#the mighty extra: one girl changes the world

[shidoukanae]

WIP kind of sort of but fairy!symbolism Helene is a neat idea to me so i attempted to draw that idea bit (but messy!!)

[fawnsflowerbed]

♡ Picture Perfect ♡

A/N: COMMISSION FOR MY LOVELY SUNSHINE ANON!!!! Thank you so so so much for your support and patience my love, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!!!!

Content/warnings: Puppy! hybrid reader x Vendetta era! Leon, 2nd person (you/yours), fem AFAB reader, reader calls Leon daddy, very grump x sunshine, lots and lots of fluff, a moment of angst and realisation but it all gets resolved :3

Word count: 7700 est. (sweet jesus)

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Leon hadn’t gone to a shelter expecting anything. An act of service, he told himself. That’s what this was. Entertaining the idea of adoption. Like people who drop loose change into charity boxes, the ones by the cash register with scuffed edges, to feel better about themselves. Right now he feels like the scuffed one. 

‘Go to the shelter,’ Chris said. ‘Hybrids make good companions,’ Chris said. He was vouching for his fellow soldiers at the BSAA, stick-up-the-butt men with trained military hounds. And judging by the posters hung on the windows outside the pet store, satisfaction was guaranteed. So he expected to enter a building of colourful lights, cheery music, and happy hybrids as far as the eye could see. Fluttering butterflies, sunshine and rainbows. Just like the commercials on tv. 

What a heap of shit. A smelly one, too. Big, steamy, stinky load of it. Those flyers were all smoke and mirrors, and let’s just say this was one hell of a broken mirror. The place reeked of bad luck. At least the stalls were cleaner than his conscience. Should he have actually done his research for this, even if it was just for appearances? It wasn’t the worst place in the world for him to go looking, right? No, right. 

Leon had seen his fair share of hybrids in his time at the DSO. Missions where he took them out of labs, stopped genetic modification. Sick bastards they were, people prodding rabbits with all kinds of needles. Yeah, he enjoyed taking those types of operations down. 

But he’d also seen the ones trotting around the office on occasion. Trained to sniff out B.O.W blood, or health herbs and antibiotics. And yeah, he was intrigued. Had watched the training rounds, memorised the starting commands, noted the stiff tail and hard gaze on every breed there. So he figured he may as well take a look at the less hard-ass offers.

God, what a mistake that was.

How had the mighty fallen so far? He’d planned to walk the dusty concrete floors with pride, to look down at the row upon row of hybrids only to decide no, he did not in fact, need a pet. A companion. A friend, a lover, whatever. No rabbits, no puppies, no kitties. He was too old for this shit. He’d seen it all before, lazing black cats and bouncy bunnies. Nothing stuck out to him, he’d tried. He could at least say he tried. From then on if anyone asked why his face would sink into a frown watching his coworkers bring in their happy-go-lucky hybrids, he had an open opportunity to rub a calloused palm over the salt-sweat skin of his neck and mutter that he tried.

That’s what mattered, right? Sure, that’s what mattered. He tried. He kept that thought in mind as workers tried introducing him to some of their more ‘respectable’ species, the fluffier cat girls and boxier dog boys. None of it was for him. All of this was a lost cause. 

And then there you were. 

Next thing he knew he had the thought of you living at his house stuck in the back of his head. Not just the back, though. No you’d left handprints - pawprints - over every fissure of his brain, burrowing into the ventricles. Now you were doing two little circles before settling into his cerebrum, digging at the surface to bury down nice and deep. Maybe bury a bone there. Extra comfy. 

He’s stuck. 

You’re a cutie. Pretty as a picture. A fine should be plastered across that sweet face for even existing, a paper bag over your head. It’s a crime for anything resembling you to exist, because otherwise Leon would’ve picked up every hybrid on the street. Those puppy-dog eyes pierced right through his soul like a bullet to the chest. And he left his kevlar vest at home, too. What a mistake. 

A floppy eared thing, fluffed to the max, your tail tapping aimlessly behind you. Bored. Lonely. They kept the pup hybrids in separate kennels when the little kids weren’t here to meet them, so you were on your own. Eyes as big as saucers, he was sure they’d have popped out of your head by now like one of those squeeze toys, the ones you squish so they squeak something reedy and awful. 

Glossy. You looked dejected, sad. Hopeful yet hopeless. In his mind he saw you bounding through long green grass in the dark night, nipping at fireflies between golden giggles. Watching you paw at the sky aimlessly, beckoning upon lightning bugs so you might try and ‘accidentally’ catch one in your mouth. You were made to be loved by someone.

It hurt. In a way you reminded him of his younger self. That cop, once bright eyed and bushy tailed, now decaying and withering into the husk of a human he was now. The one that burned down with the rest of whatever was left of Raccoon City.

And yeah, he wasn’t proud of this shelter specifically being his only pick of the bunch, there were hundreds he could’ve picked from. But this was a boot-out shelter, AKA they only hold onto hybrids for so long before kicking them to the curb. Just the thought of you, your fluffy self out on the streets..

He couldn’t let that happen to you.

And then those wet eyes fell on him and your tail swished quicker, your ears perking. Like a heartbeat picking up, a skipping pulse. You’re playing jump rope with the veins to his heart, his BPM’s music to those fuzzy ears. And that tail? Oh it’s swaying to the beat.

Something in your body seemed to click at the sight of him. It was an instinct, a switch flicking in your puppy brain. If he were in a movie this would be the part where time slows down and the camera focuses on his face and your own, panoramic view of the environment you both found yourselves in. Your face behind the bars, slowly shuffling your way towards him in curiosity. 

That’s when he knew he had to take you home. Surely he was a better choice than the other scum that might get a hold of a soft thing like you. And you seemed sweet. So it was settled.

The paperwork was easy enough. Signing on dotted lines, signatures to his left and right. Handing over his credit card for the chance at ‘friendship’ or something like that. The only thing he truly recalled was leaving with you in the backseat, curled up against the car cushions. 

Change. That’s what this would be.

You were well behaved. Quiet, too. At first anyway. Leon’s whole life had been thrown into disarray and all he had to do was give his credentials to some lady with a blurry nametag, confirm he wasn’t a psycho murderer or trying to Cruella DeVille you for your ears and tail. Which he absolutely didn’t have the time for, so no need to worry about that factor.

It only took a few hours for his house to be filled to the brim with new puppy gear. Collars and leashes of different colours (he couldn’t decide on those), squeaky toys and stuffed animals, comfy clothing, food and water bowls, and of course one of those playpens to lock up overnight. Leon wasn’t entirely educated on how to take care of you. Was he supposed to get you a room, a proper bed? How human was he supposed to treat you? 

The overall adjustment period was fast, for you anyway. Sure, at first you’d gone all timid when he brought you home, staring up at this well-built, shaggy man in a leather jacket like he was about to lock you in your cage forever. Might be a poacher, your brain scrambled together, or one of those mill owners. Yeah, he looked the type. But as soon as you heard him whisper a “Well hey there, sweetheart,” in your direction in hopes of coaxing you out of the backseat you were set and smitten. And in case he was still hesitant, you gave him a pretty clear giveaway on how you felt. After he’d set up your cage in the living room, packed full of blankets and pillows atop your pet bed, and watched you practically dolphin dive into the sea of plush, it became clear you were truly just happy to have a home. You were happy to be with him. 

Not like you spent many days in that puppy bed anyway, it only took a few days for you to come whimpering at Leon's feet in the night to climb under the blankets with him. And of course, he caved. How strong could you expect a man to be? Not to mention the stuffed toys you brought with you every time you hopped up, he’d become familiarised with all their names by the third week. 

Sure, it’d been tough for Leon in some areas, but in some ways it was also easy. You brought solace where you went, and you knew better than to overstep boundaries. He found out quick enough that you didn’t entirely know what to address him as, ‘Leon’ felt strange for some gut reasons but ‘sir’ and ‘mister’ were too formal, so you immediately leapt to daddy. Which, of course, caught him horrendously off-guard. Almost sent him into cardiac arrest the first time you yipped it in his direction, a plaque of cholesterol, fat, and an unbelievable amount of cuteness clogging his arteries. 

The worst part? After a few days he found himself enjoying it. Had his heart fluttering when you giggled it out as he ruffled your ears, rolling onto your back as he gave your belly an affectionate rub. Was he sick for liking it? Sure. He needed a doctor, stat. Symptoms included being extra ready to get home from work, planning his meals more thoroughly, and catching himself daydreaming more than usual. The diagnosis was a fluffy tailed sunshine puppy who trotted around behind him 24/7. A sweet shadow, a nosy thing. Prescribed treatment? Lots of cuddles, apparently. Cuddles, and plenty of daily shenanigans.

On one particular day he caught sight of you padding through the hallway slowly, looking up at all the photos he had hung upon the walls. Drinks with Claire and Chris on his birthday where he (begrudgingly) attended the surprise party they’d set up. Standing in the Whitehouse with some old man in a fancy suit. An old picture of just him sat atop the table below it all, his graduation photo from the police academy. He didn’t have the heart to throw it out. That was merely one of many old-news trinkets scattered around the house, objects that told a mixed story of Leon Kennedy. Well, now it was the house of Leon Kennedy and his puppy girl.

With a soft thud you sat your cute butt down on the floorboards to simply.. Stare. Examine, memorise, imagine what it was all like. 

Maybe his hair was softer in this photo, shaggier in that. Darker features and rougher around the edges, as if someone had switched from watercolour to graphite, defining his jaw. More stubbled and strong now, with a broader frame. Like watching a tree trunk even out, sprouting tough branches, leaves coming to fall over his eyes in bangs. He needed a haircut soon. 

However, in that moment of watching you, he knew he’d made the right decision. He saw it in the way the silhouette of your tail swished in interest, how your flopped ears perked up an inch whenever you focused on the finer details. Most of all he loved that signature puppy head-tilt. He got one of those whenever you didn’t understand what he was saying, be that garble about his work or the lulled out words from whatever book he read to you as you laid in his lap.

Yes, you laid in his lap now. And it was starting to feel so normal to him. The wagging tail in his peripheral vision, your eyes peeking up at his desk in his study. It all came so naturally, including the moments of chaos. One of which was the messy dance of getting you bathed, or dressed.

Baths. God, you stood your ground on baths. As soon as you heard the pipes squeal you took off like a rocket. Zoomed past the potted plants, darting through the backdoor if you could make it in time. Leon had to scoop you up mid-sprint as you wriggled and squeaked to get out of his hold, and shit did you run fast when you felt like it. Oh sure, you dragged your feet to snails-pace when you had to leave the park, but suddenly his puppy had the legs of a trackstar when it was bathtime. Once he actually had you in the warm water it was a whole other thing. You just couldn’t sit still for the life of you. Thank god for bath toys, or else you’d spend every second giving your flapping ears and soaked hair the signature wet dog shake. He turned his back? Shake. Reached for the shampoo? Shake. Went to turn the faucet on? Shake. He’d honestly rather you do that than try to jump out, and at least you got extra comfy with him when it came time to towel dry you. The last time he tried the hairdryer method you’d snapped and barked at the hot air like it was a personal affront, as if the loud hum was cursing you out in its own fan-whirring way. Then came the clothes.

On a good day he could wrangle you into a shirt of some kind (usually one of his own) and a pair of fluffy shorts with a hole in the back for your tail. On other days it was a tug-of-war fight over a v-neck because it’s obviously an invitation to play and growl between giggles and not Leon seriously begging a quiet “Baby- honey, no- Please, sweetheart, Chris is coming over and you can’t be butt naked, listen to daddy-”. Sometimes he really thought those floppy ears were just painted on. God, you were a little menace.

Luckily you were also adorable. Sure, a little dull, but so damn sweet. He couldn’t count how many times he’d pretend to throw a ball, watching you go sprinting out across the floorboards, slipping in your socks, in desperate search for it. Then it’s the head tilt, a routine trot around the coffee table, and sitting in the hall with a quiet whine. Vanished, poof, thin air. Gone.  Not to worry, cause soon Leon calls out an ‘Oh look!’ and the ball has magically teleported back into his hand to your shock and awe. Pawing at his hand and begging him to explain how on earth he learned such witchcraft. 

But there were a few things that threw him off guard about you, even after settling into this routine. For starters, your face. He didn’t mean that in a harmful way, he promises. Cross his heart and all that. But you were just so… gentle. Bright. Sometimes he found himself squinting at the sheer shine of you. Made him wonder if you came with batteries that just never got removed, corroded into place after years of chasing your own tail. Stuck on this constant sunshiney state with no way to power down. 

And you were manufactured in some lab, a biological anomaly even he couldn’t wrap his head around. A person who wasn’t whole and yet was so much more than that. You contained multitudes, brought life and colour in ways those others may see a ‘normal’ never could. The pitch of your bark, your hatred - and he meant hatred - of squirrels, how fast you leapt at the opportunity for a ride in the car. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he was proud to be the one to bring you home. That he was the one to trace the curves of your hand, to rub your ears, to hold you in his lap while watching late-night tv. This was good for him. This was good for both of you.

Day after day he found himself adoring you in a new way. A week ago he’d have dropped his head in his hands at the sight of you nosing his morning slippers towards his feet in the wee hours of the morning, now he can’t help but smile sleepily. Lopsided and scratchy from his beard. Because despite the energy threatening to burst from your body, you still took the time to sit and wait for him to get up. 

He was a weak man now. A trained government agent was trailing behind his puppy girl in a pet store as you insisted on getting specifically that bunny with those ears cause it looked like the one that ran outside the living room window every day. And he listened to every ramble about said rabbit as you trotted to the cash register, plushie in mouth.

He’d fallen. Hard. 

Time had passed in the blink of an eye before either of you could process it. Seasons blurred into a kaleidoscope of colours, and soon enough Leon found himself with a cuddle buddy more often than he did an empty bed. The feeling of your nose nuzzled into his shirt, strings of happy whimpers and whines mumbled from your sleepy lips, it all became his white noise. You’d made very quick friends with the sprinklers out in the yard by the time summer had rolled around, jumping back and forth over the swinging water in an attempt to catch it in your mouth. All Leon had to do was sit on the porch and watch in adoration.

What you both seemed to adore much less was when Leon left for work. It had you pawing at the windows with screeching nails, teary eyed and howling when he got home extra late. He didn’t have the heart to lock you up when he left, something about it made his chest strain. His poor girl, stuck in her little blanket cave, wondering where her daddy went. Pawing aimlessly at the wired frame, chewing on the gate between whimpers. He couldn’t bear the thought. It ached, in fact. You were hurting his heart without even doing anything.

But the past four days had been a nightmare. His first long term assignment since adopting you. Sure, Claire and Chris had done their best to entertain you since you couldn’t just be left home alone, plenty of toys and games and walks, but it just wasn’t it. You’d pace in little circles, whining and crying and crying and whining. Hours spent drying your tears with cooing and shushing from the Redfield siblings only to burst the pipes and sob some more. It was no use. Until he came back.

And now he had. After so many days (a million, you’d told Claire) without him, he was home. 

The sound of his motorcycle - that he’d retired from everything other than work for obvious reasons, vis-à-vis your sensitive ears - was a dead giveaway, and soon enough you had your cheeks squished up against the front window yapping away till your vocal cords strained. God, wasn’t that a sight. Face lifted into a glowing grin, ear perked up, tail a wagging mess. You looked like a whirlwind had been stuffed down into a body, and you were ready to tear through his home. An oh so dangerous fuzzy tornado on the hunt for endless snuggles and belly rubs to swallow up, up, up into your cyclone of love. 

You were gorgeous. You were adorable. You were everything he didn’t know he needed. He’d hardly stepped foot in the house and you were already jumping up to try and kiss and lick at his face with a thousand puppy kisses, tail wagging so fast you might just take flight. Like one of those cartoon dogs from those 80’s shows, ones Leon still can’t name to this day. That was the other good thing about all of this, you made him laugh. Chuckling hoarsely as he pushed past the door only to be met with your arms wrapped around him excitedly. 

“Daddy, you’re back! You’re home! I missed you!” Yip, yip, bark. You were melting his heart, almost running yourself into the wall at the sheer buzz of excitement thrumming through your body. 

Oh, how he’d missed you, rubbing that tender spot between your ears with a kiss to your hair. 

You’d made him soft. A side of him he never knew existed came out when he got you.

“I missed you too, pup.” He could only shake his head with a tired grin, dropping his bag at the door by the coat rack and shoe cubby. He’d had to buy one since you’d developed the habit of stealing his slippers to use as makeshift mittens. “Be careful where you’re walking there, honey.”

You were too busy babbling away about everything you’d done while he was gone to hear him properly, from playing a gazillion games of fetch to daily trips to the park. How that chipmunk had purposely ticked you off so you pawed at a tree trunk yapping at it for a good 5 minutes. And of course, how you’d almost managed to finally catch your tail. Looking up at him with so much pure puppy love with every step you took backwards through the hallway with a quickly wagging tail. You couldn’t keep your eyes off him, you’d just missed him too much. 

That tail of yours though, it was out of control. Swish, swish, wag, sway. Mind of its own. Too happy to have your daddy home to focus on anything else. Pure puppy love. 

