#they BOTH only think of the whole Kira thing as a massive game. that's all it is to them

[a-model-of-propriety]

i can't stop thinking about the "game" motif in the Death Note musical i need to write an essay about it i swear

[evievigilant]

Well I finished Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright! That was a hell of a ride. I hope my posting about it wasn’t Too Much heh. 

Final thoughts below (mostly just for me to sort them out but hey) (also I spoil the first 3 Layton games too I’m sorry):

The mystery as a whole kinda disappointed me? And I feel bad for saying that since the world-building and lore was so heavy, but I think that was to its detriment at times. It was all SO much in order to make anything make sense. I really really loved the first half of this game, since it felt like we could reasonably solve the mystery within the world around us and play within the established rules of this particular world (i.e., one where magic and witches do exist). The information we got felt like it was gradually building to something, and I was excited to see what would happen and see if I could figure it out. With the latter half, all the intrigue was kind of stripped from the first half. Kira’s not dead, Layton wasn’t turned into gold, Maya’s fine, and in fact, except for Belduke (and well, the town ages ago), no one died at all. The main mystery requires that everything you experienced was false, but in a way that made it seem like all those events had no weight to them in the end. And in doing so, the reality of the situation is less interesting and far more convoluted than what was presented to you in the first half.

Now you may be saying, “You fool, Layton games often end with the deconstruction of the supposedly supernatural setting they’re in! And Ace Attorney exists within the normal realms of society for the most part (minus spirit channeling but ya know),” and yeah sure, you’re absolutely right about that. But the thing is, sometimes the twist in Layton games is done well (Curious Village, Unwound Future) and sometimes it’s not (....Diabolical Box (I’m sorry! I don’t like the twist in this one, even if the rest of the game is enjoyable)). The reason I like the twists in the Curious Village and the Unwound Future is because while both times you do prove the town is fake, everything still builds to something else that is real. Flora was still in the tower and the mystery had to be solved for her, and Clive set the trap in motion for a reason. The falsity of those locations builds to a more interesting purpose in the end. It replaces your initial understanding of the circumstances with another more interesting circumstance (e.g. “Oh we need to find the Golden Apple” to “Oh shit, robots” and “Oh no we’ve traveled to the future” to the very real threat of “Oh no this guy kidnapped a bunch of scientists and this OTHER guy is using him as a pawn to enact his revenge”). The latter half is more interesting than the first half. With the Diabolical Box, the time spent in Folsense felt a little more wasted because it was all a hallucination (one that occurred on VERY loose grounds in my opinion) and to me, a hallucination that even the main culprit is unaware of is less interesting than a mystery town with a vampire. In Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright, I don’t know if I can say that the MASSIVE effort to keep up the illusion of this town served to tell a more interesting story than one where witches and magic do exist, especially since the reasoning behind creating the town was.....a lot, to say the least. The real reason for the town existing isn’t NOTHING but I don’t know if I 100% like it. 

I kinda figured magic existing in this world would be fine since this game doesn’t seem the most canon. And I’d honestly prefer it, since it could have led to a more cohesive story, but oh well.

In all honesty, the ending was just so much to take in, and half the revelations weren’t anything we could have predicted without the people responsible just ADMITTING it through a ton of exposition. Like not only was Labyrinthia a research facility, but it was set up for Espella so she wouldn’t have to deal with her trauma, and also Darklaw is Espella’s childhood friend Eve, and also the town has been hypnotized to not see the pure black machinery that is responsible for the “magic” in town, and also the Shades are witches and victims that are alive and well, and also Shades can mess with people’s memories with silver by making people unconscious because everyone has a condition that makes them do that because of the water, and also pamphlets at the parades were used to hypnotize them more, and also Eve was rewriting the story, and also Espella rang the bell (except no she didn’t, Eve did), and also The Storyteller has an incurable disease, except no there’s a wonder drug for it now, it’s fine. And perhaps if this were all revealed gradually throughout the game it would be fine, but this was all basically revealed in the last trial. And as a result, it’s hard to feel like you have a decent grasp of everything.

The game reaaalllyyy wanted me to be sympathetic towards the Storyteller and well....I am not. Also Eve Belduke did nothing wrong (she did a few things wrong but I sympathize with her because wow. WOW). 

Barnham was done so dirty, oh my goodness. I had to think about how I felt about certain parts of the game more than others, but one thing I knew IMMEDIATELY when finishing was that this guy had so much potential and it was squandered. He started to become really interesting after Maya’s trial (especially since he felt guilty over her situation and started to question his role as an Inquisitor a bit, what with his talk about his duty in protecting the town) and we even saw him spy on Darklaw and the Shades. And then they just....sent him to the dungeon. And he wasn’t seen til the ending cutscene. They could have done SO much more with him. I thought for the longest time, “No way are they going to build up his character like that and then throw him away. He’ll probably come back somehow.” Like I thought he and Greyerl were gonna plan an escape heist haha. Turns out I’m the fool here. I wish he had more connection to the main mystery. Perhaps his character arc could have been made more satisfying then.

Honestly pleasantly surprised with how much Layton + Luke and Phoenix + Maya worked together as a group. I didn’t know how that would work out but I liked their dynamics.

I enjoyed how trials and investigations were balanced, and how elements from both Ace Attorney and Professor Layton were incorporated. The puzzles were very fun in this game!!

It was really cool seeing elements from this game that were later carried over to others. For instance, having multiple witnesses and pursuing them based on their reactions to other pieces of testimony was something I didn’t know originated with this game. Always thought it was only a Great Ace Attorney thing. Cool to find out otherwise!

The middle of this game (basically after Greyerl’s trial) was pretty dark! I’m surprised they went in that direction with what I first thought would be a wholly delightful crossover featuring Gentleman Puzzle Man. But it was a welcome surprise because I was heavily invested, especially since some really heavy stakes were established (until they weren’t lol). I made the very Wrong deduction that in order to get Layton and Maya back, we’d have to convince the Storyteller to rewrite the story to bring them back somehow, or rely on time travel bullshit. And well. It does not happen like that.

This game’s music is outstanding. I don’t know if it’s my favorite but it’s definitely up there (tbh though, it’s a difficult mountain to climb to get anywhere near TGAA2′s soundtrack). The pursuit theme is one of my favorites now, too. One of my favorite parts of playing AA games is first hearing what the pursuit themes sound like, and when I first heard this one I was SO impressed. 

Overall I liked this game, even though there were definite problems towards the end. The ending severely tanked its standing in my ranking of AA games unfortunately (I’m sorry :( I value good endings) but I still enjoyed playing it.

[phenomenal1500]

~Roommates~

Masterlist

Summary: Kira and Erik have been mixed-gender roommates at the MIT for almost a year now and it seems they both have some bottled up emotions they have to let go off.

Timeline: Before he joined the United States Navy SEALs.

Pairing: Dom!Student!Erik x Kira (OC) Warning: Smut, Oral, Spanking, Daddy kink, Doggy style.

Kira strolled through the wide hallways of her university, thinking about how yet another rough day had finally ended at the MIT. If she was really honest with herself, she would even admit it was always tough and exhausting for her because she understood almost nothing, but she didn't want to be that negative person again. She knew she was just as smart as everyone else in her class, but she could barely keep up with everything because her mind just couldn't focus on the boring classes anymore and that just didn't sit right with her.

She used to love learning new things.

With a sigh, she opened the heavy door to her shared dorm and threw her backpack to the side before her jaw dropped in jealousy.

"How the fuck?! I had a whole day planned in with classes and here you are, sitting on the couch all relaxed- nah." Kira whined at the smirking man ahead of her who was slouching on the sofa with his black sweats on, no shirt, and the golden chain that he never took off hanging around his muscled neck.

"You've ever relax yourself?" He leaned his arm over the backrest so he could watch the woman over his shoulder.

"You can't relax when you're studying all day and night. Why are you suddenly so relaxed?" She crossed her arms as she walked closer to him. "Professor sick?"

"Mhuh." He hummed and closed his eyes. "And I finished everything already." He bragged and lifted his chin up before watching her again.

"Smart ass." She laughed, shoving his arm away so she could lean over the couch to see what he was doing. "Really, you're watching that? Since when do you not play those video games anymore?"

"Since when did you become my mom? Huh? It's a cool movie, aight?" He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes in a defensive manner, but she knew he was playing with her.

"Alright, sure~ Don't have to be so defensive about it, I simply just wondered." She giggled as she jumped over the backrest of the couch to sit beside him. "Come on, turn that Ps4 on. I wanna destroy you in a game of COD." She elbowed him softly to get his eyes off of the screen so either one of them could start the game console.

"Fine, but if I win, I'm allowed to destroy you in my bed." He rubbed his hands together and moved his head closer to hers to whisper into her ear, his voice huskier than before. "Just a quick fuck~...."

"E!" She pushed him away gently. "House rule number one; we're the only mixed-gender dorm so no fucking." She eyed Erik up and down sternly while holding up a finger to sign to him to keep his distance. "And no, because I sometimes shower with the door open doesn't mean that that rule doesn't count anymore."

It was true. She showered with the door open most of the time, but it wasn't to tease him or with any sexual intentions. It simply was to ventilate her damp and hot bathroom.

Their shared dorm was massive. They all were at the MIT to give the students space to study. The moment you'd walk through the large and heavy front door you would enter an open space with a very modern aesthetic, white and gray walls and black curtains decorating the enormous windows. To the right was a gray industrial kitchen with a cooking island that you could also use as a dinner table. The rest of the space was used for a living room with a TV, a huge comfy black sofa and a few more pieces of furniture and decorations that belonged to the students themselves to make it feel more like home. Both the left and right walls had two doors.

On the right was a door next to where the kitchen ended that led to Kira's bathroom, which had no ventilation, and next to that door was the door to her bedroom.

On the left was the exact same thing, but Erik's bedroom and bathroom door were a bit closer to the front door and his bathroom did have ventilation.

"Kinda does, Kira."

"You watch me? Thought you were too busy with those other girls you always bring home." It wasn't that she cared about it at all, they were just close friends and they both could do what they had the urge for, but it surprised her he paid attention to her in such a manner. She didn't want to show him she was very surprised though and in the meantime laid her hands on the black PS4 controller and disturbed his crime movie to turn on the PS4 itself.

"Why do you think those chicks are always coming over? To distract me from ya fine ass."

"It's that bad? I could also close the door next time." She shoved him to the side so she could sit in front of the screen as she chuckled softly, starting up COD.

"Who said it's just the showers, ma?" Kira knew Erik was raising one of his eyebrows in a cocky manner, but kept her eyes fixed on the screen as it loaded. After the home screen popped up and she could start a game, she pushed the second controller in his hands and still tried to avoid eye contact with him. "You ain't gonna talk to me anymore now?"

"I watched you once." She shrugged and glared up at him for a second. "It was by accident and just a brief moment."

"When?" He seemed very interested, particularly in what she saw.

"That dark haired girl from last week that left you alone because of an important phone call.... you decided to jerk off with your room door still ajar." The woman laughed a little to make it less uncomfortable for the both of them and he laughed with her. The two were never shy when it came down to joking or talking about sex, but never in such a personal way or about each other. "I spotted you jerking when I wanted to get some food at night."

"You liked it? Liked watching me?" He licked his full lips as he stared at the girl while she killed his ass a few times without him noticing it.

"You're hot, but that's a fact we all knew was true." She pointed at his muscular body before returning to play the game. "You know that's not why we're friends though.... right E? You know that right?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're friends with me for me and not the fuck boy side in me and the hot body." He mocked her a bit and threw his white controller onto the soft carpet as the screen showed she indeed won from him this time. "You fucking distractor!"

"Told you I would fucking destroy you! I've always been better than you in this game." She jumped up and cheered in victory, but was until she was yanked into Erik's lap, forced to straddle it.

The controller fell out of her hand as she was stunned and he glared up at the woman.

Surely she had been in his lap before, especially if the two watched a movie or played a calm video game and she decided to lay her head there, but this felt completely different, less like friends.

She bit her lip and rested her forearms on his shoulders.

"How late is it?" She questioned him quickly so he couldn't make another move with his nasty comments that had been going on since she came home.

"6:30."

"Fuck, I thought I could dodge this awkward situation with sleeping." She sighed before climbing off of him. "Guess not.... what do you want to order for food?"

"Nothing, rather want you on my face right now-...."

