had each other when no one was around and always stood against overblot student together. In Grimm's eyes, they were an inseparable and astonishing duo; even a family he never had, not that he would say it out loud.

Maybe that was why he was miffed by everything that was going on... What would happen to me if (Y/N) were to go back? Become alone again? Get kicked out of NRC? Have no friends and family? No, that's not going to happen!

As the days passed, the attention he got from (Y/N) diminished gradually, came to a point that he only saw them in classes and when they got back. They were out with another person every day, not sparing enough time for the Great Grimm. 

How dare they, he thought while heatedly huffing and puffing on the couch.

Grimm dearly missed the old times when (Y/N) wasn't obsessed with going back. He didn't even receive enough petting last few days nor they studied together. His mind wandered to their time spent together when he noticed something. (Y/N) would leave everything behind regardless of how important it was when he got into serious trouble or got hurt. They would sweep in to save his neck. It just clicked at that moment. 

He would get into trouble or injured to get their attention on him. However, then the other minions would gather around them too and their attention would be divided. It was not something he wanted. An idea struck in his head after a few minutes of thinking. As expected out of the Great Grimm, it was a brilliant plan.

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"Oh my goodness, Grimm! What happened to your paw-paw?!" (Y/N) rushed to his side, kneeling and examining his paw.

Grimm grumbled acting as if he didn't want to tell them. "Nothing, Great Grimm is fine!"

"Don't be ridiculous! It looks broken!" The worry on (Y/N)'s face was gratifying since he got their attention back.

"Ask your best friends," He answered with faux melancholy, withdrawing his paw near his chest and turning back as if he would leave.

"What does that supposed to mean?" They asked, confussion evident on their face just like Grimm wanted.

"Azul tricked them into doing his work and asked them to collect all the feathers on the roof. Ace and Deuce took me with them then we got into a fight and I fell off the roof." He lowered his head for extra effect.

"And they didn't even take you to the infirmary?!" He managed to get them riled up.

"It was my fault th-"

"That's not an excuse! For fuck's sake! C'mon, we are going to the infirmary." (Y/N) wrapped their arms around Grimm and lifted him en route to the hospital wing.

"Hey (Y/N)! Do you -"

"I can't believe what you two did!"

"What we did?" Deuce mumbled, fearing their wrath.

"Don't talk to me for some time and at least take responsibility and apologize!" (Y/N) stormed off before Ace could finish his sentence. Both Ace and Deuce look perplexed as (Y/N) marched away. Grimm was looking at them over (Y/N)'s shoulder, taking in their puzzled looks and flashing a grin as (Y/N) walked away.

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For the next two weeks, Grimm continues with his plan.

"I swallowed a lot of soapy water." Grimm said as he was rubbing his belly, it genuinely hurt. Swallowing soapy water was more awful than hurting his paw.

"Azul! You promised to not do this and shame on you Jade, Floyd!"

3 more down, plenty to go...

"Leona, have you seen Grimm? He is way smaller than you! How couldn't you realize what your claws would do on Grimm?"

"Ruggie, Grimm got food poisoning because of you! You could have just stolen his food instead of replacing them with expired ones."

"Jack, I've never expected this from you. I'm very disappointed."

"What? What are you talking about?" Jack asked hastily but it fell on deaf ears as (Y/N) didn't even listen to him, grabbing Grimm and leaving them standing.

Woo hoo! My plan is working fantastically! 

"He could have died Kalim if it were higher!"

"Jamil, I thought you would stop making people poison taste. Grimm has been puking all day long because of you!"

Grimm grinned wickedly as he was once again carried by (Y/N).

Wait until I'm done with all of you! HAHA, You cannot defeat me!

Grimm was thinking of new original ways to distance (Y/N) from the rest of Heartslabyul, Pomefiore, Ignihyde and Diasomnia. The last one would be the hardest as he had a powerful competitor who also sought (Y/N)'s attention but it didn't matter, Grim would be the only one!

That was what he thought until Birdman came bearing the news...

"(Y/N)! Good news! All the tests we did on the mirror worked! You can go back now!"

Everything stopped right there and then. 

Grimm was so focused on getting (Y/N)'s affection and attention that he forgot about the tests they were doing on the mirror.

Now I am too late...

"My goodness! Thank you! I missed my home so much! I'll start saying my goodbyes!" (Y/N) spoke rapidly, they truly were happy to hear the news.

Happy to leave me all alone!

"No worries, they all gather around the magic mirror, waiting for you." Birdman informed, "Are you coming now?"

"Yes!" (Y/N) said before turning to him, taking him in arms and carrying him outside.

That is not how it was supposed to go...

As they were walking outside before leaving the Ramshackle perimeter, Grimm jumped on the ground.

"What's wrong?" (Y/N) stopped to ask.

"What's wrong?!" Grimm couldn't contain it anymore. everything was too much.

"(Y/N), do you need a moment to say goodbye to the dorm?" Birdman questioned, getting closer to where they were standing.

"Uhm... yes... I mean I spent months here so I should say goodbye to it. You can go, we will catch up in a moment."

With that Birdman walked away, leaving (Y/N) and Grimm alone.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" They asked idiotically. 

Are they too dumb to understand?

As Grimm was about to tell them what was on his mind, unfiltered, he felt a power within himself. A power that wanted to surge out of him and he let it since he had nothing to lose anymore.

"You will leave me all alone!"

"But you already knew that, Grimm. This place isn't my home and if I took you with me, you would be discovered and people would do experiments on you." Their voice was so soft as they tried to reason with him but none of them mattered.

"We are one student together, you can't leave until I graduate!" The power inside of him grew even more.

"Well, Crowley said he-"

"We fought the monsters together. We are a team, you called me your son!" He could feel that power getting closer

"I-" He wasn't going to let them speak anymore!

"So you see me as a family but you abandon me!" He felt the power leak outside and he didn't even care about it.

"GRIMM!" (Y/N) yelled, taking a few steps back. "I, I, I changed my mind, we will be together!"

"You want me to have no one again!" Grim screamed, not even noticing how his voice changed. "AAAAAHHH!"

Everything went black for a moment and the second he reopened his eyes, everything was different. He was no longer looking up to (Y/N); he now was looking down on them. They were so tiny.

"YOU CANNOT LEAVE!" Grimm screeched when he saw (Y/N) backing and running away. He jumped, landing right in front of them who fell on the ground from the shock and still trying to crawl away.

"G-Gr-Gr-Grim, i-i-it's me! We are friends, remember? I know you wouldn't hurt me because we are family, innit?"

"It is too late for everything but you are right. We are family..." Grimm said, his voice echoing, giving it more menacing feelings. 

Grimm was no longer waiting for (Y/N) to understand that they couldn't leave him. He had no intention of waiting anymore. He leaned towards them slowly, biting their clothing and lifting them.

It was always (Y/N) who carried Grimm around relentlessly now it was Grimm's turn. Once he was sure that they wouldn't fall, he took off, running away from the Ramshackle, leaving NRC behind.

[blissfulalchemist]

B for Hypatia, U for Cat and Y for both/either :)

Thank you so much for asking Lydia!!! I’ll do Y for both of them!

Hypatia Caro

Basics

1. what is their hair color?

Her natural hair color is black but has dyed it with purples, greens, and blues to give it this oil slick look. Surprisingly doesn’t take that much to maintain once you get it down well enough to do on your own.

2. what is their eye color?

Hypatia has hazel green eyes that take on more green color in the sunlight, but will look darker in most any other light.

3. how tall are they?

She’s 5′9″. :’’) Look at me making my female ocs a little taller each time.

4. how old are they?

She is 27 years old!

5. how much do they weigh?

I would put her in the 130-140lb(59-63kg) range as she’s got some muscle on her but weight can fluctuate based on activities going on and what she’s able to eat, but never goes beyond 140lb(63kg).

Y: You

1. how old were you when you created them?

I am currently 25, though if I’m being honest she may have been sitting in the back of my mind much like Cat was since I finished the Bloodlines series for a third time ~23 years old but that’s a maybe honestly.

2. what inspired you to create them?

Honestly, self care really. I had thoughts about writing fanfic for the fandom but never did as I didn’t think I could match up to my own and other’s expectations but here we are long after the fandom has died and I want to write for it as I love revisiting the world Richelle Mead created. 

3. were they different when they were first created?

I can’t really say this for certain but initial thoughts about her and what she would be like I’m sure are very different than what they are currently at. Probably because I’m much better at creating OCs now than I was back then.

4. do you enjoy writing them more than other characters?

It’s always fun to write something new and getting to play with her character and seeing how she’s coming out. So far I have only written like a little introduction to what the bigger plot would be and the absolute most self indulgent crossover as a one shot because locations just happened to be the same area.

5. what’s your favorite thing about them?

Honestly how different she feels compared to my other female OCs. She’s more self assured and tougher than Liz and Cat. There’s an attitude that just speaks differently in terms of just whether or not she follows the rules, how much she cares about other people, her wanting to have some kind of freedom, the intelligence that she doesn’t really want to pursue, and these parts about her feeling like an outsider that just hit differently than Liz and Cat combined. 

U: Underdog

1. have they been bullied?

She has yes in a pretty passive way. She is Mexican and doesn’t speak a ton of Spanish which to some means she’s not enough and shouldn’t even identify with being Mexican, or just saying she was so white washed. Beyond that there was some exclusion going on in her youth in that no one is really out right mean but they don’t really want to hang out with you or interact with you unless they have too. This may have been for the better as she wouldn’t have been able to handle the judgement of the amount of sex she was partaking in.

2. have they bullied anyone?

Intentionally no she has not. Sometimes though as people we do things that hurt others without really knowing that we are. These instances though are never spoken about or she was told and did her best to try and change her behavior or work with the person best way she could. Cat has never been someone to intentionally bully anyone.

3. have they been physically attacked by a bully?

Does Joseph count? No? Then no. She has never been physically attacked by a bully. 

4. have they ever been doubted?

People I think tend to doubt how angry she can get if she can get angry at all. Some even doubt she’s even capable of having her own way of thinking and this could do with the fact that she is tiny and people like to demean her as if she’s a child. She can hold a lot of self doubt though more so.

5. have they surprised people with being good at something?

On occasion yes. Some times people will doubt how smart she is and how when she really wants too is able to toss emotion to the side. The latter is something that she doesn’t like doing and this is something that is rare for her, but she can she just chooses not too unless the situation arises. 

Y: You

1. how old were you when you created them?

I created her almost a year ago(in like three days actually), so I was 24. I joke that she actually sat in the back of my mind for almost two years before that but I didn’t really know how to interact with fandom and then well covid happened and I just wrote like mad and tried out this whole experience.

2. what inspired you to create them?

I don’t really know. I just remember being gripped with wanting to write and I had tried to write some original fiction here and there but to no avail of liking it or continuing with them. I worked a night shift it was quiet and I opened a Google Doc and just started to write on my phone. It just happened and I don’t really know, the only other explanation is that I had played the game again just a while before that or I saw something and just went “Oh hey I could write something for that!”

3. were they different when they were first created?

Cat has grown(and shrunk) a lot in the past year. She was a very one note character that I just kind of threw to the wolves of fandom with little development. Since then though she has just grown to be this person that is complex and I have explored in so many different ways because of you all that I just. God I can’t even really look at my first writings with her because she feels so different now.

4. do you enjoy writing them more than other characters?

I really do enjoy writing for her! I just get upset sometimes that she can be so hard to write for when it comes to canon because I want to present the accurate version I have of her in my mind to you all and especially when it comes to Dark Cat. There’s this certain way it feels and plays out that I worry all the time of it not showing the right way and it being inaccurate or feeling too much the same as other’s writing even though I know there’s no way for that to happen as each person has their own unique voice and way of writing. Cat is both so fun to write for and also so challenging for me and so I apologize to her fans that her content takes so much time to be produced.

5. what’s your favorite thing about them?

Her compassion. It is such a special trait about her that I love and I know makes her so soft as a person but it also translates into Dark Cat in that she still doesn’t lose that compassion, it just shifts in how it shows. Cat wants to see the world be a better place at the end of the day as she cares about other people more than herself and even when she goes dark that is the ultimate goal still. She wants to see the county free of the violence that’s starting to get worse and if the only way to make that happen is via killing the ones perpetuating it then so be it. You can still really see it also in the way that she treats the bodies after the fact, she buries each one with care and a headstone of some kind with their name as they were still a person even if she holds a hatred towards them.

[qualquercoisa945]

I Craft My Words To Fit Your Head, Cause No One Listens To The Dead

AO3 Link

Title Inspiration- Monster by Dodie

S U P suckers, we're back!! sorry this took so long, i planned to post it on april 10th since that would be the one year anniversary of the original one, but obviously that didn't happen. regardless, here it is, i hope you like it!!!

Trigger Warnings- discussion of abuse, discussion of sexual abuse

To be fair, Kath had a point.

It was because of that that Anne hadn’t said a word during her cousin’s rant last night- unlike Jane, who seemed to believe, at least to a certain extent, that Henry truly loved her (something that pissed her off royally), she had enough common sense to realize that, in between the beheading and emotional abuse and everything else that had happened, he didn’t love her. And she had assumed it hadn’t been all that much better for her fellow queens.

So truthfully, Anne didn’t disagree with her cousin’s point of view. What she did disagree with, at least to a certain extent, was the way she has spoken to everyone else. But truthfully, she couldn’t be mad at her for it. Well, really she was mad, but she was also rational enough to know exactly why false promises of love and denial of abuse had her as fired up as she had gotten.

That didn’t mean, however, that the tense atmosphere of the house didn’t have her feeling absolutely awful. As well as her cousin’s absence well after the time she would usually be down, even on days off.

Regardless, she forced herself to finish her breakfast before moving to the living room. She grimaced slightly when she saw she wouldn’t be alone, forcing herself to swallow it down when she saw who it was- Aragon.

On careful footsteps, she walked over to the couch, where the first queen was sitting, staring blankly at her book- if Anne was being honest with herself, she didn’t think she was taking in any of the words on the page. She sat down beside her at a comfortable distance, wincing with a sheepish smile when her band mate startled at the sudden company.

“Sorry.” She spoke softly, maintaining that same awkward smile. “Didn’t mean to scare you. You alright?”

“Of course.” Anne had to hold back an eye roll at the way Catherine straightened up as she hurriedly replied, watching as she went back to looking at her book.

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Anne insisted, and had to bite back a slight smirk at Catherine finally looking her in the eyes. “I mean, about yesterday. We were all shaken up about it, and I could tell you were too. I’m not blind, and like it or not, I’ve known you since last time as well- I know how you act.”

Catherine glared at her, then shifted her gaze back towards her book, much to Anne’s annoyance. “I’m fine. And if I weren’t, you certainly wouldn’t be the one I would go to for help.”

She huffed softly at that, then shrugged as she stood up. “Well, if you need me, I’ll be in my room.” She promised, voice oddly gentle when it came to who she was talking to. Then she made her way upstairs.

Or, well, tried to. Because she was halted halfway up when her eyes met familiar brown ones. Anne met her cousin’s gaze calmly, noting with a soft concern how dazed her eyes looked, then looked away as the two went their separate ways.

Still, she couldn’t resist looking back as she reached the top of the stairs, watching silently as Kath turned the corner.

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It was far later, sometime after the other queens had gone to bed, in yet another night where Anne’s insomnia had decided to act up and she found herself nursing a cup of tea at the kitchen table, when Anne heard movement- a door opening, followed by near silent footsteps heading down the stairs. She stayed dead silent as she listened, waiting to see what whoever it was would do, then froze as Kath appeared in the doorway.

The two met each other’s gaze silently, before Anne decided to break it. “Hey.” She greeted simply, though not unkindly, as she motioned for Kath to join her, something Kath seemed to do near instantly.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Anne nodded in response, and she couldn’t help a smile as Kath laid her head on her folded arms. “Me either.”

Silence once again settled on the room, and Anne watched as her cousin’s knee began bouncing- an old habit she’d never actually broken. She couldn’t help but let it linger for a bit longer, then finally spoke, ignoring the shakiness to her voice.

“You weren’t…” She hesitated, but Kitty’s curious gaze let her know she would probably have to finish her sentence. “You weren’t the only one he, forced himself onto.” She watched as her cousin’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, then as her face fell as it hit her.

“Yeah.” She said simply, a rueful smile gracing her features. “I mean, I always knew that, and the beheading, were abuse, I guess. I’m not stupid, even if I act like it. But uh, the rest… I dunno, I guess it just never hit me that it… wasn’t my fault, you know?” She sighed softly, then turned to fully look at Kitty, who was watching her intently. “I guess, what I’m trying to say is that like, you putting it like that… Well, the shouting and shit was uncalled for, really, but I get why you were mad, and it did help me understand that. So, thank you.”

Anne bit the inside of her lip as Kitty stared at her for a few moments, then almost stumbled off her chair as her cousin all but flung herself into her arms.

Of course, she caught her.

She pulled Kitty tight against her, letting the girl bury her face in her shoulder and stay in her arms for as long as she needed to. She let go only when she started to pull back, sitting down and fixing the few stray hairs that had flew onto her face. “I’m sorry you ever had to go through all of that.” Kitty finally murmured, and Anne had to swallow dryly to keep a knot from forming in her throat.

Silence fell again, but softer this time- warmer. Or at least it did until Kath spoke up once again.

“Annie?” Anne turned to face her cousin, tipping her head ever so slightly to the side as she gave her a questioning look. “Why… do you act like what happened to you wasn’t a big deal?” She froze at the quiet question, forcing her body to relax immediately after.

“I’ve got a reputation, kid. Gotta say what keeps it.” She replied with a shrug, avoiding the frown her cousin was giving her.

“That’s not all of it and we both know that.” Anne bit back a frown as Kitty’s soft tone turned steady, almost sharp. “Anne, you realize we all have facades, right? I’m not blind, and I’m certainly not stupid. Catherine’s not as high and mighty as she acts, Cat- Parr-” She said her name with a forced formality, a hint of hurt in her tone- “cares a hell of a lot more than she acts like she does. And I know you do too. You’re smart too- I know I’m just telling you stuff you already know. But why do you keep acting like you’re just a goofball? An- And why do you act like what happened to you wasn’t a big deal?” Anne tensed up just slightly as Kitty began moving her hands about, forcing her body to relax near immediately after as her cousin turned to face her with an inquisitive gaze, as if examining her (and if Anne were being honest, she wouldn’t be surprised if that were exactly the case).

She held Kitty’s gaze silently for a few moments, before shrugging as she looked away. “Someone’s gotta be the fun one. ‘S not like being anything else got me far last time.” She kept staring straight at the table, even as she heard a soft “Annie…” from her side, or a hand squeeze hers, a gesture she weakly returned.

“‘M sorry. I shouldn’t have pressed.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. I know I don’t make much sense.”

“You still deserve your privacy.”

“You and I both know I’m too stubborn to ever do something I don’t actually want to do.”

She heard a soft, fond chuckle from beside her, eliciting a soft smile from herself as she stood up, turning to face a confused-looking Kath. Then she opened her arms, her smile turning ever so slightly awkward before Kitty all but flung herself into her arms. She pulled her cousin even tighter against herself, pressing a feather-light kiss to her temple in harsh contrast to her tight hold. “I love you.” She whispered into Kitty’s hair, barely even a breath with how quiet it was.

She felt Kitty perk up at the quiet words, and for a moment she was worried she’d overstepped, but then Kitty buried her nose in the crook her neck, and Anne couldn’t resist mimicking her actions, letting out a tiny chuckle at the soft “love you too” that her cousin mumbled into her skin, just below the choker that covered up her scar.

The pair stayed like that for a while- whether a few seconds or a few minutes, Anne wasn’t sure. The warm silence that had settled in around them was cut, however, by a slightly muffled yawn from Kitty. Anne pulled away just enough to look at her cousin, unable to hold back an amused smile. “Maybe you should head on upstairs, Kitty.” Kitty nodded with another yawn, and Anne let out a soft chuckle, more of an amused exhale, before kissing her hairline. “Go get some rest. Oh, and, tonight stays between us, okay?”

Kitty gave her an amused smirk, and Anne’s own smile faded just a bit at just how much like herself she looked in that moment, before linking pinkies with her cousin. “Pinky promise with a cherry on top.”

Anne watched as her cousin left, before chuckling softly as she grabbed her basically empty mug to go clean it before she headed to bed, letting out a yawn of her own.

[theoutcastedartist]

No new art really, if you've seen my original post on the MHA amino then you know where this is fucking going. Right down to Angstville because for some reason I'm obsessed with hurting my favorite Goth Jesus. You'd think I'd talk about my "Stain's Redemption" AU first since I've mentioned it but hahahaha

Y o u w e r e w r o n g ;´)

I straight up just copied and pasted my original post because I'm lazy but I REALLY wanted to share this with Tumblr lmao

Warning for (potential) manga spoilersss

Alrighty sinners, Let's get to the post itself then. Shall we?

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So let me just address something real quick about how I feel about the latest chapters of the MHA manga:

Seeing Aizawa cry has to be the most heart breaking thing I've seen in MHA (outside of the whole deal with Eri, sweet baby child ;-;)

And I completely FLIPPED when it was revealed that Shirakumo was BASICALLY turned into Kurogiri and just I'M CRYING--Cloud Angel Baby NOOOOOO!!!

They all deserved better than this T-T

Anywho enough about my grieving over fictional characters, let's talk about my AU, inspired by these recent chapters. Note that I'm a terrible writer. I guess this also includes a snippet of what I plan to write for this AU since it transitions from explanation to literature at some point just because I was kinda bored. Imma let you know right now that I'm a shit writer so uuuuh bear with me.

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The Reticent AU takes place in an Alternate Universe where Shirakumo is ALIVE and separate from Kurogiri. Instead of Loud Cloud being turned into a Nomu, Eraserhead is turned into one. His appearance for the most part remains the same, minus the scars all over his body, including around the neck, from experimentation.

He barely speaks due to pain he feels when he does talk and has no recollection of his life before being a Nomu, not even his own name. He manages to escape the League of Villains at some point and "befriends" the Hero Killer: Stain, or well more like the other way around (only because I find Stain befriending an emotionless mute to be funny). He finds Stain's views of false hero-hood and admiration for All Might quite contradictory yet amusing and lets him live during their first encounter.

It is rather hard to say whether he is a villain or a vigilante. He'll kill only if necessary but his intentions and motivations are unknown. He despises All Might as the Symbol of Peace. It gives false hope to the people as well as a false sense of security. He found it completely revolting. Aizawa did believe in good people, but All Might isn't one of them in his books. Pretty much considered one only because he's hanging around with Stain.

He never gave himself a name, nor did he care all that much for it, it was Stain who dubbed him with the alias "Reticent", meaning not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily. He was never one for being open for as long as he could remember.

It's rather fitting, so Reticent keeps the given name.

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* I didn't know Shirakumo was tan, not white before I made the art (forgive me)

Oboro Shirakumo A.K.A Loud Cloud is currently the homeroom teacher of our beloved Class 1-A and best friend of our resident screaming banana, Present Mic. They have given up on their dream to start an agency due to the loss of their closest friend from high school. Fifteen years ago when they were still students at UA, Shota Aizawa had gone missing and authorities concluded that he was dead. It was such a heartbreak to Shirakumo and Yamada, that hurt never fully healed.

Shirakumo is still a friendly and nurturing spirit at heart, but not as open with his feelings anymore. He's more reserved with his thoughts and feelings. He's a reticent person.

He takes an instant liking to Ejirou Kirishima and Hitoshi Shinso. Kirishima's friendship with the explosive Katsuki Bakugou reminds him of his friendship with Shota. Their personalities seemed so different, yet their bond had remained solid and strong. As for Shinso, the purple haired teen reminded him of his old friend. He could see the growing potential in these two and takes them both under his wing. The three of them train together outside of school and the Kirishima and Shinso form a close friendship with each other along with their sensei. Both children are like sons to Shirakumo, he thinks that Shota would like them too if he were still here.

