#then i have my five year custom cover plan lol

[valeffelees]

stares longingly at editions of carry on i'm not allowed to buy rn

[featherfangart]

Hi las!

I thought your vash cosplay was so neat at dokomi last year and I am planning to do one myself this year. I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of wig and where you got yours from (as you are also from europe). I have never used a wig without bangs that I couldn’t just put on as is, let alone styled one. I have no idea what to look out for or where to start and yours looks do nice both in form and color so I figured maybe you had me a tip?

It would just be blonde anyway since I’m doing the post july/jeneora rock under suit because packing myself in tons of leather, belts and eva during peak summer is a great idea greatly appreciate if you have any tips for me and thank you!

Hii!!

I'm SO SORRY It took me literal weeks to reply. I haven't been this busy in-- almost a year. BUT.

Thank you so much! Glad you like my Vash costume. n_n Alright THE WIG ✨

I got my wig from Ardawigs EU branch. I tried them once and their hair is a great quality, very easy and nice to style. Holds the shape like a rock.

They're super pricey, but I usually run on a lot of leftovers from other costumes (fabrics, materials), pants and base boots from thriftstores/vinted, try to save wherever else I can. And I usually only buy wigs once in a blue moon. I got burnt so many times buying cheap ebay wigs which often ended up in a trashbin, bc they were just SO low quality and there was nothing I could do with them.

Unfortunately, Arda EU is closed now and taking a look at their site, they don't plan to reopen any time soon. =/

Which... is very unfortunate, bc adding customs fee on top the wig itself being pricy + shipping + tax and everything. Blergh.

Most of my friends get wigs from Aliexpress now.

In any case - the US shop is here. I think I have Cady in Champagne.

So that is not very helpful...

What I can advise you on

You'll most probably need a FRONT LACE WIG (the type you see in the picture). Considering Vash's hair is styled back and up, you'll need a wig with a nice front, so the ribbon/band isn't showing once the hair/bangs are up. You can either get the hairline done by adding more hair to the front (basically you sew it on, hair by hair, time consuming, but much better looking) or you can cut the line so you like it (I do that). Here's a video on cutting the front lace and wearing the wig. I'm honestly not too satisfied with the front of my wig, but I have a personal problem with never being satisfied with my wigs in general. Ever.

For the SPIKES (and general styling) here's a video I used back when I first started spiking up my wigs (good lord, first Cloud Strife wig was five years ago). It covers literally all the techniques I use for styling. I'm not great at it, but It helped me get by. ❤️

And for the UNDERCUT (if you decided to do it later). Being the lazy ass I am, instead of sewing on half of the black wig like I SHOULD, since I have Trimax version, but... an undercut instead bc... I had a leftover piece of my 1,5 USD fur fabric from when I was making TriStamp wig earlier (see? saving where I can lol) and was like, heck, I can use this. Here's the video I used to figure out what the hell am I supposed to do.

I hope this helps at least a little bit. ❤️ I know my wig looks okay-ish from a distance, it's a gd mess up close. As my cosplayer friends say - you never look at the costumes too close. ❤️

[sockandcrown-art]

Next oc lore drop is on Alex :D

lore below the cut!

So I’ve mentioned it a few times but Alex is one my oldest oc’s and has become on the oc’s I consider a sort of rep for my “brand”. I’ve been drawing her for about five years.

Alex, unlike Chris’ name isn’t short for anything. Her pronouns are She/Her or They/Them, there’s no preference and they’re honestly fine with any pronouns. She is currently in a relationship with Chris, and is planning to propose when they get financially stable.

She is 21 years old, their favorite color is magenta (hence the stripe in their hair) but she’s really into to any purply colors. Unlike Chris, Alex doesn’t experiment much with their hair, it’s been the same for the past several years though they occasionally experiment with letting her hair grow out for awhile before chopping it all off again in the summer. Alex is a lesbian and hadn’t dated anyone prior to Christina, she’s their first relationship.

They have always had this soft clothing aesthetic that consisted of hoodies and sweaters with some sort of jeans (ripped jeans have them in an absolute chokehold lol) and sneakers. Kind of like softboycore, with the vibrant color palette and soft textures. Alex really loves a good read, and turned into a surprisingly fanfic writer to the point they occasionally enter writing contests and have won a few here and there. They once wrote a short story about being a backpack for Chris for her birthday, Chris encouraged them to enter it in a local short story contest and ended up winning a couple hundred that they decided to put towards Chris’ motorcycle fund.

On the topic of money, while Chris works as a bartender, Alex works as a retail worker in a local mall. Among her coworkers and roommates, she’s sort of known as the “little sibling” of the friend group, super sweet and kind, probably to the point that her older coworkers immediately step in when a customer starts getting rude.

The above outfit is meant to be for a nice double date, but it’s generally an elevated version of what Alex looks like on an off day.

I mentioned in Chris’ lore drop that they didn’t have any tattoos butttt guess who does?! Yeah this little ray of sunshine has a few small tattoos sprinkled in generally covered places, mostly botanical in some way. They got a small potted chrysanthemums on their ribcage when her and Chris had been dating for a few years and Alex sort of realized it’s either Chris or nothing but didn’t want to make the brutal mistake of getting a partner’s name on their body in case they did somehow break up. They also have an orchid tattoo on their hip that they got just because orchids are really pretty, it was an icebreaker tattoo.

[lifesucksdiary]

What’s happening lately in my life

Guess what? Calob messaged me on Langmate. He apologized that he ghosted on me. He said the longer he waited, the harder it was for him to message back. And he went on and said it was childish. I said I don't remember haha

After I tried my best to move on from him, sometimes I doubted my own meaning to exist(just for a few minutes), my students were worried about me if I was okay, I even tried reading books or studying real estate law to get my mind off of my own grusome thoughts.

Back when he dissappeared from my life suddenly, I checked his messages every hour every day every week. I blew up his phone lol After I had no response, I realized that I had to block him everywhere, distract myself all kinds of ways possible. And I finally feel checked out from him. I started working at a new job, and it has been five months now. I feel tired but feel great to have my own income that at least support my basic needs. Sometimes not enough but I have side gig to last me until my next paycheck comes in. I can buy myself my own clothes, food, some items I find cute at flea market. I can drive myself around the town whenever I want. I found my new hobby which is writing letters to my friends outside Japan. I watch movies here and there. I refocused to myself and see what make myself happy and well.

Here are two aspects of myself I changed this year.

First thing I had to change was my debt situation.

I had credit card debt of about 1 million yen, my sister paid for my pension which she told me after she paid 200000yen. My brother borrowed me 150000 yen.. I was seriously in helpless situation. My brother took me in at his company to work as a waitress for three months, which helped me pay off to my sister. Now I paid off my one credit card that had 4000USD on it, and I cancelled it. What I am left with is about 2500USD debt on my other credit card which I cancelled as well yesterday.

I am more than grateful for my family who willingly helped me survive. I should have taken cared of myself already to have emergency fund and a job. I still do not have my own place because I still want to live abroad. I do not want any long term housing contract. I feel like a very dumb person but I feel much better than before for having reduced the amount of debt this year.

The second thing I had to change was my relationship with men of my interest.

Long story short, like Calob,and D, I revolved my life around them. I enjoyed so it was not forced at all. But the problem was that I did not have my own foundation because I was always changing my plans to match their time and location. That led me to not being able to progress my career, thus no raise or in depth experience in one industry. Now I put myself first before anybody. Sometimes it is tempting because it looks easier to imagine being a housewife who works part time outside and get to stay indoor with someone you love's money to have your basic needs covered. But in reality, I did not feel the total freedom to spend somoene's money. I always felt like I owed them and I felt useless and small. I felt obligated to do things for them and always my wants and needs last.

Now that I have my own job that lasted for five months, I am already making a progress at the company. I assist my manager's tasks whenever she is not in the office. Management was something I was always interested in, and call center job is what people say I am good at.

I did not know in the past four years after Covid lay off, I was doing something meaningful. But today writing these out made me figured that I did actually made a progress. It was definitely a trial and error but I totally am a better version than before.

My skin is better too! I fixed my acne problem! All over my body. Face, neck back butt, it took me about a year to fix them.

I have experience in online customer support position for total of about a year, on-site tech support for one year, clerical staff for a few months. I hope these experience help me be in a better position in the future.

[tennessoui]

this is probably too many prompts lol but uhhh obikin: #6 meeting at a coffee shop au; #24 literally bumping into each other au; #40 exes meeting again after not speaking for years au (i'm a sucker for breaking up and getting back together again lol); #42 star-crossed lovers au; #48 meeting again at a high school reunion au

hi!! you probably forgot you sent this at all and I wouldn't blame you in the slightest. I'm pretty sure someone else already asked for 24, 40, and 42, so I wrote #6 instead! warnings for this one: bittersweet in that both anakin and obi-wan are sad, also the author is sad, also this takes place in the midwest in america (this is the first fic that is obviously set in america!!! wow!!)

6. Meeting At A Coffee Shop Diner AU (1.9k)

“Have a seat anywhere you want,” the hostess tells Obi-Wan without looking up from her phone.

Obi-Wan blinks and then looks around the deserted seating area. “Thank you, uh.” She’s not wearing a name tag.

“Angel’ll bring you the menu and take care of you, thanks for coming in,” she says, glancing up at him and then away.

Well then. Obi-Wan reminds himself that customer service isn’t everyone’s strong suit, that she might have had a rough day, that he’s here for the quick food on his way through town, that his ego isn’t fragile enough that he needs to be led to a table with a smile.

The restaurant is almost completely deserted. There’s two truckers eating their weight in bacon and eggs at the counter, and a family of four seated around a table, resolutely picking at their food instead of talking to each other. And then there’s Obi-Wan.

He chooses a booth by the window, one that overlooks the absolute nothingness of midwestern American scenery. If he cranes his neck, he can probably see corn.

God, Obi-Wan’s sick of seeing corn, and he’s only been in this part of the country for a few hours. He needs to go right through most of it to get where he’s headed. He’s not sure how he won’t die of boredom.

The thought sends a pang through his chest. It’s too soon to think of death even in an offhand way. He taps his fingers on the cover of his leather journal, before a line of dark brown under one of them catches his eye. He studies his hand critically.

It’s been two days since the funeral. Surely he wouldn’t still have grave dirt under his nails. Surely things like that wash away eventually.

“Hey,” a voice says from in front of him. A man is turned around and kneeling up in the booth in front of Obi-Wan’s, leaning over the garishly red vinyl of the empty seat with a menu clutched in one hand. His hair is short and dark blond, an undercut with a long fringe settling over his forehead. He has a nice sort of smile, one that looks genuine but doesn’t touch his eyes. Obi-Wan notices how long the man’s neck is and how predominant his collarbones appear in the loose white shirt he’s wearing, before he forces himself to focus only on his face. “I’m Angel,” the guy says, passing over the menu. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

Obi-Wan accepts it gingerly. It looks like something that’s perpetually sticky. “Water is fine,” he says politely. “Thank you.”

“Will do,” Angel salutes him and ambles away. Obi-Wan watches him go before shaking his head to rid himself of any sort of thought, and opening the menu.

It’s standard food fare, of course. Breakfast options served all day if anyone were to come in and request them. Lunch and dinner options are also served all day, probably for the same reason: a diner like this can’t afford to turn anyone away, even if they want a hamburger at nine in the morning.

A glass of water clinks down onto the table next to him, making him look up at Angel, who’s looking at him curiously.

“You ready to order?” he asks, even though Obi-Wan is still very much looking at the menu and it’s also only been a few minutes at most since Angel gave it to him in the first place.

“Do you have any suggestions?” Obi-Wan asks politely. “I’ve never been here before. What’s good?”

“The water,” Angel says and then laughs like he’s said something funny. Obi-Wan finds his own mouth curling up at the sound. Sometimes people’s laughter is contagious, like a yawn.

And then Angel says, “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“No,” Obi-Wan admits. “North of Boston.”

Angel whistles, like Obi-Wan has said something impressive. “Boston, huh? What are you doing all the way out here?”

The pit in his stomach intensifies. He does his best not to look at his nails and the grave dirt that might still be under them. “Driving,” he finally says. “And are you...from around here?”

Angel’s eyes grow distant for a second, and when he focuses again on Obi-Wan, they’re cold. “Born and raised,” he tells him flatly. “Never got out.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan doesn’t know what to do with the sort of bitterness in Angel’s tone. It complements his own well enough.

“If you like eggs, I’ll put you in for the house special omelette,” Angel declares suddenly, all business again. “It’s four eggs, tomatoes, peppers, cheese. The usual.”

“What makes it special?” Obi-Wan asks, closing his menu and setting it down on the table in front of him.

“For you?” Angel drawls, “I’ll watch the cook to make sure he doesn’t get any egg shells in it,” and then he winks, holding out his hand.

Naturally, Obi-Wan shakes it. Naturally, Obi-Wan realizes a second after feeling Angel’s warm, calloused rough palm against his own that the man had meant to take the menu from Obi-Wan.

He can’t remember the last time he’s blushed this red, but he is absolutely regretting everything about this road trip. God, he’d pay money just to be able to leave now.

He should get in his car and drive back to Boston. It had been a stupid idea to come out here anyway, a result of stir-craziness and a desire to outrun the death of his father.

And now look what he’s doing. Shaking hands with his handsome waiter, as if he isn’t thirty-nine and perfectly aware of social norms.

Thankfully, miraculously, Angel laughs and this time it sounds real. “It’s okay,” he tells him, reaching out to pick up the menu.

Luckily for everyone involved, Obi-Wan finds it very easy to laugh at himself. “Well. It’s nice to meet you, Angel, I’m Obi-Wan.”

“I’ll go put the order in,” Angel says, “Obi-Wan.”

He’s back within five minutes, sliding into the seat across from Obi-Wan. So much for no eggshells in his omelette, but he can’t bring himself to be disappointed. There’s something magnetically fascinating about Angel. He’d like to know more.

“So you’re driving?” Angel asks, picking up a thread of conversation from several minutes ago. “Where are you going?”

“I was thinking of Alaska,” Obi-Wan says. “I’ve--I’ve always wanted to go.”

“You’re driving from Boston to Alaska?” Angel whistles, raising his eyebrows in shock. “I think the gas money alone would cost me two months of work.”

Obi-Wan shrugs. It’s not like he makes much himself as a teacher in Massachusetts. “My father was a lifelong gambler,” he discloses without really knowing why he’s telling this to a stranger. “He came into a bit of luck near the end. A bit of a fortune as well. And when he...died, I inherited it and his house.”

Angel touches his hand softly. “I’m sorry,” he says. “When did he pass?”

Obi-Wan huffs out what might be a chuckle. “A week ago, actually. It’s summer break in Massachusetts--I’m a teacher--and I suddenly had nothing to stay for, for a bit. It was either leave for Alaska or find some other way to cope.”

He runs a hand--his free hand, the one Angel isn’t touching--over his beard as he gives the man a rueful smile. “Dad always wanted me to see more of the world.”

“My mom was the same way,” Angel leans forward to tell him, as if it’s a secret. Obi-Wan feels like it is a secret, that there’s something delicate and fragile in the air. Something that matches whatever emotion is filling up Angel’s eyes. “Always telling me to leave, go get famous, go get happy, come back and tell her about it.”

“You didn’t?” Obi-Wan asks, his chest tightening at the thought that the man before him could be unhappy.

“I couldn’t,” Angel sneers, looking out the window and propping his chin on his hand. Some things must be too close to the heart to tell someone to their face. “Mom got sick. I wanted to get out, I was so close. Graduated high school, packed my stuff. I was going to go to California. To Los Angeles, really make it big.” He rolls his eyes and scoffs, as if there’s something inherently funny about the dreams he must have cherished for so long.

“Then mom collapsed going down the stairs. Just passed out in the middle of the day. Doctors told us she was sick. Then life became all about treatment plans and monitoring symptoms and getting the money for the medicines and I never left. Got a job here when I was eighteen years old, right before I graduated high school. It’s all I’ve ever known, I guess.”

“And your mother?” Obi-Wan asks, mouth dry and heart all tangled up in itself for this stranger man, for Angel with the hard, sad eyes.

“Died a year and a half ago or so,” Angel says flatly like he’s repeated the words so often in his head that the truth digs no barbs into his flesh. Obi-Wan knows that voice is a lie. How often has he looked in the mirror this past week and told himself, ‘Qui-Gon Jinn is dead’? He can’t imagine a year and a half would make the pain go away.

“I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan says seriously, reaching across the table to touch Angel’s hand this time.

Angel shrugs but doesn’t pull away. “Is what it is, I guess,” he says. “I’ve made my peace with it. And the fact that I’ll never leave this godforsaken town.”

“You could,” Obi-Wan points out hesitantly. “You could leave tomorrow.”

For a second, a wild and previously undiscovered part of Obi-Wan wonders what it would be like, if Angel did leave tomorrow--with him. If they got into the same car and headed to Alaska together and Obi-Wan wasn’t alone at the wheel and Angel wasn’t alone in this town. If Obi-Wan could look over at the man in the passenger seat, asleep against the doorway as they crossed into Canada.

Obi-Wan wonders. Obi-Wan aches.

“I could,” Angel says, laughing once. “I guess I could. I guess I just can’t think of a good enough reason to.”

