#this post has been in my mind since I first saw the track title

[new-york-no-shoes]

BUT DADDY I LOVE HIM !!!!

[doctorofmagic]

Relating to the other post about Clea's current character changes (Tumblr wouldn't allow me to put all this in one comment, so I thought this was a better format): I've been constantly thinking about Clea and how having her memories wiped of Stephen may have effected her ever since we saw her re-appear in TDODS. Nothing I say here is a fact based on info Marvel gave us. As far as I've been able to tell, unless I've missed some non-main title run appearance or mention, no comic has covered what exactly happened to Clea like where she went or what she went to do. Her wiki only mentions her getting her memories back "shortly after" she loses them. If I missed something that gives context, please do correct me so I can fill myself in! As for why I think she is the way she is now in the current run, my brains just been connecting it to her lost memories. That could be that due to the lost memories she went somewhere or did something that made her darker overall, maybe being manipulated without memories of being taught and guided by Stephen (I know that she wasn't kind and caring because of him, but due to how her family is and the state of the Dark Dimension at the time, he definitely kept her on track to a degree). If we think of it this way, depending on how the whole memory erasing thing worked, would she have gotten to keep memories that involved him, such as the Defenders, or would those be gone too because he was there? In this route, could she have felt her attempts at being kinder and more caring than her later-discovered family may have been futile? Without acquaintances like her friends she met from meeting Stephen, she may feel as though no one was there to encourage her to continue trying things this way. She doesn't remain on the throne once getting it, so maybe she feels she has to turn in a new direction to protect herself and/or her people? Does the memory erasing mean he's just kind of a blur or a stranger in memories he is in? Or does it mean that her life took on a different path maybe in the Dark Dimension, as it clearly effected her in the past too. (This way would assume Clea at all points in time forgot Stephen, which could lead her down a different road. If this is the case, her memories of one lifetime could be clashing with the memories of her new lifetime so to say. I don't know if any of that made sense, I struggle to put it in words sometimes). It could also be that she's never fully recovered from losing those memories emotionally. We know she's been pretty upset since getting them back, first in a grieving/saddened manner, then in a more anger based way because she regained them only to lose the man they were about. She's gotten him back now, but that's not going to make it like things never happened, so she could still be on that anger based stage and she doesn't even realize she's becoming the way she is (I know this was referred to as "Blaming" grief in the last post, but depending on how truly "short" that timeframe between losing her memories and regaining them was there could be a lot more we really don't know. This could also be her struggling with grief, as we quickly see her go to the anger stage of it. She likely often dealt with grief in a war setting during the rebellion, which could make it harder for her to process?) Overall not knowing what happened to her and not having that covered has generally been a nitpick of mine since we got partway into this story, as I can see why it hasn't yet been tackled but the upcoming books don't make it sound like we'd be getting that information anytime soon either. (Again this is if I didn't miss something previously). Sorry again for things not making sense potentially, and for the wall of text. Again I'm not saying this is for sure whats happening, just how my mind tries to explain what we haven't yet had explained.

Nauuur, you're absolutely right!

Little is known to Clea's time in the Dark Dimension, even before her memories were wiped out. In fact, there's a HUGE gap between their "breakup" and her appearance in v5, when she helps Stephen with the whole Galactus situation.

There's this book (Sisters of Sorcery) that follows the Defenders/The Order storyline and highlights Clea as the protagonist, but you can't quite consider it canon in comics. Besides, it wouldn't explain her characterization in Strange v3 and DS v6.

The thing about erasing Clea's memories is that, as you pointed out, we do not know if it's just *Stephen's figure* or every other connection she did outside the Dark Dimension. We tend to forget that Clea often felt lonely in the Sanctum, and escaped this loneliness through her bonds with the Defenders (Patsy and Valkyrie being her closest friends). I know we hate *that* Defenders run, but it happened as well. She connected to other heroes in that meantime.

I do have the impression that Stephen was indeed her first contact with kindness, since she grew up under both Umar's and Dormammu's influences. Also his father SUCKS. In a cold world, she found warm in Stephen. So is this feeling still there when her memories of him were taken? We don't know, and this is why we need a flashback of her moments in the Dark Dimension. We don't know how she became the Sorceress Supreme, we don't know how the rebellion went, we don't know how she survived the Empirikul on her own. All we know is that she looked for Stephen the moment The Peregrine Child threatened her dimension. And here's my only reservation about this theory.

Clea's characterization in DODS. She appears to be vulnerable and sweet, especially in Lee's art.

What I *think* it could trigger her fierce side and justifies her angrier characterization is the fact that she lost Stephen twice in front of her very own eyes, and three times in the span of a week. Maybe something broke in her heart, and the fact that she had to keep proving to everyone that she was capable of carrying the mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme could have shifted the balance of her heart. Let's not forget that few heroes were kind and empathetic enought to her grief (which explains why she befriended Moon Knight so quickly). Only Wong and Bats were facing the same levels of grief and they were all dealing with it in their own ways.

With that being said, we don't know if it's Jed's choice to portray her in such aggressive manner as to oppose her melancholic self in DODS or it's all part of a larger scenario where he'll exploit her characterization in order for her to find her balance once more. We don't have answers for that and it's very frustrating, especially for Clea fans, but I still have hope that we'll see something about it soon enough. I often trust Jed so I'm patiently waiting haha As the saying goes, "it is what it is".

Also, no worries!! I appreciate your long text and your sharing your thoughts and theories with us!! Thank you so much for passing by, I hope our concerns are addressed soon enough!

[onyx-archer]

Open World, Shallow Structure: A Look at Zelda and It's Future

Originally, I was going to make my next post about another Life is Strange game, but I've been in a bit of a Zelda mood thanks to playing around with the Ocarina of TIme/Majora's Mask Combo Randomizer, so I wanted to talk about the Zelda series for a minute. As the title would suggest, I wanted to talk about Zelda's current open world direction, why I'm not a fan, and where I think it could improve.

As this is more about game design and less about story, spoilers will be minimal, but present. Just assume that I'm expecting you to be familiar with most Zelda games and their stories, and that I'll mention things from them when I think it's relevant. I'm going to be citing things from the 3D Zelda titles especially, because 2D Zelda is a different beast, but I'll mention things about them when necessary to illustrate a point. I'll put this under the cut cause it's gonna be long, but I have a lot of thoughts.

I also want to say up front that if you like the modern style of Zelda seen in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, that's great! You saw something in those games that I didn't, and I don't want to take that away from you! I just want to talk shop about Zelda's current struggle with game design as a fan who's been playing these games since they were like, 6.

With that, you know the drill, go under the cut if you wanna keep reading.

