#the color grading and the quality of the first season are so bad but i was thinking about this scene

[ayo-edebiri]

#Gay on gay crime

[blossoming-mind-palace]

Can I request modern day headcannons for everyone? Including Chung Mei Lee Xue

I already posted something similar, but I decided to repost it, tweak it, and added new characters. Chung Mei and Lee Xue already come from the modern day, so some of these are just facts about them. Besides that, it’s a separate (and happier) universe where the ROTBB characters were born in the same time period.

Btw OC stuff is under the cut for people that aren’t into that kinda stuff.

ROTBB Modern AU (SFW)

Chung Myung

Still went straight to the workforce after graduating high school. He had a high GPA, but just didn’t want to pursue any higher education. He’s a security guard at a university thanks to Chung Mun being a professor there.

Like Chung Mun, he thrifts most of his clothes. Rarely splurges on new pieces unless he know’s it’s really high quality and will last a looooong time. Outside of work he likes to wear dark colors, jeans, and leather jackets. Occasionally wears florals and prefers embroidery over prints because they last longer.

I’m gonna place him in his 30s unlike my original post. He still isn’t proficient with technology though.

In a boxing club, and is the best fighter in it. (Obviously)

He’s a really bad driver and has been in multiple accidents. He’s an aggressive driver and has totaled at least two cars. Has a scar from one of those accidents and will show it off when asked.

Can cook, but eats a lot of fast food because it’s cheap and convenient. If he eats a home-cooked meal it’s either because he was in the mood to cook or Chung Mun made dinner.

I feel like he’d listen to older rock.

Chung Mun

Everyone’s favorite professor, but I can’t decide on what he’d teach. Maybe social sciences? Idk.

Succeeds at keeping his student’s attention and is pretty merciful when it comes to deadlines. He knows that shit happens and doesn’t get passive aggressive if you can’t turn in your assignment on time, but knows when to put his foot down if students take advantage of this.

Thrift king. Comfort > style. Wears beige or warm colors, and is a big fan of sweaters.

A better driver than Chung Myung. Has no idea how Chung Myung became such a bad driver because he taught him. Drives a modest used car.

Only listens to older songs/genres. Once thrifted a record player and taught himself how to fix it, and he only buys used vinyls because the newer ones are expensive.

Jo Gul

Around freshmen/sophomore grade. Currently working towards a general education degree, but his dad wants him to major in something business-related. Jo Gul is thinking about changing his major to something fitness-related despite his dad’s wishes.

Likes to wear graphic tees, trendy prints and jeans. I can see him rocking a beanie, too. Idk why.

Met Chung Myung at their boxing club. Got his ass handed to him on the first day, but still attends regularly. (Thanks Chung Myung)

They also frequent the same gym. Lifts a lot and likes to show off his arms.

His guilty pleasure is crappy romance shows/movies. Will go on long-winded rants about them and who should’ve gotten together. Did not shut up about Bridgerton when the new season came out. (Same)

A fan of pop and rock music.

Yunjong

Another thrift king! He doesn’t follow trends and just buys whatever’s comfy and would last long.

He’s a university student, but unlike Jo Gul, he’s there on scholarship and has to work to feed himself. (he’s still an orphan)

During his limited free time, he likes to pirate movies, read in the university’s library, and occasionally plays DnD. He makes a really good dungeon master or team leader.

Fantasy nerd!! Likes to escape to fantasy worlds to distract himself from how stressful his life is.

Doesn’t drive, but rides a bike instead so he won’t have to pay for gas.

Baek Cheon

Two grades ahead of Jo Gul and Yunjong. Couldn’t get into the same school as his brother, so he ended up going to their rival university.

Top of his class and on the dean’s list. Has no idea why the other school wouldn’t accept him.

He’s an excellent tutor and is one of Chung Mun’s favorite students. I still don’t know what he’d major in though. </3

Accidentally walked in on one of Yunjong’s DnD meetings. Initially did not understand the hype, but joined anyway and still attends meetings consistently.

Also uses a bike instead of a car because it’s good exercise.

Used to wear brand-named clothes, but stopped after he moved out of his family’s home. After that, he became an expert at looking expensive while not breaking the bank.

Yu Iseol

Goes to university, but struggles with going to events and doing extra-curricular activities. Also at the top of her class and is Baek Cheon’s academic rival.

Goes to the same gym as Jo Gul and outperforms him like the queen she is. Makes her own workout routines inspired by fictional characters.

Again, she’s a shounen fan. She thinks genres like that are inspiring, and she likes to rewatch her favorite shows a lot.

Accidentally stumbled across the boxing club and almost beat Chung Myung. She doesn’t attend meetings anymore, but the members still respect her because she went toe-to-toe with their best boxer.

Occasionally helps Baek Cheon tutor, and they’ve both tutored Yunjong and Jo Gul before. She’s not very good at explaining things, though.

Wears men’s clothing because women’s clothing is often low-quality and impractical. Her style is plain and baggy, but she somehow makes it look couture. Likes to wear her dad’s hand-me-downs when she misses him.

Tang Soso

Biology major of course! Just a grade under Yu Iseol and Baek Cheon.

Freaks people out with how obsessive she is with science. Has an iron-stomach and isn’t phased by gross lessons or projects. Magically not phased by the smell of formaldehyde, either. That last one REALLY freaks her peers out.

Like Jo Gul, she doesn’t have to work outside of school thanks to her family’s support. Her family has made a lot of donations towards the schools she went to over the years.

LOVES yapping about the sciences and randomly info-dumps about it. Yu Iseol likes to listen to her lecture about her latest scientific obsession. Tang Soso could talk for hours, and Yu Iseol could listen to her for hours.

Keeps up with trends, and has an elegant style. A lot of people wouldn’t guess she’s so weird thanks to how classy/lady-like her fashion sense is.

Yu Iseol’s dorm mate. They met after being randomly chosen for each other.

Tang Soso owns a nice car and takes really good care of it. Is Yu Iseol’s carpool, but she’s trying to teach her how to drive. It’s going well. (Better than the Chung brothers that’s for fucking sure-)

Has a pet snake back at home. Her younger siblings take care of it while she’s gone, but she misses it during the semester.

Tang Bo

Biology professor who likes to annoy the security guard during his breaks.

Tang Soso doesn’t take any of his classes since they’re family, but he does tutor her from time to time.

Her snake was a gift from him and he’s glad that she’s taken such good care of it.

He’s her favorite uncle but shhhh don’t tell the others. Promised her dad he’d keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t get into trouble while she’s at uni.

Most students either think he’s fun or ruthless. There’s no in between. His classes are not easy, and he isn’t as forgiving as Chung Mun when it comes to deadlines.

Despite nagging other people about drinking too much caffeine, he has a mild caffeine addiction. He’s also not a morning person, so he’d literally be the “Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee” meme were a person.

Chung Mun is one of the few coworkers he gets along with, and goes out drinking during the weekends with Chung Myung. (Some things never change)

Wears a lot of dark colors and has a polished style until the end of the semester. At that point he gets burnt out and doesn’t care. (Me)

Lee Songbaek

Goes to the rival university, but he’s pleasant to be around so the crew doesn’t hate him.

Majoring in photography and has a part-time job at a small café.

Has a clean style and wears a lot of university hoodies/sweaters. He’s really popular on social media, and he mostly posts his outfits, latte art, and his photography.

Jin Geumryong

Oh I hate writing about this man! I never know what to do with him.

About to graduate, and, like his brother, is at the top of his class. Idk what he’d do afterwards, but he’d definitely become an alumni in the future.

Unlike his brother, he still wears high-end clothes. He doesn’t wear logos because they’re tacky, though. His style is classy with a lot of white, blue, and occasionally black.

I feel like he’s moved out and has a really nice apartment. Has nice furniture and keeps it clean despite his busy academic schedule.

Chung Mei (OC)

Almost graduated with the degree her dad wanted, had an early-mid life crisis, took a few gap years, and went back to get the degree she wanted after talking to her sister about her troubles. Would want to major in something art, writing, or education-related.

Was on the dean’s list until she broke down. Her grades are still pretty good, but she doesn’t stress out over them like she used to.

Like Chung Myung, she’s in her 30s. Still has the same relationship history as the original timeline. (Rip)

A part-time student and spends a lot of her time working. I feel like she’d be the university’s anti-social librarian. She works hard but hates helping people because social anxiety. Really nice when she’s comfy with you, though.

Tutoring is held in the library, and DnD meetings are held in one of the spare meeting rooms. This is how she meets most of the crew.

Befriends Jo Gul because he once saw her reading a romance novel that was the source material for one of his favorite movies. Likes to attend Yunjong’s DnD meetings because she’s also obsessed with fantasy. Overall a really big romance/fantasy fan.

Tang Soso befriended her after complimenting her outfit. She basically adopted a second introvert.

Her favorite music genres are girly hyper pop and metal. Her fashion sense is similar; she can’t choose between pastel girly vibes or going full goth. She ends up mixing the two.

Lee Xue (OC)

If her social battery isn’t low, she’ll go drinking with Tang Bo and Chung Myung. She’d also rather drink at her and Lee Xue’s place instead of drinking in public bc she doesn’t trust strangers.

A cat woman in every universe.

Not connected to the university at all. She dropped out of high school, but ended up becoming a bartender. She makes really good money because of her extroversion, charming personality, and pretty looks. (And her big personalities-)

Flirted with one of the rival university’s students for fun. (Lee Songbaek) She thought his shy personality was cute and didn’t plan on going any further, but ended up in a relationship with him.

Before Chung Mei moved in with her, she didn’t take care of herself. Her diet mostly consisted of fast food or microwave dinners. She knows how to make a good drink, but sucks at cooking.

Now that Chung Mei lives with her, she has a healthier diet with more home-cooked meals. Lee Xue tries to thank her by occasionally making dinner, but her sister never eats her food and she can’t figure out why! :( (her cooking is more deadly than Tang poisons and she is not aware of this)

Never stopped loving y2k fashion. Has always rocked low-rise jeans even when they were out of style, and likes it when they’re ripped.

The reason why Chung Mei is into metal. Was in a band during high school/her early 20s, but they broke up and everyone went their separate ways. Looks back on those days fondly.

Still proficient in most string instruments, but only plays for fun now.

[kaycode1999]

hey!! Ik you’re probs a bit busy w these so no rush, but I’d like to request a match up for either mha or kny. My pronouns are she/her and I’m a female, either gender is fine by me!

For personality, Im have the ISFP type. I’m quite introverted, I hate speaking to strangers, or people in general. Crowds kinda scare me as well. I’m pretty shy and meeting new people is especially difficult for me. Im pretty funny (not my own words) and I love to draw, read, write, or anything with creativity tbh. I’m practically married to my Spotify, there’s barely any time you won’t see me without headphones. I get decent grades, but I do tend to get distracted very easily and I zone out a ton! I’m pretty outgoing once you get to know me, and I’m definitely a bit touch and attention starved. My aesthetic is sorta tomboyish ig. I’ve been told multiple times that I dress like I’m homeless lol. My favourite colour is navy blue.i hardly ever wear make up also, I’m just too lazy

I have shoulder length hair that’s sooo thick. It takes forever to brush and I can’t even shower properly w it. I like to dye my hair, and right now it’s purple at the ends with my natural roots (brown). My favourite season is fall just bc where I am we get stormy autumn’s, and I LOVE stormy weather. I usually go outside when it’s raining as well, I adore it.id definitely consider myself an insomniac as well, staying up to ungodly hours of the morning on the days before tests has proven that. It’s nonstop, I can’t remember a single night I went to bed before midnight. This means I also have hella dark under eyes 😭

thx for taking the time to look at this!

(also sry for the bad set up of the request, I rambled)

Demon Slayer/ Kimetsu no Yaiba

I match you with

Mitsuri Kanroji

Mitsuri can be nervous around crowds or people she doesn't know too, or at least she was. I know I saw either a fanart or a manga panel of her hiding in Rengoku’s haori somewhere and it was adorable. So she understands

I think she's gotten more comfortable and able to handle dealing with strangers better now, so she'll take the lead and keep the pressure off of you

She loves your humor and thinks you're hilarious

I think she's creative too, but of your interests she probably shares reading the most

She will give you all the affection you want😂 she's a sweetheart like that

She's not the kind to mind if you don't wear makeup or if dress “tomboyish” she just loves you for you

She'll love to help you take care of your hair, she knows a few things from taking care of her own long thick hair

She's has to stay up all night dealing with demons a lot herself, so she might be up to be there with you anyway

My Hero Academia

I match you with

Dabi/ Touya Todoroki

By nature he's pretty introverted and does not socialize…. Like at all

Your humor was surprising to him, as in he didn't really have anything to genuinely laugh about before you. Now he laughs all the time because of you. *its a small chuckle or maybe even a smirk/smile but a win is a win*

He's more destructive in nature, not creative, but I think over time your creativity rubs off on him

He's attention and affection starved too, unfortunately that means that at first he isn't used to it. But eventually you both get comfortable with each other and giving and receiving affection

He dresses a lot like you so win-win, you get to swap clothes

We've all seen the jokes about him being a hairstylist correct?😂 It would be in a different way than he normally does *through fire* but he would help you with your hair too. He really likes you're colorful hair

He likes rainy/stormy weather as well, so if you go out in it he will definitely join you

Does he ever sleep anyway?😭😭 He’ll more than likely be up along with you

But you guys can have your own special thing when that happens like playing cards or going for walks. Nice quality time

I truly believe Dabi could be good if given the love and affection he deserves so being with you just automatically makes him better

[zukkacore]

Idek who in my audience would still be on the h*p bandwagon but tbh I say this as a pitch both for ppl who still have nostalgia for the property and ppl who enjoy being haters (I mean, if you can withstand the salt without also getting just so so so burned out hearing about JKR’s bigotry, I know it hits me sometimes too), the Shrieking Shack Podcast is excellent in terms of critical analysis of the wizard books while also just being extremely funny. I swear the hosts xeecee and Liz have a wire tap into my brain, in terms of sense of humor and just voicing the problems I have with this stupid franchise.

I understand the stance of people who are avoidant of the franchise completely, but I do think having a better understanding of how and why the books ultimately failed and veered off in quality definitely helped me demystify the franchise as this like, untouchable thing of quality I was too attached to to ever give up but instead as a flawed work that I had grown out of and was far more at peace with letting go. I also think it helps me articulate to other people why the artist is not separate from the art. Her worldview is imbedded into her books, and especially later on, that’s why they were so mean-spirited and awful. No matter how much I liked the series as a kid, I think the distaste for the pernicious aspects of the franchise has been an… effective deterrent for me going back. And while I don’t have the energy to get into terminally online arguments, I think critical analysis is useful as a skill to give people who also have a skewed and nostalgia colored view of the franchise.

I will addendum that their perspective on the first few books is a lot more charitable and while I do agree w their thoughts, hearing nice things abt the franchise might feel distasteful in this climate, (I know it is for me) so if that’s the case and you have no problem starting in the middle I recommend starting around book 4! That’s when you start to get much more of a mixed bag.

And if you wanna hear basically nothing but wall to wall dunking, start with Deathly Hallows. Jumping in cold to a seventh season is rough but I promise it’s so worth it. I re-listen to the podcast All The Time when I’m between interests, and I tend to skip the early seasons and just go straight for the bad stuff. I’ve probably gone back to the DH season so many times. It’s brutal yet somehow completely earned. I’ve never seen anyone so thoroughly articulate my long held feelings that DH is a failure of a capstone on that franchise on all levels structural, thematic, and moral. This is not me pretending I had clairvoyance into the future bc there was plenty of shit that snuck past me as a kid (hello, book 4 was my favorite for forever) but when I read that book in like 5th grade I could just feel something was deeply wrong.