During your ramblings as Leon slowly worked at his shoelaces and zipper, all you could do was emphasise how happy you were that Chris had caved and let you visit the cafe downtown. Whilst mid explanation about what a ‘puppuccino’ was and how spectacular it tasted, the sudden smack of your fur against glass had you jumping in surprise. It seemed you’d collided with something in the midst of your excitement. The impact was followed by a loud crack, one that had Leon’s head pulling up to a swift stillness, no longer worried about getting his boots off. 

“What was that?”

There’s a concoction of emotions in his voice. A cocktail of worry, concern, and an off sternness. He’s hardly ever been stern with you. The last time he had been, the sad look on your face had him faltering. Usually he was so comfortable with being stern, it flowed freely through his body like the familiar warmth of whiskey. It was something he was so used to. But he wasn’t used to those glossy eyes tearing up at him. He was just a man, after all. And you were his puppy. 

That thought seemed to elude you both right now though, jolting to step away from the broken picture frame, looking down at the damage you’d done.

“Pup, are you-”

His academy graduation photo. You’d smacked it with your tail, and the frame had snapped.

All the colour drained from Leon’s face in one fell swoop. His calm, tired gaze ripped wide into one of shock, kicking his shoes into the shelves with a harsh thud.

“No- no no, no- shit!” His voice was a boom, it was loud and uncontrollable. Shaking the plaster of the walls with rolling thunder, his eyes zeroed in on the shattered glass, lightning crackling behind stormy blue eyes. Usually they looked so clear. Usually he was clear, his intentions and his love, how he was trying to and learning to get used to this life. And for a while he really was. “Goddamnit!”

And then this happened. 

And it was scary. You wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it frightened you. A dead giveaway was how your ears flattened against your hair, once wagging tail now dead still and tucked between your legs. You’re cowering. 

You were afraid. 

But Leon didn’t notice. No, this was the end of a short fuse after a long week of work. A flame to the stick of dynamite Leon Scott Kennedy sometimes found himself to be. This was not what he wanted to come home to. He was too busy pulling at his hair in a nostalgic wave of guilt, of horror clawing up his back, staring at the mess.

The mess you’d made.

Cracked fingers pick at the shattered glass in hopes of salvaging what he could, the sharp edges slicing at the flesh that had grown tender with your touch. 

You’d made him soft.

Had that been a mistake?

It must have been with the way he flinched back, cursing under his breath. Shards of the frame bit at his fingers as if in anger, snapping dogs of his past. Not like his pup, not like his sweet girl curled up in the corner, wondering if this meant he hated her.

That wasn’t the worst part.

Right across the top corner of the photo the paper had been scratched, ripped by a stray piece of glass. Slicing through the date he’d graduated. The day he thought everything was going to start getting better way back when. The sight had his whole body frozen in place. Bracing for something to happen, because something always happened to him. The feeling building from his belly to his chest, from his chest to his eyes. It was sickeningly familiar. It was a bullet to Leon’s shoulder. It was the click of a lighter to a cigarette. The screams from an Eastern European church. His bloodied fists against Arias’ face. The mole in his unit.

It was the gunshot that ripped through his family home. 

That’s what really set him off.

“This was the one thing I had from it all, this was it! The one good thing!” Rambling like a mad man, someone you’d watch talk to himself on the sidewalk late into the night. “And it was in such- such good condition. It was perfect. It was all perfect before you- Damn it, pup, why couldn’t you-”

By the time he’d finally turned to you, his words screeched to a halt. Brakes squealing at the velocity of such a hit, a surprise, he could feel his heart overturn. Rolling haphazardly down the highway. He couldn’t stop it, because he caused it. He caused such an accident. So busy running on empty thanks to work that the dried out tank had crushed beneath his feet, crunching steel caving so easily. Weak. You were weak for him. He was just only seeing it now.

He’d hurt your feelings, whether he meant to or not. Over an accident, no less.

He was the reason your body was quaking in fits similar to that of a leaf atop frozen winds. Why your eyes were shot open, glossy and round, like the first cracks in the icy pond at your favourite park making way for water. And you looked like you’d plunged through the surface. 

Maybe the most awful detail of all was the fact that Leon simply didn’t know what to say to make this better.

Licking over his chapped lips, the air in his lungs seemed to dissipate. He was left breathless, and not in the way he usually liked to be. Not like when he watched you pick at the dandelions in the backyard, or when you chased your tail in circles to the point of dizziness. Someone had trapped him in a vacuum of consequences, leaving him to face them. To face you, you and those big puppy-dog eyes threatening to flood with tears. “Look I didn’t- Oh, c’mon. You know I didn’t mean it like-”

It wasn’t working. His words were getting caught in his throat, pulling a tense cough from his chest. As if the answer was teasingly scratching at his vocal chords and no amount of water could wash it away. He could feel his chest tighten, any trace of anger or frustration being flushed from his system. Now he could think clearly. He could see how heartbroken you were.

The biggest giveaway was how your body leaned in the direction of the living room without thinking, braced on your toes. An instinct dug deep beneath those layers of fuzz and the warmth of your hand in his own. Something to be left untouched, like a toy you’d buried in the backyard, under pile after pile of soil and past traumas. 

Now Leon had dirt on his hands. The clouds in that stormy blue seemed to clear out, the moonlight streaming through the window like a lighthouse reflection. He was seeking you out, trying to let you know it was clear. That you were safe.

It just wasn’t enough.

“Hey.. Hey, no. Honey-

It was no use. He’d blinked and you were gone, left with the echo of your sock-clad footfalls against hardwood floors. Every step beating in unison with his pulse, his ears rang to the rhythm of your rushed breaths. Now you were the one pulling him along on a leash. Tugging at the weak retractable cords of his heartstrings, you’ve wrapped him around a tree once, twice, three times. His head was spinning, a splitting heat sizzling in his frontal lobe frying the edges of his mind until they curled. 

Rubbing a hand over his face, smearing the guilt from cheek to cheek, up to his forehead. He was swimming in that grief. Mourning a time before this one, praying for a reset button. You had such a way of turning him inside out without knowing it, pulling his muscles and bone up from his anatomy to gnaw affectionately on his femur and nip at his biceps. He barely hid anything from you, he never felt the need to. Who were you going to tell? The mosquitos you stalked after with a batting tail in the cooler summer nights? Please. And half the time you didn’t really understand what was going on, anyway. So there was no harm in letting you lay your head in his lap while lounging on the couch, his voice a deep lullaby soothing you to sleep, aimlessly tapping your tail against the cushions. You were so pure. You didn’t mean any harm, you never did. Leon wasn’t sure you had one malicious bone in that cute body of yours. 

How was he supposed to approach this, though? This had been the first major incident in your white-picket-fence-esque lifestyle. Did he go upstairs and change out of clothes dusted in gunpowder and shame? Try with a clean state so you had some time to yourself, some space? Is that what you wanted?

No. No, knowing your usually chipper clingy self that was probably the last thing you wanted. So he manned up, got his shit together. An unusual thing for him to say about himself, but he was in an unusual situation.

After shrugging his leather jacket off and leaving it to hang on the coat rack, he swore to leave his aggression with it. Tucked into the pockets and zipped tight, so he might save it for his next mission. There was no use in bringing shit like that into his home, where his girl was. So he’d let it gather like lint until the next time he washed it, then he’d let his conscience run through a spin cycle; in which he meant watching you do three little spins before settling into bed. You were better than any washing detergent, cleaned his slate better than disinfectant. They should sell your personality in stores, bottle your giggles for junkies to get hits off. You could be the next meth with how happy you made him, had him flying high as a kite.  

And he’d made you so sad. He was your daddy, it was his job to keep you safe, not sad. Now he had to fix that.

Your playpen. It was a puppy’s dream to get the luxuries you did, most likely. Leon couldn’t help but spoil you with everything soft, plush and velvet. It matched you. And watching you lay in front of the window, squeaky toy mid squeal lodged between your jaws lazily, was worth all the money in the world to him. Everything you did drove him nuts, he was starting to realise why so many people suggested getting a hybrid. Leon hadn’t understood what the deal was until you arrived. And now? Oh, he needed a lobotomy at this rate, because all he could think of was you. Work? You. Driving? You. Hell, his breaktime at the office made him miss the way you’d yell ‘Are you doneeeeee?’ at him from down the hall, awaiting your allocated cuddle time. You had him chasing his own tail, and he didn’t even have one.

Draped in a paw-print blanket and stuffed full of toys, the sides of your food and water bowl lovingly chewed on. Always sinking those canines into whatever you could. Well, whatever you could that wasn’t out of the question. Shoes were a big no no, the sprinkler system too, Leon was sure to make that clear. Not like the water tasted any good from it, anyway. 

With a quiet grunt (he really wasn’t getting any younger) he slowly kneeled down, denim brushing over varnished wood, peeking through the open gate of your pen. Despite having both feet on the ground - well, rather two knees - this still felt risky to him. Not like disarming a bomb, more like negotiating a hostage situation. Taking your hand in his own to lead you away from himself.

He kept his voice soft, quiet, as gentle as someone of Leon’s stature and nature could be. Like asking a wolf to hide its fangs, but he did his best.

“Hi there, darlin’.” 

He always did his best with you.

Well, almost always.

No answer. Just the sound of your meek panting, sniffling between breaths. Tears making every inhale salty in your nose and on your tongue. You always preferred it sweeter. He hated being the reason your mouth felt off, watching you run your pink tongue along your cheeks as if trying to get the taste out. At least you were still awake. Amidst the darkness of your cage he could see you buried under a mountain of blankets, digging yourself in like a tick. Head burrowed in tight, he felt like even if he tried to gently coax you out by the body you’d keep shuffling along into the plush. He’d have to stop this from the root, twist and pop you out gently. So he tried that with words. 

“You wanna come out of your little cave there?”

The brief whimper that passed your lips was enough of an answer for him, no words had to be spoken for him to catch on. He sighed.

“Yeah, I guess that’s fair enough. Daddy was a bit of a dick, huh?”

The slight movement under piles of pink and yellow told him your tail was wagging, and that made his heart hurt even more. It was bleeding through his shirt at this point, darlin’. Don’t do that to him, he’s too old to deal with this kind of pain. Might just kill him one of these days. Because even after he’d snapped at you, broken down the walls of trust you’d both spent months building, you were still reaching out to place a new brick down. To keep it all from crumbling. Leon rested his palms on the scuffed denim of his jeans. Sure, he’d done his schooling, graduated and all that, but now he found himself searching the corners of his mind for the right words. Like he was putting a puzzle together, trying to piece syllable to noun to verb until they clicked. But they didn’t exactly click. Then again, nothing ever did with Leon. 

Except you.

“I didn’t.. Mean what I said. I just cut myself off at the worst time possible. I wasn’t thinking. Da-” he paused himself for a moment. Fuck, it’d become a bad habit. Was it still okay to call himself something like that in this kind of situation? “I’m not very good with words. M’ better with actions, y’know. Making things, helping people. I’m not exactly a wordsmith here, darlin’.” 

There was a rustle. In the darkness of your pillows and blankets you found room to move. And he could tell it was closer to him from how the pile slouched in his direction, indicating the shifting of your body. You looked a bit like a molerat to be honest, an adorable one, or one of those prairie dogs, with the way your head makes an evident dent in the covers. He wouldn’t tell you that, though. Might take it the wrong way. 

Out pops your fluffy ears, the silhouette of your tearful face. His stoic demeanour over the years shatters like that same photo frame, how the hallway’s dim lighting catches in your glossy eyes. It’s like looking at the moon in all her solemn sadness, amongst the stars, alone.

He can’t leave you like that. 

“Hi, baby.” It’s a whisper. He’s too scared if he talks any louder you’ll huddle back up. He never wants to make you worried, or frightened, or anything really. He loves you just the way you are.

“Hi..”

Leon had no idea how much he’d missed that voice until he heard it for the first time after a long lonesome 20 minutes of silence. It’s an icepick to his frozen mind, chipping away those worries he had of you maybe never talking to him again. You were a sweet thing, but also sensitive. It was part of the reason he cared for you so deeply. You’d dug down under his skin, doggy-paddled through his blood stream and settled comfortably right on his heart. 

“..Are you gonna, y’know,” Through the dark haze of shadows and soft rain against the windows, he could see you fiddling with your fingers. You’re nervous. Voice small and isolated, muffled through your soundproofing of comfy blankets and soft stuffies. It only made his head ache more. “Take me back?”

That one threw him off guard. He wasn’t expecting that kind of question, if anything he thought you’d ask if you were still in trouble. “Back? Back where?”

“..The shelter.”

He couldn’t see his own face, but he could just imagine how it twisted in confusion. “What? No, darlin’.” 

“Oh..”

Yeah. Oh. So that’s what all of this had been about. It wasn’t just him yelling, it was the thought that you might get boxed up and shipped back. Kicked to the curb. Leon pictured it again, your shivering frame on the street, or back in that damp kennel surrounded by yelling dogs and strict meal times. “Why the hell would you think that?”

“Cause I broke something, and I was too rowdy.. I can’t sit still..”

The very reason he’d adopted you in the first place was to save you from that life, one of struggle and pain and sadness, yet you still feared it. Solely for, what, acting like a puppy? The very thing you were a hybrid of? If he weren’t so worried about you he’d be pissed at the world in all honesty.

“Baby, is that how you ended up there? Did someone..” He had no time to finish that question before you were nodding. You looked so ashamed, it ripped him in two. Someone had shoved his heart through a paper shredder and used the strips to line a hybrid play-pen floor. 

Returned, handed off, a hand-me-down. That’s what you saw yourself as. Damaged goods. His voice cracked as he muttered softly, his face painted in nothing but sympathy. “Oh, puppy..”

Almost instantly a ball of fluff came barrelling out of the playpen right into Leon’s chest, a winded ‘oof!’ puffed from the man’s ribs. Could’ve cracked them with the force of your love. Softer than any cannon ball, fuzzier than any bullet. Yet you still managed to have him coughing out a chuckle, his nose nuzzling up into your hair. He couldn’t help but breathe out a sigh of relief. Because it was a sure sign that you didn’t hate him.

“There’s my girl.”

A meek whine bubbled up from your throat at the sheer joy of being back in your owner’s embrace, enveloped in his comforting smell. And Leon couldn’t resist resting his chin on your head as you sat crumpled in his lap. A scarred-over hand brushing through your hair, rubbing bruised thumbs over the soft velvet of your ears. Every touch, every loving gesture had your tail whipping against the floorboards. You truly were his good girl. Still sniffling, you tilted your head in that sweet puppy way to look at him properly, taking in the face of the man who you loved more than anything; yes, that included treats, walks, and toys. It was quite the accomplishment, an honour really. Leon should be proud of himself for that one. 

“M’ sorry..”

There it was again, always saying sorry for things you didn’t mean to cause. Sometimes things you didn't even do. He shook his head at even the thought of that. Not scolding, but shushing. Like he didn’t want to hear you apologise for something that was hardly your fault. “Sweetheart, hey. It’s alright. I can always get a new picture frame, it’s no problem. What I can’t get is a new puppy. Wanna know why?”

Of course you did, that was a silly question. But he loved watching your ears flop as you nodded, made his pulse flutter like he had a butterfly in his veins, or a hummingbird. Humming away to the steady thrum picking up in pace. “Cause there’s only one you. And frankly, I’ve already called dibs, so I’m not givin’ you up for anything.”

That seemed to settle something in you, the pace of your tail picking up to its regular happy thump. Large hands encased either side of your head to brush over your fluffy ears, the velvety texture smooth under years of scarred tissue. And that fresh cut he had yet to bandage up. That could be done later, though. Right now he was more focused on plastering a hello-kitty bandaid over your heart. Leon was bad at this stuff, real bad. If there was a class for hybrid owner’s he’d have been expelled in seconds, set a new world record. Because even after having you with him for months he had to admit, he still had no idea what he was doing. He wanted to make that clear, no point in lying to you.

Gravelly voice turned smooth and soft, someone had put his whiskey rocks through a blender. He was a slushy now because of you. A messy, overpriced, alcoholic slushy. 

 “But I wanna try my hardest to make you feel loved here. Because believe me, you are. You and all your.. Energy, let’s say. You’re my fluff ball, aren’t ya?”

He doesn’t need words, words aren’t a strong suit for either of you. So he settled for the affectionate lick to the cheek you gave him, followed by your high pitched whine when you snuggled down into his lap with wiggling hips. Makes a huff of laughter rumble from his chest, not like the thunderous yelling you once heard. This was that of a car’s slow movement, of white noise to sleep.

Because at the end of the day you were each other’s peace. 

Lips press to your hair in a gentle manner, and Leon found himself nuzzling his nose down against your own.

 “Yeah you are. You’re daddy’s best girl.”

It’s a balm for the wounds on your soul, settling into his arms like you were made for them. Manufactured with his name printed across your heart where no-one could see it, you’d just had to find him. And now you had, and he had no intention of letting you go. If he could, he’d velcro you to his body.  

Yeah, Leon swore he’d never let you go.

And he might be a bastard at times, but he made good on his promises.

The next week you were walking past the hall of photos, the one Leon commissioned of you and him out in the backyard was already hung. The outtakes of you sprinting off to chase a squirrel mid-shutter are his to keep tucked in his wallet, though. For the longer work days or boring lines at the DMV, all that shit. 