There’s a call of his name from the kitchen, and Angel stands and stretches, checking the time on his watch. “That’ll be your omelette, sir, which is perfect timing considering I’m off shift as of five minutes ago.”

“Thank you then,” Obi-Wan replies, ignoring the pang in his gut at the knowledge he won’t be able to keep talking to him. “It was nice meeting you, Angel.”

Angel’s face grows dark for a second as his jaw clenches. “That’s not my name,” he finally says, scratching at his neck with one hand. “That’s just what they called me when I started working here. Angel, like Los Angeles. Cause I told everyone for weeks this was a temporary thing, you know? I’d be going to California soon as mom got better. Guess they knew better than I did.”

Obi-Wan has never wanted to kidnap a grown man away from a place more, so he hides his hands under the table instead. “Would you tell me your name then?” he asks, wondering if he’s overstepping but needing to know too much to censor himself.

“It’s Anakin,” his waiter says, sticking his hand out, no menu to grab.

Obi-Wan takes it gently, turns it over, and cradles it between both of his hands. “Then it’s nice to meet you, Anakin.”

Maybe, he thinks as he picks at his omelette and watches Anakin shoulder his way through the front doors of the diner before disappearing down the street, maybe he can stay a day in this nowhere town. Just an extra day.

Yes, he thinks, taking a sip of his water. He’ll try the pancakes next.

[hihigherdi]

The silver lining of an anxiety disorder? Planning for a trip. I don’t just pack one charger or download one movie, I have enough to get through a snowstorm taking down the power grid for a month (it’s snowing there so who knows). I even thought through where I’m going to be Christmas Day with nothing open - what can I bring to cover that? And then there’s the kittens who have enough food and water to last for a couple of weeks, and cameras set up to check on them too. I I’ve cleaned, organized and even set up my coffee maker for when I get back. It’s neurotic and if anyone watched me, they’d likely run, but it’s my way of self care and the only one here is myself. So who cares.

Speaking of the kittens who I worry about so much as Minnie swats and growls at Bud? They are both cuddled up in the drawer of blankets I store under my bed. Why.

I have to get some paperwork done for my moms power of attorney, and the financial planner who helps with all of it is so great in helping me maneuver it all. I decided to go over tomorrow, and I’m dreading it. My sister took my mom to the doctor today and her feet and numb and purple - the doctor said she needs a vascular consult, and she refused it. They both just want to die.

It’s so dark, I need to not let it inside me. Compassion and love does not mean carrying it as though it is my own. That is a secret contract my heart and mind made that I don’t think even they ever wanted for me.

I have a feeling this might be the last time they celebrate Christmas. It makes me so sad. Despite all of their complexity, abuse and rage, I’ll grieve them. I’m thankful for that.

I heard from the Nordstrom store manager today who thanked me for the letter and told me he read it over the microphone this morning to the whole store. I won’t got into what I wrote nor is this about me, but it took me five minutes to write and send and I could almost hear the emotion in his response. Just hearing something kind and positive even when they experience was less than perfect, seemed to have an impact. It did on me as well because who cares, in the end these are all just things.

I want and need to do more and want to encourage maybe all us - only if you have that instinct, it’s not for everybody - to do it too. Write a note to your favorite store, it doesn’t even have to be related to customer service. Let them know how much you appreciate it, it’s huge, and it felt great to do. I’m making that a regular practice in the new year.

I remember waking up in William William’s house (lol) just down the street, watching hummingbirds in the bamboo, so shocked and delighted, I didn’t want to get up. It felt like magic. So now looking out at my bedroom and seeing them feed still makes me so shy inside, like it’s not really happening, like I can’t take it in.

But,

I’ll be able to do that more and more and I nurture myself as much as I nurture others, breaking my contract to hold darkness and despair that is not my own.

[barkkletshunt]

Those Worth Fighting For Part seven

Part one          Part two

Part three        Part four

Part five           Part six

Part Seven (You’re here)       Part eight 

Taglist:

@ladybug-182 @fruit-snacc-ace @miraculous-simmer7 @lavenderjunes 

@use-flamethrower @fan-written @all-mights-asscheeks @birdie-posts

Sorry if the tags aren’t working, I tried and I’m not sure where I went wrong with it? 

If I have time the next part will come out with some art! Don’t expect the art to be any good though lol

“So then, I go to the window and there is Adrien on Kagami’s front lawn with a big sign that says prom on it, and by the way neither of us knew he was going to be in France at all. It was a total surprise. So I’m so shocked my mind completely blanks out and I shout down to him that yes, I’ll go to prom with him. He yells back ‘tall Kagami’ and I turn around and just ‘your boyfriend just asked to go to prom with me.’ Without skipping a beat she leans out of the window and tells him he’s too late, she already asked me.” Marinette laughed, wiping a stray tear from her eye that began to form from how hard she was trying to not burst into a fit of giggles until the story ended. “In the end the three of us went to prom together.”

The four around the table shook their heads. “Mari, dude, if you can’t get through that story without laughing how are you supposed to do your toast?”

“I’ll just practice it a lot until it’s no longer funny to me, simple. I’m not even going to worry about it anymore.” The blue haired girl shrugged. When she was younger she would have worried about that, but she was long since past that. At least, she hoped she was. She had done enough interviews with Alya in her teen years, and then enough speeches as Ladybug to fill her with a confidence she lacked as a teen. She was nervous, but instead of the all consuming nervousness that would make her fumble and trip over her words it was now an excited nervousness. She was excited about it. 

“I think you’ll do fine,” Felix winked at her, his face never changing from the impartial look he had on since he came into the restaurant.

They all had made their way back to the same place after the amok, even if Felix was late once again. The blond had made his excuses of needing to take care of some errands that he had forgotten, but it hadn’t mattered much to any of them. Marinette had saved a seat next to her for him and he was more than happy to take it.

“Why not talk about the moment you realized those two were perfect for each other?” Nathaniel asked, playing with the straw in his drink. “I know you have a million stories about that.”

“Something like Adrien saving Kagami from a bully, or a dance of just the two of them where they lock eyes and suddenly the whole room disappears?” Marc hummed, their author brain going into overdrive at the thought of romance. “Maybe you saw him protect her against an akuma or amok?”

Marinette thought for a moment. What was it that made her realize that they belonged together? After all those years fawning over Adrien, it was Kagami’s love for him that made her step down, but what was the exact moment? 

“It was at Chloe’s fifteenth birthday party.” Marinette started, recalling the time before Hawkmoth had lost and her world began to fall apart and fix itself simultaneously. “Adrien’s dad thought it would be a good idea for Kagami to go with him and keep an eye on his son, and they started the evening miserable because the paparazzi outside the hotel told them that they always looked so perfect that it made sense that they would be perfect together. I only got to spend a few minutes with them before being pulled away by Chloe, but when I went to find them and bring them some hot chocolate they were on the roof ruffling each other's hair and talking about anime, and goofing around like I hadn’t seen either of them do before.” 

“They saw that the other understood their background and chose to help break out of that image with each other and just be kids.” Felix’s words surprised her, but he understood exactly what had happened. 

“They were so embarrassed when they saw me that I challenged them both to hot chocolate drinking contests to ease the awkwardness. They didn’t even realize I didn’t have one for myself before chugging theirs and burning their mouths at the same time.” Her two messy friends meant the world to her, and she knew no one would understand them like they understood each other. Both of them had strict parents that would only let them escape and be kids when they were with the other, and they took those opportunities and made every moment count. They were what each other needed, and then when they got their freedoms they were still the ones they chose. “I think that’s also when they stopped acting perfect in front of me. Adrien really started to bug me to watch anime so he could talk about it with someone other than his girlfriend, and Kagami soon demanded to be my dress up doll because she never got to do that growing up. They became my best friends and honestly, I think I’m better for it too.”

“How romantic.” Marc swooned, leaning against Nathaniel who caught his significant other with a laugh. “Childhood friends, to rivals, to lovers. 50K slowburn.”

“Once there was an akuma trying to hurt Adrien and Kagami picked up the nearest weapon she could find and just went at ‘em and I have never seen Adrien’s face light up like that. The boy just wants to be loved and protected.” Nino joined in. “Alya and I were shocked, we both had our money on Adrien ending up with someone else, but we’re both happy about it. Speaking of which, I gotta update her on what’s going on here. She’ll flip.”

Felix shifted in his seat, catching Marinette’s eye as Nathaniel and Marc continued talking about Kagami and Adrien’s relationship. He wasn’t there for all those moments, he wasn’t a long term friend of everyone so he didn’t know Alya or Chloe and she wouldn’t doubt it if he had felt out of place in the conversation. 

“Pst,” she scooted herself over, getting closer to him and leaning over to whisper at him. “You look nice today.”

Felix blinked in surprise. Within seconds his face was growing warm and he used his hand to cover the lower half of his face as inconspicuously as possible. “Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to say that, Miss. Dupain-Cheng?”

“I’m afraid I beat you to it, Mr. Graham De Vanily.” She whispered back. “But it’s okay, you might get me next time.”

How long had it been since she was able to flirt with someone without losing herself in the what-if’s and teenaged anxiety that had plagued her? How had one battle fighting side by side with Ryuko, Alley Cat, and the others given her so much confidence that she hadn’t had even during the fight itself? Was it that damned cat’s words? He had unknowingly complimented her to her face and she was still beaming with pride over being called brilliant. Being complimented on her looks was nice, but the way he had complimented her on her mind was something else. She supposed that was what did it, after all. Being told that she was great because of who she was and not because of how she looked filled her with a pride she didn’t even want to describe lest it dampened the feeling inside her chest. 

“Well then, until next time, you look wonderful. You’re outfit choice is on point, as always.” His comment hit straight to her heart. There it was again. A comment on something she chose being good. “And although you are trying to start a fire with my face, I am enjoying this time with you away from colour pallets and order forms. I like seeing this other side of you, Marinette.”

“I’d like to say the same thing, but it has come to my attention that you seem to only wear suits, Felix. This is the same side of you I always see.” She couldn’t help her grin. There was a strange formal banter between them that she found exhilarating. In it’s own way it made her feel like part of the aristocratic world that he and Adrian and Kagami belonged to, without having to deal with the fakeness that the latter two often complained about. “Dare I say, I don’t believe you own anything that isn’t a suit.”

“I’d hate to inform you of this, but you’re incorrect on that front.” Felix moved the hand that was covering his face to let himself rest his chin upon it. “I do, and I’d prefer it if you don’t go to the press with this, own a few sets of pajamas.”

“And are they silk and made to look like a suit?” She asked, now leaning against him to softly poke at his arm. “I bet you had them custom made so that you would never appear unprofessional.” 

“Well, well, aren’t you curious to see my pajamas? Shame you won’t get to see them until our fourth date.” Felix leaned his head against hers, and her heart began to race. 

“So, are you two actually a thing?” Nino’s voice broke them out of their moment. Marinette and Felix realized how it must have looked to the others and immediately sat straight in their seats. 

Nathaniel elbowed Nino in the ribs. “Dude!”

“What? I’m just trying to clear things up for my daily Alya report.” Nino tried to defend himself from the onslaught of hands trying to hit him from Marc and Nathaniel. “It gets complicated sometimes and you know my girl won’t let anything rest until she has all the info!”

“If Miss. Dupain-Cheng would like to, as you put it, actually be a thing, then I would be honoured to.” He said it so simply that Marinette wasn’t sure why she had hesitated before. He did like her. 

“Only if you wear your pajamas to our next late night planning session.” Marinette wasn’t willing to let the pajamas slide. “I have to see you out of a suit before we get all lovey dovey. It’s a rule.”

“Did you make that rule just for me?”

“Of course.”

“Well, don’t I feel special.” Felix thought to himself, making a bit of a show of it as he tossed his head side to hide. His braid that previously rested on his shoulder now swinging back and forth behind him, looking like a cat's tail as it got ready to play. “I think I have room to negotiate here, so if I may I am going to put the added condition that you must also wear your pajamas.”

“I don’t think this is supposed to be a business transaction, dude,” Nino tried, but Marinette held her hand up. She could negotiate. 

“I’ll accept those terms on the condition that you buy coffee, and we get to watch a movie together with some popcorn.” Marinette raised her brow, daring Felix to try to get a better deal out of her. 

“If I am purchasing coffee, popcorn, and a movie, then I will push for some baked goods from your parents bakery.” Felix held out his hand. “Well?”

“You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Graham De Vanily, but I accept your terms.” Marinette took his hand and shook it. That was the most fun she had ever had while figuring out plans for a date, and she knew she’d have more fun watching the movie with Felix than she just did. “A movie date in our pajamas with snacks it is.”

“I’ll pick you up friday night at eight?” 

“I can’t wait to see your suit pajamas.”

“I bet you have frills on yours.”

“And you don’t?”

[ohkiyo]

characters: shiratorizawa team, reader, sakusa kiyoomi, and komori motoya. (quick appearance)

warnings: none, just some good ‘ol fluff.

word count: 5.1k

a/n: this is like a peace offering for not posting any content for the last two or three weeks (?), I also did not intend for this to reach over 5k+ words lol, so hopefully you won’t get bored reading this one. I also gave up editing this somewhere in the middle, so yeah that’s that hahaha. XD

anyways have fun and enjoy! :D

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    shiratorizawa navigation || stth navigation

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“We’re going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship, zooming through the sky! Little Einsteins~” both you and Goshiki bounce on your seat at the back of the bus, singing the theme song of the cartoon you two watch for fun a few days ago. “Climb aboard, get ready to explore there’s so much to find little Einsteins~”

“Aren’t they excited?” a fond smile made its way into Semi’s face as he watches the two first years belting their hearts out to a song made for children. Tendou and Yamagata joining the two, causing the overall noise inside the bus to increased in volume. Their English pronunciation was horrible, but it didn’t stop them from sharing their – talent.

Kawanishi, who was two seats away from the four was also humming along, snacking on a chocolate bar, his phone on his hand capturing it all on camera, probably for future blackmail material. While Shirabu who was seated beside him, continues to sleep, unbothered by the ruckus happening inside the bus.

“This is their first time going to Tokyo after all” Reon answered, before he tilted his head to the side when they switch to a different song, this time, it was Tendou’s famous baki baki ni ore. “Since when did Satori taught them that?”

“Probably since the moment they joined”

They were currently on their way to Tokyo for a practice match with another college volleyball team, the colleges that they use to play against in Miyagi were coincidentally busy with academics, something about an upcoming exam that they need to prepare for so they had to cancel.

Fortunately, with Shiratorizawa being a powerhouse school, Coach Saito and Washijou-sensei had connections to institutions outside of Miyagi. So they called up a friend who’s currently handling a college volleyball team and requested for a practice match.

The singing lasted for another thirty minutes before they eventually fell asleep, the bus now quiet. Washijou-sensei who was seated up front, let out a sigh of relief, thankful for the silence, something that Semi and Reon didn’t fail to notice. The two chuckled, as strict as he may be, Washijou-sensei knows when to let his players have their fun, he isn’t exactly a killjoy like some had thought. He’s actually very nice, once you get to know him of course.

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“You’re allowed to go sightseeing but please always bring a buddy with you, to prevent anyone from getting lost” his eyes landed on the older members, silently asking them to keep a close eye on their two first years. “Washijou-sensei and I will be meeting up with Coach Sasaki, so be back before 11”

Everyone nods their heads at his words before the two finally entered the elevator once it reaches your floor. The hotel you were staying at was a bit high class, you don’t know how the club’s fund covered it, but you weren’t complaining.

Each one of you had your own separate room, each guest had three food slips with, one was a free access to an eat-all-you-can food at the dining area’s buffet, while the other two were for a free breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

“So...” Tendou turned around, a grin plastered on his face as he held up the food slip the receptionist gave earlier. “Let’s go fill up our belly and enjoy Tokyo’s nightlife”

With that all nine of you piled into the elevator and press the button for the ground floor, the space a little too tight for your liking. The elevator stops at another floor, two new people entered, resulting in them moving backward to create a space for the newcomers, leaving you to press yourself to the wall.

“Sorry (Y/n)” Ushijima whispered, after accidentally stepping on your foot, he looks over his shoulder as you gave him a thumbs up. Your face now buried on his shirt, his perfume entering your nostrils.

He sure does smell nice, no wonder the girls are after him.

Luckily, for you, your struggle did not last long because finally, the elevator reaches the bottom floor. You swore you almost past out because of how cramp that space was, you feel like you were starting to develop claustrophobia because of it. For a fancy hotel, they sure have very small elevators.

Your group weaves through the other guest inside the hotel, some of them going back to their rooms; some were going the same way as you all were, while the others were going out to enjoy whatever Tokyo has to offer.

“Tokyo hotels are on another level” you whispered, following after them as they went over to where the eating utensils were placed. You carefully scanned the foods displayed, cuisines coming from different countries were all too delicious-looking, you feel like you want to have a plate of each.

“You’re drooling (Y/n)” you heard Shirabu say as he walks past you, the person that was standing behind the counter chuckled as you rub the spit that unknowingly trickled down your chin.

“Sorry”

“It’s fine” she laughs again before she suggested the lamb meat for you to taste. You haven’t tried lamb before so you accepted her offer, watching as she threw in a bunch of slices into the grill. “Well done or medium?”