·············

So... Izuku Midoriya, the "villain magnet" of class 1-A, ended up finding himself standing face-to-face with the Hero Killer: Stain and... his partner? The news never reported anything on him having a partner. How strange. Either Stain's partner is a very recent addition or this guy was really good at covering his own tracks.

"Stain, leave them be. They are just mere children. Killing them would serve no purpose to your cause. I wouldn't waste your time with Native either. "

Midoriya grimaced at the sore and raspy voice. It sounded painful, but he could hear the underlying threat. The Hero Killer sighed and backed off from Iida's paralyzed body.

The two villains left before Todoroki had arrived.

"I think that's the first time I've ever seen you smile."

Agakuro sat down next to Reticent, who was currently petting a stray cat, and offered him some fruit. The smaller man hummed quietly and took a few slices of apple. Both men sat quietly with the soft purring of the stray.

"I've been meaning to ask, what is your quirk exactly? You can erase quirks, but you can also manipulate basic elements and the blood in people's bodies."

Reticent signed, 'I have more than one.'

"More than one quirk?" Stain cocked an eyebrow.

Reticent nodded and quietly spoke, "Nomu."

"I've heard about their appearances here in Hosu. They are these large looking creatures with their brains exposed. You sure as hell don't look like one of 'em." Agakuro mused as he chewed on some cantaloupe. His friend was making his signals again.

I was suppose to be a more perfected Nomu. All for One took care of my progress himself.'

"Is that why you have so many..."

'Yes.'

·············

"Principal Nezu?" Shirakumo and Yamada stood in the white creature's office. Both men wondering why they were called to see him.

"Ah Loud Cloud and Present Mic! I apologize for pulling you out of your classes, but it seems you both are being called to assist Gran Torino with something he found." Nezu explained. The two men in the room looked at each other confused.

"What does he need us for?"

"Well it seems that they have another one of those Nomus in custody. I think you may remember the name Shota Aizawa?"

·············

Shirakumo was BEYOND annoyed about the situation. It must be a mistake. Their old friend was not some gruesome quirk experiment accompanying the Hero Killer. Shota Aizawa wanted to be a hero, despite feeling that he was inadequate for such due to the nature of his quirk. It has to be a mistake.

"How much longer-"

"Calm down will you! I'm frustrated about this too. There's no way it could be him, but... who knows."

They arrived at the police station withing a few minutes and walk inside. They see Gran Torino standing there waiting for them. They follow him to where Tsukauchi is finishing up with questioning the person inside. Looking through the window, Shirakumo and Yamada's eyes widen with disbelief. The other person looked just like...

"Ah Present Mic, Loud Cloud. Thank you for arriving on such short notice. I know you are both very busy men."

The two Pro-Heros turn to the detective as he stepped out of the interrogation room. Present Mic appeared alarmed and Shirakumo just looked... mad.

"Well it appears that he doesn't remember anything before being experimented on. We have a case of amnesia on our hands."

Shirakumo practically growled,"Experimented on? What the hell are you going on about detective!?" Why was Tsukauchi being so damn vague?

"That man in there is indeed Shota Aizawa. His base quirk of Erasure is still there and DNA results confirm this. From what I'm gathering, fifteen years ago he was kidnapped and had been subjected to illegal drug testing as well as having multiple quirks forced into his body. He's a more sophisticated Nomu it seems."

"More 'sophisticated'? What stopped him from having brains popping out of his skull like all the others we've seen?" The voice hero questioned. Something wasn't adding up here.

"All for One..."

The other three men became tense.

"Isn't... Isn't that the villain All Might fought at Kamino Ward?"

"According to him, it seems that All for One was the one who did this to him personally, there was extra care in your friend's 'recreation'. As to what his added quirks are, we're not sure yet of what they are or even of how many."

Gran Torino turned to the younger men,"We were hoping that you two would talk to him. Maybe to help trigger any memories from before his disappearance."

"So what? You think the 'power of friendship' is going to magically bring back his memories?" Shirakumo scoffed at how ridiculous that would actually be.

"No, but miracles do happen. I've seen many things during my time. They are rare, but they happen."

"Shirakumo," Present Mic started, "if there is even a slim possibility of getting Sho's memories back, shouldn't we at least try? For him?"

Shirakumo sighed at his words, "Fine. For Shota's sake."

The two younger men walk inside.

--------

"Shota?"

'Who were they talking about? Is that his name?'

After the detective had left the room, two other men had walked in. He assumed they were Pros based on the costumes. No normal person dressed in THAT much leather (referring to Present Mic).

"Do you... remember us, Shota? Hizashi and I?"

It looks like they ARE talking to him. He shook his head no. This was the first time he has seen these two men. The way they were looking at him made him uncomfortable.

"Sho...ta? Is... that my name?"

The two men standing winced at his croaking voice. In all honesty, he would sign, but he had no clue if these two even knew sign language. So he just resorted to talking.

"Do you remember your own name?"

"No."

"Do you... remember us?"

The raven haired man shook his head, 'No.'

"Is... Shota my name? Do you know me? I'm sorry I- I'm just... so confused."

His voice was so raspy and weak. Black hair covered the scar under his eye. Hizashi and Oboro wore sad looks on their faces at the sound. The taller of the two, Oboro, knelt down by the man's knees.

"Yes. We do know you. Your name is Shota Aizawa. You were once a member of UA's class 2-A about fifteen years ago." Oboro started as he gently pried one of Shota's hands from the yellow blanket the officers gave him. His arm was covered in scars... like his legs. God only knows what they did to him all those years. Hizashi just observed their movements, unsure of what to do he added on to what Shirakumo said.

"You love cats and taking naps, you were the most rational one out of the three of us. All three of us had dreams of starting an agency together..."

The two pro-heros continued talking for what felt like hours. Shota listened to every word as they recounted their old adventures from highschool. Maybe with enough luck, they could help Shota get him memory back. Shirakumo was starting to think that the raven wasn't ever getting his old memories back until...

"Sushi... I- We had a cat named Sushi?"

Hizashi had flung himself so fast to Shota as he held onto him tightly and cried. Shirakumo also had a tear-streaked face, but he held a blinding smile as he watched Shota awkwardly pat the blond's back.

Miracles do happen.

More of this angst shit coming soon ;)

[tenglows]

sweet aftertaste

summary: it’s late at night and student!ten and his friends are left with nowhere to go; ending up at the bar where lounge singer!reader is performing.

inspired by halsey’s song and video “finally // beautiful stranger”

if you want to see an edit based on this, click here!

“so what are we supposed to do now”

yangyang sighed and sat down on the sidewalk

being downtown at half past two am with nothing to do was definitely not in the boys’ plans.

but it was now, considering they had been kicked out of the house party for breaking an (apparently) very ancient porcelain vase

“it was totally sicheng’s fault though”

but no one really cared about who was at fault, there was no time for that.

what bothered them more was that no one wanted to go back to the dorms yet

but it wasn’t like they could just go and crash another party

they just know the people at their college

and well

the big party was that one, the one they surely didn’t dare to put a foot on again

ten kept looking around the deserted street no one was really familiar with while the others bickered in the back

he found it nice, even if it felt a little bit lonesome considering the hour and all the small houses showing no sign of corporality

there were no many shops in the block, and if they were, they were closed and dim

until ten caught sight of a small pub

a classic, old-fashioned with a wood design and a few hanging lights that were the only source of brightness in the view

he signaled his discovery to his friends and they all looked at each other for confirmation before excitedly nodding

they didn’t encounter themselves with a rousing ambience when they entered the bar. just a typical bored bartender and some grown men devouring peanuts and beer at the counter

ten’s eyes focused on a small stage, a guitar placed on the wood floor. some holes making it look like it was gonna collapse anytime soon

some of the others got themselves some beers and when they were in the middle of asking ten if he wanted something,

someone’s unknown steps made that floor crack. the slow screeches made ten’s gaze feel trapped in curiosity

it was you

a student who struggled to pay rent and had to resort to singing late at a local bar to generate any sort of income

it wasn’t always this late, though

but that day you also had to cover your coworker’s shift at your other job

and yeah, you could have just told the pub’s owner that you would just play the following night

but it wasn’t just about the money. the truth is that you loved singing. of course it wasn’t a lie that you would prefer to make more out of it,

but sometimes a heartfelt praise from a costumer was all you needed to get the energy to raise that guitar all over again

you were surprised at the sight of more people than you would have thought taking the hour and location of the place into account, but it also made a sigh of relief leave your mouth

after all, performing for an empty audience always left a bittersweet aftertaste in your stomach

you smiled at the expectating boys that looked around your same age

and one of them smiled back. you weren’t one to get nervous when performing, since you were more than very used to it

but somehow the way his face glowed when he smiled made you relax your fingers and grip, that you thought were already relaxed

you introduced yourself and started strumming the guitar

ten, meanwhile

had never seen a purer face

and each melody that left your mouth had him more lost, more captivated

he listened attentively at the lyrics you had mentioned you wrote yourself

you sang about your grandmother and the stories she'd tell you about living in germany. how her own grandfather would tell her that the freckles on her face resembled stars

you had such a way of talking about her that made ten's chest throb. in that moment, he believed that he knew her. how she seemingly always smelled like coconut and how she baked the most delicious cakes ever made. he imagined her living in germany and picking the same flowers every evening, her hair dancing with the wind even though in reality, he didn't even know which color it was.

the ballad ended with a final strum and at that point ten was convinced that the guitar was created solely with the purpose of being touched by your fingers.

of course he and the boys exploded in claps and cheering, the men he had noticed when they first entered joining them too

ten could swear he even saw johnny shedding a couple of tears

and it was understandable. you had something and ten wondered if you had the power to brush the strings of all their hearts at the same time you did so with the guitar.

ten eyed his friends and he pointed at you as he sat up from his chair

them smiling knowingly and telling him they would wait for him outside

"hey um" he started, his hands in his pockets as he went through posible ways of starting a conversation "my name is ten, and i really liked your performance"

he mentally shouted at himself for not being able to hold eye contact with you. he was not a shy person, he was actually very outgoing and had no trouble in meeting new people

it was funny, then. how for some reason you made him nervous and he oddly made you feel at ease

"thank you so much. i actually wrote that song not so long ago, my grandmother helped me"

and that's when it all started.

you talked to him a little bit more about your grandma and he told you he had a similar relationship with his aunt, sharing stories about each lovely woman

you found out he was a dance major and didn't hesitate to tell him that was admiring

he also guessed you were a music major, and commented that you were doing a great job if it was that easy to sense there was more than just natural talent in there. you apparented like you knew a lot about what inspires you

that made you feel content

and you also asked yourself how a stranger had successfully seen through you that much

but something about ten just felt right

and you weren't sure if it was your overflowing emotions, or the late hours of the night or the lack of sleep you had gotten lately

but before ten you had never seen a mouth that you would kill to kiss

after a bit more of chat, you and the beautiful stranger decided to exchange numbers since the bar was closing and ten had to go back to his friends

you had to come home to your roommates as well.

(the next day at work, your co-worker who you had covered was tripping over her words to apologize all over again. she knew that the change resulted in you performing at a later hour, and was scared that that might have been prejudicial for you.

you just hugged her with the biggest grin on your face. and thanked her. she had never seen you smile so wide)

for both of ten and you, it was good news that you kept in touch since then

you learned so much about ten in a short period of time.

he also sang (he had promised he would show you sometime. and once, as you were falling dozing off on the phone with him, he started singing a lullaby when he was convinced you were asleep. you totally weren't. and his voice was velvet through the line)

he loved to draw and he did it marvellously. he had showed you some of his artworks and you always begged for him to explain the meaning behind it. but in the majority of the cases, he himself didn't even know it

you also learned that he used way to many smiley faces when texting, that he drank iced tea as his life depended on it, and he always dreamt of the ocean.

you soon came to know that ten was the sort of person you learn new things about each day, and you never got tired of it

it was scary

you didn't have much experience feeling this things

this love things

you had had some crushes, of course. still, they were all innocent crushes who either faded into thin air or turned into short-lived flings

on top of that, you never were a scaredy-cat type of person

at least that was what you thought before ten,,

because now you had received a certain text from ten that made you drop in the trash the carrot you were peeling

"i want to see u tomorrow :("

"i have my two shifts ://" (you were never really one to use emoticons, but i guess that's one thing you inhabited from ten)

"i can go watch you perform, if you like"

"i would really like it"

so now it was friday and you found yourself almost at midnight, at the bar you knew perfectly, but now you felt as if it was a completely different and new space you had never breathed in before.

you were tapping your foot in the stage so much the floor was actually breaking down even more. you decided to stop, you couldn't afford being nervous over ten's pretty face

you tried to distract yourself fixing some last things on your guitar, when you heard someone getting up on stage with you

"woah, it feels nice seeing everything through here"

"i know right? i never get tired of audiences. i like knowing that for a few minutes everyone is aware and probably thinking about the same thing"

ten looked at you with shiny eyes. you were truly the only source of brightness in the view

you obviously had to include the grandma song when performing (ten sang along and some giggles escaped your lips).

and then proceeded to present a new song you had just finished retouching the night before

ten raised his eyebrow and he looked even more concentrated than before, probably thinking about how you hadn't mentioned any new song you were working on

the song was about him

about the wish of ten letting himself fall in your arms

and although the lyrics could be a little more straightforward, you knew ten would get it anyways

he always did.

you had finished and now the following jazz singer was filling the room with a tranquil euphony

ten asked you to dance, it was a slow song and your hands found their way to his shoulders, his hands steadily on your waist.

"the song was beautiful" and there was something in the way that he said it with a shy but cheeky tone that indicated that you were right, you knew he had realized. and you were more than glad than he did.

"you know, you can join me singing anytime. you said you liked how it felt"

"i wouldn't mind taking up that offer"

in that moment you knew

you knew that it was finally safe for you to fall.

you had sung about wanting ten to feel secure enough to let himself drown in your embrace, but what you didn't know

is that he had already fell

he had made himself at home in your arms and was waiting for you to open the door too. and now you had

so it went on

after day that, ten went to every single one of your performances

and you also went to see him whenever he had a dancing show

you praised him so much every time he looked like he had red dye all over his face

he had sung with you at the bar multiple times already,

all his friends coming to see the growth of the young romance

"you should be thanking me for breaking that stupid vase!!!!!" yeah - you really liked sicheng.

you never experienced that bittersweet aftertaste of an empty audience ever again

because now ten was always the audience,

and you were his

and that's all you needed.

he's right here now,

and you think he'll stay.

(also, ten soon became your grandma's favorite person to bake cakes for.)

[afterreign]

lovers is plural pairing: implied akeshu/shuake, background ann/shiho & ann/mika beta reader: @jubilantscribbler a/n: no p5r spoilers summary: The Phantom Thieves, an infamous name that empowers the young and instills fear in the corrupt, hold their most important meeting yet. Just who is Takamaki Ann, code name Panther, dating?

Today, Akira is not nervous. There are no battle strategies to discuss, no infiltration route to go over. He is free, not having to relentlessly plan out solutions for all of the potentially bad outcomes that could come to fruition in their next palace escapade.

(Although, he should do that, Morgana’s incessant pleas to sleep be damned.)

No, today is a day he can breathe easy. Today, he is confident.

Akira slides a 100 yen coin.

“Ann is definitely going out with Shiho.”

The response between the Phantom Thieves—sans Ann, of course—is mixed.

“Dude,” Ryuji deadpans, “for real? We’re makin’ bank, yet you’re only gonna bet, like, a coin?”

The weight, or lack thereof, to Akira’s wallet disagrees completely. “It’s fair,” he reasons, internally stomping away at the compulsion to present how truly empty his wallet is to everyone else. “Plus, we’re still high schoolers. College funds and stuff.”

The word “college” attracts the local student body president like a moth to a debt-filled flame. Ugh, third years. “While I would agree that saving up for college is admirable,” Makoto says with a laugh, “I believe we need to backtrack a little.”

Akira sucks in a breath when the brunette places an unwrinkled 1000 yen bill on the table. Makoto’s eyes shine a little. “I am placing my bets on… Mika-san.”

“Thank you!” Futaba, the resident shut-in, erupts, throwing her hands in the air. “I’m glad there’s some common sense here.”

This, of course, ensues verbal chaos. Ryuji, lovely Ryuji with a heart of gold, slams his hands down on the table, protesting all of Futaba’s points. (“Have you seen her look at Shiho?!” the blond exclaims. “Hell, I want someone to look at me like that!”) Futaba spouts something about common media tropes and otome games and other concepts that fly right over top student Akira’s head. Makoto is somehow the mediator and instigator in all of this, proudly showing the group a selfie Ann and Mika took not too long ago. Haru smiles, looking a little too apologetic for wear, before presenting an even more recent photo of Shiho and Ann going on a stroll at the nearby park. And Yusuke, passionate as ever, presents their close-knit group a highly detailed pencil drawing of Ann and Mika looking deep into each other’s sparkling eyes, and okay, this is getting weird. Possibly bordering creepy, and—

Akechi is sitting there with a pained expression masked poorly. He is sipping his coffee cup. It has been empty for the past ten minutes.

“—I feel inspired gazing upon two colleagues enraptured with one another,” Yusuke finishes confessing. Akira, admittedly, hadn’t caught the earlier half. A none the wiser Yusuke nods sagely, eyes closed. “There is no doubt in my mind… Ann and Mika-san must be together.”

“But,” Haru starts, “I can’t help but see Ann and Suzui-san in a relationship. Is that odd? I haven’t had any time to talk to Suzui-san lately, but when she attended Shujin, the two seemed close.” A fond smile crosses the third year’s face. “I can’t help but be a little jealous actually!”

Akechi politely raises his hand. His laugh sounds like it’s being played straight from his TV interviews. “Aha, well. I see everyone is getting along today. But… considering we are not discussing anything Phantom Thieves related, do you mind if I go along my way and head home?”

Everyone rightfully ignores him. Akechi remains stuck in the table booth, likely resenting the fact he came in the first place.

(Akira almost feels bad for him. Almost.)

“Well, that’s that,” determines Akira. He’s not sure what he’s actually determining, though. There is a tone of finality in his voice, and Akira simply goes along with it. He glances at both sides of the booth they’re huddled in and surmises his thoughts aloud. “Me, Ryuji, and Haru think Ann is dating Shiho. Makoto, Yusuke, and Futaba believe she’s dating Mika.”

Ryuji looks pumped. “We need a tie-breaker!”

Makoto frowns. “You… are aware that we’re taking individual bets, correct? It doesn’t matter if one ‘team’ has more people than the other.”

“Matters to me,” grumbles Ryuji, and Akira pats him on the back.

Out of the corner of Akira’s eye, he catches Haru’s glossed lips making a perfect little “o.” If the thieves were in some classic cartoon, Akira has no doubt in his mind that one of those thinking light bulbs would be flickering just above a bed of curly locks, a stubborn screw you to the laws of gravity. “Oh, Akechi-kun!” Haru turns to the detective, a curious look on her face. The light bulb is all aglow. “What are your thoughts on the matter?”

Call it a hunch, but Akira is sure that Akechi is swimming in many thoughts by now. Just… not anything helpful. Instead of voicing out the worst of the worst, the brunet smiles a pleasant smile. It’s strained all the same. “Well,” he begins, “before I give you my answer, mind if I express my own questions?”

Futaba minds, apparently. She groans and dives her head between the safe space of her arms. Some of the others restrain themselves to do the same.

“Is it not strange that all of you are placing bets on Takamaki-san’s love life? Does this not feel all a bit too personal?” inquires Akechi, arms crossed. Despite how light his tone is, his stare bores straight into Makoto’s eyes, judging. “I’m especially surprised that you are participating in this as well.”

Akira always felt that there was some camaraderie between Makoto and Akechi. Hair color and motivations aside, both are at the top of their grades, high marks on all of their exams. The two teens are cunning and have a similar interest in law and speak softly when it matters most. They’re arguably the most mature of their group, but… they slip.

Right now is not one of those times.

Makoto doesn’t flinch. “You… must not know me well then, Akechi-kun,” she states. “I admit that once the rest of the Phantom Thieves proposed—” Makoto quickly waves a hand at everyone. “—this, I thought it was… immature, at first. But I soon came to understand that we do this because we care about Ann.”

“And it’s fun!” adds Ryuji. Yusuke is beside the blond, humming in agreement.

“Ann is always looking out for our feelings,” Haru explains, smoothing out her skirt. “Think of this as if… we’re looking out for hers. Ann is one of my dear friends, so of course, I want to support her in a happy and healthy relationship.” Graciously, she covers a giggle behind her hand. “Although, I do think we get carried away.”

Murmurs of agreement surface between the team. And of course, Akira knows this isn’t about money. This isn’t about who’s right or wrong. It’s about Ann’s infectious laugh, about her overflowing sympathy for other people. It’s about Ann because Akira cares about his friends, and he wants the best for her—

“But are we not certain that Ann is dating Mika?” Yusuke asks, pure confusion in his voice.

—but he can still think his friends are factually wrong.

Before the debate has a chance to start up again, Akechi cuts in with a clean, “First, let’s get that tie-breaker vote in, shall we?”

“Oh, now he cares,” Ryuji scoffs.

Suddenly, Akira hears a small gasp. He turns his head to the not-so-mysterious source and finds a shocked Futaba gaping at no one in particular. “We forgot to ask Mona!” she yelps, startling everyone else from the calm. The shut-in whips her head away from everyone and begins shouting at the staircase. “Hey, Mona! Mona!”

For once, Akira is glad Sojiro decided not to stay and make the gang lunch.

It takes a few moments before Akira hears the creak of Leblanc’s wooden stairs. Slowly, Morgana’s nose peeks out from behind the rails before his head and his furry body follow suit. He moves down each step, one careful paw after the other, before dragging his dark tail across the white tile floor and hopping onto the table.

Oh, the bespectacled boy thinks belatedly.

Morgana is sulking.

Triangular ears are flat against his head. “Yeah, yeah, I’m here,” the feline-but-not-really says with a sigh.

Ryuji makes a low whistle and leans back into his seat. The booth does not bother to budge. “Damn, and I thought you liked talkin’ about your ‘Lady Ann,’ Mona.”

Akira does not miss Morgana’s withering look. In an effort to placate him, the teen reaches over and strokes Morgana’s favorite spot on his head despite the not-cat’s silent protests. Akira then leans over and speaks low into Morgana’s ears. “You don’t need to be here if you don’t want to. I know you wanted to skip out since…”

The silence speaks for itself. Morgana looks at him, and the former appears deep in thought, tail swaying as if searching for answers. Eventually, the tail comes to a halt. “Thanks,” he purrs, and Akira isn’t entirely convinced if it’s intentional or not. “But I got this.”

Akira feels a tug at the corners of his mouth. Satisfied, he leans back, watching Morgana take center stage.

“As someone who knows Lady Ann the best,” Morgana declares, chin held high, “I think it’s important that we consider other options. What if she isn’t dating any of them?”

Leblanc’s resident dyed blond groans. “You’re only saying that ‘cause you like her!”

“Am not!”

“Uh,” Futaba butts in, “are we gonna ignore the fact that none of us updated Mona on what we’re talking about, yet he still responds like he’s been here?”

Morgana seethes out an impatient “I live here,” while Akira says effectively the same thing, only with a switch of the pronouns. Okay, that didn’t work. Clearly, Akira needs a new plan—one that involves less bickering with an animal so they don’t all look insane when an innocent customer decides to walk in and witnesses the incarnate of chaos and more… amicable relations. More bets, perhaps.

Curiously enough, it’s Haru who takes the reins, sending Akira a small smile before speaking up. “Maybe if Mona-chan understands why we think Ann has a significant other, he can decide for himself.”

Akira may be a heathen, but God bless Haru.

As Akira is internally singing his praises, the conversation thankfully segues back to Ann and a hyper analysis of her love life. Futaba mentions how she first found out about Ann’s secret romance after forgetting to debug the caf��. (Akechi then sends Akira an alarmed look the latter chooses to dutifully ignore.) Haru continues that line of thought, recalling Ann’s inquiries regarding the language of flowers and the like, and Akira makes sure to ignore that tinge of jealousy stirring in his stomach even though he knows that Ann knows his hard work in memorizing a bunch of flower symbolism for his job in the underground mall.