"Seriously?! Pizza?" Kira tried again. "Fuck it, I'm going to choose because you can't act normal. Pizza it is."

~~~

After the two ate dinner together, she kissed his jaw to say goodnight and disappeared in her bathroom to make herself ready to go to bed like always.

She had taken a fresh shower and wrapped her wet body in a clean white towel as she walked to her bedroom, jumping on her bed and arguing wether she'd fuck herself before she went to sleep or not.

Erik was exactly on the same mission, though he had already decided what to do.

It took a while before she groaned in frustration, defeated by her choice of not doing it herself and she put her long black robe on before knocking on Erik's door. If she was going to ask for his help, she was going to do it in style. "E? You in there alone?" The woman asked softly and Erik took his time covering himself up before laying back down. He couldn't really care if she saw him or not. "You're okay with me coming in?"

"Yeah, I'm good with that, baby girl." She rolled her eyes playfully at the nickname and carefully opened his door.

"I couldn't sleep so.... I thought why not join you~...." She lied and stared at her feet for a moment before looking back up at him. She couldn't really see him properly because of the lack of light in his room, but she could make out from his silhouette that he had already made a place for her next to him.

"Stop the lying and get your ass in this bed already, Kira." He commanded and she obeyed instantly, closing the door behind her and releasing her body from her black see through robe as Erik immediately turned on a small black lamp that was standing on his white nightstand. He eyed her up and down lustfully and offered her his strong hand as he sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her onto the bed with him. His lips instantly connected with hers when she came close and he bit her lower lip before sliding his tongue inside her mouth.

He wanted to taste all of her tonight.

This was what he had been craving for all those months.... he wanted to see that pretty pink pussy cream itself for him and only for him.

Still in a deep kiss, Erik forced her flat on her back as he dragged her to the edge of the bed. He then finally broke the kiss and hooked her legs over his shoulders while he got on his knees so he would get full access and control over her body. She was at his mercy tonight and nothing was going to change that. He could hear the woman gasp at his action and see her chest going up and down heavily as he spread her already dripping and swollen lips with his fingers, licking her moist and warm folds open.

"Fuck~ E." Kira couldn't suppress her moan and bit her plump bottom lip hard as his mouth closed around her clit, sucking and nibbling it gently.

Her just manicured nails dug into the white and black sheets when his tongue thrusted in and out of her slowly and licked her dripping juices up in the meantime. "Mmhhppp, baby~ oh my god. Eat my pussy just like that." She whined and her body shivered when Erik pressed his thumb against her hardened and throbbing clit and he let his husky growls vibrate over her core.

Oh, this man was already driving her body crazy.

After a few more thrusts with his devilish tongue, she arched her back from the bed and grabbed a hold of his dreads as she came in his mouth.

"That's it. Rain down on me, baby girl~...." He groaned deeply as he licked her clean, loving the sight of his spit and her cum mixing and dripping down her thighs.

"Now, turn around for Daddy." He ordered and let go of her legs. "I want to see that phat pussy from behind, girl."

Kira, still panting, obeyed immediately and turned around to position herself on all fours, a whine escaping her lips because of the cold air that hit her wet pussy. He made sure to warm it up again though and cupped her pussy, rubbing it slowly with the palm of his hand while spreading her legs as well. The woman could already feel his evil smirk glide over her back before a hard sound of ass cheeks clapping filled the room and it released a quick and short moan from down her throat.

That smack had most definitely created a handprint on her pretty ass.

Kira teasingly wiggled her ass in front of his eyes to trigger another one and he did it again, even harder this time. "Mmm~ daddy."

"My nasty slut likes that? Huh?" Erik pushed her down into the mattress with an arched back so she was forced to lay with her face into the pillows, her ass up and spread open.

"Yes." She answered shortly as she felt his hard and big cock resting in between her soaked pussy lips and her heartbeat sped up while his cock rubbed between her slick folds, her knees growing weak.

"You want this, don't you?" He smacked her ass again. "Beg for this big cock, baby."

"Please, daddy, please give it to me. I need your cock inside of me." She moaned it all on purpose and pushed her ass into him some more which stole a groan out of him.

"You're such a good girl for me." With that said he harshly pushed inside, going as far into her that she swore she could feel him in her stomach right away.

"God~ you're huge." She whimpered as felt herself being stretched out by him and she let her face fall forward into his pillow again.

"Fuck." Erik groaned at her tightening around him and it increased the friction between his cock and her sensitive spot as he thrusted into her deeply. Her breath hitched and his hand went around and under her body to mould those clapping breasts as he fucked her good and fast.

The way he slightly bend over her back made his expensive cologne scent and the hot sex scent emerge and fill her nostrils and she closed her eyes in enjoyment.

God.... how horribly much she loved those smells combined.

It didn't take long after that before her body pushed back into him in response, her thrusts meeting his in a perfect rhythm.

Kira was a moaning mess; her hair wildly hovering over her sweaty face, marks created by his fingers and teeth that covered her soft skin and words not being able to form by her throat because of the satisfaction that filled her whole body. She wanted him, no, needed him and that feeling of her arousal that was burning inside her lower stomach couldn't take it much longer. She forgot to breathe as he grabbed her hips violently and pushed his fingers into her skin while he guided her. The woman then tried to muster as much strength as she could to push her shaking body up so that she was on all fours again and she grabbed the man's muscular arm holding her hip with one hand for stability.

"Fuck~ N'jadaka. I'm gonna cum!"

"Go ahead, baby, clench ya tight ass pussy around this dick." She came loudly as his dirty talk reached her ears and he followed closely with his orgasm, coming deep inside her. Erik swore she was sucking his whole soul out of him as her tight walls milked him and his cum painted her insides deeply. "Damn, ma~ Can't let you go now, can I? You're mine." He smiled at Kira who had moved her head to the side to smile back, his sweet smile revealing his dimples before he pulled out. Her pussy automatically clenched before his eyes again as his cum dripped out of her and he would have dived into her deep and warm waters one more time if he hadn't restrained himself and laid beside her instead. The sight of her sweating body, leaking and stretched pussy and shaking body simply made him so wild. "God, that's a sight I'd love to see some more, Kira."

"You will." Those words were all the exhausted woman could get out of her mouth while she snuggled into his side, falling asleep in his protective and strong arms afterwards.

[leonardhoee]

Ikevamp Guys as Villains

Warnings: Mass Murder, Gore...

Tagging: @aurora-morning @delicateikemenmemes @writer-akihiko @nafeary

Napoleon

Napoleon would be a royal dictator. He is the leader of a corrupt, authoritarian regime, hellbent on conquering the world. Think Hela (Thor: Ragnarok or The Darkling (Shadow and Bone). He controls people with his massive armies, and believes he is the only rightful ruler in this world. He believes that the world should be remade in his image so it can be restored to its former glory. He craves power and he will stop at nothing to get it. His armies are tools that swore their lives and souls to his cause. He feels no remorse in sacrificing them for his greater good. The only thing that would satisfy him now, is seeing the world crushed under the heel of his boot.

Leonardo

Leo as a villain would be like Iron Man gone bad. He does what he does simply out of curiosity he wants to see if it would even work. Cyberterrorism is just a tool for him. He would make modifications to his own body so that his eyes can see x-Ray, night vision, and other people’s biological information, and his brain is directly connected to the internet. He would create an entire army of robots like Ultron (Marvel) or Terminators. He hacks into government servers and international television broadcasts. He takes over entire governments simply by sitting in his lab controlling his army from a tablet. He can destroy anything connected to the internet with a flick of his finger. He wouldn’t even have to get up out of his chair. His plans would be so well thought out that no one would realize what happened until they’ve already lost.

Dazai

Dazai would be unhinged and reckless. He’d completely detach himself from human emotions and commit as many insane heinous crimes as possible till he does something bad enough that he would get killed for it. He creates an alternate persona for himself like the Joker or Hisoka (HxH), and at that point he has buried his emotions so well that he fails to differentiate between his persona and his true self. He may not actively acknowledge it but his true goal is to just go out in a blaze. It doesn’t matter how many lives it costs to do so.

Jean

Jean would be walking a fine line between villain and antihero. His main motivation is wiping out the people he considers evil, to make the world a “better place”. However, he would take it to a point of mass murder. There would be major battles breaking out between the people that support him and the people that believe what he is doing is evil. He believes he is bringing divine justice upon those who deserve it and thinks this is the way to atone for his past sins. Sound familiar? Jean would be Kira (Death Note). He is also similar to The Hood (Arrow). He has no mercy and he will not hesitate to kill.

Comte

Comte is rich enough to buy world leaders. He is the puppet master behind every single nation of the world. No one suspects him, however he slowly takes over countries one by one. He would also run some kind of underground mafia operation that’s involved in pretty much every kind of trade there is. He gets his money from so many sources that even if one is cut off, he is still rich enough to maintain his control over politicians and famous businessmen. Comte is the leader of the secret societies that the world’s richest people are involved in. The world answers to him and you would never even know. (Similar to Kingpin (Marvel) and the Court of Owls (DC)

Sebastian

Sebastian was adopted by Comte after ran away from his family. When he was young, hs saw firsthand how cruel the world can really be. He wholeheartedly believes the world is better off being run by Comte, and has pledged complete loyalty to him. He is Comte’s right hand man and he runs most of their underground mafia operations. He is incredibly versatile and does whatever Comte needs from him. Acting as a proxy? Assasinating a world leader? Leading a heist? Sebastian can do it all. His ideals have been so skewed growing up with Comte, that he sees himself as an extension of Comte’s power. Nothing more. He is a loyal weapon to be used by his boss.

Vincent

Vincent would release his emotions and would be unable to handle it mentally. He would be a serial killer who escaped from an asylum after losing his mind. He would kidnap his victims and slowly bleed them out as he paints with their blood. His specialty is carving designs into his victims after they have bled out and died. He leaves a sunflower at every crime scene and each new murder is just his latest artistic masterpiece left for the world to see. One way or another his art will be remembered, and it will cause the whole world to feel as much as he does.

Theo

Theo is driven by rage. Rage towards the world, towards the way he and Vincent were treated. His strength and anger would translate into him having an incredibly powerful monstrous form. His only goal is destruction. He wants to tear apart the society that allows people to get hurt like he did. He would be similar to Venom (Marvel), Abomination (Marvel), or Eren (Attack on Titan). Blinded by rage, he looses sight of his original goal and devoted himself to destroying everything he sees. It doesn’t matter who gets killed, they’re just collateral damage.

Isaac

Isaac can be two different types of villains all in one. On one hand, he’s a mad scientist who happened to discover a chemical combination that can be weaponized. However his insatiable bloodlust drives him to weaponize his discovery for himself. He wants people to know fear like he does (think Scarecrow (Batman). I can see him laying with Leonardo and helping upgrade his robot army with that chemical. On the other hand, when he lets himself give in to that bloodlust, he won’t stop unless he is stopped by someone else (like ripper Stefan from Vampire Diaries). He rips apart his victims like a wild animal. His crime scenes are covered in blood with dismembered body parts.

Mozart

Mozart would be an assassin for hire. He’s like a ghost. There have been stories about him but no one truly knows who he is. He works in the shadows and kills efficiently and without hesitation. One of his specialties is creating various sound waves that can kill his target. For those type of kills he doesn’t even need to leave his base, he can simply hack their device and cause it to play that frequency. Comte has hired him before to carry out certain kills he couldn’t do himself because of his position. Mozart is extremely devoted to his job will kill anyone who gets in the way of him and his target.

Arthur

Arthur would be a mix between Moriarty and Kilgrave (Jessica Jones). He would have some kind of mind controlling ability that allows him to create loyal puppets for his elaborate schemes. He loves playing games with the people suspecting him and he leads them in circles with their investigations. Sometimes he will even offer to personally help investigate cases he is responsible for, just to lead them into dead ends and plant fake clues. Every crime of his is a masterpiece with countless layers going into it. He does not see the people involved as humans. They’re just his pawns in his game of chess. Arthur just wants to see how far he can go before he finds a worthy opponent that can solve his cases.

Shakespeare

Shakespeare would be a theatrical serial killer who later escalates to mass murder. He would start out by abducting people he believes to “fit the role” he has planned for them. He would then kill them, replicating famous death scenes from plays and movies he admired (or his own plays). Each crime scene would be perfectly set up with lighting, makeup, and costuming. This would escalate later on to him and his troupe taking massive groups of people hostage, forcing them to read lines and act out various gruesome plays. When someone dies in the play, the actors have to murder each other. If they refuse, Shakespeare murders them both out of rage and brings in new people to replace them. He will not stop until he creates his perfect play.

[littleeyesofpallas]

BLEACH - Name Games

I was thinking I’ve more or less covered all the names with any clever or easily lost but overt meanings.  But there are a few side characters worth addressing, if only briefly:

Hisagi[檜佐木] Shuuhei[修兵]

name reads “Cypress Helper Tree,” and “Disciplined Soldier.“  Pretty straight forward play on him being a loyal and by the books lieutenant to Tousen.  I don’t know if there was something specific intended by the use of Cypress or not.  Hinoki Cypress is a common tree in Japan, and broadly used for construction due to its rot resistant qualities, so it’s actually pretty appropriate in how it seems to have themes of incorruptibility, but that feels like a stretch as far as intended meaning.

Omaeda[大前田] Marechiyo[希千代]

Sui-feng’s lieutenant is named, “Big Front Field“ and “Rare 1,000 Decades.”  Basically his family’s name comes from them having a large field as a sign of wealth, you could almost read it as “Big Front Yard” evoking imagery of like a massive estate, rather than the more humble image of a plot of farmland.  His name just means what it sounds like, it describes him as being Rare: Something seen only once in 100,000 years.  Basically it’s all just a joke on the fact that he’s a rich kid, which we see more clearly in omake stuff.  Speaking of which...

His dad was Yoruichi’s lieutenant in the Pendulum flashback’s era and his two appearances make it pretty clear that he’s got a kind of old school yakuza aesthetic.  A real money grubbing sleaze ball.  His name Marenoshin[希ノ進] like his son’s uses the kanji for “Rare,” the posessive No[ノ] and Shin[進] meaning “Progress” or “Advancement.”  Basically the name “Rarity’s Advancement” is just reiterating the idea that he’s someone who has amassed value/wealth.

The mother of the family is Mareka[希華], meaning “Rare Flower.”  The eldest daughter, Maremi[希美] means “Rare Beauty.”

The younger son, Marejirosabu[ 希次郎三郎] is a weird one... It reads out as “Rare Next-Son Third-Son” although the use of the second “Son”[郎] here isn’t actually counting sons (there isn’t a missing middle son between Marechiyo and Marejirosabu) it’s counting children while specifying that Marejirosabu is a son.  Or I guess an alternate reading could be that Maremi is trans and when Marejirosabu was named she had been the second son? But I wouldn’t really assume Kubo meant for anything so subtle.  If anything he might have meant it as a crass jab at her looking just like her brothers.

Also, for some reason Marejirosabu is pretty clearly designed to be a reference to Detective Conan.  But I don’t really know why?

And finally, the youngest child of the family, Mareyo[希代] means “Rare World” or “Rare Age/Era” depending on context, so I’m not entirely sure which one is intended here.

Kira[吉良] Idzuru[イヅル]  

The Kira[吉良] here reads “Good Fortune, Good” which is of course ironic because Kira is gloomy and miserable and frankly just terribly unfortunate; from his parents both being dead, to his relationship with Gin, and his general reluctance to do just about anything.

I haven’t the foggiest idea as to why Kubo never wrote his given name as anything other than katakana.  It is of course an actual name so there are different ways to write it in kanji with their own meanings, but they’re all different, and none seem like they really add to the reading, so I’m not going to try and guess which Kubo meant.  If anything Kubo’s avoidance of kanji for the name usually just goes to show that he specifically didn’t want any of their meanings to muddle the reading of the name.

But then I’m not sure why he aesthetically chose just the sound of the name Izuru,over any other names he could’ve given him...

Yamada[山田] Hanatarou[花太郎]