When I first played Breath of the Wild, I want to be real with y'all for a minute: I put it down after a few hours. I had basically gotten to the point where I was on my way to Zora's Domain, got side-tracked by some Shrines and other stuff, and got bored. What a lot of people see as an adventure full of wonder just felt like I was being side tracked by things that ultimately didn't matter. I've since beaten the game, and even 100%'d it, which is something I'd never recommend anyone sane do more than once.

Cards on the table: I haven't really touched Tears of the Kingdom in any real capacity yet. I watched some people play it, and asked a friend who is a diehard Zelda fan what he thought, and both things lead to the same conclusion: it's just Breath of the Wild 2.0. Which, I mean, duh, of course it was, that's a game that a lot of people liked, and so Nintendo would have to be pretty freaking dumb to not capitalize on that. Even I was initially positive about the choice, because I had thought that since they were going to be building off of the base of a game as beloved as BotW, that we'd see something like a "Majora's Mask" to BotW's "Ocarina of Time" in a lot of ways. In some ways, we got that, but in most ways where I think it mattered, we didn't.

So how can I judge a game I really haven't played? Well, it's built off of one I have played, so I can look at it through that lens. I can also take what I've heard from friends who have played it into consideration. With those things in mind, I've come up with a few core problems that I have with the current direction of Zelda that I hope are righted when the next game comes out in like, 7 years (cause let's be real, it's gonna be a long while before the next big game hits).

The Dungeons:

A big sticking point for a lot of more classic fans of the Zelda series that has yet to actually be remedied is the dungeons. More specifically, how the two most recent titles (not counting the Link's Awakening remake and the Skyward Sword remaster) don't really have tightly designed dungeons. I believe this is a consequence of the open-ended design, and the fact that the developers have leaned too hard into "solve the puzzles in any number of different ways" to allow for that tight design.

Zelda dungeons in the past, for the most part, are a combination of combat encounters and puzzle rooms, with a sense of exploration as you move through them. While I feel as though the combat aspect has been preserved to a degree, everything else is just lacking.

The combat in Zelda pre-Skyward Sword was pretty basic for the most part (just whacking guys with glorified sticks), and this is something that Breath of the Wild has objectively improved in a lot of ways. Combat just feels better, even if there's objectively a lot of jank when managing the inventory to swap between weapons. The only part of combat that is outright trash is the weapon degradation, which I'll cover later.

However, there is one thing that has been lost in this, and it ties into the puzzle element: boss fights.

Bosses in Zelda's past are basic in certain respects, but have layers that lean into the puzzle solving component of the game design. Usually, the bosses require you to play into the dungeon gimmick, which usually involves the tool you get in said dungeon, or in the lead up to the dungeon, which is the case for something like Bongo Bongo in Ocarina of Time. While sure, a lot of this leads to pretty obvious design quirks that make the bosses less challenging overall for some, and lead to mixed results as the series went on, the bosses did more than test your mettle, they tested you on the tools you have.

For every item that has limited use like the Spinner in Twilight Princess, there are items that have utility in ways beyond their dungeon of acquisition. This is typically for staples like the Bow, the Bombs, the Hookshot, etc, but it can also be for things like the Gust Jar or the Beetle from Skyward Sword. Yeah, they aren't as universally useful, but they are still useful, and can be used to add puzzle variety. Beyond just using the tool to exploit a weakness in the boss, they had other uses, and while some were definitely more limited than others, it was still some use.

Modern Zelda has decided that puzzles should be solvable in ways tied to the tools you get during the tutorial for the most part, and I think this has lead to the degradation of feeling of solving a puzzle. While sure, there are times when open-ended solutions to puzzles feels satisfying, it also leads to situations where the player can just cheese an answer, and while that may satisfy some in a creative sense, it leaves the people who want to solve head scratchers feeling like they wasted their time trying to think how the developers wanted the puzzle to be solved.

The fact that BotW and TotK puzzles can be solved in a number of ways, but also really only expect the player to have the tools they got during the tutorial area makes the puzzles feel... flat, for the lack of a better term.

This, in tern, makes the design of dungeons feel less satisfying to explore, because it has lead to the designers basically making all of the dungeon "find X number of keys to open the door to the boss." Yeah, classic Zelda was that at it's core, but the puzzles, while certainly not super complex because of their target audience, often had variety in ways that the modern ones just don't. That variety masked the blatant "find keys" part of the journey, which I feel is so obvious in the modern games that it sucks the sense of wonder exploring the dungeons used to bring. From what I've seen of TotK, this problem is made worse because the game just tells you that you need to find 5 things to unlock a door up front, and that's just kinda lame.

I'm not going to pretend the puzzles in OoT are complete brain ticklers, but they had some fun solutions. Opening the door to the boss of Dodongo's Cavern involved a simple riddle about dropping bombs into the eyes of a giant Dodongo Skull to open it's mouth. It was a fun concept that was really only used once in that game, and it sticks out in my memory to this day. Most of the puzzles in BotW, by contrast, are less interesting outside of the moment you're doing them because they mix the same assets together so much that it all bleeds into one amorphas blob.

Shrines only further make this a problem, because the Shrines have you do these sorts of puzzles outside of dungeons, making them less creative overall over the course of the game. There's only so many times you can have me use Magnesis or Statis Launches to solve similar set ups before I get bored. I do like the idea of Shrines, but there are too damn many of them!

Also of note is the lack of meaningful rewards for doing the Shrines or the Dungeons. Sure, the Shrines give you a resource that lets you increase your Health and Stamina, but that's really it. The chests are largely worthless because they hold weapons that break (at least in BotW), or other things you can just farm from enemies, or just buy. I don't feel rewarded for using my brain, I feel like I'm going down a checklist for some more health. Heart Pieces often had some kind of puzzle or series of things you needed to do to get them, but they felt so much more rewarding because the feeling of getting 4 of them (or however many you need in other games) gave you a satisfying little jingle that hit you with some dopamine like "Look at you! You got a little stronger by using your skull spaghetti!"

My Proposed Solution:

Simply put, my solution is to cut the Shrine number down by half, and make only half of them doable out of the gate. Then I'd use those resources to make unique, tightly design dungeons that give you a unique tool that you can use to solve puzzles with that won't break, and allow those items to be woven into puzzle solutions.

This way, you get some puzzle elements that are open-ended that you can logic out however you want, and then you get some puzzles that have more specific, guided solutions that test your knowledge of the tools you have. You can walk into a Shrine, see a thing that you can't do, and go "okay, there's a tool I need to be able to do this, but I don't have it yet," and know that you'll be able to come back to it later for a puzzle that tests your knowledge as you acquire more tools.

Dungeons could then have more time dedicated to giving them a unique theme and vibe. Unique assets, and a proper sense of wonder that makes them feel worthwhile. Dungeons, I feel, should be guided experiences that progressively introduce new ideas to test the player, rather than just be open ended boxes that have like 5 puzzles that are solved in similar ways to previous puzzles you've likely solved to open a door. They should have a sense of place and spectacle.