Also they just wrapped up the season where they were reading midnight sun and twilight at the same time and it’s been great. It’s way more lighthearted which has been a nice palate cleanser & I do think they’re a bit charitable toward twilight but the thing I appreciate is that their critique is more substantive than just the common reactionary low hanging fruit talking points & they have actually brought up the neglected topic of racism within the books

Also if you’re just starting and the news topics + freebies / goofs segment they do at the beginning and ends of the episodes throws you off , I get it. I love shriekcast & I do find the segments funny but they’re not everyone’s thing, and I do scrub through that stuff sometimes bc it can be long winded. For reference It usually lasts abt 30-40 min sometimes shorter and occasionally way longer.

[chelleztjs18]

The Joker To My Harley (N.R)

Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Summary: While Natasha is trying to hide her fear, she gets another surprise. (College AU)

A/n: Welcome to the first fic of my Halloween event! Happy reading!

Warning: Just fluff with Nat, with a little humor and swearing words. lol.

Requested: Yes by @marvelwoman-sugarbaby .

Prompts: 10. "Nope, I'm Not Scared. Not at all." , 11. "Is that red syrup? Please tell me it's red syrup." 12. "I paid $50.00 for this haunted house. I better die."

Halloween Masterlist || Main Masterlist

Halloween, one of the main things besides the crunchy dead reddish orange leaves that Natasha loves from Fall season. For some reason, Natasha always thought that Fall has a romantic vibe with a little spooky touch in the beginning of it. She loves it that the air feels crisp and cool with falling leaves, let alone the color around. For the spooky side, she loves halloween’s eerie vibes with all the fake decorations but mostly, Natasha loves all the parties.

For people who don’t know her, It is really surprising to know that she loves to party. They will think that she is one of those medical students who loves to study all the time.

Natasha has very good grades in her classes. She loves the major she picks. Sports are her other interest and that’s why she is one of the best softball players in her college team. Like a cherry on top, she also practices martial arts.

Despite all of those interests and qualities she has, there is one thing that nobody really knows, Natasha hates haunted houses. Well, scratch that. Actually, she is scared of them. She thinks it’s ridiculous for one to pay to get in just to be scared in a maze that is called a house. Of course, she doesn’t want anybody to know her weakness, not even her best friend, Wanda.

The idea of telling you about her being scared of going to haunted houses is also a big NO. She likes you, a lot. She wants to give you the best impressions she can. She wants you to see her as someone who is strong and can protect you even though you are older and taller than her.

You and Natasha met at the campus three days seminar that she organized. You were one of the sports medicine doctors at that time. Chemistries and sparks were there between you two. On the last day, she finally gathered herself to ask for your number. Since then, you and Natasha have been talking, spending time or going out together.

“I can’t believe you guys make me do this.” Nat complains complete with a pout and shaking her head.

“Nat, cheer up. It’s not that bad. It will be fun.” Wanda tries to convince her as they are in line to go to a huge haunted house.

“I paid $ 50.00 for this haunted house. I better die.” the redhead with the blonde wig retorts, annoyance sounds crystal clear in her tone. “Well, don’t die please. Don’t you remember that we are going to Bucky’s party after this? You know how he throws parties, it will be awesome!” Pietro’s accent floats into her ears.

“Yeah, Romanoff. You have been excited for this party. Why are you so cranky? Is it because your girlfriend can’t come?” Tony teases through his question.

“Because I don’t know what’s the fun of going to this haunted house before we go to Bucky’s party, all dressed up in our costumes. Like I always say, it’s stupid to pay to go to haunted house just to be scared by the people who works here. Also, y/n is not my girlfriend..yet.” Natasha’s disappointment shows up on her face as she said the last sentence.

Natasha almost didn’t want to come to the party after she found out that you can’t come with her due to your work trip to another state. She has been talking about this party and telling their best friends how much she hopes that she will go with you as a couple. As much as she wants it to happen, you haven't made your move just yet and it starts to concern her if you really want to be in a relationship with her.

If it wasn't for her friends' constant teasing and invitation, she wouldn't be standing here in her Harley Quin costume.

"Not yet? I thought that you two had been going out together many times?" Vision expresses his curiosity as he hugs Wanda from behind.

"Yes, they have, Vis but y/n haven't made a move yet." Wanda answers on her behalf.

“Yeah, maybe she’s too busy with her work to think about it.” The Russian asserts. Her hopes disintegrated.

“Then make a move. Why wait for her? You have been the one who do it. You asked her number and you asked her out too. So, take control of it.” The silver haired Maximoff twins chimes in nonchalantly

“Pietro is right, Nat. Just ask her when she comes back. Then see what she said and you know what to do after that.” The younger Sokovian shows her agreement with her brother.

“Yeah, even if I’m gonna do it, she’s not here now. This is ridiculous, I’m here all dressed up like Harley Quinn but without my Joker, to get jump scared before going to a party.” she stated as her jaw clenched right after that. Disappointment sagged through her. She gave you a hint a few times how much she is really into you and wants to be your girlfriend and her halloween costume is one of them. She told you that she will be Harley Quin and you’ll be her Joker. You laughed as you agreed to her easily but that was it. She started to think if you are that oblivious.

“Well, alright Joker-less Harley, stop complaining…because it is our turn to get in. Ladies first..” Tony teases his shorter best friend and swings his hand towards the entrance of the haunted house to let Natasha to walk in first.

"And.. Why do I have to go in first?” She asks.

“Uh, because we are in the front line.” Tony replied quickly. With that Natasha walks in, followed by the rest of them. Little does she know, Tony and the others are helping you to plan for Nat a surprise visit so she can go to the party with you, as a couple.

_____

Fake screams fill the room. Sudden loud bangs force its way to be heard and Natasha jumps a little because of that. Everybody knows Nat swears but the frightening intensity in the room really brings the amount of swearing words jumps out of her lips a lot more. She bit back a scream so she won’t look like a scaredy pants. Tony and Pietro are here so she knows better not to scream if she doesn’t want them to keep making fun of her for the whole semester.

Sinister laughs echo loudly. Her heart pounding fast, she swears she can hear it. She grabs Tony’s hand so tightly. “Argh, Romanoff, you are killing me. That hurts!” Tony exclaimed.

“Shut up Tony! That’s what you got when you make me to go into this fucking haunted house.” She answers but her eyes carefully looking around, preparing if someone jumps in front of her again. Wanda follows behind her with Vision and Pietro.

Wanda notices how tense Natasha is but it doesn’t stop her to poke fun out of it. “Watch out over there, Nat!” She screams behind her with a sudden fake warning to scare her. Of course, Natasha lets out a panic scream as her body jolts and she raises both of her hands up. “Arrgh! What the hell, Wanda?!” she complains in such exasperation after she realizes what Wanda was up to. Her eyebrows furrowed, the color drained out of her face. Wanda laughs out loud with the others.

“I didn’t know that the tough Natasha is actually a scaredy cat.” Vision joked as he snorted a laugh. “Aw, Natty, are you scared?” Pietro asks her in a teasing baby-talk then laughs a little more as they all keep walking, slowly.

“Nope, I’m not scared. Not at all.” Natasha denies it wholeheartedly even though she is internally screaming.

“Then walk in front of us if you are not scared.” Tony slightly pushes Natasha to walk in front of everybody as if she is the leader of the group. “Gosh, I hate you guys.” she mumbles under her breath as she continues to walk further to save her dignity. One killer clown shows up and growls so loud in front of her. Natasha screams “Oh for fuck sake! Come on! A fucking killer clown? Seriously? I swear I will kick–” before even Natasha can finish her words, fog was blown and floating in her surroundings. The loud sound of the fog machine's sudden blows really made her stomach knotted.

“Tony, you better walk side by side with me.” Natasha demands, vexation sounds obvious in her voice. She didn’t get any response from Tony and that’s when she realizes that his hand is no longer in her grip. She doesn’t hear her friends’ voices nor laughters. She turns around only to find none of them there.

“Guys? Oh come on! This is not funny! Get your asses here right this second!” Natasha yells in whispers frustratedly. She still gets no answer as she looks around to find them.

“Wanda! If you don’t show up, you're gonna have to cook and do dishes for a freaking whole month for me, Wands!” She warns her roommate. “Tony, I don’t care, your dad is going to pay hospital bill of any ghosts or clowns or whoever jumps in front of my fucking face again that I will punch!” This time her warning is louder. She waits for a few seconds, hoping they will show up but it’s all the same.

“Alright! All of you forgot I drove here with you guys. I’m gonna leave you guys here! I swear I will!” Natasha drops her last ultimatum. She takes a deep breath and positions her clenched fists in front of her as if she is ready to fight while she walks further.

You chuckle a little behind the stack of hays, seeing how adorable yet feisty she is. Fortunately, she didn’t hear it. Tony’s friend let you hide before they came, you are all dressed up as The Joker to match with her couple theme costume. You tiptoe slowly, get closer from behind. You are thrilled that your plan works.

As soon as your hand gently grabs her shoulder, Natasha gasps and turns around quickly. Everything happens so fast, you didn’t even see her fist come to you. Before you know it, a hard punch lands on your nose. You saw a flash of light for a second. Pain shoots up to your nose.

In a millisecond, you scream in pain. “Ouuuch! MY NOSE!!!” both of your hands cover your hurt nose. “Oh my God! That hurts!” You exclaimed in agony one more time as you randomly paced back and forth, then slightly bending over with your eyes closed, trying to suppress the pain. She instantly recognizes your voice.

“Y/n? Y/n, is that you?” Natasha looks closer to you.

“Yes, Natty! It’s me!” You answered as you shook your head as if it helps to shake the pain away.

“Oh my God! Why are you– What are you doing here?!” She asks and she grabs you by your shoulder, to look at you and make sure you are okay. Confusion screams loud through her facial expression.

“Why did you punch me?” You ask and finally Wanda, Vision, Tony and Pietro show up.

“Well, you grabbed my shoulder when you are all in psycho criminal clown makeup in the middle of a haunted house, what do you expect?” she points out her reason while she helps you to stand up straight.

“Oh my god, y/n! Are you okay?” Wanda asks worriedly. “Geez, Nat. You punched her pretty good.” Pietro comments.

“I told you, this would be a bad idea.” Tony casually remarks at you.

“Wait, you guys know that Y/n was here?” Natasha questions. “Yes, Nat. They know. I wanted to give you–” You halfway answer her until Nat interrupts her in such a panic tone.

“Is that red syrup? Please tell me it’s red syrup.” Her eyes widened as she pointed at the blood that slowly flows out of your nose and asks. “What do you expect to come out after you punch someone in the nose, Nat?” You return her own words in a playful sarcasm after you try to hold your nose, preventing more blood from coming out. Medic came with a first aid kit and security led all of you out of the haunted house safely.

_____

"I'm sorry y/n. I didn't know it was you." She apologizes genuinely as her hand rubs your back. "It's okay, Nat. I just want to surprise you because my work was done early." You explain.

"Well, you really did." She giggles and her cheeks turn rosie. Nat is very excited that you came back from your trip, her eyes drinking the view of you in awe.

Seeing you put effort into wearing the joker costume just how she wants it to go to the party with her makes her feel giddy. Her green eyes sparkling with little hearts but she is more concerned about your pain and she selflessly decides "Guys, I'm not gonna go to the party. I will drop you off and I will take care of Y/n, she is still in pain." Natasha announced.

Her friends look as surprised as you are with what they just heard and then they avert their gaze at you because they know that it's not your plan. "What? No.. No.. I’m okay. We are still going. That's why I'm here, to go to the party with you, as your girlfriend." You hold her hand and you look her in the eye.

Nat softly gasps from your words. Her heart skittered. She can't help herself to smile. Her eyes twinkle. "W-what?" She asks in excited disbelief.

"Yes, Natasha. You have my heart since the first time our eyes met. Every little thing you do, I adore them all. Can I be your girlfriend?” You ask as both of you stand closer to each other, one of your hands gently pushes away her red hair. Her spirit soared and happiness bloomed inside her. Your heart leaped, exultation surged through you.

The gap between your and her face is slowly thinning. “Yes, of course. I thought you’d never ask.” she answers in soft whisper, her soothing voice sounds like melody. Her smile is one of the best things about her you see. As soon as your lips almost reach her into a kiss you hear a phone camera click. Both of you look at where the sound comes from.

“I will definitely not forget this picture. Where else can you see a joker with a napkin shoved up in her nose almost kissing her Harley Quinn with a messy crooked wig, right?” Tony teases and then shows it to Wanda, Pietro and Vision.

Pietro laughs out loud. “I am so not letting this go for the whole semester, Romanoff.”

Wanda laughs a little. “Guys, come on. Let them have their moment. Okay, Y/n, Nat, don’t listen to these idiots and have your kiss.” She looks at both of you in adoration then pulls Tony and Pietro by their ears to walk away from you and Nat.

You pull out the napkin out of your nose. “There, no more napkins in the nose.” You joke. “Be careful, I don’t want the red syrup all over my face after I kiss you.” Natasha replies with another joke and with that her hands cup your face and pull you to give you her sweet kiss. Her kiss that’s sweeter than any halloween treats.

A/n: Welp, that's all for today! Let me know what you think. Follow me for more. Reblog and comments are highly appreciated!

Cheerio!

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[anime-onlys]

Spring '21 anime list: What I tried, what I'm watching, and first impressions!

Shaman King (2021)

I hadn't heard about this show until the reboot was announced, and it seems neat so I'll give it a shot! Hesitation isn't quite the right word, but I am watching cautiously because there's a lot about early 2000's anime that should stay in the early 2000's. I'm prepared to take a certain amount of product-of-its-time-ness, but only so much.

I really like its unique visual style. It feels like it's got a similar vibe to Soul Eater and TWEWY with its chunky proportions and face design, and the squash-and-stretch animation really lends itself to comedic moments. I feel like there are some eminently cosplayable designs in my future.

Character-wise, it's only been one episode but I'm taking a liking to Yoh. Based on the OP I hope that Ryuu will be an early-antagonist-turned-loudmouth-friend like JJBA's Okuyasu or Sk8's Shadow. That's one of my favorite character tropes.

The World Ends With You the Animation

My friend is a huge TWEWY fan, so our group was really looking forward to this anime. I saw a little of the gameplay when the Switch version was released, up to the end of episode 1's plot. I know it's going to be excellent story wise, and I already may be planning on making cosplay of that Reaper with the skeleton hoodie.

I love a unique visual style and an awesome soundtrack, of course TWEWY already had that coming in. The CGI Noise are a little clunky, but allow for some really great fight sequences. The characters' CGI models are nearly seamless with the 2D. It feels like the plot is moving fast, but according to my friend they just skipped some fetch quests and puzzle solving that wouldn't have been interesting to animate.

I'm really looking forward to this one each week!

Dragon Goes House-Hunting

One of those "eh, we'll give it a shot" shows. A bunch of us have been eyeing real estate lately, so at the very least it's topical. If done right, the concept could be fun!

We spent most of the episode HATING the dragon's character design. Its proportions are just...awkward in every way. The neck is extremely short and thick and leads into a human-muscled torso, the arms are tiny twigs, and the legs are a little too human and a little too thick to be anything but unnerving. It's bad.

Oddly, except for the dragon, the rest of the creature designs are pretty great! In contrast to a lot of anime, they let them be really non-human and had a good design sense. The humor was solid, the Monster Hunter references were on point, and the character interactions were fun. The OP is GREAT, too!

We'll be continuing this one! If you can make your eyes stop hating you for forcing them to look at the Monster Factory reject of a dragon, I'd say give it a shot.

You Can Make A Mug Too

Now that Yuru Camp is over, we wanted another lighthearted anime that might teach us something while it's at it. You Can Make A Mug Too was one of our picks to sample because one member of anime night has recently acquired a kiln.

My impression is an approving but unenthusiastic "Fine, really." You can definitely tell it's an anime made to bring in tourism to the town it's based in. The characters don't really grab me, but they set up a solid emotional backbone for the story. The production quality isn't stunning, I was hoping for some nice pottery wheel animation but didn't get any.

It's probably a decent show, but we won't watch any more because of the next one on the list.

Supercub

Going straight from You Can Make A Mug to Supercub was like going from store-brand ice pops to fresh gelato. I can already tell this is my favorite anime of the season, hands down.