“Well done please” she started tossing the meat around the steel griddle, the wonderful smell reaching your nose. It smelled so delicious, as the meat slowly turns to that familiar charred look of a well-cooked meat. Once she was done, she places it on your plate as she suggested for you to drizzle it with some of the sauce near the grills.

You moved from one area to another, filling your plate with foods before finally taking a seat on the table they occupied.

“Now we know who are the best people to bring to buffets” Yamagata mused, eyeing yours and Goshiki’s plate filled with different kinds of food, not only that, there were at least one or two more plates on the side also filled with foods.

“They’re big eaters”

Kawanishi took a piece of meat from your plate, exchanging it with a fried dumpling that he accidentally dipped in a spicy sauce. He can handle his spice, however, this particular dip was so spicy his mouth was burning from it.

“Kawanishi-san why…?” you took the glass of cold water Ushijima offered you as you drank it all. It didn’t help though, your mouth was still burning, so Semi fed you a spoonful of chocolate ice cream, the dessert finally easing the flames in your mouth.

“Sorry (Y/n)” Kawanishi bit his lip to stop the smile threatening to come out, secretly sharing a low five with Tendou from under the table. However, that didn’t go unnoticed from Semi’s watchful eyes, stepping on the red head’s foot, Semi shoots him a pointed look as Tendou tries to remove his leg.

“Ow, ow, Semi-Semi that hurts”

The setter didn’t listen to him and continued eating his meal, they all ate in silence after that. Too hungry to strike a conversation with each other, their attention focus on the food in front of them.

Dinner went by fast, once they had finished their food they went out of the hotel and walk through Tokyo. The streets are a little too crowded than the ones they’re used to in Sendai, passing by different kinds of coffee shops, restaurants, inns, and hotels. The choices were endless, it all depends on where you all plan to go.

“Let’s go there first, I want to buy some manga” Tendou pointed at a rather large book shop just across the street, customers walking in and out of the store, wrapped packages in hand.

The inside was filled with rows and rows of shelves full of books, such as novels, textbooks, and of course, manga, on the sides were a section for school supplies and other similar materials. Tendou looks like he’s in heaven because the store offers manga that wasn’t available in Sendai. The moment his foot steps inside the store, he immediately disappeared behind the shelves where the manga was displayed.

“Wasn’t this the book Yato-sensei told us to buy?” Shirabu opened the textbook, skimming through its contents.

“Its ¥2,000” Kawanishi taps the price tag of the same book he’s holding. Shirabu pinches his lips together, closing the book and putting it back to where it belonged.

“Nope, I’ll just borrow from the library”

They move to the end of the aisle to see you holding a basket filled with different kinds of stationeries, Reon and Ushijima also going through the pens and notebooks they had on display before dropping it inside the basket you were holding.

“That’s a lot of pens (Y/n)” Goshiki drops a couple packs of sticky notes in your basket before grabbing a pen and examining it. The little penguin at the top sparking his curiosity as he clicks it, the ball-point emerging from the bottom part of the object.

“My pen’s keeps on disappearing, along with my highlighters and I don’t know who’s taking them” Goshiki stayed quiet at your reply, blinking at you, once, then twice before he slowly returned it in the basket. Reon let out a quiet laugh, fully aware that it was Goshiki who keeps taking your school supplies and not returning them.

Goshiki grabs three more pens and two more highlighters, the exact number of stationeries he took then dropping it in the basket. “I’ll buy these for you (Y/n)-chan”

You smiled at him in gratitude, standing in line at the cashier. “Thank you ‘Tomu-kun”

After paying for the items, you were once again back to the cold street. Aimlessly walking towards your next destination.

“Let’s go to a karaoke bar” Yamagata suggested, zipping up his jacket as the cold had become a little too much for him. Letting out a shiver from the cold air.

“Sure” they located the nearest karaoke bar, entering the establishment. They paid for the amount required for a one-hour session, before entering an empty room. Semi, Tendou, and Yamagata going for the songbook and choosing what song they’re going to sing, while you, Goshiki, and Ushijima went through the menu instead.

“So who’s first?” Tendou’s hand shot up as Yamagata gave him the mic, pressing his song’s code as the title flash on the screen.

“You’re singing Lion King?” Semi laughs watching as Tendou dance around to the song’s opening beat.

“The song has been stuck in my head for a long time now” the redhead cleared his throat before he started singing the first verse.

“There’s a Japanese version of that song?” Kawanishi whispered in surprise, Tendou’s jolly voice and merry demeanor fitting so well with I Just Can’t Wait To Be King’s upbeat tune. It was as if the song was made for him.

10:15pm.

There were only 15 minutes left before the one hour expires, Shirabu was singing some sort of heartbreak song, while sitting on top of Kawanishi who was laying sideways munching on some chips. Totally unbothered by the weight on top of him.

The setter ends his song, a cue for everyone to start packing their stuff and go back to the hotel before Coach Saito and Washijou-sensei catches them still walking around after curfew.

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It’s been three hours since you went to bed and unfortunately not once were you able to get a wink of sleep, nightmares were plaguing your mind. Two people, you’ve never met before constantly visits you in your dreams. It was a man and a woman, you couldn’t see their face but their voices you could hear.

They sometimes try to talk to you, asking how you were doing, if you were alright, or simply saying words of encouragement whenever you were feeling down. Sometimes they were accompanied by another girl, a teenager, who looks like the 15-year-old version of your aunt.

Once again, you turned on your side, pulling your blanket a little closer, screwing your eyes shut. However, it wouldn’t work, so you sat up, and check your phone.

1:30 am.

You chewed on your bottom lip, contemplating whether or not you should bother one of your teammates. They had a game tomorrow and you don’t want to disturb their sleep, but you were getting restless, and you’re afraid that you might not be able to fall asleep at all.

Finally making up your mind, you got up from your bed, grabbing your phone, key card, before exiting your room. Walking down the hallway towards Goshiki’s room, you have a feeling he’s still awake since he likes to play games until the wee hours of the night.

Standing on his door, you knock twice, pulling at the bottom of your shirt as you look left and right. The empty hallway looking a little too creepy for your liking, you knock again and this time it finally opened, a half-asleep Goshiki greeting you.

“(Y/n)?” he rub his eyes as he opened the door wider, letting you inside. “Did you have nightmares again?”

You nodded your head. “Can I sleep with you?”

“Sure” you followed him to his bed as he took the other side and you on the other. Both of you laying under the covers facing each other. “Better now?”

“Yes, thank you” he gave you one last sleepy smile before closing his eyes. So far, Goshiki was the only one who knows of your nightmares, after he discovered you one time during your first training camp crying under a table.

He was the one who comforted you and offered to let you sleep with him, it somehow became a routine and whenever you would knock on his door, he immediately knows what’s wrong.

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The door to Goshiki’s room burst open as a group of panicked Shiratorizawa upperclassmen barge into the room. Goshiki having heard of his door nearly tearing off its hinges, sat upon his bed. “Senpai?”

Semi marches over to him, grabbing his shoulders and basically shaking him awake. “(Y/n)’s gone, she’s not in her room. We can’t find her anywhere”

“What?”

“Oh man, oh man. If the coach finds out we’re screwed” Yamagata and Tendou grips their hair in frustration, as Reon and Ushijima discuss the possibilities of your disappearance. Kawanishi and Shirabu though were the only ones calm in this situation. 

“Huh?” Goshiki’s brain still wasn’t working though as he still sat there in a daze, unaware of the growing problem his upperclassmen were having.

Kawanishi ruffles his hair as he looks around the room, shifting from one foot to another, before his eyes landed on a lump he failed to notice before that was beside the first year. He taps Shirabu on the shoulder then pointing at the said lump, who was starting to move, leaning dangerously close to the edge of the bed before falling off and landing on the floor with a thud. Bringing the blanket along with them.

“What?” they watch as you continued to snore away on the floor, the fall clearly didn’t affect you in the slightest.

Shirabu shots Goshiki a look of suspicion as the rest shakes you awake. “Why is (Y/n) sleeping with you?”

He didn’t really get any answer because Goshiki just looks at him, still half-asleep.

A scandalized gasp left Tendou’s lips as he points a shaky finger towards the spiker. “Did you and (Y/n) do something? You’re only first years, wait until you’re in college!”

“Satori, what are you talking about?”

“Tendou, I think you took this the wrong way” Ushijima’s hand landed on Tendou’s shoulder, as the redhead whips his head to the captain.

“But Wakatoshi-kun you can’t be too sure!”

“(Y/n) probably got scared and went to Tsutomu for help” Reon started pushing them all out of the room. Semi carrying you, still wrap in Goshiki’s blanket, leaving the first year still sitting on his bed. Once his door clicks shut, he fell back on his bed and went back to sleep.

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“Let’s have a good game!”

You carefully arrange the water bottles and towels on the bench as your team and the college team had their match. Diligently doing your duties as a manager.

“Hello” you look up to see your opponents’ manager standing there, giving you an easy smile, stretching out her hand for you to take. “My name is Mikana Ritsu, nice you meet you”

“(L/n) (Y/n), nice to meet you too Mikana-san” you answered, grasping her hand and giving it a firm shake.

She took a seat on the spare bench, with you taking the place beside her. “I didn’t know they had a manager, are you new?”

“Yes, I’m a first year. I started just a few months ago”

She let out a hum in response as the both of you observe the game in silence, leaving your spot once in a while to assist your respective players before sitting back down again and watching the game. From beside you, Mikana lets out a long yawn as she covers her mouth with the clipboard she’s holding.

“Are you tired Mikana-san?”

She nodded, another yawn leaving her lips. “I had to stay up very late last night for my research paper” she chuckled. “Sleep is very hard to come by when you’re in college”

You turn to look at the older girl, a question forming in your mind due to your curious nature. “Mikana-san, how is college like?”

She taps her chin for a moment, looking up at the ceiling to figure out the best answer for your question. “It’s an emotional roller coaster you know? One moment you’re smiling, then the next you’re crying your eyes out”

She turns her body to look at you. “I remember during my first year that my history teacher vowed to fail all of us because the school has enough students already”

You look at her incredulously, surprised at what she said.

“She made her exams and quizzes very difficult, and her projects were also very ridiculous” she huffs in annoyance, bad memories resurfacing. “We didn’t understand at first why she was doing it, but eventually we found out that she was having problems with her dissertation and she’s taking out all her frustrations on us”

You stared at her wide-eyed, your mouth open agape. The fuck? “We all passed though, so suck for her”

“That was just mean”

“I know right?” she lets out a sigh, before standing up from her seat and re-wrapping their setter’s fingers with tape. Tying it to his preferred tightness before she went back to her spot and him going back into court. “Then we have our thesis”

“Oh yeah, I sometimes see students having breakdowns because of it. Is it really that bad?”

“The process of doing it is very hard, because not only do you have to choose your own topic, you have to choose a very specific one and one that has a lot of references available” you nodded your head, listening to her every word. “Getting rejected is fairly common, so you have to go through the process again and then present it to your panelist”

“When you do your defense, is it scary?”

She laugh at your choices of words, but she can’t really deny it though, because she did felt scared whenever they had a defense. “It’s nerve-wracking honestly, you have to prepare an answer for every possible question or else they’ll reject your paper”

“And you have to repeat all over again” she nods. “That’s so tiring”

“It is, but we have to comply or else we’ll never graduate”

“True”

You both talk throughout the game, until the final whistle was blown and the match finally ended, your team winning the match.

“Shiratorizawa High is still as strong as ever I see” she mused, watching as both teams gave each other a bow. “Congratulations (L/n)-chan”

“Thank you Mikana-san”

You both went on your separate ways, tending to your own players. Giving them their towels, and water bottles along with their snacks. After your final goodbye, you all entered the bus, driving back towards your hotel. It was still early, 3:00 pm in Tokyo is still very lively compared to in Sendai. Most people prefer to stay indoors due to the intense heat, however, a bustling city will always be busy no matter what time of the day.

“We’ll be leaving early tomorrow, so if any of you have anything buy. Souvenirs and other things, you can do so right now. But as always, bring a buddy with you and be back by 11” Coach Saito reminded one last time, before he and Washijou-sensei went inside the hotel, probably to rest and get some sleep before they go out again.

“I actually have some things to buy at the mall” Semi started adjusting his bag on his shoulder.

“Me too” Yamagata said, rummaging through his bag to find his phone, he almost started panicking when he didn’t saw it, but immediately let out a relieved sigh when he saw the device hiding under his sweaty shirt.

“We saw some souvenir shops a few blocks away from here, we’ll be over there”

Once everything was settled and everyone had decided where they want to go. You all separated, Semi, Reon, Ushijima, Yamagata, and Shirabu going to the mall to buy the things they needed while you, Tendou, Kawanishi, and Goshiki decided to walk around instead.

Going through the various shops that were selling different types of souvenirs from shirts to mugs, to keychains and other kinds of stuff.

“(Y/n)-chan, do you have my phone with you?” Goshiki patted his pockets as he looks for the said device.

“It’s in my bag” to patted the backpack you were carrying, adjusting it on your shoulder before letting out a groan at how heavy it is. “Kawanishi-san can we exchange bags? This one’s very heavy”

He nodded his head, pulling the strap over his head as you exchange bags, you let out a sigh of relief, thankful that the strain on your shoulders are now gone. The smell of freshly cook taiyakis catching your attention as the four of you speedwalk towards the stall making it, the food still hot and fresh.

“Ah, hot, hot, hot” Tendou rapidly let out a breath of air to cool down the burning of his tongue and the roof of his mouth. Not expecting for it to be too hot.

You gently blew on your taiyaki, waiting for it to cool down, before you started taking small bites. As your group resume walking along the streets, you spotted a shop filled with trinkets, calling for their attention you all entered the store.

They had a wide range of displays, and although some were a bit expensive, it wasn’t stopping you from buying what you want. The allowance your Aunt gives you every week could literally last you a month, and so any extra money you had, you deposit it in your bank account and wait for the time when you have to use it.

Walking over to Kawanishi, you took your wallet from your bag before you walk off to where they had plushies on display, that dolphin plushy the only thing on your mind right now. Taking the dolphin from its spot on the shelf, you examined it, before looking at a similar one but this time it was a bit bigger. Not too much, so you were contemplating which one to buy.

“The big one looks very comfy though” Goshiki appears beside you, holding a scarf, a cap, and a sweater. “You can snuggle it to sleep”

“Yeah, but don’t you think it’s a little too big?”

He observes the two carefully taking in their size, but still, he preferred the bigger one, so you followed his suggestion.

“Oh! Why not take this one too?” he grabs a tomato plushie of the same size. “Tomato-chan~”

You flick him on the forehead. “I can’t believe you’re sticking with that nickname”

“It’s funny though” he grinned at you.

“Tsutomu, (Y/n) let’s go” the both of you didn’t hear Tendou called you out, as the two of you stayed there. Goshiki insisting that he buys the tomato plushie for you, while you immediately denying his offer because it was already too much. It cost about a thousand yen, and he still has the items he’s holding. Not only that, you still remembered how he bought you those pens and highlighters last night.

The bell hanging at the top of the door rang as the two middle blockers left the shop, unknowingly leaving the two of you behind.

They cross the street, turning a few more corners. Before they were back to the same book store everyone went to last night. Tendou wanting to buy a few more mangas, then Kawanishi forgot he needs to buy a new calculator because he broke his old one. He could just buy one in Sendai, but why wait when he could just do it now?

“(Y/n) can you get my wallet? It’s in the-“ Kawanishi turns around, but no signs of the two first years. He looks from left to right, thinking that maybe they’re just around the corner, but alas, there were no Goshiki, and (Y/n).

“Uh… Tendou-san” Kawanishi tugs on the red head’s jacket as Tendou turns around.

“Hmm, what is it Taichi?”

“(Y/n) and Tsutomu are gone”

Tendou’s eyebrows furrowed as he looks behind the second year, thinking that maybe he was just pulling a prank on him, but still, like before, no first years in sight.

“Oh dear”

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“I can’t believe you actually bought the tomato plushie” you stared at the red-colored plush inside the bag you were holding. Both of you exiting the shop.

“Told you I’d buy it” he looks proud though, you don’t know why, but you’re very grateful for the gift. You note to yourself to get him something in return in the future. “Are Tendou-san and Kawanishi-san still inside?”

“Maybe” he went back inside the shop, as you waited outside the door. When he went back out, he looks worried, which also made you worried.

“Something wrong?”

“They’re not inside”

Your eyes widened. “What?”

He rub his arms, as he went back inside again to check. But still, they weren’t there anymore, walking back out, he shook his head.

“Did they just left us?”

“Probably”

“Should we go find them?” you started fidgeting on your spot, before you remembered, you had Kawanishi’s bag with you. Opening his bag you located his phone only to be left disappointed when you find out it’s dead. “Great, now we can’t contact them”

“Should we go back to the hotel instead?”

“I don’t even know which way our hotel is”

Both of you shared a heavy exhale, retracing your steps to where you both felt your hotel was located. However, you both accidentally took a wrong turn and were now in a different part of the city.

“I knew leaving that place was a bad idea”

“Oh. Aren’t you two from Shiratorizawa?” you saw two persons walking over your direction, wearing a light green and yellow track jacket and track pants.