 But the formal one, the proper one, is right above the new frame you insisted on decorating for his graduation photo. Complete with smiley stickers and paint and hearts he’d carefully exacto-knifed around to give a clear view of his picture. You’d jumped around like a bouncy ball when he was cutting the excess sticky paper away, little yaps of ‘Is it done?! Is it finished?! Can I see it?!’ like you hadn’t been the one to seal it in glitter glue in the first place. 

And honestly, he loved it. Like you were leaving your pawprints on his past, making a new path of swaying tails and giggling fits to lead him with a tugging leash into his brighter future. Like you were meeting an older version of him. One before he became a little more bruised, a little more cold. But you’d helped chip that down with your tugging paws and cute canines.

He was softer now. And he’d decided yes, that was a good thing. Meant he was more suited for you, more tender with you. 

“C’mon, babygirl. Wanna go for a walk?” He already knows the answer. But watching you skitter on your feet to sprint towards him never gets old. Wagging tail and voice chirping.

“Can we get a pup cup on the way back? Please?”

Because if that freshly appointed rookie cop version of Leon could meet you, he’d be just as in love with you as he is right now. 

“Aw I’m not made of stone now, am I sweetheart?”

And he’d agree, that new frame looks much better.

Consider buying me boba!

[wherethefireliliesgrow]

Make Me Happy

Huh Yunjin x Reader

GENRE: fluff

TYPE: One Shot, Long Fic

INSPIRED BY: Make Me Happy-WheeIn

"And Zeus, with his mighty thunder in hand, ruled the sky and Olympus," you read, flipping to the next page of the storybook and showcasing the colorful pictures of Zeus.

It was a Saturday morning, and you were immersed in reading stories for the children at the hospital. As a child psychology major, you relished the opportunity to connect with different children each Saturday. Your love for children made spending time with them while earning extra credit a win-win situation.

"Zeus has a wife named Hera, the Queen of Gods," you continued, pointing to the illustrated photo of Hera on her throne.

"Sometimes Zeus made mistakes, like having other friends. Hera didn't like that, but they still ruled together on Mount Olympus."

“Ms. Y/N?” a cute voice squeaked from the circle of kids in front of you. It was a small girl with short blonde hair and thick glasses.

“Yes, Kayla?” you smiled at her.

“What is M-I-S-T-R-E-S-S-E-S?” Kayla squinted, trying to read from the book you were showing. The rest of the kids leaned forward, curious about the illustrations.

“M-I-S-T-R…” The word clicked in your head, and you looked at the little girl in shock. “Where did you learn that word?”

“There,” Kayla pointed at the bottom corner of the book with her small finger.

You quickly turned the book around to check the illustration. There, at the bottom, was a scribble of words written in black marker.

Friends? More like mistresses. LOL

“What the fuck?” you muttered under your breath.

This was one of the children’s books you brought from your department’s lounge, where they keep all materials used in class.

A chorus of oohs broke out around you at the sound of your mild exclamation.

“I mean, what the fuzz?” you hastily changed your choice of words, hoping the hospital staff didn’t hear what you just said. “What the fuzzballs.”

Luckily, the children giggled at that, immediately distracted when a boy named Jake decided to share the story about how he swallowed his cat’s fuzzballs and ended up in the hospital.

The storybook took you longer to finish reading as you made sure to check every page before showing the kids the illustrations. Thankfully, there wasn’t any more writing in the rest of the book. You covered the words with a Post-It before returning it to the lounge.

It happened again after a few weeks. You were reading a Dora the Explorer book to the children, and there it was, in the smack middle of the book, a sentence scribbled in the same scrawly, obnoxiously bolded handwriting.

“Can you find the chocolate tree?” you read before staring at the page in horror.

This chick is blind, FR.

The kids whispered, trying to understand what the handwriting meant.

“C-H-I-C-K…chick!” Carter, a red-haired boy, exclaimed loudly, proud of himself for being able to read it.

“There aren’t any chickens in Dora,” Kayla chastised him, shaking her head as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“There is too,” he huffed, pressing a smudgy finger onto the page. “It says here! C-H-I-C-K. Chick.”

“Well, there’s only the big red hen. No chicks,” Kayla insisted, standing up to grab the book from your hands. The situation was about to get worse in a few seconds as you saw Carter’s face redden in frustration.

“Okay! That’s enough story time for today,” you quickly stood up, snapping the book shut. “Who wants to play Monopoly?”

“ME! ME! ME!” The kids screamed in excitement, forgetting the book altogether. It was a relief that kids forget about things so easily.

You, on the other hand, did not forget about this.

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“Someone keeps leaving nasty comments in the children's books,” you huffed, dropping the Dora book in front of your best friend, Chaeryeong.

You had found her sitting in front of one of the long tables, peacefully eating her lunch in your department’s lounge. The room was slightly crowded, filled with students doing their projects or chatting with each other before classes.

Narrowing her eyes at your rude entrance, Chaeryeong slowly took off her headphones and dropped her chopsticks.

“No hello beautiful?” she asked, rolling her eyes playfully. “Why are you reading children's books anyway? Are you seven years old or something?”

“I’m reading them for the kids at the hospital,” you said impatiently, flipping open to the page where the messy handwriting was located.

“See? This person keeps writing in these books! The kids keep reading them out!”

“This chick blind, for real?” Chaeryeong snickered after reading it aloud. “Well, this person has a good point. Dora IS blind as fuck.”

You huffed, annoyed at how unserious the raven-haired girl was. But before you could open your mouth, a soft chuckle came from the table next to yours. You turned your head to come face to face with the queen bee and the captain of the volleyball team, Huh Yunjin. She grinned at you as she casually leaned on her elbows, not hiding the fact that she was eavesdropping on your conversation as the rest of her friends were engrossed in another conversation.

“See? Even Yunjin unnie agrees,” Chaeryeong said, slyly bringing Yunjin into the conversation.

She knew about your little crush on the captain ever since freshman year. You were just too chicken to strike up a conversation with her, and she was flirty by default, breaking hearts left and right. You just didn’t want to go through the heartbreak, after seeing so many girls crying in the bathroom over her.

Your eyes met Yunjin’s chocolate ones, her bright gaze felt like it was penetrating your soul. People weren’t kidding about her beauty; she really was a sight to look at. You felt your face flush as her gaze never left yours.

“Yeah, she definitely needs to get herself some glasses,” Yunjin pushed her headband a bit higher to keep her orange hair out of her face. “But I support an unbothered queen.”

Yunjin let out a little laugh, her nose scrunching adorably. You couldn’t help but stare, mesmerized by the way her full lips pulled back to show her glistening white teeth.

“Stop being gay,” Chaeryeong whispered, nudging you with her legs to wake you out of the trance.

Huffing in embarrassment and annoyance, you grabbed the Dora book and the rest of your stuff and started to put them into your bag.

“Where are you going?” Chaeryeong asked.

You could see the volleyball captain staring at you from the corner of your eye, and your ears flushed a deeper red.

“I’m going to find someone who understands how serious this situation is,” you ignored the soft snickers coming from both of the girls and turned around to walk out of the lounge.

“Let me know if you found someone who managed to get that chick a pair of glasses,” Chaeryeong called from behind you, laughter in her voice.

.

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.

.

Cute. That was the first thing Yunjin thought when she saw you during the freshman orientation.

She was there to recruit people into the volleyball team when she noticed you, sitting in the second row, eyes barely open, mouth slightly agape as a few wisps of hair fell into your face when you started to doze off.

Ignoring the knowing looks of her teammates, she intentionally tried to get close to you, all but failing drastically. She ended up recruiting all of your close friends into the volleyball team, all but you. You were definitely not a land animal; that was all that Yunjin could say after watching you fall face-first onto the ground at any given chance.

But at least her efforts weren’t all gone to waste. Having recruited Chaeryeong and your roommate Yeji onto the team meant that she could see you in the bleachers in every game and often see you swing by during practice. Her delusional self convinced her that you were there to see her, but deep down she knew that you never even spared her a second glance.

Like today, you had once again rushed away from her as if she was the most menacing thing in the room, and you wanted nothing but to end the conversation with her. Was she really this scary? Or had you found out about her obsession with you?

“You should try to talk to her more, you know?” Chaeryeong said, raising her eyebrows as she watched her captain gaze after you leaving the room.

“Huh?” Yunjin quickly composed herself, leaning back in her chair. “With who?”

“Y/N. I know you like her.” The raven-haired girl said with a grin. “And I approve.”

“Pfft, I don’t even know her that well.” Yunjin whispered, lowering her voice to make sure her friends didn’t hear this conversation.

“I’m not Dora. I see how you look at her,” Chaeryeong pushed.

“I—I don’t look at her differently.”

Yunjin stood her ground, staring at Chaeryeong, ready to deny everything that came out of the younger girl’s mouth. But Chaeryeong wasn’t intimidated, shrugging nonchalantly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“She finds your jokes in the books funny. Don’t let her reaction fool you.”

Laughing at Yunjin’s expression, Chaeryeon added, “I know your ugly handwriting.”

With that, the slender girl slipped her bag onto her shoulder and stood up, smiling mischievously at the blushing captain in front of her.

“Can’t believe it took you two years to make a move.”

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.

Unconvincingly as it sounded, it really started with boredom.

Yunjin was alone in the student lounge last semester, skipping her least favorite class from Professor “Dead-Eye” Yoo and taking the liberty of finally having some alone time. Yunjin knew she was quite popular, being the captain and all, but sometimes she just wanted to go back to being that shy gamer girl she once was.

The lounge was deserted, and Yunjin flopped onto the sofa she sometimes saw you sitting on in the far-right corner. A couple of bookshelves were situated next to the sofa, completely filled with children’s books.

Scrunching her eyes in confusion about why there were so many books for kids when it was a university department lounge, Yunjin decided not to question it and got to read to kill time. But being attentive was not her strongest trait, so she soon relented to her immaturity and boredom.

Grabbing a sharpie from her bag, she started to leave dumb comments here and there in different books, as if she was the biggest book reviewer in the world. It was an immature and stupid thing to do, she knows. But at least it somehow managed to catch your attention, albeit months later.

God must’ve taken pity on her, watching her suffer through countless blind dates that her friends had arranged her to through her first two years of college, finally giving her the chance to know you better.

It was a few days after her encounter with you at the lounge with Chaeryeong, and she found you scribbling down in a brown notebook on the sofa next to the bookshelves again, this time alone. Deciding to brave herself just once, she took her breath and mustered all of her confidence before making her way towards you and flopped down onto the empty space next to you. She was going to take a chance and take Chaeyeong’s words as advice.

“Hey Y/N.” Yunjin gave you a boyish charming grin, her orange hair tousled perfectly across her leather jacket. She was effortlessly cool, and her sudden close proximity made your face heat up.

“Uh, hi, Yunjin-ssi.” You quickly bowed in respect.

“Please drop the honorifics.” The captain waved her hand, giving you a wink. “Just Yunjin is fine.”

You nodded, eyes flittering from Yunjin’s mesmerizing large ones to the record book in your hand. Unsure of what to do, you decided to awkwardly continue writing.

“What are you doing?” Yunjin slightly leaned towards you, her vanilla perfume invading your senses.

“Um... I-” You shook your head to gather your thoughts, “I’m keeping track of the books that were written on. We would have to replace them.”

“Ahh… the Dora book?”

“Yeah. I also found a new one this week, in the Ice Age books.”

“Really? What did it say?” Yunjin asked, trying to keep her face casual.

“It simply just wrote LIA next to Sid’s face.” You said, biting your lip to hold in your smile.

Yunjin, on the other hand, let out a booming laugh, enjoying the joke way too much.

“I’ll let Lia know she’s famous.” Yunjin said, after taking a few minutes to finally come down from her laughter.

Even though she was the one who wrote it, she still found it funny that her roommate, Lia, looked exactly like Sid the sloth when she was sleeping.

Trying to hide your grin, you said, “It’s not funny. The kids keep reading out the comments.”

The sight of your smiling made Yunjin’s heart soar. She was proud of herself for succeeding in making you smile, despite you not knowing it was her who left the comments. With this affirmation, Yunjin continued to make jokes with you as you talked for a bit. She would do anything to charm you, and she already had a plan hatched in her brain, something to do with your notebook.

“I’ll talk to you later, Y/N.” The captain squeezed your hand as she saw her friends calling for her.

You were disappointed to see her go, but you knew that she had better things to do than talk to you. She was, after all, one of the most popular and busiest students in your major.

“See you.” You muttered, ears red at the feeling of her hand on yours.

The captain walked towards the door, before turning back and raising her hand as a goodbye in a goofy boyish way that made your heart flutter.

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It happened again, but this time, it was in your record book. Again, in obnoxiously bolded and capitalized letters, the mystery person managed to annoy the hell out of you, but you couldn’t help but find a bit of amusement in them.

HI :)

They had written this in the smack middle of a new page in your notebook, wasting the entire page. Deciding to write back for the first time, you took out your pen and wrote a small line under their loud greeting.

Don’t write in my notebook :)

Thinking this was able to stop the culprit from writing anything else, you shut the book satisfied. Oh, how wrong you were.

The next day, you found a light pink post-it stuck on top of the original page.

BUT I WANT TO BE FRIENDS :(

Annoyed at the culprit, but also at yourself for finding them cute for using a post-it instead of just writing on your book.

No.

You wrote back, slightly hesitating before slamming shut the notebook altogether. Although intrigued and wanting to know who was behind the writing, it was probably best that you don’t encourage them.

“Getting ready to dive deep into another children’s book of yours?” A familiar voice broke you out of your thoughts.

Your heart couldn't help but lurch at the sight of the orange-haired captain smiling at you, her nose scrunched adorably.

“Yeah, any recommendations? I know you love these books.” You teased back, already comfortable with her presence.

Despite not really getting the chance to talk to her that much, she had this aura that made you feel calm and relaxed, as if you could trust her with anything.

“I’ll recommend one only if you read it to me.” Yunjin flirted easily, giving you a charming grin and wink.

Caught off guard at her response, your face turned a slight shade of pink. “I-”

“I’m just kidding, Y/N.” The taller girl laughed at your flustered state. “I used to read ‘The Jungle Book’ to my sister when she was a kid, and she loved it. Maybe the kids at the hospital would love it too.”

"You have a younger sister?” You asked. This was new information to you, but then again, you and Yunjin never really talked before this semester.

“Yeah, we have a really big age difference though. She’s 10 years younger than me.” Yunjin’s eyes glinted at the mention of her sister.

“She must be really happy to have you as a sister.”

“I hope so." Yunjin said with a sad smile, “I haven’t seen her in a couple of years. She’s still in the US with the rest of my family.”

“It must’ve been hard for you to move here all alone.” You hesitantly reached out your hand to squeeze the Captain’s forearm in comfort.

She gave you a grin at your touch, and your heart fluttered at how her eyes seem to twinkle whenever she met yours.

“I’m fine now.” She said, putting her other hand on top of yours. “I made a lot of friends, and also, I got the chance to meet you.”

The flirty queen-bee you knew was back. You cleared your throat to shake off the nerves she managed to give you and pulled back from the trance she pulled you into.

Quickly checking your watch as an excuse to avoid looking into her eyes again, you noticed it was almost five p.m., the time Chaeryeon left for practice.

“Don’t you have practice?” You asked.

“Nope.” Yunjin made a pop sound at the P, which you found adorable. “We have a game next week, so I gave the girls a two-day break.”

“You’ll be watching us, right?” She asked, her eyes hopeful.

You nodded, “I never missed a game. I’m Chaeryeon’s and Yeji’s number one fan.” You grinned, proud of yourself.

Yunjin merely pouted at this, “You should cheer for me sometime. I’m playing too, you know.” She nudged you.

You laughed, trying to shake off your nervousness at her blatant flirting. “You already have a lot of fangirls.”

Yunjin whined, begging, “I don’t know them, but I know you. None of my friends wear my number because they’re on the court with me.“

“I’ll think about it.“ you laughed at her antics. Although she was a year older than you, she managed to act like a little kid sometimes.

After talking (more like flirting on Yunjin’s side) for another while, Yunjin left to go to her part-time job at the diner, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

The feeling she gave you messed up your thoughts, and you were worried that your old crush on her will be reignited.

She was just friendly. She thought of you as a friend. You convinced yourself. You needed to see her as a friend too, before you get your heart broken.

“Maybe I need other friends than Yunjin.“ you muttered to yourself before opening the notebook once more.

No.

You crossed out the word and wrote.

Fine. What’s your name?

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.

Turns out, the person behind the obnoxious block letters was worth talking to. You’ve been texting the mysterious person for the past few weeks, and they managed to entertain you and connect on a deeper level. Never getting a reply to their name, only with a doodle of a snake, you exchanged numbers without knowing each other's names, and it was better like that. To talk about your day anonymously.

You were, however, curious about the person behind the texts and writing. They were considerate, easy to talk to, and extremely funny. You honestly felt that you could be really good friends with them. From books to life goals, you could talk to them about anything and everything.

It was a bit unnerving how someone in your major knew all this about you, but at the same time, you felt that they were someone you could trust, and they felt the same way about you after sharing some of their family problems with you.