is actually kind of a clever one.  So I’ve mentioned before now that certain kanji are very common in japanese naming conventions either in relation to place names for surnames(-yama=“mountain,” -da=“field,“ -kawa=“river,“ -mori=”woods,” etc...) functional or explicit gender indicators for given names (-ko=“child,” -ne=“sound”: both features of common girls names; -rou=“son,” -maru=“whole,” -suke=“assist”: call common of boys names.)  Also flowers and trees and even fruit are all pretty common elements of names, elements Kubo seems particularly fond of.

The trick with Hanatarou isn’t actually that his name means anything in particular.  It reads “Mountain Field,“ and “Flower Big Son.“  But the joke here is that these are all generic kanji.  You name someone “<defining trait>+son” or “<specific flower>” and generally place names are “<defining trait>+place.”  You don’t just get the surname ”River” or “Mountain” you get things like “Shallow River” or “Fast River” or “Red River.” Basically, in ye way back olde days before surnames were really a thing the question would go;

Who are you?  Given <name>.  Where are you from?  Over by the river.  Which river?  The ______ river...

and after having that exchange constant “______River” would effectively just become a name, because you’d just begin shortening the whole conversation into; “Who are you?”  “<Name> _____River.”  And that’s the end of it.

So the joke about Hanatarou having a forgettable name, even though he insists that it’s an easy one to remember, is that his name is ONLY made up of common, non-descript kanji.  He’s not named after A Flower, he’s just named “Flower” which is not specific and doesn’t actually carry with it any implicit themes or meaning, like naming a particular kind of flower would.  It’s a funky thing to translate into English, but it’s almost like if his name were Jack Smithson in English: it’s two easy names, nothing unusual or complicated or hard to pronounce, but then everyone would constantly get his name wrong as John Smithson, James Smithson, Smith Jackson, Smith Johnson, Smith Jameson, Jameson Smith, etc...

Other Bleach - Name Games posts: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

[vacuousauto]

📃🎥🏳‍🌈

tysm for tha ask molli!! ill talk abt kny here bc its takin over my life rn qwq

spoilers ahead 4 tha whole series!!

📃 what is the plot of your hyperfixation? and is it a movie, game, show, etc?

kny is a manga w an anime adaptation thats had 1 season so far n a movies bein made of my fav arc!! (also this plot desc may not b perfect bc i havent read it in like 4 months)

its abt a boy called tanjirou whos whole family got killed by a demon, n his sister nezuko got turned into a demon (which fun fact: in kimetsu theyre man-eatin creatures w different powers called blood demon arts!!)

hes sent by giyuu (a demon slayer!) 2 join tha demon slayer corps so hell become stronger n mayb get a little revenge. as a treat (and also mayb find a way 2 turn nezuko human?)

as he trains he learns how 2 do water breathing (a sword technique taught by him n giyuus mentor, urokodaki) n his final challenge is 2 cut a massive boulder in half w his sword

its real hard 4 him (as u can imagine) so 2 kids in fox masks named sabito n makomo come n help him, but after tanjirou cuts tha rock n tells urokodaki abt him its revealed theyre dead???

@ final selection (basically a demon slayer entrance exam where u win by surviving on a demon-infested mountain 4 seven days) he learns from a real fucked up demon that hes exclusively been targetin urokodakis students n that not even sabito could slice its neck open?? (thats how him n makomo died)

after tanjirou kills tha demon n basically puts all tha water breath students’ souls @ peace he passes tha exam!! its been 7 days n now he gets his nichirin blade (the only kinda sword that can kill a demon, tha only 2 ways they can die is thru a slice 2 tha neck from a nichirin blade n sunlight)

turns out nezuko was turned by the strongest demon of all, michael jackson muzan kibutsuji, n so he sets out 2 hunt him down n try 2 kill him

but he aint so strong @ first so he needs 2 try 2 take down tha twelve kizuki first (the 12 strongest demons besides muzan)

another reason he needs 2 kill tha kizuki is 2 gather their blood for a demon named tamayo n her assistant yushirou!! tamayo can make a cure if tanjirou can gather blood samples 4 her (the stronger tha demon tha more of muzans blood they have so hes gonna have 2 aim high)

he meets a bunch more slayers along tha way, includin zenitsu (a scaredy cat thunder breath user who basically simps 4 nezuko n becomes a badass when hes asleep) n inosuke (a rowdy beast breath user who wears a boar mask n lived in tha mountains)

after lower moon 5 gets killed by giyuu, nezuko unlocks her blood demon art (exploding blood!) n tanjirou remembers how 2 use tha hinokami kagura, him n nezuko get captured by a slayer called shinobu qwq

turns out she n giyuu are 2 of the nine hashira, the strongest of all tha demon slayers!! but theyre all havin a debate over whether they should kill tanjirou n nezuko 4 goin against corps rules n travelin w a demon

eventually oyakata-sama (tha leader of tha slayer corps) comes in n tells em its ok, urokodaki sent a letter explainin that nezukos never hurt anyone n if she does, tanjirou giyuu n urokodaki all have 2 die basically

oyakata-sama also tells em that tanjirous met kibutsuji, at which everyone goes feral at (and understandably, none of em had ever even seen him before hes that elusive)

so they get 2 live bc theyre like. tha best hope the slayers have @ findin kibutsuji

the rest of the hashira are kyoujurou (flame), muichirou (mist), mitsuri (love), obanai (serpent), gyoumei (stone), tengen (sound) n sanemi (wind)

theres also kanao (shinobus pupil, flower breathing) n genya (sanemis brother, eats demons 2 gain power n basically become a demon temporarily, also He Has A Gun)

ive gone on a lot here so ill try 2 keep it brief now but i HAVE 2 explain infinity train or ill die (slight suicide tw but no one actually does that outside of dreams)

BASICALLY the lower 6 moons have a meetin @ kibutsujis infinity castle, muzan decides 2 dismantle tha lower moons bc they keep fuckign dying

all of em get their shit wrecked except enmu, who avoided death by usin muzans “dont tell me what 2 do” rule against him n beggin 4 death basically

so he gets a metric fuckton o blood n goes off 2 kill tanjirou

turns out he keeps killin people on his train n kyos gone 2 investigate!! the main gang (the kamaboko gang as the fandom calls it) are there too bc tanjirou needs 2 investigate what hinokami kagura really is (turns out its sun breathing, the og form and ones that only folks w the same mark on his forehead can use) n if anyone knows abt the alleged “fire breathing” as they know it rn its the fire hashira!!

so they get on tha train (inosukes lovin tha experience bc hes Literally Never Seen A Train Before) n kyo basically adopts the whole group

they take some tickets n promptly fall asleep HERES WHERE ENMUS DEMON ART COMES INTO PLAY!!! DREAM MANIPULATION BABEYYY

BASICALLY he can make people fall asleep in a buncha ways (the mouths on his hands, his weird eye thingies, the tickets) n once thats happened he n his henchmen can access said dreams (he can even control em!!) n if they find tha “spiritual core” they can destroy it n essentially leave em as an empty shell thatll never wake up!! yaaaaaay /s

he fails bc tanjirou realises a way out n its by cuttin his own head off in his dream, eventually everyones awake again n tanjirou finds enmu on tha roof(?) of tha train

after a while he does manage 2 decapitate him but surprise!!! hes not dead

turns out he literally FUSED WITH THA TRAIN n is plannin on eatin everyone inside, includin kyo n the gang

but he doesnt bc Main Protags Cant Die(tm) n dies while complainin that he wants a redo (sorry enmu, ily but u cant turn back time unless ur yoshikage kira)

also sidenote enmus tha only kizuki w/o a canon backstory as far as i can remember and????? H??

ANYWHO after that whole debacle basketball akaza (UPPER moon 3) shows himself!!! FUCK

n after all that struggle against the 8th strongest demon of all time now they gotta deal w tha 4th strongest????? damn,

so yeah it goes how youd imagine, its a tough fuckin battle n its Not Fun but it turns out kyoujurou fucking dies n i genuinely didnt realise until he said “kamado my boy, lets have one final chat” bc i was so in denial n lets face it i still am now

long story short idk how im gonna manage 2 get thru the movie w/o breakin down @ the end

anyway after that horrible horrible time tanjirou goes n meets senjurou, kyos little bro, who gives him kyos sword guard thing (its shaped like a flame!!) n i havent read it in a while so i cant FULLY remember but i think this is where he learns abt sun breathing??

after that they end up goin on a mission in tha red light district w tengen, his 3 wives are there 2 serve as spies (theyre kunoichi, which i think are ninjas of some kind??) n the boys have 2 find em

they do manage 2 find em but not after runnin into upper moon 6, who are 2 twins called daki n gyuutarou

after that fight tengen has 2 retire bc he got fucked up p bad from that fight n he wants 2 make sure tha girls are ok above all

so after that arc tanjirou n nezuko go down 2 tha swordsmith village (bc the guy who usually makes his swords is fuckin tired of repairin it) n run into mitsuri!! she tells tan that theres smth in tha forest thatll make him stronger

ngl this is tha arc i remember tha least abt so this desc is prolly SO inaccurate despite havin 2 o my favs in it)

but muichirou shows himself too n hes mean 2 tanjirou >:/ (he does get nicer eventually but 2 him specifically)

a 10 y/o kid named kotetsu shows tan this 6 armed trainin robot called yoriichi type 0 (based on tha first slayer 2 use sun breathin) n tanjirou breaks it by accident qwq

but he keeps trainin thanks 2 kotetsu but tha kids a harsh fuckin trainer ill tell u that

anyway so we have a whole buncha demons 2 deal w here except most of em are 1 demon split into different parts

hantengu n gyokko, upper moons 4 n 5 respectively!! mui deals w gyokko while mitsuri genya nezuko n tanjirou deal w hantengu

in these fights mitsuri n mui get their demon slayer marks!! these are marks that they get when they surpass the limits of tha human body n they look like tha marks demons have (muis looks like clouds on his cheeks n mitsuris is 2 hearts on her collarbone)

next up is tha hashira trainin arc!! everyone gets trained by each of tha hashira 2 try n unlock their slayer marks

each have a dif trainin style that focuses on dif stuff (for example gyoumei focuses a lot on physical strength n stuff like that, obanai is more abt accuracy) n this is where giyuus backstory gets revealed bc he doesnt think hes worthy o bein a hashira :((

basically him n sabito were absolute besties!! they both trained together n sabito basically told him not 2 die ever

but it all goes wrong @ final selection- sabito manages 2 take down every demon on tha mountain but one of em, that bein the hand demon that exclusively targets water breathers (theyre easy 2 distinguish bc of their blue haoris n custom made fox masks)

he manages 2 save giyuu n everyone else from tha selection except 4 himself (this is why giyuus haori is like that- its made from his sister n sabitos haoris)

giyuu blames himself 4 both of their deaths bc he failed 2 protect em n says that he doesnt deserve 2 have passed tha selection let alone b a hashira,, but tanjirou convinces him otherwise!! ^^

then one day while giyuus trainin w sanemi disaster hits- oyakata-sama, his wife n two of their kids just died

the 2nd to last arc- the infinity castle!! thingsre gettin real n muzans revealed himself

in tha infinity castle EVERYONES there but can u really blame em theyve been workin up 2 this 4 millenia

shinobu runs into upper moon 2- douma, aka the bastard that killed her sister as well as inosukes mum

she is. justifiably pissed. n she gives it her all but he kills her :(( douma ily but also FUCK YOU.

so perfect timing!!! heres her adopted sister!! as well as inosuke!!!! revenge battle time >:0

in the end shinobus poison is what kills him- her whole body is filled w wisteria poison thats deadly 2 a demon so he basically consumed her whole body weight in poison rip

but ofc word gets out via messenger crow that shes dead n its just a real sad moment tbh :( but theres no time 4 that bc giyuu n tanjirou just ran into akaza >:((

so tanjirous pissed as hell now n w their combined efforts they take down tha basketball lookin bastard (bastardball??)

meanwhile obanai n mitsuri (n yushirou iirc?? he uses his own art 2 control her @ some point tho i cant remember when) deal w tha new upper moon 4 (nakime, whos also shiftin tha rooms around w her blood art n makin tha fight super fuckign annoyin tbh) n muichirou genya sanemi n gyoumei deal w kokushibou (upper moon 1, also tha original sun breathers twin brother so he gets moon breathin >:3)

mitsuri n obanai fake their deaths w help from yushirou n muzan falls 4 it, which comes in handy later ;3

zenitsu also deals w his former bully, upper moon 6 aka kaigaku aka dickhead supreme who if zenitsu didnt kill i would personally kill w my bare hands

so after everyones taken down all thats left is muzan >:( muzan kills tamayo real early on n everyones goin all out on him

we also learn that he has multiple brains n hearts in his body eww

also the hashira have their marks now!! but all but sanemi n giyuu get killed n giyuu loses his arm :((((

genya also gets killed noo

eventually ofc the battle is won thanks 2 everyones relief, it took for fuckin ever bc the only way muzan can die is tha sun so they had 2 kill time n keep him out in tha sun 4 a long time

also nezukos been cured!! shes a human!! n shes comin 2 help!!

but OH GOD OH FUCK MUZAN TURNED TANJIROU INTO A DEMON N GIYUUS CRYIN N INOSUKES CRYIN THRU HIS MASK N ITS GOIN SO FUCKING WRONG but he gets tha will 2 turn back bc Fuck You Muzan, The Power Of Friendship Defeats All

the 2nd to last chapter is tha happy endin, the kamaboko gang visit tanjirou n nezukos house, giyuu cuts his hair n SMILES n tha hashira have their final meetin w oyakata-samas son kiriya

i cried readin it ngl their sufferin is finally over...... it cost a lot but now theres no more demons,,,

chapter 205 is set in tha modern day! kanao n tanjirous descendants are shown, as well as zenitsu n nezukos

everyone who died/never had kids get reincarnated (for example gyoumei is now a daycare worker, kyos reincarnation toujurou is besties w one o tans descendants n giyuu (giichi) is friends w sabito again!! makomos their friend too!!

ALSO KIRIYA IS STILL ALIVE hes the oldest man in japan!! this is huge bc the ubayashiki family dont usually live past 30 bc of a curse that was put on em when they had muzan

yushirou is still alive too but thats bc hes a demon n he paints tamayo for a living qwq

it just made me cry so hard bc waaah,,, everyone gets 2 live a demon-free life now,,, anyway typin this took me like an hour im sorry mint (as well as anyone else who read this)

🎥 do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?

tha infinity train arc as a whole tbh??? its basically enmu n kyoujurous big moment and. i care them sm. i cant wait 4 tha movie qwq except 4 their deaths ofc

🏳‍🌈 do you have any headcanons (lgbt, race, neuro, etc) that are important to you?

i have a lotta headcanons really!! outta my f/os favs tho i hc:

giyuu is trans bi n autistic

kyo is gay n has adhd

muichirou is nb n pan

mitsuri is pan

douma is gay

enmu is nb pan n autistic

[anarcoqueer1994]

Pretend Boyfriends

This was a really cute request by @tyrus-is-everything . The prompt was TJ and Cyrus pretend to date to get Kira to back off TJ but then end up together at the end. I hope y"all like it. It was a fun story to do. There is minor fluffy angst.

"Ugh…" TJ throws his hands on his face before dramatically falling back on Cyrus' bed. The two of them are supposed to be studying for a math test but TJ is obviously distracted. Cyrus, sitting across the room in a chair by his desk ,looks at the other boy. He takes the opportunity to enjoy how cute the blonde is while TJ has is face covered.

After a moment of staring, he snaps out of it. He clears his throat causing the jock to sit up and look at him. "Something on your mind, Teej?"

"Its Kira, dude. She is so clingy. She is always texting me, always asking to hang out. I don't exactly mind her, like she is cool to play some pick up games at the park with but she wants to hang out all the time. She just texted me asking to go to the park with her. I told her I am studying but she keeps texting me. Do you think she could have a crush on me?"

Cyrus shifts uncomfortably in his seat at the last question. He tries to regain his composure. He knows he shouldn't feel jealous over the idea that someone else likes TJ, but he does. But who wouldn't like TJ? He is so sweet, and the best looking guy at school, a great athlete…

"Hello, earth to Cyrus?" TJ waves his hand. He must have noticed Cyrus zoning out. Cyrus snaps back into it, slightly blushing. "Oh sorry, I'm a little out of it. What were you saying?"

"Kira, Cy. Do you think she could like me?"

"I mean it is pretty obvious she does. But I also think that she thinks you like her back."

TJ's face distorts in confusion. "Why would she think that?"

"Well you do spend a lot of time together. She flirts with you all the time and you are just so oblivious to it that you don't say anything. You even gave her a piggyback ride."

"I told you Cyrus, she bet me I couldn't carry her."

Cyrus rolls his eyes. "Yea but typically if someone randomly jumps on your back, or you know, constantly wants to around you, they probably like you more than just a friend."

"God, I'm an idiot. I can't believe I missed all that." TJ returns his hands to his face. "I want to make it clear to her somehow that I am not interested in her that way!"

Cyrus jokingly suggests "You can always get a girlfriend so she gets the hint that you are taken."

TJ suddenly gets a huge smile on his face. "That's a great idea!" 

"TJ, I was joking. How do you expect to get a girl just to go along with pretending to be with you just to get Kira off your back. Wouldn't it be easier just to talk to her?"

"First of all, no. Talking to her always just leads back to us talking about her. It is impossible to have a real conversation with her. Secondly, who said it had to be a girl? As long as she thinks I'm taken the plan will work. In fact, it could be anyone." TJ gets a devious look on his face and smirks at Cyrus.

"Oh no. No way TJ." Cyrus puts up his hands.

"Why Cyrus? It would be perfect. You're my best friend  and the only one I can trust with this. Plus you wouldn't have to keep it up for long. After she gets the hint that I don't like her, we could "break up" because we realized we are better as friends or something. Please Cyrus?" TJ flashes those puppy dog eyes. If only he realized how much those eyes made Cyrus' heart melt.

Cyrus lets out a sigh. "Let's say I agree, where would we do this?

"Well I was thinking there is that winter festival tomorrow night, I know she will be there. We can go together like a pretend date?"

"Fine, I'll do it. I will be your pretend boyfriend." Cyrus gives a small smile.

"Thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to me!" TJ gets up and walks across the room. He throws his arms around Cyrus. He continues "Really, thank you." 

TJ's arms linger around Cyrus far longer than a random hug. Cyrus clears his throat again, seemingly shocking the other back to reality. TJ pulls away quickly.

"Sorry about that Cyrus, you know, just trying to rehearse what to do as your boyfriend." He gives a nervous laugh.