He sighs and mentally sweeps his slight envy under the rug. Priorities, Akira.

It’s not until Makoto clears her throat and poses the daunting question of “So, do you believe us?” to Morgana that all eyes fall back on the not-cat, waiting patiently.

The sway of his tail falters. “... Yes,” he bites out. Morgana’s face contorts like he’s devoured a lemon. “Guess this is what you unrequited love, huh?”

Luckily, Ryuji has the decency to stay quiet as Haru breathes an apologetic “Oh, Mona-chan…” and pets the not-cat’s torso.

The group falls into an almost comfortable silence, save for Morgana’s drooping ears that nearly makes Akira leap forward and shower him with many affectionate head pats. Akira otherwise lets his mind wander. He drifts between the scent of Sojiro’s curry ingrained in the dark walls of Leblanc and his daydream of a flustered Ann grasping the hands of a faceless lover, rotating from Mika to Shiho to a mixture of the two’s features. The arch of the rival model’s groomed eyebrows and the doe eyes of the ex-Shujin student are rolled into one.

Features, Akira absently thinks, and for some reason, his eyes linger on the jaunt of a certain detective’s chin, the curve of his lithe neck, the way he carefully tucks a chestnut-colored lock behind his ear. His eyebrows, not unlike Mika’s, are furrowed. Dark, gloved hands hold a gray smartphone that is definitely not bugged by someone that rhymes with Fakura Sutaba, and hazel eyes—red, if you catch them when the glint of the sunlight hits them just right—are fixated on the screen.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise when Akechi of all people, the same Akechi who never dares to back away from a challenge, continues the conversation, not bothering to look up from his phone.

(But it does come as a surprise, oddly enough. Because Akira, jolted out of his daydream and thrusted into reality, is looking, and he feels like he shouldn’t be.)

“Have we come to a conclusion about our findings then?” Akechi questions, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Pardon me,” Yusuke voices, “but I assumed you held no interest in Ann’s love life like the rest of us.”

Akechi, lo and behold, bears another classic (read: fake) smile of his. “I don’t particularly. However, it seems like you all are stumped, and I do enjoy a good mystery. After all, I am a detective, aren’t I?”

Akira resists the urge to point out how the unknown identity of Ann’s girlfriend is a far cry from a good mystery, much less anything more than petty gossip when not discussed amongst friends. Instead, he motions the brunet to continue with a flick of the wrist.

Finally, Akechi looks up. “Have any of you considered the antithesis to Morgana’s hypothesis?”

Ryuji frowns. “The… what?”

“I believe Akechi-kun is talking about the opposite of what Morgana initially thought,” clarifies Makoto. “Which means…”

The gears in Akira’s head turn by the end of Makoto’s unfinished remark. His mind swims around antithesis and Ann and the underlying yet unknown connection between the two, trying to grasp at a lost thread he’s determined to find. (Anntithesis! his brain unhelpfully supplies a beat later before he dismisses it completely.) He thinks back to what the group assessed before: selfies, flowers, the like. Selfies, flowers, the like.

Selfies.

… Were they selfies?

Akira is backtracking now, attempting to recreate the images Makoto and Haru had shown the rest of the group earlier in his head. He closes his eyes and thinks. Mika and Ann’s picture can be excused as a selfie, sure. The two were pressed close together in the photograph, shoulders bumping and heads tilting inward to stay in frame. A part of Ann’s arm was cut off from where they took the picture. Sly smirks on both of their photogenic faces.

By all means, it’s a regular, old photo. A selfie, likely.

Then, what about Ann and Shiho’s? Akira recalls Inokashira Park as the backdrop of the image, an abundance of green flooding his vision. He’s quite familiar with the area, too; jogging with the former track star there whenever his body can endure the brutality of cardio is one form of torture Akira will never forget.

If he recalls correctly, the photo was awfully similar to its counterpart. Heads inclined towards one another, shared smiles, and⁠—

Ann and Shiho were holding up peace signs, both pairs of arms visible in frame.

It’s a cliché to gasp. Akira knows this and does it anyway because one, he is surprised and two, he loves being dramatic. The act earns a rather bemused look from Akechi that’s immediately disguised as a roll of the eyes.

The rest of the thieves follow suit as realization dawns on them. Makoto nods. Futaba blinks. Ryuji’s jaw drops. Haru, polite as ever, raises a hand to mask the shock evident on her face. Morgana’s eyes go and widen to the size of Kamoshida’s golden medal, round and shimmering and unbelievable.

Yusuke is the last one to come around, and he barely manages to gather his bearings in time to ask, “Can it truly be…?”

A delightful ping rings in the still air.

“See for yourself,” Akechi says, voice breezy, and slides his phone down on the table.

-

“Do you think they’ve seen your Instagram post?”

Shiho asks this while peering over Ann’s shoulder, watching the likes accumulate at a rapid speed. The end of her ponytail brushes against the blonde’s nape. Ann struggles to suppress a giggle.

“Oh, maybe?” It comes out unsure, reluctant. Ann taps her chin. ”But my phone hasn’t blown up with text messages yet. And trust me, I would know when my friends saw it.”

The other model waves it off, nonchalant. “They’ll figure out soon enough anyway." A pause. Then, Mika sighs. “Looks like the entire population of Tokyo will, too. I don’t know why you wanted to do this, but I’m sure our agency is going to love capitalizing on it…”

“Ugh, agency shmagency!” Ann, who has no concept of personal space when it comes to these two, gathers both of the girls in her arms and gives them a tight squeeze. “How can I hide away my two amazing girlfriends from the world?”

Mika rolls her eyes, but the dust of pink coloring her cheeks gives her away. “Is she always this corny?”

Shiho snickers. “Oh, one hundred percent.”

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #252

my personal laptop has to be fixed, so therefore i don’t have games to play, so expect plenty of these to pass the time lmao.

Have you ever said something just to see what kind of reaction you’d get? No, not that I remember. Have you ever confronted someone about using too much chat-speak? ??? No??? Have you ever revealed someone’s secret, after promising not to tell? No. Secrets are one thing I'm very serious about respecting. What is one emotion that you experience regularly? STRESS, MOTHERFUCKER. Describe the last major change you made concerning your hairstyle? Lopped it all off, lmao. It's been like, two years now though. Who was the last person to walk out of your life, and why? It feels like my friend Alex. She's kinda just... left me hanging for months. I think she's active online, but not with me, despite reaching out. She's also deleted her b.net account or just removed me from her friends list, idk. Absolutely nothing seems like it would've prompted that, though. Are you less likely to approach people that look/dress a certain way? I was going to say no, but the last person's answer inspired mine to yes; like, I'm not going to go talk to people with some crazy or offensive shit on their shirts, nor am I going to just go walk up to someone covered in blood. Name one embarrassing activity that you take part in? I don't know. Like I say enough I'm VERY self-conscious of revealing I RP, but only because I'm sensitive to how the person will respond. I'm in no way like, ashamed I do it. I'm just terrified of judgment over something "unusual." Ever been told that you can’t understand love due to your age? Not that I remember. I only claimed to "get it" (to my recollection) at a point in mine and Jason's relationship, and I very legitimately would've guffawed at and honestly nearly slapped you if you claimed I "didn't understand" love. What is your favorite Starburst candy flavor? THE PINK ONES. Do you think that you act like yourself while online? I act more like myself online. Have you ever lied about something to get someone to like you? No. Who is the fakest person in your life right now? I don't keep those people in my life. Have you ever laid down in the grass, and made shapes out of the clouds? As a kiddo. When someone’s constantly negative, how do you deal with it? It depends on the person, but ALMOST in all cases, I really really try to support the person as best I can. It may start to bring me a bit down, but I feel I'm just like... hardwired to help those I love. I think it's what my relationship with Jason did, as he left because he couldn't handle my depression anymore, and with how that absolutely and utterly annihilated me, I don't want anyone else to feel that pain. Now, for people I don't have much of a bond with, it's easier for me to say "I'm sorry, but I can't handle this right now," but even then, I prefer to help. Does Christmas make you feel like a kid again? No. I'm really most excited for aunt reasons, lol. Do you have any artistic talent? Some. Would you ever shoplift from a store if you knew you wouldn’t be caught? Absolutely not. When one of your pets dies, how do you react? Usually cry. I've only ever not done so if I hadn't at all formed a bond with the animal. When you go to the movies, where in the theater do you sit? Close to the front, in the middle. When was the last time you lost your appetite? I don’t know. Have you ever neglected to take care of yourself? Er. Quite badly during '16, in the depth of my depression. I'll just say my teeth are kinda yellow because of it. I want to whiten my teeth at some point if I can afford that kind of luxury. The last song/poem/story you wrote - what was it about? In RP, the most recent section being written now is my main protagonists receiving a visit from their allies before getting their asses torn up the next day lmao. After a fight, who apologizes first - you, or the other person? Usually me, but it does depend. If I genuinely feel I didn't do jackshit wrong, no, I'm not apologizing. When you’re feeling creative, what do you do? Write. Do you mind being in your house alone overnight? Not really by now. Done so a number of times. Are there any dreams you remember from childhood? Nightmares, yes, and one very realistic dream. What worries you most about death? Not knowing what happens afterwards. Do you watch really old tv shows or movies from the 1970s or earlier? I love The Munsters, I Love Lucy, The Beverly Hillbillies, and The Addams Family. I'm sure there's more, considering I liked to watch stuff with my mom as a kid. Who’s your celebrity crush(es)? HHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG Ever been to a rave? No. Are you afraid to name the person you talk the most shit about? I don't really do that. Like I'll vent about people occasionally, but "talk shit" seems like the wrong word. I don't like gossiping. Are you a jealous person? Envious, rather, sometimes. I get VERY envious when it comes to photography, but otherwise, I don't feel it much. Who do you text the most out of your friends? Sara is like the only friend I text, lol. What would you do if you saw a complete stranger dealing drugs in public?
 Honestly, call an authority. I don't fuck with that. I'm not watching it happen. How often do you play video games? What are some of your favourites?
 I played World of Warcraft daily until my laptop took a shit. Need to get that fixed. Now I play actual video games very rarely... but mostly just because you can only replay the same ole game so many times before you've had enough of it for like a year. There are a great number of new games I want to play, though. I want a PS4 soooo badly. What are a few things that get on your nerves when it comes to Facebook (or your social networking site of choice)?
 More than anything, posting something that's crying for attention only for the person to be like "ugh I don't wanna talk about it." Then don't fucking post it. What are three things you’ve started to like lately? I feel like I haven't found new interests in a long time... Wait! I do feel The Handmaid's Tale and the Wings of Fire book Sara lent me have revived my love of reading! :') I want to go to the book store when I can and get both the new sequel to THT and the next WoF book. What was the last reason for having butterflies in your stomach?
 *shrug* Do you need a lot of space in relationships, or are you happy to spend a lot of time with your SO?
 I need SOME alone time, but for the most part I love being together. Once we're really close, anyway. What was the last thing you cooked from scratch? Scrambled eggs. Have you ever won anything from those games in arcades?
 Yeah. Funny story, there was this one time my sister won a stuffed duck from a claw machine, and it was the one I wanted after trying many times, and I cried so hard that one of the employees literally got one out for me lmfao. I probably still have it in the attic. When was the last time you went out to a fair?
 Not since right before the breakup. How far is the nearest zoo or wildlife park from your house? Do you go often?
 Like, two hours. We almost never go because of the distance. Are either one of your parents retired? If not, what do they do for a living?
 No. My dad's been a mailman all my life, and Mom is currently on disability because she has cancer and obviously can't work because of chemotherapy and all that. She was a pharmacy tech, though. If you could change one physical trait about yourself, what would it be?
 Can all this weight like vanish please. Have you ever gone out with someone you didn’t like?
 ????? Why would I do that???? Well, I didn't yet like-like Tyler because we hadn't been reunited as friends long enough; dating was kinda like... a dumb way to re-get to know each other? Thank fuck that was only two weeks. Would you ever take a bullet for your significant other? I'm single. Would you ever work at a fast food restaurant?
 No. History shows I can't work with people. Are you good at haunted houses, or do you scream your head off?
 AHHHHHHHHHHH I LOVE!!!!!!!!!!! If you’ve seen it, what did you think of the Twilight movie?
 I never watched them. Have you ever gotten your tongue stuck on a frozen pole?
 No. Are you a cat or a dog person?
 Cat. Does the movie Titanic make you cry?
 Ha ha, yes. I watched it on movie day while at the psych hospital and all of us were lil bitches almost sobbing, lol. Because it's a long movie, it went past our allotted time, but the nurses decided to let us finish it because we were so into it. I do have some good memories from those times... Do you think that fat people should wear skinny jeans? I think people can wear whatever the fuck they want without fear of judgment. Do you prefer game systems like Xbox, or older ones like Super Nintendo? The former. Do you enjoy indie music? Yep! What is the most strange piercing you’ve ever seen? Those ones people were getting on their fingers instead of rings... just huh. What do you do when you’re waiting in line at the grocery store? Look around, I guess. Think. What is your favourite beach to go to? I haven't been to enough to know. Have you ever been to a country club? No. Have you ever seen an animal die in real life? Too many times. Animals have been euthanized in my arms, and a kitten slowly died in my hands once. One of the most heartbreaking things I have ever experienced. Teddy accidentally punctured its lungs or broke ribs, I think, or something like that. I'm pretty sure he was trying to bring it back to its siblings because it wandered off, but he held it too tightly. I was home alone, too. It was fucking awful. Do you live on a Rd, St, Blvd, Ln, Way, or Ave? Road. Do you have naked pictures of someone saved on your phone? No. Would you ever go see an opera? Bitch I played Parasite Eve, I don't trust that shit. But seriously, no, not my scene. Do you own anything John Deere? No. Do you have a push mower or a mower that you ride on? Neither. A friend mows for us; he has the latter. What is the longest amount of time you’ve been stuck in traffic for? No clue. I think during a trip to New York. Would you consider joining the air force, army, etc? No. Who was your first crush and what made them special? This kid named Dylan. I thought he was super cute and cool. What is one thing nobody knows about you because nobody ever cared to ask? I dunno. Who did you idolize growing up? Steve Irwin. Do you believe that we are all here for a reason? What might the reason be? No. Have you ever carved your name or initials into a tree or stone? No. What were your best and worst subjects in school or college? Best: English. Worst: math. Name something you would like to devote more time to seeing or doing. Writing poetry. Drawing. Do you like to get your nails done? No. Do you remember the last movie you saw while on a date? Yeah, IT. Do you like to wear dresses? Hell no with my current body. Do you like any ‘manly’ activities like hunting, fishing, or camping? I find fishing to be fun and relaxing, but because of morals, I can't stomach doing it anymore. What was the name of your first boyfriend? First with the title, Aaron. First *real* boyfriend, Jason. Your first kiss? Jason. Are you still with either of those people from the last 2 questions? No. Have you ever used your bra to hold things like you would a pocket? Ha ha no. I think. What is your longest relationship to date? Three years, 7-8 months. I don't remember if the breakup was in August or September. Who ended the last relationship you were in? It was kinda like... mutual-ish, but moreso her. Have you ever gotten back with an ex? No. Who was your first prom date? Jason. Do you cry during romantic movies? Sometimes. Who was the last person to see you cry? Mom. Have you ever been used? I don't think so romantically, but in other ways, I know I have been. Have you ever felt violated? Yes. Do you like when a guy takes you by surprise and kisses you? Not everyone likes guys, so what an assumption. But anyway, only if we're very serious and have heavy trust in one another. Do you ever leave the house without makeup? Pretty much always. When was the last time someone gave you flowers? Been a few years. What kind of gift can win you over? BITCH buy me something Mark-related and you earn like 20 points. Has anyone ever sung to you? Yes. Do you like massages? Depends on who you are. In almost any case, no. They're awkward. Have you ever been skinny dipping? No. Do you sleep naked? No. Is smoking a turn-off? Yes. Is there a certain tv show you get upset if you miss? No. When was the last time you spent the night at someone else’s house? When I was at Sara's a year or so back. What is one food you always crave? Ice cream. Are you an exercise freak? Hunny- What scares you more, spiders or snakes? Snakes don't scare me, so spooders. Do you expect to be married in the next two years? No. Would you ever get implants? Nah. Have you ever had a crush on a sibling’s friend? No. Have you ever had a crush on a friend’s sibling? No. Are you more of a 'girly girl’ or a 'tomboy’? A tomboy. Have you ever dated someone with a child? No. Are you addicted to texting? No.

[madamrogersstorytelling]

Fan Fiction Ask Game

@suchatinyinfinity tagged me some time ago, and since I really couldn’t decide which ones to answer to, I took all of them! Yes, I really did. Worry about me... This is going to be a long post, so I’m putting everything under the cut and tagging some of my fellow writers at the bottom. I also am going to answer with all of my fics and not only one of them, that way you can get more perspective. 

Thank you for reading!

A: How did you come up with the title to [insert fic]?

I’m not going to answer about how I named one fic, I’m telling how I usually name my fics. Most of them get their titles if I listen to a song and it has a nice name or a line, sometimes I read quotes or just think of a word and taste it for long enough to decide could it be the title. Sometimes I read the piece before naming it and decide a line it has as a title; this can be seen in most of my drabbles. The title can be found. With my current series Aura, Of New Beginnings, You, Dark Passion Play and I’ll Make a Man Out of You; they either got their titles from the names of the characters, aspects of the story or songs. 

B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?

Actually, You. Not all of it, but most of the first chapter is. I took some artistic freedoms to describe some things but it indeed is inspired by my very shitty day during last December. Some of my friends know about this, it was horrible. But the young man at the stoplights (who looked really different from Ben but still) still inspires me very much.

C: What member do you identify with most?

Member... This question confuses me, all in all. I identify with a lot of things and can really tell you as soon as someone tells me what kind of a member this question is searching for haha. 

D: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with [insert fic]?

I don’t really do playlist for my stories, I listen to whatever I feel like. Sometimes I want to listen to one specific song during one scene. It really depends. 

E: If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it be about?

I’m bad at sequels. And most of my fics are not even ready, aka they’re series that will go on and on. But! One fic that possibly could have a sequel one day is Irresistible. It’s one of my favorite pieces of my own fics and it would be fun to see did the reader really catch him or not ;)

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“The knife?”

“That was Reep…”

“The apples?”

“No, I didn’t touch your apples…”

“Someone ate them while I was picking up those flowers I gave you.”

Caspian shook his head, still humming his laughs.

“Apples don’t walk away, Caspian!”

He showed you his hands as if he was surrendering. “Maybe not, but it wasn’t me.”

You pouted. “If you have to say it, you’re not telling the truth.”

“Maybe you didn’t have any apples with you on that day? I don’t remember seeing any.”

“Yeah, because you ate all of them. I was away for ten minutes!”

“Okay, I just might have eaten one…”

King of Thieves, Caspian/Reader

I think this is really sweet. I had so much fun writing this and it can really be seen, I think. I’ve always struggled with real-like dialogue, as I’ve told countless times before, but I think that with this drabble, it became quite real after all.

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

It depends, really. I usually write from start to finish but if I suddenly get a scene in my head, I write it down. It’s easier for me to write from start to finish, that way I can stay on track and don’t lose the balance of what I’m doing. 

H: How would you describe your style?

Someone once said I have noticeable style, something that is... part of me. I guess I like descriptions? I use a lot of adjectives and different kind of sentences; long and short, both to describe and rhythm the story a little. I also like beautiful words very much haha. My style may be a bit dreamy and I like to go slowly more than quickly. Sometimes I speed things up a little, only to tell the more meaningful parts but all in all, I think I describe more than use dialogue. 

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?

Haha! I truly do have! Especially in writing. I love to use quotes and song lyrics in my stories as dialogues, parts of them. It’s really funny for some reason. When I read, I don’t think do I actually have a guilty pleasure. Hmm... I don’t think I have?

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to [insert fic].

Goodness! Well, ok, let’s take Irresistible again...

Billy either left without leaving a single note or... Maybe he didn’t leave at all? I almost wrote that he stayed but... Then I thought of the note and I let that come to the story. Well, we can always play ;)

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

Something that had to do with Billy having to kill the reader either because the death was inevitable or because he had been told to. I’ve tried to think of this but as I have felt a bit bad myself, writing angst hasn’t really been on the top of my mind right now. Maybe one day?

L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

Sometimes more and sometimes less. I often read it twice; once right after reading and then I let it be for a moment, I got to eat or take a shower or play with my cat for a while and then come back to read it. You kind of become blind to your own text; I still have typos, I’m not saying that but it’s easier to see everything that needs to be corrected or revised before posting. Once or twice, usually.

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

Not more than I will never probably get it done because I keep getting stuck haha!

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?

Not at the moment. Even though, I always love to see people writing something I’ve talked about with them.

O: How do you begin a story–with the plot, or the characters?

The plot, usually. The characters come with it. While writing fanfiction, I kind of have some characters “ready to use”. The reader creates itself. I try to describe them as little as I can, so everyone can relate to them, which is why I go with the plot and not with the characters. But with something like Aura I try to get the plot with the character or the other way around. 

P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?)

I’m more like “one rose is my whole garden” type of person. I make some plans and write down some important plot points but for me, planning the whole thing from chapter to chapter and all the way to the ending kind of means it’s written already. Then I don’t even write it. So, I try not to let my ideas die with something like this but every time I get some important plot points in mind, I write them down because I’d forget them otherwise.

Q: How do you feel about collaborations?

I have nothing against them. Collabs are just fine. Although, they can get a bit hard, can’t they? You need to have very profound talks about what you want to write and what should happen and all. It can get stressful. But it would also be very interesting thing to write! I’ve actually talked about one of these with one person once. 

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

Sure. And I think that to be a writer, you have to have influences. You know what I mean? To see different ways to do some things and how the person X does this thing - but the person Y does it differently, so I’ll do it like this. You know what I mean? 

The people I’m going to tag (also the one that tagged me) all have some kind of influence on me, in good. 

My favorite writers, I’ve tried to learn something from them. Stephen King, Marcus Zusak, Joël Dicker, Tolkien, Rowling, Lewis, Wynne-Jones, all of them. 

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

I’m not good at this trope thing anyway, I think. I don’t even think about them too much. But, you know, I just opened a list and I definitely can say that there are some I reallyreallyreally like hahah!

Shapeshifting is always nice, all kinds of AUs are really close to my heart, crossovers are fun, timetravel, fix-it is my go to... I have quite a lot of these!

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

Hmmmpf... I don’t like to say I don’t stand something, these are just things I’m not exactly a fan of.

I’ve always been bad at anything that has to do with comedy (I’ve only recently learned to live and watch comedy films, I used to hate them a few years back), so maybe... crackfics? Ok, good crack makes me cry my eyes out because I’m laughing so much but it’s pretty hard trope for me. 

I’m also either so decent (or at least try to think I am, which is a lie, I’m far from it haahah) or old-fashioned that I’m very bad at PWP as well.  

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

@padfootagain she writes so good fluff! You can always trust that whatever she writes will cheer you up - and I often read her fics if I feel a bit down. She’s also one of my closest friends.

@something-tofightfor I love her way to tell the stories, her characters. I enjoy her style a lot. And she is also very cute human being.

@banditthewriter quite a lot like with the previous. I like the way she develops her stories and characters and always gives us something to wait for. She also seems so nice and genuine as a person. We don’t interact much but I still appreciate her a lot.

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Whoa, this is hard... This is really hard because most of the fics I read already tell the stuff I’d tell in prequels. Maybe sequel... To @padfootagain‘s A Recipe For Love, to see the life of Caspian and the reader. But I don’t even dare to touch that masterpiece!!

W: Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones?

Both are fine. I like prompts a lot, they help me but sometimes they also set me a trap haha! I tend to use more general ones myself and I’m fine with that. But if I find a list of some more specific ones and find it inspiring, why not?

X: A character you enjoy making suffer.