Personally, if we were to use the world of BotW/TotK as the basis, I'd have each dungeon reflect the ancient versions of the races civilizations and cultures. Basically, double down on the whole Ancient Sheikah idea, and apply it to the other races of Hyrule. I'd love to see something like an ancient mine of the Gorons teaming with gems and Dodongos, or the dilapidated sunken remains of an ancient Zora city, just to name a few basic things. Pull from the series past and history to create places oozing with cultural atmosphere that stimulates a sense of wonder, but also filled with dangers that excite those seeking the thrill of adventure.

2. The Story

While I am aware that TotK vastly improved the story being told compared to BotW, I think it can't be denied that the open-ended approach to the story is hurting the pacing of things immensely, and leads to a lot of awkward scenarios. The fact that you can view the memories out of order in both BotW and TotK is insane to me, but that's not the only issue.

While open-ended open worlds are good for gameplay stuff, it has taken a toll on having the story of Zelda feel like it has much substance. Sure, you can sit there and say TotK story is good if you sit down and focus on it, but that's the problem: because you can do things in any order, the story loses a lot of traction. I've seen the cutscenes for completing the dungeons in TotK, and the fact that you basically see slightly different versions of the same thing, but with a different narrator, is what I'm talking about.

I personally think that the story is too loosely strung together in these titles because they feel they have to be for the sake of immersion or something, but that is silly to me. You can have an open-ended game that has structure to a plot that is less open, because other devs have been doing it for years. Older Zeldas have done it, to a degree.

Older Zelda titles often did expect you to follow a path the designers laid out for you, but that's because stories often need that kind of structure to be told in any sort of cohesive way. It's like playing a tight game of D&D, where the DM is allowing the players some flexibility, but is still going to guide the players down a path toward some sort of conclusion. The path to that ending may be slightly different, but there are still plot beats that get to that conclusion that occur in a certain order. It's a lot of work, but often leads to satisfying campaigns. And I'm speaking as someone who doesn't care much for D&D.

I think Zelda needs to have a loose, but still very much guided structure. Part of the reason I get so bored playing BotW when I do play it is that the game gives me so much freedom to do whatever, and no real sense of direction outside of a few map markers for the areas you need to go for the main quest. Yeah, that can feel liberating, but it makes it feel more like I'm wandering around in the dark, and less like I'm on a grand adventure, y'know?

I don't want things to go full blown Skyward Sword, where you're effectively on rails, have have to do basically everything in the order the designers wanted you to, cause that feels bad in Zelda too. I think the story should set itself up in such a way where the player is limited to a small pool of possible events that can be seen in any order, but all need to be completed to access the next pool of things, which could be larger. Much like how both Link to the Past divides the game between the 3 Light World dungeons and 6 Dark World dungeons with a trip to Hyrule Castle, or how Ocarina of Time requires you to get the Three Sacred Stones before you can do the Temples for the Medallions.

Events in the stories, as they are, feel like they expect that any dungeon should be your first, and there are only a small handful of dungeons. This, in theory, would be fine, but because each dungeon has to act as though you've never seen things before, it leads to very stale narrative presentation long term.

There's also another small issue that's eating away at the story of the games: the reliance on Ganon.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Ganon/Ganondorf when he's done well, and he was several times in the past. I understand he's the big bad of the series, and he'll always be around, but he's been something of a stain on the series' ability to tell unique stories for a while. This was highlighted in Twilight Princess first, where he sort of just comes in and kicks Zant, a villain who was super imposing and interesting, to the curb for the sake of a lame twist. This was lame, sure, but I really don't like their reliance on Ganon in these recent games.

I could put up with it in BotW, because the game is ultimately about dealing with the Calamity, which is Ganon's essence of corruption given shape. It was dumb and basic, but BotW was sort of basic on purpose in a lot of ways with it's story, so I didn't mind. But with TotK? I feel like they just brought him back because it was easy, and because there are a lot of thirsty Ganondorf fans out there. I just see his inclusion after dealing with Calamity Ganon as a blight on what could have been a much cooler narrative.

My Proposed Solution:

As I mentioned above, I think the goal should be to apply a degree of limitation to the player in how much they can accomplish as they progress. This means there are only so many scenarios the game has to account for. If we, say, limit the player to the classic 3 "starter" dungeons before letting them go into the next batch, then it makes things easier to write around. Have each dungeon be tied to a thing going on in the area that is connected to the main plot, but serve as a piece of a larger puzzle.

Then, I'd establish a simple check: if the Player is visiting, say, the Goron Mines first, then they'll get a slightly different cutscene than if they did the Goron Mines after the Lost Zora City, to account for the idea that the player has already seen some of the set up already. Basically, have the stuff the player experiences be told in a set order in slightly different ways, depending on when the player experiences it sequentially, and adjust in accordance to the order to avoid unnecessary repetition of ideas being conveyed. That way, when Link gets insight into the broader narrative, it feels like a puzzle being solved, but the stuff surrounding that insight is focused on the area.

As for Ganon, it's a pretty simple thing: just don't use him for a little while. Again, I get he's the big bad of the franchise, but we've seen other villains in the series work. Even having a devout follower of Ganon take over and try to resurrect him for a game would be fine, if a bit cliche at this point. Let's see Vaati come back maybe? Or another interesting original villain like Majora/Skull Kid? I still want to learn more about lands besides Hyrule, and a unique villain from Ganon gives us plenty of opportunity to explore those lands.

Speaking of...

3. Hyrule

I don't think it's at all controversial to suggest that Hyrule's map in TotK makes it less satisfying to explore for a lot of people. Sure, there are new areas to check out in a post-Calamity Ganon world, and the added the Depths and the Sky Islands... but I mean, it still kind of sucks that 90% of the map is just a copy/paste job.

Beyond that, I've developed a bit of a pet peeve with the Zelda series and it's use of Hyrule. While I completely understand that it's the primary setting, and that's not really something I'm looking to change or anything, I just miss when we got other places to explore, y'know?

Majora's Mask has Termina, the Oracle games have their own countries, and even Tri Force Heroes has it's own unique setting, and that's just scratching the surface. I love when a Zelda game takes us outside of Hyrule to see other parts of the world, even if it just has a bunch of things that make it feel like a remixed version of Hyrule at it's core. Termina is like this, but I still want to go back there and explore how things have changed since then, y'know?

I don't really have a solution for this issue, I just really think they need to be willing to go outside of Hyrule more often... especially with the next game, just to have things feel fresh again.

4. Weapon Degradation and UI

I don't know about y'all, but I hate the weapons I'm using breaking, but having no real way to repair them. Sure, I know you can often find duplicates or, in the case of TotK, you can just build a new copy of the thing you like, but I still hate it.