Cyrus, trying not to read too much into it, replies, "Yeah, rehearsing is good. Um we should get back to math."

"Yea, you're right. We should study." The other boy says, sounding equally as flustered. 

That night, neither boy could sleep. Both were thinking about that hug in Cyrus' bedroom and what laid ahead the following evening.

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

They decided to meet at TJ's house before heading to the festival. Cyrus is nervous as he walks to TJ's front door. He has been here so many times before but this time feels different. This time his heart feels like is was going to fly out his chest at any moment. He has to remind himself that this is pretend. Maybe the flowers were too much he thinks to himself. TJ only likes you as a friend he keeps saying in head.

On the other side of the door is an equally nervous boy. He has redone his hair at least 3 times. Amber, his big sister, is trying to calm him down. She smiles as she finishes fixing his hair, washing out some of the excess gel. Her brother hasn't admitted his crush on his best friend to anyone. But Amber can tell. She wants tonight to go well for him.

The doorbell rings, and TJ practically trips running down the steps to answer it. Before opening the door, he reminds himself to stay cool. Unfortunately, it takes everything in him not to go full heart eyes when he opens the door. There Cyrus was, cheeks pink from the cold air, standing in front of him with a bouquet of violets and white roses. He looked so cute. "Hey Underdog."

"Hey, not-so-scary-basketball-guy. I um brought you these, I figured it would help us stay in character if we play the part completely. You know, method acting." Cyrus says as a lame excuse. In reality, he thought the colors would look pretty with the contrast to TJ's bright green eyes. He hands them to the taller boy.

"I love them. These are great. Thank you, Cyrus." He gives a soft smile. "Let me put these in some water and we can go."

Soon enough they were making their way to the festival. When they walk through the gates, they see a massive ice rink full of people skating and having fun. There are stands with hot chocolate, and winter crafts for kids. Further back, people are sledding down a long hill. String lights fill the open air space with a warm glow. 

TJ looks over at Cyrus' face. He looks so happy and cute. His face is filled with pure joy, looking like a kid who has just walked into a winter wonderland. He takes this opportunity to slide his hand into Cyrus'. He expects some resistance but only feels the warmth of the other boy's hand squeezing back before intertwining their fingers. Cyrus says in a barely audible tone "Got to keep up the role right?" Before pointing somewhere with his eyes. TJ follows his line of direction to Kira, standing near a food tent staring at them. 

Cyrus speaks again. "I think she definitely sees us. You think she will get the hint?" 

"I hope so but we should keep this up for the rest of the night just in case." TJ says in a voice that almost sounds foreign. Cyrus swears that he almost sounds nervous even.

"Of course." Cyrus smiles. "Wanna go skating? It is one of the only athletic things I can do without completely embarrassing myself."

"Yeah, that sounds great." TJ responds as he starts to lead the brunette to the skate rental booth. As they step closer, they see some familiar faces. Buffy and Andi are standing in line waiting to rent their skates. Cyrus starts to internally panic as he and TJ get closer. He forgot to fill his friends in on this plan. What if they blow their cover? Cyrus pleads with whatever G-d is out there to stop his friends from noticing him. No such luck.

Buffy spots them right away. She calls over. "Cyrus, TJ over here." 

TJ, not realizing what could go wrong, happily pulls Cyrus to the others, still holding hands. 

"Hey, I didn't know you guys were coming." Andi says. "Cyrus said he had plans tonight." Her eyes shoot down to the boys' intertwined fingers. "Oh my god. Are you guys on a date?"

Neither boy answers, unsure what to do. Buffy smiles at them. "You guys are, aren't you? I am so excited for you! Finally, right?"

With those words Cyrus' heart drops. Buffy just unintentionally opened a can of worms he wanted to keep shut. TJ speaks next. "What do you mean by finally?"

"Well you know, Cyrus had such a crush on you for so long and literally anyone with eyes could see that you liked him just as much. I am just surprised you didn't do this sooner." She says nonchalantly as the group of kids get their skates. 

Cyrus quickly interjects "Well, um, we are going to go skate now. " He sounds anxious and even with the cold air around them, Cyrus feels clammy. He pulls TJ away from their friends, who look completely confused, and to the rink.

He keeps expecting TJ to call this whole plan off. He expects TJ to be freaked out. He expects him to regret ever becoming his friend. But when it comes to TJ Kippen, you should never expect one thing, because you will get something else. TJ seems to pretend like that entire conversation didn't even happen. He goes on with their fake date. He appears completely unfazed as he pulls Cyrus onto the ice. That is, of course, on the outside.

On the inside TJ was a bundle of nerves. Was Buffy right? Did Cyrus really like him in the same way he liked Cyrus? Could this be a thing? Could he really date the boy of his dreams? He was surprised that Cyrus could not hear his heart pounding. TJ really did not want to get his hopes up but he was struggling to keep them low. 

Neither boy spoke much as they skated laps around the rink. But they never let go of each other's hand, almost like they needed the connection. After a bit, they hear a skater coming up behind them. As the skater went around them, she came into view; Kira. She stops in front of them and gives almost a disgusted smile. "Hey TJ. Cyrus." The latter's name was spoken with much contempt.

"Oh hey Kira." TJ replies.

"So what is this? Are guys seriously a thing now?" The words leave her mouth like venom.

The taller boy speaks again. "As a matter of fact, we are." He smiles before removing his hand from Cyrus' only to throw it around Cyrus' waist pulling him closer.

Being this close to TJ makes it almost impossible to breathe. The air from his lungs felt like it was caught in his throat. All he can do is stand pathetically wrapped in TJ's arm, but he wasn't about to complain.

Kira's voice cuts through his thoughts, louder than before. People are beginning to stare. "I don't think whatever this is, is real. You expect me to believe that you would rather date this loser, over me. We compliment each other so well."

TJ's grip around Cyrus gets tighter as he snaps back. "Don't call him that! You don't know anything about him! He is the sweetest, smartest, cutest person I ever met. Anyone would be proud to be with him, I know I am." Cyrus' blushes, thankful that the cold could account for the pink filling his face. 

She smirks "Then kiss him."

"What?" TJ chokes out.

"If he really is your boyfriend, kiss him."

Cyrus looks up at TJ, not sure what to do next. TJ looks back at Cyrus to get permission with his eyes to kiss him. Cyrus nods softly. TJ's eyes flicker down to Cyrus' lips before leaning in and ...does nothing. He stops before meeting Cyrus' lips.

"I'm sorry. I can't. I'm sorry…" he says one more time to Cyrus before running away leaving Cyrus on the ice. Cyrus' heart sinks to the pit of his stomach.

Kira lets out a dry laugh. "I knew it. TJ could never really be into a guy like you." Her words felt like knives piercing him all over. As she skates away, he is left feeling like an idiot.

TJ had spoken all those nice things about him. He didn't freak out when Buffy revealed his crush crush on the athlete. He didn't deny what Buffy said about him liking Cyrus. Cyrus, for a moment, let himself believe that they could possibly be a thing. But it was obvious by how TJ reacted just now, that he was being delusional. TJ was just being polite.

He shoots TJ a short text.

I'm heading home.

He doesn't even get a reply.

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

Cyrus lays in bed, replaying the events from earlier that night. He keeps reliving that awful feeling he had watching TJ run away from him. He should of stuck to his gut. It was a terrible idea to do a fake date. He knew somehow he would get hurt. But he could never say no to TJ. But now he is left feeling more stupid, and humiliatedthan he has ever felt.

He is jarred from his thoughts when he hears a tap on his window. He is on the second floor so he is a little uneasy. Then there is a second tap.He turns on his bedside lamp. Another tap hits the window. Cyrus takes a deep breath and walks to the window. Looking outside he sees a figure sitting on the tree branch outside his room. It doesn't take him long to recognize the figure. He opens his window. "TJ?"

"Hey Cyrus, a little help here." He says reaching his hand out, asking to come into the room. Like it was established earlier, Cyrus can't say no to those green eyes. He grabs the other boy's hand and helps pull him inside. 

The boys face each other. Cyrus doesn't get why TJ is here. Hasn't he been humiliated enough today without the taller boy coming to remind him that he is an idiot with another unrequited crush?

In a hushed tone, as to not wake his parents, Cyrus asks "Do you have any idea what time it is? What are you doing here? Are you crazy? Look I get that it was dumb for me to think you could..." Cyrus is suddenly cut off by the other boys lips pressing against his. TJ's arma pulling Cyrus closer to him. It only last a few seconds before TJ pulls away but without removing his arms. Cyrus is in complete shock.

"What ...what was that for?" Cyrus can hardly push the words across his teeth.

"It's what I wanted to do earlier. I like you a lot Cyrus. I like you as way more than a friend. All those things I said earlier to Kira, I meant every single word.You are so sweet. You are so smart. And damn. You are so cute. When I am with you, you make me want to be a better person. You are always there to build me up, even when it feels like the world wants to tear me down. I don't want to be pretend boyfriends. I want you to be my real boyfriend. I just don't know what else to say. Just please tell me that you like me in the same way. Please." TJ looks like he is holding his breath waiting for a response.

Cyrus gives a small smile before reaching up and touching TJ's cheek. "I do. I do like you in the same way. I would love nothing more than being your real boyfriend. "

TJ let's out the air that moments ago was caught in his lungs. "Good." He laughs softly.

"But wait," Cyrus asks "If you liked me too, why did you run off today?"

"Because… because a minute ago, was my first kiss. I was so nervous in front of all those people. I didn't want to look stupid and I panicked." TJ turns his gaze away from Cyrus, almost ashamed to make eye contact.

"TJ, I get it. And I like this better anyways. Our relationship is on our terms, not Kira's. I can't believe I was your first kiss. You're  so, I mean look at you. You are so adorable. I'm surprised people weren't lining up to kiss you."

"Cyrus, until you, I didn't want to kiss anyone." He blushes and Cyrus takes note of every detail on TJ's face. 

"You mean that?"

"I've never meant anything more. So is it a yes to the boyfriend thing? Because I would like to try this kissing stuff again." He gives a cheesy grin at the shorter boy.

"Yea, it is a yes. But a las, you have to leave before my parents wake up. But The Spoon tomorrow for lunch?

"Definitely." TJ finally pulls off of Cyrus, making his way to the open window. 

"TJ wait." Cyrus says.

"What is it, muffin?"

Cyrus blushes at the new nickname before stepping closer and placing little kiss on TJ's cheek. "Night Teej."

With a small wave, TJ is gone out the window. 

Well neither of them are getting any sleep tonight. 

[skull-bearer]

This is the only movie I take notes on all the stuff I’ve noticed for the first time. Again, I’ve seen this movie approximately 8 million times and still find new stuff in it. Cut if you don’t want spoilers for a thirty year old movie.

-The Garthim Master has these really cool spines that stand up when he’s really pissed.

-The handles of the swords are anodised gold, you can see the little rainbows.

-The Ritual master has these super long teeth on his lower jaw? like, how does he eat with those? Ouch.

-Skeksil also has spines, but they don’t move?

-Wow, under their robes the Skeksis have these super tiny extra hands. It’s like how the UrRu have four arms but theirs are vestigial.

-When I’m a hundred I hope I can wear awesome red dresses and no bra.

-This isn't a new point but again- how the fuck did they make that orrery? I want a fucking map of everything that’s represented there. Just the most epic WTF.

-I swear that little ‘I know’ from Jen when realising how to tell the crystals apart wasn’t there in the VHS copy I used to watch?

-Jen’s ears move and it’s adorable.

-The trees breathe.

-Both Jen and Kira have blue streaks in their hair?

 - I never realised the nebrie has babies.

-aaand we immediately see one dead and roasted. I can see the editors have the same sense of humor as my brother.

-’Got something stuck in my teeth’ LOL.

- The Ornamentalist showing proper table manners.

-Skekung: ‘I’m a thousand years  old and I can blow bubbles if I damn well want to!’

-Skekzok: *disapproval intensifies*

-Did Aughra just steal that silver jug thing? Bet there was booze in it.

-I love how the world isn’t hostile or friendly, it just is.

-The garthim need to learn about this amazing new invention called doors.

-Fizzgig eats moss, apparently.

- I love how since this is technically another language, Skeksil is really bad at speaking Gelfling. He probably hasn’t needed to use it for centuries. Bit of a dead language.

- How did Skeksil get to the castle so quickly? Did he hitch a ride on a garthim or did he have his super new carriage tucked away somewhere?

-Kira has what look like burn marks or scars on her legs, she mentions remembering fire in the dream fasting sequence so maybe it’s from that. THE LEVEL OF DETAIL IN THIS THING PEOPLE.

-Anyone saying Kira using her wings is random can suck ass, we see Gelflings with wings on the prophecy wall.

-I love the random rubbish strewn around the bottom of the moat thing around the castle. They even bothered to think up fantasy rubbish. Guess the Skeksis aren’t really big on recycling.

- All the background talking isn’t people just going ‘watermelon, cantaloupe’, it’s actual relevant dialogue, it’s just- there, and we aren’t even meant to be paying attention to it.

-Skektek has bits of metal nailed into his face? Okay dude.

- I fucking loled at the moment Skekzok pulls a knife out of fucking nowhere, and Skekung is right next to him and does this massive double take like ‘... you had this thing on you this whole time? Were you going to tell me about it at any point?’

-Skektek doesn’t quite get the whole whispering thing. He’s the guy who gets you to lean in and bellows everything at the top of his voice. Maybe he’s deaf and wants everyone else to be too. 

-I’m beginning to feel sorry for Skekung, he’s probably really regretting volunteering for the Emperor position.

-Why were all of the Skeksis so eager to drain Kira? It’s not like they were going to get any. Maybe they do kinda care for each other? Just a little bit?

- The Garthim apparently like to relax with a fun game of volleyball. Unfortunately games are on hold since the last victor ate the ball in their excitement. Thankfully, a substitute has turned up...

-That lava shaft must make for a great central heating system.

- Is Aughra really just stealing everything not nailed down?

[rogerthat-taylor]

15 Questions 15 Mutuals

I was first tagged by the kind and thoughtful @rogers-weirdo and then by my lovies @bennyblueberry and @a-time-for-legends wquite a while back and I’m so glad to finally have the time to sit down and do this, so let’s go:

(I added the keep reading cause it got a little long and I didn’t want to annoy anyone who might not be interested)

Are you named after anyone?

My first name is Faith (this is what people normally call me) but at one point in high school for a fresh start, my mom thought it would be cool to have my name tag say Raine (my second name) rather than Faith so for the whole of my high school life, everyone knew and called me as Raine rather than Faith.

Raine came from a character in a game my dad loves dearly: Final Fantasy so I was named after a video game character.

When was the last time you cried?

Two days ago, Labour day. Too long and petty of a story to tell.

Do you have kids?

Nope, I can barely take care of myself so I feel like when and if I do have children, I owe it to them to first be the best version of myself in order to be the best mother and care-taker I can be for them.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yes, it’s concerning because it has developed into this instinctive coping mechanism and it comes off as me being rude so I’ve been trying to tone it down a little.

What’s the first thing you notice about people?

I think similar to Kari, @rogers-weirdo, I tend to over analyse people’s body language when I speak to them or even from a far. I notice the little things they do that may suggest their enthusiasm or lack of it. The moment I feel or sense that they’re uninterested, I find myself almost immediately finding a way to end whatever I was talking about.

Personality or one’s attitude speaks louder to me than their physical attributes so right off the bat little things that suggest about their personality or their life and what they go through are a few things I first notice.

What’s your eye color?

Dark brown.

Scary movie or happy ending?

I enjoy movies that propose a relatively more realistic ending. Happy endings are always nice and appreciated but sometimes I feel like sad endings or endings that audience didn’t necessarily want or expect is what gives these endings more of an impact to the audience.

That being said, I enjoy a specific genre of scary movies. One where the horror goes beyond the use of visually scaring the audience with mythical ghosts of creatures and instead makes use of metaphors to hint or address a sort of opinion on prevailing issues in the world. Jennifer Kent’s Babadook exemplifies this as the Babadook (the evil presence) is used as a metaphor rather than just a scary presence in the movie. I am also a massive fan of Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us as I personally feel that both movies made a clever use of horror to get people engaged in what these films might mean or imply which then leads to opening up conversations on topics or subjects that aren’t often talked about but all the more should be discussed about. This is why I am so passionate about films as a medium. When done with meticulous passion, I believe films have the power to change the world and in many ways, they have.

Any special talents?

Apparently I have a pretty flexible thumb but that’s about it in terms of special, I guess.

Where were you born?

Manila, Philippines but I no longer live there.

What are your hobbies?