WHAT?? I hate to make any character suffer!! Ok, I’m a mascohist so maybe a bit but... No, that tells that I like to make the reader suffer? Because I’m not a sadist (even though, some of my friends might say so, they always say I’m killing them, so...). 

Y: A character you want to protect.

Caspian. Ryan Brenner. Steve Rogers. Billy Russo. Yes, you read right - Billy might not need my protection, but I’m doing it anyway. Paul “Jesus” Rovia is my dearest and I’ll fight for him. Tom Ward. Magneto. Athelstan. Sirius Black. Sam Winchester. All my actor babies. There are so many of them, they’re all my babies, I want to protect all of them!! (Logan, don’t look at me like that - yes, I’m protecting you too.)

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

... I hate the fact that every time I watch a movie or a show or even read a book, it’s 100% sure that my favorite character dies. Or if not 100&, then at least 85-90%. But, the happy thing is that most of the characters are not killed in fanfiction! I can read deaths, yes, but... They’re not nice things to read. I can also write deaths, still not my fave things to do. 

Want a list of these characters? Sirius Black, Billy Russo, Logan Delos, Kili, Fili and Thorin, Steve Rogers or any of the Avengers (don’t come at me, I know we all have been thinking about this)... This list could go on and on.

Tagging: @padfootagain @jennareedus @carol-damn-vers @something-tofightfor @dylanobrusso @suchatinyinfinity @whostheblondegirlwriting @loriwrites @breanime @princerussoand everyone else who wants to do this. Sorry for the double tags.

[all-hail-the-witcher]

you know I’m gonna hit u up with that sweet ralbert angst. song lyric to help you out? “tiLL SOMEONE GEtS huUUURRTTTTT” y’know that one belty one from world burn thanks please hurt my soul you’re so good at it—Fizz

alright, fizz, first of all, that line is from someone gets hurt, not world burn. not sure how you managed to mix that up, considering the song lyric you sent me is literally the name of the song

i actually thought about not posting this cause it has like every warning ever be careful kids

also it was further inspired by monster from frozen, bad at love by halsey, the a team by ed sheeran, and a pintrest prompt about person a saying that person b was just a drunk mistake and person b realizing person a didn’t drink all night

anyway read the warnings if anything triggers you don’t read it 

________________

ship: ralbert i guess

word count: 4684 eek

genre: angst with no happy ending

warnings: mentions of sex/hooking up but no explicit details, mentions of past prostitution/ abusive relationships, explicit cheating, drinking, someone running away, references to smoking, house parties, mentions of a parent leaving, I think that’s everything

editing: actually yes kinda

_________________

Albert woke up to someone yanking the covers off of him. “Not now, Elmer,” he mumbled. “Five more minutes.”

“I’m not Elmer.”

Albert’s eyes flew open to see none other than Spot Conlon standing at the foot of his bed, at least, he thought it was his bed. A quick scan of the room proved that yes, he was home. But that didn’t solve the problem of what the hell was Spot freaking Conlon doing in his room? He remembered at least two guys from last night, but he was fairly certain that Spot hadn’t been one of them.

“What the hell are you doing here? How did you get in here? How do you even know where I live?” Albert say up, very glad that he had fallen asleep in his clothes from last night and wasn’t naked right now.

Spot seemed generally unbothered as he casually pulled out his switch to clean under his nails. “I know a lot of things.”

Alright. Clearly that conversation wasn’t going to go anywhere. “Well can you at least tell me why you’re here?” He turned on his phone and saw that he had two missed texts from Elmer and three from Jordan.

“Dasilva,” Spot said forcefully, and Albert’s head snapped up. If Spot was going to stab him, he wanted to be ready for it. But Spot didn’t look like he wanted to stab anyone. His eyes were hard with - was that fear? And his switch dangled from his hand unmenacingly. Instinctively, Albert scooted backwards. “You were with Higgins last night.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Higgins? Albert thought. Racetrack Higgins? What had he been doing with Race last night? He’d never even talked to him before. Had he? Race had always intrigued him, he was his long time crush, but he was sure he would remember if he worked up the nerve to talk to him. Last night was still a bit of a blur.

“I was?” Albert looked at Spot skeptically. “I think I would remember if I talked to someone like him.”

In a flash, Spot had Albert pinned to the bed. He was so close Albert could smell the cigarette smoke on his breath. “Listen, kid, you were with Race last night. You were the only one. I don’t care how hungover you are right now. I need to know what happened.”

Maybe it was the familiar smell of cigarette smoke, but suddenly images flashed across Albert’s mind. Race laughing at something he had said. Race winking mischievously. Races lips on his.

“Yeah- yeah,” he stuttered. “Yeah I was with him last night.”

Spot smiled wickedly. “Well? What happened? What did you do to him?”

“What makes you think I did anything?” Albert shot back. Spot was really starting to get on his nerves. Obviously he had done stuff with Race, but he had consented. And he hadn’t been drunk either. Neither of them had. Sure they had both had a few beers, but neither of them had been at blackout level yet.

Spots face grew dark as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a green post it. In very messy handwriting was written the words: “it’s fine until someone gets hurt.”

Albert looked at Spot skeptically. “So?”

“So,” Spot said. “This was on my car this morning. That’s Races handwriting you dumbass. You did something to him. Something bad enough to make him run away.”

Albert could barely process what he was hearing. What made Spot think he was the reason Race left? Sure, he’d make a mistake, but it wasn’t bad enough to make some leave, much less someone he barely knew. “Why do you think I have anything to do with this?”

Spot took a deep breath. “Race has…..a long history with guys….and girls….and any kind of relationship actually now that I think about it.”

“So?”

Spots head snapped back to look at Albert. “Look, I’ll explain everything if you want me to. But you owe me details. You’re the reason my best friend is gone.” He made his way to the window, opened it and began to climb out. “Meet me at my house, 1 hour.” Then he shut the window.

Albert sighed, putting his face in his hands. It was far too early for this.

•••

55 minutes later Albert was dragging Elmer down a street on the rich side of town. He had gotten a text message - which he assumed was from Spot - telling him to come here.

“So he just showed up in your room while you were sleeping?” Elmer asked for the thousandth time.

“Yeah,” Albert said, looking at the numbers on the houses 501, 503, 505…. “I thought he was going to stab me or something.”

“And why are we going to his house again?”

509, 511, 513, yes. Albert turned into the driveway of a big white house with a nice porch and an old Land Rover and a black Harley in the driveway. “Cause he apparently wants details about last night since he’s convinced I did something to make Race leave.”

“Then why are you bringing me?” Elmer asked, following Albert onto the porch. “I don’t want to die.”

“Because your my best friend and you were there too dumbass, maybe you saw something happen that could save my ass.” Albert rang the bell and waited.

Exactly 5 seconds later the door was flung open by none other than Spot himself. He gave Albert and Elmer a small nod before gesturing that they should come in. The three of them said nothing as Spot led them up two flights of stairs to an attic loft that was clearly his room.

“Well well well. Look what the cat dragged in.” On the bed in the far corner, Romeo, Spot and Races other friend, was sprawled haphazardly, throwing a ball in the air and catching it over and over.

“Ro, please be nice,” Spot said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “We want them to help us, not scare them.”

Romeo ignored him. “I thought you said there would only be one of them.”

“Elmer’s here for protection and moral support,” Albert said quickly. “Plus he was there last night too.”

“I know he was there,” Spot said with a sickenly sweet smile. “And we don’t hurt people unless we have a reason to.”

Albert shivered and next to him Elmer looked scared.

“Now you’re scaring them,” Romeo sighed, sitting up on the bed. “Look, we just want to find Race. And we think you might be able to help us. So, we’re all going to piece together what happened last night and see if we can come up with anything, okay?”

Albert nodded, still slightly skeptical of the whole ordeal as he and Elmer took seats on the floor.

“Great,” Romeo clapped his hands together. “Spot you start.”

“Why me?” Spot groaned.

“Because we have to kinda give them a backstory so that the whole thing makes sense, otherwise they may leave out important details. Plus you’re a better storyteller than me.” He said the last part very fast.

“Fine. But no questions until the end.” Spot sighed. “So yesterday after school Race and Romeo come over…..”

•••

“Antonio. For the last time, you are not coming to the party and that is final,” Spot said, rummaging around on the top of his dresser for his hair gel.

“Why noooot,” Race whined, flopping backwards onto Spots bed.

“Cause you don’t have a very good track record with any place that involves people that you don’t know and alcohol,” Romeo supplied from where he was staring at his reflection in the mirror on the back of Spots door. “Heyyyy, I was using that!” Romeo complained as Spot pushed him out of the way so he could style his hair.

“Well first of all,” Race reasoned, “this is a high school party, and I’m a jock, I’m going to know everyone there. Second, I don’t drink anymore and you know that. And finally, I’m a senior, this is my last year to have fun please please pleeeeeaseeee.”

“Yes, of course I know you don’t drink,” Spot rolled his eyes. He had been there when Race had sworn off alcohol, he even had a signed piece of paper somewhere saying he would never drink again, at least until he was legal. “But, parties and drunk people and you don’t seem to mix well. It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.”

“Spoooooooot,” Race drawled. “I haven’t sold myself in a whole 9 months. And even if I did do that still, I wouldn’t be interested in doing it with someone I go to school with. I don’t need word of that getting around.”

Romeo looked over at Spot from where he was sprawled in Spots beanbag, scrolling through Instagram. “Just let him go, Spot. The two of us will be there. And it’s just a house party, not a club. What could possibly go wrong?”

Spot sighed. Romeo had a point. Race had been much better recently. Maybe he was ready. “Fine,” Spot agreed and Race jumped up, high fiving Romeo. “But no drinking, okay?”

“Okay,” Race agreed. “Thanks Spot!”

•••“Wait,” Albert said after Spot had finished. “What do you mean Race hasn’t sold himself in 9 months? What are you talking about?”

Spot and Romeo shared a look. The two seemed to have a silent conversation for several long moments before turning back to Elmer and Albert.

“This doesn’t leave this room,” Spot said and Albert and Elmer nodded. Spot took a deep breath. “Races mom left when he was around 13,” he began slowly. “And his dad didn’t make enough money for the two of them. So he told Race to get a job. Problem was, no one wanted to hire a 13 year old. So…..he sold himself to people. Mostly it was older men, women, anyone who wanted a play toy for a night. And he used that money to help his dad pay the bills. He doesn’t do it anymore, he got a job at the automotive shop with me when we were sophomores and stopped selling himself a few months later after his dad got a steady job.”

Albert was speechless. Beside him, Elmer spoke up. “So, Race was a prostitute?” he confirmed.

“Yeah, I guess,” Romeo said. “He never liked it when people called it that though.”

“That’s why you didn’t want him to go to the party,” Albert said. “You didn’t want him to return to his old habits.”

Spot and Romeo nodded.

Everyone was silent for a moment before Romeo spoke up. “Well, Dasilva,” he said. “It’s your turn. Tell us about the party.”

“Well, it started like any party….”

•••

By the time Albert and Elmer got to the party, it was already in full swing.

“Remind me why we’re here again?” Elmer shouted into his ear above the music.

“First party of senior year,” Albert shouted back. “We always go to the first party of the year.”

Elmer sighed dramatically, adjusting his white beanie. “Well, if we're gonna stick around here, I’m going to get a drink, want anything?”

“Yeah sure,” Albert said, pulling out his phone. Jordan had texted him three times. He cleared them without reading what they said.

A few minutes later, Elmer walked back over, handing him a red solo cup. Albert took a grateful sip.

“Did you see who just walked in?” Elmer asked, bumping his shoulder.

“No, who?” Albert asked, craning his neck to see around the swarms of teenagers.

“Spot, Romeo and Race,” Elmer said. “Doesn’t Race usually not come to these things?”

“Why would I know that?” Albert asked. “I don’t stalk him.”

“Yeah well, you’ve dragged me to enough of these things, and you totally have a crush on him.” Elmer took a sip of his drink. “And I just don’t ever remember seeing Race here. His friends, yes, but Race, no. And I know you’re interested. Why don’t you talk to him?”

“Shhh,” Albert punched him in the arm. “Here they come.”

The two of them moved out of the way as Spot, Race and Romeo walked by, in full Mean Girls plastic formation, Spot at the point and Ro-

•••

“Full plastic formation?” Spot shrieked unbelievably. “Do you just compare us to a teenage romance movie?”

“Well….yeah…..”  Albert mumbled.

“Never do that again,” Spot warned.

“What?” Romeo called from the bed. “I liked it.”

Spot shot him a look. “Just, skip to the part where you actually talked to Race, okay? And no more teen girl movie references.”

“Okay,” Albert opened his mouth to continue but was cut off by Romeo.

“Wait,” he said. “Who’s Jordan?”

Albert sighed and Elmer looked at the floor. “Jordan is my boyfriend,” he mumbled.

“YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND AND YOU HOOKED UP WITH MY BEST FRIEND?!” Spot yelled, banging his head on his dresser.

“I'M ABOUT TO BREAK UP WITH HIM!” Albert yelled back. “It’s not an excuse, but it’s long distance and it isn’t working, and I’m doing it tomorrow when he’s coming down, so….”

In a flash Spot was pulling Albert up by his collar and breathing in his face. “Tell me the truth, did Race know about Jordan.”

“I-I don’t think so,” Albert stuttered. The only thing he could focus on right now was the fact that Spot definitely had a switch in his pocket and could use it on him.

“Not thinking so and knowing so are two different things,” Spot hissed. “Now tell me, did he know.”

Albert thought back. He and Race had only been together for an hour and a half at tops and it had all happened so fast. There was a chance that Jordan had texted him and Race could have seen it, wait-

“Yeah, yeah he knew,” Albert said. “He saw a message from him on my phone.”

Spot didn’t let go of his collar. “What. Did. It. Say.” He demanded.

“I don’t remember,” Albert admitted. “Something like ‘cant wait to see you this weekend, baby.’ But it means nothing, I’m breaking up with him tomorrow, I swear.” Albert pleaded.

“Yeah,” Spot said, dropping Albert’s collar. “I believe you, but Race didn’t know that did he?”

“No,” Albert whispered, “he didn’t.”

Spot sighed. “Alright, so we neglected to mention the fact that not only was Race a prostitute, but the relationships he has had ended badly. Cheating, abuse, all that good stuff. So, that text he saw, out of context, didn’t help you. He doesn’t usually drabble in stuff like this,” he gestured to Albert, “at least, not seriously. That’s why he always is with new people every few days. He thinks if people are with him for only a short amount of time, he won’t get hurt.”

Albert hung his head. “Well if that’s true, then this is just the beginning…..”

•••

About an hour later, Albert bumped into Race on his way into the kitchen.

“Ooo, careful there, sweetheart,” Race smirked, placing a steadying hand on Albert’s shoulder. “Can’t have you wasted before midnight.”

Albert’s shoulder tingled where Races hand had been and he found himself staring into his deep blue eyes.

Albert laughed half heartedly. “I’m not wasted,” he corrected. “Just clumsy.”

“Ah, I see,” Race winked. “You're Albert Dasilva right? I think we have English together.”

“Yeah.” He currently had a C in English right now because all he did was stare at Race. “And you’re Racetrack Higgins, star of the football team and professional player.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m a professional player,” Race said, reaching up to fix his black beanie. “I just get around, ya know? Just date everyone until you find the right person, right? That’s my motto anyway.”

“Makes sense,” Albert agreed. It didn’t actually make sense, but he just wanted to agree with Race.  

“You know,” Race said, casually leaning against the wall behind him, his solo full solo cup dangling expertly from his fingers as he held it just under the rim. “I really like you, Dasilva. You seem like a cool guy, and you’re not too bad on the eyes either.”

“I don’t look nearly as amazing as you do,” Albert said before he could stop himself, taking in Races blue quilted vans, gray purposefully too short joggers, plain white T-shirt, camo jacket and dog tag necklace. The tips of his blonde curls were also peeking out from the brim of his beanie which Albert found very very attractive.

“Nah, this?” Race gestured to himself, “this is all show. Everyone expects me to be this massive ice queen or something, but it’s all fake.”

Albert didn’t quite understand what Race meant, but he chose to ignore it. “Do you want to go dance?”

“Dance?” Race waves him off. “I can show you a much better time than just dancing, pretty boy.”

•••

“Alright, I’m going to stop you right there. I don’t need details of your hookup with my best friend thank you very much,” Spot said as he paced back and forth in front of his bed. “As long as it was just a hookup and you didn’t pay him.”

“I didn’t pay him,” Albert promised.

“Wait,” Romeo said, rolling over to look at Albert. “Are you cute English class boy?”

“Huh?” Albert asked confusedly.

“Fuck, I think you’re right,” Spot said.

Elmer turned to Albert. “What are they talking about?” He whispered.

“Beats me,” Albert shrugged. Then, louder to Spot and Romeo, “Care to explain?”

“Well, after the first day of school, Race comes running up to us at the end of the day screaming about this cute guy in his English class. He never told us who it was, but it must be someone good considering how much he talks about them. And, since he mentioned English class to you, I’m assuming cute English boy is you.” Romeo said. He was about to continue but was cut off by the doorbell. He jumped up off the bed. “Ooo! That’s my food!” He said, running out the door.

Spot out his face in his hands. “Ro, how can you think of food at a time like this?”

“Maybe because it’s lunchtime?” Romeo called as he ran down the stairs.

Spot shook his head. “Anyway, yes you are definitely cute English boy.”

Albert felt his heart rate pick up, Race liked him? Really?

“But why does that matter?” Elmer asked.

“Because,” Spot explained. “Race doesn’t ever get crushes on people. He just dates people for the hell of it, makes out with them in his truck once or twice, and dumps them. He doesn’t want to get left behind like his dad was, so he always does the breaking up.”

“So,” Romeo said, coming back through the door with a plastic bag of take out cartons, “the fact that he not only basically told you his entire life is an act, but also hooked up with you is very very significant.” He plopped back on Spots bed and began to open his takeout, the smell of Chinese food filling the room.

“Ro, what the hell are you eating?” Spot asked incredulously.

“Sesame noodles,” Romeo said, using his chopsticks to shovel some into his mouth. “Want some?”

Spot pinched his nose, as he tried not to scream. “No, thanks.”

“Good,” Romeo reached into the bag again and pulled out another container. “Cause I got you fries. With, like, 15 packets of ketchup.”

Spot considered for a moment. “You know, now that you mention it, I am kinda hungry.” He crosses the room, accepting the fries.

Romeo turned to Albert and Elmer. “I got some pie also, you guys can have it if you want.”

“Actually, yeah, pie sounds great,” Albert said, accepting the container and digging in with Elmer.

After a few seconds, Elmer spoke up. “See, what I don’t get is, why is it unusual for Race to hook up with someone? Aren’t you guys, I don’t know, like…”

“Fuck boys?” Spot finished for him and Elmer nodded. “Well, Race was a prostitute, remember? Any kind of sex has bad memories attached to it, so if he and Albert did anything, he must have really liked him.”

“He did seem kinda hesitant,” Albert recalled. “But as soon as we got into it, I could tell he definitely had some experience.” He paused, taking another bite of his pie. “He did keep his shirt on though.”

“To hide his scars,” Romeo said, twirling a noodle around his chopsticks. “They’re mostly abuse, some self harm, he thinks they’re ugly.”

Albert’s stomach clenched. He couldn’t believe that someone who seemed as perfect and carefree as Race had such a tragic past.

“Alright,” Spot said, chomping on a fry. “Who saw Race next after the hookup?”

“Me,” Romeo said. “He came up to me in the kitchen, he seemed really happy…..”

•••

Romeo was sipping his third beer when Race barreled into him in the kitchen.

“Rooooooo!” Race yelled, attacking his best friend in a hug and sloshing his beer on the floor in the process.

“Hey Racer,” Romeo laughed. “Having fun?”

“Ooooh yeah,” Race smirked. His beanie was no longer on his head and his blonde hair was a mess, but he didn’t seem the least bit bothered by it. “Thanks for convincing Spottie to let me come.”

“Yeah, yeah, no problem,” Romeo said. He was beginning to realize that Race was not remotely acting like himself. “Are you okay, bro?”

“I’m fantastic,” Race said. “Best I’ve ever been,ever.”

“If you say so.” Romeo took a sip of his drink. “So, where’s the person you’ve been hanging out with?”

“What makes you think I’ve been with someone?” Race asked.

“Well, the only other explanation for your behavior is that you’re drunk, and I know you swore off alcohol years ago, so….” Romeo trailed off, looking at Race expectantly.

“Yeah, yeah, there is a guy,” Race mumbled. His cheeks flushed and his blue eyes sparkled. “He has to step out for a second.” He looked at his friend. “I- I really like him Ro.”

“That’s great!” Romeo exclaimed. “Who is-”

“Oh there he is!” Race cut him off, pointing toward a throng of people. Romeo squinted, fairly certain the guy he was pointing to in the blue sweatshirt was a usual at the skatepark. “I’ll catch you later, Ro!”

Romeo shook his head and went back to his drink, if Race had found someone, he was happy for him.

•••

“So here’s what I don’t understand,” Spot said. “How did Race go from being happy go lucky, to skipping town in a matter of hours?” He glared at Albert. “What did you do to him?”

Albert shook his head. After hearing about Race’s past there was no way he could even bring himself to tell Spot and Romeo what had happened. There was no way. They would kill him. Or he would break down crying.

“I’ll finish it,” Elmer said, placing his hand on Albert’s shoulder. “I saw the whole thing happen.”

Albert mouthed a “thank you” to his best friend.

“Alright,” Spot said. “Don’t leave anything out.”

Elmer nodded and opened his mouth. “So Albert came back inside after he got off the phone…”

•••

“Hey Al,” Elmer said as his friend came back inside. “Who was that on the phone?”

“My boss,” Albert groaned. “He needs me to cover someone’s shift Monday.”

“Hm, that sucks.”

Then, a boy, Finch, Elmer thought, ran up to Albert.

“Yo! Al!” He said loudly, clearly drunk. “How’ve you been bro?”

“Pretty good I- mmmph” Albert was cut off by Finch's lips connecting with his aggressively. Albert flailed around for a second before giving up and kissing him back.

Elmer shook his head. Albert really didn’t have any impulse control. He politely looked the other way and caught sight of Racetrack Higgins standing about 5 feet away, looking like he’d been hit by a truck. Vaguely, he wondered if that was who Albert had been spending time with that night. It would explain the strange encounters he had had with Spot and Romeo that night.

Albert seemed to notice Race standing nearby because he shoved Finch off and approached him.

“Hey,” Albert said, reaching out to touch Races shoulder, but he sidestepped to avoid his hand. “Ready for part two?”

Elmer stared at the two of them in disbelief. Had they hooked up already? They had barely been at the party for an hour and a half.

“You know,” Race said. “People forget I’m human. They see all this,” he gestured to himself, “and don’t see that it's self defense. You could have set me free, maybe.”

Elmer cocked his head as he listened to the conversation. What Race was saying didn’t make any sense.

“Huh?” Albert said. “Let’s get out of here, okay?”

Elmer saw Race hesitate. Then Albert’s phone, which was still in his hand from the phone call lit up with a text message. The only person who could possibly be texting him right now was Jordan. For the sake of everyone involved, Elmer hoped that Albert had already broken up with him.

Races hand reached out for Albert’s phone. “What- are you-” he began, but was cut off by Albert slapping his hand away. It must have been hard because Elmer could hear the crack of skin on skin over the music.

“Don’t touch my stuff,” Albert hissed and Race took a step back, holding his hand to his chest.

“You were just a drunk mistake,” he spat. Then, quieter, to himself, “Spot was right.” Then he turned on his heel and calmly walked out of the room.

Albert walked over the Elmer. “What was that all about?” he asked.

“I guess he doesn’t want a round two,” Albert said simply.

“But hey!” Elmer said, slapping Albert on the back. “At least you got a round 1! Good job, bro!”

Albert smiled. “Yeah you’re right. I’ll talk to him on Monday. Maybe even get his number. But right now,” he grabbed Elmer’s arm. “I need another drink.”

•••

Albert lifted his head as Elmer finished. Of course, now he understood why what he had done was wrong. Heck, he’d probably scarred Race for life.