A lot of this is compounded by the fact that a lot of chests just contain weapons that will break after a few uses, and it just makes the act of fighting things feel more tedious. I know some would say it adds a degree of tension, but I and many, many others don't like it. It says a lot about the system that when you disable it via cheats, BotW becomes more fun.

The UI doesn't make this any better. Cycling weapons and shields feels clunky as hell, and selecting which arrows you are shooting from the bow is just... why is it so bad!? And how did TotK make that WORSE!? Crafting in TotK is neat, sure, but when you have to individually combine the item you want to each nocked arrow, and the menu is that bad, you have to ask how that got out of beta. I dunno if it's been fixed since then, and I don't really care.

My Proposed Solution:

Here's the thing, all I want is to have 2 things in the case of the weapons breaking.

Thing 1: A permanent set of things you can upgrade over time that never breaks, and only needs to be sharpened or something, but lacks special attributes that make the breakable stuff worth a damn to use.

Thing 2: The ability to use materials to repair/maintain the weapons you like.

The simple thing to fix the UI is actually just to have a weapon wheel that you save the things you like onto in the positions you want them, and to have a tab button to cycle to less used stuff. Basically, just do what Ratchet and Clank did 20 years ago.

As far as arrows are concerned, just let the player craft them in the inventory, and have the Bow weapon wheel have a way to cycle which type of arrows you want to use. Easy. It'd still be a touch clunky, but you'd not have to deal with scrolling through a list, and that's just objectively better.

The wheel would also apply to Tools/Abilities like Runes. Just hold hold the button, and then use one of the sticks to cycle around the wheel. Simple.

Honestly, this post got a little long, but hopefully people see where I'm coming from. I don't really have much of a point beyond what's stated above, but I'll try to end this off with something to think on.

Zelda's current direction has been a bit contentious with some of the older fans, and while I think BotW and TotK are respectable games, and they offer new life to a series that was admittedly losing a fair bit of it's steam, it's frustrating how there are some things that just feel like simple, elegant fixes to the new formula that'd bring it more inline with what classic fans like myself would like more. I don't think what I'm asking for is that much (especially with the UI stuff). I'm not really out here demanding that they bring back something like the transformation masks (though if there was a game like BotW and TotK, but they replaced Runes with Transformations like those of the masks from Majora's Mask, I'd probably give the game a 20/10 out of pure bias for Majora's Mask), I just want the game to feel more like the Zelda I grew up with, rather than this sort of bland open world with a Zelda skin that it's become.

As it stands, modern Zelda is starting to feel less like a grand adventure, and more like I'm wandering through the woods without a map or a compass while it's super foggy out, and finding table scraps rather than neat treasure. I might make a post about what I'd do with a hypothetical Zelda game in the future. I've got a handful of ideas, but this post is too long as it is... so... yeah, that will be done later. Maybe.

[bbrissonn]

𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐮 - 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐳𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬 (𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨)

╰┈➤ trevor zegras x fem! singer! reader au

╰┈➤ oc: Alanna Oregon (no faceclaim)

╰┈➤ masterlist

╰┈➤ this is completely made up from my mind, these songs do not exist, i created the titles and some of the verses one night thinking about this. i created these titles and verses for the sole reason of being able to have complete control over what Alanna sings and writes

𝓖𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓐𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓪 !

ೃ⁀➷ born May 23, 2000, Kennewick, Wash.

ೃ⁀➷ her best friends since birth is Becca "Becky" Rivera, their dads have been best friends since childhood

ೃ⁀➷ moved to LA in summer of 2019 to follow her music career

ೃ⁀➷ released her first official single in October of 2019 titled Love Message sparking numerous dating rumors, but no one knew who it was about

ೃ⁀➷ her debut album called Obsessed with You came out in summer of 2021, it was composed of 12 love songs, including Love Message, making it pretty obvious she was in a relationship by now, but who the boyfriend was remained a mystery

ೃ⁀➷ November 24, 2021. Alanna posted a carousel of photos soft launching her relationship with mystery man

ೃ⁀➷ January 2, 2022. Hard launch of her relationship with Trevor while the two quarantined together

ೃ⁀➷ April 2023. All posts about her relationship with the hockey player are deleted from her instagram sparking break-up rumors

ೃ⁀➷ Summer 2023, dating rumors between Trevor and Dixie, one of Alanna's close friends, begin

ೃ⁀➷ September 1st, 2023. Alanna announces her new album, Tired of U, coming out on October 14, 2023.

𝓐𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓪 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓣𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓸𝓻'𝓼 𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓹 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓮

ೃ⁀➷ the two met in summer of 2019, Alanna had just moved to LA and Trevor was in Anaheim for the Duck's training camp

ೃ⁀➷ Alanna was laying on her beach towel when Trevor walked up to her and the two started chatting, eventually exchanging numbers

ೃ⁀➷ it was clear to the both of them as they got to know each other that they had feelings for one another, but since Trevor was going to Boston, neither of them acting on said feelings

ೃ⁀➷ october 29, Love Message dropped, the lyrics being a letter the girl had wrote to Trevor, but never sent when she saw he had a rumored girlfriend

ೃ⁀➷ the two didn't talk much until Trevor came back to California in September of 2020

ೃ⁀➷ A week before Trevor left for Michigan, November 3rd 2020, he asked her to be his girlfriend

ೃ⁀➷ In summer of 2021, Alanna released her first album, Obsessed with you, all the songs being about Trevor and their relationship

ೃ⁀➷ When the two of them caught covid in January of 2022, the two decided to hard launch their relationship with Alanna posting three photos. One being them watching a Harry Potter movie with only their blanket covered leg in the frame, the other being a plate of cookie, and the last one being a selfie of the two of them cuddling as Trevor pressed a kiss to her kiss

ೃ⁀➷ Their relationship was perfect until the 2022-23 season started, Alanna noticing the boy started acting very differently on and off the ice

ೃ⁀➷ The two eventually split up in April, Trevor calling her after his last away game of the season in Arizona, breaking up with her and hanging up before she even had time to realize what he had said

ೃ⁀➷ Alanna and Trevor never saw or talked to each other after that, all of her stuff being gone from his place when he came back, and all his things from her home being in a box on his bed

ೃ⁀➷ Now, had Alanna announces the release of her second album, all the songs being about Trevor but for not so good reasons this time, the boy has the urge to reach out.

𝓽𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓾

✎track i - 11 feet behind

✎track ii - friend stealer

✎track iii - mascara stained cheeks

✎track iv - killing us softly

✎track v - 30 seconds

✎track vi - sunset chasing

✎track vii - crushed mind

✎track viii - i regret you everyday

✎track ix - i miss u

✎track x - spinning circle

✎track xi - forgive

✎track xii - heist

✎track xiii - heart n soul

✎track xiv - tired of u

[whatisshelties]

So, yeah, we did AKC scent work this weekend.

Both dogs went 8/8. This doesn't mean that everything went great, though.