First, the production quality is excellent. The backgrounds are beautiful, the score is understated but well done to the point that Debussey's Clair de Lune felt like it had been made for the scene it was used for.

More than the production quality alone, this anime's direction is exceptional. It takes 'show don't tell' and uses it perfectly, using body language and soundtrack and shot composition to communicate as much or more than the sparse dialogue. Like, they made my heart skip a beat with nothing but color grading. THAT kind of exceptional.

I haven't spoken much about the plot because I really have no idea where it's going to go. Will we fill in why Koguma is so alone, or will we only move forward to seeing her connect? Will the past of that Supercub come back to haunt her? This feels like an anime that can and will absolutely wreck me, but at the starting line all I can say is I'm READY.

If you only watch one thing this season, watch Supercub.

Continuing anime:

My Hero Academia Season 5:

This season is interesting because for the first time, I think I'm going into it with almost zero spoilers (Dabi's real name is the only one I have). The only plot spoiler I thought I had, that Hawks was somehow working with the League of Villains, was revealed at the end of episode 1. I really enjoy going into things blind so I'm looking forward to this season!

However, the OP is the most disappointing thing out there. Nothing about the song, animation or composition is memorable or even noteworthy. Bones and MHA have access to all the money and talent in the industry and they best they can do is "Fine, I guess".

Yuukoku no Moriarty season 2 (Split cour):

I really enjoyed Moriarty's first season, but the second part of a split-cour always has the risk of running off the rails. What I enjoyed most about the first cour was the reverse-whodunit formula: Here's a terrible noble and the people they hurt, how does Moriarty get rid of them while making it look like an accident? The end of cour 1 started to focus heavily on Sherlock and I don't want the show's namesake to end up sidelined.

Knowing Irene was coming, I was really hoping for a Scandal in Belgravia that follows the books...at all, where the end of the story is that Irene escapes with the photo (except this time aided by the Moriarty brothers). Few or no Sherlock adaptations actually want to engage with the sexism of the era or today's, and just want to paint her as a blackmailer or temptress instead of a woman holding onto the power to protect herself. The beginning was extremely promising, but that went off the rails pretty quick. I still haven't yet seen an adaptation of Irene Adler that I like.

Zombieland Saga: Revenge

I watch this show because it's fun and ridiculous, and I get to hear Mamoru Miyano having the time of his life in the recording booth. I love this show because it always ends up surprising me with its solid emotional backbone. It looks like this season is shaping up to be more of the same!

What blew me away was this episode was the first time I saw a CGI dance sequence that I LIKED. Ever. The characters used different mocap so they weren't eerily in sync, the song and dance itself was well made and supported by excellent camera direction and shot composition, there were 2D cuts to closeups of the dancers as well as audience, and they actually pushed facial expression!

It's a good time. Give it a shot.

[imaginationintowords]

Folklore [song series]

the last great american dynasty

Modern Day AU! Bucky Barnes x OC!Reader; Steve Rogers x OC!Reader

Plot: Inspired by Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore. The story follows the timeline of Bucky and Elizabeth’s life throughout the years.

Word Count: 4658

Warnings: maybe some swearing (don’t really remember), mentions of deaths, sadness, loneliness.

Previous Part

Series Masterlist

Age: 17

Year: 2012

Location: Brooklyn, NY

The last few months haven't been the greatest for Elizabeth.

She never did get to run for Student Body President during the months of October and November. Steve ended up running and winning. Elizabeth had even decided to leave student body council once campaigning started. She found no point in staying, everyone in the club didn't like her.

She had kept to herself. She no longer felt the need to make new friendships or continue the ones she had. The rumors made sure of that.

This was not how Elizabeth had thought her senior year would be. She thought she'd be crossing out he dates in her calendar feeling sad with each passing day, but now she's counting down to when she will never see these faces again.

She had also been approached by the principle right before school was dismissed for Holiday break. Principle Alvarez had told Elizabeth that she was the front runner for valedictorian. Elizabeth politely declined the offer, but Principle Alvarez told her to take the next three week holiday to think over it.

Elizabeth promised she would, but that was a lie. There was no way she would go in front of her classmates and give them a fake speech on comradery. 

These people wouldn't know the first thing about that.

Instead she focused on anything besides school.

Her parents weren't oblivious to Elizabeth's sudden change in personality. At first they thought it was because of her breakup with Bucky. But Elizabeth had told them it was a mutual decision. They wanted to believe her, but they knew their daughter. They knew it was not what she had said.

They knew something must've happened, especially with the way Bucky has been actively avoiding running into them. Even going as far as running inside whenever he saw Mr. Sanchez get home from work.

Even Steve stopped coming around. That was another red flag.

Then they had found out from Sarah Rogers, Steve's mom, that Steve would be running for student body president, after Elizabeth stepped down and left the club.

They were shocked to hear the news.

How could she not tell them. Her parents had debated back and forth whether or not they should have a conversation with her.

She had been keeping this a secret for months. Whenever they would bring it up, she told them it was in the works. But she had lied. There was clearly something bigger going on.

They then received a phone call from Principle Alvarez the day before winter break started. She told them about Elizabeth becoming valedictorian but turning it down. Another secret her parents had heard nothing about.

"Mrs. Alvarez, we had no idea," Caterina, her mother, said.

"I figured which is why I called. I told Elizabeth to take the break think it over."

"Thank-you, Mrs. Alvarez," Brandon, her father, thanked, "Actually we were just discussing Elizabeth and her sudden personality change. Do you have any idea what might have happened?"

"Well," she cleared her throat, "I'm assuming you both know about her breakup with James."

"Yes, but she told us it was a mutual decision, somehow we don't think she's telling he truth," Caterina explained.

"I suppose she isn't. Unfortunately, I don't think it's my place to say. Her grades are not falling behind, she hasn't done anything that would create a cause for concern," she half lied.

"But she quit student council. She isn't even talking to Steve," Caterina explained, slightly frustrated with the situation.

"Yes, well," Principal Alvarez pauses, "There was some rumors going around at the beginning of the year, surrounding James and Elizabeth. Sadly those rumors favored James."

"Why are we just hearing about this now?" her father asked.

"I have spoken to Elizabeth, she had asked me not to say anything to you. In order to keep this a safe place for her and other students, there's some things that need to stay confidential.

"I didn't sense any danger and the rumors died down. Yes, she did quit student council, but you wouldn't be surprised by the amount of students who leave a club senior year." she explained to them.

"We have had no idea any of this was happening," Caterina, sighs softly, her eyes getting teary. Her husband softly rubs her back.

"What do you suggest we do? Should we confront Elizabeth about all these lies?" Brandon asks.

"I think Elizabeth is trying to protect you guys and herself. I can't tell you what to do. This is your child. But I can offer some advice," she says, "Give her some time. When it comes, I'm sure she'll open up, it might not be now, but it will be when she is ready. I've seen this a lot with seniors who get thrown a massive curve ball and it just throws them all off.

"It's what I like to call their first taste of the real world. How they get through it shows how they will handle these kind of stressors in the future. Some just go right off the handle and turn to some bad things to cope. Some repress their feelings, and let it all boil until they have some sort of snap. Some, learn and grow from it. Those that learn and grow, take it quietly, figure out what's to come afterwards. They stop worrying about what's happening now, and are ready to move on. The reason I haven't reached out is because I can see how Elizabeth is handling it. Yes, maybe she has changed, grown up a bit, but I still haven't gotten any major danger signs from her that say she isn't handling this in an unhealthy manner.

"Elizabeth has been meeting with our guidance counselor, about once a week. And that was something she had chosen to do on her own. We aren't necessarily obligated to tell parents that because of  confidentiality reasons. If there was any cause for concerns you would've heard by now."

"So we should just wait?"

"Yes," she sighs, "I know it's probably not what you wanted to hear, but just know you have a wonderful daughter, who seems to know how to take care of herself in a healthy mature manner."

The conversation they had with Principal Alvarez brought some peace to their minds. Not completely, but enough to know that if Elizabeth really was in trouble she would go to them.

They had decided that it was probably best to get away for the winter break. Brandon and Caterina were able to work remotely during the holiday season, so they decided to take a trip to the family's cabin.

Elizabeth was excited to head to the cabin for the holidays. It meant that she wouldn't have to worry about running into anyone from school. And any reason to spend more time with her grandmother was exciting. Especially since she would be heading off to college soon.

Elizabeth had decided that Christmas to break the news to her parents that she had decided on the University of Stanford. She would be going as a Pre-Law student. The school was on the other side of the country. When she and her parents visited this past  summer, Elizabeth fell in love with the campus. 

Her last two choices were Stanford and Columbia.

With some talking to her guidance counselor and some major thought, she decided she desperately needed a change in scenery. A change in people.

For the first time since returning home, she had never felt more free. She was excited about the possibility of the future. She could no longer worry about what the hell was happening in Brooklyn.

Her parents were excited to hear about her choice. They were glad that she wasn't keeping this from them. They had decided that Principal Alvarez was right, Elizabeth was becoming such a strong woman in front of their eyes, and they had to trust that she knows what's best for herself.

Elizabeth and her grandma stayed that third week of break, while her parents were sent away by her grandma so she could have some quality time with her only granddaughter.

Elizabeth and her grandmother were currently sat in the living room going through some old photos. Elizabeth was helping her grandmother put them in some new photo albums she had gotten for Christmas.

"So, any new boy in your life?" her grandma, Sophia, asked.

"No, I'm done with high school boys," Elizabeth said, carefully going through the old photos.

"Good, high school boys are nothing but trouble."

"You're preaching to the choir," Elizabeth joked.

While grabbing another small box of photos, Elizabeth opened it up to reveal some very old letters and photos.

"What are these grandma?" she asked softly turning the box over for her grandma to see.

"Oh, I've been wondering where those went," she softly smiled, going over to sit next to Elizabeth on the couch.

Elizabeth handed her the box, and she pulled out a light yellowish envelope, the color from old age.

"Who are those from?"

"My old friend Rebekah," she said looking over at the letter.

"Rebekah? You've never told me about a Rebekah before.

"Well she was an old friend," her grandma said, handing Elizabeth a black and white photo of two young girls. One was her grandma and the blonde next to her must've been Rebekah. The photo was dated 1965.

"How did you guys meet?" Elizabeth asked.

"In junior high, we were both 12," her grandma handed her a photo dated 1960, it was of two even younger versions of the young teens.

"Oh, wow."

"From 12 to 21 we were inseparable."

"Woah, what's this?" Elizabeth asked, showing her grandma a photo of a quickie style wedding.

"Ah, that was Bex's first wedding."

"First?"

"Yup. Right out of high school, freshly 18. Adam Grant. Bex's high school sweetheart. Prom King and Queen."

"What happened?"

"Young love doesn't always last forever. Why do you think I was always so insistent with you not to worry about marriage until after you've graduated college and started your career."

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders, "Just thought you thought I was too young, and you were right."

"Aren't I always," she winked playfully.

"What happened between them?"

"Adam wanted Rebekah to be a stay at home wife, to start popping out babies. That wasn't Bex at all. Bex was always the life of the party. She was a social butterfly, but she had dreams of making it to Broadway. Adam was set to take over his dad's mechanic shop.

"The marriage had only lasted a year, before they pulled the plug. After the divorce, Bex started to go on more auditions, while she waitressed part time, and once a month she would sing at a lounge in Manhattan. Now when I say she could sing, I mean she could sing. I believe she really could have made it," her grandma reminisces.

"What happened?"

"Bill happened," her grandma said, handing Elizabeth a photo of a man who appeared to be in his late 40s early 50s.

"Who's he?"

"Bill Carter. The richest man I have ever met. His family had oil money. He and his colleagues were in attendance at the lounge on one of the night's Bex was singing.

"From what Bex told me it was love at first sight. After that night Bex couldn't talk about anything but Bill. They were both so smitten over each other. I don't think I've ever seen Rebekah act like that. She started to clean herself up a little bit, to try and appease his family. But Bill loved her just the way she was when he met her."

"They were engaged two months later. This was both of their second marriages. Bill's parents desperately wanted him to have a prenup, but he was completely against it. He said that unlike his first marriage he knew this was the one. Plus Rebekah didn't care about all of that. She had had many opportunities to make some heavy cash by being a few married men's mistress, but that's not what mattered to her."

Elizabeth glanced down at the photo. It was a photo of the bride and groom surrounded by their friends, all of them have drinks and cigars in their hands, with big smiles on their faces.

Rebekah's hair was a everywhere, doesn't look like she bothered to comb it for the big day. Bill's tie was undone, along with his shirt being halfway unbutton, no suit jacket in sight.  Her lips were dark in the black and white photo, which meant she probably was wearing a darker lip, judging by the lipstick marks on Bill's lips, cheek, and neck.

"Was this at the end of the night?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, this was just after the ceremony," her grandmother smiled, "Bex and Bill started the party after they said I do."

"The limo we all rode in together were filled with laughs, drinks, and cigars," she laughed.

"You guys knew how to party," Elizabeth smiled at her grandmother.

"Hey it was the late 60's," she shrugged her shoulders, handing Elizabeth another photo from the wedding.

"This looks small," Elizabeth remarked.

"Yeah, Bill's parents decided they weren't going to pay for the wedding when Bill refused to have Rebekah sign a prenup," she said, "So Bill and Bex decided to have a small wedding. Free of judgment. Just those that loved and supported them."

"That's nice," Elizabeth smiled at the thought of a small intimate wedding.

Elizabeth had never really given much though of how her wedding would be. I mean she and Bucky used to talk about getting married, but that was it. No plans were every truly made. Elizabeth also never truly saw herself as a big ballgown type of gal.

All that had mattered was her and Bucky. Now that's no more.

She felt her eyes get a little teary, she cleared her throat.

"So where did they go to after?"

"Rhode Island."

"Rhode Island?" Elizabeth looked at her grandmother, "Why Rhode Island?"

"They took a trip out there when they were dating, and fell in love with it. Plus Bex has always wanted to live on the sea. She said it made her feel free."

"Did his parents ever accept their marriage?"

"Sadly no," her grandma said, "Especially not after Bill's doctor told him to settle down with the party."

"Did he get sick?"

"Yes, around year 7 of their marriage, his doctor told him if he continued down this path he wouldn't live a long life."

"What did he do?"

"Bill told him he'd rather live the rest of his short life filled with happiness then become a boring old man who lived forever."

"Did he die?"

"Yes he did. He lived another three years, he and Bex were able to spend their ten year anniversary before he passed a week later. The summer of 1979."

"A week later?" Elizabeth asked shocked.

"Yeah," her grandmother sadly remembers.

"Rebekah was never the same after that," her grandmother says, "She never fully recovered from Bill's death."

"Did they have any kids?"

"Not together. Bill had two kids from his first marriage, but the kids only cared about their inheritance, that they never got."

"What?"

"Turns out Bill had changed his will when the doctor had first told him to slow down. He left everything to Rebekah," her grandma says, "That did not help Rebekah after his death either,

"Rebekah wasn't a heartless person, she made sure his children were taken care of, she created a fund for both kids. She never wanted Bill to do that, she didn't even know until the will reading two days after his funeral. All Bex wanted was her Bill. She would've given up all that money just for him."

"That's so sad," Elizabeth commented.

"Very. Even though Bex acted like none of the rumors bothered her, it did. Because that town was painting her to be this horrible woman. Calling her the most shameless woman they had ever seen, saying she enjoyed ruining everything. So she gave them what they wanted. She gave them the most shameless woman they would ever see. From what I had heard the partying got worse. She had parties every day, the house was filled with people from the city. She even got in a feud with one of their neighbors and stole his dog and dyed it green."

"What do you mean 'from what you heard'?" Elizabeth asked confused.

"Well, Rebekah and I weren't close anymore. The last time I had seen Rebekah was the week of Bill's funeral. Before then we hadn’t seen each other in almost 8 years.”

"What happened?"

"Well after I graduated in 1970, your grandpa and I decided to get married and settle down in Brooklyn," her grandma said, handing her a photo of their wedding day, "We were done with the whole party scene. We were ready to begin our own lives. Grandpa and I had already had good jobs lined up. We were ready to be adults. We were ready to start our family.