You noticed you were developing a sort of attachment to this person, as if they were your soulmate. You found yourself instantly texting back whenever the snake contact popped up on your phone, and when you were texting, you were re-reading your past conversations. They were a great way for you to get Yunjin off your mind, which you found to get harder every time she stopped by to say hello.

“You’re late, Shin.” Chaewon, the co-captain of the volleyball team, chastised a wind-swept Yuna as she slammed open the door to the locker room and hurried to change into her team uniform.

Yuna was the newest addition to the team and was also the cousin of Y/N. (As soon as Yunjin heard of this, she immediately treated Yuna with patience and additional care, not that she liked you or anything, just her showing affection to her juniors).

The volleyball team was getting ready for the final match before the semi-finals. They had an away game with a nearby school, and Yuna, being Yuna, had overslept and missed the bus to the game. Yuna quickly bowed her head in apology, and Chaewon simply patted her head in assurance and ushered everyone to warm up.

“What took you so long?” Yeji asked, “I thought Y/N said she would drive you instead.”

"She did. But it took her half an hour to get ready because she was busy giggling at her phone like a love-sick schoolgirl.” Yuna said, exasperation in her voice.

At that, Chaeryeon, who was standing near the two girls tying her hair, let out a laugh. “Yeah, she’s been doing that pretty often. She must have a crush or something.”

“You think so?” Eunchae, one of the tallest yet youngest players, chimed in, exposing the fact that she was eavesdropping.

“That’s new; I thought she would just end up being a single woman and adopt all of the kids in the hospital.” Yeji mused, happy that her roommate is finally interested in someone. Throughout the two years she lived with you, you seemed to show zero interest in love.

“Must be nice to be liked by unnie.” Eunchae said dreamily, causing the rest of the girls around her to fake gag and give a round of protest.

“Wish it was me instead.”

“Who are you dreaming about dating?” Yunjin suddenly appeared, wrapping her hands around the tall girl. “My baby manchae is off limits until she’s 40.”

The captain had returned from a quick discussion with their coach and had gone into the locker room to usher the girls out for warm-up.

“40? Do you want me to die single?” Eunchae furrowed her brows and pouted, “And besides, we were talking about Y/N unnie’s love life, not mine.“

“Y/N? What about Y/N?” Yunjin tried to ask nonchalantly, leading the girls out of the locker room.

“She has a crush on someone.” Chaeryeon said slyly, paying close attention to Yunjin’s reaction.

The orange-haired girl kept her face composed, but in reality, her heart was beating at the thought of you liking someone, that wasn’t her. A sense of hollowness and jealousy crept into her skin.

“That’s nice. Do you know who?”

The girls shrugged, and Yunjin decided not to push anymore. The way Chaeryeon looked at her was obvious enough to blow off her cover and reveal her affection towards you, and she was not keen on letting others know.

Putting on a smile so bright that could make any of the people in the crowd swoon, Yunjin tried to push back her thoughts and jealousy, waving to the people in the stand as the team entered the court.

Cheers came from all around her, cheering her name every time she sent the ball flying at deadly speed toward her rivals. She wasn’t called the Ace of SNU for nothing. Yet, as she scanned the crowds after every point earned, she hoped you would also be there yelling her name.

“Good game.” Chaeryeon whispered in Yunjin’s ear as they gathered together in a group hug to celebrate another victory.

The crowds were wild around them, chanting their names as they celebrated their ticket to the semi-finals.

“But you better step up your other game before it’s too late, captain.” The raven-haired girl gave Yunjin a grin before sauntering off to the stands, where you were hugging Yeji in celebration.

You were wearing Chaeryeon’s spare uniform, proudly displaying the Lee on your back, while waving a self-made Yeji and Yuna flag. You looked so cute with your hair in a ponytail, with two lines of blue drawn horizontally across your cheeks to represent SNU.

At that moment, Yunjin wished nothing more than to see you wearing her uniform instead.

She better step up her game.

.

.

.

.

So…have you ever been in love before?

You were late at night studying in the school library a few days after the game when your phone buzzed, indicating a text message. It was from your mystery friend. 

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion at their sudden question, before typing out a quick response. 

No, I don’t think so. Have you?

As their text bubble indicated typing, a full minute passed before their response came through.

No. 

Followed by another long pause. 

But I wish I did. 

Biting your lip in thought, you were unsure of what to make of this sudden confession from your friend. You were developing an attachment to them, which seemed foolish when you didn't even know what they looked like, let alone their name.

It was truly pathetic; the two people in college for whom you had feelings were the queen bee of the school, with a long line of admirers, and the other was some random faceless stranger about whom you knew everything and nothing.

What got you thinking about this? You typed back. 

A girl. But she has feelings for someone else. 

So your little mystery friend does have someone on their mind. You tried to push down your disappointment and the slight burn of rejection as you replied. 

Have you tried telling her how you feel about her?

No, I would probably scare her off or something. 

I’m sure you won’t. 

It took them another five minutes before they finally responded back. 

What about you? Is there anyone on your mind?

Yunjin, the fiery-haired girl, instantly came to mind. Recent interactions with her had given the impression of growing closeness. She took the time to chat with you in the student lounge, held your bag, walked you back to your dorm after study sessions, and even brought treats from the diner when her shift ended. Though it felt like more to you, the realization struck that she viewed you simply as a friend.

Yeah, this girl. But she sees me as a friend.

Yunjin's heart skipped a beat upon reading your reply. It confirmed Chaeryeon's statement – you had your eyes set on someone else. She pondered the possibilities, considering potential candidates. Was it the charming Shin Ryujin from the softball team? Perhaps someone from the hospital where you volunteered? Or could it be one of your close friends, like Chaeryeon or Yeji? The uncertainty left Yunjin feeling a mix of curiosity and apprehension.

Did you tell them how you feel?

No, I would probably scare them off or something. 

Despite her heartbreak, your text made her smile a bit. There you were again, teasing her by copying her sentence. 

I’m sure you won’t, pretty girl. 

How do you know if I’m pretty or not?

I just do. 

You couldn’t help but blush at their compliment. They always managed to say something earnestly that made your heart flutter, similar to the way Yunjin always seemed to have an effect on you. 

You should take this confidence and confess to the girl you like before it’s too late. What’s there to lose?

You have a valid point…

I’ll work on confessing to them before the end of the year, but only if you be my wingwoman. 

Your wingwoman? How? I don’t know anything about them. 

Just share with me the little things you like as advice. 

Deal. 

So…better start listing. 

Hmm, I’d say start with flowers. 

Oh, and little notes are pretty cute, too. 

.

.

.

.

"The Ultimate Checklist to How to Get That Girl? Seriously?" Chaewon read over Yunjin's shoulder incredulously.

Flushing a deep red, the captain quickly slammed shut her notebook and pushed the short-haired girl away.

"Stop snooping!"

"You know you can just ask her out, right? Y/N." The shorter girl reached over to snatch the book from Yunjin, quickly scanning over the checklists.

Yunjin had managed to devise a checklist incorporating all the things you mentioned in your previous text conversations with her about your preference as her 'wingwoman’. She had compiled recommendations on what someone should do to win over someone's heart, hoping to win over yours. 

"I can't. She likes someone else." Yunjin said defeatedly, her shoulders sagging.

"Who can resist the Huh Yunjin charms? I'm pretty sure everyone would love to date you." Chaewon snorted, amused by how her seemingly always confident friend was so hung up on you. This was a first.

"Not Y/N."

Although teasing her friends was in her DNA, Chaewon couldn't help but feel bad for her friend. Yunjin looked lost (kind of like a kicked puppy, but she wasn't going to say that to her face), and as co-captain of the team, it was a rule that she would need to support their captain whenever they needed help.

"Find, I'll help you." Chaewon sighed, looking at the long list and preparing herself mentally. It was going to be a long few months.

"Let me call the girls for backup."

“Another gift from your secret admirer?” Yeji teased when she saw you enter the shared dorm with a tray of hot coffee.

You had just returned from the library, preparing for your final exams, and found yet another gift waiting in front of your door.

You shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, but your ears betrayed you by reddening. “There’s one for you.”

Yeji jumped up in excitement and went straight for the coffee, sighing contentedly as she sipped on it. “I’d just date them already.”

You had been receiving these little gifts for the past few weeks, and it was driving you crazy. Initially sweet, the mystery person never revealed themselves, making you suspicious of everyone. Additionally, you were concerned about how much they were spending on you. Although seemingly insignificant, the little gifts added up.

The first gift was a single rose and a typed note in front of your dorm room, a bit like a ransom note. The note included a cheesy pick-up line that you found endearing, despite yourself. Soon after came cute accessories, a new hair tie, and even a cute hippo plushie. Your admirer seemed to know a lot about you, even the things you lost. 

They gifted you things you had listed out to your mystery friend. Could your admirer and your friend possibly be the same person?

“Oh, by the way, Yunjin and the team are coming over to discuss our strategies for the championship game, is that okay?” Yeji mentioned casually, trying to hide her grin.

Chaewon had called her earlier, letting her in on Yunjin’s huge crush on you and the plan to sweep you off your feet.

Panic filled your eyes as you looked up from your phone. You were still dressed in your "bum outfit," as Yeji would call it, consisting of old sweatpants and an oversized Nike hoodie – definitely not presentable.

“What? When?” You quickly surveyed the room, noticing a small pile of clothes and rushing to stuff them in the laundry basket.

“In about…”

Knock, knock, knock.

“Now.”

At that moment, you pulled your hair out of its messy bun and ran your fingers through it in a rush. Leave it to Yeji to embarrass you in front of Yunjin.

Before Yeji could open the door, it was slammed open, revealing a snow-covered Chaeryeon with her cheshire grin, followed by Chaewon, Lia, Yuna, and Yunjin. Your eyes met hers, and you got lost once again in her warm brown hues.

She looked particularly good today, with her fiery orange hair tucked into a gray woolen hat and dressed in a red leather jacket. She gave you a toothy smile before closing the door behind her.

“Hey, stranger, it’s been a while,” Yunjin said, pulling you into a hug, engulfing you in her sweet lavender perfume. “I missed you.”

You immediately blushed at this, still not used to her flirty nature.

“We had lunch together last Saturday.”

“Yeah, three days is way too long,” she sighed dramatically, her arms still wrapped around your shoulders. Her eyes scanned your features, as if she was trying to memorize every freckle and blemish.

“If you two are done flirting, we would like to start discussing tactics,” Chaewon said, her lips curled into a teasing smile as she saw Yunjin immediately pull her arm off of yours and turn beet red in embarrassment.

“I…” Yunjin muttered, before giving up coming up with an explanation and plopped down onto the sofa.

You busied yourself with schoolwork as the girls squeezed into the makeshift living room and focused on their strategy plan for the upcoming games. You watched them with adoration; it wasn’t often that you saw them together except for their games, and you loved how sweet their dynamic was. Chaewon was the one who kept everyone focused, Lia and Yeji were the encouraging ones, and Yunjin was the planner. She led the gameplays and tactics, ensuring everything was on track. The older girls also babied Yuna and Chaeryeon, making sure they understood everything.

You didn’t know Chaewon and Lia that well; they were Yunjin’s friends. Still, you could tell that they were just as sweet and caring as the captain was. However, you couldn’t help but think of the comment your mystery friend left in the Ice Age book whenever you looked at Lia. She did look a bit like a sloth, but the cutest one ever.

Hence, you decided to text your mystery friend.

Lia does kind of look like a sloth. But cuter. 

As you sent out the text, a small buzz came from the living room. 

Cuter as in your type?

No. But you did her dirty by writing her name next to Sid. 

Another buzz. You furrowed your brows and looked toward the direction of the living room. 

Who IS your type then?

Someone funny, I guess. Goofy but smart. 

Buzz. It felt too coincidental. Your palms started sweating at the thought that you might finally discover who was behind those texts that accompanied you through long nights and motivated you.

Hmm…is there someone like that in our school?

Yeah, there is. 

As soon as you sent out a text, another buzz came from the living room. At that moment, you were convinced that your friend was one of the girls in the room.

Is it the person you mentioned you liked?

You silently leaned forward on your bed to peek at the girls obscured by the sofa, lying on their stomachs in front of a strategy board. You froze at the sight of Yunjin biting her full lip and looking at her phone, engrossed in whatever she was reading. The rest of the girls were talking with each other, none of them looking at their phones. 

Could it possibly be the orange-haired girl all along? The girl you've been texting about was the one receiving your texts. If they were Yunjin, then she would possibly be the one sending you your gifts.

The pounding in your heart was so loud, engulfing you in erratic thumps. You couldn’t even hear the girls talking; all you could focus on was the possibility that Yunjin was the person behind the texts. 

Deciding to leap in faith just this once, you texted back.

Yes. The captain of the volleyball team, do you know her?

Another buzz followed by the screen of Yunjin’s phone was enough to prove that she was indeed the person all along. Eyes scanning through the sentence you sent to her, Yunjin’s brown eyes widened, and she immediately threw her phone to the side, covering her face with her arms. She let out a muffled scream and kicked her legs in excitement, startling the rest of the girls.

You couldn't help but laugh at her adorableness. Putting on your headphones, you pretended to be studying while trying to calm your erratic heart. Muffled shouts and laughter could be heard from the girls, probably picking on their captain.

.

.

.

.

For the first time in her life, it seemed that fate had taken favor in Yunjin. Having dedicated all of her time to school and volleyball, she never had the privilege of starting a relationship with someone. Volleyball itself took up most of her time, with her parents and her personal coach insisting on her becoming the best player in the league and eventually joining the national team of South Korea. She wasn’t unhappy with her life, but she wouldn’t call herself happy.

Sure, her friends set her up on several blind dates, but she never liked them enough to want something more. She was only interested in being the best at volleyball and being the best captain for the girls, nothing more.

That was, until, she met you.

She was enamored by you right from the start, with your shy smile and soft features. She wanted nothing more than to get to know you. After finally getting the chance to talk to you after two years, she had fallen for you, deep. All those late-night talks through text made her understand that you were more than a mere crush, more than any of the girls on those blind dates. The way you viewed the world made her want to become something more to you. She wanted to be included in your world.

Life started to mean more than just volleyball, and she noticed that you made her happy, actually happy. 

She hoped that you would give her the chance to do the same for you. Now, with the revelation that the person she worried so much about you liking was her, she was beyond the moon. She just hoped you wouldn’t be disappointed that she was the one behind the texts.

It was the Saturday after the eventful day, and Yunjin was nervous. She blamed it on the finals game they had tomorrow, but in reality, it was the first time she was alone with you after knowing that you liked her.

After running to you during her lunch break from her shift at the diner two months ago, she had established a weekly routine of getting lunch with you every Saturday. The diner she worked at was near the hospital she volunteered at, so grabbing lunch together before visiting the kids was another highlight of your week.

"Did something happen?" You asked as you sat across the captain.

You had arrived at the booth a while ago, and the captain hadn’t said much but to order. She was fidgeting with the straw of her iced coffee, bending it over repeatedly as she looked at anywhere but you.

"What? No!" Yunjin’s eyes flitted to yours, before quickly looking away again.

"Nothing’s wrong."

"Then how come you’re avoiding me?" You asked, slightly pouting.

Yunjin nearly kissed you on the spot at the sight of you pouting cutely.

She had been refusing to meet your eyes because she knew that the second she did, all defenses would fall, and she would just confess her love to you. It has been like that for the last few days, ever since she knew that you liked her back; she wanted nothing more than to have you in her arms. But she hadn’t thought of a plan on how to ask you out yet; she also had to confess to you that she was the one behind the texts. This scared her, worried that you would hate her for lying to you about not knowing who you were.

"I-I’m not." Yunjin stuttered, still refusing to look at you in the eye.

Before you could reply, the waitress brought over your food. You always got the same thing, blueberry pancakes with scrambled eggs on the side, while Yunjin always had her protein lunch filled with eggs, chicken, and tofu. It didn’t really look good, but Yunjin made sure her body was in the best shape for volleyball.

Today’s meal was slightly different. The waitress had also brought in a plate with two gingerbread cookies, both with cute red buttons and frosty smiles.

"We give out gingerbread cookies to our customers every year around Christmas time," the waitress explained, her eyes twinkling mischievously, "Enjoy!"

Yunjin watched you from the corner of her eyes as you excitedly took a few photos of the cookies.

"Look Yunjinnie, they’re holding hands!"

Yunjin wished she could hold hands with you.

"This one looks more like you." You giggled, moving the plate forward to show her.

The restaurant workers seemingly did not put their heart into decoration because the one you insisted that looked like Yunjin had lopsided eyes and a way out of proportion mouth, so wide that it went higher than the eyes.

"Are you saying I look ugly?" She said, pretending to be offended.

"What? No!" You interjected, blushing a deep red and pulling back the plate to inspect the cookies. "I meant that you always have a big smile like this, meeting your eyes."

That’s because I only smile like this when I’m with you, Yunjin thought.

"Here, try one." You broke the cookies apart and raised one of the cookies towards Yunjin’s face.

"I can’t. I have to stay in shape for tomorrow's game." Yunjin was taken aback at your forwardness. She was normally the one flirting, and you were the shy one. It seems that the roles have reversed today.

"C’mon. Just one bite wouldn’t hurt." You wheedled. "Please?"

Yunjin’s eyes finally met yours. Big mistake.