Anza finished her overall Novice title, so the pretty ribbon in the photo is hers. She even earned a first place one run. However, she was not working happily, which is the real measure of success for this dog. She was pretty worried a lot of the searches, but she managed to catch odor and get to source and alert. I think I posted about the conversation my mom and I had regarding realistic expectations for her "trial career." Anza really doesn't care if she trials or not. It's also hard to predict how she's going to feel on any given day. She was overall happy in April. She was overall stressed at this trial. You just don't know.

Sooo, her first place run was Novice Interior. Her time was 5 seconds and change. The next fastest time was 30 seconds! Apparently most other teams were getting stuck in pooling??? odor on some other objects and having to work their way back to source or getting talked into a false alert. Anza must have been able to get a line from the start and basically went directly to source. I probably could have called it sooner, but I waited for her to make a final decision.

Mud didn't get any titles. I saw that he was runner up HIT both days. So close!

We did Excellent Interior!!! We Qd twice!!! The first day we only had 1 hide in the first room and I probably waited longer than needed, but I wanted to make sure he covered the space. There was one aisle we didn't really hit on our way to the first hide (which did take him awhile to work out.) So they called 30 seconds and he ends up on the bench of a lunch table, and then up on the table. I'm like for real? I get him off and call finish.

Mud still needs work on placed distractions. I think that's what ate up most of our time was him investigating those things. Now we have food and new toys are always a big distraction. I have some exercises in mind to work on this. He has gotten pretty good about leaving distractions on his own if he's in odor, but the toys he just can't seem to ignore the toys he can see off the start line. I need to remember to ask people to bring novel toys to practices. I think that's the biggest draw for Mud. He loooovesss new toys. His instructor likes using tennis balls when she judges and they're the HARDEST for Mud. I also need to remember to be placing food out when I practice by myself. I think this weekend we at the least had banana peel, cake, and a dried lamb's ear? I heard about a container with anchovy residue getting used.

I also think I need to get Mud back up to speed on buried. He wasn't the only dog struggling since we had crazy winds, but some of his alerts were less confident than usual so I wasn't sure if he was telling me yes or if he was undecided. That also ate up time towards HIT.

I'm not sure if our next AKC trial will be in October or Thanksgiving weekend. We're probably going to skip the show in October, but who knows. Depends on how soon I want one of our club's Elite title ribbons. We have the NW1 in October as well, so that's the main reason I was planning to skip it. There's only one more trial in the state other than that one on the calendar for this year. It is in December. Which is one reason I'm thinking I might do a day of the October trial. I don't particularly want to drive to and show under one of the judges that's scheduled for the December show, so I'm skipping that one for sure. The Thanksgiving weekend show is out of state, but I really want to show under one of the judges since she was our tracking instructor. :') Maybe I should skip October so we are likely to finish our Excellent titles at that show? New club, new ribbons.

[seandwalsh]

I saw some speculation that Princess Daisy and Azalea are related and possibly even sisters.

What do you think of the theory?

Good question, I’ve actually wanted to address this one for a while!

This is actually an idea that originated from the @didyuoknowgaming-blog parody blog.

This is such a specific claim, and since Camelot actually did post a lot of character lore on its Japanese website and it’s really easy to miss the swapped “U” and “O”, people believed it. Of course, this post got spread around like crazy, causing misinformation to pop up on the Super Mario Wiki pages for these characters, then in “Mario Facts” YouTube videos. Even when some people realised the source was a parody, they still chose to maintain the idea as a headcanon.

But is there any truth to the theory? I'm afraid not. In fact, it's practically an impossibility. Firstly however, let's debunk the claims made in the DidYuoKnowGaming post. Looking across both characters' descriptions on both Nintendo Co., Ltd. and Camelot Software Planning's websites, with translations courtesy of PaperSplash, they make no reference to Peach or Daisy whatsoever. Starting with Plum:

Characterized by cutesy mannerisms that feel slightly affected. Is she pretty helpless?

[Source: Plum's character profile, Mario Golf (Nintendo 64), Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

In fact, Plum doesn't even have a character profile on the Camelot Software Planning page for the game.

As for Azalea, she has four descriptions across Nintendo Co., Ltd. and Camelot Software Planning's websites:

I used to do track and practice was pretty tough. But thanks to that, I got a tough lower body. Did that sound vulgar? It's been 2 years since I first started playing golf, but I am gradually improving with my father's guidance! I am thinking that I do not have much ability yet, but I have recently been chosen as a representative of my school! Lucky me!

[Source: Azalea's character profile, Mario Golf (Game Boy Color), Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

A former track athlete, Azalea is now seventeen years old. The well-dressed and stylish girl must be from a family that values propriety, but she's a friendly girl who doesn't give off a stuffy atmosphere. She started playing golf at the age of fifteen, perhaps because of her father's love of the game, and her lower body, which she tempered through track, has helped her quickly rise through the ranks. She is now a representative athlete of her school.

[Source: Azalea's character profile, Mario Golf (Game Boy Color), Camelot Software Planning website]

The Club Champ of the Dunes Club, who plays boldly with excellent reflexes.

[Source: Azalea's character profile, Mario Golf: Advance Tour, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

One of Marion's champions, she later seized the crown as the Dune Club singles champ. She has been defending her title ever since. She was the strongest player among the former Marion Club Champs. She also holds the doubles title at the same time. A former track athlete, Azalea is an athletic golfer and her drive distance is quite good for a woman.

[Source: Azalea's character profile, Mario Golf: Advance Tour, Camelot Software Planning website]

Furthermore, it's important to keep in mind that Azalea is from a completely different dimension to Princess Daisy. As I've mentioned here on the blog before, various Mario games such as these Mario Golf games feature characters from real world Earth countries rather than Kingdoms on Mario's Planet. The Marion Club, where Azalea attends, is not in the same world as Sarasaland, where Princess Daisy rules. This would make it next to impossible for Daisy and Azalea to be even distantly related - never mind being sisters! I hope this answers your question.

For more information on the real world Earth, referred to by fans as "Tour Earth", be sure to check out my full findings in my research document here.

[a-moth-to-the-light]

My Current Top 10 Itzy Songs

Context: I've been a fan since I first saw the Icy dance practice in late 2019, but I became a superfan with the release of Wannabe and haven't looked back since--well, except for a slight moment of hesitation with the release of MITM, but the delightful Crazy In Love album brought me back!!

I'm in the process of designing my dream Itzy comeback, like @nayeonline did! [link to their post] I wanted to share this top ten list first, so y'all have an idea of what kinds of songs I love most from these ladies! See, no matter how much I trash-talk Itzy's music (sorry, Not Shy, I was too mean to you for far too long), I really do love SO MANY of their songs--I only criticize some of their tracks as passionately as I do because the highs of their discography are soooo high for me. So let's talk about them!