“He called me a drunk mistake,” Albert mumbled quietly. “But he didn’t even drink anything all night.”

There was silence for several long minutes.

“Wow,” Spot said finally in a voice that was eerily calm. “You really fucked up.”

“You don’t think I don’t know that?” Albert yelled. “I didn’t know he’d been cheated on, or abused! If I had I wouldn’t have done any of that!”

“YOU LITERALLY KISSED ANOTHER GUY RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM!” Spot yelled.

“I KNOW!” Albert yelled back. “BUT WE HAD ONLY HOOKED UP! WE WEREN'T EVEN DATING I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BOTHER HIM!”

“BUT YOU ALSO HAVE A BOYFRIEND!” Spot added. “YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND, YOU HOOKED UP WITH RACE, AND YOU KISSED SOMEONE ELSE!”

“Spot please,” Romeo said, standing up and putting his hands on Spots shoulders. “It happened, there’s nothing you can do about it now.”

“You- you hit him,” Spot choked out, all of his anger evaporating. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. “Do you know how long it look for him to recover from the last time someone hit him accidentally?” He paused and Albert shook his head. “Months,” he said. “He wouldn’t even let us touch him. He’s been through so much. And now he’s gone. He could be anywhere by now. He could even be dead. All because of you.”

Spot crossed the room and knelt down I from of Albert’s face, his teary brown eyes glaring into Albert’s soul. “I will find him. And when I do, you will apologize for what you did. And then you are not allowed to talk to him ever again.” He stood up and gestured for Albert and Elmer to leave.

“I hope you’re happy!” Spot called as Albert and Elmer walked out the door. “I hope that sex he gave you was worth all this.”

____________________

oooooof what did i just create

see kiddos this is why wou should fear the Ralbert Angst Duo™️ when we are together, nothing is illegal

there will be fluff after this to make up for all the pain this may have caused

wow i really hope i wrote this right

fizz i hope you’re happy about this

feedback is always appreciated hmu via ask to to be on the tag list

tag list

@fairly-awkward-trashcan

@well-the-kids-do-too

@racetrackcook

@bouncyscreamingnewsboys

@ughwaitwhat

@aw-jus-let-em-try

@ben-cook-can-cook

@the-woild-is-my-what-now

@elmer-s-s0cks

@voice-foundshoe-lost

@galaxy-trees13

@stopthe-presses

@ridin-in-style

@pinecovewoods

@imjusttheoutgoingsidekick

@i-got-no-clue-what-im-doing

@bencookisagod

@be-more-chill-evan-hansen

@hellasoulless

[sapphicscholar]

November 2024

“And CNN can now project that former Governor Catherine Grant will become the President Elect of the United States. By our estimates, she now has more than enough votes to become the 47th president, the country’s second female president, and the first out LGBTQ president. Folks, this is a historic moment.”

The rest of the commentator’s words were drowned out in a roar of cheering as Cat strode out on stage in front of a room packed full of her supporters. Miniature American flags waved in outstretched hands. Red, white, and blue balloons bobbed through the air above them and fell, scattering across the stage. And rainbow confetti—the one “fun” choice Cat had allowed Kara—floated down from the ceiling. Cat kept one hand on Carter’s arm, her other hand clutched in Kara’s, her fingers trembling slightly, still not quite sure whether she could believe the results. After all, it had only been four years ago when she had walked out on stage to give a rather different speech after a long night of contested results and too-close-to-call-it-yet moments that finally ended after 4 in the morning with a slightly uncertain calling of the election for General Lane.

“It’s real,” Kara murmured, and Cat squeezed her hand just a little harder at the reminder that Kara had always been the one to know exactly what she needed to hear. With a quick peck for Kara and a tight hug for Carter, Cat strode forward to the podium, waving at the crowds and calling out her thanks until the tumultuous applause finally died down. She smiled as it quieted, adjusting the microphone and glancing down at the speech she had prepared, hoping but not quite believing she would have reason for it this time.

“Thank you!” Cat shook her head the slightest amount, still wondering if perhaps it was all some dream she would wake up from, finding the election night still to come. “Thank you all for your support and your donations and your hours and hours of tireless campaigning. And now—now we’re here.”

Kara threw an arm around Carter’s shoulders as they watched and listened from the wings, cheering and laughing and clapping at the lines they had listened to Cat practice the night before. “She’s pretty great, huh?” Kara whispered, earning a low chuckle from Carter.

“Think I can get off work tomorrow since my mom’s president and all?”

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “I’m calling off work tomorrow with a case of First-Lady-itis.”

With a snort, Carter shook his head. “You’re the boss. Of course you can call out.”

Not that Kara took off many days. Or any days, really. After the last campaign ended, she had turned down several offers to return to the Senate as a chief of staff or to manage another campaign. The work with Cat had been enjoyable and meaningful, but after watching and living through the dirty smear campaigns and invasive personal attacks, Kara decided she needed to step back and return to the kind of work that had inspired her to turn to politics in the first place. After a year as a senior researcher at one of DC’s progressive think tanks, Kara had applied for grants and gotten seed money from L-Corp’s philanthropic arm to found an NGO dedicated to advancing alien rights and promoting interspecies dialogue—something she saw an increasingly urgent need for in the face of the Lane administration’s attempts to roll back protective measures like the Alien Amnesty Act. But now the country seemed ready to arc back toward justice, and Kara knew, no matter how late they were out that night, she would head into the office for at least an hour or two the next day to be sure they had put out a statement about Cat’s victory.

By the time Cat finished with the speech and started working her way through seemingly countless interviews with the press, most people finally headed home, leaving the large venue quiet after a night of nervous chatter and raucous applause. At a certain point, Carter snuck in for a hug and yet another congratulations while Cat was between interviews, excusing himself to get a nap in before he had to fly back to the West coast.

James likewise caught an early flight back to California after Cat sent him off with a teasing admonishment to “keep my legacy alive, Jimmy.” Even with assurances that he had CatCo’s best reporters on it and had vetted the proofs of the front page himself, James still ended up heading back out, sighing about how the work of a CEO was never done.

Around the time the sun was beginning to rise, bathing the city in a soft pink light, Kara found a very drunk Alex and an only marginally more sober Maggie making out behind the bar and celebrating the return of a liberal to the White House. After taking a few photos for posterity’s sake, Kara shuffled them outside and instructed two of the hired security guards to take them back to their house, leaving them both with stern reminders to drink plenty of water.

“Can you take us to Shake Shack?” Alex slurred as she flopped into the back seat behind Maggie. “They got great fries. Maggie likes fries. Didja know that? Veg’tarians can have fries at burger places.”

“We’ll get you fries at some point today,” Kara promised as she shut the door behind Alex, rolling her eyes as Maggie dropped her head into Alex’s lap, already half asleep.

While Kara waited for Cat to finish her final interviews, she scrolled through her texts and emails, smiling at all the happy messages waiting for her from Eliza, who promised that she had been watching live from the Grant campaign headquarters in California, and Winn, who included several photos of Americans following the coverage in Germany with the caption: “SO PROUD OF YOU!! Time to go: they’re buying shots. Gonna be so hungover for day 3 of the conference…”

Kara’s phone rang with a call from Lucy and Vasquez as Cat sat down with the last of the interviews that Jasmine had arranged. With a little wave to Cat, Kara gestured at her phone and the back corner of the room before wandering away from the cameras to take it. As she slid her finger across the screen, she couldn’t help the excited squeal. “Good news?”

“Double good news!” Vasquez cheered. “Don’t think we didn’t watch the coverage just because we couldn’t be there in person.”

“Little asshole had to choose the most inconvenient time to arrive,” Lucy grumbled in the background, earning a loud bark of laughter from Vasquez.

“Don’t mind her. She’s still a little grumpy from the 18 hours of labor.”

“‘A little grumpy?’” Kara had to hold the phone away from her face as Lucy yelled. “You try shoving a 7-pound lump out of your—”

“Congratulations!” Kara cut in.

“Thank you!” they both called back, and Kara had to chuckle at the dramatic shift in tone.

“Got a name?”

“Nope.”

“He’s baby X for now.”

“And he’s really fucking cute.”

“Okay, well, he’s kinda weird-looking, but they promise that he’ll be looking a little less alien in a couple of days. No offense, Kara.”

“None taken. I guess.”

“He’s so little. Did you know how little they are?”

“But he’s got, like, these itty-bitty fingernails and everything. Like…he’s a full human, only miniature.”

“But with big blue eyes. I don’t think they’ll stay blue, but they’re beautiful for now.”

“And so much hair. I kinda hope it falls out…might be nice to start again without a big shaggy mop of it.”

“They said it would.”

Kara snorted at the back-and-forth, wondering how long the two of them had been awake at that point. “I think Cat’s wrapping up, so I should probably go, but congratulations again!”

“Congrats to Cat too!” Vasquez cheered.

“Yes! About damn time.”

“Hopefully we’ll make it out to see the baby in the next couple of days, if you don’t mind a big team of security stalking out the perimeter of your house.”

“Go for it. And you know, if they want to take out the trash or pick up some diapers while they’re at it, I hear we’re gonna want all the extra help we can get.”

“Well I’m sure baby X’s godmothers will be more than happy to babysit once they’ve recovered from their collective hangover from hell,” Kara snickered.

“That bad?”

“Oh, I took pictures. Don’t worry.”

Lucy let out a little hum. “Can always count on you for that.”

“I think I might save these ones for the next big birthday party, though…” Kara grinned at the thought of the sheer number of humiliating photos she had saved up for that moment. “Anyway, I’ll let you go, but have a safe trip home from the hospital and give baby X a kiss for me okay?”

“Of course!”

Once Kara hung up, she ambled back over to where Cat was gathering her things and stretching after too many hours spent standing in heels. Throwing Cat’s bag over her shoulder, Kara extended her free hand. “Can I take you home, President Grant?”

“Please.”

December 2024

“God, accounting for a security detail for the president-elect is such a pain in the ass,” Alex grumbled as she pulled out the pegs of the seating chart for what felt like the hundredth time.

Maggie laughed as she wrapped her arms around Alex’s waist and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “Still better than accounting for the security detail of the actual president, isn’t it?”

“Oh yes, because bumping up the timeline for the wedding by four months was so much easier.”

“You’re the one who insisted on having Kara as your maid of honor, and you can’t just not invite her wife.”

“We should have gotten married before them.”

“Please, you had so much fun giving Kara shit for U-Hauling with Cat after only a year. You wouldn’t have given that up for a slightly easier go of it ourselves.”

Alex let out a long sigh. “Maybe not.” After a moment she added, “But I still think Kara should be doing some of this work.”

“Well then tell her so over dinner.”

“Oh yeah, let’s think about how that’ll go. Hey, Kara? Be a dear. In between running an organization and preparing to move into the White House and making decisions about the inauguration and the ball, could you also figure out this seating chart?”

“You forgot to add in that we could really use the extra time for ourselves since your fiancée is kind of irresistible.”

“Mm yes. That too.” Alex’s eyes fluttered shut as Maggie kissed her softly, their hands twining together.

A knock at the door interrupted them. “Coming,” Alex called out, squeezing Maggie’s hand one last time before making her way over to the front door. She swung it open to reveal Lucy and Vasquez, both of them looking a little worn for wear. Lucy had a diaper bag slung over her shoulder, and Vasquez held an infant carseat in one hand, a bottle of wine in the other.

“Hey! Come in, come in, it’s so good to see you.”

They followed Alex inside, waving at Maggie as she rounded the corner. As Vasquez set the carseat on the ground, Lucy grimaced at the sound of a little whimper.

Alex leaned forward, unbuckling the straps and lifting the baby up, settling him into the crook of her elbow as she cooed at him. “Oh, come here, little Alex. Your godmother’s got you.”

Lucy pursed her lips and glared. “It’s A.J.”

“Mm, but I believe one of those names could be shorted to Alex. And really, I’m still so flattered that you named your son after me.”

Vasquez’s lips twitched as Lucy groaned. “It was a family name.”

“Say whatever you want to, Luce, but me and little Alex are always gonna know the truth.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows at Maggie. “She’s insufferable, you know that, right?”

“Considering we’re getting married in a couple weeks, I think I know that by now.” Maggie raised herself up to her tip-toes to kiss away the crinkle in Alex’s forehead. “But I love you more than anything.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re lucky I’m holding a baby.”

“And you’re welcome to borrow him anytime you want.”

Vasquez shook her head. “She says that now, but she’s secretly a big softie with him at home.”

Before Lucy could respond, the sound of several SUVs pulling up drew their attention outside. “Cat’s here!” Alex called out. “Maggie, can you deal with the security team?”

Eventually Cat and Kara made it inside, and after a round of passing A.J. around to everyone, Lucy got him to fall asleep in his carseat in time for dinner. When she got back, Vasquez patted the seat next to her, throwing her arm around Lucy’s shoulders and kissing her temple.  

Alex raised her glass in the air. “A toast to little Alex!”

“Also known as A.J.,” Maggie chimed in, winking at Vasquez across the table as they clinked their glasses.

“And to the soon-to-be-married couple for hosting us tonight,” Cat added, earning another round of clinking glasses.

“And, excuse me, let’s not fucking forget,” Lucy cut in, “to the next President of the United States of America.”

“Cheers!” the table chorused.

“Here’s to an overdue victory!”

“And eight long years in the White House!”

[peggyfromtheblockk]

Get to Know the Blogger

Hey! So, I’ve realized aside from a few comments here and there, I haven’t really talked on here at all! This sad thought made me realize it was time to share a lot of unnecessary stuff so maybe you can get a basic--detailed--idea of who I am. So here’s a bunch of word vomit and feel free to come talk to me, I promise I’m a lot nicer than a lot of my answers make me seem lol

Name: You can call me E.

Age: 20

Zodiac sign: Aries

Height: 5’7

Languages spoken: English but I do remember a few random words of Spanish

Nationality & Location: American and Michigan

Work: Currently working in the infant room at a daycare

Favorite fruit: Blueberries

Favorite scent: Lavender, vanilla, or apple

Favorite animal: I really love otters and llamas

Favorite fictional character: Dana Scully of course (though, I do have a soft spot for Stella Gibson)

Favorite candy: KitKat’s but currently I’ll devour almost any chocolate given to me

Favorite holiday: Christmas and Halloween. But probably Halloween more because I love the prep and the actual day, whereas I just really love the prep for Christmas

Favorite season: I really like autumn because my hometown and college towns are so beautiful but I love spring because I love everything coming back to life

Favorite Social Media? Twitter, but like, stan twitter

Favorite thing about where you live? I just love that I have some of my favorite people within literal minutes of me. It’s a really comforting feeling. And we have a fair every year which is gross but entertaining at the same time

Favorite swear word? Probably shit, but fuck and damn do escape quite often

What are you listening to:  As of right now When I Kissed The Teacher from MM2

What Books Are You Reading? I have three books I haven’t finished and haven’t touched in like two months. We, Beaches, and Yes Please

What Time Do You Usually Go To Bed? Around 1 in the morning usually

What Makes You Happy? A lot of things, though I don’t always realize that. I’m usually an “It’s the little things” person too. BUT to answer, Gillian and msr never fail to make me happy

What Are You Craving Right Now? I could smash a plate of spaghetti right now

What Is Your Gender? Female (she/her pronouns)

What Is Your Sexuality? Bisexual but I’m definitely like 85% women, 15% men

What’s The Next Movie You Want To See In Theaters? MAMMA MIA 2 IM SO EXCITED

What Eye Colour Do You Find Sexiest? I’m a sucker for blue eyes

What Do You Wear To Bed? A tee and shorts usually but if I’m in The Mood I’ll wear just a tee (Yes, That Mood)

What Sounds Are Your Favourite? I love the sound of a campfire and babies laughing or babbling literally melts my heart

What’s the first thing you notice about people? Usually, their eyes but I’m drawn to those with a bright genuine smile

What’s something that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Being With My People. They never fail to make me feel warm and fuzzy. Also when I get a cute little note from my favorite professor on an assignment because she is like the light of my life  

What are your hobbies? When I’m not in school I like to read and I’m able to write some. During school, you can find me watching x files, sleeping, or enjoying movies or music

What’s your favorite book? I love anything by Laurie Halse Anderson and really anything in the YA genre

What inspires you? Gillian is really inspiring to me because of all the work she does to help others. Bette Midler too

What’s your favorite place in the whole world? well, ok. So, I love Mackinac Island because it’s so beautiful and peaceful (even with thousands of tourists covering the tiny location) but I also just love when I’m with my people. When I’m with one of My People wherever we are, that’s my favorite place because I’m really happy. Also, I really love my work because nothing exists outside those four walls except the babies I take care of

What do you typically have for breakfast? A big cup of coffee and the occasional bagel or bowl of cereal

What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep? The first semester of my sophomore year I had this 60-70 page case study due for the end of the term for an education class. For at least a week I would stay up until about 5 am working on it, go to sleep, get up at 7:30 am and do it all over again. That’s been my most stressful and sleep deprived time of my life so far and just looking bad makes me shudder. At least I got a 99% on it

What makes you angry? A lot of things. Let’s not get into that.

What makes you nervous? Uh, everything. But thinking about the real part of my future (bills, working, adulting) really gets me going

Do you wear glasses: Yes and these specific frames fucking suck and my eyes keep getting worse (my doctor told me I’d need surgery before I turned 30, wtf thanks dude)

Do You Have Freckles? Yes and it used to bother me how many I have but thanks to fics that mention Scully’s, I’ve become fond of them

Do You Sing In The Shower? When my family or suitemates aren’t home, then yes I usually belt it all out but usually, I stick to humming

Do You Collect Anything? Postcards and shot glasses. And llama things now too apparently

Do You Prefer To Swim In A Pool Or The Ocean? Pool because it’s clean and I can see the bottom

Do You Study Better With Or Without Music? It depends on the subject or the task but I almost always need some type of constant sound

Do You Save Money Or Spend It? Save it usually but I also tend to spend it all on a big impulse purchase

Do You Have Any Obsessions Right Now? That’s why I’m here lmao

Do You Have Strange Dreams? Alright so I just started taking Zoloft and before it, my dreams would be weird but like unrealistic-weird, like having-a-bad-trip-weird. But since starting the med, my dreams have become realistically-weird, like sometimes I wake up and question if that all really happened

Do You Make Your Bed In The Morning? When I’m at school, yes, but when I’m home I usually just say fuck it because I’ll be back in it at least 8 more times

Do You Like To Read / Write? I love to read (fics, duh) but I do try my hand at writing but I struggle to finish anything and I’m terrified to post any of my work on here

Do You Have Any Homework Right Now? If So, What Is It About? YES and it’s just barely halfway into summer break and I’ve got a huge assignment due the first day back

Do You Get Homesick? Sometimes but I really do love my college life and wouldn’t change it

Do You Wear Jeans Or Sweats More? A mix but because of work, jeans most days

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Sarcasm is my middle name

Do you believe in miracles? Yeah I think so

Do you have any special talents? I don’t think so but I’m good at taking care of kids. Sometimes my supervisor calls me the baby whisperer lol

Do you have any pets? Three cats and a dog and some succulents

Do you have any siblings? A little (half) brother and then technically I have four other half-siblings but they don’t know I exist

Do you believe in the paranormal? Absolutely. A big secret of mine….I actually could, and sometimes still can interact with spirits...Just call me Mrs. Spooky

Do you play any instruments? Nope but somehow I have managed to have a guitar and a keyboard in my possession. I do sing though and was in choir for 7 years

Do you have any crushes? Do celebrities or fictional characters count? If no, then no

Do you have any bad and/or anxious habits? I just have panic attacks a lot lmao and I tend to get really bitchy and mean when I’m anxious which I feel bad about but I can’t stop it

Do you believe in anything enough to fight for it? My right to marry whoever I want and have kids with whoever I want and be in control of my body. There’s probably more but those have been on my mind today

Do you keep a journal? Yeah a few actually but I lose motivation after a little bit and it takes so much to start it over

Do you like your age? Yes and no. I’m an adult which is cool and all but like….most of my friends are old enough to drink and it really pisses me off that I’m 9 months short of legally doing that. I’m super responsible and mature for my age like what will 9 months do to change that? It’s just stupid that I can join the military and go thousands of dollars into debt but I can’t have a glass of wine with my mom at a block party. UGH. American laws  S U C K

Do you like your own name? Yes, I love my name. When I was a kid I hated it, I didn’t get the sentiment of being named after someone. I finally got the sentiment around the time my grandma started getting sick. Now that she’s gone, I know just how blessed I am to carry on the legacy of my full name and try to make her proud.

Do you have any scars? Oh plenty, I’m really clumsy. My most notable is the one on my thumb from a freak childhood accident that nearly cut my entire thumb pad off. What a wild time

Do you have a strong accent? I’m from Michigan so apparently, I have a strong Midwestern accent but I don’t hear it. But anytime I’m on the phone/skyping with my friend from Missouri, she always points it out and laughs

Do you talk to yourself? Probably too much but also not in the way that I think is expected. I’m just constantly talking in my head like a constant tv interview about whatever the fuck I’m thinking about which 99% of the time is msr lol

Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: All of the above

Beer or wine or neither: W I N E

When was your blog created: I knew this was the place to find the best gifs and fics and I wanted to be in the fandom more since I’m so new. Also, I wanted to try my hand at fic writing but I continue to lose the motivation or the courage to write/post

Last movie you’ve seen: Hotel Transylvania is pretty much on repeat in my house thanks to my little brother, so most likely it’s that

First job: My first job was customer service/field hand on a blueberry patch but my first legit legal job is/was at a daycare

Pet peeve: The first I can think of is slow walkers because I walk so fast because my legs are like a mile long

The color of your eyes: Green but they used to be giant sky-blue saucers

Night owl/day person: I don’t like getting up before 9 but past midnight I’m a grouch

Tattoos:  None yet, but I have two planned, it’s just a matter of money and timing

Like to cook: Not really but I can cook enough to survive which is typical for college

Grab The Book Nearest To You, Turn To Page 20 Give the last two lines: “Action: Today I will be kind to myself. Affirmation: This is who I am, and I feel glad to be me” - We

Last Person You Cried In Front Of? I cried while holding a baby at work because my shift is changing so things will be different and also my hormones are really out of whack right now

If You Were A Crayon What Colour Would You Be? Any shade of purple

Name One Movie That Made You Cry: Beaches is my go-to crying movie, same goes for Steel Magnolias (what a typical answer, I know)

If I Handed You A Concert Ticket Right Now, Who Would You Want The Performer To Be? Cher, Reba, DD, Bette Midler or Straight No Chaser. Reba especially though because she’s going to be near me soon but it's a 21+ event and I’m nine months short of that so I’m really pissed I can’t go

Would You Rather Carve Pumpkins Or Wrap Presents? Carve pumpkins but I do a damn good job wrapping too

Did You Like Swinging As A Child? Do You Still Get Excited When You See A Swing Set? I loved it even though it made me sick. There’s a park down the street from my campus so if I’m really upset, I’ll go down there and blast my headphones and swing until I forget what’s happening. It’s really therapeutic

Name Something That Relaxes You: I have some relaxing instrumental playlists and I’ll put one of them on, turn on my lavender oil diffuser, and hop in a nice hot shower (and the hot water at college doesn’t run out so I can pretty much be in there for like ever really) or I’ll watch a fav movie that tends to soothe me

Scary movie or happy endings? Happy endings give me life. The fluffier the better

When was the last time you cried? I’m sure I’ve cried today and just don’t remember. There’s literally not a day that goes by that I don’t shed tears but I literally cry so easy (This video or this video will make me cry almost instantly)

Where would you like to visit? I’ve wanted to visit Barcelona and California since I was a kid but in the past 4 years I’ve really wanted to visit New York and Greece

Describe your favorite people in the whole world? I’ll just sum all five of them up with they literally make me feel so warm, happy, and validated. I love them so much I could cry just thinking about them. And don’t get me started with Gillian because I do often cry when I think  about her I just really love her a lot ok

Who would be your ideal partner? Gillian Anderson, Dana Scully, or Fox Mulder of course. No, but I want someone who’s like me morals/humor wise

Most used phrase? Right now I’m really into saying “Yikes” but “god fucking dammit” leaves my mouth A LOT

Most used word? Probably “like” as much as I hate to admit it

Extrovert or Introvert? Introvert 100% except when I’m with My People of course because I feel comfortable with them

Who was your first real crush? I had plenty of crushes during early school years but I think my first real one was on a school employee. Wowza I was head over heels for her and the very obvious knew-it-was-coming heartbreak hurt a lot

How many piercings do you have? Just my first holes in my ears but I’ve been thinking about getting my Helix pierced (upper portion of the ear)

How do you deal with stress? Uhhhh I panic first lol. I tend to listen to music—very specific songs that I know will drown out the anxiety/stress, or sometimes I’ll write what I’m feeling, go for a walk, read an absolute favorite fic in my list, watch x files, or I’ll just scroll through my thousands of pictures of GA lol

How many pillows do you sleep with? Three, sometimes four and then I have four accent pillows when I make my bed. Too many, as I’ve been told by everyone

Have you ever been to the hospital? Been to? Yes, plenty of times. Been in/admitted? No, thankfully

Have you ever met any celebrities? In 2016 I went to a rally for Hillary that Cher was speaking at so like…I was in the same room as her. AND THEN my friend shoved me up to her path as she was leaving and she touched my hand and I literally nearly passed out

Have you ever been in a position of authority? I am always deemed the mom friend so I’ll let you figure out that answer...