Your eyes, every so bright, were staring at her pleadingly, with a hint of something that Yunjin couldn't quite put a finger on. Was it affection? Adoration?

Nevertheless, the captain immediately gave in and took a bite of the cookie in your hands. She would always do anything for you.

"It’s…It’s good." Yunjin managed to say, her gaze still locked with yours.

You let out a satisfied grin and brought the same cookie to your lips, pausing slightly before taking a bite.

Yunjin’s brain went into a full system shutdown. YOU JUST ATE THE COOKIE SHE HAD. IT WAS AN INDIRECT KISS. I REPEAT. INDIRECT KISS.

“Mhmmm… It’s so good. Tastes like Christmas.” You said, finally breaking eye contact and looking at the rest of the cookies in front of you.

“It’s almost the end of the year.” You said softly, before looking up again at the flustered girl.

End of the year.

Yunjin’s heart went into rapid speed, and her blood went cold. Could you have possibly known that she was the one texting you? How else would you know the importance of the end of the year to her? She had promised you that she would confess to her crush before the end of the year if only you would become her wingwoman.

Shaking her head slightly to push out the possibility, she tried to forget about her ‘delusions’. You didn’t know. There was no way.

Thankfully, you changed the topic to her games tomorrow, saving her from embarrassing herself.

“Will you be at the game tomorrow?” Yunjin asked as she walked you to the hospital after lunch.

“Of course.” You said, gently holding onto her arm to keep yourself from slipping on the icy roads. (Yunjin’s heart still stuttered whenever you did that).

“I never miss a game, remember?”

“Will you-Will you be cheering for me?” Yunjin asked hesitantly.

“Hmm? I always cheer for you girls, pabo.” You laughed, nudging the taller girl.

“No, I mean,” Yunjin looked at your hands clutching tightly on her arm. Deciding to brave herself for the first time today, she asked, “Will you wear my number?”

She watched as your cheeks turn pink at her words.

“I don’t know…you have quite a lot of fangirls already.” You answered, hitting both of you with déjà vu.

“But none of them are you.” The orange-haired girl stopped walking, gently pulling you around to look at her.

To say you were in deep was an understatement. You had fallen hard for the captain, in love even. Her beauty and confidence were what had drawn you to her at first, but after getting to really know her through those texts, you had started to fall in love with her. Her mind, the way she thought, and her endless patience… she was something that was too good to be true.

“What are you trying to say?” You asked, searching her eyes for any hint of hesitation. You found none, only determination and softness in those honey-brown hues.

“I’m saying…” Yunjin paused, composing herself before she stared back into your eyes, “I like you, Y/N, a lot.”

“And it would be nice if I can take you out on a date.” She continued, her eyes gleaming hopefully.

“But only if you want to.” She hastily added.

You laughed at the last sentence. She was always so considerate, worried that she would be doing something without your consent. And that was what you loved about her.

“I would love to.” You said, before standing on your tiptoes to kiss the tip of her frozen nose. Yunjin froze at the feeling of your soft lips on her skin.

“But only if you win the game tomorrow.”

Yunjin let out a sigh of relief before gently wrapping her arms around your waist, pulling you closer. All those sleepless nights dreaming of you were worth it.

“Easy.”

.

.

.

.

As the captain got ready for bed, a familiar buzz came from her phone. It was from you.

I better see your jersey in front of my door tomorrow, Huh Yunjin.

Yunjin let out a scream, scaring Lia, who was already passed out, and causing her to fall off her own bed.

"What the hell?" Lia groaned from the floor, looking up at her roommate.

"She knows it’s me. And she’s okay with it!" Yunjin said, giggling like a schoolgirl and dancing around. "She likes me back!"

Sighing, Lia slowly dragged herself up from the floor and laid horizontally back on her bed, too tired to crawl back under the covers.

"Go to bed, Yunjin."

Giggling to herself, the captain quickly texted you goodnight, receiving another sweet message from you.

As she went to turn off the lights, she looked at her roommate, sleeping with her mouth open and dressed in her greenish-grey fuzzy pajamas.

Lia did indeed look like a sloth. A cute one.

“Why does Yunjin-unnie have a sunburn?” Eunchae whispered, not so quietly.

“That’s not a sunburn, that’s the glow of love, manchae.” Yeji laughed, patting the taller girl’s head affectionately.

“Love? What?” Eunchae furrowed her brows, clearly out of the loop.

"Someone in the stands is rocking her jersey," Chaeryeon added, grinning mischievously, despite Yunjin shooting her a disapproving look as they continued warming up for the game.

“One-third of the crowd is wearing her number,” Eunchae whined, scanning the crowd again for Yunjin’s possible lover.

You waved shyly to the girls (mostly to Yunjin) as you moved to sit on the bleachers with your friends. You had found a box containing Yunjin’s jersey and a light blue bandana, along with a single rose in front of your dorm room when you woke up in the morning.

You had put on the jersey and decided to tie your hair with the silky bandana, and adding a dash of sparkling highlighter. You wanted to look your best for the captain.

Unable to resist herself, Yunjin made her way towards the railings near the bleachers, ignoring the teasing hoots coming from her members. You walked down a few levels to meet her at the other side of the railing.

“Hi,” she said cutely, her eyes sparkling in happiness as she checked you out. You looked so good in her jersey.

“Hi, Yunjinnie.”

“You look good.” She bit her lip and reached over to hold your hands in hers.

“You better win this game, Yunjin. I’m looking forward to our date.”

“Of course. I play better when I’m in a good mood.” Yunjin leaned over and pressed her lips on your forehead.

“And you make me happy.”

.

.

.

.

“Aw man...” Eunchae said sadly, watching her captain and you cuddling up together. “I wanted to date Y/N-unnie.”

“You’re too young for dating, Hong Eunchae.” The rest of the girls said in unison, before grabbing the maknae away from the scene.

It's a long one!

A bit of fluff for Christmas :)

Thoughts?

[heliosthegriffin]

Shadow Knight and Magic Girls XX

Chapter 20

Ao3 Link

----

Jaune got into the car, pushing his scroll up to the front. "I need to get here." He pointed to an address on his scroll.

Miltiades, seated in the front passenger seat, looked at him miserably. "This is the fifth place this afternoon," She whined. "I'm bored!"

"We have ten more places to hit up before we're done."

Melanie tapped the steering wheel. "Are you going to tell us what you're doing?"

"Nope. Drive." The blonde said, leaning into the back seat, and counting lien out in the back seat.

Melanie felt a flash of annoyance, then sighed, taking off down the road.

They stopped at a local pizzeria place in a decaying neighborhood, Jaune got out went inside, a couple minutes passed by, and then he exited, carrying a couple boxes of hot steaming pizza.

"Alright, now, we go here." He pushed a box into Miltiades lap, while he started devouring a meat-lovers in the back.

"We're not just going on food-runs, are we?" Melanie asked.

"No." He said between bites. "I was coming here anyway, got hungry, and it'd be awkward to be the only one eating."

Melanie reached for a slice, taken extra care to avoid her sisters hissing swipes for daring to take her food. "Alright, where to next?"

They went to several more small business, all in similarly low-income areas, with Jaune repeating his actions, leaving the car, going inside for a couple minutes, then return back, and going to the next locations.

Eventually, they hit all the locations that he had on his list.

"That it?"

"For today, at least."

Miltiades let out a whoop of joy. "Yay! Now, we can do something fun! Ooh, how about the gun-range, or ice-skating?"

Jaune looked at the clock, then shrugged. He could spare an hour. "Sounds fun."

"Awesome!" Miltiades cheered, then tapped her red lips. "By the way, will you at least give us a hint to what you're doing?" She gave him a sly look. "Not paying off baby-mamas, are you?"

Jaune blushed. "No! Nothing of the s-sort. I'm just doing something like, uh, ever heard of putting a chip on every horse in the race?"

Melanie looked at him curiously. "Yeah, but what's that got to do with you?"

Jaune shrugged. "I'm just making a bet,"

"And, if you lose?"

He shrugged. "Oh well, then. Gambles don't always pay off, and I'll have the experience."

Melanie shot him a calculating look through the rear-view mirror, the lien he had stacked back there was gone. Well, not like she could say that Miltia and her had been more responsible with their money. Let him reap what he sows.

------

Where the Wicked Ones went

'Once upon time, there was a great king.

In his kingdom, he did not accept any wickedness, and He chased from his lands the wicked and evil ones with the endless power of the Sun, and those that stood against him and his mighty knights, they were like livestock to the slaughterhouse.

The ones who fled, left this world entirely, fleeing to the Other World.

A place of different time and space, but not separate from our own world. It was not above the world, or under it, but overlapped in places, with stitching vein, and scars covered with stones.

Those who fled into this Other World, they took a different name, different bodies, but their wickedness remained. As they spread across the Other World, they founded many different kingdoms, still practicing their evilness, while fighting meaninglessly and cruel wars between each other.

However, on weird days, under rare stars, they stop fighting and turn to gaze at the World. The World changed, covered with layers of fallen ages and cycles of ever turning light and darkness, and they still yet remember, and most of all, fear that the King of Seasons will find them.

Or, if not him, one with a spirit to succeed him. In their arrogance, though, they are soon to forget that fear. Quickly, they turn their attentions to back to each other, and occasionally, with a bit of foolish pride, venture forth into their former home.

----

Jaune turned the page, the story ended there. He closed the book.

"Are elves, real?" He mused.

"Of course they are!" A voice shouted next to him, making Jaune jump back a step. He turned to look at the short ginger next to him.

"Thanks, Nora. I really needed those minutes off my life."

"You're welcome!" She circled around him, looking at the book. "Why are you reading a cookbook? You know Renny is always going to beat you in a cookoff!"

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Shut up." He didn't needed to be reminded that Ren had magic hands, metaphorically speaking. Hopefully. He didn't want Ren involved in this whole magic business, he had a whole life of him ahead of beating the snot of people in the CKMC* to be risking life and limb.

*(Cross-Kingdom Martial-Arts Circuit)

Or at least, more than he would otherwise, but at least there were rules there.

Nora circled around him. "Wait, is this an elven cookbook?! Are you trying to cook for elves, or trying to cook elves?! If so, you may have a lead on Renny, as I don't think he has the heart to eat elf heart."

Jaune paused, looking at Nora. Despite his downright magical life, she still found a way to say the most downright weird things. Not that he'd have it any other way. "No."

"Oh," She paused. "But, what if-"

Jaune decided to end that train of thought, now. "No." Still, another person, who says something different about the cover. A idea sprang to mind. "Hey, read this off for me." Jaune pointed to a random sentence."

"I can read, no need to test me!" She squinted her eyes on the page. "Two egg, half cup of honey, a cup of milk-, Oh, are you making pancakes?!" Nora vibrated in places. "Never-mind, you're the best cook in the worlds!" She leaned in, whispering. "Don't tell Renny."

Jaune looked at the page. Not the same, what so ever. This was a paragraph detailing how a girl forged a sword from a shooting star and a matching shield too.

This likely meant that the book changed perception of whoever read it. What did that mean? ... Was he even reading anything at all, or was the book just having his mind fill in the blanks that he wanted to see. What in the world was this book? What was its purpose? Why did it do this, was it some kind of mind-eater thing, that fed off attention?

Maybe, he should get rid of it, or at least, copy what he finds out of the book, and cross-references it. So, that if he found something, a story that existed inside the book, one he had no prior knowledge of before he opened the book, he could know that, it at least wasn't making anything up.

He felt a pull on his sleeve, Nora was looking at him excitedly. "So, pancakes?" He looked at the book in his hand, then put it away, it could wait. "Sure, lets go get some pancakes."

She let out a cheer, jumping up and latching onto his back. "Onward, my mighty knight! To pancakes!"

Smiling contently, he started walking. "Ay, my great queen."

-----

Jaune opened the door for the twins into their home, a light sheen of sweat on himself, while behind him, said twins, shambled in like they were on the verge of passing out, heading to the shower.

"Good run, girls." He tried to sound encouraging, as he was taking off his fifty pound vest. Amber looked at the vest, then twins, then back at barely sweating blonde. "Those poor girls, how far did you make them run?"

"Not that far, just a light run, about ten miles or so,"

Amber sighed, she didn't even want to imagine running one mile, let alone at the intense pace he set. She threw a hot towel at him. "Get cleaned up, and I'll work on any knots who might have."

Jaune nodded, closing the door behind him, stripped his shirt off, and wiped off his chest and back. Then laid down on his stomach on a futon next to Amber.

"Been feeling any discomforts recently?" She asked, working on his right arm.

Jaune grunted, feeling a sense warmth go up his arm. "Not really."

"Good, don't be afraid to tell me anything, though. Even if you think it might be personal. Remember, I've already seen it all, you got nothing to be embarrassed about." Amber felt up his arm, it felt heavier, harder to massage, and looked at him surprised. "You gained more muscle?"

"I guess?" Jaune almost shrugged. "I've just-, oh. Yeah, the armor, the extra weight. It's pretty heavy, heavier than anything I wore before, despite how well it's balanced over me."

Amber let out a breath of disbelief. "You were already ready to compete in any inter-national team I can think of, and you're still growing? Thanks just plain unfair."

"Hey, I'll trade places if they want, then we can have a conversation about fairness."

Amber laughed. "Good point, I suppose, hard times breed hard men, and all that."

"Tell me about it, you should meet my grandfather."

The futon bounced a little, as someone sat right in front of his face, a someone with a pair of curvy, athletics legs, wearing a pair of short black shorts. "What's up, superhero?" Vernal asked him with a wink.

"Not a hero, if I'm getting paid for it."

"If so, most legends wouldn't count as heroes."

"Fair, enough."

A beat passed.

"You think about how you want to get inked, yet?" Vernal asked, curiously, looking at his back like a painter looked at a raw canvas.

Jaune had nearly forgotten about that, Big Bear did want him to get the clan symbol on his back. "I just figured I get the clan symbol."

Vernal looked at him harshly. "Don't be half hearted about this, this is a important piece of work that going to happen, and it's going tell the world about you. Think on it hard, this is something to define you to the rest of the world."

Jaune looked at her. "Woah, didn't think you had much about yourself besides ogling me."

Vernal smirked. "I don't just ogle anyone, just the finer pieces of art. Besides, you don't know all of me." She poked his nose. "I have all sorts of tricks that might surprise you."

Looking into her eyes, not to one to back down, Jaune gave her a smile. "You'll have to show me them one day."

There came a moment them looking at each other, with Vernal slightly flushing, looked away. "One day."

Amber sighed. "Please, no flirting while the doctor's at work."

"It's harmless fun, Am!" Vernal shot back. "Besides, you'll get your chance, later." The she looked back at Jaune. "Back to what I was saying, it doesn't matter what Big Bear wants on your back, it's up to you in the end. So, think about what you want the World to see back there."

"I ... I don't know, what it is, that I want back there. It's hard to think about something I can't see."

"Then, don't rush in. Wait, till you can see it." Vernal waved her hand over his back. "Me, though? I can see all the images in the world, and I can pen any of them, you want."

"What do you personally think would look good?"

Vernal sneered for a moment. "It's not about looking good, it's about the message. It can be the ugliest, bat-shit insane tattoo in the world, and still be a work of art on a living canvas, as long as its on the right person." Her arm made phantom motions over his shoulders, and Jaune briefly saw, among her many tattoos, a red-eyed Raven staring at him ominously. "I could ink almost anything here, something heroic, monstrous, or just strong-looking, but, in the end, it's up to you, and what you want it to be. What do you want to be Jaune?"

Jaune looked at the futon beneath him, thinking for a moment. What did he want to say to the world? That was a pretty deep question, or it felt like one. But, he wasn't one for deep thought, and found his answer quickly.

"Hopeful." Jaune said, his answer naturally coming off his tongue. "If I have to show anything to someone else, I just want it to give a bit of hope."

Vernal looked at him, surprised. Then looked at his bare back, her mind turning. "I can work with that," Then she got up, going to her room, the sounds of intense scribbling could be heard inside.

-----

Velvet stood in front of the mirror, anxiously looking over herself for any flaws in her appearance. Her ears twitching over head, hair shaking with it, hadn't even left her room, but felt like her heart was about to give from stress alone.

Looking over herself in the mirror, dare she say it, she looked cute. Wearing a simple brown and white dress that showed off her neck and shoulders, it felt a little daring, at least compared to her conservative normal outfits.

"Ah, look at my little bun-bun! Just the absolute cutest!" Velvet nearly jumped out of her skin at Coco's sudden remark. Turning around so fast that she nearly tripped over herself, she glared at Coco. "Don't scare me, like that!"

Coco shrugged, as she smugly looked at her. "What's a woman to do, not compliment you?" She pulled up her scroll, showing going through the pictures she had taken of her. "So, are you excited for your date?"

Velvet lost her steam, blushing fiercly. "Its not a date, Nora, and her friend, Ren, are coming along to. It's just a friendly outing." Her ears drooped. "He didn't even seem like he wanted to come."

"Vel, my baby-bun, no man, or woman, could say no to you!" Coco slid up against her. "Including me!" She said giving her friend a flirty smile. "Mr. Buff-tough, is just nervous, he's probably never even kissed a girl, so going out with you? It must be mind-blowing to him, and so what, if you have some tag-alongs? Make a polycule out of it, girl! That Ren chick is hot as hell, and Nora? I'd kill to be alone with her."