My answers are actually so similar with Kira, @rogers-weirdo, this is so cool! I’m on school break so when I’ve got ample time from not working, I find myself listening to music: Queen currently (I don’t know, some of their songs are so poetic and I really wanna know all of their songs by heart) like I’ve just been re-listening to their albums and giving it like more attention to kind of have a better understanding of it. I write a lot but they rarely ever get published anywhere, they’re all shying away in my drafts because I’m too harsh of a critic and too much of a perfectionist to be completely comfortable with publishing anything, yikes. I draw sometimes and make videos or edits.

But mostly I’ve just been trying to work a lot so I could save up for travel, yay!

Do you have any pets?

I have a hamster and I named him Papi, he’s adorable! 

What sports do you play/have played?

Figure skating? Can I count that as a sport? I was super young when I got into that so don’t ask me to do any cool stunts because chances are that i’d only make a fool out of myself. Sailing? Again, does that count? aaaaand floorball, a lamer version of Ice Hockey because my school didn't offer Ice Hockey so floorball it is. 

How tall are you?

I am 161cm and I don’t know how much that is in inches.

Favorite subject in school?

Literature and Arts

Dream Job?

Yikes, Job? I really don’t know. I don’t see myself being tied down to one job or one career per se. I would love to work in the film industry, behind the cameras or even post productions. Be a part of International tours and casts of musicals, on stage or off stage. Basically, there are a lot of jobs or things I want to try to do in my life and I don’t think I could ever hold one job for too long. As long as I get to see the world, meet and have meaningful exchange with different people of different cultures then i’ll be living the dream.

Wow, I took that way too seriously than I should have but it was really fun kind of reflecting on those questions so thank you again for everyone who tagged me, I appreciate you!

So now I tag: @tiiredtaylor @rogahhhhtaylah @allkinds-oftrash @the-bronte-angel @joemhazzello @imwaytooobsessed @luv4fandoms @roger-taylors-drumsticks @genethequeen @insannyy @allfandomicons @rogertayloriskindacool @zzucchinibread @rogmeddowstaylor1 @another-one-breaks-free

You don’t have to do these if you don’t want to, that’s cool too!

[papersandkeyboards]

5/31 to 6/5: (everything else and) Prom

36th WEEK, MAY 31-JUNE 5, 2016.

English class has always been interesting to me. If I think about it, English class (be it here as a first language, or back home as a second language) is always more fun than Indonesian Language class back home. In my class in Rainier Beach, which is IB English Language and Literature, we read classics and Shakespearean plays and interpret those. (don’t get me wrong, I had to read The Scarlett Letter for English Lang class during my short stop in Houston and it was painful, but something about how English teachers’ way of teaching is so interesting and, of course, not boring)

For the semester’s big project, however, we were told to make podcasts. About anything.

I understand that podcasts aren’t much of a thing in Indo, but the simplest way to explain podcasts in a nutshell is audio lectures, audio books, discussions, serial stories, or anything about a topic. And honestly, it’s not even just lectures. You can talk about anything in a podcast (in my Theory of Knowledge class, we listened to a series of online podcasts entitled “Serial”, which covers a story for each season that is told in an interesting and comprehensive way).

But this time, Mrs. Shaw doesn’t limit us to just audio, but we can put visuals in it as well. So, basically saying, our big project was to make an audio or video file talking about things which has our arguments in it. And we could do it individually or in groups of three, max.

Me, being myself who essentially resents group works can be quite an individualist, of course, decided to do the podcast by myself.

And me, being myself who almost always aims to be anti-mainstream, chose a topic that most people would hate and throw rocks to after the first glance.

I argued that zoos aren’t necessarily inhumane to animals. For a side that believed that zoos are downright cruel and disgusting, I stood against them.

Of course I know people aren’t always going to agree with me, but as a (used-to-be) debater, I tried to smother everything in good wording (and some solid arguments can i get a hell yeah), and at the end, all I need to be satisfied was Mrs. Shaw saying “you got a point.” (aka “hmm iya juga ya”).

It was an enjoyable school task to do. Ehe.

Anyway, the next two days, Wednesday and Thursday, were two sacred days we all students acknowledged dearly as Early Release days. The neverending amazement of Seattle has turned me into somewhat a Dora the Explorer, even though it was clear that I have always been a damn-straight home person back home. Would rather stay home that being somewhere else.

But an exchange student logic was that you’re missing a lot of you spend a lot of time at home.

So Kira and I hit the waterfront and rode the Seattle Ferris Wheel.

And the next day I spent by myself, visiting the Seattle Art Museum and indulging my fangirl side by watching X-Men: Apocalypse.

Remember I mentioned once that it was the time of SIFF—Seattle International Film Festival?

Karen, Eric, and I looked up the showtimes and movies, trying to find anything interesting, and of course the choice went to an Indonesian movie, entitled “Copy of My Mind”, so we watched it on Friday evening.

It never occured to me that films in film festivals aren’t those up the regular theaters. Most of them are months old before the time of the festival itself, some even a year old or more. But I guess that’s the point of having film festivals: as a platform to promote films, because almost all of them don’t include big starry actor names, and all of them aren’t in a franchise.

Copy of My Mind, however, was starred by Chico Jericho and Tara Basro (blame was on me for just recognizing these names for the first time), and soon after the movie started, I got why I’ve never heard of this film before back home: it would never be able to air in Indonesia. Simple as that.

As usual, my movie-goer sense was so much indulged in cheap plots of franchise films where every message is shown explicitly during the film with a mandatory happy ending and a bonus of occasional car explosion, so when I saw the ending of Copy of My Mind, I was disappointed. I didn’t get the message.

(later I googled the film and it turned out to be a hard-core social and political satire towards my own country) (so yeah, go watch it guys) (majukan perfilman indonesia)

On Sunday, I was reminded by the remaining days I have by attending Nouha’s goodbye party. She would leave three days after the goodbye party, which is June 8, and I’m still staying here until the end of the month, but surely it sucks to remember that you have to leave eventually.

But the goodbye party was a fun one—sliders, chips, other typical tasty American barbecue snacks in the backyard, people bringing going-away presents, and of course, pictures.

(I swear the pictures were up somewhere but now I couldn’t find them)

---

Aight. That’s quite a brief (???) summary of how the first 5 days of the week went. Whereas I usually said the fun part comes in the weekend, this WHOLE week was full of fun and things to do (thank God for early release). HOWEVER, though, however,

this weekend was Prom.

That’s right, everyone, you heard it. The infamous American High School Prom.

....

Gitu aja sih. Ehe. OKAY. Prom in Beach... was definitely UNLIKE Proms in other, harshly saying, white rich school everywhere else. But the part where people ask other people to Prom, well, that was done everywhere, I guess.

I was walking the hallway when Rebecca and the others stopped by and Rebecca asked me, “Nabila, who are you going to Prom with?”

“...????? I don’t know??? No one asked me to.”

“It’s America, you can do whatever you want. Why don’t you ask somebody?”

yaela yang bener aja lu dasar ampas kepala.

Jadi gini sih. The way Prom works (or at least in my school) is that only the seniors are invited, unless the seniors ask somebody else from other grades—juniors, sophomores, freshmen, or people from other school—to be their prom date, then those persons are also invited. And I know Kira is a junior, so I asked Kira as my prom date so she can experience prom and everybody is happy. Also because Rebecca and Emily were committees so there are fellow juniors there. yaela padahal karena emang gaada yang ngajak dan akhirnya ngajak temen sendiri supaya tidak garing

I didn’t take too much trouble setting up a promposal—Prom proposal—unlike those who are seriously dating—a friend from Theory of Knowledge class made a poster and got his football team to promposed his girlfriend, it was very sweet—and because I was an awkward unromantic piece of shit, I asked Kira to be my prom date during stretching before softball game.

She was appalled. At least she wasn’t repelled, which was good. Good thing she didn’t expect a canon of flowers or posters or an orchestra playing for her to be promposed.

And that’s the story on how I got my prom date.

Which was totally not unusual, because at Prom night I found out that Alex asked Justin, a junior, so that Justin can experience Prom with his senior fellows too. Zion, who is gay, asked Nina out of friendship. A lot of people do that that night. Many people even went with their squads instead of being in pairs.

When Kira was scrolling through numerous online shops to find a dress, I bought mine in Nordstrom Rack—which was basically Nordstrom but they sell old stuff that were cheaper (because I didn’t feel like spending hundreds of bucks on a dress I’m gonna wear, like, once or twice for my whole life). Not only I bought it in Nordstrom Rack, I also bought it last Febuary, which was before Winter Ball. That being said, I used the same dress as what I wore for Winter Ball. Which was good, because I didn’t want to waste money on dress I would most likely use once. The admission ticket was around $40 anyway, while other schools my AFS friends were in charged around $80-100 for it. sekolah saya miskin emang, tapi asik.

Sementara ada temen-temen saya yang ‘melamar Prom’ pakai poster, bunga, permen karet (dia nawarin sekotak permen karet gitu trus pas dibuka ada tulisannya ‘Prom?’ trus dikasih bunga, lucu abis sih), ada juga temen yang asal ngajak cewek manapun yang kebetulan lewat, dan kalau ditolak, geser dikit trus ngajak cewek lain terdekat. But then again, I didn’t know how significant a prom date is—whether being asked to be prom date equals being asked to be one’s girl/boyfriend, or is it just a one-time occasion thing?

Whatever it was, I do know that at least Prom in Rainier Beach High School doesn’t shun single people. Yay. Nabila can go to Prom without worries.

HOWEVER.

However, around a week before Prom, I found out that Indonesian Students’ Association of Seattle University (ISASU), which was like a couple blocks from my house, was holding some sort of event, and guess who came as a guest star.

....

NO.

I DO NOT LIKE HOW THIS TURNS OUT.

I REALLY DON’T.

After contemplating which one is rarer: to experience a classic American high school Prom night every exchange student wants to be a part of or meet a massive Indonesian dazzling pop-star in person, I did what I thought was best for me: I chose Prom and let go of Raisa, with the arrogance of “I’m Indonesian, she’s Indonesian, we’ll meet again but I only have this one chance for Prom” without realizing that that will least likely to happen.

I came to Kira’s house on Saturday afternoon, June 4, 2016, and ate Indomie for pre-Prom dinner (Prom dinner paling tidak modal sepanjang sejarah manusia). Then we had a photoshoot in which Kira and I look like a happy couple of lovers. Then Laura drove us to the venue. Which was a not-so-big space in SoDo but enough for the whole class lah.

(pic credit to whoever took this)

Long story short, it was fun. At first it wasn’t really because both Kira and I did not know many seniors despite some people I recognize from classes I am in, so we talked with Emily and Rebecca. Then people I know started to show up—Nina, Justin, Zion, Alex, Gretar, and others—and we danced. What was fun about it was that everyone didn’t dance with their dates, but mixed in into big groups of friends and was having a pure hyped-fun time instead of a romantic one. (not to brag but Nina and I did some duets and we were killing it) (kapan lagi bisa hacep dan meliar kaya begini ya)

The King and Queen of Prom, instead of voting, was done by a raffle (maybe so that everyone can get a chance instead of a cliche competition of popularity). Rony got King and Antoneyah got Queen. There was also two photo booths, an elegant one with a sofa and a fun one like a photobox along with hats and fake mustache and other stuff you could use.

(’twas Rebecca, Emily, Rony the playboy, me, and Kira)

(terus baru 3 tahun kemudian AFS menggerayangkan gerakan AFSPride)

(mampos kenapa w pendek sekali, bahkan dalam standar orang indonesia)

(tUH udah naik tangga pun masi lebih pendek)

THEN, the event continued for whoever wants to join everyone to the Seattle Ferris Wheel, while free tickets were provided! We sporadically went to the Ferris Wheel by Uber—some people didn’t come due to curfew and probably an after-party somewhere (I finally convinced Kira to join after many considerations. Since the Wheel was closer to my house, she agreed to crash in my house after).

Lucu banget aih. Anak-anak remaja pakai baju-baju bagus, sebagain berpasang-pasangan, dan sebagian lagi bergerombol kelompok, dan rame-rame masuk ke kereta Bianglala.

(’twas Gretar, Alex, Justin, me, Kira, Zion, and Mohamed)

Kapan lagi kaya gini huhuhu seneng.

It was—I don’t remember—a bit after midnight? After we were done Kira and I took an Uber back to my house, had ice cream in my bed while watching Monsters University, and fell asleep halfway through the movie (and my laptop ran out of battery).

---

Aaaand that’s probably as close I could ever be with Raisa: in the same city, neighboring neighborhood.

But at least, thinking back, I would not trade the experience I just had with anything else.

Salam dari penghadir Prom Rainier Beach High School dengan style hijab paling cantik (karena memang satu-satunya),

Nabila Safitri.

[panda-noosh]

Boyfriend!Mello {Death Note Headcanon}

so I wrote NSFW for the first time?? only it's in a headcanon, so it's not like it's got beautiful prose or anything. I hope you guys enjoy!

 - Mello is the type of boyfriend who just refuses to acknowledge the fact that he has a S/O.

 - now, he loves you. he wouldn't just let somebody into his life if he didn't love them, but the idea of being tied down to a person is just too much for his brain to handle.

 - he wouldn't want anybody else, and he would never even dream of cheating, but like – being called boyfriend? no.

 - he would worry about you in very subtle ways. asking Matt where you are whenever you don't come trailing into the headquarters behind him, texting you every now and then to ask if you're okay or if you need anything.

 - after Kira got loose, this would get even worse. he would become downright protective, but then refuse to acknowledge the fact that he was being protective.

 - like, he wouldn't let you out of the headquarters for a little while and whenever you pulled him on it, he'd say, “you can leave whenever you want. just don't come squealing to me whenever Kira finds out your real name.”  -  and you'd never even wanna leave, but at least admit to your cuteness, Mello, damn.

 - he can be gushy when he wants to be. I can 100% see him being gushy as all hell when he wants to be.

 - not romantic. he isn't about to set up a candle lit dinner and dress up in a nice suit, but he knows his way around a damn good compliment.

 - again, nothing romantic. he's more hollering than anything else, and it's only whenever the two of you are alone.

 - you'll walk in wearing one of his leather vests, and it's far too big for you but it still manages to make you look hot as fuck.

 - “oh god, babe, yes!”

 - “when did I get so lucky?”

- “you're really gonna wear that around when I have work I need to get to? do you have any idea how difficult it is for me to concentrate when you're looking so good?”

 - his biggest pet peeve is whenever you and Matt are getting along.

 - Matt has always been like a brother to you, and Mello knows that. but that doesn't change the fact that Matt just glanced at your chest and it is making him uncomfortable.

 - he has a very good set-up in place for whenever Matt shows any sign of getting too close. he literally breaks away from his work whenever you two are playing video games on the floor, and he'll come and just sit down behind you, lifting you up and placing you in his lap.

 - he'll then place his head on your shoulder and he'll just sit and watch you play the game.

 - he knows he could be a lot more extreme with it, like completely beating the shit out of Matt, but showing people that you're his and the effect he has on you is a lot more entertaining to him than just beating someone up.

 - sleeping next to Mello is a difficult task.

 - I can see him being such a quilt-hogger. like, wrapping himself in a cocoon with the quilt kind of quilt-hogger.

 - and he knows full well what he's doing. he just never apologises for it or makes an effort to change it.

 - but he makes up for it by making you breakfast almost every morning, because our boy is a chef whether you like it or not.

 - now lets get onto some NSFW stuff, shall we???

 - sex with Mello is possibly the greatest thing a person will ever experience in their life.

 - and it's rare, don't get me wrong. he doesn't like to just throw himself at people, but it happens.

 - not early on. he only ever has sex with somebody he can completely and utterly trust.

 - I can imagine it being quite rough at the beginning. like, slamming you against walls as he attacks your neck with your legs wrapped around his waist.

 - but then whenever it actually comes to the main part of the whole thing, he's constantly asking you if you're okay and if you're comfortable or if you need anything before he starts.

 - it gets  to the point where you often have to kiss him just to shut him up.

 - he likes nicknames.

 - often calls you “kitten,” or “baby girl.”

 - is definitely vocal whenever you do something he likes.

 - “you're doing so well.”

  -  “just like that, baby girl.”

 - and his aftercare is out of this damn world.

 - okay, NSFW is over now.

 - the first time Mello says “I love you,” is a special moment for both him and you.

 - I can only see Mello ever saying “I love you” to one person in his life. if that relationship ends up failing, I don't think he'll have the nerve to say it to anybody else.

 - so if he says it to you, know that you mean everything to him and he means it.

 - he wouldn't make a massive deal out of it – at least, not outwardly, but he would definitely be panicking the entire day.

 - he has it all planned out. where he's going to say it, how he's going to say it, what he's going to do if you don't say it back, what he's going to do if you do say it back.

 - and then he's in the moment and he's taking looking at you all weirdly the entire day and you finally pull him on it, asking him what's wrong.

 - he'll look at you in this moment, with you pouting up at him, genuinely scared that you'd done something wrong because he just seems so off today, and he'll just chuckle breathily before kissing your lips and mumbling the words into your mouth.

 - he'll kiss you again immediately after, not really wanting to know the outcome of it, but whenever you pull away and say it back with just as much truth to them as he held, he wouldn't be able to hold back his smile.