“Yes” you answered, the one who was currently talking looks nice, you don’t know about his companion though. Even with half of his face covered with a mask, you could still feel the intensity of his stare.

“Ah. I’m Komori Motoya, and this is Sakusa Kiyoomi” he pointed to his friend. “We’re from Itachiyama, we went against your school before”

Itachiyama, the school is familiar, but these two? Not very much. However, they seem nice.

“Are the others with you?” Komori looks around the vicinity. “I don’t see them”

“Uh…”

“You got lost didn’t you?” it was Sakusa who asks this time and Komori let out a laugh.

“We can’t contact them because this phone is dead-” you showed them Kawanishi’s phone. “-and it’s also the only one we have right now”

Komori turns to look at Sakusa. “You have Ushijima’s number right? Why don’t you give him a call, they might be worried right now”

Wordlessly, Sakusa fished his phone from his pocket and dialed your captain’s number, pressing the loudspeaker button. It rang a few times before Ushijima finally picks up.

“Hello?”

“We found your stray” Sakusa answered before putting the phone in front.

“Ushijima-san!”

”(Y/n)? Goshiki? Where are you two?”

You both look at the two, but Komori answered for you. “We’re in front of the Kamakura coffee shop, where are you?”

“In front of the Marimo bookstore [1]”

“Alright stay there, we’ll be there in ten minutes”

“Alright”

The call ended and the four of you made your way towards the bookstore, Komori was the only talkative one between the two, instantly befriending the both of you. Although Sakusa would sometimes participate in the conversation, majority of it, he prefers to listen.

“So, what are you doing here in Tokyo?” Komori questioned.

“We had a practice match with a college team today” Goshiki answered, holding your hand to avoid getting separated from the group, his initial fear from when he discovered you two got left behind still present.

“Are teams in Miyagi too weak to handle Shiratorizawa?” Sakusa’s eyes momentarily shift in your direction before focusing forward.

“I guess so” you shrug your shoulders, you were told no high schools in Miyagi wants to have a joint practice with your school anymore, and you don’t really know the reason behind it. So you can’t really say they’re all weak.

Thankfully ten minutes later, you arrive at Marimo Bookstore to see your seniors waiting in front of the building in worry.

“(Y/n), Tsutomu. There you are!” Tendou was about to give you two a big hug, but Semi beat him to it by bonking the two of you on the head.

“You idiots! What did I say about wandering around?!”

“We weren’t wandering around! We were just inside the shop when Tendou-san and Kawanishi-san left us!” you replied with a pout, rubbing your head as Semi shot the two a glare as they both look away. Kawanishi casually whistling a tune whilst Tendou rocks himself back and forth on the soles of his feet.

“Well, we’ve delivered the package. We have to go now, see you guys next time” Komori wave your group goodbye as Reon and Semi said their thanks.

Sakusa gave Ushijima a nod before turning around. “See you at nationals Wakatoshi”

“Of course”

They both left, their tall figures disappearing into the crowd, as your group went back to your hotel. Upon arriving at your lodging, you stumbled along with Coach Saito and Washijou-sensei near the entrance, the two older men inquiring of your shopping spree. Everyone answered the question as honestly as they could, leaving out the details of yours and Goshiki’s little accident.

Satisfied, they both left while your group went back to your own room to enjoy the rest of your stay, and to avoid any more mishaps.

«──────────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ────────────»

[1] anyone here who also watches sekai-ichi hatsukoi?

a/n: the idea from the college convo between Mikana and reader was inspired from a conversation I had with a mutual hehehe, though not word per word but just the overall gist of it. Dear, if you’re reading this you know who you are. ;)

also, my team stories aren’t suppose to contain any romance, yet here I am lowkey shipping Goshiki and reader.

[capricores]

astrology & tarot readings 💥

i’m super excited to announce i am finally going to be offering astrological readings again! i’m also going to be offering a few different tarot readings & mixed astro-tarot readings as well! below the cut is full information on readings offered, prices (all in $CAD), important notes, and so forth. thank you so much for your continued support on my blog and content, and i appreciate so much anyone who may consider and order a reading from me! i can’t wait to provide you guys with more insight to your astrological makeup, and hopefully give you a better overall understanding of how astrological placements function in general. i also hope to give you great insight via tarot and oracle as well.

NOTE: readings will close once i fill up a certain amount of slots (undecided rn, but likely stopping around fifteen-twenty), please check my bio or status in this post (see directly below) on whether or not readings are currently open before requesting! i will make sure to frequently update the status of readings, and will try to re-open them soon after they close. it is likely that when i start my new FT job in november that i may have to close readings for a bit or accept less reading slots :)

CURRENT STATUS: open for all readings

💥 RULES AND IMPORTANT NOTES TO READ FIRST:

must be 18 or over to receive a reading (apologies but i do not feel comfortable reading for minors/receiving their birth information)

i default my readings in the PLACIDUS or equal house system (i do this dependent on your place of birth; for more info feel free to DM). if you prefer/relate more to another system, let me know! i am happy to read your chart in another house system (if you’re new to astrology, i recommend looking at the different planetary house placements in your chart in whole sign system, placidus system and equal house system - see which you relate to most - the easiest to tell by is usually the venus & moon house placement, just search up some basic descriptions of the varying placement of moon/venus. i prefer equal and placidus; lately i lean more towards equal)

i use tropical/western astrology, with both modern and traditional rulers

my readings come in either written or audio format, it’s entirely up to you. both audio and written readings contain the same depth and amount of information. audio readings are supplemented by summarized/bullet points of topics covered but note they do not have written in-depth interpretations like the written natal chart reading would (but i do break down my audio readings with time stamps for easy navigation)

tarot readings and mixed tarot/astro readings can also be done via video if you’d like to see the cards as they come out/etc; please note tarot-only readings are not supplemented with writing/notes if you order them audio or video style

full natal chart + personal planet + progressions readings can be customized to an extent: for example, if you’re not interested in romance, let me know before i do your reading! i’ll focus more on friendships and business when touching on connections/partnerships/venus/etc. or, if for example, you’re more interested in romance, i can highlight those things when interpreting your planets and aspects! this goes for any topics/themes: career, finance, love, friendship, etc. just let me know your specific interests, or things you don’t like talking about (ie: you have zero interest in romance), so i can make your reading more tailored to your preferences. if you have any triggers (ie: do not want family talked about, do not want s*xual topics [sorry i have to add the * or i’ll get shadowbanned again lol😭] talked about, etcetc please let me know! it is never any problem to accommodate this)

obviously, no returns/refunds as this is not a physical item and it takes hours, sometimes days, for most readings to be completed! by ordering from me you are agreeing to this no refund or return policy.

💥 READING TYPES

✨ ASTROLOGY-ONLY READINGS

1. full natal chart reading (must have birth time) $50-70

tier one, $50:

interpretations of all planets (sign + house)

interpretations of ascendant, midheaven, descendant, ic (fourth house)

interpretations of any stelliums, “high energy” houses (maybe not a stellium- but a house with multiple planets/asteroids in it) and lack of an element/modality (or abundance/excess of)

tier two, $70, includes everything in tier 1, plus:

interpretations of every house, even if the house is empty

interpretations of strong / major aspects (main focus on squares & quincunx for lessons, blockages, secret strengths / areas of growth, etc - but any other strong/prevalent aspects will be covered)

interpretations of the following asteroids (sign/house/aspects): north/south nodes, chiron & juno

interpretations of interceptions and duplications if applicable

interpretation of yods and t-squares if applicable 

2. full natal chart reading (no birth time) $35

interpretation of all planets (sign)

interpretation of all major aspects (minus moon aspects)

information on any stelliums, lack of an element/modality (or abundance/excess of)

3. personal planets reading (birth time: $30, no birth time $20)

interpretations of sun through mars in the signs (and in the houses if you have birth time)

any standout aspects to the personals are interpreted (moon aspects not available if you don’t have birth time)

4. current astrological progress, focus, etc (”consultation”) $60

this reading is the one i’m most excited for! 🤍 this reading looks at your current transits as well as your progressed chart and solar return chart to determine where you currently are in your stage of astrological development and focus. we will discuss your progressed placements, kind of like a natal reading, and explain how they may be guiding, impacting and influencing you. we will also go over your current transits, their potential lessons, predictions based on your progressions & transits (long-term), and kind of get a full guide on what to expect, what to focus on, blockages, etc. 

this consultation is interactive! so i welcome you to ask any questions before or after the reading that you’re curious on (i ask for a maximum of five or so *intense* questions though - clarification questions and small questions are totally fine more frequently). you can ask things like “what will happen over the next year in my love life” or “what are the biggest lessons for me this year”, etc. this reading is meant specifically for gaining insight into upcoming events and themes in your life. i use your natal chart, transit chart, solar return & progressed chart. you NEED accurate birth time for this reading. you also need to be comfortable giving me both your birth place and where you will be (city-wise) on your next birthday (or last birthday, depending on which was closer; for the solar return chart).

please note however, this does not include any in-depth interpretation of your natal chart, if you’re interested in that you are going to want the first reading! it is also consultation style; i of course will interpret placements but it is more a “what to expect & focus on” type of reading, than a “this means (x)” type of reading. if you have more information of questions about this or any other reading, shoot me a DM anytime!

5. love reading $15

focuses on self-love, friendship & romantic love. this reading focuses on the planets, aspects, asteroids, houses that center around themes of love and connection in all forms (namely juno, venus, moon, 5th/7th/8th houses, etc). it will go over your wants in love versus needs, blockages in love and things to look out for, weaknesses versus strengths, the type of person that would likely best suit you as a friend or partner, etc. please note it’s recommended that you have your birth time for this reading, since it relies on house placements (however i am able to provide this reading w/o birth time).

i plan for this reading to likely be around three or so pages but knowing my rambling it may be longer lol.

6. blockages, development and growth reading $15

this astrological reading focuses heavily on the learning points and blockages present within your natal chart. specifically, this will have heavy focus on squares, oppositions, quincunxes, yods, interceptions, saturn placement, jupiter placement, sun placement 12th house + draconic chart. i will go over areas of struggle, blocks, and areas that likely need development and heavy focus based on your natal chart. i recommend the above progressed reading if you want a more extensive view on this with consideration to current transits and progressions. please note it’s recommended that you have your birth time for this reading, since it relies on house placements (however i am able to provide this reading w/o birth time).

i plan for this reading to likely be around three or so pages but knowing my rambling it may be longer lol.

7. work, education, career & purpose reading $15

this astrological reading focuses on your “purpose”. mainly highlighting placements like the north/south node, 3rd/9th houses, ascendant-midheaven, and sun/mars/mercury/uranus, we cover ideal careers, paths, and purposes for you. this will cover potential issues and blockages when it comes to work, career and study; as well as when achieving your purpose. it also points towards specific fields, industries, areas of study, etc that you are best suited for and guided towards astrologically. please note it’s recommended that you have your birth time for this reading, since it relies on house placements (however i am able to provide this reading w/o birth time).

i plan for this reading to likely be around three or so pages but knowing my rambling it may be longer lol.

✨ MIXED READINGS (astrology & tarot combined):

1. love life + your person/soulmate reading $25 w/ transits $20 w/o

tarot pulls to reveals the traits, potential signs, energy, etc of your person. using the natal chart (fifth house, seventh house, juno, venus/moon/jupiter, saturn aspects, and more) to determine the traits, likely signs/placements of your “soulmate” or ideal person.

tarot pulls surrounding current themes/blockages/etc in your love life, what you may need to hear, what your person may be going through, their feelings, etc. i also look to your astrological transits to see potential blockages or blessings in your love life right now.

2. monthly predictions / reading $15

using a mix of tarot & oracle pulls along with your current astrological transits, i’ll highlight the focuses, blockages, blessing, themes and similar for the next  month for you. things to look out for, look forward to, to specifically work on, etc. if you have a specific theme of more interest (ie: work life or love life), let me know and i can accommodate my reading to focus more on those than other things (just note i may end up pulling cards not related to said thing, because the universe has a stronger message for you).

✨ TAROT-ONLY READINGS (all pay by tip unless specified, but i do ask a min of a $2 tip!) - payment done via ko-fi or paypal. here are some reading examples (everything is customizable, these are just reading suggestions and possible questions, we can discuss further in DMs)

new moon, full moon, weekly or monthly readings: what you need to release, blockages this moon cycle/week/month, blessings this moon cycle/week/month, what to focus on this moon cycle/week/month

self-love & healing readings: what makes you wonderful / what should you be proud of you / what do you bring to others / where are you too hard on yourself / how can you show yourself love / areas of growth

general love reading: you / lover / dynamic, their wants / your differences / similarities / compatibility, your role in rs / their role / past of rs / current state of rs / future, etc.

general career and finance reading: where does your passion lie / what are you good at / how can you combine these / advice, current financial state / where to avoid spending and save / where to let money flow / advice, what are you doing wrong (career/finance) / what are you doing write / what should you do next / advice, etc.

friendship reading: you can actually use the love reading spreads/questions for friendships as well! some other examples; what you think you get from friendship / what you actually get / what the other person feels you bring / is this person a good friend, current state of the friendship / blockages in the friendship / blessings of this friendship / advice or oracle, etc.

stay or go reading (insp): current state of the connection or situation / why you should stay / why you should go / general advice [please note as with any other reading; you must make your own decisions; please do not ask me about toxic/abusive relationships; the answer is always to get help & leave if you can and are safe! this reading can be used for jobs, education, connections]

general three card pull style readings: you / the other person / the relationship, what you want / what they want / potential outcome, strength / weakness / advice, past / present / future, emotional compatibility / spiritual compatibility / physical compatibility, etc! but you’re welcome to google “three card tarot readings” and request a specific one

yes / no + reasoning readings: straightforward, ask a yes or no question and i’ll pull a tarot card + angel oracle card for the question + ask for clarification on the yes or no (please note “maybe” “not now” etc answers are possible, the cards won’t always give a solid clear yes or no)

extensive tarot love reading, singles $10: traits & signs/energy of your next person, how/when you’ll meet [or if you already have], future relationship strengths/weaknesses, romance + angel + moonology oracle messages, blockages for the relationship, advice, etc + one question answered of your choice

extensive tarot love reading, taken/talking stage/etc $10: your person’s current state, their current feelings, if they’re ready for a relationship (+ why/why not), if you’re ready for a relationship (+ why/why not), blockages holding the relationship back/that may arise, romance + angel + moonology oracle messages, strengths and weaknesses of the relationship, advice + one question answered of your choice

romance & angel oracle pulls for love: very straightforward oracle cards to give messages about your love life, partner, current situation, etc in lieu of using traditional tarot-only reading methods

please note i will not answer any medical, legal, or similar questions/advice. all decisions you make after any reading are always your own. astrology & tarot are meant to be for entertainment purposes solely. i am not held accountable for decisions you make after viewing your reading(s). please note i am not a replacement for therapy, counselling, financial advices, career counsellors, life coaches, or other professionals.

HOW TO RECEIVE A READING - for astrology, astrology-tarot mixed readings, and extensive tarot love readings)

please check bio/this post to see if readings are still open

fill out THIS form

i will then DM you once i receive the request to let you know if i am able to accept the reading or not (aka if slots haven’t filled up yet! i’ll try to give an estimated time frame of completion as well or at least let you know how many readings are before yours) - as of november, i will dm you only once i start your reading! but feel free to DM me first for confirmation

once i’m ready to start your reading, i’ll ask for your birth information and get things going

payment is done via paypal and again i use canadian dollars! once i confirm your reading, i take the payment AFTER i’ve already started the reading. i will send you an invoice via paypal, so all i require is your email. once completed, you’ll receive a google doc link to your full completed reading. i also attach a google form for review, feedback, etc. if you’re comfortable with me publicly posting your feedback onto my reviews page, you’ll be able to specify that in said form! the feedback is anonymous with the option to not be anonymous, entirely up to you.

HOW TO RECEIVE A READING - for tarot-only tip based readings

please check bio/this post to see if readings are still open

send me a DM mentioning you want to do a tip-based tarot reading

after that, i’ll ask you to let me know the theme, spread, topic, question, etc

i’ll pull your cards and do your reading, and then you can send the tip via ko-fi or paypal afterwards :)

[jalebi-weds-bluetooth]

Ishqbaaz Liveblog, E8: Devi Maiyya Works Solo for Anika

Previously: E7 “Awesome Tia, Terrible Shivaay”

Well, this episode and the one before this made me extremely happy because the show treats Anika independently. Her tears, her life, her struggles - just her. And that is so important. Also, can I say I LOVE Saahil. I LOVE CUTE KIDS. Thank God, post the VERY weird Bubbly and less weird Aarav (I loved his cute scenes, the ones with Khushi were problematic at best) in IPK - we get to see kids who are smart, wise, sweet and share a healthy relationship with the adults in their lives. 

Now, enjoy the liveblog.

- JWB

Episode 8: “Devi Maiyya Works Solo for Anika”

- (I’m ignoring the star plus editing style of showing an important scene going : few hours before. It’s not a thriller. It’s a daily series. So please star plus, don’t do so.)

- IT IS SAAHIL’S BIRTHDAY!!! I LOVE THIS BHAI DIDI DUO.