Velvet relaxed, feeling her heart-slow a bit. "Your way with words never ceases to make feel better. Also, Ren's a guy."

Coco froze, color draining from her face. "What?"

"Yeah, he's a man. With, a-ahem, the bits, according to Nora."

"Oh..." Coco looked at her Scroll. "I have some pictures to get rid of later. Enjoy your date, and if Mr. Moody gives you any trouble, call me, and I'll take care of him, got it?"

Velvet nodded, smiling. "I'll do that." Velvet chuckled, imaging Coco trying to brow-beat Jaune down, amused her. Though, she also couldn't see it working, she was pretty sure that if Coco tried to slap him, any part of him, she'd break her hand.

----

Getting off the bus, Velvet arrived at Vale's Historical Exhibits and Museum. She was surprised by how many people where flowing around the yard of the building, and was equally surprised to see the amount of couples here.

Looking up at the banner on the building, it explained nothing, just relics from Vales past wars when it was a series of squabbling micro-kingdoms. Though, she had to admit, there was a certain energy in the air that made her heartbeat faster, drew her attention towards the Exhibits.

A hand clapped her shoulder, making her jump in place. "Vel-vel!" She felt herself turn around, looking at the short ginger, who was unnaturally strong despite her size.

"Ha-hello, Nora." Velvet stammered out, she hadn't known Nora long, but the short and strong girl had quickly made a place for herself in her heart. Though, she wished she wasn't so forceful!

"Velvet, you're here! That means we can get this party started!"

Velvet nodded, Nora's energy starting to infect her. "Oh, everyone is else is here?"

"Yep! Jaune and Renny are off getting-, oh! There they are walking this way!" Nora pointed away from them, pointing to where the crowd was parting ways from two men walking towards them.

Looking at Jaune exit the crowd of people, or rather, the people rushing to move away from his unstoppable walk towards them, she paused, as something was off about him that took her a moment to figure out. His atmosphere was different, and it clicked.

He was relaxed, today he didn't have any tension about himself like he normally did, he was fully there with them. She gave him a shy smile, and he paused for a moment, before giving a calm smile back at her.

"So, what are we here to see?" Jaune asked, Ren following behind him like a remora fish.

Nora shot up. "I want to see the iron maiden and warhammers!"

The other three of them looked at Nora bouncing with excitement, Velvet didn't doubt for a moment they were going to see those exhibits.

"Sounds good." Jaune said, Velvet barely catching the concealed glee in his eyes.

"Don't try and touch them, they're artifacts and we're not here to get banned." Ren said strictly, though, Velvet noticed that he wasn't saying that just to Nora, as he made sure to give a look at Jaune. There was touch of humor in his voice, though.

"That sounds, great." Velvet found herself agree, she didn't have much interest in torture devices or weapons, but if she was with these three, she would be happy.

"So, we ready to go then?" Jaune asked.

"Yep!"

"As we ever can be."

"Yes."

Velvet felt a push on her shoulder, and looked back to she the ginger culprit, as she landed against Jaune, who caught her easily.

"Jaune-jaune, make sure you don't lose that, she's precious cargo!" Nora said firmly.

Jaune looked confused, then looked at the sea of people around them. "Oh, good idea." Holding out his arm to her. "Don't want to get separated."

Velvet looked at his out-stretch arm, noticing how his many-times thicker his arm was than hers, it almost made her feel like a child by comparison. As she linked her arm into his though, it made her feel secure too, that Jaune would protect.

In that sense of security, Velvet dared to pull herself closer.

----

Deep, deep into the mountains, away from the vices of civilization, in the bosom of mother nature. Where the fat of the land was thickest, and beasts that would rightly be called monsters roamed, a man with a glorious mustache led his disciples into the mouth of a dark, ominous cave.

He swung his axe down in front of the cave, spraying the blood of beasts off of his blade. Peter Port turned to regard his young students with admiration. When he first met them, they were unpolished, and aimless children, with nary a hope of a future worth living. But now? Now, they did not need to hope for a future, they could make their own!

They stood before him, bare chested and raw-muscles, covered in mud and filth from the world over, scratched, bruised, and likely had some broken bones that needed treated, but unbowed and unafraid.

Their leader Cardin had taken to wield the femur of a oxen creature they had fought, while Russel had made a pair of primitive stone axes during their camping adventures, Sky had his warpaint on and crude rucksack of javelins and his onyx-head spear, and Dove? He had a sling, which was good enough.

It was almost enough to make him shed a tear. Sucking in a deep breath, he bellowed out with enough power to rival a landslide. "Student!"

"Teacher!" They returned back, while not having the same power as their teacher, they equaled, no surpassed his energy.

It was time, Peter knew, they were ready. "My children, our final lesson is upon us! Soon, you will be men among men!|

They looked shocked at this news.

"But, Teacher!" Cardin interjected. "We've only just begun to learn! How can we be done?"

Peter sniffled a bit. "That, that is how you know, my child, that you know that you've only just begun to learn, that is the sign you've matured. That you understand that to be a man is to know there is always more to see, more to know, and more room to grow. So, that is why, it's time for you leave the nest and fly!"

They bravely held back tears. Manly tears. "Thank you, teacher. We won't forget our lessons." Sky spoke through his tears.

"You will be alright, my students. You are ready for your final test!" He swung his ax at the cave. "Be wary, though! This cave houses dangers you can't even imagine, but what you encounter inside, will change you forever, it will be your cocoon, one for your boyish state, to enters only to emerge as a man! Now go!"

With another sweep of his ax, he signal for them to run in. With a nod between the four young boys, no, the soon to be young men ran into their final trials of adolescences.

----

Humming to himself, a red-head man sauntered without a care around the back of the museum. A outfit and set of keys that weren't his adorning his person. He opened the backdoor and entered the storage rooms of the place.

Immediately his senses lit up, the feel of magic in the air, and not just from relics either. The ley-lines were practically clogged with power and that was great news! It'd make his goal all the more easy tonight!

Oh how excited he was, so very excited, and there was no-way he was going to be stopped. Not by those Maidens, and not by any questing heroes. Tonight was a new moon, that meant no locks on his power, and whole ley-line to use, oh, how rich was he going to be?

A door opened across the room, and elderly man exited, a janitor. The old man nodded at him, then peered at him curiously. "Are you a new hire? I know most everyone around here, and I don't recall seeing you before?" His voice was raspy, but friendly.

"I'm just a temporary-worker, no need to remember me."

"Oh, that's a shame, its a good place to work here. Maybe, you'll change your mind, once you get the feel of the place?"

The red-head paused, humming to him deviously. "You know what, I think by the end of my shift, they'll always be a piece of the place with me."

The old man smiled kindly. "That's good, sonny. Ah, I didn't catch your name?"

Tapping his head in mock-embarrassment. "Oh, how could I forget to introduce meself? I am the one, the only, Roman Torchwick." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a bone-chilling mask. "Hey, how do feel about presents, Mr...?"

"... Alans." The janitor said a second. He looked at the young man with concern, unnerved by his presence now. "What, what do you got there sonny, that don't seem right?" The bone-mask was strange to his eyes, and didn't seem to be capable of being made by any person.

Roman approached, Sam took a step back in fear, but in a flash of movement, he grabbed Sam's collar and forcefully put the mask on the old man. Sam's body contorted in pain, as if he wanted to have screamed, but couldn't, as the mask meld into his flesh. The old mans kind, bright eyes going dull and cloudy.

"Hmm, that was easy." He patted his newest servants head. "Good work, keep it up!" Then sauntered out, twirling another mask in hand.

----

Omake: Another build - Horse Arc(h)er

Jaune crept into his secret-shack, where he built and managed his gear, bruised and tired after another night of fighting shadow-monsters. He was so tired of this, they just seemed to keep getting stronger, and he stayed the same. He needed a equalizer for this mess, as it was only a matter of time before he got offed, either by luck on the monster side, or unluck on his.

Looking across his limited arsenal, he got to thinking. He looked over his plans and blueprints, but he had already tried them, or just too expensive or plainly impossible for him. He sighed, forehead against table.

In his childhood, Jaune liked to play knights with his sisters, even if it was him playing the princess in distress. It still was something he admired, the man with the sword, in the shining armor, on a noble and beautiful steed.

It was a shame though, that he couldn't get a suit of heavy-metal armor, or a sword that could cut shadow-monsters to pieces. A suit of armor would just give away his best defense against them anyway, not getting hit at all. Plus, he had done some research, and metal armor was good for turning away a blade, but actually made blunt hits worse, and the shadow-monsters were more than strong enough to tear apart cars, dumpsters, and metal railings, it wasn't really worth the effort.

His luck getting close was dice as well, as all it would take is one good hit to be dead and done with. Where as Jaune knew he would need to put sustained force on the bigger ones, while rolling the dice to dodge their strikes, not that he couldn't do it, but the thing is, chance adds up and eventually, he'd critically fail.

Still, a horse? That sounded nice, there wasn't a night that he didn't feel dead on his feet afterwards, so even just to lower his recovery time, well, that almost sounded worth it.

But, would that even work with hit and run still of fighting? The guns, well all he had was the shotgun, and didn't horses need to be trained to not get startled from shots? That didn't even bring up how he'd train one against getting frightened from the monsters.

Walking out of the shed, he needed some fresh air to think. Unconsciously, he ended up walking home. Stopping in the backyard, he saw his father, bow in hand and aiming at target. Jaune stood there for a moment, just watching gears turning.

His father let loose arrow after arrow in a stream of projectiles, it wasn't hard for Jaune to understand why his father was a former pro archer. All the arrows hit, tightly clustered around the center. Jaune felt a phantom feeling in his shoulder, rushing down his arms.

His father turned around, nearly jumping. "Son? What are you-, uh, why aren't you in bed?"

Jaune looked at the bow in his dads hands. "Can I, try shooting that?"

All confusion dropped from his fathers face, lighting up in joy. "WIthout question."

---

Across the dark streets of Vale, there came a sound, a sound that was forgotten to all, but the streets themselves. If there were thoughts in the cobblestone and concrete, this was a sound that would bringing them back a century, to when horses ran the streets. When carriages were pulled down the street, when horses carried passengers and messages, it was a sound of a different time.

It was the sound of hooves and horseshoes hitting stone, clamoring of nimble hooves hitting and pacing, as it raced down the streets. Ceaseless neighing, panting snorts and breaths, it was the sound of a large, powerful steed. No, not just one steed, but several. A rider changing steed regularly, ones he had stored across the city, as one became too tired from battle and the endless pace set by their rider.

Then it was followed, by another archaic sound, that of the endless stringing of a bow. All through out the night, outside on the streets was a shadowy rider, swaying over the back of a horse, never falling as he was aiming a mighty bow, firing tens of arrows every minute at some unseen quarry. Never seeming to run out of arrows, as on each horse were quivers of arrows lining the sides of the animals.

Beasts would pursue them, out from the shadows, the alleys, and forgotten corners of the city, only to pelted with a endless stream of arrows. Falling to the ground, finished off by being trampled by other monsters, or a horde of arrows ending them.

There was a new rider in town, and he was here to hunt the night away.

[flowery-laser-blasts]

My not so serious KP villain headcanons:

Personal headcanons that I have for the Kim Possible villains (not all of them). Long post.

Shego loves horror movies and podcasts and once scared the living hell out of Drakken after watching Ringu. She hid under the bed and once he almost drifted off to sleep, she reached from underneath to grab his hand and reveal her with hair covered face.

Shego hates cooking and rather orders take out than go through the effort of prepairing meals. The worst part is cleaning up dishes.

Shego can warm/radiate heat through her hands with her powers in a non-harmfull way. This comes in handy when massaging Dr D's stiff shoulders.

Shego's favourite chickflick is Legally Blonde. She showed it to Drakken once, he too, likes it. Now after every defeat they watch this movie while patching themselves up.

Dr Drakken loves British comedy such as Monty Python, the Mighty Boosh and Little Britain. He often quotes their jokes.

Dr Drakken has a complex bedtime skin care routine that he never skips and follows to a T. Though he only does it before bed, so if he stays awake for several days in a row, he won't do it until actually going to bed.

Dr Drakken actually plucks away stray hairs around his eyebrow to keep the look 'clean' and 'on fleek'.

Dr Drakken's shampoo smells of Lush' sugarplum fairy bodyspray.

Dr Drakken always sings the Mighty Boosh' 'Soup Song' when preparing soup. His secret ingredient to his vegetable soup with mini meatballs is tiny elbow macaroni.

Dr Drakken's 'take over the world by plants' scheme was stolen/inspired from Duff Killigan's failed attempt at turning the world into a golfcourse when the two were over at his place to discuss plans on the Tempes Simia idle and Monkey Fist was away to use the restroom.

Duff Killigan has one of those 'golf-on-your-toilet' golf sets in each restroom/bathroom.

Duff Killigan's favourite Disney movie is Brave, but more so because of the mother daughter bonding aspect of the story. He's a sucker for those kinds of movies.

Monkey Fist loves Shakespeare's works solely because of the infinite monkey theorem.

Monkey Fist has an incredible hatered towards the song "Banana Man" by Tally Hall and 'Day-O' by Harry Belafonte. It's an earworm that never leaves within a day and makes the monkey ninjas dance uncontrollably.

Monkey Fist takes extremely good care of personal hygiene and regularly cuts his nails.

Adrena Lynn's actual name is Adrien.

Adrena Lynn called out the Jackass cast for being fakes.

Adrena Lynn's favourite non extreme sport is table tennis.

Adrena Lynn started the 'girl dinner' tend.

Gill's favourite animals are sharks.

Gill bullied Ron because he wanted to look cooler in front of other camp kids. At his school, he would be the one being bullied.

Gill actually didn't dislike Ron at first but it changed when Ron grabbed an extra (and the last) chocolate pudding cup during dinner on their first day of camp.

Professor Dementor shines his helmet with a hand held waxing device, he never takes it off though.

Professor Dementor's favorite snack is caramel seasalt pretzels.

Professor Dementor wanted to become a children's book writer when growing up.

Dr Drakken, Monkey Fist and Duff Killigan play Dungeons&Dragons. Monkey Fist DMs most of the time, second is Drakken; Duff never DMs. The big bad evil guy is Kim Possible but they almost lose every campaign except for the rare occasion in which the BBEG dies due to accidental environmental circumstances out of their hands. They tried to replicate it irl but where do you find a giant dragon, three gnomes an enchanted blueberry pie and a catapult?

Motor Ed uses WD-40 for his hair instead of conditioner, seriously.

Motor Ed is a diehard Meatloaf fan (the artist, not the food).

Motor Ed despises Meatloaf (the food, not the artist).

Frugal Lucre loves pineapple pizza with extra ham

Frugle Lucre's arch enemy is Kim's cousin Larry.

Frugal Lucre collected cuddlebuddies but his mom threw them out because "you're too old for these toys, so I gave them away to your niece Pamela for her baby room" and that's his villain origin story.

Frugal Lucre has a Dr Drakken cosplay that he sometimes wears to (Hench co.) conventions (inspired by @gothicthundra 's Halloween chapter)

DNAmy's biggest inspiration for fashion is Velma Dinkley from the Scooby Doo franchise.

DNAmy hates Tom and Jerry because it promotes 'violence'.

DNAmy actually is pretty chill and wouldn't mind Kim Possible's company as long as Kim apologises for destroying her work. Kim is a fellow cuddlebuddy collector after all.

After Monkey Fist turned into stone, DNAmy tried reviving him. It didn't work out. She eventually moved on and started dating Frugal Lucre. They're in a happy committed relationship now.

The Bebe bots have their own reality show in Japan and are content with the attention and admiration from fans. They were offered a contact as idol group but they denied it because they didn't want to collaborate with Hatsune Miku.

Señior Senior Junior became a top model and worked with the fashionistas but when they got arrested again, SSJ used his privilege to continue his career.

With the help of Bonnie, Señior Senior Junior wrote an autobiography about his life under the influence of his father. It's titled "I didn't want to be a criminal, but Daddy made me do it." And it is said to become an autobiographical movie (but once again, Junior can't star in it).

Señior Senior Junior and Bonnie got married after Bonnie graduated from college.

Señior Senior Junior loves My little Pony friendship is magic and writes wholesome fanfiction. He likes PinkPie because she likes to party. He also realises that a lot of his youth is missed out on because of his father's wealth. He is semi thankful for villainy because it introduced him to Shego and their friendship. He tried making her watch it but she didn't seem into it.

Señior Senior Senior could actually give up villainy for his future grandchildren. This was Bonnie's initiative, because she doesn't want her kids to grow up around inmates and prisoners.

That's it for now, if I've got more I'll add it here!!

[ellecdc]

Matchmaker 🧺

First off congrats on 2k!!! You deserve it!

So my favorite colors are: pastel colors! Specifically baby pink, baby blue, and baby green. Think PPG vibes.

favourite pass time: listening to music while walking (can be any music), cooking/baking for the people I love, and maybe just hanging out with friends (I don’t care what we do as long as it’s with them)

Shows that I’m obsessed with: so currently not so much obsessed with shows but obsessed with manhwa (Korean manga or comics). Ummm the ones that I’m obsessed with are the mighty extra: one girl changes the world, I will not return to the family who abandoned me, and so on (there are hundreds lol). Oh and my favorite movie of all time is Anastasia (the animated movie). I could watch that on repeat all day.