[hydrospanners]

13 to 24 for rhese becuase it's important and since you never talk about your ox's in the discord then it's public shaming time

Lol thanks for calling me and my extreme social awkwardness out bro. Buddy. Pal. Thanks for drawing attention to how bad I am at discord!!! And talking to groups of strangers!!! I can barely talk to one stranger!!!! Much less many strangers!!! It is hard!!! I can’t just walk into the house of an acquaintance and start boiling eggs in their kitchen!!!! I don’t care how much I like eggs!!!! It’s uncomfortable!!!! What a weird analogy to use!!!!!!! Someone please save me from myself and all these exclamation points with some questions!!!!!!

(Thank you very much for asking you are the nicest.) (Meme is here.)

13. Let’s see those outfits!

It is a great tragedy that simplicity and disavowment of material goods is part of his Jedi philosophy cause my boy Rhese loves clothes. He is dedicated to keeping it brown and simple, but he likes his fine fabrics, elegant lines, and the occasional heroic silhouette. These are his in-game outfits. My headcanon wardrobe for him is much more extensive.

14. Who is/are their favorite companion(s)?Already answered here.

15. Who is/are their least favorite companion(s)?Doc. Which is not to say that Rhese doesn’t like Doc, just that if he had to be trapped in a cave on Hoth with anyone on Rea’s crew, Doc would be his last choice. The list of Doc’s personality traits and the list of things that stress Rhese the fuck out are identical. Doc flirts too much. Doc talks too much. Doc takes too many risks. Doc is too cavalier. And probably the worst part is that Doc is real enthusiastic about boning Rhese’s sister, which would be easier to deal with if the two of them knew how to keep it in their pants until they had a little privacy, but they don’t and Rhese has been traumatized too many times and looking at Doctor Pornstache only reminds him of Things He Has Seen Rea Doing With His Own Two Eyes That Cannot Be Unseen.

16. What do they do in their spare time?Already answered here.

17. Do they have family? Siblings, parents, children?Rhese has more family than he realizes at basically every point of his life. Obviously there is his sister, Rea, who sometimes seems like a more important fixture in his life than he is. He also has another much older sister named Kieres who they left behind when they were smuggled off of Eriadu. He didn’t know she existed for the longest time, but in the years since he finally discovered her, they have had something approaching an amicable acquaintanceship that largely revolves around complaining about Rea.

Rhese’s believes both of his parents are dead, but his mother and her parents are still alive on Eriadu. He found out his father’s parents were still alive and doing well for themselves on Corellia when his grandfather begged him to come visit his dying grandmother just before the assault on Vitiate’s Fortress way back in the class story days. His grandmother has since died but his grandfather is alive and they would still talk occasionally before KotFE happened.

There’s also Liss. While not technically family, she was his aunt’s partner and pilot growing up and he always considered their whole crew his family, but Liss especially. She was always his favorite on the crew and he was hers. He thought she died with the rest of his aunt’s crew when she was betrayed, but they found each other again during the time Rea was missing on Vitiate’s fortress (isn’t it funny how much of his family that he thought was dead mysteriously turns up again when Rea isn’t around???? hmmmmm) and were very close until Rhese went MIA sometime during KotFE.

So he has family, but the only family member he’s really close to is Rea.

18. Who is their BFF? Kira. They have the sort of tried and true friendship where they bond over hating all the same things. At first they just irritated each other but, then they bonded over irritations with Rea, then their frustrations with the Senate, then how annoying Doc was, then all the problems with the Order, and by then they were best friends having secret conversations about all the ways they both felt inadequate and the things they dreamt of doing and the people they dreamt of being and also Rhese kinda wanted to make out with her.

19. Who is their rival? Everyone is Rhese’s rival at some point, but probably mostly Rea. It’s a very one-sided rivalry that she is not aware exists 85% of the time.

20. Do they have a love interest? Who?He had a mad crush on Kira once they got past their weird beef when they first met. They’re both passionate about being Jedi, about improving the Order, and about doing good for people who are often forgotten. They share similar ideas about what role the Jedi should play in the galaxy and the Republic and have similar ideas about how to make that happen. They share similar insecurities about themselves as people and as Jedi.

Basically they have a lot in common and Kira’s pretty and feisty and challenges him and stokes his emotions, good or bad, and miraculously she saw something enticing about his dumb ass, so they had a Thing™ but they are both too much alike to work well together in any kind of long-term, stable relationship so that Thing™ did not last but it didn’t exactly end either. It’s turned into a kind of on-again, off-again thing that only ever seems to be On when they are in a mood to do something dumb.

21. Would they continue their legacy by having children? Adopt? Get an apprentice?Rhese would kind of like to have kids, but it’s not something he’ll ever do. It goes against his every philosophy as a Jedi, and he knows himself well enough to know that all those controversial tenets about attachments exist for people like him. Rea might be able to handle it, but Rhese knows that for him, a family would be an express ticket to temptations he couldn’t resist. He struggles enough with his relationship with Rea, who he doesn’t even like at least 40% of the time and has never once felt responsible for. There’s no way he could bear the emotional rollercoaster of fatherhood without it ending in tragedy and he’s kinda sad about that.

Rhese wants an apprentice though. That would be just enough emotional distance for him to be able to not go crazy and he would be a good teacher. I imagine he might have had one over the course of the five KotFE years where Rea was in the wind, but I can’t say for sure what he’s been up to until BIOWARE TELLS ME WHAT THE REST OF THE CREW WAS DOING. DAMMIT BIOWARE.

22. What is their sexual orientation?He’s real demi. He can count on one hand the number of people he’s been attracted to in the whole of his life and so far they are all women but he’s not entirely convinced that means he’s only attracted to women. Just that a lot of the men he meets are terrible. (Yes he is definitely including Doc. Probably at the top of the list.)

Regardless, he’s not that concerned about it. He loves romance stories but he has spent approximately 0.000000001% of his life seeking out his own romance.

23. Do they like their role in their current situation? ei: if they are a Sith do they like being in the Sith order?This one’s tough because I’m not entirely sure what Rhese’s current situation is post-KotFE. I really need to know what canon says the rest of Rea’s crew has been up to before I can know how much of that to ignore and be sure what Rhese has been up to. I will say that no matter what, Rhese still thinks of himself as a Jedi and that is a critical component of his identity. But he’s probably massively disappointed in the Order and how things went after Zakuul invaded. He’s probably bitter. He’s probably decided he’s one of the only True Jedi left. He’s probably formed his own subsect of the Jedi, probably consisting only of himself.

TL;DR Rhese will always love being a Jedi but he is deeply unsatisfied with the current state of the Jedi Order.

24. If they could be part of another group, what would it be? You can choice from Old Republic, Expanded Universe, or Cinematic Universe.Rhese would be Luke Skywalker’s biggest fanboi. Give him that sweet Cinematic Universe. He is here for that hero’s journey shit and he will stay for the Classic Jedi Retreat to Isolation in Bitterness and Guilt Gambit and he will nut on that self-sacrificial redemption. He wants to live there. Doesn’t even matter that it’s objectively terrible cause his life is already kinda that.

[cyrelia-j]

[Fic] Deuces IV: Heartbreaker (Garak/Bashir)

(Apologies if #1 this has weird characters and #2 it doesn’t cut. I’m about to melt down trying to get this to work and on every device I use it looks wrong in a different way so I’m at a loss)

First off, MASSIVE thanks to @eilupt​ @ladyvean​ @noxziconsortium​ @valkyriesews​ and anyone else I forgot to mention for your input on Cardassian fair food. Also, I wanted things to be a bit different but don’t be alarmed by any snags in the road because this is ultimately definitely a garashir universe :) Previous parts are here:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Summary: AU (no Dominion also kept some other characters alive like Bareil because this world is a happy place) Garak and his surrogate daughter Ziyal find themselves on Deep Space Nine on a stopover to Bajor. While Major Kira shows Ziyal around DS9 Garak and Julian have their date. Julian is optimistic. After all, he’s got this down to a science

Keiko O’Brien is an absolute gift from the Prophets, Julian likes to say making use of local idioms, and if Miles doesn’t treat her properly Julian is totally going to steal her. That’s what he likes to tease, but she really is an intelligent and infinitely creative woman who has been invaluable in the success of what Julian likes to call his infallible first date sure thing holoprogram. Jadzia had at first referred to it playfully as “Julian’s Lizard Daddy Trap”. Keiko had then told the both of them about gairaigo and how a lot of Japanese products to this day bear strange sounding names because of the fascination with borrowed words . She then showed them an old “family heirloom” that was something called a “bento box” with the odd combination of words “Crunky Ball Nude” elegantly scrawled across the top. She then said with a perfectly straight face that if Julian wanted to truly thank her for her contributions to the menu that he would call it nothing less than “Julian’s Delicious Lizard Delight Circus.”

The program now bears the innocuous file name of “JDLDC1”

The program in question is the ultimate product of love and devotion- and if he’s being frank, Julian’s attempt to streamline the “first date” into a happy efficient guarantee of success. It had taken the three of them – Jadzia, Julian, and Keiko – two years to complete with some degree of trial and error but it’s a masterwork. Julian had built it off of one of Recreational Station Hidalgo’s old modules of an exotic carnival and the three of them worked to modify every parameter to meet a certain taste; namely a certain Cardassian male taste, though Julian didn’t see that it wouldn’t appeal to most Cardassians as a whole with some modifications.

Quark certainly seemed to think so. Going off Julian’s impressive track record in fact, he thought if Julian would let him copy it that it would net them both a tidy profit with the steady influx of Cardassians passing through the station. Julian wouldn’t hear of Jadzia and Keiko being left out but in the end he decided that he still wanted to get use out of it before it became public.

Quark had asked sourly exactly how many more Cardassians he really needed to entertain as many as he had already. So perhaps Julian had developed a bit of a reputation- amazingly over the course of his time on station he’d gone from Deep Space Nine’s resident Ladies Man to resident Lizard Queen- but well, he still hadn’t quite found the one who he could really fall for. Well, alright, perhaps Julian had fallen for several dozen going by Miles’ count but they just weren’t quite it. There was still something missing there. And thus came in the holoprogram that made the entire process easier.

Jadzia had contributed to the majority of the attractions, the exotic animals on display, the rides, and the shows. Of course they’d been honed and refined over time with new data to account for Cardassian musical preferences, hearing, exceptional eyesight, differences in equilibrium, adrenal responses and the like and it was absolutely magnificent. He’d also managed to- with Miles’ persuasive help initially- “sweet talk” Gilora Rejal from the Science Academy into further assisting them during her periodic visits for research. She’d thought the idea was completely ridiculous at first, but as he laid out his ambitious plans and designs, she couldn’t help but throw in corrections where she saw improvements were needed.

By the end of it, both she and Jadzia had engaged in some fantastically heated debates on adjustments and turned out a marvel of engineering. Jadzia may have also slept with her which Julian was a tad envious of since Gilora was a stunning woman. She’d warmed to Julian’s company once he’d finally stopped being so circumspect and polite and he corresponded with her regularly with her now to keep abreast of the latest news and current events on Cardassia Prime. She had a completely wicked and unforgiving wit and she also helpfully provided him with the best and most heated topics of debate that he took full advantage of using on his dates. Julian still wondered on occasion if he might not have a chance, but Jadzia was certain that it would never work.

Her associate, Ulani Belor had been curious as to their “secret” conversations and meetings though Julian didn’t know if she’d have an interest he’d explained the project to her as well. Their “colleague” Dejar had little interest in any of it and thought the lot of them were allowing themselves to get distracted by nonsense. Well, that was Julian’s introduction to the Obsidian Order and its operatives and he could say he’d be perfectly happy to go his entire life without dealing with another one of them. Ulani had taken interest in the food that Keiko had been working on. Julian hardly fancied himself a culinary expert- Miles once said he was pretty sure that Julian would ingest anything for the purposes of getting laid. But between the two of them they seemed to reach a perfect accord and marriage of both Cardassian and Earth tastes.

Or rather it turned out that the Cardassian taste was particularly receptive to a lot of Japanese and other Southeast and East Asian foods not often represented in most Federation cultural exchanges. Both scientists declared after tasting the dango smothered in yamok sauce that if the Federation actually brought some real food with them, they might find more Cardassians to be receptive to their proposals. Keiko then wondered if the Vietnamese balut that some back stalls still sold had would carry well over to regova eggs. It absolutely did and Ulani was happy to share some other Kardasi festival delights such as W’sai, Kori balls, and Nurot. Well, lacking a sense of taste or not, Julian was completely sold and it turned out, so was Legate Turrel when he was on the station during negotiations with Kai Winn and Vedek Bareil. Not that Julian is bragging, but he doesn’t think that Vedek Bareil had anything on his negotiating skills.

Julian wasn’t sure how he’d felt about Captain Sisko subsequently designating him official head of the Cardassian welcoming committee, remarking with a perfectly straight face that he was pleased Julian had overcome his initial difficulties with showing foreign dignitaries around the station. Julian was sure there was some look that passed between him and Jadzia just then which made him pout just a bit before ultimately accepting incredibly graciously. He could hardly look a gift horse in the mouth.

And he was good at it, he found, his social life aside. Julian had grown quite adept at reading the necessary cues to avoid any embarrassing incidents (Kira still seemed crushed that Gul Dukat had no interest in him whatsoever though Julian was hardly crushed by that realization as he found the man utterly insufferable) and learned which subtle ones to throw out when off duty to get a feel for the atmosphere as Keiko liked to say. Julian saved those little tricks for his dates though; no need to let on too early just how good he was at this game. Most of the men he dated seemed to prefer his “vapid twink doctor” bit anyway and he only employed the most subtle use of his Cardassian routine. He was terribly good at it.

According to Quark as he enters the bar tonight, they were taking bets on which of the newest station arrivals Julian had his eye on. Quark informs him a bit sourly that he’d lost a good bit of latinum when he bet on the older doctor from Lacoria City. Rom on the other hand had picked the Tailor Garak right off the bat and is counting his winnings rather loudly at the bar. Quark snaps that they aren’t his winnings since “his woman” had to pick the candidate for him. Julian just smiles and shakes his head as he looks for Garak to make an entrance. Leeta knows his tastes so well.

Julian had arrived exactly on time, neither early nor late knowing how Cardassians value punctuality. And what an entrance he makes. Garak looks absolutely luscious in the dark red silk shirt wrapped around him magnificently, showing off those broad shoulders and delectable thick waist. And speaking of thick… Julian is sure he must be drooling, looking at those impeccably tailored pants hugging thick thighs and Julian finds himself catching a discreet glimpse to the burnished old Bajoran sculpture that he’d donated out of generosity.

Of course those in the Federation were renown for stupid gestures like that though Julian admitted to Quark that if he would be so kind as to perhaps place it say along the one wall near the first floor entrance where Julian might make use of it for “observational purposes” he might say that he owed Quark a favor during one of Odo’s subsequent “witch hunts”. Quark hadn’t needed more than a month before he called that favor in and Odo hardly seemed amused by his accidentally spilling a drink on the “Odo in a jar” that he’d assumed the guise of to replace Quark’s actual one. Julian loves the sculpture.

Especially now that the flat, reflective surface is giving him the most stunning view of Garak’s ass that he could have imagined. Julian usually prefers bottoming but for an ass like that he’s more than willing to be flexible. …In more ways than one.

“The house takes two! Place your bets now!” Quark yells out the code as every eye on the bar turns to Julian for just a moment. He smiles a bit self-effacing at that, the 2 references the two hours Quark thinks it will take him to bed the humble tailor. Julian certainly hopes so. A few bets go for 1 and some for a half- Julian mentally rolls his eyes at that bit of optimism- but he trusts Quark, really. The house is rarely wrong. Julian meets Garak with a few steps, seeing the curious look.

“They’re taking bets,” Julian explains with a disinterest shrug. “I couldn’t begin to guess on what but I have to tell you, that you look absolutely fabulous.” Julian gives a casual but hopeful brush of his upper arm. “I love this shirt,” he says, sure to keep his flirting completely human for now. He can let the fun begin once they’re inside. Garak’s smile in return is brilliant. It’s a wide pleased grin and Julian can see the hint of tongue poking the air, tasting, scenting.