“Rebekah never understood that. She claimed ‘kids ruined everything’. She and Bill were living this extraordinary life. Kids didn’t fit the picture.”

“What about his kids?”

“They’d visit once per season. Their mother didn’t think that lifestyle was for them, and Bill never fought it,” she told Elizabeth, “And after I had your Uncle Eric in 1972, Rebekah couldn’t put her own feelings for children aside. It put a strain on our friendship, causing me to realize that I couldn’t be her friend if she couldn’t support what made me happy.

“I had supported Rebekah in every aspect of her life. When she wanted to marry Adam right out of high school, I supported her, hell I drove them. When she wanted to divorce Adam, I was there to hold her while she grieved her first failed marriage. She wanted to become a Broadway star, I was right there cheering and supporting her. When she met Bill, and everyone was against their relationship, I was their only support. When they decided to get engaged and married only 5 months after meeting each other, I was there, every step of the way. Did I have time? No, I was busy with school, but I made time.

“I was there for everything. I supported her through everything. But when I was ready to begin my own life, Rebekah couldn’t be there,” her Grandma sighs, “It made me question everything about our friendship.”

“It wasn’t until Bill’s funeral that I fully realized, she was just scared of being alone,” she says, “His funeral was filled with people. But not one of them was there for her.”

“How sad.”

“Rebekah and I finally talked that night,” her grandma says, “She told me all about the nonstop adventures she and Bill had.”

“Did you guys makeup?”

“Yes and no,” she says, “Rebekah was still against kids. She apologized for what she had said, but at that point I had already had three kids. We knew that our friendship would never be the same. We knew that the only way we could be in each other’s lives was if we kept our distance. If any one of us needed each other we knew we could call. But sometimes people come into your life only to be a small part of it. They don’t stay forever, but they make an everlasting impact.”

“Do you know what ended up happening to her?”

“She died, 9 years after Bill’s death. She was only 40 years-old,” she tells Elizabeth with a glimmer in her eye, “She died alone. While on vacation in Italy.”

“I’m sorry Grandma,” Elizabeth sympathetically says, she places her hand softly on top of her grandmother’s.

“It’s okay sweetie, time has come and gone. We all have to go through it someday.”

“What happened to that big house of her’s?”

“It’s still there. It never sold.”

“Why?”

“People claim it’s cursed,” she says, “so now it sits empty on that hill in Rhode Island.”

“They claim a crazy woman lived there, that anyone that were to live there would end up in the same fate as she,” her grandma says, “She wasn’t crazy. She was heartbroken. That whole town exiled her. Blamed her for everything. Made her out to be someone she wasn’t.”

“I get the feeling,” Elizabeth mumbled, looking down at her hands.

“She wasn’t crazy. She was a woman who lost the love of her life. She traveled the world to find anything to fill that void in her heart, and she never did. So she made sure to give that town everything she had.

“She was a very scorn woman. Filled with hatred, and anger to those that did her wrong,” her grandma says, clutching Elizabeth’s hands, forcing her to look into her eyes, “I don’t want you becoming like that Elizabeth.”

“I know whatever is going on in school, is not the easiest. But please, don’t let your heart be filled with so much hatred. I don’t want you becoming like Rebekah. She never learned to forgive.”

“It’s hard to forgive,” Elizabeth sniffled.

“I know, but it’s even harder to carry around so much darkness in your life,” she explains, “You should be able to go to college with nothing weighing you down. Not having anything negative reminding you of back home. You shouldn’t dread going back home, you should be filled with joy. Don’t exile those around you, just because they haven’t figured out that part of their lives.”

“Don’t let these last few moments of your high school life be filled with what those kids are saying,” she squeezes Elizabeth’s hands, “You know who you are. Those closest to you truly know who you are. We love you and support you. And are so incredibly proud of the woman you have become.”

“So please find it in yourself to forgive,” her grandma pleads.

“It’s hard being the bigger person,” Elizabeth sniffles again, silent tears streaming down her face, “they hurt me so much.”

“I know sweetie,” she pulls Elizabeth into her arms, “But let them regret what they have done. Don’t let them win by seeing you become this mad woman. Let them look back in their life, regretting the way they treated you.”

————————

Once Elizabeth went back home, the weekend before she was due to return to school from winter break. She had a lot to think about.

Does she listen to her grandma and forgive everyone for everything they’ve done. Or does she continue down the path she started on months ago.

She had to admit to herself, the path she was on was lonely. She didn’t like it one bit. She didn’t like what they made her become.

She decided to take her grandma’s words, and promised that once she returned to school on Monday, she would go back to being who she was. Not entirely, but at least not filled with so much hatred. She had to move on. For her own soul.

The first step, forgiving Bucky.

She knew that that was the only way to start. She wasn’t ready to talk to him in person, she’s not sure if she ever will be. So she sat at her desk and wrote him a letter:

Dear James,

(Yes, I called you James). I don’t know how to begin this. My grandmother told me I should forgive those that hurt me. You know my grandma, filled with nothing but wisdom. She told me a story about a friend she had, one that let the rumors consume her with hatred. She died alone.

I don’t want to be that person.

I know you don’t believe me to be that person, even after the things I’ve said to you.

But, I do feel myself becoming that person. Hating everyone around me, aside from my own family. (They still have no idea what’s going on with me)

So my first step in letting go, is forgiving you.

Letting all the pain and hate you’ve caused on me go...

I forgive you James.

I forgive you for everything you’ve done.

I don’t think I’ll fully understand why you cheated on me.

I know that’s not who you truly are. So I hope, that whatever you’re going through you come out on the other side.

This is harder than I thought it would be...

I loved you so much. I really thought we would end up together. Maybe that was just a childish thought.

Does anyone even make it out alive with their high school sweetheart?

But I want to thank you. For being my first love.

We were best friends to begin with, so falling in love with you was the easiest thing I’ve ever done.

Being in love with you was the easiest thing I’ve done.

It was just so effortless. And now I’m starting to wonder if that’s not how love is supposed to be...

But thank-you, for loving me the best that you could. You might not think it was the best, but it was.

You’re a part of my life forever. Even if you’re not physically a part of it.

You, James Buchanan Barnes, have left a forever imprint in my life.

So for that I want to thank you and forgive you.

I will always remember you as the 7 year-old boy who taught me how to ride my bike.

-Elizabeth “Betty” Sanchez.

Elizabeth walked across the street and placed the sealed letter in the Barnes’ mailbox.

As she walked back to her house, she felt this heavy weight lifted off her shoulder.

Come that Monday morning she was going to accept, Principal Alvarez’s valedictorian offer. She was also going to talk to the student council and see if there was anyway for her to rejoin student body. She was also going to apologize to Steve. He was just an innocent bystander that got caught in the crossfire. She couldn’t blame him for standing by his best friend’s side.

Monday, her life will officially be going down a different path. One filled with less hatred, and more understanding and forgiveness.

————————-

Age: 35

Year: 2029

Location: Rhode Island

“We haven’t had any interested buyers in decades,” the relator tells the happy couple, “Because of that, the house is basically a steal. The family that owns it just wants it out of their possession.”

“Now, it is a bit of a fixer upper, since no one has lived here since the late 80s. But that shouldn’t be any issue for you since you’re married to the youngest recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.”

The couple shares a brief smile with each other.

“But if I might ask, no one has every showed interest in this house, especially not a young family like yours. Why do you want to buy this house?”

“I think this house has been empty long enough. It’s time someone filled this house with lots of love and happiness. Like before,” Elizabeth smiled, small crows feet forming around her eyes.

“Well what better way then a family like yours,” the relator smiled, “There’s plenty of space for lots of kids.”

“This one is out last,” Steve smiled, putting his arm around Elizabeth, placing his hand on her growing belly.

“Three is enough for us,” She playfully poked Steve’s side.

They followed the relator to the back where two young children are running around playing.

“So what do you think?” Elizabeth whispered to Steve, looking up into his eyes.

“It’s definitely a fixer upper, but I love it,” he smiles, “Like I said before, wherever you go. I’m there.”

Elizabeth presses a soft kiss to Steve’s lips.

“Diane,” she calls out to the older relator who is running around with mini-me’s of Elizabeth and Steve.

“We’ll take it,” she smiles broadly.

[5x14]

my ranking of all the seasons of spn + my favorite episode from each season (pt. 1)

in the span of two posts, i’m going to rank all of the seasons of supernatural, list my favorite episode from each season, then go into my reasoning for my ranking. in this post, i’ll be talking about the seasons towards the bottom of my list. 

15. 6 (favorite episode: 6x15, “the french mistake”) 

*french mistake bob singer voice* season six... season six somehow manages to have two of my favorite episodes (”the french mistake” and “the man who would be king”) yet be my least favorite season. how, you might ask? i think the problems with season six center around the fact that it’s the first post-kripke season. given that the show was supposed to end with season five, the season five finale, naturally, ties things up very nicely with a narrative bow. but then... the show keeps going. this is not to say, of course, i wish the show had stopped with season five. my point here is that for all of season six, i would argue, the show lacks voice and direction (did they ever *really* find it again? that’s an argument for a different day). i didn’t mind season six so much the first time i watched it, but i found re-watching it almost unbearable. first and foremost, i find it visually unappealing; it’s unattractively gritty in parts, oversaturated in others, and the color-grading is downright bad (look to whatever was going on in “caged heat” as an example. it looks like they’re inside a dirty fish tank). furthermore, i don’t enjoy it plot-wise, mainly with regards to the campbells (frustrating) and the alpha monsters (boring). i don’t *love* cas’ plot line in this season, but i do think it makes for a great character study and some delicious conflict (a highlight of the season: the superman/kryptonite moment when dean figures out cas has been betraying them). i would say my four or so least favorite seasons are pretty muddy and subject to change, but season six might just take the cake.  

14. 15 (favorite episode: 15x05, “proverbs 17:3″)

if i had to describe this season with a phrase, it would be “comically bad.” first: cinematography. the soap opera-esque orange-ness of the later spn seasons really comes to a head here, not to mention how uncompelling the visuals are (like, ghosts in broad daylight? really?). plot-wise, i think it goes without saying that my issues mainly lie with “despair” and “carry on”; i could say a lot on that topic, but to sum it up, this season felt like they took everything they’d built up to and managed to do the opposite of what would make narrative sense. plus, the season felt like a speedrun through how to kill off/keep offscreen any character that wasn’t sam. this is not to say season fifteen doesn’t have *any* redeeming qualities. i love 15x05′s homage to wes anderson, the dean/cas divorce arc, the line “you asked what about all of this is real. we are,” the prayer scene in 15x09, and the fact that amara reads murakami in a hot spring in iceland. but none of that can put out the fire that is the rest of the season.  

13. 11 (favorite episode: 11x04, “baby”)

like season six, i enjoyed season eleven the first time i watched it but not my second time around. mainly, i find the darkness plot line completely uncompelling. there’s really not that much else to say about it; it’s a perfectly mediocre season, imo. my only case for season eleven is casifer; i love any time there’s a variation of cas (i.e. jimmy, endverse!cas, empty!cas, etc.) because misha does such a good job of acting it. the scene in 11x14 with the line “...i will tell him the truth, sam. i’ll just say, ‘dean-’” is a prime example of this. the way he channels lucifer’s essence in his mannerisms, voice, etc. is really quite impressive and very fun to watch. 

 12. 3 (favorite episode: 3x10, “dream a little dream of me”)

if you’d asked me what my least favorite season was after the first time i watched spn, i would’ve said, without a doubt, season three. i thought it looked chintzy (some of it is oddly saturated and a lot of it just looks bad, with “the magnificent seven” and “sin city” specifically coming to mind ) and that it was just a weird, liminal season. however, upon rewatching it, i’d say it has a number of good episodes (like “dream a little dream of me” and the iconic “mystery spot”) and, mainly, i think it has a solid arc (dean coming to terms with the fact that he’s going to go to hell). overall, it’s definitely not my favorite, but it’s also not as close to the bottom of my list as i would have previously placed it.    

11. 2 (favorite episode: 2x20, “what is and what should never be”)

my love for kripke era spn mainly lies in seasons four and five; that being said, i do have a fondness for seasons one and two. i think they’re very solid introductory seasons. what i liked most about them when i first watched spn was how formulaic and repetitive the monster-of-the-week episodes were (there’s a case, they find the monster, they kill it. boom.), but there’s also an overarching plot line for the season to keep you hooked. for season two, i really enjoyed the whole azazel’s army plot line, and i love the final two episodes of the season. i think you can divide kripke era into three parts: seasons one and two, season three, then seasons four and five. each part, i feel, has its own arc that ties up nicely while also feeding into the overall narrative. thus, i find season two satisfying in that regard.

10. 1 (favorite episode: 1x12, “faith”)

i like season one for all the same reasons i like season two. while i find the plot of season two to be more gripping, season one earns its place higher on my list because of how iconic it is. i really love sam and dean in these seasons, and i think these two seasons epitomize their relationship and camaraderie. i think season one also, perhaps, best reflects kripke’s on the road vision of gritty americana and a seemingly tough and masculine dean. 

9. 10 (favorite episode: 10x22, “the prisoner”)

i find season ten to be another perfectly mediocre season. i don’t really enjoy the mark of cain plot line, though i do think it lends itself to a compelling character study of dean and his emotions (especially when he kills the people with whom claire was living, his response to charlie’s death, and when he beats cas up in 10x22). specifically regarding “the prisoner,” the fight scene is one of my favorite scenes in the whole show (lol); first, i love the dialogue, especially cas’ lines: “maybe you could fight the mark for years. maybe centuries, like cain did. but you cannot fight it forever. and when you finally turn, and you will turn... sam, and everyone you know, everyone you love... they could be long dead. everyone except me. i'm the one who will have to watch you murder the world”). i also think the editing is brilliant when it’s made to look like dean slams the blade into cas, when he really just slams it into a book. 

8. 12 (favorite episode: 12x12, “stuck in the middle [with you]”)

okay, i love a lot of things about season twelve. mainly, i think the exploration of dean’s relationship with mary is extremely emotionally evocative. my favorite lines in the season are “i hate you. and i love you. ‘cause i can’t- i can’t help it” from dean in 12x22 and the exchange “i am your mother, but i am not ‘just a mom.’ and you are not a child” (mary); “i never was” (dean). there are also a number of episodes i love in this season: “first blood,” “lily sunder has some regrets,” “regarding dean,” “stuck in the middle (with you),” “who we are,” and “all along the watchtower.” however, i am staunchly not a fan of the british men of letters plot line (especially in the beginning of the season when toni tortures sam), and while i do love jack, i feel like they could have gone about his conception in a... different way. a way that doesn’t involve lucifer inhabiting their oc president. i’m all for campiness, but that felt like a bit much. 

[kkulmoon]

SUNSET HEARTBEAT | KTH

pairing: Taehyung x Reader (f)

genre: fantasy au, hybrid au, sci-fi (?), fluff, angst

word count: 5.1k

rating: pg

a/n: ngl i feel like the beginning portion is a bit rusty, by rusty I mean it may feel a bit slow but pls give it a chance 🥺, I struggled to write that 😭. I am also tagging two very lovely people who were excited about this, hopefully you like it uwu @blossomkoo​ @inkedxclouds​. This fic is part of Bangtan Scenery’s collab ‘April Showers Bring May Flowers’, make sure to check out everyone else’s entries!

warnings: implied sex, other than that none, except for heartbreak and slight purple patches here and there cause I was in the mood hehe

beta read by: lovely angie @scvkjin​ and amazing emi @bangtiddies​ 💕 

synopsis: The time had come for the seventh sun to rise. For the seventh and last color in line to have its cycle. As one indigo supernova signified the coming of a purple nebula, you and Taehyung spent the remaining of your last day together creating something of your own. If it comes into fruition can only be known years in the future. A decade after you found someone unlike anyone. Truly one of a kind. Someone with a destiny they couldn’t outrun. It has been 10 years since the birth of a purple sun.