- Is Anika going to lose her job for being righteous and not serving a customer shitty food? 

- HOW IS TIA ALWAYS SO BEAUTIFUL! 

- Explosion? What are the two bros betting on? 

- OMG CANTEEN LADY IS AMAZING! SHE PROMOTED ANIKA FOR EVERYTHING! NOW ANIKA HAS HER OWN CANTEEN! Ok is the blue saree lady Devi Maiyya in disguise? Like screw the shit of setting a love story for Anika, let’s get her independent career start!

- OK THE BLUE LADY IS Devi Maiyya. SHE TOLD ANIKA NOT TO WORRY ABOUT DAD’S NAME/SURNAME. WHAT MATTERS IS HARDWORK. YESSSSSSSSSS

- What is Tia planning for?

- Mean bros. Om and Rudy are being 5 year olds who have planned to be mean to Tia because they want to dislike her and they don’t have an actual reason to do so. They have an image in their heads who’s the perfect person for Shivaay and Tia doesn’t match up - again, in their heads. 

- YES SHIVAAY, I CAN’T BELIEVE I AGREE WITH HIM WHEN HE DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM OM AND RUDY AS TO WHY THEY HAVE ISSUES WITH TIA.

- Seriously, Tia being upset that her cake isn’t right for her engagement is JUST AS VALID as Anika getting furious if something small isn’t right. 

(art by eloisemarseille)

- YES OM, TIA IS CALM AND COMPOSED. RUDY, YOU IDIOT, YOU DON’T KNOW THAT TIA DEFENDED YOU WHEN SHIVAAY GOT TO KNOW YOU SCREWED UP YESTERDAY WITH DUPATTA PRANK. And Om, did you forget how Tia didn’t make a single fuss of canceling her date with Shivaay - at a place so exclusive that they had the chef who cooked for Brad and Angelina? 

- Rudy back to his shits, pataaoing a sad woman. Child, go and study and do something with your life.

- Sweet Tia, I love it how she didn’t like yelling at the planner for things not being right. 

- Shivaay… I don’t know how to feel.

- Aw, Om giving tea is sweet.

- OK DRAMATIC TEJ JUST STOOD THERE AND JUST… WAS THERE? I love dramatic Tej though.

- Ew, the dramatic relative I don’t like - Bua ji - is back. Getting upset that Anika had a small party planned for Saahil? Arrey someone kill her.

- Oh, Saahil literally fulfilling my plan. Unlike Shyam Manohar Jha, this kid actually knows how to use the power and instantly give Bua ji shock. I’m happy and proud.

- Arrey nacho, the jhatka Buaji got was amazing.

- Damn it, why did she fall on the cake! 

- LOL I HAVE TO QUOTE THIS:

Anika: Saahil, why did you do this?

Saahil: Didi, what did I do? Since then she kept on harping that she’s shocked, she’s shocked so yes - she got ‘shocked’.

- YO DRAMATIC TEJ ENTERS TO RUIN HIS OLDEST SON’S PEACEFUL TIME.  

- Ok, Tej trying to sow hatred between Om and Shivaay thinking Shivaay treats Om like a servant. Ok, great conflict going on between Tej and Om about brother, power, faith, control - etc. 

- LIFE IS NOT A RACE. Wise words Om. 

- I love how Om stands ground and doesn’t allow Tej to brainwash him. 

- Hmm… Pinky overheard. Seriously, Pinky and Tej should’ve been married. 

- Anika and Saahil re-make the cake :D I can’t have enough of this adorbs duo. 

- Hmm… I think Tia is going to end up LOVING Anika’s cake and hiring her for her engagement.

- HUNDRED RUPEES!!!!!! HUNDRED RUPEES ON THE ABOVE STATEMENT.

- AHAHAHA, YES, NILOFER BAKERY - YES I CAN SEE EVERYTHING. 

- Ok, Anika gets the other order and Tia gets the chocolate cake!!!! 

- Aww, Saahil IS SO UNDERSTANDING. He’d rather have whatever the bakery sent than see his sister upset. YES. 

- I agree with Dadi’s logic, a lot of people judge food based on where it is from than what it is. 

- I WANT THAT CAKE!!!! 

- Hehe Shivaay liked it too. Idiot, he likes it too because its from ‘five star’

- Dadi’s psychological trick worked. 

- Awwwwww TIA IS ADORABLE! She immediately took her lesson for the day to not judge a book by its cover. 

- Shivaay, why is road narrow? Why don’t you talk to the MLA and make changes.

- Ok is Dadi today’s psychologist? I love her line “that if God gave you more, then it doesn’t mean you’re more than whom he gave less.”

- Rudy and Om should actually make fun of Shivaay. He has all the issues they accuse Tia of. 

- OH THESE SMALL RESTAURANTS/BAKERIES ARE AMAZING! I REMEMBER HAVING FOOD/CAKE from these places. 

- I AM NOSTRADAMUS! I KNEW IT WILL END UP WITH ANIKA BEING HIRED TO CATER FOR OBEROIS! 

- This chawl literally called Shiv-Parvati. 1000/10 for foreshadowing and the entire Shiv Parvati thing. 

- Oho, Shivaay entering Anika’s house.

- Anika might just kill him. Just saying. 

- Shivaay, calm down and see. 

- SHIVAAY YOU MET YOUR MATCH IN SAAHIL.

- I HATe the weird editing bUT YOU DESERVE IT for calling someone handicapped just because the person didn’t stand up and give you tissue. (Also Saahil genuinely has a limp)

- Shivaay looks good… wet? What’s with all these boys looking good when they’re wet? 

I *grits teeth* AM NOT *sigh* DISTRAC-

*cough* *cough* gif by @pakki-ya-nahin​

- So where was I? Yes, this time the editor took my notes and didn’t play O Jaana. Oh Shivaay, you don’t get the right to demand an apology from Anika!

— The End —

I am very, very excited. So far, things are looking up and to be honest I’m more interested just in the lives of Om, Tia, Jhanvi, Tej, Shakti, Dadi, Shivaay and Anika than actively ‘shipping’ Shivika. Tbh, I’m not even shipping them. When that ‘moment’ will happen - you’ll notice!

See you soon!

- JWB

Next Up: E9

[daydream-ideas]

The Shadows

I’m not sure if this an actual real life concept, as yet again, I have not done any research, but I saw it in a few manhwa’s and stole it for my paracosm hahaha. 

The Emperor’s Shadows. 

People who are tasked with following and protecting the emperor in secret, away from the eyes of anyone who might be watching, even the emperor’s own knights and average guards. They’re useful for protection when the emperor has to go somewhere discreetly and the addition of knights would give away too much, plus, they can be sent on errands to gather intel as spies. 

Lyr gathers up all the assassins who previously worked for the king of Misian (though the king said that he ‘owned’ them) who Lyr usurped the throne from and makes them into his Shadows, having them be spies rather than assassins as they previously were, since the skillset is rather similar (having to be stealthy, etc.) but I still just refer to them as assassins anyway.

—

warnings for: torture, conditioning, assassins (wow shocker), war mention, human experimentation, drugs, addiction, slavery, forced labor

Silas  – the first assassin

He was the best of the five, and the one sent to kill Lyr when he first claimed the throne of his home kingdom, Avimier. Lyr defeated him (which honestly was just kind of luck and Lyr’s paranoia since he’d just gone through a coup at the hands of his knights, so he was really on edge, but Silas is super good at fighting) and had him sent to the dungeons, where he pretty much forgot about him for the next couple of years lol. When he sentences Silas to be imprisoned, he tells his guards to “find out who sent him” which, given the history of Avimier’s past monarchs who were typically cruel, the guards interpreted the order as “torture the assassin until he reveals who sent him” which Lyr does not consider at all (he’s new to this and doesn’t yet know how things work) and that’s how Lyr accidentally had a man tortured 😬 

He later releases Silas when he discovers what’s been done to him in the dungeons, but this isn’t until after the war with the Sylnera’ti kingdom which occurs much later in the timeline (it’s the third kingdom he conquers) and the king who sent Silas (the Misian king) is already dead. 

The Misian king (he doesn’t deserve a name) tortured all his assassins so he could condition them to follow him as living weapons and nothing else, and as a result, Silas had shut off any part of himself that could feel emotion as a way to survive, long before he ever even met Lyr. Due to his past conditioning, him hearing Lyr’s name during the vicious torture he endured in the dungeons, it rewired his brain to be absolutely loyal to Lyr as his king, rather than as a target. 

This is something that brings great discomfort to Lyr when he finds out because it’s not like this is something he wanted to have happen, even if it does technically benefit him. It’s also not something I was planning on sharing here? because it is super fucked up and Lyr is still my precious bean even if he did something like this, but yeah, there’s that. 

Silas has long white / silver hair and grey eyes that hold no emotion. He’s the most anti-social para of the whole cosm and prefers to skulk in the library rather than interact with anyone. People also don’t like being around him as even his presence unnerves them — they don’t even know he’s an assassin, it’s just that monotone, expressionless way about him that creeps them out. He likes to nap in odd places that aren’t meant for sleeping. 

—

Casimir – the second assassin

Given a less dramatic backstory than Silas, as the remaining assassins all dispersed from the Misian castle after Lyr usurped the throne, going their separate ways to try and hide out while making a life for themselves — not that it was really much of a life. 

Casimir had it the best out of all the assassins being that he was remarkably average. He was still tortured by the Misian king just as the rest of them were, but didn’t garner any unwanted attention for being the best or worst. 

After leaving the castle, he joined a band of mercenaries and used his skills to complete jobs and earn a little bit of money, and for once feeling a semblance of freedom, though he was still bound by the anger and bitterness of his past. 

He was the easiest to find when Lyr went looking, as he wasn’t really being inconspicuous, though he was not happy to see another royal. Lyr, being a supreme idiot who wanted to gain Casimir’s trust so that the assassin would come back to the castle with him, allowed Casimir to take out his anger on him without fighting back (well, it’s the trust thing and also a bit of Lyr’s guilt complex but we’re not gonna get into that) and so this just, did not go very well with Alex, Lyr’s personal guard. The two still don’t get along. 

Casimir did end up joining Lyr, but is also now filled with guilt about how he treated Lyr because Lyr is nice to him unlike the Misian king, though Casimir would never admit to any of this and just takes to deliberately annoying Lyr to cover up how much he wants to apologize for what happened. (me: smh, why are you like this.) 

He develops a taste for the finer things in life after going back to the castle with Lyr, as Lyr starts giving him a stipend for his work (which the Misian king never did) as well as actually decent meals (which he also never got) and so Casimir is overwhelmed with guilt, kindness, and nice fancy things he has no idea what to do with. 

—

Ghislaine – the third assassin

contrary to Casimir, this one had it the worst out of all the assassins. He was the worst at being an assassin, and the most rebellious during the ‘conditioning’ stage, and generally disliked by the Misian king the most, which lead to a whole variety of unpleasantness. 

He was tortured even more than all the other assassins, which left him with hundreds of tiny, meticulously cut scars all across his hands, arms, face, and chest. The Misian king also decided to try and ‘enhance’ Ghislaine’s abilities by experimenting on him to try and make him a SUPER ASSASSIN which notably, didn’t work out so well. 

Because of the experiments, Ghislaine now survives on this custom-made drug which damages him and keeps him alive in equal measure — he needs to take it or else he’ll die, but it’s also getting him addicted and giving him terrible side-effects that cause him great pain. He takes as much of the serum as he can when he escapes the castle when Lyr usurps the throne, but he still runs out of it some months later and has to break into the castle to try and get more. This is when he meets Lyr, as he’s captured while trying to steal the serum. It’s early winter, just before the big snows but at the point when things are starting to frost, and Lyr can see how withered Ghislaine has become. 

He’s been living on the streets as no one will take him in—whether at an inn or for a job, because no one wants to look at him because of his scars. They’re very apparent and impossible to hide, so they make it hard for him to go anywhere without being chased off, so he ends up on the streets. 

Lyr makes him a deal that he’ll let Ghislaine have the serum and will have his potions man try and engineer something that doesn’t cause as much damage to his body, if Ghislaine will stay and serve him. Ghislaine doesn’t want to serve another royal after what happened to him at the hands of the last one, but he also knows he can’t stay out on the streets during winter, and needs that serum to survive. 

He’s also my favorite of the five ❤

—

Devere – fourth assassin

This one I know the least about since I haven’t really daydreamed with him too much, but he’s a good boi. He leaves the castle and goes to the coast to work on a ship, even though he’s really not suited for it or good at it. He’s constantly harassed, teased, mocked, bullied, and beaten by the other sailors and shipworkers, but he prefers that to everything he went through in the castle. His soul is slowly dying like this, but he pushes away the feeling because he knows it could be so much worse. 

He’s the most reticent of all the assassins when Lyr comes to try and retrieve him, so it takes a lot of negotiation in order to get him to go back to the castle. He doesn’t try to harm Lyr like Casimir did, taking out his anger and bitterness on a figurehead, rather, he just shuts down and tries to ignore them like he’s trying to ignore his own trauma.

—

Zev – fifth assassin

He’s the last acquired assassin due to being the hardest to get to. He’s not even in the empire, but in the kingdom of Inscitus, which is ruled by a king who’s not actively at war with Lyr, but the two still don’t have a good relationship because of reasons.

Zev was sent away to the salt mines of Inscitus by the Misian king, before Lyr usurped the throne, where he was imprisoned and forced to mine as basically a slave for several years. He’s gaunt and thin and sickly when Lyr finds him, and since Emperor!Lyr can’t just go and ask another kingdom for a prisoner without raising suspicions or endangering relations, it’s time for Servant!Lyr to do a prison break with a very willful assassin.

Lyr, Alex, and Silas rescue Zev from the mines and escape the kingdom, having to travel back to the castle on a small wagon through the forest with an angry, sick man who didn’t even make it to death’s doorstep, he passed out on death’s front lawn.

Probs my second favorite of the five right now

 —

[desiraypark]

Saturday Night Special

Characters: Flip Zimmerman x “Mae” - an original character (Black, Female, Tall, & Thick - respectfully think Phyllis Hyman, Florence Ballard, or Diahnne Abbott) Setting: Miami (Miami Beach), Fall 1974 Content: N*FW - One-night stand; strangers bonin’ (*bends in like Tyra Banks* but make it safe). Author’s Note: I still have not seen Blackkklansman but have been feeling inspired by other people’s Flip fics. I hope you like it (and that it works out)! Also, I have never been to Miami/Miami Beach/Florida, so sorry if I fucked the geography/location up lol Word Count: 3,318

“There’s a Red House over yonder...that’s where my baby stays...Lord, there’s a Red House over yonder...Lord, that’s where my stays...I ain’t been home to see my baby...in ninety-nine and one-half days...”

Flip Zimmerman walked into the diner liked he owned it. Or like he’d been in it a hundred times. Blue T-shirt tight against his muscles, light denim bell bottoms and red hi-top Converse—not his usual getup, but he was far away from his usual life. He was relaxed and refreshed--and alerted customers and staff of his presence with the ding of a bell over his head.

The diner was across the street from the hotel he was staying in. But it was pretty empty—old ladies were in a booth blushing at him and whispering from a booth; an old couple were blushing at each other like teenagers at a table; a younger couple walked past him, seemingly walking away from the counter. But it was a sunny afternoon in Miami Beach. Everybody had probably already eaten breakfast and were long under the afternoon sun and sinking in the white sand. But Flip had slept in for as long as he could. No assignments, no stake outs or investigations. For the first time in years, he was free to just be.

He sat at the counter. A tall, buxom beauty with a curly up-do, long lashes, and lips painted red stood on the other side, wiping down the counter.

“Afternoon,” she said, putting a menu in front of him. “Afternoon.”

“My name’s Mae, I’ll be taking care of you. Would you like to start off with a cup of coffee? Water?”

“Coffee’s fine...” Flip said looking over the menu. Mae walked over to the coffee pot. “On second thought...may I have some orange juice?” “Sure thing,” she said. She disappeared in front of him, then popped back up with a tall and narrow pitcher of orange juice that was covered with soft fabric. Like a bartender, she put a napkin in front of him, grabbed a glass, and filled it with fresh-squeezed juice.

“Are you still serving breakfast?” he asked. “Yep. All day.” She began wiping down the counter top. “Ever had the steak and eggs?” “Nope. Not the steak. Eggs are pretty good. I like the omelettes,” Mae responded.  “What kind of omelette do you like most?”

A waitress flew out of the kitchen and into the dining area.

“I like the Southwestern one,” Mae said with a smile. She finished pouring and covered the pitcher again, and Flip put the menu down. “Then, I’ll have a Southwestern omelette,” he said with a boyish smirk. Mae blushed, pulled out her pad and pencil, and scribbled on the paper. Flip took a sip of his orange juice and got a really quick glance at her chest. A gold necklace was fastened around her neck and disappeared in her top. 

“You want bacon, sausage, or ham with it?” she asked. “Sausage.” “Links or patties?” “Links.” “Toast or a biscuit?” Flip thought about it. “Toast.” She finished scribbling on the pad, ripped the sheet off, and slid it through the service window. The cook grabbed it, and just as she turned around, three construction workers walked in and sat the counter. Mae grabbed three menus and walked to them.