Have you ever drank underage? Yeah but nothing crazy. I just really like my wine. The craziest I’ve ever gotten was after I turned in that case study, I chugged half a bottle of wine (on an empty stomach), got bad heartburn, and then went to bed for like 14 hours

Are You Easily Influenced By Other People? Depends on the person, but I’d have to say no unless it’s Gillian/Scully/Stella

Are You A Picky Eater? I say yes, but compared to my brother and my uncle, no

Are You A Heavy Sleeper? Usually yes

Are Both Of Your Blood Parents Still In Your Life? Just my momma, but I do see my *gag* father around my hometown every now and again

Are you religious? Not really. I used to go to church a few years back, and then went to another church which ruined a lot of stuff for me and then I went through some tough stuff that made me question, idk

Are you a good liar? I like to think so (I say that as if lying is something I should be proud of), at least to everyone but my mom because I swear I can pull off the best lie ever and she always sees right through me

Are you a clean or messy person? My home life is messy. My room is trashed but the things that are put away are organized. But life at college is completely opposite, my dorm is very clean and organized and I clean it top to bottom every weekend

If you made it this far, thank you for putting up with my crazy long first post, and I’m sorry that I practically vomited my thoughts into a jumbled mess but I wanted to share myself with you! 

[aharris00britney]

ASKS 04

wow I let this build up didn’t I.... updates on the ViVi inspired hair, Sim download info, some sweet people, some K-Pop, and other stuff below

@agentwashsims​ said: I️ knew you wouldn’t disappoint on the curly hairs!

Thank youu! lmao it is a pretty basic edit but I’m glad you like it ;-;

Anonymous said: Could you convert the solid colored EA Cruella DeVille style for girls or tots?

Actually it has already been converted HERE (warning: she uses an ad thing :( )

@pierce-the-rachel​ said: Okay hello I just love your cc so much!!! Like you're amazing I what you do. Much love<3   

Thank you so much omgg I am not nearly close to being amazing but I appreciate it <3

Anonymous said: Hi! Is there any chance your sim that modeled the Braxton hair will be up for download? Along with his cc?

Yes! In the next week he 100% will be. Taylor will be posted tomorrow :)

Anonymous said: What skin do you use on your male models? It looks the same as the female one but I can’t find it in CAS.

Check my resource page for my default. I don’t have the overlay labeled on there but in the next few days when I have my male model for download it will be listed there.

Anonymous said: I love your whistle skinny jeans alot, I was wondering if you were ever thinking about making one without the jacket around the waist? Sorry for wasting your time :P

That is sadly out of my ability :( but I am glad u like my whistle skinny jeans!! Not a waste of time to give someone a compliment

Anonymous said: Not exactly an ask but. I love your cc, you create beautiful content, and no matter what others say someone is gonna like it :)

Thank you soooo much omfg I really fucking appreciate stuff like this.

Anonymous said: Your creations are so awesome! I always love coming to your page and seeing all of your amazing creations!!

Thank you!!!!!! omg I feel bad that I never respond to these until I do these things, you guys that send these prob think I ignore them ;-; but for the people who read these and who send them: I really appreciate it like so much ;-; it has been a meh couple of weeks which is why CC has been slow but I love you all so much <3

@raivynmoon​ said: Omg why do you always get so much hate from anons? I’ll tell you why, because you’re doing things right and toxic people get jealous. Don’t mind the haters, you’re amazing! Happy new year ❤️ 

I actually don’t get that much hate! I never really pay them any mind bc I know as long as it is something I like that I will release it. People do def prob get jealous they can’t mesh stuff that well, not saying I am the god at it, but I do have some talent in that area from doing it for a while. Happy new year to you too!!! and thank you for the ask <3

Anonymous said: hey i just want to say that all of your cc is amazing, you put so much time and effort into it. of course everyone can give you feedback and opinions about what you make, but you are the creator so you can do whatever you want with it. that anon below was just rude, inconsiderate, and isn’t really helping anyone. that person obviously doesn’t make cc hair, because im sure then they would understand and not be a total jerk about it. maybe they should just stick to makeup, instead of hating.

<-- what she said (thank youuu)

Anonymous said: well I think that all of the hair you make is really great, even if not everyone likes it. You spend so much time making these amazing hairs and shout-out to the person below: why would you waste your time hating on somebody else’s hard work when you could be creating makeup cc? You don’t put your effort and time into creating this kind of stuff, of course I know you were also giving feedback.

Thank you <3

Anonymous said: THE HAIR IS CUTE AF

Anonymous said: Wcif the hair in your "In The Time Spent With You" post? Thank you!♡

Deleted :( I never got it to look how I wanted so I never finished it

Anonymous said: I'd just like to say that the hair looks pretty, honestly your hairs are always high quality and never fail to dissapoint, I'd just say that it could be a little puffier on the sides, and over all ignore the haters, they probably couldn't make anything close to what you're making! Luvs. 

Thank you!! I tried puffing the sides up some, here is a comparison pic:

(brown is now) (blonde is before)

@twirlyb​ said: I love the idea of the hair and I think it looks good so far but so you think that there's anyway to add for volume? I love the hair that it's based on and I really want to have it in game. I Completely understand if it's not an option but I though I would ask anyway. Btw I think your hairs are amazing. I went mostly cc free for a while (not anymore could handle not having cc but) and the only things I kept were my defaults and some of your hairs that I absolutely can not live without.

Refer above lmao

@cutesimmer23​ said: Hi , anonimus , I have a message for you. If you think Austin's cc is trashy , it's just your opinion. His ccs are one of my top favourites , and I support him in all that he does , even if that's not too good. He tries to do something and , even it's not perfect at the first time , he tries to perfect it. I really love his cc . And I have something more to say. If you are that good at cc give Austin a message (not anonimously) and then we will see who's the best. We love you, Austin!

Thank you <3 You're lovely for sending me this

Anonymous said: heyy love your blog and all of your creations. wcif ALL of your sims? do you ever upload them to the gallery?

Macie is already posted, link on my resource page. Taylor will be posted tomorrow, and my male model will be posted next week. The rest idk

Anonymous said: um can that damn anon piss off. your content is absolutely amazing and some things aren't for everyone but someone out there will love and appreciate it. also the hair in your profile picture looks gorgeous. is it released yet? and the wip you posted is cute af. ignore those haters <3

Thank you <3 Hair in my profile pic is my HyunA hair :)

Anonymous said: Hi, so sorry if anyone has already asked this, but I was wondering hat your origin ID was, since your sims are super cute!? Ps. I'm totally in love with your blog!!!

My origin is Spotharris but it does not have much on it right now, Ps. thank you

Anonymous said: Do you have any K-Pop albums? Which ones?

Oh my! I have a few! I have Red Velvet’s Perfect Velvet, and 6 LOONA albums (Kim Lip, Jinsoul, Choerry, Yves, Mix & Match, and Max & Match)

 Anonymous said: I miss you having Macie as your icon :(     

Me too jush she needs to make a comeback     

Anonymous said: Hey I was wondering if you could do a tutorial on how to make a middle parted hair side parted ?? please

I might do a livestream sometime in the future that is me remaking a hair like Joy or something where I did that. I am really bad at video stuff though so like... someone help?

Anonymous said: Can I just say how much I absolutely love all of your hairs? Like your so talented in making cc. Please keep up the great work!

Thank you!

Anonymous said: Can you convert the cupid eyes you posted for dogs/cats? It's fine if you can't, jw!

rip I can but I really don’t want to ;-;

Anonymous said: I just want to say I love you so much! All your creations are so beautiful and I use them ALL the time. Happy Holidays! ~ V

Happy late holidays!

Anonymous said: Do you have all of your own CC in your game?

Nooooo lmao

Anonymous said: does ur hyuna hair work with the ombres?

She does not :(

Anonymous said: make more diverse sims

gotcha

Anonymous said: yo i remember when you first started out and you were just starting.  now you've improved a HELL of a lot. like WOAH (i love your cc)

we don’t speak of those times in my life ok

Anonymous said: I don't know if you are open to cc requests, so if you are, would you ever consider separating them utility jacket from cats and dogs? I've seen so many people recolor it but I can't find it as an accessory, and I've looked everywhere.

A friend of mine tried it but it was really glitchy :( Maybe in the future I could give it a go?

Anonymous said: LIPS, HIPS LIPS, HIPS (ahh, ahh) L-LIPS, HIPS (ahh, ahh) Hi-hi-hi-hi-hip (POP!)

yes i agree with everything

Anonymous said: I have the same b-day as you

only legends were born on that day. and December 2nd.

Anonymous said: Your birthday is the day before mine and the day after my sister's            

So close to being legends.... sad

Anonymous said: I thought, you're female😅😅🔫

rip ur mind after i blew it up by being a male

Anonymous said: damn didnt know u were homophobic lol

oh

Anonymous said: fmk: danny devito, shrek, and jim carrey's the grinch

fuck danny bc idk who it is and i know a hot danny. marry the grinch bc he i like mayor of whoville after the movie. kill shrek and take the donkey.

Anonymous said: ahHHHhhHh idk why but i love you so much(not in a weird way u pervery xddd)

thanks babessss

Anonymous said: You should start a gameplay

I dont have the computer or the time for that I am sorry to say

[jungnoir]

college boyfriend!joshua

a/n: special thanks to @choco-seventeen for giving me the idea of barista!josh which ended up being the best idea ever,,, get rdy to die yall

here it is, our long awaited gentleman of seventeen!! requested by this darling~

i’ve never written anything for josh (which is appalling) and seeing as he’s now,,, like a bias,, i mean i kinda have to don’t i

i’m going to pretend that a straight week of searching for joshua scenarios did not help encourage this

so, lovely josh has always had a love for animation

ever since he was a baby, he’s always found a joy in watching cartoons, so his parents always put on some colorful children’s movie for him whenever he got fussy, or when he’d wake in the middle of the night from a terrifying dream and he’d need some calming down

this kind of comfort of seeing characters of all colors, shapes and sizes gave joshua an abundant imagination as a child. he always found he liked the fantastical feeling of animation that live action didn’t really provide him

anything could happen in animation, and anyone could be anything and look anyway that they liked, which was part of the appeal for him

as he got older, he was exposed to anime (lol) and he found that he enjoyed the more mature animation just as much as the kind marketed for children

and he didn’t discriminate either! he could watch anything from tokyo ghoul and death note to your lie in april and haikyuu!! 

but his favorite kind of animation lied in the love of studio ghibli films

something about the wonder of each film enthralled joshua so much as a teen, bringing him the nostalgia of his childhood that he loved so much

to all of his friends in high school, they had always expected joshua to get a stable, lackluster office job and stay in california with his family, which, originally, was the plan

but the films had inspired him to take a leap, so after applying to a few universities in seoul and getting accepted to the good majority, josh finished up two years of college in california before packing up everything he had and all the money he’d saved from odd jobs through his high school/college career and booked a flight straight to seoul, south korea

he obviously wasn’t flying completely blind, as he did have a friend living there already by the name of vernon

long story short on how the two met, bonding over xbox live can lead to long-lasting friendships ok

after a few years of friendship, countless nights of Skype calls and planning to meet one day, joshua had taken the first step and vernon’s family were more than happy to let joshua stay with them until he could get onto his own two feet (not that there’s any rush!! vernon totally doesn’t mind having an older brother around)

joshua was no stranger to korea either, having been taught korean since a young age by his parents, so he was pretty much set to start his new life in korea, even if his parents were pretty sad to see him go so far and so soon

they knew joshua had been a good kid his whole life, and he was making sure every connection and plan he had for his new life was laid out just right so he wouldn’t make things hard on himself and his family, and that was all they could really ask of him

for the summer before school started in korea, vernon takes to making sure joshua is settled in and at least semi-good at making his way around seoul without a problem

there was that one time,,, where he did get lost for like five hours and showed up back at the chwe house with an assortment of baked goods and sweets and exclaiming that “this stuff is so much better than the stuff in california!!”

vernon: you realize that we all thought you were dead right

josh: *blink blink* hm? :)))

but i mean before vernon knows it, joshua is freakishly adapted to life there and he’s suddenly like a local, making friends with literally everyone he meets because everyone is so fascinated by the american boy!! yet it’s funny cause the way josh saw it, vernon was v similar to him in a lot of ways, so he was a lil overwhelmed to find all of vernon’s friends were like !!! a foreigner !!! tell us everything

and sure, vernon hadn’t been to america since he was about five except to visit family, but they were all sooooo excited to hear about things from joshua’s perspective compared to the younger boy’s

so josh obliged, always talking about his experiences overseas and the other kids would be like :o or :D because!!! to josh that was all just boring everyday stuff to him but to them this was all so cool and interesting, and the way they felt about america was the same way josh felt about korea tbh

after a year in college in seoul, joshua was well settled down at the school

since he’s like,,, one of the best english speakers in school (save for a handful of other students who were bilingual their whole lives, foreigners, or just really good at the subject asjdijisa) he’s always willing to help his friends out with english class projects and he coaches them by speaking to them in english at random intervals

like they’ll be having a completely korean conversation and then all of a sudden josh is like “explain the plot to howl’s moving castle in english” and they’re like o shit here we go

but it’s really helpful??? they all get amazing grades bc of his pop quizes

all hail english professor hong jisoo

but, ok, everyone is so confused because that’s….. not what he goes to college for

like he’s verbalized that he loves learning and that being an english teacher in korea would be great for him bc he loves to show people the joy of learning! but animation was his first love

he’s v passionate about it, and he’s made several short films where the characters were stylized after his friends and their experiences (with their permission of course)

he actually did one on jun’s story of coming to korea for the first time as a chinese transfer student and entered it in a small film contest and won!! and jun was so happy that he cried ok

joshua was on skype with jun to jun’s family back in china and they were all gushing about the film after josh emailed it to them

basically if joshua ever needs to flee to another country, jun’s home is open jun’s mom said joshua has privilege of jun’s room before jun does

despite being really good at animating though, joshua is actually kinda shy about showing his work. he’s even shy showing it to his friends with the exception of vernon and jeonghan, the latter of which passive-aggressively convinced joshua to do it and is now joshua’s biggest hype man

“jisooooo. jun got a movie and I didn’t??” “…what would a movie about you even be about? you don’t do anything but sleep” “it could have been about how much you love me!!”

to placate him joshua showed all the lil drawings of chibi!jeonghan joshua had done over the year and jeonghan wouldn’t stop smiling and hugging josh all day jfc

jk jk tho jeonghan is super supportive and whenever people ask him (or don’t. they usually don’t ask but whom the fuk cares jeonghan says) about joshua, jeonghan just guuuushes about the boy and all of his great art and shows them joshua’s v tentative instagram page of his art. there’s only a few pics of outlines and some small clips of films he puts together, but jeonghan will gas his boy up so bad you’d think joshua already had an oscar

on the side, joshua has a job at the campus coffee shop

and like,, idk if you understand just how much of an accumulator of revenue that boy’s face is??

joshua is pretty humble so whenever his friends tease him and say that most of the customers that come to the coffee shop are there for his face, he downright refuses

but i mean,,, it’s true,, the majority of customers come during joshua’s shifts

and if josh isn’t working, it’s like a funeral home

it gets so bad the school is like “do u wanna like work here forever bc we’re totally down with that”

josh is like “lol no”

but he’s really good at his job and not many ppl notice that!! some jealous dudes think the only reason ppl even buy coffee from the shop is bc josh is serving it and they’re deluding themselves into drinking it, but josh is actually an amazing barista

u kinda get creative with coffee when you’re living off of it to graduate ajsiodha

he’s also king of latte art don’t fight me on this

he was playing around in the back one day on his break when he got an idea to make some art in a latte, bc he was at a creative loss with his art on paper, and he just made this v simple couple of hearts here and there, and then suddenly he was making all kinds of designs that ppl loved

his favorite is a little cat design that is so friggin cute ok. everyone loves it

everyone except you,,, who had no idea this was even a thing

between classes on certain days, you have about two hours of free time to yourself, so you like to escape to your favorite coffee place to study and relax

you usually didn’t like to go during this certain time in the day bc the shop was always bustling with customers and you really rather preferred to be in a smaller crowd. so basically, you’ve never seen joshua

you haven’t even heard of him bc you’ve always been pretty in your head when it comes to your studying time

u basically zone out the minute you can smell the coffee beans

but a friend of yours held you up in your last class, so your two hour break diminished to fifteen minutes, and you still hadn’t had your coffee

you practically bolt toward the coffee shop, but your eyes bug out of your head when you notice that for once, there’s a huge crowd of students there, something that never happens when you’re there

so like, groaning internally, you force yourself into line before anyone else can get in front of you and delay you even further

but like… the line is moving at snail’s pace

you can barely see up front, all you know is that someone is taking their sweet time making coffees

in fact, 70% of your time is swallowed up just waiting for the line to move up

you’re jittery, knowing class starts soon and you already don’t have that much time to book it to your next class at this rate, but you have to have your coffee

finally,,, you reach the front….. and….

“hi there! what can I get you this lovely afternoon?”

in the words of jeonghan again, whom the fuk-

“u-hhuhhhuuu hhh ????” 

windows has shut down unexpectedly

this beautiful specimen of a man is smiling down at you without a worry in the world, blinking softly with the longest, prettiest eyelashes you’ve ever seen on a guy

his hair is short and well kept, roots dark and colored with highlights of chestnut throughout

he’s in the uniform but that’s really only black slacks and a half apron; he’s wearing a really nice baby blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and his collarbones are just slightly exposed with only two buttons undone at the collar- !!

“do you need a minute?” he asks, looking concerned at your vacant expression

that seems to snap you out of it (or maybe the frustrated swears from behind you do), and you sheepishly apologize, spitting out the first thing that comes to mind, which is definitely not your usual order, “small latte, please”

his eyes light up when you answer, “would you like the art too?”

you furrow your brows and he stares at you for a good moment before he realizes,, wow u really don’t know about his latte art? that’s literally all ppl come here during his shift for

but he does notice he’s never actually seen you during his shifts before

hmm. interesting

“i… i do latte art. it’s kind of… sort of a thing? i don’t know, um, would you like me to make you something in particular?” he says, suddenly a little flustered

you know. you know deep in your heart that you have zero time to spare and that you really shouldn’t be late for this class… but also,,, why the heck not

“surprise me!” you say softly, letting out a breath you didn’t know you were holding

joshua perks up and he nods (probably harder than he should have) and quickly puts in your order for your latte 

you quickly scoot to the side and another boy takes over in his place as he turns to make your coffee, and you can’t help but watch his calm, gentle hands as he prepares it

there’s no rush in him, no sloppiness detected, and you can tell he takes pride in his craft

he pours the steamed milk with no difficulty, pouring it with such smooth precision that it hypnotizes you, even as he’s half turned from you and you can barely see what he makes

it’s only when he’s done and handing over your coffee with a smile that you realize,, you’re holding a mug

you forgot to ask for a to-go cup!

but like,,, if you put it in a to-go cup now, it’ll ruin his art

yet, you’re so late for class already……..

he looks at you with even more concern when he just catches you staring at the small tulip etched into the surface of the coffee, and he’s about to ask if you’re alright when you suddenly smile at him and say “you���re beautiful”

in ur mind, you’ve just told him the art he made in your coffee was beautiful

it takes u like,, eight seconds to register that is not what you said AT ALL

but by the time you realize your mistake and wordlessly try to motion to the cup he’s already laughing gently behind his hand, eyes locked on yours, and when he’s done he says “i’m sorry, i’m not making fun of you… you’re just… very sweet. i hope you enjoy the coffee”

part of u still wants to correct yourself, maybe save some of your pride, but instead, you simply sigh and accept his compliment that low (high) key makes your heart beat a little faster, and you quickly whisper a “thanks again!!” before skedaddling

and josh just watches with a soft smile, and can’t seem to get the strange new customer out of his head even after his shift

he doesn’t even mention that you’ve stolen the mug when his co-worker asks about it in bewildered confusion

“just say I broke it” he tells him, and goes back to work like nothing happened

the next day, you come in much earlier and find that the shop is void of a crowd, much to your relief and quieter dismay

holding in your hands the mug that you had washed and stared at in disbelieving horror the whole night in your dorm, you walk up to the counter and hold out the mug to the cashier, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion when you start to ashamedly explain exactly how you had snuck out one of the mugs

but before you can even get anything out, josh suddenly appears from the back, tying his apron just as he spots you and he goes “oh!! hey, mug stealer”

your face flashes in mortification

“i swear it was an accident-” “don’t worry, no hard feelings. I already covered for you so I mean, it’s practically yours anyway. you didn’t have to bring it back”

but you still hold it out, sighing “it made me feel bad, ok? i can’t look at this shame cup anymore”

joshua snorts bc

shame cup

ur too fucking cute for him

“ok, well, let’s make it not so shameful” he says, carefully taking the mug from you and going over to the coffee machine “latte, right? same as usual?” he throw over his shoulder

the girl at the cashier actually knows you, has served you for the last few years, so she shakes her head and tells him that’s not your usual, which makes him a little surprised and he apologizes, saying that he’s since switched around shifts with someone else so he’s still adjusting, so he’s about to ask you what you usually get when you blurt “latte’s fine!” 

and ok, yeh, you’re not getting a latte for him of course

obviously

he just smiles that beautiful smile and gets to work, and the cashier gives you a small, very indiscreet wink much to your chagrin

you shuffle to the side and watch joshua work again, smiling as he gets ready to pour the milk, when he asks what kind of art you’d like

“can I have… wait, what are you good at?” “hm, well, my favorite is a kitty” “kitty it is!”

he quietly makes your kitty, lip tucked between his teeth and you can tell he’s working hard 

he sets the cup before you (this time in a foam cup, just in case you have to run and didn’t remember to tell him again), and watches with pride as you beam at the art, your eyes shining

before you even think about it, you’re whipping out your phone and snapping a photo of it for instagram, before you realize you don’t simply want to credit “random handsome campus barista” for something as beautiful as that

“what’s your name?” you ask, and joshua tells you, and you quickly type down his name in the caption before tapping the photo to add a tag “do you have a instagram?”

and though he rarely ever uses it unless jeonghan prompts him to, joshua spells out his username for you and you tag him successfully, posting the photo just as joshua’s back pocket vibrates with a notification