☁︎ masterlist ☁︎

It was in your final year of university, twelve years ago, that you met Taehyung. That same year you decided it was time to give up on the idea of becoming an astronomer. Quite frankly, you were just too dumb. However, it did not mean that you couldn't enjoy it all while living a life where pretending that you truly understood everything was your best bet, your only bet. They all say that interest and dedication trumps natural talent, right? For that same reason you decided to still attend as many astronomy lectures as possible even though you were studying to become an English teacher. You were always quiet and attentive so either the professors didn't notice you or let you be. Either way, what mattered was that you got to be there.

The first time the two of you interacted was a random weekday in April, near finals’ season. You were sitting at the back of the room as usual. The professor had handed out some papers to be passed back. A gold tinted hand with slender fingers, on which well groomed and shiny fingernails were present, reached out to you. You could all but wave away at the paper, trying your best to dismiss it. A pouty and confused expression was what you got as he continued to jab the paper onto your palm. You kept trying to mouth 'it's okay' but he was persistent. Not much of a purple characteristic but surely a sun one, now that you think about it. Finally you settled for a verbal response.

“I don't actually take this class, so really, i'm fine.”

He retreated his hand for a second, “Huh, don't we all wish that was true,” he said as he placed the paper on the small desk in front of you instead. “You've got this! We're almost done, hold in there.” You got a thumbs up before he turned back to focus on the class.

And every week from there on, whenever he got a short moment in class while the professor was writing on the board Taehyung would pester you with motivational notes filled with sayings. One particular somber April morning where you looked more tired than usual he even went as far as offering to help you with the class and your homework. You did your best to decline and yet that same night you got an email in your inbox that told you he obviously hadn't understood.

| Kim Taehyung     Chapter 15: Helpful Resources, (hang on there, you got this!) |

While you didn't take the class and had no official obligations to learn anything, you were still interested in astronomy so you decided to have a look. The links did clear up some questions you had during the lecture. However, you didn't want him to be wasting time helping a lost cause. As much as you loved reading about astronomy and learning about it, you were slow and having him help you was more than unnecessary. The definition of futile work. You decided to send him a screenshot of the official classes you were attending from the university's student portal. You made sure to censor your grades. He truly didn't need to think that you were any dumber, all he needed was proof that you weren't taking the class.

But once again, Taehyung's sun qualities shone through. Where it would have been expected for the person to drop the subject and for the two of you to go back to your habitual behaviour, he thought otherwise. He responded, but this time instead of answers he had questions, none of which you felt like answering so you left him on read. Well, the email version of read. You opened the email, read it, thought about answering it but ultimately left the email thread to die on the read pile.

A week went by. No Taehyung and you felt relieved. At least that's how you think you felt, the sleep deprivation might have been playing tricks on you. As yet another day came, where the indigo sun let its rays shine, Taehyung thought it better for him to act as the sun. You hadn't seen him in class, but it just turned out he changed his usual spot. He tried to catch you before you left the room but your daydreaming self was quick on her feet. He had a quick talk with the professor before he hurried to you.

“Hey!” The sound of sandals echoed against the cement floor. “Hey! You there!" 

You kept on walking, as far as you knew your name wasn’t you there'.  Someone grumbled behind you only to exclaim after a short while. 

“Y/N! Y/N! Hold up, I need to talk to you.” So in that case you were 'you there' and someone was Taehyung. 

You stopped walking and turned around. You couldn’t help but cock your head at him. You had only seen Taehyung from the torso up while in class. His attire surprised you for some reason. Maybe because he was a STEM student and you had expected him to look more uptight. He looked like one of the people from the pot dorm down your hallway.  Everything he wore was oversized except for the big knitted headband he had on now that he was outside. He looked devoid of colour with his muted clothes, but his cross body bag stood out with its patterned rainbow material.

"Yeah, what is it?" The quicker you could get it over with the better. However, Taehyung didn’t seem to agree with you on that aspect. He took his sweet time to fix the misplaced headband as you were left to witness the action. As much as you would have liked to categorise the scene as boring, it would have been a lie. His grey hair strands somehow managed to sparkle in the sun. They didn’t shine the normal way hair shines when light reflects on it. His hair literally sparkled as if it had recognised something familiar within the sun rays. But at the time you just thought you were being delusional or being tricked by the elements of his beauty.

"You didn't answer my email," he asked with curious eyes and an innocent tone. Right, that happened.

"Oh, that... uhm... I just haven't gotten the time to go through my email, things have been a bit hectic," you shot him a sympathetic smile.

Taehyung seemed like a pretty understanding person but he sure wasn’t dumb. You saw the way his tongue shifted to lick his lips as his teeth found their way onto his bottom lip. He trailed his hands on the strap of his bags as a pensive lip bite made adorned his features. Taehyung could have either been nervous or so irked by the bullshit you just spat at him that his body was reacting. Either way you felt bad for your white lie, but maybe not bad enough.

"It has been two weeks though," Taehyung stretches his back to stand straighter, "Also I take a chem class with Hoseok and you're always chatting in the gmail chat so..." 

What do you say to that? You lied and the worst part of it all was that you were caught right in the same moment. Your mouth opened and closed continuously as a hot flush made itself present on your ears and neck. You made note of the fact that Taehyung seems sweet but he actually packed a punch and was definitely ready to confront you on your bullshit. Classic STEM student approach, just face things head on. Thinking back at it, that was yet another instance in which his sun characteristics took the wheel. The sun's rays don't budge for anything or anyone and they certainly don't cave in to make others feel comfortable.

"Uhmm... right. But I am here now, so ask away!" Maybe your fake enthusiasm could make up for your little lie. Taehyung gave you a wondering look as he calculated  the pros and cons of continuing this conversation, You hoped the cons would win. 

“Uhmm, alright, fair enough,” He shrugged and the pros must have won because he kept talking. “Why do you go to astronomy lessons if you don’t take the class?”

Why did he want to get into your personal business? You could have very well told him that it was none of his business, turned around and left. But that seemed a tad bit too rude for you and for some weird reason you didn't want him to think of you as any more rude that you had been.

Would you paint yourself as an overly ambitious student that just had a general love of learning or would you tell him the truth? If you were to lie again you were sure he wouldn't manage to uncover this lie.

"I just like astronomy and find the class interesting, on top of that I've got time so like why not?" You felt good about your response, so good you were happy that you had made the choice not to lie to him, again.

"Oh okay, then how come you didn't apply for the program?" Wow, this dude was really trying to uncover all of your flaws during the first real conversation you've had. He should have become a detective instead, his focused and analysing eyes made it very hard for you to lie and not feel any residual guilt. He would, without a doubt, catch you if you were to slip up again.

"Uhm... I just felt like education was the right place for me you know." You shook your head with squinted eyes in hopes that he would just get you. Which he obviously didn’t if you had to go off of the way his jaw jutted out to the side. 

"Well, to put it simply, I am not the brightest of students and while actually taking the class would have been a nightmare, just being there and listening and learning at my own slow pace just makes me feel better about my shortcomings."

Taehyung's lips parted slightly. Okay, maybe you didn't have to give such a confession but he had been pushing and you wanted it to just end.

"Ohh, I see." Not the response you expected but how else do you respond to someone who said that they were too dumb to follow their dream. "But still my offer stands, if you need help trying to understand anything, feel free to tap my shoulder in class."

"But you changed seats to sit in the front."

"Nah not really, I was just bitter that you hadn't answered and didn't want to hurt you. From now on you'll see me at my usual spot in front of you."

The squeamish movement that accompanied the words ‘hurt you’ gave rise to a wondering look on your face. Hurt you? Why would he hurt you? Taehyung looked pretty harmless so you decided to not take his weird comment at face value. He most likely meant hurting you in a verbal sense.

The rest of the semester progressed in that same weird manner that characterised your relationship with Taehyung. A constant push and pull that kept being encouraged by your closest friends– Hoseok being the top player in the game. Inevitably, the more time you spent with him the more you warmed up to him. A month down the road the two of you decided to put a label on it. Or it was more so you who needed a verbal confirmation that you had somehow managed to catch someone's interest.

It took you awhile to reset the way you thought. Your wandering mind wasn’t only filled with personal affairs anymore, another individual had found their place in your day to day thoughts. All of a sudden being affectionate wasn't something you had to actively be, it was simply default mode whenever Taehyung crossed your field of vision.

For that reason alone, finals season was filled with movie nights, whispered love confessions, enough takeaways from different cuisines that you felt you were now ready to become a food critic. But the most precious instances of that time was the afternoons where Taehyung did his best to teach you astronomy and you being too lazy to listen despite your interest. You can't help but ask yourself if you would have been more attentive had you known what astronomy actually meant to him.

You had now been with Taehyung for one entire year. One year filled with diametrically opposite feelings. The good, the bad and the ugly. But ultimately all of it was left at the door the moment the two of you decided to reconcile despite the drawbacks. You were happy. The kind of happy that you don't recognise until it's gone. That can only be acknowledged in the midst of incoming fury. You had never in your life wished for the ability to predict the future. To see what happens after sunrise before it is manifested. 

One particular day eleven years ago, you wished that astronomy was fake, that the sun wasn't real and that it never needed to rise or set, to be born or die. You wished the sun didn't exist, knowing very well that that would mean the most important person in your life wouldn't exist. But you could have dealt with that. 

Longing for something you know you could have hurts far more than craving for the unknown. In the latter situation there's at least hope, that if you search hard and long enough you could find that thing you so deeply want. In the former, you know where that thing is, it's in fact right under your nose, or more accurately right over your head, where you can feel it at least a little bit every single day. Except this time you can't have it, no matter how hard you wish for it or how long you choose to wait. The whole scenario was like a twisted marshmallow test. Made to incite cravings with no intention of ever quenching them.

This all started a year following the start of your relationship with Taehyung. At that time you took notice to how hot he would get at the most unexpected of times. A behaviour that was usually reserved for when he was irritated or angry. It wasn’t only him that was hot but he radiated the kind of heat reserved for an extremely sunny summer’s day. 

You overlooked those instances and decided not to pay them too much mind. It could just be you having the extreme hots from him. However on a particular night, you just couldn’t bring yourself to stay in bed with Taehyung. The sheets were drenched and the windows had fogged up. You had to leave and find refuge in your living room sleeping right by a fan. 

The coming morning you woke up to breakfast on the table and right beside it there was a thick pocket sized book. The Book Of Suns. That was the white title that was engraved onto the black cover. Taehyung was nowhere to be found but his belongings were still in your room so you assumed he had gone for his morning walk. 

You had to make a choice between the two. Would you read the book first or you would eat breakfast first? You knew that whatever you were about to find out would most likely curb your appetite. Your hand glided against the rough cover of the book. 

Wouldn't it be better to read it now, just in case something made you extremely sad? That way you could cry before he got back home. Whatever it was that you were about to find out was very important to him, important enough that he wanted you to form your own opinion of it in peace. He wanted in no way for his presence to taint your reaction towards the truth that he had been hiding. Or as he thought protecting you from.

You sat down by the table, knees to your chest as you brought the book onto your hands. 'The Book Of Suns' was, as you realised after reading it, just that, a book about suns, in particular Taehyung’s sun lineage. It was a story about your world’s suns, the rainbow sun family. A fact unknown to you before that very moment. You were surprised by your behaviour, you weren’t exactly known for having calm reactions. It must have been Taehyung’s scent on the sweater you wore. It tickled your nose and calmed your senses. The book served as a track record for the next person in line to become the sun. It had seven chapters. Beside each chapter title in the contents page there were small vertical lines. The first six suns had five lines while the last had four. Taehyung must be purple sun. You read silently or more so you attempted to read silently, the deep breaths you were taking in effort to digest everything couldn't be contained.

After a continuous hour of reading you got to what was perhaps the most interesting chapter. Where do the dead suns go? And most importantly what do the suns that have yet to be born stay? You were cautious about continuing your reading. What if you found out that Taehyung was in fact just the ghost of someone that didn't actually exist? Or worse what if Taehyung would cease to exist? 

Fear curbed your initiative to let your eyes continue their dance on the page. But fear also did its job in fixating your attention on the slightly faded black letters present on the off-white pages. Fear of the unknown is always worse than that of the known.

Deep in the forest, there was the garden of suns. Every time a sun died and resurrected as a human, their statue appeared in the garden, where their sun soul was kept, only to vanish on the day of their sun birth. In the middle of the pages there was a picture, at the back of it you could read Taehyung’s harsh handwriting ‘The garden of suns -15/07/39’. He had been there four days ago.

The statues of the first five suns were covered with vibrant collared moss equivalent of their sun pigment. The sixth and seventh sun’s statues were only slightly visible in the photograph. They seemed to be in an intermediary phase. Not quite gone, yet not quite there. It was hard to figure out whether they were emerging or vanishing. That’s until you remembered the previous week’s news report. A supernova was on its way and scientists believed it would most likely occur near the end of next year. 

The indigo sun is near its death, and a purple sun is nearing its ascent. 

Taehyung’s statue was the one vanishing. His sun soul was ready to find its owner and ascend to its rightful place amongst the other stars. Just as you were about to continue reading, ready to delve into how this whole sun birth situation went about, the sound of metal clashing against metal resounded in the dead silence. Clinging keys and heavy steps entered the apartment. 

No 'hello' or 'glad to see you're finally awake'. But could you blame him? It would have been weird to act as if it was like any other of your usual mornings. You wished you had mustered up the strength to get off the chair and go greet him at the entrance. In your mind you did that but in reality you stayed rooted right where you were, back squeezed into the corner between the table and chair.

Taehyung walked in to lean against the door frame that lead into the kitchen. He looked exhausted. Dark under eye bags decorated weary eyes. You thought you could hear a tentative squeak come out of his mouth. Maybe you should've said something, because he looked like he was hurting and trying to find the appropriate words to start a conversation he knew would only end with heartache and tears. You thought that talking about the small steps he made outside was a good way to segue into talking about the biggest step he would take in his life. One that he could unfortunately not walk back on. 

"How was your walk?" You managed to ask before Taehyung walked past the kitchen and into the bedroom. He stopped midway, standing in the living room, where sun rays illuminated his surroundings. You couldn't help but think that it was very fitting for him to become a sun. The rays may have been bright and hot but he was the only one able to make you feel as hot as the sun and make your smile shine brighter than the biggest star. He was already a sun. Your sun. Why did he need to leave and become everyone's sun as well?

"Pretty good, helped me wake up," he said and sat down on the bean bag present beside him. You put the book down on the dining table just to look back at him from your seat. You were just there, in the moment, sitting down and doing your best to have an internal conversation. Both of you knew that words would hurt too much. And they surely couldn't bear the complete weight of what your current predicament meant neither could they have illustrated the joint pain that was shared between two beating hearts.

Your conversation might have been dead but the emotion was very much alive. You stood up from your seat, Taehyung's knitted sweater fell back down to caress your thighs. The walk to the beanbag felt like an eternity, not because it was but because you made it so. You had felt his sour and vigilant mood and you knew that being playful at that moment was your best bet. You tiptoed back and forth all the way to the beanbag as the sweater shifted here and there to reveal skin that was highlighted blue by the sun.

He was upset but he couldn't manage to keep his mouth set. His lips would stretch and unstretch as small playful wiggles played at the tip of his mouth. Finally you had found your way to the bean bag. You stood tall as your body cast a shadow over his. You placed a foot on the bean bag as the material sunk under your weight and you found your place on his lap. 

Right there, that's the kind of pat in the back that Taehyung gave you as his arms enveloped your slouching form. You snuggled your head deep into the crook of his neck and inhaled all the way in. If he was really gonna be leaving you, you needed to make sure you could imprint the scent and feel of his flesh right onto yours.

You sat there, quiet, with synchronised breaths yet fighting thoughts. How in the heck were you supposed to manage this? Him just being gone? Sure, you had a year left before it was officially time, but a year is far from a lifetime, what he had promised you.