Favorite animal: ok so in real life I love dogs and otters. And in HP fiction I love the niffler.

hmmmmm ok I think James and maybe Sirius?

you're very social and like being with your favourite people which I think both boys are as well. They'd both love the princess treatment of you baking for them all the time (I wrote a poly!marauders request to that effect lol), and James would love Anastasia. Also, I think Sirius would so get into comics.

thanks for playing <3

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1099 review

I'm glad to see Oda's break treated him well after the last chapter, because this one is not only completely finished, I'd say it's one of the cleanest looking we've seen in a while. The lines seem very sharp relative to the sketchiness that's become a trademark of the last few years. There's areas of roughness, sure, but I think most of the chapter is high quality work. I wonder if Oda came to some kind of realisation or new technique to even out the process, or if he's simply pushed himself extra hard because he feels like he needs to make up for the state of the last one.

Either way, this is a fairly transitional chapter when you get down to it, ticking off the boxes we knew needed to be ticked and filling in blank space in the timeline. No shock that Kuma traded himself for Bonney in a deal with Vegapunk, nor that his tyrant epithet was propaganda or that he stumbled onto the throne accidentally after confronting Becori. Predictable or not, these developments needed to be shown (in part because not all the casual readers are going to remember the vague statements about Kuma's past from hundreds of chapters ago that the hardcore fans had used to piece together their existing ideas of his history through implication) and we actually get through them pretty quick, hopefully to set up this flashback's next big gut punch for chapter 1100.

Bonney getting her Devil Fruit at random at this point is certainly a surprise. I wonder if there'll be an SBS answer for how it ended up in the hands of a girl who can't go outside. Or will it just be a mystery forever like Robin and her Devil Fruit.

The misdirect gag between Bonney's aging and Conny's appearance is fun, and I was almost not expecting to see an explanation for Bonney being able to impersonate her so easily at the Reverie, but it also feels a bit like evidence of a changed plan. Wouldn't shock me if there was an early outline somewhere that made Bonney an actual part of the royal family (perhaps Ginny was originally a local, some distant relation of Bulldog who was enslaved after a cruel twist of fate) and Oda decided to go another way when he reached the point of actually doing the flashback and mapping it out event by event. But it still fits together as what it is, this is just me as a writer trying to dissect things.

Could Bonney learning to base her elderly form on Conny be the origin of her distorted futures? It would explain her being able to take on Kuma's physique despite the lack of blood connection.

There are some awesome continuity callouts in Kuma's piracy montage, from the islands he scattered the Strawhats to, to Abdulla and Jeet, to the Revolutionary Army regional commanders showing up again. And of course references to the purging of Grey Terminal and the explosion at Punk Hazard around the chapter. It's also cool seeing Egghead before Vegapunk made it into Egghead. Can you believe the difference in less than seven years?

Vegapunk is frighteningly naive in his ideas about how the clone soldiers will be used by the Government, but it tracks with how we know him in the present as well. it's hard to say what Kuma's read on the old scientist is in this scene, especially the panel at the bottom right of page 16, where he looks surprised and concerned by Vegapunk's declaration of "mighty warriors from the future." I think Kuma has seen enough that he understands how the World Government would use things like that, but for Bonney's sake (who we already know matters more to him than the Revolutionaries' cause) he can't say no. So he justifies. He falls back on Dragon insisting Vegapunk's intentions are good (and hey, he was cool about the Buccaneer thing). He hopes against hope something good actually will be made from the clone soldiers. He trusts himself to deal with the fallout if it goes wrong and take the burden on his own shoulders, as he did with the ousting and return of Becori.

Unfortunately, we know it won't be that easy. Saturn is set to take away Kuma's mind and rob him of the chance to set right the abuse of his clones. That makes me think that part of Kuma's agenda when he's on Egghead and at least partly in control will be to destroy as many Pacifistas as he can, or at least the facilities that make them, to put an end to his own misuse. The Seraphim are likely to be salvaged, as the World Government's endgame weapons, but the annihilation of the regular cyborgs would be a huge blow.

I don't think we're quite close enough to the end here to wrap up the flashback for 1100, nor is it really positioned for a huge lore bomb like some are hoping for. I think the big thing next week is just going to be the tragic but inevitable betrayal of Kuma that makes him what he is. This is also potentially the end of volume 108, but I want to see where 1100 leaves us before I put any final bets in on that front.

Read older reviews on my Wordpress.

[beevean]

Castlevania has a bunch of games each zig zagging between different time periods across a 1000 year old timeline.

It still has a much clearer timeline and sense of canon than Sonic, despite its own issues, which is extra embarassing given that most Sonic games take place in release order yet we seemingly can't decide on whether or not Mania Sonic is a split timeline or the same guy as Modern Sonic, because last time I checked Forces claimed the former (and made sense) while Izuka is now claiming the latter.

The latest Tailstube also had Knuckles reference Knuckles Chaotix despite that game having been made non canon by Heroes as stated by Izuka himself.

And Frontiers speaks for itself, too much in fact

Are you referring to the fact that apparently now Superstars takes place between Mania and Adventure? I read people that pointed out that their behavior in Superstars doesn't match the one in Adventure: Sonic and Knuckles weren't besties yet, Sonic was still uncomfortable around Amy. This poor game keeps being ignored despite being so important to the lore :(

(also rip sonic 4 good riddance)

I don't know what's happening anymore. I'm not following anything. I haven't felt the interest to watch the latest Tailstube. I only know that they're trying so hard to cobble together all the pieces of the lore, from Fang now changing name in-universe to escape the law (and being officially Fang the Hunter, after nearly 30 years), to referencing Chaotix and Mighty and Ray, to slapping in your face that Amy KNOWS TAROTS!!!!!! LOOK AT MAGICAL GIRL AMY ATTACKING WITH TAROT CARDS!!!!!!!!!!! something that by all means should have stayed cute trivia in the manuals, or maybe referenced in things like the Origins CD cutscene.

And Frontiers :)

shut up sage eggman did not help sonic take down neo metal he was just standing there if you're going to shove references up our asses at least be accurate

I remember when back in the day the biggest source of confusion was whether Battle happened before or after ShTH...

They're absolutely going on an overcorrection course, when things were just fine! And yes, I'm aware that IGA did a similar thing for CV, sitting down and putting as many games as he could in order while cutting from canon the ones that didn't fit like Legends or the N64 games (although I still believe there was room for CoTM lol). He tried to answer all sorts of questions from "why does Bloodlines not star a Belmont?" to "why do candles release hearts when hit"?, and I don't envy his job. I know some old-time fans weren't exactly happy with this guy pulling a Flynn and getting his hands all over the franchise :P

The resulting timeline can't really be understood without a guide, but I can't say it was confusing at all. It helps that there is no time travel involved. That's the thing that started to make the Sonic timeline fall apart: Classic Sonic travelling into the future of Forces and then going back home.

(then you add that apparently in Japanese Classic Sonic comes from a different sekai, which is a vaguer term than "world" or "dimension".)

I should probably have more to say, but... I don't know when was the last time I checked something Sonic-related with interest. I still have to listen to the Superstars OST... I'm definitely feeling more and more alienated by this new direction.

[parkerbombshell]

Just Another Menace Sunday #1063 w: Starcrawler

New Shows Sundays 4pm EST bombshellradio.com Repeats Wednesdays 1pm EST and Fridays 6pm EST Archival Shows available on bombshellradiopodcasts.com "Just Another Menace Sunday" radio thing. Hour 1: A 2018 Conversation and extra long Musical Sandwich with Starcrawler ! Hour 2: New Melodic Rock 'n Roll from: Billie Joe Armstrong (Jesse Malin cover!), Kenzo Cregan, Bad With Phones, Coral Moons, English Teacher (x2), Glasser, Bria Salmena, Hinds, Empire Of The Sun, Blitz Vega!.   This Week's Interview: Starcrawler

This Week – Episode #1063 A 2018 CONVERSATION WITH STARCRAWLER & THEIR MUSICAL SANDWICH! (07/28/2024)   Theme Song Just Another Menace Sunday Theme (Dennis The Menace) - Mighty Six Ninety Hour 1 A 2018 CONVERSATION WITH STARCRAWLER & THEIR MUSICAL SANDWICH! STARCRAWLER MUSICAL SANDWICH: TOP BREAD: Love’s Gone Again – Starcrawler Rich Girl – Hall & Oates Pop Music – M Achin’ – The Plugz Girl Don’t Tell Me – The Beach Boys Hooch – The Melvins I’m The Man – Joe Jackson Everybody Wants To Rule The World – Tears For Fears Mama’s Boy – Biff Rose Zero Hour – The Plimsouls edit here or close Hey Willy – The Hollies Eyes Without A Face – Billy Idol Daddy’s Song – Harry Nilsson Mr. Crowley – Ozzy Osbourne The Phone’s Off The Hook But You’re Not – X Baby Let’s Swing/The Last Thing You Said/Don’t Tie My Hands – Runt/Todd Rundgren Ocean Man – Ween BOTTOM BREAD: Chicken Woman – Starcrawler  Hour 2 NEW MELODIC ROCK & ROLL! OPENING SONG: Black Haired Girl – Billie Joe Armstrong (Glassnote) Sara – Kenzo Cregan (Self Release) Drive – Bad With Phones (Don’t Sleep) Summer Of U – Coral Moons (Better Company) R&B – English Teacher (Island) Mastermind Specialism – English Teacher (Island) OM – Glasser (One Little Independent) Bending Over Backwards – Bria Salmena (Sub Pop) Superstar – Hinds (Lucky Number) Changes – Empire of the Sun Capitol CLOSING SONG: Lost Myself – Blitz Vega (FutureSonic) Read the full article

[stylishclutchbag]

Embellished Clutches 101: A Guide to Shimmering Sophistication

Embellished Clutches are the epitome of glamour and elegance. These small but mighty accessories have the power to transform any outfit into a dazzling statement. Whether you're heading to a red-carpet event, a romantic dinner, or a girls' night out, an embellished clutch can be your best friend. In this guide, we'll dive deep into the world of Embellished Clutches, exploring their history, how to choose the perfect one, styling tips, and much more. Get ready to unlock the secrets of shimmering sophistication!

The Evolution of Embellished Clutches: A Glimpse into History

To truly appreciate the beauty of Embellished Clutches, it's essential to understand their rich history. Embellished Clutches have been a part of fashion since the early 20th century. Back then, they were crafted from luxurious materials like silk, velvet, and beaded embroidery. These exquisite bags were often adorned with intricate designs and gemstones. Over the decades, Embellished Clutches evolved, adapting to the changing fashion trends. Today, they continue to be a symbol of timeless sophistication.

Choosing Your Perfect Embellished Clutch: Tips and Tricks

Selecting the right embellished clutch is an art in itself. Consider the occasion, your personal style, and the materials used in the clutch. For formal events, opt for clutches with crystals or metallic embellishments. If you're going for a more casual look, a beaded or sequined clutch can add a touch of glamour without overpowering your outfit. Remember to think about size too – a smaller clutch is perfect for a night out, while a slightly larger one can hold your essentials for a formal affair. Don't be afraid to experiment with colors and textures to find the one that resonates with your style.

Embellished Clutches: The Ultimate Conversation Starter

One of the remarkable features of Embellished Clutches is their ability to spark conversations. Whether you're mingling at a party or waiting for a friend at a cafe, your embellished clutch will undoubtedly catch the eye of those around you. It's a conversation starter that can lead to compliments and questions about your impeccable taste in fashion. So, be prepared to share your love for these stunning accessories and inspire others to embrace the world of Embellished Clutches.

Styling Your Embellished Clutch: A Lesson in Elegance

Styling an embellished clutch can be as fun as it is creative. The key is balance. Let your clutch take center stage by pairing it with a more understated outfit. A classic little black dress or a sleek pantsuit can be the perfect canvas to showcase your clutch. When it comes to jewelry, keep it simple to avoid overwhelming your overall look. A pair of statement earrings or a delicate necklace can complement the clutch beautifully. Remember, less is often more when you're working with such a dazzling accessory.

DIY Embellished Clutches: Unleash Your Inner Designer

Feeling crafty? Why not try your hand at creating your embellished clutch? You can purchase a plain clutch and customize it to your heart's content. Visit your local craft store to find an assortment of beads, sequins, rhinestones, and fabric glue. Then, let your creativity flow as you design a unique piece that reflects your personality. Not only is this a fun and fulfilling project, but it also ensures you have a one-of-a-kind accessory that no one else will have.

Embellished Clutches on the Red Carpet: A Celeb Favorite

Embellished Clutches have long been a favorite of celebrities on the red carpet. A-listers know that these sparkling accessories can elevate their look from beautiful to breathtaking. From Hollywood icons to rising stars, Embellished Clutches have graced the arms of many at award ceremonies and movie premieres. They effortlessly blend with designer gowns and tailored tuxedos, adding that extra touch of glamour that's so coveted in the world of high fashion.

Embellished Clutches for Everyday Chic

While Embellished Clutches are often associated with special occasions, they can also be incorporated into your everyday wardrobe. Don't save these beauties for rare outings; instead, let them shine in your daily life. Pair a casual embellished clutch with jeans and a blouse for a stylish daytime look, or use it to add a pop of pizzazz to a simple sundress. Embracing the versatility of Embellished Clutches means you get to enjoy their shimmering sophistication on a regular basis.

Caring for Your Precious Embellished Clutch

To ensure your embellished clutch remains as stunning as the day you bought it, proper care is essential. Store it in a dust bag to protect it from scratches and dust. If it gets dirty, gently clean it with a damp cloth, but be cautious not to damage any delicate embellishments. Avoid overstuffing your clutch, as this can cause undue stress on the seams and fastenings. By following these simple care tips, your embellished clutch will continue to be a cherished accessory for years to come.

Embellished Clutches are more than just accessories; they are symbols of timeless elegance and personal expression. Whether you're channeling old Hollywood glamour or adding a touch of sparkle to your everyday life, these clutches have a unique charm that's hard to resist. From their rich history to their versatility in styling, Embellished Clutches offer a world of possibilities for fashion enthusiasts. So, embrace the shimmering sophistication of Embellished Clutches and let your style shine!

Must Read: Timeless Beauty: Luxury Clutches for the Modern Woman

[shidoukanae]

"A dragon is born to be relentless. They do not know the meaning of giving up. If they give their heart to you it's a sign of undying loyalty: and of a trust that will kill them if you break it."

[manhwafull]

Read The Mighty Extra: One Girl Changes the World Manhwa

[MANHWAFULL - Read manhwa, read manhua, read manga online] Title: Read Manga The Mighty Extra: One Girl Changes the World Read at Link: https://manhwafull.com/manga/the-mighty-extra-one-girl-changes-the-world/ Summary: It’s easy to overlook the extras in a novel, but when one avid reader wakes up in the body of “extra” extraordinaire Princess Lyla, she’s ready to shed the side character image and step into her mightiest form! Armed with hidden magic more potent than the empire of Belliana has ever seen, Lyla is ditching the palace in favor of a nobler mission–protecting her bias at all costs! Now she must rescue Fian, dreamy descendant of the Kylon Dragon Empire, so he can have his happy ending with the story’s heroine. That is, assuming the heroine is still Princess Helene… #manhwafull #manhua #manhwa #manga #manhwarecommendation #mangarecommendation #TheMightyExtraOneGirlChangestheWorld #TheMightyExtraOneGirlChangestheWorldManhwa

[threezoz]

8 Shows To Get To Know Me

8 shows to get to know me with explanations (though that’s not necessary)

only 8… this was very hard

thanks, @negrowhat! please excuse some of the image quality, i am ancient, as are some of these shows.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996)

this one starts the section i’m calling “shows that raised me.”

it was that show for so many of us. the cousins i grew up with and i still have formative memories and inside jokes that only make sense of you’ve seen this show. (i don’t think i’ve even seen every episode, zbc scheduling being what it was.)

The Golden Girls (1985-1992)

this one is suffused into my being. i’m not gonna be an old ‘lady’ but this is how i will be moving through the world.

Paraffin (1990s)

some homebaked comedy. there were two, this one and Mukadota (1980s) and they just cushioned the post-independence generation and bridged the gap. everyone sat down together to watch them. the cultural relevance is immense, even if it’s likely horribly offensive nowadays.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993-1995)

i wanted to be a power ranger before i knew what acting even was. had me wanting to do both gymnastics and martial arts, in suburban zimbabwe of all places. (this is also one of the first shows i can remember having actively-bisexual feelings about. (the other one is Sunset Beach. shh, don’t worry about it.)

Are You Being Served? (1972-1985)

my first intro to camp and homosexual characters on tv! zero tragedy and he wasn’t the butt of the joke any more than anybody else was. (i don’t think anybody ever said it out loud but it was Text™️)

i was very disappointed to discover that no working environment is actually like this. i’m still obsessed with puffy sleeves and flouncy-front blouses.