“thank you so much, joshua. you’re really good at this you know” 

and josh hears it from everyone a lot. all of his customers and co-workers compliment him often so it’s not like he’s unaware of his talent

but there’s just something about the fact that you complimented him that makes him blush, but he just bows a little at you and thanks you softly as you depart to find a table to start studying

of which,,, u do not do lol

even tho it’s barely 10 posts, you spend quite a while looking through joshua’s instagram

they’re mainly shots of his art, of which you soon find out that his major is animation and film development

the captions are v minimalist, but in the comments to his friends and others who’d found his insta, he’s cutely gushing with lots of exclamation marks and the like about how his work is coming along, having casual convos about the others and how their lives are going, and responding to compliments with v heartfelt thanks

because he doesn’t post much, you check the posts he’s tagged in and see a bunch of candid, secret pics of him from all kinds of funny angles, most from students and some parody ones from his friends

by the time you decide to check how much time you have left until your next class, you find you’ve got about a half hour to cram whatever you were going to study within two hours into half of one and get to your lecture on time

so as fast as your legs will allow, you quickly hit follow on his instagram and stuff everything you have back into your bag before sprinting out, missing joshua’s small goodbye and wave in your haste

he smiles anyway, and later when he gets off his shift, he checks his notifications and finds he has a new follower… you

he totally misses everything his professor says looking through your instagram for a good hour and a half

so it goes on like this for a while, you getting your coffee from josh now that half his adoring fans are usually in class when you go to see him, and the two of you casually chatting about this and that

he talks about his major, you talk about yours, and a pure friendship forms

with josh, you really feel like you can talk to him about anything and he understands

he speaks slow, soft, uses pretty words but they’re never overrated. he talks to you with the utmost respect and attention, 100% focused on you whenever you’re around. you’re honestly surprised no one has snatched him yet, what with how much of a catch he is

and like,, you know that anyone would kill to date him because not only is he talented and beautiful and a certified dorkozoid, he’s considerate, kind, feminine…. he almost feels untouched by this world and everything in it

maybe that’s why, you usually think. he’s a catch. anyone would be lucky to have him and you’re having regular chats over coffee and you can tell ppl are jealous

but he just feels too good for you. for anyone

you can’t think of one person on campus that would be good for him. not necessarily that there isn’t anyone… it’s just… who?

as months pass and winter gets colder, you find yourself feeling the effects of being single ten times more

so your friends are like!! are you still head over heels for that barista?? let’s set you up on a blind date to get your mind off it!!!

you’re only like 60% against it

because honestly, even though you’d do anything to work up the courage to date joshua, you wouldn’t mind getting a little dolled up for someone and having fun on a date

so your friends set you up with some guy who’d meet you at this italian place in the city on friday, and you anticipate the day, even telling josh about it when he has time to listen

“ahh… heh, a blind date? you must be super excited” 

instantly you can tell something is off with the way josh talks, but he still keeps that pleasant smile, even tho it doesn’t quite reach his eyes

for the next few days leading up until friday, josh feels a little more reserved to you, not as open as usual and somehow always a little out of it when he talks to you

even when you ask, he just smiles (and it is nothing like his real smile) and tells you he’s fine

so come friday, you’re all dressed up and you happen to walk past the campus coffee shop and see joshua going in for a late shift, so you wave to him on your way and

fuck

fuck

he can’t even manage to say anything, completely speechless as he sees how absolutely stunning you look

and how he wishes you’d turn into the shop, grab his hand and tell him you were excited for your date

but instead, you’re meeting someone else, and all he can hope is that they care about you half as much as he does. even half was a feat

he suddenly catches up to you before going in, grabbing your hand, and you blink up at him in confusion when he says “be careful. text me when you get there please? so i know you got there okay. and… and text me, or one of your friends on your way home, please. you don’t know who this guy is or what he might do. just… have fun. be careful.”

you look at josh, his eyes showing such worry and concern for your well being that you pull him into a quick hug, smiling into his chest as he lets out a sigh, “of course. i’ll be good. plus, i have a pocket knife and a full can of pepper spray just in case he tries to get one over on me”

he chuckles, feeling a lot more relaxed as he hugs you back, “let’s trust you come back with that can still full and that knife still clean, alright?”

eventually, he has to send you off, and you head to your date

you arrive by 6:55, having been told that he’d be there by 7, and so you anxiously look around, knowing you were supposed to be on the lookout for a guy in a navy blazer

but… all the guys in navy blazers are there with someone already

by the time it’s 7:30, the waiter has come by twice, asking if the other member of your party is coming

and by 8, you’re sure he’s not

so you begrudgingly order dinner, eat it in angered silence, and don’t even bother to text your friends he didn’t show. you get your leftovers boxed and order one slice of strawberry cheesecake and leave, your eyes stinging and your heart hurting, but you get back to the school just fine

and at first, you were going to just head back to your dorm. 

but you walk past the coffee shop, and you look through the windows to see it’s still open and josh is still inside, cleaning up and shutting down for the night

before you can think, you’re rushing inside, glad he hadn’t locked the doors, and as soon as josh looks up in surprise to see you, he’s shuffling out from behind the counter and scolding you with “you never told me if you arrived or not. why are you back so early? you look sad, (y/n). what happened? what did that bastard do-” “I have cheesecake. you want some? take it or leave it”

you look hurt, but you keep up the stony expression and he just quietly nods, following you to a booth in the very back

he says nothing as you take out the cheesecake, says nothing as you go into the back and grab two forks and hand him one, says nothing as you take the first piece and sigh, over-exaggeratedly praising the dessert

he says nothing because he knows better. instead, he just listens as you begin to babble about the day, about how excited you were for today all week, how your friends had gassed up your blind date so much and how you had spent two hours eating by yourself, too embarrassed to cry or even tell your friends

he watches as you quietly struggle to pick up a strawberry, the sauce drenched fruit slipping off your fork as your hand trembles with words unsaid

so, he slides out of the booth and into yours, slips an arm around your shoulders, and makes you put it down

“it’s okay. i’m here” he says softly into your ear, and you let it all out into his shoulder

all of your tears and makeup stain his shirt but he couldn’t care less, his only priority in holding you close and comforting you

he wants to beat up your blind date, make them feel terrible for ever passing up an opportunity to spend a night with you because gdi, you were amazing and lovely and he wished he was in that bastard’s shoes

you guys stay like that for a while, you simply relishing in his comfort and joshua wishing he could help you feel better, yet not knowing how

but then he gets an idea

“do you want me to show you how to make latte art? you mentioned you were interested once”

at first, you’re kind of like??? now of all times?? but you also can’t help wanting to get your mind off things, so he helps you slip out of the booth and leads you to the back in the kitchen

there you see his sketchbook and laptop up, seeing he had been working on something before he’d gone to clean up

he goes to get some coffee together while you look over his work, smiling when you see he’s intricately drawing a character at a booth in what looked like a coffee shop, but as you look at it longer, something starts to click

“josh?” you ask, and he hums, filling up a cup with some coffee “Is… is this me?”

he glances back at you and his eyes widen some when he sees what you’re looking at, but he turns back around to play it off before you can say anything “ah, yeah. i needed to warm up so… i thought of you and drew”

“this looks way too detailed for a warm up” you say with a smile, tracing your fingers over the drawing, half of it colored in, the other half still white parchment paper and blending in to the colors where they end

josh snorts, making his way over to you and closing the notebook, “look at you. you know me too well, it seems”

you simply nudge him and he places the coffee cup before you before handing you a metal cup of steamed milk, “so, we’re going to start out with making a simple heart. it’s really important how you guide your hand. i don’t expect it to be perfect, so just try, freely”

he hands you the cup and you nod, turning the spout toward the cup and trying to carefully pour in the shape of a heart, but it becomes a deformed swirl too soon

josh still smiles, telling you to attempt to fix your mistake, but you continue to find it hard, somehow making the swirl more prominent

“josh, please help me” you whine with a small smile, and he nods with a laugh, reaching his arms around you

and,,, you’re caged against the counter, his hand coming to rest above your own where you hold the milk, and his head leans down to whisper into your ear how you should pour, murmuring “it takes a bit of practice, but once you get it, it’s satisfying”

you can’t even focus on the damn coffee bc he’s so close sasjhnasi

he keeps whispering in your ear, helping you try to fix your mistake, and then he grabs a toothpick and starts to trace the swirl into something of a shape, looking a lot better than before

“see?” he whispers by your ear, smiling even as your heart beats so hard you bet he can hear it against your back “not so bad”

you turn your head slightly, only able to move so much with his arm around you and body behind you, keeping you practically pushed up against the counter

he just looks at you for a moment when he sees the look in your eyes, mouth going a little dry

it must be the moment, or maybe the mix of emotions you’d released earlier, because you can’t find the nervousness from before anywhere near when you knead your fingers into his shirt and pull him in to kiss

his lips taste like coffee and stolen sweets, and he moves his body only to turn you around for better access to your mouth, his large hands closing around your hips and squeezing

he’s careful but he is not shy. he kisses you like he’s been wanting to all night, and if you asked him, he’d tell you he had 

you get so caught up in his heady kiss that even when he lifts you onto the counter and pulls himself between your legs, you don’t stop to laugh or marvel at his strength you didn’t know he had. you just thank god that he’s closer

after a few moments, he ends up pulling away, your lips chasing his with a frustrated whine that has him nearly buckling under his weight “my boss will kill me if we make out in the kitchen”

“then let’s take it somewhere else, dummy”

joshua has never locked up the coffee shop faster

after that day, he finally asks you out, and of course, you say yes

your friends apologize to you, feeling absolutely terrible for what happened with the blind date, but you honestly couldn’t care less bc if you hadn’t been stood up, you may have never gotten the chance to kiss joshua

everyone, and i mean everyone can tell there’s something different about josh come monday

he’s so much more peppy, so much more friendly, he’s practically beaming like a ray of sunshine,, like more than usual

and it’s so obvious why when you come in, stealing a kiss from him when he gets your coffee to you before you leave

josh’s co-workers are like??? is this allowed?? wtf is this allowed????

joshua’s boss doesn’t care cause it’s FRICKIN CUTE

a majority of joshua’s suitors back off when they find out he’s taken, but of course they continue to come bc josh is amazing at making coffee and no one is petty enough to stop coming just bc he’s taken lol

if joshua was an amazing friend, he’s an even better boyfriend ok

turns out that one drawing of you in the coffee shop was not the only one

he draws you often, and his favorite you to draw is a cute lil chibi version which he swears is so cute bc like,,, u small

boy literally giggles whenever he thinks about it

you: it’s really not that funny josh-

joshua: YOU’RE SO SMALL

actually made a chibi ver of himself and animated your chibi selves to kiss

he sent you the video and you look at it before you go to sleep every night bc it’s so cute

is always hyped for animated films and you can never get him as excited for live action films

he goes absolutely nuts for disney and stuff but he’s also a fine tuned indie animated film connoisseur of course

sometimes he’ll be like “so i watched this film last night called blah blah blah and it was about blah blah blah and…” and you don’t know wth he’s talking bout sometimes but you just listen to him babble bc u love him

scolds u if you haven’t seen a particular movie/anime/cartoon and then proceeds to force you to watch it

but you actually end up liking them?? and some of them become your comfort movies just because they remind you of josh

will send you animated couples and be like “this is us”

even if you two have nothing in common with the characters? it could just be a cute scene and he’ll link it back to you two

jeonghan LOVES you…. and also will fight you for joshua’s attention but he still loves you

he prides himself on being “joshua’s best friend” but then you meet vernon and vernon is like “he was my best friend first” so you go from a love triangle to a love square

if you added in all of joshua’s admirers it’d be like a love….  enneacontakaipentagon

(that is a thing)

since it’s a lot to go back to america to meet josh’s family, you instead meet vernon’s family in place of them, who despite only knowing josh for a year feel like he’s their second son

they gush about how much they love him and his influence on vernon and vernon’s lil sister and it’s just,,, so precious

but you can tell he gets homesick sometimes, and when family holidays come, he gets particularly sad

vernon’s family works hard to make it easier on him so they set up a skype date with his family every holiday and you watch josh as he talks about how his graduation is coming up, how he can’t wait to visit them, how he misses his mom’s home cooking and how nice life is in seoul

he introduces you to them over skype as well and they’re so kind and lovely!! they absolutely spoil you with love and attention and only have lovely things to say about you

then one day, you get a call from vernon’s mother

she tells you that secretly, they’ve been setting up for joshua’s parents to come visit, and they want you to keep it secret, as well as keep joshua out of the house the day they arrive so he doesn’t catch on

which,, proves harder than you expect

even on spring break your lovely boyfriend only wants to stay in and catch up on shows with you so you have to literally drag him out of the house to hang with jeonghan and vernon at the mall

while you’re all out, joshua just happens to see a shirt while you’re all shopping

it’s a tank top with the word “california” written across it

and usually, josh would just ignore little things like that, but as he stands there, he starts thinking of home and his family who he misses like crazy

it’s not like him, but a few tears slip past his eyes before he wipes them away, attempting to hide it before one of you saw

you did, but you don’t say anything, instead hooking an arm with him and leading him elsewhere, practically bursting with the need to tell joshua what was awaiting him at home

you manage to keep it secret though, even as you smile wider than ever on your back to vernon’s house

of course,,, josh is highly concerned

“why are you smiling so much? what are you hiding?” “dang boy, can’t a girl just smile a lil bit” “not like that. your smile is too big. it’s creeping me out”

if you weren’t driving you might’ve socked him in the arm

you carefully pull up to the house and joshua’s eyebrows furrows when he notices vernon’s parents’ car is parked somewhere different than it was when you all left 

“v, did your parents go somewhere?” he asks, but vernon simply shrugs and follows a grinning jeonghan out of the car, leaving just you and him alone

he stares at you for a bit, the smile still on your face, and then looks back at the house, the wheels turning behind his eyes

“what are you waiting for? i don’t know about you, but I wanna meet the hongs sometime this week, thank you”

his eyes widen a little bit and you’re laughing as he tumbles out of the car, rushing toward the front door as you trail behind, hearing a chorus of elated screams before you enter the house

when you do, you see josh all wrapped up in between his parents, all three of them crying into each other as jeonghan, vernon, and vernon’s family watch with smiles just like yours

for the rest of the day, you spend it with josh and his family, catching up on all that they’ve missed along with getting to know the hongs personally

they’re just as sweet in person as they are over skype, and they absolutely love poking fun at josh to you whenever they get the chance

the sound of josh’s embarrassed “mooooooom” in the background as she tells you about josh’s anime phase and how she’d seen an episode of one of those shows and had to have a talk with him afterward

you: what were you watching, josh?

josh:… i have since refined my taste

by the time the night ends, you’ve got enough embarrassment fodder to last you months

“please don’t take anything my parents said seriously okay. they live to make my life terrible” he tells you over the phone that night, after vernon’s family told you it was getting far too late and you should be heading home

highest of keys, josh was hoping you’d stay so late that they’d let you sleep over but knowing he had two (2) sets of parents in the house now, they’d probably make vernon sleep between you two and that’s the closest you’d get throughout the night

“i don’t know about that. those baby stories were comedy gold” you grin into the phone, laying on your back and smiling up at the ceiling

he scoffs, “just wait till i meet your parents. they’ll tell me all the crazy stories and i’ll have so much blackmail i won’t even know what to do with” “isn’t it funny how i met your parents, who live in california, before you met mine who live here?”

he smiles into the phone, “’s okay. makes us a unique couple. i was starting to think we were far too daydreamy. almost feels like a movie.”

“i’m surprised you haven’t turned it into one, actually” you say, playing with your shirt hem as sleepiness starts to creep up on you and you let out a yawn

“i promise one day i’ll make a movie about us. now go to sleep, i’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

you yawn again but oblige, and you say your goodbyes before hanging up and laying down to fall asleep, a content smile on your face

but then your phone vibrates under your pillow not twenty minutes later

confused, you pull it out, and find a video message from joshua

carefully, you open it, unsure of what you’ll expect, but find a seemingly quickly drawn stop motion video of chibi!you and chibi!josh kissing each other’s cheeks

you smile tiredly, shaking your head at the boy, but as the video comes to an end, a speech bubble appears above chibi!josh’s head, his eyes turning into hearts as he speaks to chibi!you “i’ve been debating on when to say this for a while, but i’m proud to be the first of us to say it: i love you”

the video ends, and you giddily dial josh’s number once more, the boy picking up just as quickly as you had called

“yes?” he says softly, voice tinged with slight worry

but you just chuckle, “jerk. i wanted to say it first. now let me go to sleep… i love you too”

[nalu-week]

Siren

NaLu Week Bonus Day- Gothic

Whenever she’s feeling down she turns on her phone to look at his picture; her high school sweetheart.  She sighs, his cheeky grin always made her smile, and how she loved to run her fingers through his spikey mess of pink hair…  Her father never approved of their relationship, he wasn’t of high enough class, didn’t come from a wealthy family so to separate them he sent her away to college in Europe to prepare her for corporate life.  But she never forgot him…