"You are sure you don't want to talk about it?" Long hand strokes continue to comfort your back. You move your buried head side to side, groaning in response. Alright is all he said. Things were far from alright.

While on that morning you decided not to talk further on the topic, the coming months were filled with explorative trips to the Garden of Suns, where you would spend hours listening to Taehyung tell you about the stories of him and his sun brothers. He talked about being particularly close to the blue sun.

"It's just because he literally has no filter," he said gazing longingly at the statue covered with flashy blue moss.

"Is that like, dangerous?"

"Well yeah for you, but I am a sun remember." He turned around on the grass to face your way.

"And that's probably why I orbit around you." The huge grin that found its ways to your face was uncontrollable and contagious as Taehyung couldn’t help but snicker at your corny joke.

Just like that, your months together flew by until it was finally d-day. You hoped that waking up wouldn't be a necessity but Taehyung refused to let you sleep through it. He refused to let you think that it was all a dream. Getting yourself off the bed and into the shower felt like an endless task. One that he was patient enough to help you with. In hindsight you feel bad about having put him through that on such a significant day. He was, most likely, having a harder time dealing with his destiny than you were. That day was one to remember, the most vivid of them all, the most cherished of them all yet the most sad of them all.

All of that happened in the past and you were currently in an unsure present. The indigo sun had faced its fate, to be extinguished in an equally coloured supernova that would give rise to the last one in line, a purple sun. One day they would all be back to the complete cycle. A day where you wouldn't be present.

It has been ten years since Taehyung became a sun. You could talk to him, well, not really but you could see him and most importantly feel him. It had been a decade since you asked him to leave you something to remember him by, a part of him, a living one. On the night of Taehyung’s sun birth he decided to take you up on the offer. Cuddled up, in each other’s arms that’s how the day progressed. While usually persistent yet gentle, that night Taehyung felt it was appropriate and maybe in fact vital for him let his sun like ferocity be expressed. How else could you have understood the intensity of his feelings, a muddy mix of grief and love. The remains of that one last heated night were left for you to admire and cherish.

You thought you would manage to stay up the entire night to witness the purple sun birth but Taehyung’s warmth, forehead kisses and soft singing lulled you to sleep before you could realise it. 

Nothing was felt. No heat, no cold. Nothing was seen. No light, no spark. Taehyung was gone into the void in the same effortless way he entered your life. You’ve now been waiting over a decade to know if the fruits of that night would come into fruition. Conception can only happen when eclipses take place. Eclipses happen every 126 months. It has been 10 years. Half a year is left.

That half year could not have passed at a slower pace. It was a Thursday, yet another tiring day at school. You loved kids but you were drained of energy. You couldn't wait for time to pass by so that you could leave. It was Thursday, which meant you could watch the sunset to its complete  end without being bothered. It was also Thursday, the day after you got your first ultrasound. Taehyung may have not been there but that didn't mean you couldn't share the remaining of your waking hours with him, whenever you thought it was possible. You looked out of the window from your classroom to see purple hues in the sky as the sun said goodbye to leave place to another night.

The clouds thought otherwise, for some reason they always felt the need to be there to cloud his presence. What right did they have to cover up his tint? If it weren’t for them you would have been able to bask in his purple light, let it colour you bare as your feelings went from blank to purple butterflies that made you lose sight as tears formed in your eyes.

So you did what any sensible person still in love would have done. As soon as the clock struck 4 pm you ran to catch the train that would take you from skyscraper views to wide flower fields. It took the train two hours. You did your best to enjoy the way he set along the ride. Once you arrived you were left with two entire hours to enjoy the last of him and say goodbye to Taehyung and hello to the darkness.

During that time you reached into Taehyung's patterned cross body bag. You truly hated it but it was his so you kept it. You pulled out the ultrasound picture and raised it to the little part of sun that was still left. You didn't actually think that he would, through some weird magical way, actually be able to see it. It was more so something to calm your conscience. But most importantly, it presented you with the opportunity to capture an unusual family picture. It was you, the ultrasound, your baby bump and the purple sunset all in one picture. One that had found its rightful place on your bedside table.

Years unmasked themselves to reveal the growth of your child. One that grew to inherit the intensity of her father. Every now and then you made sure to let her know about him. As young as she was she couldn't truly understand it all, but as a child your love story was something that was within imaginable grounds. So you took advantage of that and taught her all you could about him. Maybe if you started early she could manage to develop past your less refined genes with regards to learning.

You took your time to tell her all that she wished to know and all that you wished to share. Sugarcoating to the maximum, cause that’s what Taehyung would do, but still making sure to keep a coherent timeline. One specific day you are unable to answer her question.

"Wh–why did dad break the promish?"

You had to fight long and hard with your tear ducts. Never had you cried in front her and you didn't intend to do it anytime soon.

In fact in one way or the other, Taehyung hadn't lied about keeping his promise. He had omitted some important specifics but he hadn't completely been untruthful. He said a lifetime and he would give you a lifetime. It just happened to be one where he wasn't always there, present by your side. 

However he would always get up to see you rise, and always say goodbye as he sets down to give place for lonely nights. And on all of those goodbyes unlike the one where he left you for the first and last time, you could swear that in bed with your child pressed to your chest, you could feel and hear his sunset heartbeat as clear and strong as the rays of a certain purple sun, your only one. Sun rays filled with his most cherished truth: 

‘I will turn purple when i miss you and to say i love you’.

Posted: May 28, 2020

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

It's 2007 and somehow, miraculously, Supernatural survives yet another rocky (?) season of mediocre ratings to come back for a third season, or at least, half season, but that season starts out with a real bang! Like, just a real solid trio of an opener for season three. It reminds me of all the things I love about SPN and also it reminds us of all the things that frustrate the hell out of me on SPN. So where did we leave things off?

First up, there’s Dean, who sold his soul to the devil in order to bring Sam back from the dead. Sam, you’ll remember, was part of some overly complicated ponzi scheme to find the perfect vessel to open a door - yep, open a door - and lost to Aldous Hodge who just straight up murders Sam in the season finale. So Dean get’s Sammy back, but in exchange, he’s only got one year left before he permanently moves down south. Oh! And even though they got Sam back and Sam kills Aldous Hodge (RIP pal), they neglected to keep the door from opening. The door to Hell, that is, and now they’ve allowed a shiz ton of demons out to freely roam the earth. Way to go, boys, you lost again! They are two for two on these season finales guys!

OH but they DO kill the Yellow Eyed Demon, so that’s a plus, but not before he plants the most perfect seed of doubt in Dean’s mind - “How do you know what you brought back is all Sammy?” Like, ugh, UGH, ugh!!!! What a way to drive the knife in deeper! What a way to make the heart of this show slowly start to crumble! C’est Magnifique!! *chef's kissy fingers*

So with all that emotional baggage weighing us down, how do we start season 3? How else - with a threesome of course! And also some technicolor grading, it’s wild guys.

Oh boy guys, let’s talk about this opener for a hot sec. I got into it a little bit last season, but as much as I love Dean, you HAVE to admit that that boy is gross. Just like...he’s a little gross. I’m also old enough now to see exactly how many red flags he’s raising through the last 45 episodes. Like, sorry Little Me, but he is not boyfriend material. Not to mention that all this debauchery is 1,000% him distracting himself from the consequences of his own actions, but we’ll get into that later.

Meanwhile, Sam is doing something constructive and trying to figure out how to reverse the curse and save Dean’s soul. And here we have the culmination of two seasons worth of character development - faced with the imminent demise of Dean Samuel Winchester, Sam tries to step up and take care of his brother for once in his life; Dean parties like it’s 1999. There were two things I thought of during this episode - 1) isn’t this not unlike the sort of behavior you see in suicidal people who have finally decided to take their own life? Which is just, like, further held up by the fact that Dean’s big monologue at the end literally has the line “Truth is I’m tired, Sam. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” and like...dude, you are NOT ok! Why isn't??? ANYONE??? ADDRESSING THIS????? And 2) Dean is sharing a lot of similarities with the demons in this episode.

Because MEANwhile, there’s demons! So many demons! Specifically, the Seven Deadly Sins ones, but also, spoiler alert, Ruby, who is gettin’ reeeeealll into that ketchup.

All these baddies just really taking advantage of their time topside cuz Hell is, as they so artfully put it, it’s like Hell, so they’re just livin’ it up while they still can ~almost like foreshadowing or something~?!?!?

Real talk though, it being a real long time since I’ve watched this season, it’s these kinds of details that I’m impressed with this time around. There is so much character work that goes into this show and it’s something I definitely connected with the first time around, but not on conscious level. Now I can look at it through time and experience and articulate what I’m seeing, which makes this re-watch infinitely more enjoyable.

Episode 1 of this season continues what they started in season 2 and just keeps building out that Hunter Community. Like, there really is a whole Community out there that keeps in contact and works together and makes sure everyone’s up to date on the latest hot goss, and it all makes John Winchester come off like a real creepy splinter cell lone gunman type. And that in turn makes the Winchester sons look like total, unprofessional boneheads who managed to open a portal to Hell. “UGH Great Jorb Guys, but can we blame them? They’re John’s kids,” is a conversation between hunters that I am headcannoning, but also 100% support.

Honestly, I love the idea of the Winchesters being just these real, like, b-grade, Walmart Brand Hunters that other Hunters are just SO done with. We kind of see a little bit of that with Isaac and Tamara, but by the end of the episode, the Winchesters prove that they’re...better Hunters? I hope somewhere in the next 12 seasons I get an episode that is told from another Hunter’s POV who is legitimately better/more emotionally balanced than the Winchesters and the whole episode is them just, like, cleaning up a bunch of Winchester messes like, SONuvabitch, these two ASSholes. I think we see a fair amount of episodes from the POV of people who are less qualified than the Winchesters who end up being mentored by them, but I’d be stoked for them to run into just a group of people who hate them for totally legitimate, professional vs amature reasons.

Bobby does not count because Bobby signed up to be their Dad and so he agreed to take care of their messes when he took that job.

And then we get to “The Kids Are Alright” which showcases one of my fav changes for this season - BRIGHTLY! LIT! HIGH! SATURATION!!!! And of course, by fav, I mean, Most Hilarious.

I do walk a fine line on this one truth be told. Like, season 1 was definitely going for A Look. It’s super gritty and high contrasty and stylized. Now, I got what they were going for but I wasn’t always crazy about it, mostly because the quality on the DVD’s was terrible. Quick tip for everyone: in order to get 2+ hours worth of content on a DVD, you have to compress the final edit of the program to a pretty small bitrate. When we drop videos onto DVD’s at my work (it isn’t often, thank goodness), the discs themselves only hold, like, 2GB worth of content and that is NOT A LOT when it comes to video files. The more compressed a video file is, the less detail you’re gonna get in the visuals. Watching episodes on Netflix (where everything’s probably at a higher bitrate and therefore is a better quality visual), it’s not bad, but on my DVDs, the compression is so heavy that we get SUPER hot highlights and SUPER crunchy shadows - what a lot of people would called “crushed blacks” because you’ve lost all the detail in the shadows and you’re left with a grainy, noisy, black hole on the screen. Like I lost so much detail in the pilot episode guys, I could not make out this guy’s face.

A rough approximation of my DVD quality. Still recommend it over Netflix for the Accurate Soundtrack tho.

Season 2 SPN toned that Look down a lot, like, a lot a lot. Enough that you still got the general vibe they were going for but not enough that you couldn’t make out faces anymore. But through this whole process, the CW execs kept pushing for the show to look lighter, more colorful, less film noir more...well, CW. And in season 3 it finally happened!!!

I get what those execs were going for, but also, I feel like the colorists on these first few episodes just REALLY went wild out of spite. Lookit this shot from “Magnificent Seven” right before Envy causes some rando innocent bystander to beat a girl to death for her shoes -

GREEN GREEN GREEN GREEN!!!! I WONDER WHICH SIN THIS GUY IS????

Then in “The Kids Are Alright” the birthday party looks like everything is coated in day-glow neon.

The Winchester Bros look like they just got back from 3 weeks in Aruba - LOOK at the saturation levels in these skin tones! LOOK AT THEM!!

My screencap ability aside, only in SPN can a cemetery at night have brighter lighting than a diner in the middle of the afternoon.

This is definitely a thing I will be tracking the rest of the season because I have a distinct memory of a future episode where the brothers have been magically gifted completely different lives where they were never Hunters, they know nothing of Hunting, and they’re completely normal until the end when everything gets snapped back and the episode literally changes colors. V. Excited to see just how saturated this season stays through the end.

But maybe more importantly in “The Kids Are Alright” we learn that Dean does NOT, in fact, have a son. Not that he would be a good father...well...maybe? I mean, this Dean, this season 3, definitely-suicidal, completely-reckless, can’t-keep-it-together Dean, is not good Dad material. Later seasons Dean? Probably fine? Earlier seasons Dean might ALSO be fine? And if he’d found out that Ben was his legitimate kid, it could have made a WORLD of difference, who knows. I know he ultimately does become father-like to Ben and that gives me a lot of feelings. But this Dean is not in a good place to take care of anyone, including himself and really, someone ought to do something about that.

I gotta say, this is an actual bummer. I can’t remember if, in the later seasons, they do any clarifying on this or not, but I am legitimately bummed that Ben is not Dean’s kid and that as far as we know, Dean has no natural children floating around out there with surly attitudes and soft hearts. Dean’s motivation from Day 1 has always been family and despite what comments he may make in early seasons, Dean’s secret desire is to have the wife and the kids and the dog and the white picket fence. And honestly, we’re only 3 seasons in and I just want Dean to have nice things!!

And then guys, we come to “Bad Day at Black Rock,” and I just...WHAT a masterpiece. I had almost NO memory of ever watching this episode before and I don't understand why. What a glorious masterpiece this episode is. Let’s make a list -

More Hunters™, who should be really annoying but were actually kinda charming in a Marx Brothers kind of way

Gordon’s in jail, where he belongs, but also is masterminding a coup against the Winchesters which is A+ spooky stuff

Slapstick comedy that I didn’t know I was missing from my life

Bela F*cking Talbot

Guys, I think this is my fav episode so far purely because I felt, while watching it, that the last 10 years of my life were not in vain and that I had in fact grown as a human person. I remembered hating Bela Talbot. Like, I DID. NOT. LIKE. HER. To the point that I questioned if her British accent was even real. It is, her mother is from the UK and she lived there for a time, but like, honestly, the audacity of Little Me.

This time around? Oh she’s defs my new fav. Just everything about her is like, A+, Great Job, Why-Did-We-Cancel-Her??? Like, oh yeah, probably because somewhere in here they try to shoehorn a romantic side plot with Dean. I don’t actually mind rioting over shoehorned romance, but also, if they’d let this play out for a season or two and then got the two of them to bone? I’m on board. I’m 100% on board.

Maybe it’s just that she is unapologetically out for herself, maybe it’s the fact that she is definitely a match for the Winchesters in a non-murdery way, probably it is both of those things. She's smart, she’s crooked, she has impeccable taste, she’s honestly a helluva lot of fun and I am so excited to see more of her and so BUMMED that she will not make it past this season.

Despite the fact that I absolutely adore all three of these episodes, they also bring up the problem that I was starting to see in season 2 - WHO is this show about? Isn’t it supposed to be about the Brothers as a whole? But the majority of these first three lean pretty heavily on Dean’s emotional arc. Granted, it makes sense. I mean, of COURSE Dean’s demon deal is gonna be the BIG thing in a season where he is literally staring down the barrel, but knowing that there’s a side plot about Is Sam Evil?? seems like...something we should really explore more? I believe it comes up in season 4, or at least, Sam’s demon-blood powers become a bigger deal in season 4, but I would have enjoyed seeing Sam have a more active stake in this season. I can see planting some weird new ticks being planted for Alive-Again Sam that just get weirder and darker and then a mid-season finale or a run up episode to the end of the season where Dean (finally) decides he needs to stop his demon deal because he needs to stick around so he can keep Sam from going completely off the rails. As much as I love Dean 5ever, I do think the show works best when the emotional weight of the season is distributed equally is all. And to be fair to the writers this season, there could have been a bigger plan for something like that but they ran out of time - their season was cut by about a third due to the Writer’s Strike.