“Afternoon, gentlemen,” she said. Flip watched her as she placed the menus in front of them. This girl needed to be in movies. She was such a knockout. And stacked, too. Thick long legs and some belly. Hips that would probably knock shit down if the counters were any lower. She took their orders and slid the paper in the service window. 

Next, she grabbed three mugs and placed one in front of each man. She walked back to the counter under the service window, where the coffee machine and other appliances and utensils sat, and grabbed the coffee pot and a little porcelain pitcher. The men (including Flip) watched her fill the three mugs with coffee. Then, she tipped the little pitcher over into each of them—pouring cream inside. When she reached the third man, who was closest to Flip, he smirked at her.

“Nothing like putting some cream into a nice, hot, cup of black coffee...” he said. Flip tensed up.

“The night we met I knew I...needed you so...And if I had the chance I’d...never let you go...”

Mae narrowed her eyes at the man. She slid the sugar packet holder close to them and walked away with the coffee pot and little creamer pot. Then, she put both items in there rightful place.

Just as she was walking back to Flip, the same construction worker called her over with an “Psst! Waitress!” Flip could almost feel the fire burning inside of her when she walked over. With his glass of orange juice to his lips, he kept a close watch on the men. Just in case they tried to pull anything funny.  “Yes, Sir?” she said. The man bit his lip, as the other two watched with anticipation. He looked at her name tag. “Miss Mae...you got any construction worker in you?” Flip cringed and started to shift in his seat. But before he could say a word, Mae had reached into her bra and pulled out a little pistol.  “No, but would you like a bullet in you?” she asked, holding the pistol out in front of the man. Instinctively, Flip stood up and held his hand out in front of Mae. “Maaaae!” the cook called from the back.

“I think you’d better leave,” Flip said to the construction worker. The man stared at the gun and shook his head. “I suppose I should.” He looked up at Mae. “I didn’t want any trouble, ma’am.” “Ain’t no trouble for me,” she responded. The man turned beet red and stood up.

Him and his co-workers walked out, and Flip sat down. 

“Crazy bitch...” the man mumbled on his way out.

Mae put the gun back in her bra, and Flip observed how calm the restaurant was. Everyone went about their conversations like nothing was happening. Even the other waitress was leaned against the booth with the old ladies, talking about As the World Turns. “What did that one say?!” the cook asked from the back. Mae grabbed two mugs of coffee and dumped the contents in the sink.

“Asked me if I had some damn construction worker in me!” she yelled back.

“Oh! That’s a new one!”

She walked back to the counter to grab the remaining mug, and caught Flip’s eyes—his thick eyebrows raised high above them.  “I’m sorry about that,” she said. She turned to pour the third mug out. The other waitress walked back toward the kitchen. “No need to apologize,” Flip said. Mae dipped behind the counter again and came back up with the orange juice pitcher. She refilled Flip’s glass. “You’re too much, Mae,” she said with a laugh, before disappearing behind the swinging door. 

“What’s your name?” Mae asked as Flip took a swig of his drink. He swallowed. "Phillip.” “Thank you for stepping in, Phillip,” she said. “I don’t like to do that. But nobody ever steps in for me, so...” She smiled and walked to where the construction workers once sat, and wiped the counter down. Flip sat at the counter for almost two hours, talking to Mae and watching her serve an old couple that had come in. He told her he’d recently quit his detective job back in Colorado Springs and decided to take a vacation before looking for something new. Mae had dreams of being a chef, but didn’t have the money and resources for school. She began waiting on tables to save money, but had been stuck in the same loop for over a decade. They talked and laughed, and she served the few patrons that straggled in for an early dinner before it was time for her to clock out.

Mae finally took his plate and put it in the service window.  “Thank you for talking to me, Mae,” he said as she rung up his check. “No, thank you, Phillip,” she said. “Are you headed off the to beach?”

“I suppose so. It might be too late for some good sunlight...” he said, looking at his watch. Mae peeped outside. “Mmm, I think you could catch a little something, still.” “What do you have planned for the rest of the day?” he asked. He cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Ohh, nothing much. I’ll fix myself some dinner. Take a long, hot bath, maybe...”

Flip’s fingers pressed into the palm of his hand at the thought of Mae naked in the tub. He erased the thought from his head.

“...catch my shows and go to bed.” She put his check in front of him, and he dug in his pocket for his wallet.

“Would you like me to walk you to your car?” he asked. “In case that man is out there waiting for you?”

“I’ll shoot his ass,” Mae said with a chuckle. “But no thank you, baby. I catch the bus anyway.”

Flip pulled a twenty from his wallet and something caught Mae’s eye. It prompted her to start untying off her apron.

“Well, can I walk you to the bus stop?” Flip asked. She smiled again. “I’m alright, honey.” She walked to the cash register.

Flip nodded and rose from his seat. He walked in front of the register as Mae counted out his change. “Hey, Mae,” a man said, walking past her and into the kitchen. “Hey Mike,” she said back. She pressed the change into Flip’s hands.

“Phillip?” she said. Flip pulled a five from his change and gave it back to her. “Yes?” She leaned close to him and took the five. 

“What do you really want to do this evening?” she asked in a low voice. Flip smirked, pulled out his wallet, and bit his bottom lip as he stuffed the change into his wallet. Finally, he looked up at her. “I want to make a pretty waitress who packs a pistol in her bra to scream my name...” ********************** Flip waited for Mae in his hotel lobby. She didn’t want her co-workers to see her sneaking off with a stranger. He led her to his room--a simple little space with two beds, a table in the corner, and a picture window overlooking the city street. Mae walked completely into the room and turned around. Flip was leaning against the door, biting his bottom lip. Mae smirked and sat on the bed closest to the door. 

“You’ve got a condom, right?” she asked, crossing her legs. “Yeah.” 

She patted the bed. “You gonna come over here?” “I wanna watch you walk across the room again,” he said.  Mae smirked, left her purse on the bed, and slowly walked to Flip. She gave him a peck on the lips, then sauntered to the table. With every step she took, she heard a step that wasn’t hers, behind her. The heat of his body radiated against her back. When she got to the table, Flip held her waist and planted kisses on her neck. She pressed her ass against him and felt his hard length in his jeans. Then, he yanked her around to face him, lifted her and placed her down on the table. 

“Phillip, I might break this table,” she said. 

Flip ignored her and gave her a peck on the lips once. Twice. And she met his lips for a third. 

“I can smell your breakfast, still,” she whispered. Flip chuckled. “That’s why I haven’t put my tongue down your throat.” Mae smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. “Well, put it somewhere else...” Flip licked his lips and dropped to his knees. Mae toed off her ugly white shoes as he slid his hands up her thighs and tugged at the top of her stockings. He felt for the top hem of her panties, and pulled the undergarments down to her ankles and over her feet. Mae spread her legs to him and Flip stuck his head between her thighs and ran slow licks up and down her clit. As he picked up his speed, Mae reluctantly leaned back on her palms.

“That feels so good,” she whimpered once she trusted the table’s strength.  “Mmm-hmm,” Flip hummed. She didn’t have to tell him that he was eating her good. He knew that he was good with his tongue. He wrapped his arms around her thighs and gave her clit a nice, hard suck--causing her to throw her head back and yelp.  “Oh, Phillip...” Flip looked up. All he could see was some of her chin and the bottom of her breasts. So he looked back down, then pulled away. “Flip...” he mumbled. He returned his mouth to her. “Hmm?”  She looked down at him--only able to see his wavy tresses, some of his forehead, and his large nose. “Call me Flip.” She carded his hair and gyrated against his face. He gripped her thighs tighter and left no inch of flesh un-licked--filling the silence of his room with obscene licking sounds and her breathy moans.

“I’m about to come...make me come please, Flip...” she whined. Flip dropped one of his arms from around her thigh and slipped two of his fingers inside of her. She yelped and pressed her fingers into his scalp. Then, she fucked his fingers back, making the table legs rock under her. Quickly, she reached into her bra, took out her pistol and placed it on the table behind her. “You’re doing all of this over my fingers...I can’t wait to watch you take my fucking dick,” Flip said. At those words, Mae fell apart. She cursed to the ceiling and gushed all over Flip’s thick fingers. When she reached the end of her orgasm, Flip pulled his fingers out and shoved them between her lips. With a hum, she licked her juices away. Then, Flip picked her up. She held her legs around his waist until he tossed her onto the bed.

“Take all of that shit off,” he commanded. Mae unbuttoned her uniform as Flip pulled his wallet out of his pocket and retrieved his only condom. Eventually, they both were completely naked--Mae lying back on the bed and Flip standing over her stroking his dick. He scanned her from head to toe--sweet face, large tits that she was holding onto and squeezing together. An “H” sat at the end of her necklace. It peeked out from under her hand. She sat up--making her breasts fall just above her stomach--and took Flip’s dick in her hands. “Lay back down,” he said. Mae released his dick and fell back. She watched Flip open the condom wrapper with his teeth and toss it to the side. Then, he slid the rubber onto his hard length. Flip climb onto the bed and between her legs. He wrapped the long limbs around his waist, leaned over her and focused his eyes below and between them. He tapped his firm, heavy meat against her clit. “I’m about to give you the whole thing, okay?” he said. “Okay...” Mae whimpered. She ran her hands up and down his arms, and anxiously awaited him to enter in. Flip stretched open her velvety entrance, then pressed deep inside until he touched her cervix.

“Ohmygod...” she whispered, staring at the ceiling. Flip peppered her collarbone with kisses. He dragged out of her until his tip almost came out, then went back in.  “Is it too much?” he asked. She shook her head and smiled. “No.” Flip smiled back and bit his bottom lip. With both of his palms pressing into the mattress beside her head, he dove into her--long and deep, and at a moderate pace. The sounds of her gushing pussy and his balls slapping her ass filled the air. She couldn’t even moan. Her chin was damn near in her chest as her nails pressed into the muscle of his arms. Finally, she released an obscenity. “Fuck!” she squealed. “Take that dick, baby...take my fucking dick...” Flip encouraged. “Ohmygod...” she cried out. “Go faster.” “Go faster?” he asked. “Yes, go faster,” she repeated, gripping his arms again.  Flip collapsed on top of her and interlocked his fingers over her head. Then, without an ounce of reluctance, he pounded her hot center--snapping his hips against her hard and fast. “Yes, Flip, yes! Just like that!” she screamed. “Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah!” “That’s right baby. Say my name again...” “Oh, Flip...yes, Flip...fuck...” she whimpered. She tightened her legs around his waist, and her pussy involuntarily clenched around his length. “Are you tightening your pussy on my dick? You’d better fucking stop that shit unless you want me to come right now,” he said, voice gravelly.  “I can’t help it, baby, it feels so good!”  Flip grunted and pulled himself out. He drew in deep breaths and released them as he tapped the head of his dick against her wet pussy. Mae reached between her legs and tugged at his dick, trying to pull him back in. Flip smirked at her, swatted her hand away, then dipped back inside. He slowed his pace and shortened his distance. Mae whined. “The whole thing, Flip...” she said, rotating her hips under him.  Flip stopped and shook his head. “I’m gonna bust my fuckin’ nut, Mae...” “I don’t care,” she said, moving her hips faster. “I want the whole thing.” Flip looked down into her eyes--so sweet, so pleading. He chewed on the flesh behind his lip and took her hands. As he stretched over her body, he pinned her wrists down over her head and fucked her nice and deep. No longer caring about his breath, Flip pressed his lips against hers and opened them up with his tongue. She moaned into his mouth as his hips smacked against hers, dick stroking her walls. 

Soon, he felt waves tingle all over his body, and his balls began to tense up. Mae felt him twitching and snapped her hips against his again--egging him on until he filled his condom with his pearly white nut. He rode out his wave with shallow thrusts, then fell down beside Mae--both of them breathless.  “Fuck,” he groaned. “Wow...”

Flip stared at her profile. Then, he tilted her chin up with his finger, and leaned down to kiss her lips. She scooted close and rested her head on his chest. “What does the “H” stand for?” Flip asked. He rubbed his finger against the monogram on her necklace, and she smiled. “My first name,” she answered. “What’s your first name?” he asked. “I’ll never tell you.” She draped her arm over his abdomen. “You know my first name,” he argued.  “How do I know that’s really your first name?” Mae asked. She tossed her leg over his. “I can show you my ID...” Mae let out a wry laugh, then closed her eyes. “It’s Hattie. Hattie Mae.” “Oof...” Flip whispered. Mae looked up at him and pinched his nipple. He winced, and laughed. “That’s an old ass name.” “Fuck you...” she said laughing. “Phillip.” Flip stifled a laugh, then the two of them said nothing for the next few minutes. Mae listened to Flip’s heartbeat, and Flip ran his fingertips up and down her waist. “You don’t have anybody waiting for you, do you?” he asked. “No,” she answered. “Good.” Flip rose from the bed and went into the bathroom. “I’m about to go the pharmacy up the street and buy some more rubbers.” “Oh, you are?” Mae asked. She sat up and rested her head on her palm. She heard him removing his condom. “Yep.” Flip came back into the room and grabbed and stepped into his boxers. “Because we’re not fucking done.” Mae blushed, dropped her face into the bed, and groaned playfully.

[ixellent]

What I did when I received a health bill for ~$11,000

Hey I just wanted to do this write-up because there’s a lot of health insurance and health care issues that require a lot of phone calls in America and when you get a big bill it’s a big shock, and I wanted to talk about what happened to me, how I handled it, and how you can start to handle it in an accessible way that’s not full of a lot of intimidating or overly specific language that may not apply to you. Plans can vary so widely and everyone’s needs can vary widely so think of this as a basic process breakdown for how you might handle a billing or coverage issue. Long story short, take a deep breath and get ready to make lots of phone calls but don’t worry, you can do this. You are the customer service line for yourself, that’s how I think of it - these are transactional phone calls with customer service workers with various levels of training and expertise, so you just have to be patient with yourself and with them.

Warning: this is very long but I broke it up into my story and my solution!

Here’s what happened to me, for context. You can skip ahead til you see the star emojis if you don’t care or don’t wanna read it! I have Crohn’s Disease and get regular chemotherapy to treat it, every 6 weeks, it’s expensive. I lost my full-time job in November 2019, and therefore lost my employer-provided health insurance on November 30, 2019. I had kept on my ACA Marketplace insurance (yes it was expensive to have double health insurance) because I did not trust my employer and I didn’t want to be caught without my insurance, and I was right. That way when my employer-provided health insurance lapsed, I would still have insurance I knew covered my chemo. At least, that’s what was supposed to happen.

My employer has an insurance broker. They filed the paperwork for the termination of my employer-provided health insurance, but for whatever reason that paperwork was not processed, and no one thought to check on it at any point until I asked them to. You can’t cancel your employer-provided health insurance yourself, you need the insurance broker to do it for you, but neither can you change your primary insurance with your provider to anything ELSE if you have employer-provided health insurance. So this put me in a situation of being unable to cancel or change my primary health insurance for December.

I had a chemo appointment on December 2, 2019, just two days after my employer-provided health insurance was SUPPOSED to lapse. I had warned my health providers that it was going to lapse, but every time I talked to them they did not show that in their system, it still showed the employer-provided insurance. I had to get my infusion and I figured whatever was going on, I wouldn’t be able to solve it until after the holidays anyway. I was right.

January rolls around and I get a membership card for my employer-provided health insurance so I know something is wrong. I have another treatment coming up in two weeks and I need a prior authorization to continue to receive it, so I start the process I’m familiar with of calling up my provider, asking them to submit the prior authorization (basically it’s paperwork that says, I need this medicine and my doctor says I need it so you need to cover it), and hoping nothing goes wrong. I make sure they know the situation with insurance. A few days go by, they say that my employer-provided health insurance is still listed as my primary insurance, and they can’t just bill it to my secondary. So we call up my employer-provided insurance, they say I’m still an active member. I call my employer, they refer me to the insurance broker who finds out the paperwork never went through and resubmits it. The cancellation process is started but it can take up to two days (and this is the beginning of the year so it ends up taking a week; I have to miss my chemo appointment because they WILL NOT administer this medicine without insurance coverage for some reason.) And then it takes another week to get the prior authorization run through my current insurance properly. I made fixing this my job for January, and I made calls every other day for three weeks. I spent four weeks in total, from January 2 to the 30th, resolving this problem. I was three weeks late for my treatment and I was extremely sick and it has resulted in my disease being less controlled.

I get a bill for ~$7500 for my treatment for January because I haven’t met my deductible for 2020 (which is obscene and another issue) but that’s pretty normal for me and I spent 6 months paying it down during a pandemic. I continue my terrible 2020 until two days ago when I receive a bill for $10,961.12 and now I know something else is wrong.

So when I resolved the insurance issue in January, they backdated the cancellation to show November 30, 2019. This of course meant that the employer-provided health insurance would rescind the payments from December that had been incorrectly submitted to them and processed; makes sense so far. This also meant that the prior authorization needed had been submitted to them and not to my actual health insurance, resulting in a bill that included the revoked payment AND the un-approved treatment itself for a time when I could not have done anything about either. Needless to say, this wasn’t MY fault so I started the process of resolving it. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

1) Collected information: my bill amount and date of receipt, account numbers for the billing and health insurance, the bill itself from my provider, explanation of benefits for that date from the health insurance company, anything I think would be helpful. Most people are not this prepared but it solves SO MANY problems when people are like “I don’t see this in my system” and you’re like “You’re not showing $xxx on xx/yy/zz from This Provider?” Prepare to take down the name of everyone you talk to, and their extension if they were helpful. It’s okay to ask them for their name.