It was no easier for him.  He had tried to move on, went to the local University, but no matter how much he tried, he could never get past his depression and the loss of his first love so after dropping out in his 2nd year of college, he went to work for his old man’s garage and never looked at another girl again.

~~~

“Lucy, I am sending you to run the Magnolia office.  Since you are familiar with the town, I assume this won’t be a problem for you?”

“If that’s what you want father.” Her voice flat and monotone.

“This is for your own good Lucy.  I will not be around forever and you must be ready to take over this company when that time comes.”

‘I don’t really want it…’ she sighs.  “Is there a reason you are sending me to Magnolia?  I thought you didn’t want me going back there.”

“I have no choice; the director is retiring and I have no one else to send.”

“Fine.”  ‘At least I won’t have to look at you every day anymore…’

“I have already set up a home for you there.  Virgo and Capricorn will be accompanying you from our servant staff.”

It took Lucy 3 months after arriving to evaluate and set up the Magnolia branch to run itself.  Once that had been finished she realized she needed to find something to keep her sane so one Thursday evening while driving through the city she sees a bar called Fairytail and becomes curious.

“Wow…” she remarks under breath as she takes in the ornately decorated expanse.  The gothic themed bar was not grungy or weird like others she had been to, but had a beautiful, decadent feel to it.  Dark mahogany woods mixed with stone, bronze sconces and warm red lighting; reminded her of some medieval castles in Europe.  Booths lined the walls along with a few tables, the U-shaped bar was also wood lined and surrounded by high backed bar-chairs.  A stage took up one side of the room with space in front for a dance floor and on that stage, was equipment for live bands.  She walks up to the bar where a smiling white-haired woman greets her.

“I’ve never seen you here before.”  The woman remarks.

“Yes, I was driving by and it caught my attention.” Lucy looks around her, “it’s a beautiful place.”

“Thank you,” the woman smiles.  “My name is Mira.  I’m the owner here, may I get you something?”

“Lucy.  That would be great, do you have Appletini’s?”

“Coming right up.”

She sips at her drink as she watches the band set up and the room slowly fill with people.

“Do you by any chance sing?”  Mira asks the blonde

“Oh, sometimes if I’m in the mood.”

“It’s open mic night if you’re interested.  You just tell the house band what you’d like to sing and if they can play it they will.”

“Does it have to be punk or alternative type music?”

“No,” the bar maid chuckles, “It can be anything you want.  This may be a gothic themed bar, but I only created it because I find this style beautiful.  I appreciate all types of people and music.”

“You know what, I’ll give it a shot.”

Mira waves over a rather large man covered in piercings, “Gajeel, this young lady would like to sing something.”

He looks at Lucy, “What song?”

“When You’re Gone by Avril Lavigne.”

“We can play that.  Give me a few minutes and come over to the stage.”

“Okay.”  He nods to his boss and walks away.

Mira- “Don’t mind Gajeel, he just acts tough.  Wait till you meet his girlfriend Levy, she’s the total opposite of him.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s better if you see for yourself, she helps me bartend from 8-12, Friday and Saturdays.”

“Oh…”  Lucy sees Gajeel waving her over.  “Looks like I’m up.”

Mira smiles, “Good luck Lucy.”

She stands in front of the mic stand as the song begins… ‘When You’re Gone’ by Avril Lavigne

“I always needed time on my own.  I never thought I’d need you there when I cry.  And the days feel like years when I’m alone, and the bed where you lie is made up on your side.  When you walk away I count the steps that you take.  Do you see how much I need you right now?

When you’re gone, the pieces of my heart are missin’ you.  When you’re gone, the face I came to know is missin’, too.  When you’re gone, the words I need to hear to always get me through the day, and make it okay.  I miss you….”

At the end of the song, many customers are clapping and whistling as she walks off the stage and back to the bar. 

Mira- “Pretty good Lucy, you know I just lost my Saturday singer, wanna consider the job?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes I am.”

“Hmm,” she taps her chin, “This could help me de-stress after the work week….  Mira, I’ll take it.”

“Great, you should come in by 7 so you can go over your songs with the band in the dressing room.  Then you’d sing from 9 till at least 10, longer if you wish.”

“Sounds good to me.” She stands up.  “I need to be going but here is my contact info.” She hands Mira her business card and leans closer whispering. “Please don’t share who I really am with anyone.  Call me Lucy Ashley for now.”

Mira’s eyes widen but she holds her composure, “Sure, it’ll be your stage name.  I’ll see you on Saturday.  Ms. Ashley.”

“Thank you Mira.”

Lucy decides that she wants to create a new persona to go with the stage name and with the help of her friend Cancer, she dons a black wig, punk or gothic inspired clothes, and sports a darker makeup to finish the look.  That Saturday she officially debuts at the Fairytail Lounge and the haunting melodies she chooses to sing along with a mix of more riveting songs quickly develops a following.  

She is amused when she finally meets Gajeel’s girlfriend Levy who true to how Mira described her is the total opposite of him.  Fresh faced and sweet natured, she and the blue haired girl develop a friendship when they discover a shared love of reading.  On her second Saturday, Levy introduces her to a cousin of Gajeel named Rogue who while more on the quiet side, seemed nice.  Levy thinks he’s developing a crush but Lucy tells her friend she has no interest in any guys right now and they leave it at that.

A couple of months later at the garage he works at, Rogue is talking about the singer at the bar he hangs out at.  “You really should come with me one Saturday Natsu, she’s got an amazing voice and she’s friggin’ stunning to just look at.”

“Rogue, you keep talking about her, you keep trying to get me to go, but you know I don’t care to go out and I certainly have no interest in any women either.”

“I know you’re still pining for your first girlfriend, but man you’ve got to move on at some point.”

“No.”

“Come on, just come with me one time and if you don’t want to go back I won’t force you.”

“Are you gonna drop this anytime soon?”

“No.”

“Ugh!  Fine.  I’ll go once and that’s it.  I could use a drink anyways.”

“Trust me, you’re gonna love it.”

That Saturday starts off as it usually does for Lucy but today she’s excited because the new outfit she ordered finally arrived.  The top is a scoop neck red corset that truly flatters her figure with long black, kimono inspired sleeves.  A red and black tulle ruffled skirt that is shorter in the front, about mid-thigh that tapers down to the floor in the back and 6-inch, black heeled shin boots finish off the ensemble.  Cancer puts her black wig on and styles it with two spikey buns and bangs to frame the sides of her face while his makeup artist creates an alluringly dark smoky cat eye and ruby red lips to compliment her milky white skin. 

Rogue and Natsu walk in and take a seat at one of the booths fronting the stage, “We gotta come early cause this place gets packed when she sings,” he tells Natsu, “and I always try to get the best spot seat.”  Levy brings them their drinks and joins them for a few minutes.

Levy- “Wow, how’d Rogue manage to get you here Natsu?”

“He wouldn’t stop bugging me.”

Rogue- “You won’t be disappointed.”  Natsu rolls his eyes.

Levy- “Lucy is an amazing singer, Natsu I think you’ll at least enjoy that much while Rogue here just comes to ogle at her.” she snickers

Rogue- “I come for the music too!”

Natsu- “Why didn’t you mention her name is Lucy?”

Rogue- “Does it matter?”

“That’s the name of my ex!  It’s the one name I don’t want to think about.” He starts to get out of the booth.

Levy grabs his arm, “Wait!  Don’t go just because of that.  Come on Natsu we won’t say that name again.  Just relax and here,” she pushes his drink back in front of him, “keep sipping on that, it’ll be okay.”

“Fine, but if one of you says that name again I will leave.”

Rogue- “Fair enough.”

Levy- “Yeah.” She notices the tables are really starting to fill up.  “Well I gotta get to work.  The band will be starting in about 30 minutes but do you guys want snacks in the mean time?  We got chicken wings, fries…”

Rogue- “Nah I’m fine.”

Natsu- “No but I’ll take a double of Flashfire.”

Levy- “Sure thing.”  

“There she is”, Rogue sighs as Lucy and the band sets up on stage.  “She looks extra gorgeous tonight too!”

Natsu stares intensely at the woman.  ‘No, it can’t be… Lucy was a blonde… but those brown eyes…’  He pushes his cousin shoulder to get his attention.  “Rogue, do you know if that’s her natural hair color?”

“Huh?  Oh no, she’s actually a blonde but she wears a wig when she performs.”

His voice cracks, “W-what’s her last name?!”

“Um, I think it’s Ashley.  Why?”  ‘That’s the name she uses to hide her identity!’  All the color leaves Natsu’s face causing alarm in Rogue.  “What’s wrong Natsu, you look like you’ve seen a ghost?!”

“Th-that’s her!”

“What do mean that’s her?”

“That’s my Lucy!”  He sinks into the booth debating if he should stay or run as all the emotions he had suppressed for the last 5 years explode to the surface.  “Fuck!” he mutters under his breath. 

Rogue puts his hand on his cousin’s shoulder, “Natsu don’t freak out.  How did you two split up anyways?”

Natsu hangs his head, “Her dad didn’t approve of me so immediately after high school he shipped her to Europe for college.  We lost touch after that.”

“You know Levy mentioned once that this Lucy was still in love with a guy from high school… It’s why I’ve never tried to ask her out, she said if she couldn’t have him, she’d rather stay single.”  Natsu looks up at him in shock and Rogue squeezes his shoulder.  “Sounds like she’s still in love with you too…” 

Standing on the stage as the lights in the club dim and the spotlight focuses on her…  Piano intro, she lifts the microphone to her lips…

Evanescence, ‘My Heart is Broken’

“I will wander ‘til the end of time, torn away from you….”

        Silence in the room as her mournful voice reverberates through the air…  Natsu closes his eyes and let’s all his anguish flow along with her.

“I pulled away to face the pain.

I close my eyes and drift away.

Over the fear that I will never find

A way to heal my soul.

And I will wander 'til the end of time

Torn away from you.

My heart is broken

Sweet sleep, my dark angel

Deliver us from sorrow’s hold

(Over my heart).

I can’t go on living this way

But I can’t go back the way I came

Chained to this fear that I will never find

A way to heal my soul

And I will wander 'til the end of time

Half alive without you

My heart is broken

Sweet sleep, my dark angel

Deliver us

Change - open your eyes to the light

I denied it all so long, oh so long

Say goodbye, goodbye

My heart is broken

Release me, I can’t hold on

Deliver us from sorrow’s hold.”

As loud clapping fills the room, Levy hands Lucy a glass of water to refresh her throat.  “Damn girl that gave me chills, the pain you channeled into the song, where does it come from?”

“Oh, it’s because of h…”

“Lucy?”

Her head turns towards the familiar voice, “Oh My God!”  Her eyes widening as her hands fly up to her mouth.  “Natsu?!”  She rushes off the stage and jumps into his arms gripping to him with all the strength she could muster. 

“Lucy!” tears flow as he tightens his grip around her body. “It’s really you…”

“Na-Natsu…”  She buries her head in his chest and cries.

Rogue joins Levy next to the stage as they all smile at the scene unfolding.  “So that’s the girl he’s been pining for all these years,” Gajeel snorts, “At least I won’t have to hear him whine any more.  Levy slaps her boyfriend.  “So, is she gonna finish the set or should we cancel?”

Levy slaps him again, “Can you be a little more supportive of your cousin!”

Finally, after several minutes Lucy releases her tight hold and Natsu wipes away some of the tears that are still trickling down her face.  She sniffles, “I’ll need to go clean up my face,” she chuckles a little, “down side of makeup.” more sniffles.

His emerald green eyes soften, “I can’t believe you’re really in my arms Luce.”

“You called me Luce.” Her face lights up

He smiles, “It’s what I always call you,”

Tears build again, “I know, I really missed it…”

Mira walks up, “Um just wanted to check if you wanna take a break… or cancel for tonight?”

Lucy- “Oh!  I’m sorry Mira.  Um,” she looks at Natsu who motions with his eyes to the stage and smiles.  “Let me take a short break and clean up but I’ll finish the set.”

Mira smiles, “Of course.”  “Gajeel, you guys play some instrumental for the time being.”

Lucy turns back to Natsu, “I need to…”

“Go ahead, I’ll be watching you right from that booth,” he points.  “I loved when you used to sing to me.” He grins

“You still remember?” 

“Of course I do.”

“I think, I still remember the one…” She whispers in his ear before turning to go freshen up, but stops.  “Natsu?”

“Yeah?” he turns back to her.

She grabs his face and kisses him roughly on the lips.  Sigh, “Damn I’ve missed that too!” she grins at his goofy expression.  “See you after the set.”

“I love you Lucy.” He calls out as she heads to the dressing room

Turning to blow him a kiss, “I love you too Natsu!”

Natsu settles back into the booth with a new grin on his face.  “Thanks for dragging me here tonight, I owe you big time.”

“My pleasure.” Rogue smiles. 

After cleaning herself up, and regrouping with the band she changes their final song…  ‘Because You Loved Me’ by Celine Dion

She smiles at him and whispers ‘I love you baby’ before raising the mic to her lips.  “For all those times you stood by me…”  Natsu’s eyes widen ‘she remembers!’ “…for all the joy you brought to my life…”  He relaxes back into his seat and closes his eyes.  “For all the love I found in you…”  It’s the song she sang the night they confessed their feelings…  “I’m everything I am because you loved me…”  He smiles…

Lucy finishes the performance, but before joining Natsu at the booth she takes off the wig and wipes off the heavy makeup.

“Aww,” Natsu teases as soon as she sits down, “I kinda liked you as a goth girl.”

“Seriously?  I can go put the wig back on if you want.”

He smirks, “Maybe later.”

Rogue- “I should probably leave you two alone.”

Lucy- “Sorry Rogue…”

He waves his hand, “Don’t worry about me.  I’m happy to see my cousin smile again.” and gets up to go sit by Levy and Gajeel.

Natsu puts his arm around Lucy’s shoulder and she leans on him, “Did you like the song?”

“You remembered.”

“How could I forget…” she kisses his grinning lips.  “So now what do we do Natsu?”

“Well, that’s up to you Luce.  I assume we still have your father to contend with.”

“Not anymore.  He died of a heart attack 4 months ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, I know you weren’t close but he was still your father.”

She shrugs her shoulders, “I was a little sad but frankly he never treated me like a real daughter anyways.”

“But what happened to the company?”

She smiles, “You’re looking at the CEO.”

His eyes widen, “Are you being serious with me??  Then what are you doing singing in a club?”

“Even a CEO needs to have fun sometimes.  I started doing this to relieve my stress.”

“Wow, so I guess I should be asking you what now?”

“Well… I have the love of my life back, I’ve got all the money we could ever need, so…” she kisses him again.  “What else is there?”

“Just one thing, my little Emo Queen.”

She giggles, “And what’s that?”

“Something I’ve been waiting 5 years for…”  He takes hold of her left hand and kisses it, “Wedding bells…”

[floweringthewords]

A Father’s Gift.

It’s late but it’s long!! A little Father’s day inspired one shot

~C

I never knew what to be more happy about in the mornings: the sound of soft gurgling and cooing, or complete silence, with only the curtains softly swaying on the wind from the open window.

As long as it wasn’t crying, I couldn’t really complain.

Stretching out and poking an eye open at the crib across from me, I feel the smile form on my face at the site of Stella sitting patiently as she stares me. “Morning, beautiful,” I yawn, getting up to pull on a shirt over my sweaty torso even though I’d probably be showering later anyway. It was unheard of to go one day without one during the summers in Arizona.

I scoop Stella out of her little prison and kiss her head, cradling her over my shoulder and smiling at her mostly dry diaper. “Well aren’t I lucky?” I muse as I raise her over my head, her lips parting in a small gasp from the height. Chuckling, I jostle her to ease her fear and her laugh fills the room.

Making my way down to the kitchen with her, I get her in her booster seat as I sigh, opening the refrigerator and taking in the cool air before taking out her serving of baby mush. Maybe I’d keep being lucky and she’d actually eat it without making a fuss.

I open up the small cup and sit across from her whilst picking up her mini spoon and plopping my half-awake face in my hand. Almost instantly, she made that face that indicated she was ready to start wailing when tempted. 

“Come on, do it for daddy,” I coo, trying to sound at least a bit enthusiastic about the gunk they passed off as food.

Sure enough, she began to grimace and wriggle in her seat the closer I brought the spoon to her mouth.

Huffing, I lower it as her bottom lip puckers. “I’ll give you peanut butter after,” I mutter as if I could reason with her. 

“C’mon, Stell,” I sigh. Her hands flail when I try to maneuver the baby food to her lips because she simply wasn’t having it.

“Fine,” I grumble in defeat, standing to get the box of animal crackers. I could probably feed a cat easier than I could her. 

I let her nibble and drool on her cookies while I make myself something quick and easy. My realm of knowledge didn’t expand much beyond omelets and pancakes and anything that could be fried.

Flipping through unopened mail as I scarfed down my eggs, I pause at the one that says water bill.

Crap. I still had to pay that.

With a sigh, I drop the envelope by my plate and pull out my phone, hoping the late charges weren’t too much. It was a lot harder to remember things now that I was the one taking care of it all. It’s been a while since I had all responsibility fall on me.

Then again, everything’s been slightly more difficult ever since- My phone began to chime in my hand and I answer as my mother’s name takes up the screen.

“Hey, ma.”

“Sweets, how are you?”

That question was harder, too. 

“I’m good, just feeding Stella,” I mumble, grabbing a paper towel to wipe the dissolved cookie crumbs off her chin.

“Were you still going to come over later?”

“Uhh, yeah,” I answer, remembering last minute the promise I made to bring Stella over to see her. I also remembered how she didn’t have any clean clothes. And how I probably need to avoid using so much water to make up for this month. “Just need to do some laundry.”

My mother clicks her tongue. “You know you can just bring it right over and I’ll get it done for you. I haven’t seen my little Stell!”

“It’s not a lot,” I lie, already grabbing my keys and looking for my shoes to head over to the Laundromat. Where was my bag of quarters?

“Just don’t be too long,” my mom tuts me. “I was going to make us a nice lunch.”

“I’ll be there at 1.”

“One?!”

“Bye!” I hang up before she could argue and rush to gather all of Stella’s onesies and put on her shoes, taking her out the door with the clothes she had on. It was clean enough.

~

I got to the Laundromat in under ten minutes and park, getting Stella out of her booster seat with the diaper bag filed with both her and my clothing flung over my shoulder. Pausing for a moment as my eyes land on a long legged blonde in tights, I try to make eye contact and smile, but she was too focused on her phone to even give me a second glance so I merely watch her walk away with a groan. It had seriously been too long. I need to find a onesie for Stell somewhere that said, “No, really, my daddy’s single. Go ahead, ask for his number.”

I grabbed the empty laundry basket with my other hand and walk in, the soft bell ringing over the door. I place the bag on top of the first free washer I could find and sit Stella beside it. She observes as I shuffle through the bag like a maniac and yank out her whites, tossing them in the machine and inserting my quarters. 

Once I heard the water start to run, I take a second to exhale. Something else I forgot to do these days.

I listen as women and kids around me chatter and the machines run. One girl was twirling a coin on the floor and watching it spin, while another boy played a video game. 

I liked the sound of the ruckus. It helped fill the recent quiet in my life.

After playing with Stella and holding her hands as she giggled and danced on top of the rumbling washer, I take the first load out and rest Stell on my shoulder while I put it in the dryer. She starts whining and I sigh, placing her gently on the ground. She was at the phase of starting to crawl and lean up on things, which made for an already adventurous 7 month old.

Throwing in the next wash, I keep an eye on Stella and watch as she tries to prop herself up on the laundry basket but merely tips it over on top of herself. I laugh despite her whining and place it on top of her so that she was stuck inside. It was a dick dad move, but it was so funny watching her try to remove it.

“I think your laundry is trying to get away.”

I turn at the soft amused voice with a grin, stopping in my tracks at the brown pixie-length haired girl. Her lips were a glossy pink and her eyes shone sweetly as she smiled down at Stella.

“U-Uhhh, yeah, it does that,” I chuckle, flabbergasted.

She lifts the basket with a dimpled smirk. “What’s her name?”

“Oh,” I clear my throat and set her on my shoulder. “This is Stella.”  I run a hand through my hair. “May I ask what’s yours?”

Her rosy lips lift, revealing her straight teeth. “Jodi. And Stella sure is a cute one.”

“Definitely one of the cute ones in this room,” I chime back, hoping to God that was obvious and came off as somewhat smooth.

Jodi giggles, biting her lip. “Uhm, so what’s yours?”

“Oh, right,” I mutter, laughing and holding out my hand awkwardly as I bent down to scoop up Stella with the other. She was my best bet right now. “I’m John.”

“Nice to meet you, John,” she muses with a warm smile. “Sorry I totally like zoned in on your baby. I never see a lot of dads come in here with their daughters and it’s kind of adorable.”

My stomach does a flustered flip and I give her a crooked grin. “I’m glad you think so. I’ve kind of been out of the game, you know, since shirts with puke on it aren’t much of a lady killer.”

She laughs, her small nose crinkling in a cute way that makes my heart go haywire. 

“I’d beg to differ,” she hums, making a face at Stella, who couldn’t take her eyes off of her either.

I rub my palm on the side of my jeans and lick my lips. “Could I get a statement? Because everyone I know thinks I have no chance and that I’m gonna die a widow.”

Jodi raises her eyes to me as she raises her brow. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“Yeah?” I chuckle, letting Stella tug at my hair.

“Yeah..you can die a widow and a good father.”

“Ouch,” I say with a smirk at her playful giggle, knowing she was kidding and hoping that was a good sign.

We talked for a while longer as we finished our laundry (she brought her next load closer so I could hear her), and I had the freshly warm clothes folded inside the basket while I was about to put in my last wash.

“So is it safe to say we’ll talk again?” I muse, folding one of my shirts down while Stella gurgled and chewed on her downy-scented blanket.

Jodi looks over at me from her pile of folded clothes – which she was way better at doing – and smiles. “I hope so. You’re really sweet. And I don’t think I’d be able to keep away from your little gumdrop anyway.”

I chuckle as pick Stella up from her spot on top of the clean clothes in the basket. Was I a horrible dad for using his child as a woman magnet? It had yet to be seen.

“Are you doing anything later?” she asks me, with a bit of a curious tone to her voice. Fuck, was I just imagining it but was that look…did she want me? “D-dada,” Stella whines, twisting in my arms and I put her back down like she wanted. Swallowing, I force myself to look at my watch, knowing I was well past late to my mother’s. “Unfortunately, yes. But do you maybe want to get coffee tomorrow? Or you can get a try of my homemade instant brewed coffee.” I clear my throat. “Y’know if you want.”

Jodi laughs. “Hmm. I’d like that.”

I feel my chest swell with victory, but almost instantly it’s clouded over by doubt. Was Jodi saying yes to getting coffee or coming over and me making it?

She fusses with her short waves for a moment and smiles, pointing her chin. “Looks like the next load is ready to go in.”

My brows furrow and I look behind me, where Stella was propping herself up against an open machine on top of the basket. I quickly tear her away, cursing under my breath.

“Th-Thanks,” I stammer, still unsure of where this would lead.

“So, coffee in the morning tomorrow?” she muses, raising an eyebrow.

“Definitely.”

“Great,” she giggles. Shutting closed the washer and picking up her basket, she makes her way around to my side, cups my jaw with her hand, and presses her lips against mine. “Can’t wait to try it.”

I watch in astonishment as she walks away, her hips swaying and tossing a look over shoulder, pure sultry and out of nowhere.

Fuck.

a year later

“Fuck,” I pant, tossing my head back as my stomach pangs. My forehead was damp with sweat and I had to grip the sheets to keep from yanking on her hair or her whole body on top of me.

“Does it feel good?” she hums by my ear, nipping at it teasingly. Her hand moves swiftly but slowly and somehow knew every single way of making me twitch.

“Please, baby,” I groan as I picture her hot mouth around me. “I-f-fuck I need you.”

"Yeah?" she whispers, running her lips down my neck and turning me into her property. I no longer had any say what she did to me when her heavenly mouth reached my throat.

I squeeze my eyes shut as her strokes get faster. My jaw goes slack and a soft, choked sound comes out, grunting as she guides me closer to my peak. 

"P-Please," I breathe helplessly. "I need to be inside you."

She moans, almost instantly straddling me and sinking down. I hiss from the pure bliss of her envelope of heat. Her face flushes as she rides me, eyes closed and her long lashes brushing against her cheeks. 

My hands rest on her bare back as I press closer, bucking my hips up to watch her bounce further. She moans gratefully and throws her head back while I feel the last bit of self restraint start to leave me and-

I hear the soft wail from the next room, the both of us freezing. 

"J-Just give her a sec-" I muffle, hoping maybe she would settle back in and calm herself. 

"D-Daddy!"

Jodi smiles sympathetically before kissing my cheek and climbing off of me. I fumble for my boxers and rush into the room, hoping it wasn't too obvious that my daughter would question what was in my underwear.

Walking into the room, her tormented face as she cried for me was enough to make my chest ache and instantly frown. 

I scoop her out of her crib and sigh, holding her to my neck. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"I hab a b-bad dream," she sniffles, clinging to me tightly. I wince and rub her back as she cries onto my bare shoulders. Her warm tears against my skin were enough to cause a knot in my throat. I hated seeing her like this and I've never seen her like this since she was a baby.

"Shhh, okay, it's okay, sweetheart, I'm right here," I murmur softly in hopes to comfort her. I rock her gently back and forth, remembering how that was always soothing for her. "Daddy's here."

She sniffs and stays quiet, her heaving and breathing slowing down as she pulls back to rub her eyes. I purse my lips and tuck her hair back.

"D'you want Jojo to come tuck you into sleep?" I ask. Her mouth instantly pulls into a deep frown as she nods, her pout quivering once more and hiding in my chest. 

I kiss her forehead repeatedly, just wanting to heal her pain. I saw it in her eyes, I saw it all over again what I couldn't do for her mother and it made me feel like I was drowning. 

How do I explain to my heart that she's still gone? 

I feel a hand on my shoulder and swallow, turning bravely with the tears in my eyes. Jodi's face falls slightly, but she keeps the front for Stella.

"Hey, gumdrop," she says in her coaxing voice, smiling and cooing. "C'mere sweetie. I've got you." 

She reaches for Jodi and I let her take her from me, letting her work her magic as I go back to to the room to catch my breath. I saw her image as clear as day and it clouded all other thoughts. Bright colored short hair and innocent dimples and freckles were replaced by black hair and blue irises and her fingers between mine. 

Jodi comes into the room a few moments later, finding me curled up at the edge of the bed. She sits beside me, the tips of her fingers running along my back as she rests her chin by my neck. “She’s fast asleep.”

I give a small smile, reaching tiredly for her hand and kissing her palm. “How do I manage without you?”

“You don’t.” Her voice was matter of fact, but still gentle and sweet. We stay silent until she rubs her nose against the back of my neck.

"You know you can talk about it with me," she whispers. "It doesn't matter how many times it takes for you to cope with it." 

I swallow the lump in my throat, thick with angst and all too familiar sorrow. Shaking my head, I let the feel of her breath on my skin calm me. “We had our whole lives planned out. We were so happy and then it just- i-it all got taken away.”

My voice and shoulders equally began to shake and her arms wrap around me, cooling the warm dampness of my body. I could feel my chest start to tighten as my vision blurred the same way my thoughts clouded with the vivid memory of her crying out in pain. I looked on helplessly as she stared at me, eyes terrified. There was nothing I could do, nothing I could have known that could have prepared me.

“Not all of it,” Jodi murmurs, bringing me back to the here and now. “You got Stella. She was her gift to you to help you keep going. She’d want you to. She wouldn’t want you to feel like this.”

I bite my lip and run my hands through my hair. “It’s so hard. Even when I’m…I’m the happiest I’ve ever been but I still get these waves of missing her.” “That’s understandable, John,” she croons. “You lost someone. I can only imagine that someone being your everything.”

Taking a deep breath, I turn to her and press my lips against her curled hand. “You don’t know how much I…thank you for always being so patient with me. I-I just don’t ever want you to think that I don’t love you with all my being because I still think about her.”

Her brown eyes melt like chocolate as her lips tilt upward. “You love me?”

“As much as my little Stella does,” I chuckle, pulling her close and resting my face in her hair. “Times a dozen.”

She giggles and my heart skips a beat as she looks up at me, her lids hooded. “And I love you,” she murmurs. “And I know a part of you will always love and miss her and have a part of your heart. I’m more than happy to help repair the broken parts that left behind.”

I cup her face, kissing her deeply with all that was left of my little lonely heart. With each breath I took in, I felt all of her running through me, surrounding me from her vanilla scent to the taste of her lips. Jodi grins and wraps her arms around my neck, my own soon following suit around her waist. Her kiss always felt so different from my wife’s. There were subtle differences that set them worlds apart, like how Isabelle would kiss me soft and purse her lips, while Jodi’s was always parted and inviting, keeping herself open to me. Isabelle held me like she never wanted to let go, while Jodi clung to me like she never needed to let go. They both loved me so different. And though I knew I would always miss Isabelle’s way, nothing could replace the love I’d found. But it was still that same kind of love all in the same.

four years later

Glasses clinked all around the room while people yelled across tables, fighting about making toasts. All I could do was laugh as I hold mine up, my other hand holding a small hand.

“Daddy, why are they so loud,” Stella shouts over the ruckus, scrunching her face up.

I look down at her with a chuckle. “’Cause they’re idiots-”

“They’re just excited, gumdrop,” Jodi’s voice answers, returning to the table with her juice box and a plate of food. Stella stares at it with a gasp, instantly reaching for the gourmet ‘kids meal’ fries.

“I still can’t believe Tim finally tied the knot,” I muse as I look on to them sitting at the table, murmuring to each other and looking happy as can be. I faintly remember my first wedding and how Isabelle and I did the same, never paying any mind to anyone else while we whispered sweet nothings. It felt like decades ago.

“I’m just surprised that he was the first,” Jodi says as she props Stella into her lap, munching quietly away at the fries and chicken tender appetizers. “Jared still has yet to pop the question.”

I laugh. “I’ve been telling him he better hurry up before someone else asks for him.”

Jodi scoffs. “Yeah right. If anything, Tessa’s gonna catch that bouquet tonight and be the one to ask.”

“Or someone beats him to the punch,” I imply cleverly, my hearts pounding and the weight in my pocket heavier as I remind myself I couldn’t yet. I didn’t want to steal Tim’s thunder.

Finally, the crowd settles for Eric to make a toast and we all listen on to the ridiculous jokes and memories of our friends, knowing that they’d already been together long enough to know everything about each other. I look over at Jodi and Stella, both of them in similar soft pink dresses and white flowers in their hair.

My heart flutters and I feel a wave of nostalgia and serenity. I’d never felt more grateful to have what I have now. Despite what I lost, I gained a family and a new piece of my heart. I knew Isabelle would have wanted me to have this again. She gave me this. I knew she was looking over me and Stella and knowing that we deserved Jodi.

“Jojo, daddy’s staring at you again,” Stell giggles, outing me blindly.

She looks over with a smile and rests her hand on the table. “Is that so?”

I’m about to respond when Jared stands after the applause, next in line to make his ribs at Tim and Ashley. Jodi smirks and looks knowingly at me. “Oooh, looks like this is it,” she teases.

“Oh I don’t think so.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because,” I chuckle and reach over, brushing my finger over her knuckles.

“You’re next.”