1. Nobody Like You

Itzy are rock stars in my heart <3 Anything with them + a guitar brings me sooo much joy! Also, the second verse is SO pretty, it's what drew me to the song right from the day the album sampler was released :)

2. Wannabe

I don't think there's any other choice for my favorite Itzy title track--I'd be surprised if anyone has a favorite other than Wannabe. I really have to do an essay about this era one day...

3. Ting Ting Ting (with Oliver Heldens)

This song is totally just trolling all of us! I HATED it for that during the first few months after it came out, but now I don't mind at all--I'm completely in love with it, and all of its weird production choices! I love when songs make me laugh, because I don't find too many of those out there, and the prechorus in this one always gets at least a giggle out of me (JUST LISTEN FOR THE WEIRD GRUNTING SOUND IN THE INSTRUMENTAL WHAT EVEN IS THAT ITS BEEN THREE YEARS AND I CANT STOP LAUGHING ABOUT IT)

4. Icy

Yes, I'm THAT guy who likes Icy more than Dalla Dalla. I know minimalistic choruses are overdone nowadays, but this basic chorus format is so well-suited to such a charismatic group--they carry the energy of the song so well!

5. Be In Love

What did I say about me when Itzy + guitar? This song makes me soooooooo sentimental.

6. That's a No No

There are tracks I like more than this from the Wannabe album, but I'm sure this is my most-listened track from that comeback--most days, its infectious, chaotic energy is exactly what I need to get by :)

7. #Twenty

(This one and above are in the category of songs I would die for btw!!) Look, I just LOVE mean girl music! This is a song that barely manages to hold itself together--luckily, it has the Itzy members to give it some semblance of being a... something? (Whatever it is, I can't help but sing along, so here we are.)

8. Cherry

Minimalistic choruses for the win! Again, their charisma really gets to shine here.

9. Loco

Look, I know Itzy aren't anywhere near the best vocalists out there, but they sound SO strong on this song! I think it's one of their best vocally, and Itzy really is one of the first groups that comes to mind when I think about my favorite vocalists. So I love this one :)

10. Love Is

Yay, a sentimental coming-of-age movie pop ballad thing! I've heard better examples of this vibe (see: Playing Games by Anna of the North), but this still makes me feel Feelings, so I come back to it quite a bit!

Honorable Mentions: It'z Summer, 24 Hours, 365 (it's become a comfort song lately! so i don't hate it anymore hehe), Domino, Cake (it's CATCHY go away), None of My Business

[lawgrain]

Hi, I saw your post about appropriate commenting on AO3, it helps me so much since I am looking for it.

If you don't mind answering, recently I have written a fic for a less popular ship on a fandom.

There is this one commenter that keeps mentioning how the character I wrote is similar to another fic belonging to the same fandom but for a more popular ship/pairing.

I have never heard of this fic let alone read it.

It was uncomfortable for me to read the comment, because even though there are some compliments there, it feels as if this one commenter is comparing my work to this other fic.

For example

1. Will character A do the same as character B from this "Title"?

2. It's fun to read another "Title"-esque fic

Am I being to sensitive here? I get that there are compliments here and there, but is it justified to delete their comments?

I am not sure about their intention but they have commented several times and each times the same commenter said the same thing about another fic and how my fic is very similar to it. I didn't reply to this one commenter, others don't mention anything about this other fic.

I feel like it is quite rude mentioning someone else's work under the comment of another person's work and imply it is quite similar though not saying it outright.

Is it? I genuinely want to know because I need another perspective on this.

If it is not, do you have any advice that you can give? Your insight would be very helpful.

A fic doesn't invent an entire genre, but this one commenter makes it seems like it does (& I am copying it or something).

Thank you for your time.

Okay, real talk, delete that shit.

I’m sorry I didn’t see this till now btw. Really anything that upon seeing make you feel negative emotions, just delete it. One of my biggest mistake in writing was worrying about the comment section. It really fast tracked me into burn out and anxiety.

You don’t need to explain yourself and many writers don’t even go to their comment section. It’s not rude to ignore it. In this case, I feel the person you’re describing is being rude, even if unknowingly. Wether or not the person is being rude, you are well within your rights to ignore it or delete it.

I think I mentioned it in the post you reference but there was a time where someone used a fic I liked to put me down. It really just doesn’t feel great to hear about others in a manner to make you doubt yourself.

And really, not a goddamn person has an idea that hasn’t been done before. There’s not a concept that hasn’t been thought, it’s your take on it that matters. So don’t let anyone shame you for that. I’ll be the first to say that the fics I’ve written have been done before in a way. There’s thousands of bullying stories. There millions of stories with an abusive mother. There’s a ton of fics that reference similar if not the same topics I do. It just can’t matter to me if I’m going to get better as a writer. If it does than there’s not a word I could write.

I’m very passionate in defending you on this. I of course don’t know every detail of what’s going on but this is my take on it. I ended up getting very wrapped up in comments, both positive and negative, and that’s one of the worst things I did to myself. If I can help someone not to fall into that fate, I’d love to

[shibuyashotos]

Top Games 2022

The year is wrapping up soon and since I'm already making this post due to not feeling like sleeping, I figured it would be fun to just go over what I think my top games were for the year. Bear in mind that I didn't play a lot of new games (video games are expensive, man), so this list will just be about what I have played and that may include much older games as well. This is also in no set order.

The King of Fighters XV

KOF is undoubtedly one of my favorite fighting game franchises of all time, I can preach to the heavens on why it's such a great series, why it has such amazing characters, some of the most entertaining storylines and so on and so forth. This game in particular is on the list since it was also the fighting game that saw me achieving a rather big milestone in my life: Going to Evo and participating. I never thought I'd get that opportunity, but I have this game and my nephew to thank for that opportunity.

Sonic Frontiers

I'm admittedly one of those people who gradually stopped playing the Sonic video games since the quality was starting to go all over the place with what were the current games at the time. I shifted my focus to the rest of Sega's catalogue with the likes of titles like Jet Set Radio, Virtua Fighter, Yakuza/Like A Dragon and Streets of Rage. I still like Sonic, but in other mediums (Movies, IDW), so imagine my gradual (if cautious) excitement with Frontiers' announcement and previews up until the game's release. Suffice to say, having gotten around to playing it in late November/early December, it had quickly become one of my favorite sonic games and undoubtedly my personal (non fighting) game of the year.

Streets of Rage 4 (2021)

This is a game that basically was several decades in the making. Streets of Rage had long since been finished as a trilogy, with only its legacy staying alive through various indie games inspired by it (Mother Russia Bleeds, The Takeover, Streets of Fury EX) as well as the ever excellent fan game Streets of Rage Remake. This game felt like an actual fever dream that came true, that I could finally play a brand new entry in one of my favorite franchises of all time. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys beat 'em ups or wants to try the genre.