2) Called my doctor’s office and get the number for billing since I didn’t know if I needed to talk to them or not. I did. (Thanks Bev.)

3) Called billing and asked if this amount was correct and see if they had more information about why I was receiving it. They said I needed to update the Coordination of Benefits for my health insurance (this is how it sounds, it makes sure medical bills get paid when and by whom they should) and said DO NOT let them make a duplicate claim because that would be automatically rejected.

4) Called health insurance and asked them about this balance for this date of service, they said they had a different amount and it was marked as paid. I said “so what is this.” They called up billing and confirmed that they had a claim for that date but for a different amount that was marked as paid. This call wasn’t very helpful.

5) Called back billing and asked if they could investigate further because health insurance said “we don’t have that amount for that date, we have this one and it’s paid” and they got me the claim number, denial code, and date of denial. This information is useful for finding out more and for filing an appeal or grievance, which was where this was headed at this point because they couldn’t file a duplicate claim (because like I said, they had one for that appointment for that date but for a different amount because of how it had been billed to the employer-provided health insurance incorrectly, so basically the whole process had been wrong and the amounts were wrong because of that.)

6) Called back insurance, they incorrectly routed me to a claims line for providers, who said I couldn’t do shit, it was the providers job to file a claim, and I should call them. (It’s not necessarily like that, although many providers do it when some kind of coverage is denied outright.)

7) Called back billing, they said I need to file the appeal and just bully the insurance company until they let me. (Lol, thanks Tanner.)

8) Called my brother, who listened to me complain and told me if this next part doesn’t work to get a pro-bono lawyer. I take a break at this point and go ride my motorcycle because I start to cry, so I start again early the next day.

9) Called insurance again, and asked for someone who can talk to me about a member filing an appeal on a denied claim. I say this specifically. Thankfully I finally got someone good and helpful, who listens to my WHOLE explanation of what happened and takes notes to file an appeal at first, but then discovers I actually need to file a grievance. I should get a letter of acknowledgement (written notice that they got my request to appeal/grievance) within five days, and I should get a written letter of resolution (solved one way or another) within 60 days. I’ll update when that happens.

A note here: Appeals are for when they deny to cover or pay for something for some reason, and you think they decided badly and you want them to try again. Grievances are for when something was wrong or in error or was mismanaged that resulted in a problem like mine.

Cross your fingers for me I feel dizzy after all this.

[prorevenge]

My wannabe fashionista coworker always threw shade at me for being frumpy. She looked frumpier, unemployed!

TL;DR at the bottom

*******

I worked at a popular, high end clothing store while I was in graduate school (I'm an engineer). I won't name the brand, but it's the sort that charged $50 for a pair of male boxer briefs, $200 for a lady's fancy bra, or $400 or more for a pair of jeans, $1,000 or more for those skinny suits that hip guys wear to their job, where the hems of their pants reveal that they're wearing loafers without socks.

The clothes there weren't really my style but the starting pay was two dollars higher than minimum wage, and higher than most of the other, surrounding stores. This was at a rich people shopping center, where lots of people who shop there are wannabe celebrities and constant selfie-takers.

I was surprised to get hired there, but was relieved that I wouldn't have to really do customer service, as I worked only in the stock room. I'd put out clothes on the shelves and racks before and after closing, and also arrange everything in the back to make it organized. I was also trained so that in emergency situations I could cover register if we were short handed, so that the regular associates could go on break.

I was hardly seen by customers, but I still had to wear the clothes the store sold, to promote the image of the company. I didn't, thankfully, have to wear the dainty little suits, but I did sport the jeans and other casual things we sold.

It was a job. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. I just worked, took my pay, went to school, and went home.

At least that's the way it was for two months.

After those two months, "Jessica" began to work during the same hours as me. She was about my age (I was 22), maybe twenty five, tops. She didn't work in the stock room (it was just me back there, with one or two other college guys), but worked the front. She wasn't the manager, or even a supervisor, but she SWORE she was in charge of me.

She made it known to everyone, even customers, that she graduated with an associates degree in fashion marketing from FIDM. I suppose it's a big deal but I was thinking girl if you're a college graduate why are you bragging about it as if it has something to do with you folding jeans and ringing people up at the register? She talked like she was fashion expert and in the "fashion industry," and would talk about the New York or Paris fashion weeks in a familiar way that implied that she just got of the plane after attending these events personally. You know the type, the kind that talks about famous fashion designers by their first name, as if they knew them.

Well she always criticized the way I wore the jeans because I didn't tuck in my T-shirt like the mannequin, or that I work Chuck Taylors on my feet instead of the little leather Sperry Topsiders knockoffs we sold for $300.

We were given a clothing allowance as employees. As a stockperson, I was allowed three complete outfits for free, everything from tops, to underear, to socks, and pants (but not shoes). If I wanted more and it was specifically for wearing at the store, I could mark it as a "uniform purchase" and have the price deducted from my check a little at a time. This was advantageous because they wouldn't charge you tax for them, and charge you only a third of the retail price.

Uniform Purchase was distinctly separate from "Store Discount," for which we also received a percentage off, but it wasn't the incredible 66% discount we got for uniform purchases.

Jessica would snicker at me when I took over register for someone, shake her head or roll her eyes at me as if I looked really ugly. I'm always thinking, whatever girl, you wannabe model you aren't even hot and you're not the boss, who are you? But I held my tongue.

She'd also complain if I was supposedly not fast enough in grabbing a size medium from the back because a customer is requesting the dress and all we have on the floor are smalls and larges. She'd trash me to the customer and when I showed up would sarcastically say "finally!" and turn to the customer with a "see what I have to put up with?" expression.

She was especially mean if any customers got chatty with me and treated me with respect. And if those customers were female and were getting flirty with me, Jessica would be a total cockblock.

The real manager, Paula, had their own issues to deal with beyond petty bickering between a stockboy and an entry level sales associate with delusions of "Project Runway" grandeur. The assistant manager, another fashion industry wannabe named "Heather," was just like Jessica, but thankfully I hardly interacted with her. According to my coworkers, Heather was just as bad as Jessica.

Even though I didn't plan on making this store my career, and even though Jessica didn't bother me THAT much, I thought it won't hurt to get this bitch fired.

To her face, I'd just smile and act like I was following her orders happily, or didn't mind when she would point at me rudely, or snap her fingers at me like she was calling a dog.

Jessica would always hear a directive from one of the managers, and then go around telling the other employees what to do, as if they didn't have ears. She'd try to act as if it was HER directive. LOL.

Her coworkers who were the same "rank" as her would sometimes vent to me about how Jessica acted like she was in charge, when in some cases she had even less time in the company than other employees on the floor.

I noticed that when I arranged clothes in back, especially big ticket, desirable clothes that were seen in magazines in our company's advertisement campaigns, she'd "order" me to set aside things in her size.

I'd do it, because it's my job to set aside things if employees want to buy them outright at a discount or put it as a uniform purchase.

Whenever an employee was on register (really, a big Ipad with a cash drawer beneath), you could tap in a code and the register would show a rundown of every non-customer transaction that employees performed that day, and with a few more keystrokes, their transactions over MANY days. The managers knew this code, of course, and I'll assume Jessica knew the code too because Heather shared the code with her.

I WASN'T supposed to know the code, but I did, because there's a mirror in the wall behind the register, and I was re-stocking paper handbags behind Heather when I saw her tap in her four digit code. She assumed I was stupid and didn't understand the incredibly complex wizardry that is a two year old, low-end spec Ipad.

I knew Jessica was getting rung up for "uniform purchases" when she should have been getting rung up for regular employee discount.

She assumed that when I set aside all those expensive items for her, that I was too dumb to know what she was doing, just because I might have something of a mouth breather countenance.

Even if I look on the surface like a fugitive from the trailer park, something told me Jessica wasn't going to be using $800 heels, a $500 dress, and $1200 motorcycle jacket while working at the store.

And anyway, I asked around. No one saw Jessica wearing any of the truly fancy clothes she bought at our store at what the other employees assumed was simply a regular employee discount.

I thought maybe she was being honest, too. It WAS possible, after all, because I didn't always work with her. Maybe she wore evening dresses to work on her other shifts? Whatever, I decided to make sure.

One time when everyone was busy doing other stuff and the store had to resort to putting me on the register, I typed in Heather's code and pulled up Jessica's purchases. As I suspected, she had bought thousands of dollars worth of our store's best items, but put them all as "uniform purchases" and not at her regular discount.

So I swiped "print" and the register switches from the regular tape to the 8.5"x11" printer beneath the counter, and a complete rundown of all of Jessica's purchases come out.

I highlight all the most expensive items that she was charged for "uniform purchase" (such as, her $1200 jacket would only be $300, and even that was tax free and she got to pay it little by little).

I knew that my manager, Paula, wasn't exactly a nuclear physicist and she was more interested in moving up the chain of command to be working at a job higher than store manager in the company, so as long as her store's sales numbers looked good she didn't care what her assistant Heather did.

Except, if it was a violation of company policy that might reflect badly on her.

I knew Heather was in on Jessica's scam because you're not allowed to ring yourself up at the store, you have to have someone else do it, and none of the other associates would want to conspire with her for fear of getting fired or worse.

To make sure, I printed HEATHER's purchase history too. I didn't see Heather as often as I saw Jessica, but I could also see really glaring red flags on her purchase report. Like, she bought a $900 nightclub dress as a uniform purchase, which I'm quite sure she never wore to work. I did the same highlighting on suspicious items as I did with Jessica's.

Then, because none of this was REALLY my business, I was just a part time asshole who worked in the stockroom, I waited for the most fun opportunity to lower the boom.

Jessica got on her little bluetooth earpiece that she wears on he sales floor that she thinks makes her look like a VIP, and says, "OP, I'm going to need XXX in a size small, customer waiting, get the lead out." So I bring the item, and Jessica says I'm "not passing muster." I thought wow Jessica you sounded really 1940s there, you wannabe pinup girl LOL.

After the customer leaves, Jessica says, "I'm going to need you to go on a trash run and sweep out the receiving bay. And I need you to cover Annie's lunch."

I laugh and tell her, "who died and made you supervisor, you fucking headass burnout?"

She looks like she was the fucking Crypt Keeper for a second and that she wanted to punch me, before she remembered that I'm 6'2" and outweigh her by a hundred pounds.

She hisses, "You are SO fired, you fucking geek. Heather's going to hear about this."

I tell her, "Fuck you, I'm going to lunch."

And I clock out and leave.

When I come back, I see Jessica immediately get on her little earpiece.

Before I even reach the stock room, Heather is there, and the manager Paula intercept me.

"Annie, can you cover register? We have an urgent matter to deal with."

I know I'm supposed to be fired.

Which is why, during my lunch, I went to the copy place and made PDF scans of the printouts I made for Jessica and Heather. I had all the corporate bigshots' emails. They were in the new hire handbook all of us get when we start working. I saved a draft to each but didn't hit SEND yet. I had the printouts as attachements. In the BODY of my email, I described exactly what had been going on. I did send ONE email. And that was to Paula the manager, herself.

But I didn't press SEND until we were on our way to the employee break room.

Paula tells me, "OP, Heather sent me a text that says you were verbally abusive to Jessica. Heather herself says that Jessica has complained to her on numerous occasions that you are a substandard employee, and only her own, personal kindness has presented her from firing you. I came in myself to see if you have anything to say in order to save your job."

It's been a couple of years so of course that can't be exactly what she said, but it was something typical and rehearsed and faux-professional that any low-level boss would say when trying to sound important.

I said I didn't have anything to say in my defense, and that in fact I quit.

Jessica and Heather looked surprised, but then Jessica started smiling.

Paula looked disappointed, and said, "I'm very sorry to hear you say that. You may collect your last..."

"Oh, but before I go, I think you should look at these printouts. I know you don't spend a lot of time studying this stuff, but I thought you might find it interesting. It's the last three months of Jessica's and Heather's employee purchases. Notice how they always ring each other up, and notice all that stuff they're claiming to use as uniforms. If you're having trouble understanding it, I explained it in an email I sent to your cellphone. You should have it already, if you check.

I have the same email ready to go to Dan and Pam and Kimberly and Victor and Kevin but I haven't sent it in yet. I was hoping you could look it over and email me back when you're ready, I mean if you want me to edit anything."

Then I got up and left.

Later that afternoon, my phone was ringing.

It was Paula.

She was practically crying, telling me, please don't send those emails, "I've fired Heather and Jessica. They're GONE. And please don't quit. Please don't tell anyone about--"

I tell her to relax.

I already quit. And I'm keeping my mouth shut.

A few days later, I showed up for my final check. I learned from one of the sales associates that corporate Loss Prevention was called in (our corporate office is only a few miles from the retail location) to interview both Heather and Jessica about their fraud.

In lieu of arrest and heavy fines for what amounted to outright theft and fraud, they were simply fired and unable to use the company as a reference, and due to being fired for cause, could not file for unemployment.

Paula was actually in the store that day, and practically ran to me to thank me for "keeping this scandal at a store level. It's been handled."

I told her no problem. What I didn't tell her was that I never did delete those drafts.

She offered me a reward of free merchandise.

No thanks.

I'm going to look awfully silly in those dainty little suits at my super cool new job of working at Sizzler.

It all ended okay.

A year later I finished my degree, and now I'm doing what I really want to do. Except now at my job, guess what we have to wear. Yeah. Dainty little suits.

I wear socks, though.

I would have never torpedoed Heather and Jessica if they just left me alone to do my job in peace, and didn't try to feel big and important at my expense.

I would have left them to live in their self-medicating lies, live and let live.

Other than some difficult customers, people like Heather and Jessica are what make working retail such a nightmare for so many.

And that's why I feel no guilt about destroying them.

I'm sure Jessica had lots to talk about at that year's Milan Fashion Week.

Hold this L, bitch.

****************

TL;DR: I was stockboy at a fancy clothes store. A low level associate would always boss me around and call me stupid even though she wasn't in charge. I found out she was stealing from the store. I was mean to her on purpose so that I'd be called in to a manager meeting to be fired. I quit, and presented proof to the manager that the associate and the assistant manager were both thieves. They both got fired. I began work at Sizzler.

(source) story by (/u/SaggingSkinnyJeans)

[mystic-kitten-writer]

OMG HOEE YOURE BACK -tears of happiness- I cant wait till chapter 32!!!!!! Cpuld we pretty please have a lil teaser? No pressure. I just need to a taste of your goodness 😇 Luv yaa gurl 😉

I’M BACK BITCCHESS 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

LOOL - of course, you can sweetie! I love dropping teasers, it keeps me motivated 🥰

Here is the teaser! It’s the start, a nice lil’ taste of this crazy chapter because boooooyyy does shit hit the fan in this chapter. Enjoy~!

Rating: SFW

Words: 2000 (a tiny tease, I gotta save some content for when I post 😅)

Notes: WIP; not edited and subject to change, my loves :) Also, I noticed that the start of this chapter is decepitvely sweet for the shit that is about to happen lol - I’m evil.

~ Ying Yue Jiang ~

            “You know…you have beautiful eyes, Princess.”

           “Awe, thanks, Sokka.”

           “Too bad your face is ugly.”

           “I swear-”

           The immature hoots that erupted from Sokka were loud and clear. His belly rumbled in amusement, entertained at my exasperated expression as I rested over his stomach.

           We were lounging in Zuko’s and I bedroom, munching on cookies on our bed, despite it being early in the morning. Zuko already rose and went for a morning jog – and I would be lying if I said I didn’t use the excuse of me being under the weather to avoid that run.

           It was as Zuko was leaving that Sokka busted through the grand doors, still in his polar bear pyjamas, with a plate of cookies in hand – “I wanted to check up on Princess, see how she’s feeling.”

           And that leads us to where we were now.

           I grumbled under my breath, stuffing another fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookie into my mouth as Sokka beamed down at me. Despite the pointless banter and teasing, Sokka and I were venting to each other; I was beyond happy. I never realized how much I missed spending time with him – he was my partner in crime, the person who helped me learn to laugh again.

           And while Sokka has been my side from the beginning – we never got a chance to hang out as much as I would’ve wanted. Appreciate the presence of each other, even though ‘sibling time’ means tons of teasing and humiliation.

           A hand rested behind his head as he leaned against the bedframe, stuffing another cookie in his mouth. His hair has grown so much already.

           Usually, it was up in a messy top knot, but today, he let his hair down. Zuko still had the lengthiest hair out of the guys, but Sokka was starting to prove himself to be a worthy competitor. I was always jealous of how attractive Katara’s and Sokka’s brown hair was. There were natural blond highlights, and it complimented their baby blue eyes.

           “Hey…did Aang bring Momo?” I pondered out loud; brows pinched as I tried to recall the last time I saw that mischievous creature. He was already so infuriatingly elusive, but now that we were in the Kingdom, it was like he vanished.

           “Yeah, but you know how Momo is…” Sokka mumbled under his breath, more focused on chewing the cookie stuffed in his mouth than answering my question.