Farscape (1999-2003)

now begins the “who i am now” portion of the presentation. (i grew up with an older brother who was obsessed with action, martial arts and sci-fi, so naturally, i made it an integral part of my personality.)

this one is hard to summarise. it lives in the same place that Firefly (2002) occupies in my heart but doesn’t have jomps wobbin’s ick all over it?

it hits a lot of the same beats: found family, badass female characters, running from an evil space-government/empire (there’s so many more of those in Farscape), members of said evil space-government aiding and abetting our crew.

but Farscape ran for 4 seasons and had a miniseries; came with Aliens™️; the Jim Henson’s Creature Shop doing some of them which, *gestures at Rygell and Pilot, two fully animatronic characters* and contains the love of my life (and future cosplay magnum opus), Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan, who is blue and a sentient plant. suffice it to say, it changed my life.

Leverage/Leverage: Redemption (2008-2012, 2021-)

a show about fighting capitalism, with crime! and found-family! (still waiting on our OT3. it’s been 85 years.)

this show is why i taught myself to cook (to the point i was thinking about culinary school), wanna play the cello, am a polyglot, am not afraid of ageing, still wanna do gymnastics, am gay-will crime… it’s been the catalyst in shaping so much of who i currently am. (timothy hutton not withstanding.)

(not aldis hodge being the most jacked renaissance man. there’s an episode where his character plays the violin AND IT’S ACTUALLY HIM PLAYING THE VIOLIN.)

The Crow: Stairway To Heaven (1999)

yes, the show. because i saw this looong before i saw the movie or read the graphic novel. this is likely when the seeds of my eventual goth-hood were planted. this and Sting, from wrestling. my goth boyfriend.

probably why i was obsessed with Gibsons too…

tagging: @demented-tours, @dharmagun, @ghstbusting, @grimmalkindrewit who made the mistake of befriending me irl. (you don’t have to do this, honestly. it’s so much work. i’m just procrastinating sleep and uni work so was extra motivated.)

HONOURABLE MENTION: SPACE PRECINCT (1994-1995)

i was just endlessly haunted by miss forehead-eye over on the right there who showed up in my dreams. she’s very sweet and gentle but i forgot this show existed until i was looking up what all i watched as a kid (A. LOT. of television apparently) and this popped up at the end of a sci-fi list! never wonder why i’m so fucking weird. my childhood was almost entirely unhinged, wild-shenanigans programming like this.

[4acoffee]

Masterlist

19 I like coffee and chocolate and Katsuki and Kazuha. (not in that order)

Most Recent:

Kiss, Kiss, Fall in Love - Dan Heng

Ink - Bakugou

Reader favorites - ✩✩✩

Author Favorites - ⍲

My Hero Academia

Bakugou Katsuki

No More Regrets - ✩✩✩ - ⍲

Where the class of 3-A go on a road trip before graduation, and you happen upon a sleepy blonde that you decide will be the right person to burden with you’re late night reminiscing,— If he doesn’t blow you up first that is.

The Light In Your Eyes - ✩✩✩

At a party held in Katsuki's honor for winning the sports festival (again), — he finds that he doesn't quite mind being caught helping the extra with the annoyingly pretty eyes catch fireflies instead of celebrating, especially when he could see the embers in them reflecting so close to his own.

How the Mighty Fall

After a late night text ruins your chances of sleeping peacefully, you and your explosive classmate end up keeping each other company during a restless night.

Ink- ✩✩✩ - ⍲

A voice in the back of his head tells him that he's never cared before exactly how many words a girl says to him, and he promptly tells said voice to shut the fuck up. (Or, Bakugou has a crush on the quiet girl and he isn't sure what to do with himself about it.)

Coffee crush - ⍲

Prompt: “I can be sweet. Sometimes. To certain people. It happens!” (Bakugou Katsuki)

Hold Me Tight (Or Don't)

Several years after his unexpected retirement, the crushing death of All Might shook the whole world once again. And you find that even the most unexpected, need some comfort.

Came a Time p.1 - ⍲

A wandering prince finds a strange tower in the middle of the woods. After finding that it's inhabited by an angry princess cursed with immortality, Katsuki decides he'd be the one to save her. Easy enough right? It should be, if only the princess would believe him, — and the giant prince-eating dragon guarding the tower.

Past and Furious (p.1) (p.2)

Fantasy AU! You've been best friends with Prince Bakugou since as long as you remember, and you always will be, nothing could change that, not even a curse that supposedly dooms you with immortality. Now, if only you had finished off that dusty old hag when you had the chance.

Bakugou Katsuki

Notice - ✩✩✩ - ⍲

"Because he is Katsuki Bakugou and god forbid he ever accept any kind of help from anyone, lest they start to look down on him."

Todoroki Shoto

Fault

Prompt: “Am I a hero or the devil’s son? Can’t figure out what side I’m on.”

Honkai Star Rail

Dan Heng

Kiss, Kiss, Fall in Love - ✩✩✩

"And that's what stops you. Because here he is, - cold, stoic, serious, Dan Heng, — inches away from you, with flushed cheeks and wide eyes."

[blzzrdstryr]

Yanderes caring for a sick darling hcs - Mondstadt boys edition

Starring: Albedo, Diluc, Kaeya, Venti

[Mondstadt girls edition]

[Liyue boys edition]

Albedo:

As a renowned alchemist, Albedo is very proficient in all alchemical fields, including bio alchemy.

Subsequently, he is also very knowledgeable in the inner workings of the human body, and understands the biological mechanism behind most illnesses and how to prevent them.

Alchemist takes a lot of preventive measures, keeping you on a healthy diet and having you exercise daily. He also begrudgingly lets you out on the walks, with his supervision and far away from any civilisation of course.

He also has a keen eye for changes in your body and he will realize you caught something before you even sense it.

In that case he'll just slip some medicine into your food and you'll get better even before sickness progresses further.

All in all, Albedo is great at keeping you healthy, as your physical well-being is a very high priority to him.

However, the alchemist can become so consumed by his studies that even you temporarily fade into the background.

It’s a very short window of time, but if you manage to get significantly ill, he will blame himself to Hell and back.

You won’t know of his self-loathing though, as Albedo isn't expressive enough, wearing a facade of calmness even if everything beneath it boils and burns

He will quickly find a cure, and do everything to help you feel better as his mind starts to wander into darker places.

Albedo possesses a wide array of knowledge and he knows various cases when simple colds lead to some awful complications that sometimes have cost lives.

Logically he knows it's highly unlikely that you will get that bad, especially under his care, yet the anxious thought remains, nagging at him.

Your illness will be as stressful to him as it is to you. Alchemist's brain will conjure thousands of unfortunate possibilities that could harm you and cut your life short.

Once you recover, Albedo will sigh in relief and rethink his measures regarding your health - he can't let something like this happen again.

Maybe he should start slipping some prophylactic drugs into your food.

Diluc:

Ragnvindr heir is fiercely protective of you, eager to shield your being from any harm possible, including sickness and injury.

Just like Albedo he also takes preventive measures - diet, exercise, monthly check ups, even very short and very supervised walks on the winery territory.

Diluc is a big worrier, he almost always feels low level anxiety especially if it's something regarding your well-being.

He even thought of buying a manor - Dawn Winery, despite its impressive size, is still too small for an inner garden or a courtyard and with a new estate you could walk among greens and get your dose of fresh air without actually going outside, and the possibility of your escape will be lower too.

Diluc also derives some sort of pleasure from caring to you - it’s an act of both love and ownership to him. He will never admit of the latter though, as his feelings regarding your kidnapping are very confused and conflicted - Ragnvindr lies to himself, saying that it was for your protection only. Admitting that he feels possessive of you is admitting that he yearned not only for your safety.

Despite that, Diluc still has to part with you from time to time - he is a busy man having to juggle winery business, patrol Mondstadt streets as Darknight hero and fight against Fatui and Abyss at the same time. He will entrust you in the hands of Adelinde and a couple of other maids who went through a harsh vetting process, ordering them to keep an eye on your health at all times.

He will be more concerned about your sickness than you are, spending ridiculous amounts of mora on physicians and medicine.

The doctor can diagnose with a simple cold, yet Diluc will ask another for a check up just to be sure - who knows maybe the first one has made a mistake, maybe even the second one also misinterpreted your symptoms. Same goes for the treatments, as he has no faith in them either.

He will fret over you like a worried mother hen, but because of Diluc’s usual awkwardness he will fail at displaying his concern, so you will be stuck with even gloomier Diluc looming over you.

He will spend so much time near you he might catch the illness himself.

Diluc will start thinking about buying a manor more often.

Kaeya:

Kaeya isn’t the best at caretaking.

He won’t even believe you at first, thinking that it may be some kind of ploy to fool him and escape. He would absolutely do that if he was in your situation.

Cavalry captain will give you a knowing look every time you cough, sneeze or complain about soreness and fatigue. Who could’ve known that he would rub off onto you?

He will believe you once you develop more severe symptoms, like fever or unstoppable cough, that leaves you shaking and in tears.

Kaeya will jokingly apologize for his lack of trust, but he will be panicking beneath the mocking smile.

A lot of people have abandoned him in the past, and he will view your ailment as you trying to leave him too by dying.

A rational part of him knows that it’s not true, it’s not your fault that you got sick and death is definitely not a way out for you.

He will also reassess the way he views you - despite being talented at interpersonal communication playing on your heartstring and manipulating you into what he wants Kaeya isn’t the best at understanding himself.

Before he thought little of you - you’re a toy, a scapegoat, a stress relief, nothing that holds any significance and cannot be replaced, yet the prospect of losing you puts the whole situation into new light. In less than a day you are mentally elevated from the mere plaything, to someone important, someone irreplaceable.

He won't change the general way he acts around you though, as he thinks of emotional vulnerability and openness as a major weakness to exploit, still being that teasing and infuriating bastard you came to know him as.

Yet sometimes Kaeya will allow himself small moments - things that usually wouldn’t matter so much - a chaste kiss placed on the top of your head, his hand tracing yours, fingers intertwined together. He will also be a tiny bit more lenient when you misbehave.

Unlike Diluc or Albedo, Kaeya lacks funds or knowledge to treat you right away - he can’t bribe multiple doctors into keeping their mouth shut and his knowledge of biology is surface level at best.

He will still try regardless, giving you the same medicine he buys in the rare times he gets sick.It’s a win or lose situation, as his treatment may both worsen and better your health.

Venti:

Venti is acutely aware of your mortality and fragility, memories of thousands of thousands deaths resurfacing everytime he sees you approaching even the hint of danger.

As a result, he is very protective of you, no matter how carefree and childish he may act, as his teal eyes carefully oversee everything you do.

Nevertheless, the sickness, the ailment - this particular aspect of human vulnerability slips his mind - Barbatos, despite his peaceful demeanor, is someone who lived through a lifetime of turmoil - the overthrow of Decarabian’s despotic rule, earth shattering Archon war, Vennessa’s rebellion against corrupt Lawrences.

He always feared that your life would be ended by the stray arrow or a swift sword, not an illness.

Venti will cure you right away using his powers - with gnosis or not, he is still a mighty deity, even if years of absence left him weakened.

Although you’re perfectly fine and healthy now, the bard will still fret over you, scared of your passing.

Expect to have him hovering and being extra clingy for the next few weeks - archon’s life is long and lonely, full of losses and passing, no wonder that he wants to protect you from the whole world.

[originalwinnercheesecake]

Why I do not think Luz will leave the demon realm. An analysis of the general themes

Amphibia, The Owl Houses... sibling Isekia fantasy cartoon has ended. The show stared Anne Boonchuy who along with 2 of her best friends is transported to another world, where all three girls are separated and they meet humanoid amphibious creatures who take them on adventures. These adventures parallel different lessons learned as you grow up and have the girls taking more critical looks at who they are as people, and whom they are as a group... There is also some stuff about a prophecy, classism, and totalitarian rule. But it is all kinda written in as extra. It’s just there to make a coming of age story more exciting for viewers.

With Amphibia over, the owl house wrapping up, and the two shows having so many similarities and differences I thought it might be a good time to compare and contrast messages between the shows, and talk about predictions for how The Owl House will end. Amphibia was always a coming of age story, with a secondary theme of being about old friendships.The three girls have been “friends since kindergarten” but no longer have all that many common interests, and increasingly separate needs. This kinda makes their friendship seem almost like a habit of their childhood. They all carry around developed copies of this photo of the three of them together, and will talk to it. But despite looking like they are all the same age in it as they are now, the photos are all old, wrinkled, and starting to tear... signifying that the girls are beginning to grow apart and becoming old friends. They make more current friendships with the he inhabitants of Amphibia, and those are their main friendships throughout the show. They grow up more with those inhabitants, help them, and come to really love and care abut them. But it is all done with the knowledge and acceptance that this is temporary. The amphibians belong on Amphibia and the girls belong on earth, and there will come a time when they will have to let each other go. There is of course some debate of “well what if”, “well how about” , “and “just a little longer” but at the end Amphibia pretty much went back to the messages of growing up can be hard but is necessary, and old friends, and fond memories...

Unlike Amphibia I do not think The Owl house is about growing up. Yeah sure Luz and Co mature through out the show, Their magical abilities grow. In 2x04 Luz works with Gwendolyn to heal Eda’s curse through extreme and crazy means. They try flying snakes which Luz later remarks were a bad and unhelpful idea... When in 1x01 Luz is in the principals office for her terrorizing her English Class by throwing live snakes around during a book report, because apparently the main character battles snakes, and  she expects congratulations for thinking it up. King’s wants in life also change. He starts out wanting to be this mighty ruler and powerful monster, then he just wants answers to his past, then he just wants what he has. Ultimetaley though the characters maturing isn’t really what is front and center with the Owl House.

No, one big theme throughout the Owl house seems to be building a supportive community. It is actually really amazing in this show how background characters that do not, or rarely speak, are shown to have interests and recurring friendships. At school Luz hangs out with 2 good friends and her girlfriend. Willow and Gus are on a sports team that Luz and Amity support but do not want to be part of, so Willow and Gus recruit three other witches. Amity is Luz’s overachieving, book loving, sometimes cranky girlfriend. She also has a job she loves, helping out in the library.  Plus a family whom she has a rocky relationship with. Events during the show, helped along but not necessary created because of Luz, show she has begun taking steps to build healthier relationships with them. These are all core parts of Amity’s character. Eda is a middle aged women and the adopted/foster mother of two young children. She also has pushed away many of the people whom she cared about growing up. She opens up more through out the show and eventually makes the decision to reconnect with her family and ex, because she feels she needs more support for herself and her children (whom she makes a priority to still treat like children and not like adults/soldiers.). I think the best example of this is Hunter. He is a kid on the wrong side, in an abusive situation, that he does not fully recognize for the bad it is. In some other media it would be entirely up to Luz as the “protagonist hero” to show him whats wrong and save him from it (something that is to big a job for one young girl) . In The Owl House she plays a part in Hunter leaving. But he also has flapjack, Darius, Raine, and all the kids on the Emerald Entrails.

With so much of a focus on building supportive communities in the boiling, and a complete lack of it that shown in Gravesfeild, not just for Luz but also for Camila and Vee in her true form, I cannot imagine the show ending with the family living in Gravesfeild permanently. Camila and Luz seem to have no other family. There are no pictures of Grandparents, Aunts/Uncles, or Cousins around the house. No mention of any close work friends of Camila’s or neighbors who come over for dinner or occasionally watch Luz during long shifts. The pair are completely on their own, and its hard for them. Also now there is Vee. She loves Camila, Camila is a really good guardian/mom to her, and her and Luz seem to get along pretty well in Yesterday’s Lie. Luz’s has gained around 3 siblings since the beginning of the show and has reacted positively to all of them. While Vee says she is happier in the human realm (mostly because their is no Belos), it's really dangerous for her. She needs a steady stream of fresh magic to maintain a human form, and if she is seen in her Basilisk she gets accused of being an alien and dragged away for tests. There is also the fact that she has to pretend to be Luz. People say when Luz comes back they can just pretend to be twins, but eventually the “where was your twin before?” question will be asked. They cannot get away with “oh she lived with our dad but recently moved in with us" for long because it has to be in Luz’s school and legal file somewhere that her dad died years ago. Because their is no legal record of Vee in the human realm Camila cannot legally adopt her and then enroll her in school under her own identity...

But Camila could probably adopt Vee in the boiling isles and then send her to hexside with Luz. There would be an easier supply of magic for Vee to feed off of. Luz could keep going to school with all her new friends. With a principal and staff who are able to not only manage her, but help her channel her enthusiasm into learning. The Clawthorne’s could stay connected to Luz as her “God family” and would be available to help Camila with her girls when things come up. Camila would probably get along with them too, plus maybe even Mr. Porter or the Parks, (the Blights... she wouldn’t dislike Amity at least). When we first saw Camila in her work uniform we all thought she was a nurse, but the show later clarified that she is actually a vet... Well vet’s work on autonomy different form a humans, and there is a whole magic track in the isles dedicated to the care and keeping of beasts. Camila is clever, Luz has connections to two very powerful beast keepers... it wouldn’t be that hard for Camila to learn and get hired in beast keeping, and given that she is shown to have such a fondness for exotic wild life (she gets emotional over nature documentaries) she would likely enjoy it.

End the show by ridding the isles of Belos and his evil plans, Bring Camila and Vee to live there and have the Noceda’s move permanently. Please.