TMNT: Shredder's Revenge

Following off of SOR4, it really just felt like that the Beat 'em up genre was hitting a resurgence as now comes a brand new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game and it's based on the 80s cartoon. More specifically it felt like a giant love letter to the cartoon (for the record I was born in '98, so I never really grew up with the cartoon). Like SOR4, it's coming with a fantastic soundtrack, with their own guests on each track. For the first time Splinter's playable, April's playable, even crazy ass Casey Jones is there. And like SOR4, this game has local and online co-op (4 player local, up to 6 online).

Yakuza 4 (2010; remastered 2019)

While it is the oldest game on this list, the Yakuza series holds a special place in my heart, especially Yakuza 4. I played through all of the games thanks to the fact that the remastered collection came and brought the PS3 titles to modern hardware. In fact the collection came out on my birthday, so to me it felt like a very nice gift from Sega and RGG Studios. I could've went with either 4 or 5, but I felt more endeared to 4's story and gameplay. They are rather wonderful titles and I love them immensely.

[sarcasmsweetie]

Coming Home, Prologue

FRIENDS!!! I’m so excited to share this new story with you all. This has admittedly been in my head for ages, and is part of the reason why I haven’t posted A Better Life’s epilogue yet. I have quite a good chunk of this story already written out, and I can’t wait to go on this journey with all of you! (Title may change because I’m terrible at coming up with them and I don’t know if this will stick)

Pairing: Azriel x Rhysand’s Sister

Word count: 2.2k

Masterlist | Part 1

Taglist (if you’re crossed out, I couldn’t tag you): @bsenpai @starrstrucked @account1sblog @hernameispia @great-goddess-of-sin

It’s been far longer than I expected since I last saw the twins. While their absence has been both a physical and mental relief, I can’t help but mourn the loss of semi-regular meals. With the twins gone, the sentry wasn’t ordered to bring me something to eat, and the loss of food not only ensured I remain weak, it also removed my ability to somewhat track time. Being held underground for centuries certainly didn’t make this task easy, but after so many years, I wondered if it was even worthwhile anymore.

I sat up, mentally preparing myself to stand. I’ve been lying on the ground for a while now, and I’m sure moving too quickly will result in some light-headedness. I glanced to the bars of my cell, thinking it best I move my way to the bars to help me in standing, while also giving me something to lean against should I stand too quickly.

Crawling across the short distance between the blanket that makes up my bed and the door to my cell, I hold onto the iron bar. I tighten my grip, feeling the coolness of the metal under my fingertips. I close my eyes as I slowly pull myself from the ground. I first pulled myself up into a kneeling position, getting a sense of how I was holding up at getting to this point. My arms felt like they were screaming from the exertion, but I could work through that so long as I wasn’t feeling faint. Taking a deep breath, I began to pull myself up into a standing position, pausing to take a mental inventory of how everything was feeling. Honestly? It felt like Cassian pushed me through the training ring for far longer than he originally promised. Shaky legs, arms screaming to rest, and sweat dripping from my brow as I fought to catch my breath. I closed my eyes, thinking of my brother and his two best friends and what they could be up to right now, and rested my head on the door, allowing it to hold all of my meager weight.

The door shifted forward, and my eyes popped open in fear. Was someone here opening the door? I let go, and frantically stepped back, already raising my arms to protect my face from whatever hit the sentry, or worse, the twins, would aim at me. There was no light in the dungeon allowing me to see anything in or outside of my cell, so I held my breath as I tried to listen for movement from the other side of the door. There was no telltale sign of the creaky hinges indicating the door was still being opened, no steps or clothes rustling in the hall.

I lowered my arms, trying to squint through the darkness to see what may have happened. After another moment of silence, I stepped towards the door and pushed. It swung open. I continued to wait where I stood, expecting this to be some trick of the twins, a “welcome home” game they may have organized for themselves now that they’re back from Spring. But still, nothing happened.

I hesitantly walked toward the door, grabbing an iron bar. I took a deep breath as I felt the coolness seep into my skin, grounding me to reality. I learned ages ago that if the twins were in my mind, I wouldn’t be feeling the temperature of the bar, the solidity of it. They could replicate so much so visually with such precision, even sounds were an identical match to the original source. But the physical feeling of the door in my hand or the hard floor under my bare feet was never part of the illusion. The cold became a source of comfort after a while because it was a reminder that I was alone, that they weren’t toying with me. They had created countless illusions of me escaping this cell. Was even cruel enough to create the illusion of being reunited with my family.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the cell and waited. Just because this wasn’t an illusion doesn’t mean this still wasn’t some game. I placed my hand on the wall to help not only in my balance but in guiding me through the darkness. I kept my ears open for any sounds before moving forward. I moved slowly, not just because of how weak I’ve become, but in an effort to remain as silent as possible. A perk of being raised in Velaris meant I was raised around AzrielI learned that shadows and the darkness are your friend, not something to be feared. Probably one of the only reasons why I didn’t go insane over the last few hundred years down here.

Keeping my hands on the walls helped me navigate through the twists and turns of the halls. I walked for maybe 10 minutes before my foot bumped into something solid. I quickly realized I was standing in front of a staircase, and I moved as quickly as I could to climb. I was certain someone was waiting for me at the top of the stairs given how easy it was to get to this point, but the thought of no longer being in this dungeon overrode any other instinct I had at this moment. I gripped the railing, allowing myself to pull myself upwards in an attempt to move faster.

Before I knew it, I found a wooden door that opened without a creak. This still felt like a pretty little trap, but my excitement continued to push me forward. I peered around the corner and the other side of the door, discovering no one waited for me like I thought. In fact, the hallway was completely empty. I shut the door behind me, leaning against it as I took a moment to catch my breath as well as try and listen for any sounds indicating I should move towards or away from a certain direction. Looking to my right, I noticed a window at the end of the hall. The sun was shining and although it hurt to stare at the light after all my time in darkness, I moved towards it like a moth to a flame.

The window didn’t look out at anything special – some open land that may have once been a garden. Everything in the area looked as if it hadn’t been tended to in ages. I quickly looked around to make sure I was still alone in the hall before testing the window. It was a bit of a struggle to open the glass, almost as if it hadn’t been opened in years. I was half-tempted to find something to shatter the glass itself before it finally gave way. Taking one final glance around, I climbed out of the window.

I leaned against the stone wall, closing my eyes as I felt the heat of the sun for the first time in almost 500 years. I reminded myself that the heat of the sun and the texture of the stones further proved this wasn’t an illusion. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes to look around. No sentries stood guard anywhere, no movement from any other windows I could see from where I stood. I couldn’t even hear anything in the immediate area. My brows furrowed in confusion, wondering where everyone could have possibly gone.