Still, all in all, a solid opening to the third season. I want to say that these episodes feel like Classic SPN, but then I remember that this is season three out of fifteen. These ARE Classic SPN. Mostly self contained with enough emotional drama to remind us of the overarching plot. Maybe a little heavy on the emotional drama, but Dean’s only got a year to live and the show’s only got 16 episodes to resolve that crisis, so it’s fine.

[agathokambescence]

Buying Spices Sustainably

Hey witches, spices are necessary for much of witchcraft. For many candle spells, jar spells, and cooking we need spices. However, the way that most of us buy or spices isn't environmentally friendly. So here's some things you can do.

Why is the way most of us buy spices bad for the environment?

Plastic

Many spices come in plastic jars that can't naturally biodegrade. The plastic is also not infinitely recyclable. Plastic can only be recycled into a lower grade of plastic, which means another spice container can never come out of the recycled material. It also may not be able to be recycled due to the color of the plastic. The plastic can't be made into something else without enough of the specific color and grade of plastic.

Harvesting of the spice

Many spices are harvested unsustainably. They sometimes have poor wastewater management, unethical farming practices, and harmful chemicals. Sustainably often takes a backseat when desperate times come into play, or when the farmers aren't guaranteed fair wages.

Contaminated spice imports

There are lots of middle men in the spice trade. The spices have to go through many hands as they go from countries like India to the United States or other countries. Whenever any food is transfered such a long way fears of tampering and contamination arise, however, buying from spice company with transparent transporting policies is key to preventing this.

How can we help?

Buy spices in glass containers

Glass is infinitely recyclable. It is not only beneficial to the environment to buy and use glass containers for consumers, but also for the companies themselves. It takes less energy to melt down recycled glass made by the same process then it does to make new glass. This reduces the cost of running the furnaces, materials, etc.

Buy fair trade

Buying fair trade means that the farmers are getting paid their deserved wages. It makes it so the farmer can survive on a liveable income instead of being paid less then what they deserve and being unable to uphold some standards.

Think about your purchase

Ask yourself, "do I really need this," before you buy it. If you answer no then stick with it and don't go back. According to Steve Russel from the American Chemistry Council in 2018, "Plus food is the single most prevalent material in our landfills." Not contributing to this waste from a consumer perspective is very beneficial to the environment.

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Sources

[nekojitachan]

How to Steal a Million

This is... part three?

We’re really starting to bring the gang together here, and the plot will really kick in after this!

*******

Neil lay sprawled upon a velvet-covered divan in Allison’s humongous bedroom while she stood in front of a gilded mirror which she claimed had belonged to Marlene Dietrich (he believed her), wearing nothing but lacy lingerie (he would go out on a limb and say that she had a date with Renee later) and tossing very (very) expensive pieces of clothes about while she decided what to wear that day. “So you’re basically telling me that you stabbed some no-name thief, bandaged him up and then let him go? Oh cutie-pie, just wait until I tell Renee! She’ll be so pleased to learn that you’re turning to the light, or something like that.” Allison beamed at him as she casually threw a Gucci shirt over her shoulder.

“I’m not going soft,” Neil sneered as he sat up, “it’s just that Stuart gets so grumpy when there’s blood on the Persian rugs and I spent all of last November swiping things for Berger to make up for taking out one of his best breakers.” He sighed as he thought of how he’d just wanted to spend the month hanging out with his friends before the city got too crazy for the holidays (too many tourists and people rushing about for the season), but no, it hadn’t worked out that way, had it? “Though he was American, so I doubt he’s associated with any of the local gangs.” Better safe than sorry, though, especially when dealing with a grumpy Stuart. There was just too much sighing and whinging and ‘where did I go wrong, Mary? Where did I go wrong?’

(Neil could give him one hell of a list, but there’d just be more damn sighing and whinging.)

“Hmm, caution’s not a bad thing,” Allison agreed as she eyed a Dior skirt before tossing it aside, too. “Though I worry about you, so damn cute and barely psychotic, and what do you do when you have a guy in your home late at night? You beat him up and send him on his way.” She shook her head as if disappointed. “It’s time for us to go to work again, grasshopper.” Her glossy red lips spread in a predatory grin before she leaned into the one closet to grab more clothes.

Hmm, that… that had possibilities; at the very least, it would serve as a distraction from the whole Venus mess, and it might be a good idea to have more cash on hand because of the Venus mess. “Who’s the mark, and won’t Renee be upset, talking about the whole ‘light side’?” Was that the right term? Matt had tried to make him watch the movies about the whole ‘light’ and ‘dark’ thing, but he’d fallen asleep within ten minutes.

It didn’t help that Henry had dared him to break into four mansions the night before….

“Oh, don’t worry, the target is grade-A asshole, so much that Renee won’t mind in the slightest. Now, what shall I wear?” She pulled out a slinky black McQueen dress with straps and rivets that would cover her from neck to ankles (for the most part) yet cling to a figure which attracted men and women alike (but not Neil), and a flowing light blue Chloe wrap dress.

“Definitely the McQueen,” Neil decided. “You’re clearly giving them fair warning that you’re ready to utterly destroy them, but they’re too busy drooling over your ass to care. Plus, I think Renee finds the skulls on the purses adorable.”

“As it should be, cutie-pie, as it should be.” Allison smirked as she dropped the Chloe gown to the floor; Neil shook his head and knew that Ines, Allison’s assistant, was paid more than enough to deal with the mess. “Once I slither into this, we’ll set about dressing you into something presentable and be on our way.”

Neil groaned as he lay back down and wondered if it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing, to let L.A. kill him in his sleep last night or something.

*******

Andrew tapped his fingers on the table while he waited for his ‘contact’ to arrive; he’d kept track of her over the years, and when Kevin had ‘dragged’ him to Paris for this latest case? Reached out to her in case he had need of her knowledge.

After last night? He definitely had need of Renee’s knowledge of the city, even if she seemed to have gone ‘straight’ in the last couple of years.

Well, straighter.

He’d finished his second meager cup of coffee (really, what did the French have against a decent size of coffee?) and his third cream puff (much better than the coffee) at the café not too far from the burnt husk of Notre Dame when Renee appeared. He noticed her decent French, which she used to order coffee and a couple of cream puffs, how her hair was now bleached silver with rainbow colored ends, her clothes simple but of good quality, and how she basically… she looked good. Looked at peace with herself.

When he’d first met her, it was barely a year after she’d gotten out of prison and was still trying to leave ‘Natalie Shields’ behind; she hadn’t appreciated Andrew being pointed her way for help with a case, yet she’d obliged after a rough introduction. Andrew had thought it an act initially, her attempt to change her life, to move on from Natalie and become Renee Walker, but he’d been convinced by the time he’d solved the forgery case. She’d helped out a couple of other times, then moved to Paris to take a job at a woman’s shelter.

“Hello, Andrew. You look good.” Renee’s voice was still soft and possessed a hint of her North Dakota upbringing. Despite him calling out of the blue, her smile was warm and dark eyes bright with affection. “Do you like Paris so far?”

“It’s crowded, the traffic is terrible and their coffee sucks. Plus, I was trapped on a plane for seven hours with Kevin Day. Seven hours,” he hissed as he folded his arms over his chest and slumped back in his chair. “Somehow, he’s still alive.”

“I’ll be certain to recommend you for sainthood over that extreme act of charity,” she murmured as she pushed the plate containing the cream puffs toward him. “Especially if he returns to the States alive as well.”

“Seven hours,” Andrew repeated as he did his best not to think about the flight home – one of them was going to be doped out of their minds for it, he just hadn’t decided who yet.

Renee stifled a giggle with the back of her right hand before she sipped her coffee. “Other than that, it’s going well?” She gazed at the band-aid on his throat before she looked him in the eye. “I assume if Kevin’s here, it’s not a vacation?”

“You assume correct.” He paused to eat one of the cream puffs (at least he was walking a lot to offset all the sweets) before he got down to business. “We’re here because of the Kleber-Lafayette Museum’s latest exhibit.”

“Ah.” Renee frowned as she turned her cup of coffee around on its saucer with the tips of her fingers. “I’m not sure what help I’ll be, since I’m not… well, I’m not involved in those things anymore, not really. And the little I am, just through a couple of associates, hasn’t brought me word of any trouble with that show.”

Now that was interesting – not that Renee knew ‘interesting people’, because he expected no less of the woman, but that she was already tied into gossip about the museum. “Really? Nothing at all?”

“No, nothing, it’s free of trouble as far as I know,” she insisted with a slight shake of her head.

Hmm.” Andrew had the last cream puff while he considered that. “What about Neil Josten? Have you heard about him?”

Renee was quiet while she finished her coffee then set it down without a sound, her motions smooth and too controlled. “I’m sorry, Andrew, but I believe we have a conflict of interests here.” That time, her smile was bland. “I do know him, but as a friend. He and his uncle regularly donate to the shelter, and he volunteers there as well.”

That wasn’t what Andrew wanted to hear, not about the sarcastic, handsome asshole who’d insulted him while bandaging him up last night – after nearly slitting his throat last night.

No one should look that damn good while giving him shit and continuously threatening to kill him. Maybe Aaron was right and there really was something wrong with Andrew….

Nah, Aaron was just jealous that Andrew was the older, better-looking, smarter twin.

Yet here Renee sat and proclaimed that Josten – the guy who’d tried to slit Andrew’s throat and gave him advice on who to rob – was a veritable angel. “Funny you say that, because I think I might be checking into his uncle because of work, and this,” he gestured to the little ‘scratch’ on his neck, “is from Josten.”

Renee frowned as she seemed to think about that. “Hmm, and what were you doing to provoke such a reaction out of him?” When Andrew was quiet, she nodded once. “Neil’s a good friend. He hasn’t had the easiest of times growing up, but he’s not a bad man.” She nodded again as she stood. “And I’d be careful, because he has people who care about him, who watch over him. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to return to work. Be careful, Andrew, you and Kevin.”

He watched her go then got up to leave himself, thoughts occupied with what she’d said – with what basically was a warning.

The more he learned about Neil Josten, the more the pieces didn’t fit together; if there was one thing (actually, there was a rather long list) that Andrew didn’t like, it was incomplete puzzles. He detested things that he couldn’t easily solve, that taunted him with their jagged edges that didn’t smooth out and fit together, with missing pieces and equations just waiting for that last bit to be figured out.

Josten? Neil Josten was all of that rolled together, was violence with a friendly smile, a teasing, lilting voice that poured out insults, a gorgeous man who’d shown no interest nor repulsion in Andrew despite his mild flirting.

Andrew had a job he was paid to do and now Riko Moriyama to deal with… but damnit, he’d figure out one Neil Josten before he left Paris, he swore to himself.

*******

Neil, dressed in McQueen as well (Allison had laughed as she ‘bullied’ him into the black blazer embellished with butterflies, but at least let him wear jeans and a pale grey shirt beneath it), escorted Allison into the cocktail party they were basically crashing (as if anyone would dare to throw Allison Reynolds out of a party she deigned to grace with her presence) – a cocktail party held during the middle of the day.

Someone was trying a bit too hard.

That someone turned out to be Riko Moriyama, which explained it rather well.

“Oh yes, Renee will even light a candle for us, I’m willing to bet,” Neil murmured in French as he gazed at the Japanese-American man who appeared to be boring Agnes Caron to tears; unfortunately, it was the freelance reporter’s job to suffer such things, and she probably was there to find out if he or his uncle were opening a new office in Paris.

Or, more importantly, if Riko’s brother was opening a new office in Paris, since the Stone Mountain corporation was much more important (powerful, wealthier, etc.) than Edgar Allan, one of its subsidiaries.

Was also free of rumored, quickly buried scandals – scandals tied to one Riko Moriyama.

Neil hoped that Agnes was careful, because she was a friend of Dan’s and never reported any lies about Allison.

Then he pushed all thoughts of the woman aside because Allison dragged him further into the room, right as Riko looked their way, an expression of interest on his face.

*******

Last part can be found here

[echodrops]

Hshshsnansna seeing that ask got me in a HUGE HaaH mood. Like, I went through and read a bunch of asks, and I'd probably go reread the fic itself if I had time. So!! Is there anything about HaaH you've always wanted to share but never had the chance to? Headcanons, worldbuilding, backstory, hidden details- anything at all??

Oh friend… There is so much. I have a Word document that’s like 17k of JUST headcanons and world-building for this fic kghsdkjhdkfg I’m not crazy, I swear.

It took me a while to respond because I had to comb through and find stuff that wasn’t spoilery, but tada, have some Home and a Half Hunk and Shiro (and Matt) headcanons and backstory under the cut!

Also, as for hidden details… Same as the Garrison professors in the show were named for staff members, Neuhahn and Ania are named after IRL contributors to the Voltron animated series–Chris Neuhahn was a producer and Ania O’Hare was the casting director.

And here are some Hunk, Shiro, and sorta Matt headcanons/backstory that shapes their characters in HaaH. (Please note, these headcanons ignore absolutely everything from about season 6 of the actual show and on. I stopped watching Voltron after Season 6 because I just couldn’t handle the writing anymore. T_T)

Hunk:- He’s mixed ethnically, and although his parents are from Samoa, his family tree actually spans many different countries, mostly in Polynesia, including Tonga, but even places as far away as Malaysia.- His parents were converted to the LDS church by Mormon missionaries in Samoa. A few years before Hunk was born, his parents moved to Utah to be closer to the church, so Hunk has only ever been to Samoa once, on a vacation to visit family.- His first name is actually “Hyrum,” and until he met Lance at a Garrison-sponsored summer astro-camp when they were nine, everyone just called him by his real name.- Lance actually meant to call him “Incredible Hulk” at camp, butttt to nine-year-old Lance’s utter mortification, it came out “Incredible Hunk” instead. “Hunk” stuck.- He has a little sister who is even more sensitive than he is.

- Although Hunk’s parents originally agreed on the plan to move to America, after the family arrived, they experienced difficulty fitting in with the very selective Utah culture, and Hunk’s mother grew disenchanted with the church. Employment was difficult to find in their small, rural town, and Hunk’s parents both struggled with being isolated from their extended families. Tensions over whether or not to remain in America, as well as over money, led to some miserable fights that contributed to Hunk’s aversion to conflict when he was younger.

- Hunk sometimes had to play the role of family peacekeeper, working hard to make sure that his youngest sister wouldn’t notice the strain.

- Nevertheless, despite their share of troubles, the family is extremely close-knit. Hunk values his family and their opinions more than anything in any world.

- Which is how he ended up agreeing to go to Garrison, even when he really just wanted to help his parents kickstart the restaurant they were planning to open. His mother felt that working in a family restaurant, even if Hunk is a great cook, would squander his incredible academic and engineering talent (which Hunk thought of as just a hobby), so she begged him to go and continue his schooling instead. Hunk couldn’t say no to his mother, even if the thought of being shipped off into space terrified the living daylights out of him.

- Hunk doesn’t curse and is somewhat uncomfortable with people cursing, at least in front of him. Although Lance used to have a pretty colorful repertoire, when he learned that cursing made Hunk uncomfortable, he immediately adopted all of Hunk’s weird Utah replacements instead. “Holy crow” and “let’s kick some trash” are things they actually say seriously.

- Hunk is always down to cuddle and is never embarrassed by asking for or giving cuddles to anyone. He would 200% cuddle Shiro if he thought Shiro would let him. (Shiro would, in fact, let him.) Hunk’s favorite person on the team to cuddle is actually Keith, because Keith (who was taught to comply by Garrison scientists with all unexpected/unsolicited touch) will just sit obediently for hours letting Hunk hug out all his stress. Hunk knows that something is off about Keith’s behavior, but his leading theory—that Keith allows the hugs because he’s touch-starved—is unfortunately false.

- Hunk knows the lyrics to every Disney song EVER.