           “I haven’t seen him once!” I exclaimed, and Sokka snorted, “Join the club. I asked Aang the other day, told me Momo is hiding out in the kitchen.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes hearing that – of course, Momo is there. Appa would’ve joined Momo if he were here and could fit.

           “Explains why the kitchen staff is panicking. They keep complaining that the food keeps disappearing – scared it could be a ghost.”

           “You know what would be really funny…” Sokka mused, and based off the tone alone – I knew he was thinking of something evil. My mouth opened and closed, fighting the temptation to ask because I knew better. There was a reason why Sokka and I got along; we were the definition of dumb and dumber.

           My lips puckered, and the next thing I knew, I turned on my side, facing Sokka eagerly.

           “What’s your plan?”

           Right away, Sokka grinned, sitting upright. I yelped, body rolling onto his lap, and in a bold move – he put down the plate of sweets on the bed. He means business.

           “What if we covered Momo in flour – make him look like a ghost? The kitchen staff would lose their minds.”

           “Sokka~! I can already imagine the mess.”

           “And I can already imagine the looks on their faces when they see a ghost.”

           I huffed, crossing my arms. “No, Zuko will kill me if he finds out it was us.”

           “Keyword, if.”

           “Where is Katara when you need her?!” I groaned to myself. If Katara were here, she would’ve shut down this plan before Sokka could even think of it. She was the mother of the group for a reason – she kept us all in check.

           I grabbed a cookie from the plate that Sokka set aside, shoving it against Sokka’s lips. “Lie back down and eat a cookie.” I pestered, the only way I knew how to distract him. Sokka laughed against the cookie I practically stuffed, trying to chew the whole thing in one go.

           “Aren’t you excited? She’s arriving tonight.” He mumbled between chomps. An enormous smile appeared on my lips, brushing my bedhead hair away from my face. “I can’t wait!” I gushed, body sprawling across the bed as I hugged my teddy bear close to my chest.

           My gaze shifted upwards, staring at the wooden lined ceiling above us, with a silly look. It’s been how long since I’ve last seen Katara? It felt like forever, but I knew it was only a few months. Woah…me and Zuko haven’t been dating for that long, have we?

           It felt like Zuko, and I have been together for years – but not in a bad way. I just felt so comfortable with him. Our routines, how open we are with each other, it was surprising to think that we haven’t been together for that long. But also look at everything that happened, everything we have gone through together…

           It’s no surprise we’re as close as we are. We practically went through everything a couple may experience over their lifetime in a span of a few months. Add in the fact that he’s the ruler of a nation – things get a bit complicated.

           “She’s going to freak out when she hears everything that is going on.”

           I pouted, snapping my head towards Sokka, “She doesn’t know?”

           He frowned, his silliness gone and face stern, “No. We didn’t want to give too much information via messenger bird or attached to Appa. It could get intercepted. It’s not worth the risk.”

           A blue silence fell between us; my gaze returned to the ceiling, lost in my thoughts. Despite all the smiles, the giggles, the sweet moments of bliss – that didn’t change the current chaos around us. Mai is a traitor, Azula is back, and Yakone-

           It was like someone punched me.

           The mere mention of Yakone had a shiver running up my spine, the hairs on my arms rising in terror. Zuko didn’t mention his name once around me, and I wonder if it was because he knew how shaken up I was after the incident.

           And the worst part of it all was I still had the handkerchief Yakone gave me that night when he comforted me, hidden away in my vanity. Gosh, I should’ve thrown it out, burnt it –anything, but keeping it. I didn’t know why I even kept the stupid thing. Maybe it was to remind me that he wasn’t that evil as a man?

           That there was still a little bit of good left in him.

           Yakone knew my family’s crane story. Dumb luck? He’s also a Bloodbender. But Aang told me that-

           “Princess…how is your ‘Fire Nation Politics’ lessons going?” Sokka asked, his voice cutting my thoughts in half. I couldn’t help but jump slightly in surprise, and right away, Sokka’s hand fell over my forehead, a soothing gesture spotting my uneasiness.

           “Hmm? S-sorry, I didn’t hear properly.” I mumbled quickly, looking up at Sokka. He rolled his eyes at my aloofness, flicking my head before speaking again, “You’re lessons involving politics. Zuko told me you’ve been learning a few things.”

           I groaned loudly.

           Gosh, bloody Fire Nation politics.

           The moment I accepted that stupid Imperial Consort seal, I’ve had to brush up on my Fire Nation knowledge. From previous Fire Lords, customs, family trees, and laws – I wanted to cry. It wasn’t that it wasn’t interesting, it was just so much information thrown at me at once.

           My hands fell over my face as I internally sobbed.

           “It’s so difficult. I understand the basics, but the system here seems so backwards at times.” I whined into my hands, venting all the annoyance I had bottled up. There were so many things going on; at this point, I felt like I was memorizing words rather than understanding.

           But knowing the rules did help out and gave me the chance to fire that meanie of a councilmember…Maybe I did understand more than I was giving myself credit for. But with everything else going on at the moment, my head hurt tons.

           “Why don’t you ask Zuko to help you out, Princess? He is kind of like, the Fire Lord.” My hands dropped from my face, opting to throw my arms into the air in defeat. “I don’t want to bother Zuko. He has so much on his plate. I want to do this on my own.”

           “But Princess, this is his job. He’ll help if you ask– he wants to help.”

           I huffed to myself, biting my lips in frustration, “I know, but…I-uhh-I don’t know. I don’t want to. Have you seen the book I had to read for this week?”

           Sokka shook his head, and I grumbled to myself, “On my nightstand. See that ridiculously thick book? Yeah, try reading a page and not fall asleep.” Sokka laughed at the evident disgust in my voice, grinning madly as he reached to his side. Just thinking about the book had me shivering in fear.

           But I was trying.

           Watching the way Zuko worked on a daily, it made me want to work just as hard. I wanted the prove everyone wrong – that I wasn’t some arm candy for Zuko. That I knew what I was doing…

           Sometimes; it felt like Zuko was the only one who believed in me in this kingdom. I won the people’s hearts – now I had to prove to the council that I can do this.

           I closed my eyes, letting my arm rest over my eyes, the migraine that I’ve had still dully throbbing.

           It was strange, for the past five or so days, I kept fluctuating from feeling better to isolating myself in bed. My body was hurting; my head felt like a hot mix of heavy and aching. Was having a cold always this annoying? I usually had Katara heal me; I haven’t experienced a full-blown illness in years.

           “I’m gonna read where you have your bookmark,” Sokka spoke, and I merely nodded.

           Although…I don’t remember having a bookmark in my book…I didn’t make it far enough to bother putting one. I could hear Sokka snort as if he was trying to sniffle in a laugh-

           “Yesterday, Zuko used the lounging area after our bath, and I couldn’t be happier! He looked sooooo cute sitting there, reading. He almost fell asleep-”

           “OH MY GOSH SOKKA STOP!” I screamed. This asshole was reading my bloody journal!

[shirtlesssammy]

15x02: Raising Hell

Then:

Cousin Oliver’s Cousin Oliver makes his grand entrance, and we love him

Now:

The ghosts of Harlan, Kansas are contained, and most of the townsfolk are corralled in the high school 5 miles away. One daring resident, Nan, decides to check out things herself, and armed with nothing but her pashmina scarf, she scouts the town. Her neighbor, Rob, is there and, let me say, if he was that much of a weirdo in life, I would have moved across the country to get away from him. EEEk. 

*Gratuitous Buckleming Bullshit Alert*

Nan is stabbed repeatedly by the ghost possessing Rob. And then the ghost makes a spelling bee funny. 

And we laughed and laughed. 

At the high school, Cas worries that they’re benzine cover story isn’t going to last much longer. One woman already disappeared. Chief!Sam steps up and makes an inspiring speech to the frustrated townspeople.

It’s kinda awkward? I think Sam is nervous about leading (and it breaks me a little to think about the trauma that he’s processing when he made this decision to lead again.)  

FBI!Dean and Belphegor are patrolling the perimeter of the ghost circle. We learn that the ghost in the opening is Francis Tumblety, a.k.a. Jack the Ripper (*Boris puts on Sam Winchester nerd glasses*: No one actually knows who Jack the Ripper was, and he’s not “cool” Dean. Anyway, go read The Five, y’all.) 

Some vigilante townspeople decide to take matters in their own hands and make a plan to go back to their houses. 

*First Quarterly Meeting of the Harlan Ghosts Alert*

Francis Tumblety, President, opens the meeting with an announcement that they were all kicked out of Hell by God himself. Is it just me or did Hell make all these former people WAY dramatic, like they’re all taking part in a small town theater production? 

Two of the vigilantes sneak past the quarantine zone barrier and are almost immediately greeted by two ghosts. Wherps. 

Our favorite witch, Rowena, interrupts Sam and Cas arguing about how to handle the restless townsfolk. Rowena throws her usual love towards Castiel. I think Cas is getting used to it. (And way to deflect your real desire to just chit chat with Sam, Rowena.) Sam asks Rowena about building another soul bomb. They need something to collect the ghosts in.

Before too much flirting can happen, they’re interrupted. There’s a situation. 

Sam rushes to Dean and Belphegor. They’ve found the two possessed townspeople. Sam starts talking to them like they were just totes normal staring at them. Their eyes start bleeding black goo and our intrepid heroes realize they’re possessed. Francis Tumblety pops up and demands to be released. The people possessed are tortured from the inside --and Sam and Dean just stand there. Shoot the ghost, dudes! Make him go away! Ah, that’s for HERO Ketch to do instead! Yay, Ketch! (I feel dirty just writing those words as a joke, and will now burn both my computer and my fingers for typing them.) 

Back at the high school, the brothers discuss the AMAZING and COMPLETELY HELPFUL appearance of Ketch. Ugh. Rowena asks Sam for a Scotch (I mean, she says “Dear”, that’s Sam, right?) Ketch tries to set things right with the witch, but she “hasn’t forgotten” their past. (KILL HIM, QUEEN). 

Ketch learns that Jack is dead and now we’re Team Belphegor. It seems that Ketch has been tasked with assassinating Belphegor. Awkward. 

Meanwhile, in Reno, Amara’s living her best life. She’s getting a massage, when her derpy asshole brother makes an appearance. (Sidenote: I’m supposed to hate Chuck, but wtf? I can’t hate Rob! It’s physically impossible to not be charmed. Aagh. Oh, wait, he liked the ending to Game of Thrones. BURN HIM. But seriously, that’s some lovely shade, and it renews my faith that they’re going to stick the landing with Supernatural.) 

Cas has to handle customer service for a bit, and quite frankly, he’s a fucking saint. 

Rowena and Dean talk ingredients for her soul bomb spell, and Dean plays matchmaker for her and Sam! Specifically, he tells her to “find another boy toy” when she asks about Ketch, but she was just asking to learn what’s the best angle for killing him. Dean doesn’t know that though. Dean might be going through a messy break-up but he’s still making sure his brother is happy. 

*DEANCAS ALERT*

Cas finds Dean in a room. Cas makes an awkward sports reference (HE’S JUST TRYING TO FIT IN, DAMNIT --also, I like to think he’s trying to throw a little levity into their awkward exchanges.) Dean’s pretty mad, and I’m pretty sure I read a few dozen coda fics with this exact dialog last week, lol. Dean’s mad about everything --his whole life has been a lie. Cas bites back, angry about Chuck killing Jack, but he makes it clear to Dean that what they’ve done over the years isn’t a lie. 

Dean can’t believe they’ve ever had a choice in anything. Brb, crying in the corner. I’ll just leave this here for now:

Cas: Dean, you asked, “What about all of this is real?” We are.

(I can’t find it now but someone on sm compared this to “You idiot. You asshole..” and I am compromised.)

Later, Dean and Ketch walk the perimeter. Dean gives Ketch an iron chain to wear to keep ghosts away. They head to a Meat Packing warehouse, where the F in Dean’s FBI jacket disappears. Wherps. Ketch gets tossed around a bit, AND I’M HERE FOR THIS. Dean gets tossed a bit too so, no thank you. A voice tells the ghost to back off. KEVIN!

Dean tries to wrap his brain around Kevin, who was unfortunately sent to Hell instead of Heaven by good ol’ Chuck. Kevin reports that the barrier is fading, so they’re running out of time. He also boasts that he has a “bad boy rep” in Hell. You do you, I guess? 

Chuck continues to be THAT GUY, hanging out in Amara’s hotel room and channel surfing. She tries to do yoga. 

When he tries to convince her to jet off to another dimension, she refuses. “I am running a hot streak in craps. I like Reno. Everyone here is so not…you.” Amara senses that Chuck is…off. When she discovers his injured shoulder, she tells him that he’s weak and afraid. 

Sam and Dean (and bonus Belphegor) assess the state of the barrier. Belphegor insists that the Winchesters can’t just shuttle Kevin off to Heaven. Once he’s been in Hell, he’s destined to stay there. (Can I just say, we’re basing this all off the word of a hinky demon? So IS this really canon truth, is what I wanna know?) (Boris: That wasn’t true for Bobby?)

In Reno, Chuck touches his bullet wound and hisses in pain. Sam cries out at the same time. Oof, TIED TOGETHER. Sam lies to Dean and tells him that he’s feeling better. Dean does his best inquisitive face.

The ghosts, meanwhile, are still hanging out in their weirdly vanilla home base. I can’t believe nobody’s painted viscera on the walls yet! Other Colonel Sanders stalks around, grandstanding about the failing warding and their plan to attack the weak points. Kevin flashes in. Our dear Kevin tries to act tough, but gets bullied by a bigger…ghost. (Suggestion: a ghost’s power isn’t inherently proportional to their size in life, but to their intelligence and mastery of their ghosty powers.) But WHATEVER the big, bully ghost puts a halt to Kevin’s plan to infiltrate the group pretty much immediately. 

Rowena flirts (apparently, ugh) with Ketch while mixing potions in a science classroom. 

As much as I love and support Rowena and want her to GET SOME whenever she damn well pleases, I find Ketch to be a tool through and through. It’d be different if she wanted something from him but…alas. There they are. They flirt with awkward magic versus science innuendo. Ketch strips a plug and jolts her potion. (Boris and I wander off, our hands shielding our eyes in second-hand embarrassment.) 

 Rowena races through the neighborhood with her soul trapping bespelled crystal. Other Colonel Sanders zaps in. He once had a relationship (ReALly?) with her and is appalled that she’s working for the Winchesters now. Ketch pops up and shoots the ghost while Rowena runs off. As Ketch stares off in the distance feeling very smug, the ghost zaps in behind him and knocks him out.

The Winchesters head in to the very beige suburban home to talk to the ghosts. Other Colonel Sanders threatens to kill Kevin, then sticks his hand in Kevin and starts to suck away his soul. Um. Okay, is this a ghost power now? Or is that how demons are made? Rowena uses that moment to suck several ghosts into her crystal, but it’s not enough. She’ll have to catch them one by one, practically. Kevin tells them about the barrier-busting plan, and they head out to survey it. 

The ghosts manifest as little red balls of flame as they hit the barrier. Dean shoots at them like he’s playing a carnival game and is DESPERATE for the red cowboy hat at the top of the booth. Shooting them one by one is pretty fruitless, so Rowena’s called to the plate. Ketch escorts her to the front and I kinda want to punch him as he gestures for her to go ahead. Like, go eat a lemon and die, Ketch. 

Rowena lets loose her ghostbuster ray and starts sucking in ghosts (through…the barrier?) but Ketch knocks her out. It turns out, he’s ghost-possessed! Sweet Dean Bean’s out of salt rounds and Ketch has the crystal now. He boasts about its power and how it’ll be the most perfect thing to break the wall. Dean shoots Ketch, knocking the ghost out of him, and Rowena sucks ‘em in.

Later, Ketch is getting loaded up into an ambulance (glad to see these random first responders are helping out right at the border of this freak gas leak). Cas tells Sam quickly that he tried to heal Ketch, but failed. Ruh roh, Cas! 

Dean holds a conciliatory conversation with Ketch (to sad music) while Ketch gets hauled away. Ketch exchanges mournful glances with (EXHAUSTED SIGH) Rowena. Dodged a bullet there, Rowena. 

Dean and Sam bid farewell to Kevin, who believes Belphegor’s line about Heaven’s no admittance policy. Kevin’s going to wander the world as a restless spirit, rather than head back to Hell. Belphegor zaps the warding, opening up a door-sized hole for him to go through. See you soon, we hope! 

For Kevin Looks FINE Science:

Back with the gods, Amara heads out on her own. “I am willing to coexist with you, brother. …In the universe! Just not anywhere near you.” She tells him that he has little power against her now. Furthermore, he can’t leave the world without her help. “I’ve become the better me. And you are still the same. Petulant, narcissistic…” Amara is pleased that she’s been able to trap Chuck on the very world he’s trying to escape right now. 

At the barrier, souls continue to whir towards the weak point. Dun dun DUN!

______________________________

These Quotes are Real:

A town full of ghosts? Messy even by Winchester standards.

Can you boys do nothing on your own.

We ran our own race. We made our own moves. And mostly we did well with that.

Dean, you asked, “What about all of this is real?” We are.

Turns out, God’s a dick.

I like soul catcher.

______________________________

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