He was sure to shower and apply the deodorizing oil that he and Jadzia had developed after his second date had informed him rather bluntly that he had a delightful time but didn’t think he’d ever be able to adjust to the human scent and taste. Julian never thought he particularly smelled but Gilora had said there was a very strong musk that he would get when perspiring that had quite a salty and at times bitter taste to it. Jadzia didn’t have it and neither did Keiko and he thought it might be a male thing until Keiko reminded him (which he really should have remembered being a doctor) that humans of East Asian descent tend to have fewer apocrine sweat glands and so there began the great experiment to develop an oil that could effectively eliminate that issue. After much trial and error he realized everything Federation produced left an odd lingering taste on the Cardassian tongue even if it was supposed to have no odor.

It took months but in the end it worked with the final approval from both Gilora and Ulani he had an effective oil which sat over the skin until it wore off naturally over a few days’ time but until then reacted exactly as needed to produce no odor but a faint trace of sandalwood and root from the north renowned for it’s mild aroma. They both informed him that they’d scented him more than they cared to and he absolutely owed them both big time. He figured it couldn’t be worse than any other deals he’d cut with them.

There’s a curious glance from Garak at that but he refrains from commenting on it instead complimenting Julian’s outfit. Julian can see a linger of eyes to his bare neck, bare collarbone and he almost wishes that he could bet on himself. One. Definitely one.

“You’ve no idea how excited I am to show you what I have planned for this evening,” Julian says practically vibrating. The Midway. Julian definitely is going to start there with this one. One hour if that and he’s got this. He shoots Quark a wink holding up a finger watching as the patrons erupt in another frenzy of betting as they make their way to the second floor. Julian’s got this…

Garak doesn’t know that he’s ever been more bored in his life. He smiles politely as Julian drinks the broth out of the boiled egg his head timing out just when he imagines that Julian is going to accidentally spill some down his neck because it’s “terribly messy” and there it goes, a few inviting rivulets of the clear broth running down that nicely tanned skin.

“And I take it that’s how I’m supposed to enjoy this delicacy?” Garak asks already knowing the answer because he’s already known the answer to every insipid contrivance that this evening has brought him. Guls, if Julian wasn’t so gorgeous… but even that’s starting to wear thin. Julian smiles- wait for it- inviting tilt of his head just so, to the right, another flash of his neck and Garak knows that he should have long put a hand on Julian’s shoulder to show his interest but it’s just so obvious he can’t bring himself to give in to such egregiously blatant cues even if it drags this miserable date out further.

That and actually every dish that Julian has tempted into his hands has been completely to die for.

The teriyaki, the sweet and sour sauce covering the fried pop beetles nearly brought him to another plane of existence. Julian had gone on about the work he and Chief Engineer O’Brien’s wife had put into the food in the program along with on Ulani Belor who he’d only chanced to hear of due to his former colleague’s amateurish bungling of a simple sabotage mission. Naturally he told Julian he wasn’t familiar with her. Right about now he’s almost wishing he was on a date with her as Julian begins another “conversation starter” that he has to be fishing off of a hidden list somewhere.

“Yes, you’ve got it, you do that brilliantly,” he says in a fawning compliment that would be nice if it wasn’t immediately followed up by a predictable air scenting and an enthusiastic “flirty” draw of his finger in the air and by the state did someone print Cardassian dating manual in the Federation since the end of the occupation because Garak feels he could sit here with a list and check everything off in order.

The Regova balut is also heaven. The sprinkle of the furikake that Julian suggests is masterful. Julian then asks his opinion on the proposed changes to the household registry next quarter that the council meets and Garak nearly wants to weep. Garak is sure that Julian will present the most uninformed opinion imaginable and allow Garak to “educate” him while he tries to debate a careful but ultimately poor position. Guls, if he wanted to have a date with a vapid holoprogram he’d just run the thing without Julian and just enjoy the food and the ambiance.

How long has it even been? Garak is certain he’s lost all sense of time being trapped in this miserable mobius continuum of bad date. Perhaps he’s in fact died and this is some Faustian iteration of eternal torment for a life poorly lived. The most delicious food in the galaxy in exchanged for company so poor it would drive a man to want to take his own life. Alright, so perhaps the newly opened Federation archives have only given him a larger plethora of work with which to reference when he wants to seem smart- at least that’s what Parmak had said to him the last time they had corresponded. He’d sooner die than admit it but there’s actually some Earth derived literature that he enjoys and he’d been hoping for more interesting cultural exchanges and debates like he’s enjoyed with some of the more frequent human visitors vacationing on the Morfan Providence but…

“Is something the matter?” Julian asks and Garak can’t believe that he’s been driven to actually show any of his anguish outwardly. Ironically in a rare moment of veracity he has no clue where to even begin to itemize the obscenely long list of everything single “something” which has grown fed by Julian’s obviousness into a “matter”.  My, where to even start… perhaps the scent is the most difficult to reconcile. I definitely scented you in the Replimat and it was a touch strong but very human, very alluring and it was quite nice. But here tonight it’s like tasting a pleasure doll engineered to be inoffensive which may appeal to some but it’s quite boring. You were charming in the replimat and here charm has given way to some series of contrived scripts you’ve been following exactly like a carefully choreographed routine. Which makes perfect sense of course given the interesting conversation I’d had in Quark’s but still I’d hoped for something a bit different.

He’d in fact as was his custom gone to Quark’s earlier in the day to make a discreet study of the area, check for escape routes, hazards, observe the atmosphere. He hadn’t noticed anything untoward as he ordered a drink and kept his ears and eyes open. It had allowed him to relax a bit and it wasn’t long before he started catching snippets of conversation about the “infamous” Julian Bashir which was quite a curiosity. He certainly wasn’t going to involve himself with anyone who could pose a possible danger to himself or Ziyal but then in striking up a conversation with a fellow named Morn who couldn’t shut up for the life of him he learned several interesting things.

The first being that the young doctor was infamous for the number of Cardassian men he’d bedded- primarily military men and a handful of freighter captains. The second was that his reputation was so large that the entire bar got in on serious betting whenever a “fresh wave” of Cardassians were on the station and third… Third being that he never fails to “bag his lizard” with this very program. Which Garak supposes he could see if he was feeling particularly charitable but he’s been gamely going along with this for the past hour now and he’s sure he’s put in enough time.

He went along with taking the lead in winning Julian some nonsense trinket from a target shooting booth, earning much praise from a “strength tester”  that was definitely doctored, to a boat ride with just the right ambient sounds to create pleasant complimentary reactions in one’s nervous system and on and on to Julian himself who clearly has mastered the fine art of appealing to a very specific segment of the Cardassian military population. It’s a wonder they haven’t invited him back to give him his own holiday. Which Garak supposes would be all well and good- Yes, doctor, I’m so pleased with your obvious love of civic duty that I’ll gladly put a hand on your shoulder and tell you what a good boy you are- except he isn’t some authority obsessed soldier who gets off on these bland deferential power games. He wants passion, he wants a challenge, he wants there to be a reason for him to bring discipline, to lead, to bring Julian to heel. Perhaps he is getting old because Julian clearly has done this dance so much he could go through the motions unconscious but is it really asking too much to have something more than just a pleasing body to jam his prUt into?

Still, he has to bear in mind that cause embarrassment to the station CMO might prove unwise. Yes, a lie is definitely in order here, though he needs to make sure it’s not a medical one. He supposes Ziyal will have to be it. It’s uncreative and stupid but frankly, Julian doesn’t deserve his good stuff and the sooner it gets him out of here the better.

“I’m sorry, doctor,” he says a touch dramatically. He might not be getting more than Julian’s usual routine but he likes to think that even if he’s returning in kind that his routine is much more convincing. “I’m afraid I’ve been terribly poor company but you see I’ve just been so terribly concerned about Yaya. Oh, I know she’s a grown woman and I trust Major Kira to be showing her the same consideration and hospitality that you’ve shown me-“ Guls, he hopes not “-but I just haven’t been able to give you the attention that you deserve and it’s such a pity after all the trouble that you’ve gone through. It’s only my hope that we might do this again sometime.” Perhaps after he’s long dead and Julian gets some new material.

Garak wears sincerity brightly and reaches across the table to put his hand over Julian’s. He intends the gesture in the human way but sees Julian’s curious look at the display of dominance. Maybe he’ll get lucky and a fleet of Klingon birds of prey will crash into the station. But it seems to do the trick and Doctor Bashir is ending the program mercifully. Garak could kiss him, he really could. Except that would certainly make him try for a second and Garak isn’t too keen on remembering the first. He wonders if anyone ever actually bets on the doctor to fail. Judging by the expression on Julian’s face somehow he doubts it.

And it’s with that sour taste in his mouth that Garak finally gets back to his quarters determined to hack the station computers and never again eat in the Replimat when Julian isn’t on duty. He sees Ziyal laying sprawled on the couch looking about the way that he feels right about now. He opens his mouth to ask, the two of them exchanging a look before he does.

“Kanar?” She asks sympathetically already sitting up to go get it.

“Kanar,” Garak agrees with a sigh.

Looks like he’s not the only one who had a “bad date”.

(Part 5 is here)

[tweenw]

Chinese Takeout-(Stiles Stilinski)

Characters: Allison Argent, Kira Yukimura, Scott McCall, Isaac Lahey, Coach Finstock, Stiles Stilinski and (Y/N)

Warnings: none?

Pairing: hint at Stiles x Reader

Word Count: 1243

Summary: Stiles, out of nowhere, involves you in the tradition that takes place every lacrosse match Beacon Hills plays.

Stiles Stilinski. The schools weird kid with an endless supply of sarcasm. Stiles, who’s both a naturally smart kid like his dad and on the lacrosse team. Stiles Stilinski, the guy who I have a raging crush on for 3 agonizing years. 

“Earth to (Y/N).” Allison waves her hand in front of my face. I shake my head a little to snap out of my thoughts and look at her to see what she wants. 

She just shakes her head at me before closing her locker, joining our arms and dragging me out of the school. 

“I told you that with the Alpha pack and all, the whole group’s going to be at the lacrosse game keeping an eye out, and I want you to come keep me company.” She repeats herself, somehow not sounding annoyed about having to repeat herself because she’s a literal angel, and pushes me into her car without giving me a chance to protest. She can be really persuasive. 

Allison gets in after me and quickly pulls out of the car park before I can jump out of the car. I know what she’s planning.

I sigh and look at her with a scowl. “I know what you’re trying to do, Allison.” 

She looks at me with wide eyes, acting all innocent as if she has no clue what I’m getting at. The bitch knows. She knows too much.

“I don’t know what you mean, we’re only keeping watch. On both the alpha’s and the guys.” She winks at me and takes a sharp left turn which slams me against the door and probably causes bruising along my arm. 

I glare at her, but take the hint and put my seat belt on. She’s surprisingly the mom friend of the pack. Right after Melissa, if she counts as a pack member. 

“Okay, I’ll come. But in no circumstance will you leave me alone or try to get me to speak to Stiles. Promise me?” I stick my pinky finger out and wait for her to make the promise. 

To be honest, I don’t think it would be an issue if she got Stiles and I to speak to each other, but the way she’d do it would. She’d force us into an awkward situation, like she and Lydia have many times before.

Allison rolls her eyes, but hooks her pinky finger with mine anyway.

“So who’s jersey are you wearing?” Kira asks Allison and I as we wait outside of the boys locker rooms for the guys to come out. My friends usually wait for their boyfriends and escort them to the field as a lucky charm, and so I’m stuck with them.

I shrug a little and let Allison and Kira talk about how excited they are to wear Scott’s and Isaac’s second jerseys for the match.

Every player has 2 jerseys, 1 which they wear when playing and one they give to their significant others or very close friend to wear during matches to show support. I wouldn’t say that’s it’s a dream of mine to wear Stiles’s jersey, but I definitely wouldn’t pass up the opportunity. 

A soft nudge on my arm snaps me out of my thoughts, though this time it’s not Allison. 

I look up to see Stiles sporting an adorable smile. He’s all ready for the game, along with the rest of the team standing off to the side. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Allison smirking like mad, 

“Oh hey Stiles, what’s up?” I ask, a foolish smile automatically making an appearance. I wish I could keep my hormones under control, but when the definition of ‘perfect’ is standing in you it’s a little hard.

“Nothing much (Y/N), just wanted to ask you something, a question, y’know.” Stiles scratches the back of his head. His other hand is holding his spare jersey, and a part of me immediately begins to feel like a kid on Christmas.

I nod expectantly for him to go on. He takes a small breath, as if trying to get some courage. 

“I was wondering if you wanted to wear my jersey? And maybe get some Chinese takeout after the match?” 

My heart skips a beat, which I immediately regret because Scott will probably tell Stiles later on. Now I literally feel like a child on Christmas, it’s ridiculous. I feel a blush crawling up my neck as I look at the God in front of me.

“I’d love to, yeah of course.” I smile widely and take the jersey from him before swiftly putting it on. It goes just above my knees and smells like cologne and petrol. It’s an incredibly odd combination, but it strangely does fit Stiles. 

“Great, that’s great.” He grins and shakes his head a little. I look over at our group of friends, who are sporting massive smiles and sending over winks and thumbs up. 

Another blush forces itself up my neck at that. I didn’t think this is the reaction we’d get, in fact I didn’t think this would ever happen, so maybe this reaction is fitting. 

Stiles slings his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into him with an almost unsure smile. My arm automatically grabs a hold of his waist .

The rest of the pack make their way out towards the field, Stiles and I following shortly behind them. 

“You know, this is actually really nice.” I smile up at my crush of around 3 years. My body’s tingling all over, this feels so surreal. Almost like a dream.

“It really is. The jersey looks spectacular on you just like I thought it would.” Stiles smiles down at me, the smile along with his compliment slowly melting my heart. 

We stop just at the bleachers where we’re parting ways. I pull out from his grasp and go on my tippy-toes to place a small kiss on his cheek for encouragement. 

Stiles’s eyes widen, like a lot, but that reaction is followed by the shyest smile I’ve ever seen on the guy. It kind of boosts my self confidence, not gonna lie. But my happiness is cut short as coach interrupts. 

“God damn it Stilinski, get your ass out onto the field. I swear he was gay.” Coach yells at Stiles before muttering the single most hilarious thing I’ve heard all day. Shit, I can see why many would think do with his lack of dating history.

“Good luck.” I call after Stiles. He shoots me a quick award-winning smile before joining the rest of his team mates, and high-fiving Scott in the process. 

I make my way through the crowd of people to my friends who are all looking at me like they’re expecting the grossest details of a random one night stand I had in Vegas. Allison pats a spot next to her so I sit there and try to stop the smile on my face which makes me look like a total idiot. 

“You know, you were right. Please don’t hold this against me later, because I will never admit that you’re right ever again.” I mumble in Allison’s general direction, which earns me a bear hug from her. Maybe she did intervene, and maybe she didn’t. But I’m glad I’ve got her to gossip with about boys now.

The rest of the night is spent with my small group of friends yelling support at the guys, getting collective glares from other girls and some really good Chinese takeout at the Stilinski household. 

[xxfabulae]

Profile

Kanji: 帝 ナギ Age: 17 Birthday: January 7th Zodiac: Capricorn Gender: Male Height: 158cm 「5'2"」 Weight: 45kg 「99lbs」 Hometown: Ishikawa Prefecture Hobby: Puzzles Occupation: Idol; HE☆VENS Orientation: Aromantic-??? Shipping Status: Single Ship (debatable)

Personality

Nagi has two faces to him. There the face of being upbeat, cheerful, and excessively cute that he shows the fans. Then there his true face that the members of HEAVENS and those outside it see. That he can be brat, rude, pretentious, and show no respect to others. Though, some of it does come from being the youngest and how people tend to either look down on him or not take him seriously due to his age. Which irks him like no other. He wants his work to be recognized not just for being a part of HEAVENS but as an individual.

Despite that, Nagi has been shown to be caring towards those he considers to be close on the level of family. Which is something he rarely let’s other sees as he has a persona to maintain outside those who know him. He has a hidden manipulative streak most are unaware of except for a few namely Eiji, Van, and Kira. The three of them from time to time have gotten on his case about it to the point he has stopped.

There are times when Nagi just craves attention even if it just a simple head pat. He mostly grew up without seeing much of his parent’s due to their respective jobs. In a way, he feel like he been neglected by them.

Life