- And he’s like a dog with a bone when it comes to secrets. Once he discovers that someone’s keeping something under wraps, he goes a bit crazy with curiosity and cannot stop thinking about what they might be hiding. The rules of privacy go totally out the window when he gets like this, but time and again, Hunk’s adage that it’s always better to tell the truth bears itself out.

  Shiro (and Matt?):

- Shiro is the only member of his immediate family whose first language was not Japanese. His grandparents on both sides immigrated to the US from Japan due to work transfers relatively late in life, when their own children, Shiro’s parents, were already young adults. As the first family child to be born in America, Shiro’s parents strongly emphasized the need to learn English well, which unfortunately resulted in Shiro being pushed away from learning Japanese when he was young. Even though he’s a capable conversationalist now, he’s struggled his whole life with regret over not learning the language when he was young and could have picked it up easier.  

- There’s a running joke in his family that he’s actually an ogre in disguise, given that he is much taller than many of his other family members. Tradition demands that the first photo of every holiday gathering is a joke group shot in which Shiro’s posed so his entire head is outside the top frame of the picture.

- Shiro was mercilessly bullied as a child because of his height. The other children frequently suggested that he didn’t belong in their grade because he was too big and that the school must held him back multiple times for being dumb. (Shiro was never held back. In fact, he had excellent grades from kindergarten to the day he graduated from Garrison—and no, not because his parents forced him to study; in fact, throughout his schooling, they often ended up having to force Shiro to go to bed already instead.)

- On top of being teased for his looks, Shiro was naturally shy. He barely spoke, even to his teachers, and would stumble miserably if he was put on the spot in class, contributing further to the rumor that he was stupid.

- Shiro loved learning, but he hated everything that happened in school and didn’t have a single real friend outside of his cousins until he went off to middle school and met Matt Holt in sixth grade.

- Barely two weeks into their first middle school year, and it was already obvious that Matt was the school’s biggest nerd; he’d been bumped up two grades because of his obvious genius and was the textbook definition of an alien conspiracy theorist (It’s not a conspiracy if they’re REAL, guys!) But the strange thing was that no one bullied Matt—he was just so quick on the sarcastic (and biochemical) comebacks that teasing him wasn’t even worth it. Instead, the school’s resident assholes took it out on targets a little less likely to corrode their homework with miniature magnesium bombs—read as, they picked on polite, well-meaning Takashi Shirogane instead.

- Out of pity more than anything else, Matt finally stood up for Shiro one day and ran off the assholes. (It was not, as Mrs. Shirogane insists, with a home-made taser. It was not.) After something like that, well… You sort of feel obligated to befriend a guy, don’tcha?

- Becoming friends with Matt Holt transformed Shiro’s life. Even if Shiro wouldn’t originally speak up for himself, he was ferociously proud and supportive of his first real friend, and learning to be bold for Matt taught Shiro the value and meaning of standing up for not only others, but also himself. Being friends with someone as off-the-cuff and tricky as Matt helped Shiro grow more spontaneous, less self-conscious, and ultimately much more confident—even if, to this day, most of that confidence is still focused on helping others, rather than on being self-assured.

- It was Shiro admiration for Matt’s father, Sam Holt, that led Shiro to take his childhood obsession with military history a step further by actually joining the military. Shiro and Matt enrolled in Garrison together, although Matt was part of the research rather than the combat division.

- Matt was the one who convinced Shiro to get his hair styled in an undercut. It was originally just a dare, but Shiro ended up loving it afterward. The “Undercut Incident,” as it has come to be known in the Shirogane family, was the official straw that broke the camel’s back and resulted in Mrs. Shirogane declaring Matt Holt a “bad influence,” the only impact of which was that Matt had to sneak in through Shiro’s bedroom window instead of coming to the front door when he wanted to hang out.  

- Shiro has received two separate Medals of Honor for making dangerous supply deliveries to war-torn countries across the globe, delivering the vital food and medicine that helped save hundreds of lives. He has also been part of several missions to save stranded astronauts from failing international space stations.

- Shiro is actually a giant memelord, but his crushing sense of responsibility keeps him from indulging in quality shitposting in front of anyone he actually knows. He had a ridiculously active secret Vine account before leaving on the Kerberos mission. His snaps are legendary. Deep down, Shiro dreads the inevitable day someone connects him with his cringey social media accounts.

- Literally the worst at adulting. His mom still filled out his tax forms for him and booked his dentist appointments. He has no idea what the hell he’s doing leading Team Voltron when he can’t even remember which of his clothes are machine-washable and which aren’t.

- When they were in their third year at Garrison, Matt conned Shiro into volunteering as a camp counselor for Garrison’s summer astrocamp program, even though Shiro had minimal understanding of how to take care of children and mostly just BS’d his way through, hoping that none of his campers had anything close to a serious issue.

- He won “best camp counselor” the very first year he volunteered. Mostly because Lance cheated and voted for him 23 times, but still.

[miumiu-chan]

Miyase Go STORY 1 Chapter 12-4

Subbed video: STORY-1 12-4

-Movie Theater-

Miyase-san first took me to a mini theater.

[MIYASE]: “Going to the movies together really feels like a date. Haha.”

[REI]: (He’s in high spirits......Cute.)

The posted time schedule was filled with indie films and revival screenings.

[MIYASE]: “It seems that a movie called “Attack of the Killer Bell Peppers” will be screening in 15 minutes.”

[REI]: “It says it’s a movie from 40 years ago.  I’ve never watched it before.”

[MIYASE]: “From the synopsis, is it a horror genre?”

[MIYASE]: “Monster peppers attack humans......”

[REI]: “Monster peppers......I can’t imagine it, but it might be surprisingly scary.”

[MIYASE]: “If Rei-san is scared, would it be better not to, then?”

[REI]: “Scary things are as scary as people, but since we’re here I want to try seeing it.”

[MIYASE]: “Then, I will go buy the tickets.”

[REI]: “Then, I’ll be in charge of drinks. Do you want anything?”

[MIYASE]: “Cola, please. Haha.”

-In town-

[MIYASE]: “Kuku......-, aha-, it’s no good, I just remembered it. Ahaha.”

[REI]: “You’re still laughing......”

[MIYASE]: “Sorry. Because Rei-san’s mumbling while watching the movie......Fufu, it was too funny.”

[MIYASE]: ““You’re kidding me......” you said, ahaha. I can’t help but laugh.”

[REI]: (Miyase-san really does have a strange sense of humor sometimes......)

[REI]: “Sorry I infringed on manners.”

[REI]: “But doesn’t that movie make you want to mumble stuff?”

[REI]: “Because on the way, didn’t you see the monster peppers moving the truck?”

The contents and level of completion were so different that I searched online after the movie was over.

“Attack of the Killer Bell Peppers” was a famous movie that was popular as a cult in many ways.

[MIYASE]: “Ahaha. It was really the most fun I’ve had watching a movie in my life.”

[MIYASE]: “Now then, where do you want to go next?”

[REI]: “I’m fine with anywhere......Ah-“

[MIYASE]: “Hm? Do you want to enter that shopping building?”

[REI]: “If Miyase-san won’t feel bored, then I want to go.”

[REI]: “When I was choosing clothes for today, I thought there weren't many summer clothes I had.”

[MIYASE]: “There’s no way I can be bored when I’m with Rei-san.”

[REI]: “Nh......”

[MIYASE]: “Haha, Rei-san is easy to understand, you’ll make my face turn red, too.”

[MIYASE]: “Let’s go?”

My hand that was gently grasped...——This time, I also gripped back right away.

Even though I hadn't redone my makeup, the thick blush that dyed my cheeks remained the same as it was in the morning.

-Shopping Building-

[REI]: “Um......how is it?”

I opened the curtains of the fitting room.

[MIYASE]: “......Ah, I like that.”

Bam! A kyun bullet (——which I named just now——) shot into my chest.

[MIYASE]: “It looks really good on Rei-san.”

[REI]: “Thank you......”

[REI]: “But I was thinking this is a little too beautiful for me.”

[MIYASE]: “You’re a beautiful person, so it's natural that beautiful clothes would look good on you, though?”

[REI]: (Th-This is bad......!)

[REI]: (At this rate, the kyun bullets will make me full of holes!)

[MIYASE]: “Ah, but there are lots of times when Rei-san looks cute......”

[MIYASE]: “That’s amazing. You have both qualities.”

[REI]: (Evacuate all members—————!!!!)

[MIYASE]: “Ahh......but the clothes may be a little too revealing.”

[MIYASE]: “I hope you can wear it just in front of me.”

[REI]: “I-I’ll get the one I wore earlier after all! It‘s simple and easy to move in.”

[MIYASE]: “Yeah. That one suited you too, it was cute.”

[MIYASE]: “I’ll wait, so take your time changing clothes.”

[REI]: (Haa......I thought I was going to die.)

——2 minutes later.

When I got out of the fitting room, Miyase-san had a paper bag in his hand from the shop.

[REI]: “That, couldn’t be......”

[MIYASE]: “Mn. I bought it.”

[REI]: “Thank you. Then, the payment-“

[MIYASE]: “It’s a present.”

[MIYASE]: “Or rather, earlier at the movie theater, you had bought the drinks.”

[REI]: “That’s because Miyase-san didn’t let me pay for my ticket......”

[MIYASE]: “Haha.”

[REI]: “? Why are you laughing?”

[MIYASE]: “It’s just this kind of exchange is really fun.”

[MIYASE]: “Is Rei-san having fun, too?”

[REI]: (Uu......so cute. But!)

[REI]: “......You can’t fool me, you know? You definitely have to let me pay for it later.”

[MIYASE]: “Yes, yes.”

-Zoo-

Next, we headed to the amusement park as requested by Miyase-san.

[MIYASE]: “Shall we have lunch at the rose garden over there first? I wonder if there is a bench.”

[REI]: “On the park map......Ah, there is a description of a rest space.”

[MIYASE]: “Then, we can eat food while looking at the roses.”

[REI]: “Yes. Let’s go.”

-Rose Garden-

I was instantly fascinated by the generous amount of flowers.

[REI]: “Wow, beautiful......”

[MIYASE]: “It’s stunning......”

[REI]: “I knew that the rose garden in this amusement park was famous, but I didn’t think this much.”

[MIYASE]: “I've always wanted to come here”

[MIYASE]: “And look at the flowers together with someone who would honestly say they’re “beautiful”.”

[REI]: (Ah......)

[MIYASE]: “I think that the impression from viewing flowers reflects the mind of the viewer.”

[REI]: (The Miyase-san right now who is looking at the flowers with me, can honestly think that they are “beautiful”.)

[REI]: (Somehow, that......makes me really happy.)

When I became clearly aware of my feelings for Miyase-san on the vacation trip.

I felt uneasy about the emotions that sprouted in my heart.

I couldn't really see a future.

[REI]: (But now, I feel like I grew up touching on Miyase-san’s various emotions.)

I felt that I grew into flowers of gentle colors.

[MIYASE]: “Did you know that the number of roses has a meaning when you give them as gifts?”

[REI]: “Ah, I’ve heard about that.”

[REI]: “I only know the major one that 108 roses means “Please marry me”, though.”

[MIYASE]: “It’s very romantic, isn’t it?”

[MIYASE]: “There are many other meanings as well.”

[MIYASE]: “Recently, I......really liked the meaning of giving 999 roses.”

[REI]: “999 roses......That’s a lot.”

[REI]: “As expected, you can’t really decorate with that much......or maybe it’d be a good first attempt at a rose bath?”

[MIYASE]: “Ahaha. That’s really a Rei-san-like answer.”

[REI]: “What is the meaning of giving them?”

[MIYASE]: “That’s a secret. Because it’s embarrassing.”

[MIYASE]: “When you’re alone, you can secretly investigate.”

[REI]: “When you say it like that, I’ll be really curious about it......”

[MIYASE]: “Now then, shall we have lunch?”

[REI]: (You really won’t tell me......I'll look it up when I get home.)

I was sure the meaning of 999 roses was also romantic.

While thinking about that, I spread the bento I made on the garden table in the rest space.

“For lunch on the date, I want to eat a love-filled bento together with you.”

These are the words Miyase-san told me on the phone three days ago.

[MIYASE]: “I made sandwiches.”

[REI]: “Mine is onigiri.”

[MIYASE]: “It looks really good.”

[REI]: “Miyase-san's sandwiches also look delicious.”

[MIYASE]: “Thank you. Then——“

[MIYASE & IZUMI]: “Thank you for the food.”

We both reached first for what the other person made, which made us laugh.

[MIYASE]: “......Hm? There’s fried chicken inside the onigiri.”

[REI]: “Ah, it’s suddenly a strange combination, isn’t it.”

[REI]: “I thought it‘d be an unbelievable thing to do, but I also thought it wouldn’t be interesting if just all the standard ingredients were used.”

[MIYASE]: “Haha. It’s delicious.”

[MIYASE]: “This fried chicken......is not thigh meat, but chicken breast meat?”

[REI]: “Aoyama-san told me that if I want to put it in onigiri with strong seasoning, it‘s better to have less fat.”

[MIYASE]: “............Heeh. Aoyama-san did.”

[REI]: “It seems that he can actually cook.”

[REI]: “Such a thing, and he didn't tell me the details.”

[MIYASE]: “You sure get along well.”

[REI]: “Rather than get along......, he really teased me a lot.”

[REI]: “When I said that I would make a bento for when I go out with Miyase-san.”

[MIYASE]: “Eh......”

[REI]: “Ah-, could it be I shouldn't have said we’d be meeting in private?”

[MIYASE]: “Ah......no. I just didn't think you would tell them.”

[MIYASE]: “Maybe everyone at the DCD don't think too well of me and you meeting like this?”

Certainly, it wasn’t a welcome mood.

But even when I was sincerely told that they didn’t think it was a good idea, I said that wasn’t the case, because——....

[REI]: “I trust Miyase-san.”

[MIYASE]: “Rei-san......”

[MIYASE]: “......Thank you.”

[MIYASE]: “Your trust makes me happy more than anything.”

-Amusement Park-

After a very satisfying lunch, we went on to the amusement park zone.

The attraction that Miyase-san was going to go to by pulling our connected hands——...I knew which one.

[REI]: (The merry-go-round......)

[MIYASE]: “I want to ride together with you.”

[REI]: “Yes. Let’s ride it, together.”

We smiled and straddled each of the fairy tale horses lined up next to each other.

[MIYASE]: “It looks like we could hold hands. But it’s dangerous, so I guess we can’t.”

[REI]: “That’s true. Let's ride with good posture like Kujo-san.”

[MIYASE]: “Ahaha. Soma-san is the best example.”

[STAFF]: 『Then everyone, enjoy horseback riding in the magical world.』

The merry-go-round began to spin with fantasy music flowing.

[MIYASE]: “Ah......”

[REI]: “Ah”

I thought this would be a fairy tale horseback riding where we could look at each other's faces next to each other.

But for some reason, my horse started moving forward.

[REI]: “Miyase-san......”

[MIYASE]: “............”

Looking back, Miyase-san's smile came into view, and I——...

Choices:

Called his name again

Returned a smile

Became anxious (♡)

Somehow, I became anxious.

I didn’t want to go any further on my own.

I wanted to line up together next to each other.

[MIYASE]: “It's okay to look forward.”

[REI]: “But......”

[MIYASE]: “From here, I can properly see Rei-san’s appearance having fun.”

[MIYASE]: “That’s good enough for me.”

[MAN]: “Ah, heyyy mama! Go! Wave your hand towards papa’s camera!”

[MIYASE]: “Oh......?”

[REI]: (Go, he said, the same name as Miyase-san?)

There was a carriage diagonally behind the horse he was riding.

Riding it was a boy in the lower grades of elementary school and a woman who was probably his mother.

Both of them smiled and waved at the father holding the camera.

[MIYASE]: “......The merry-go-round is nice after all.”

[REI]: “Miyase-san, let's ride the carriage later, too.”

[MIYASE]: “Yes, let's ride it together.”

It was a very, very fun and glittering time.

When the merry-go-round kept spinning with only happiness, it was almost like an illusion——...