Nagi grew up being praised as a genius even from a very young age. It did not help with him making friends in school though, as most just chose to ignore him and called him names. School work bored him and he had no interest in trying to make friends. Why bother when his classmates didn’t even give him the time of day to do so? Nagi has basically given up on connecting with those his own age. They were jealous and he didn’t care.

Home was no better. Not that his parents demeaned or made him feel lower than dirt. They were just rarely home to begin with due to their respective jobs. As much as he knew their work was important to them, but he wished they came home more often. There were times when he wanted to confine in them about his problems in school (mostly with his classmates). With them hardly being home, it impossible to. Nagi can only remember a handful of times where they were home and one of them was on his fifth birthday. It upsets him that he can’t experience the happy family others have. Leaving him rather envious of his classmates for being able to have something that he himself can’t.

It was heaven sent that when he was scouted by a Raging Entertainment agent and auditioned the very same day. He was on pin and needles the entire time after his audition. There was more than just him who had auditioned for the creation of a new group the president had in mind. When all those who had audition were called back into the room it was announced he was picked he could not help but cheer at his fortune. Though, he wasn’t aware that other members who would form HEAVENS would be older than him. Great. He wasn’t going to let the massive age difference deter him from earning the respect and trust of his bandmates.

Over time he grew close to the two and just in time for HEAVENS debut and the UtaPri Awards that almost followed right after it. Encountering STARISH was something he both dreaded as well as hated. If it weren’t due to their nut case president their groups wouldn’t be in the position they were in now. If either were to lose their respective group would have to disband. Thus, he treated them with hostility which was unfortunate as Natsuki ended up being a victim of it firsthand. As the story is told HEAVENS had lost, but they did not disband thanks to Saotome pulling some bs out his ass to keep it from happening. Nagi may have been grateful for that but he still blames Saotome for the whole thing.

For a year HEAVENS had dropped off the face of the media (much to Nagi’s annoyance). During that year HEAVENS had acquired four new members expanding their numbers to seven. Which he found to be unnecessary as it only made them seem like a STARISH knockoff (according to him anyway). But over time he learned to tolerate, accept, and then become close to the new members. Crashing the Tripe S Audition was probably the best damn thing HEAVENS had did as a combat as it threw the results into a complete disarray. Thus, having the auditions to be redone as fans protested and QUARTET NIGHT wanting a fair game between their respective groups along with STARISH.

Even though STARISH won the Triple S Auditions and he was comforted by his bandmates over their group’s lost. He eventually let it go.

Notes:

Nagi’s instrument is the viola. He has a secondary instrument that is the trumpet.

Despite being praised as a genius by his teachers. Nagi could really care less about their opinions. The only opinions he cares about are those from his parents that he hardly sees, more so since he became an idol. The opinions of HEAVENS does matter too, but it his parents he really want to hear from.

Nagi love geckos, he think they’re the cutest thing well, the cutest things since him! He would love you for life if you got him one. For some reason he loves reptiles, not all reptiles but some. Mostly some lizards, some snacks, and geckos. Give him all the geckos.

[thederailedtrain]

The Magic Shop: Chaos [Three]

Okay, when Gus had said he had this handled, he might’ve been a little over confident. Sure, the moon was pretty close to full, and his own strength was near its peak without an overwhelming chance that he would lose control over it. That was all well and good, but there were a couple other things he hadn’t been counting on.

Namely the fact that Bryce’s strength had at least doubled due to the chaos of the battle. Not to mention the years of experience in magic he had over Gus.

This fight involved a lot more running than Gus had pictured. Running away, though Gus tried not to think of it that way. ‘Putting distance between them’ sounded nicer. It gave him some time to regroup and think of a plan. Thankfully, Bryce had the aim of a Stormtrooper from this distance and Gus could dodge easily while he tried coming up with a strategy.

What kinds of advantages did he have in this fight? Gus considered, ducking under a low bend in a tree and out of the way of a cloud of chaos magic. If he thought about this the same way he thought about gaming...not many. Bryce had range on him - could attack from far away and use his magic close up. Sure, Gus still had those pendants Cedric lent him, but casting was incredibly hit or miss for him. Bryce could probably fire off three spells by the time Gus managed one and his would probably half as strong.

Even if Bryce couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn. “Was that meant for me?” Gus asked, pointing to a still smoking branch just beside his head. Might’ve even cracked a smile.

Bryce’s response was to throw another fireball directly at his face. Thankfully, Gus managed to dodge out of the way in time, because that one actually had a chance of hitting him.

So, it looked like a ranged battle was definitely out of the question. Advantages, advantages - come on, think! Every other time he’d faced a Harbinger, he’d been able to either outwit them, or run away. Sometimes, both at the same time.

Running was a terrible idea. He was doing that already and it was getting him nowhere. Like Bryce somehow knew what he was thinking, he aimed a fireball right at Gus’s feet. The werewolf let out a yelp, jumping out of the way and cornering sharply. It wasn’t like he could just run from this fight. He wasn’t going to abandon his friends like that.

But outwitting Bryce wasn’t really an option either. They’d competed for the top spot in every biology course since sophomore year, and sometimes Bryce even won. As much as Gus hated to admit it, there was a very good reason Bryce had gotten that Fulbright Scholarship.

The one thing he had that Bryce didn’t were claws, fangs and everything else that came with being a werewolf. And Gus was hard pressed to call those advantages in this fight. What was he supposed to do? Bite him? Or maybe punch Bryce right in that smug face.

Actually...Gus stopped short, taking a second to consider that last thought. He turned around, watching as Bryce came ever closer. He needed to be careful, of course. Bryce’s coat was too thin to attempt the open-clawed strikes Gus had been using all winter. As much as he hated Bryce, he didn’t want to kill the guy - or even gravely injure him. But if it came down to a fist fight, being a werewolf did give him one advantage.

“Oh, I hate this idea,” Gus muttered, grimacing as he watched Bryce come ever closer.

As Bryce neared, the easier it was to spot the wicked gleam in his pure black eyes. “Finally decided to stop running?” He called, slowing to a walk once he realized Gus wasn’t going anywhere.

When Gus stayed tight-lipped, Bryce aimed a spell his way. He only ducked, standing his ground. Gus widened his stance, dropping his weight a little to steady himself. Another spell came his way, and then another. This time, Gus knew they weren’t aimed properly on purpose. Bryce was toying with him, testing to see if he could get him to flinch. Gus refused to give him the satisfaction.

‘Come on,’ Gus thought, biding his time until Bryce was within range. ‘Just a little closer. Come on-’

But that was as far as that thought got. Instead of a blast of fire or chaos magic, the next spell Bryce hurled at him was nearly invisible. It distorted the space within it, like objects refracted in the water. Before Gus could even process what it was, the spell hit him. It wrapped itself around his neck, throwing him into a tree, where it lifted him until his toes barely reached the ground and refused to go away.

Well, this sucked. Gus’s hands scrambled for his neck, but to no avail. His fingers slipped uselessly through the spell. At least it wasn’t cutting off air or blood flow. It was just incredibly unpleasant and pretty much incapacitated him. Neither were great in the scheme of things.

“So, I’m incredibly curious to hear what your plan was,” Bryce said, cocking an eyebrow as he stepped into the small clearing. “I think I owe you at least that before I kill you.”

Gus looked at the situation he’d found himself in. One of Bryce’s hands was raised, held out in a way that made Gus assume that was the one he was using to control the spell around his neck. And Bryce was close, but he was clever enough to stand just out of reach of his fists. But not out of his range entirely.

“To borrow from you, actually, I don’t feel like letting you in on my plans-” Gus cut himself off suddenly, swinging up a leg to kick at Bryce.

The blow connected with his shoulder, and while the angle wasn’t exactly ideal, it probably helped lessen the force behind it. Whatever the case, it knocked Bryce off balance. As his hand dropped, so did his spell, allowing Gus to land back on his feet. Before Bryce could react, Gus threw a punch right at his jaw.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough to knock Bryce out. It had only taken one punch for Jasper, but Bryce wasn’t going down so easily. Not only was he taller, but he had to be at least two-hundred pounds, most of which Gus assumed were muscle. Rather belatedly, Gus remembered Bryce’s position as captain of Henderson’s wrestling team in undergrad. Oh, Gus was so above his weight-class here. At least wrestling didn’t involve punching things, right?

“So that’s how you want to do this?” Bryce asked, holding up his fists.

There was a look in his eyes that Gus hadn’t seen in a while. Anger, he realized as Bryce finally just swung at him. Bryce had been toying with him this whole time, but now he was coming for Gus like he actually wanted to hurt him. As long as it kept him from using magic, Gus thought, even as Bryce’s knuckles connected with the side of his face.

“Come on, I thought you were a werewolf!” Bryce crowed as Gus staggered a few steps back, touching the already healing bruise on his cheek. He held his arms up, as if to prompt Gus to return the blow. “Thought you’d put up more of a fight than this!”

“Have to hold back,” Gus replied, feeling out of breath for the first time in months. “We’re the good guys- Could accidentally break all the bones in your body.”

This time, when Gus went low, Bryce caught him and locked him in a hold. Ah, shit, Gus thought, really not keen on the way Bryce’s arm was threatening to cut off his air supply. “I’d like to see you try,” Bryce hissed in Gus’s ear. He tightened his grip just a little, adding, “Wonder what Sophie would think about that.”

It was like being suddenly dragged back into reality. Gus wasn’t just fighting some random Harbinger, and he wasn’t doing this to settle some kind of score either. This was so much bigger than his petty fight with Bryce. This was a battle that would have lasting repercussions for the Otherworld and beyond. Even people who weren’t here, like Sophie. He was going to do this for Sophie.

Keeping his girlfriend’s image in his mind gave him strength, but also kept him grounded. Gus stood to his full height, lifting Bryce with him. Using his earlier punch as a gauge for how much to hold back, Gus threw the Harbinger over his shoulder. Hard. Bryce hit the ground with a resounding groan, then went quiet. His soft breathing told Gus he was still alive, but wouldn’t be going anywhere soon.

“Luckily, it looks like she won’t have to,” Gus told Bryce’s unconscious form. Then, a second later, “Dammit, I need to stop saving my one-liners for after I’ve won.”

The sounds of a massive battle raged on and Gus jogged over to the field to rejoin the fray. He couldn’t see Kira from this distance, not with his own eyes at least. The image of his best friend taking on three Harbingers appeared in his thoughts from several different points of view. Kira, he needed to get back to Kira.

Gus only made it part way when another familiar face entered his field of view. One he really would rather not see.

“Going somewhere?” Jasper asked. The smirk on his face might’ve been merely smug if it wasn’t said by a person with pitch black eyes. Like this, it was menacing.

A Gaelic curse slipped from Gus’s mouth as he began fumbling through his pockets for some kind of talisman to help him out here. Taking on the odd low-ranking Harbinger or two was all Gus felt comfortable with right now. There was no way he could go up against their leader, even one-on-one. The power radiating from him alone was enough to make Gus’s heartbeat speed up.

But before he could finish pulling the protection charm out, a massive cloud of black and purple smoke sailed over his shoulder. Gus only had a moment to take in the look of shock on Jasper’s face before the spell blocked him from view. A second later, he reappeared, waving his hand in a wide arc to clear the spell, wearing a wide grimace.

“Honey, I’m home!” Toni sing-songed, stepping up to Gus. There must’ve been a bewildered expression on his face, because she actually laughed after taking a good look at his face. “You’re welcome, I think?”

No, there was no question about it. Gus had never been happier to see Toni in his life. He could’ve kissed her. Okay, maybe not actually kissed her, but still. So he just nodded instead.

“Alright, now get out of here,” Toni went on, jerking her head toward the rest of the battle. “You already punched this guy out once. Get in back of the line again.”

Shit, she was right, Gus realized. He wasn’t going to be any help here, not in a fight between these two Harbinger heavyweights.

Toni just watched as he ran off, waiting he was clear before making her own attacks. However, Jasper didn’t seem to have the same mindset. She threw her hand out, deflecting Jasper’s spell into the trees beside her.

“Trying to blindside me? Really?” Toni asked, laughing at the anger nestled in Jasper’s furrowed brows. “Clearly you’ve forgotten who taught you that one.”

Which was really all the invitation Toni needed to throw a spell back at him. Jasper answered with a spell of his own. Their attacks met somewhere in the middle, sending off a shower of sparks as they collided. But before the magic burned out, Toni used the coverage to hurl another blast his way.

It was only when everything cleared that Toni realized Jasper was no longer standing in the same spot. She caught the wave of fire headed her way before she spotted Jasper, holding up a shield in reaction.

But Jasper refused to let her return fire. Now that he had her pinned, he was doing his best not to leave her with any openings. His barrage of magic consisted of entirely low-level spells, but they were endless. Toni gritted her teeth, hoping Jasper could see the burning hatred in her eyes through the haze of chaos magic around them. Ugh, this was such a cheap trick. Toni let out a groan. She hated that it was working.

Fighting Harbingers really sucked when she was one herself. Any strategy she thought up was instantly broadcast to all the other Harbingers through their hive mind. It was really frustrating, not to mention a damn mess. If she figured out a plan, she needed to act on it quick, or risk not being able to use it at all.

Which is why, the second a new thought came to her, she went for it before it could even fully form. Toni couldn’t create any new spells without dropping her shield and Jasper wasn’t giving her any opportunities to do that. So why not use the shield itself instead? She first tilted it away from her, so Jasper’s attacks were deflected into the woods, before turning it back on him.

The way Jasper’s eyes widened as his own spells were turned right back in his face was immensely satisfying. So was the fact that he didn’t have enough time to block them, and had to duck instead.

Toni was content to grin smugly down at him for all of five seconds before she realized what he was doing...The way his lips were moving, and the sigil slowly burning itself into the ground below her, what she already gleaned from Jasper’s thoughts. Toni did the only thing she could think of and ran.

She made it two steps before rolling out of the way. A second later, a pillar of fire erupted from the ground where she was still standing. When Toni looked back to Jasper, he was the one smirking down at her. What an asshole.

“You know, it’s not too late to rejoin our ranks,” Jasper told her as she stood. He even tried to give her a casual shrug, hands up like this was some sort of peace offering. “I’m even willing to overlook your actions these last few weeks. Clean slate - that sort of thing.”

A single, disbelieving bark of laughter passed from Toni’s lips before she could stop it. “You literally just tried to light me on fire five seconds ago and you’re asking me to come back?” She asked, pointing at the still-glowing patch of grass several feet away.

“The invitation still stands,” Jasper continued, as if it actually sounded like a tempting offer. “We had a good thing with our partnership. I almost miss having you at my side. And, besides, don’t you want to share in our victory when we free Layla tonight?”

“Take a good long look in my head and tell me we still want the same thing,” Toni yelled back. She even threw in a fireball for good measure.

Jasper deflected it easily and readied his own spell, but that wasn’t what caught Toni’s attention. There was a figure just over Jasper’s shoulder that was fast-approaching. Before that Harbinger could attack, Toni thrust out her palm. An invisible force caught the man, sending him sliding back several yards.

“Stay out of this, junior!” Toni called after them before turning her attention on Jasper once more. “The adults are talking.”

A look that wasn’t quite a smile spread across Jasper’s face like a slime mold. “Aw, come now,” His voice was smooth, hands twisting as he began to weave the chaos magic together. “What would the kids say if they saw us fighting?” Jasper added, just as he threw the massive spell at Toni.

“Oh, yeah? Then why don’t we tell them how you fucked the babysitter?” Toni fired back, deflecting Jasper’s spell right at Dustin. Jasper looked over to his second-in-command, checking him over briefly before turning around to glare right at Toni. When he did, she was ready with a cocky grin, using her middle fingers to send a blast of lightning right at him.

The spell hit Jasper square in the chest, throwing him backwards. The sound he made when he hit the ground was harsh even from where Toni was standing. Jasper looked up, features set in a furious grimace. “You’re gonna regret that choice,” He warned, pulling himself to his elbows. “I know you can see how close we are to the goal we once shared. It’s too late to stop it, but have fun trying.”

How close...Oh, shit. Toni was just so used to blocking out the chatter of the other Harbingers, but how had she missed something this huge?

That wasn’t what she needed to be thinking about right now. Toni had to tell someone what had just happened - what she’d just learned. What she needed to do was find Kira.