Not taking any chances, I continued to move around this old courtyard by sticking to the perimeter of the castle. It took a bit of time to finally make it to the other side, but I finally approached what looked like the entrance to the courtyard. Keeping my eyes to the walls of the castles in case any sentries made an appearance, I moved through the courtyard entrance to find myself in sprinting distance of the castle entrance. The drawbridge was down, and once again I couldn’t find any sentries in sight. My heartbeat began to race, thinking of what this could all mean. Was this not a game as I originally thought, but could Hybern actually have been defeated? Is that why I was left alone for ages, because no one lived to remember I was down there?

Taking one final glance, I took a deep and calming breath. Confirming once again that no one was at least visible to me, I forced myself to put everything I had into sprinting to the drawbridge, to possible freedom. My legs and lungs burned, I couldn’t hear anything except for the sound of my pounding heart, and I refused to look anywhere except for the promising drawbridge. Even as it came within range, I refused to slow down. I pushed myself harder so that I continued running through the exit of this hellish castle, sprinting through the streets of this dirty and wretched city.

Like the castle, I couldn’t see any people in the immediate area. I ran through the streets for as long as I could, aiming to put as much distance as possible between myself and my personal hell. Eventually, I turned into an alley where I allowed myself to stop and try and catch my breath. My lungs were on fire and I my wheezing sounded absolutely terrifying, but no one stopped me. As far as I knew, no one even saw me. I took this opportunity to take in a bit more of my surroundings. The area I ran from was completely abandoned, but I was starting to hear the sounds of life in the direction I was running. Almost as if the castle was the epicenter of some horrible plague and citizens moved themselves as far away from it as they could. I glanced around, seeing clothes hanging on a clothesline.

For the first time, I looked down at myself and noticed the incredibly tattered clothing I wore. It was certainly no dress, and more of an oversized male’s shirt. Once upon a time it may have been white, but it was so dirty that it was a charcoal grey at this point. There were a few pairs of pants and shirts, and I snuck over, looking around the alley to see if anyone was here or watching from any of the windows. Even if I couldn’t change my shirt, I grabbed the smallest pair of pants, almost like a child’s pair. They were a bit short, not reaching my ankles, but they fit fine enough in the waist that I was content enough. Looking around again to see no one was watching, I grabbed a dark blue shirt and ran into another alley to get away from the scene of my theft, as well as find a darker area to quickly change shirts. Leaving my rags on the street, I quickly turned out of the alley and walked towards the sounds of what could possibly be a bustling city. Although not clean by any means, I felt like I could possibly avoid detection a bit more in these clothes – not nearly as eye catching as the tatters I previously wore.

I walked down the streets, still not noticing anyone in the immediate area, though I noticed the sounds grew louder. Chatter that could have been from a market grew, and I paused as I reached the end of the street. I peered around the corner of the building and saw a dock instead of the market I originally imagined. Males and females were loading ships of various sizes. What I thought was interesting is that nothing was being unloaded – almost as if everyone in Hybern were looking to leave this place. I looked at the sails on the ships, trying to see if I recognized any emblems and my eyes caught the sigil of Day. I could have cried in relief, seeing a ship from one of Night’s neighbors. Instead, I began to take a closer look at those moving around that ship. I’m not sure why they’re here in the first place, but if I want to sneak on board to get even closer to home, I’d have to figure something out.

Not wanting to be caught spying on any ship, I attempted to leisurely walk towards the dock, not paying too close attention to any given ship. Just simply looking around. For the most part, I was ignored. Only being barked at if I accidentally stepped in the path of those moving heavier objects. I listened to the chatter of those around me and realized my theory was correct: everyone here is leaving Hybern and being taken as refugees to various courts and continents.

I hurried to the ship with Dawn’s sails, making eye contact with a sentry at the base of the ship’s gangway. He clearly took note of my very dirty and disheveled body, yet the oddly clean clothes I wore. “Are you choosing to abandon Hybern and swear fealty to Day?” I hesitated, unsure of how much I should reveal to a stranger. His eyebrow raised at my silence.

“I’m actually-“ I coughed, clearing my throat that hasn’t been used in who knows how long. “I’m actually a citizen of Night Court.” His eyes widened slightly, and he glanced back to someone on the ship.

“Let her on board. We promised Lord Helion we wouldn’t turn anyone away. If we can aid this female in returning home, then we shall.”

[kaitsawamura]

would you like to stay forever?

SUMMARY⎮   Sparring with Pro Hero Kirishima Eijiro in his private gym at his home doesn't seem like a bad idea if you don't count the fact that you really, really like him.

STATS⎮ minors do not interact, 18+ ⎮  Rating: M (for mature)  ⎮  WC: 5525  ⎮   Pairing: Pro Hero Kirishima Eijiro x Fem!Reader  ⎮   Tags: Aged Up Character(s), Friends to Lovers, Sparring, Smut, Fluff, Age/Experience Gap (if you really squint)  ⎮  AO3

NOTES⎮  Thanks to @spacelabrathor​ for listening to me scream about this and to @some-kindofgnome​ for fueling my Kiri fever dreams.  Yes, that title is based on a Mulan quote. This whole fic was based on THIS POST and Kirishima seemed like the perfect character for this pwp.  Hope y'all enjoy!  (Also please for the love of God, click on the banner to see in HD if you’re on mobile, it looks so much better lol)

It was Saturday and even though you’re on your way to becoming a Pro Hero, you can think of several things you’d rather be doing with your one day off than going to Kirishima Eijiro’s house to spar.  But here you are pulling into his driveway, going over combat moves in your head as if your life depended on it.  They weren’t really serving their purpose which was to distract yourself.  Kiri had offered up his personal gym, encouraged you to stop by with one hand in his pocket and the other rubbing the back of his neck as if he was nervous.  

A couple of his friends had already taken him up on the offer.  You were the only one he’d offered who hadn’t come over yet.  He had texted you a couple of weeks later saying he was starting to take it personally…  and then immediately texted with a laughing emoji just to clarify he was only giving you a hard time.  It brings a smile to your face now as you remember it.  Yesterday he had also clarified it would just be the two of you if you were self-conscious sparring in front of other people.  You’d have the whole place to yourselves.  Like that should mean something.  Which it did.  It does , you realize with butterflies growing in your stomach.  Kiri doesn’t need to know that though.

The two of you had been toeing around something since you had been hired at Fatgum’s Agency a year ago.  Neither of you had made a move.  Kirishima, the Red Riot, was a big Pro Hero and while you took pride in your quirk, it didn’t hold a coin to some of the others you’d come in contact with.  It had surprised you when Toyomitsu had brought you on.  But he had mumbled something about “liking your spunk” and that he thought a teleportation quirk would be a useful one to add to his agency.  The first day you had shown up, Kiri had immediately caught your eye.  Not for the obvious reasons.  Obvious reasons being the fact that he was climbing the Pro Hero charts or the fact that he had a dynamically interesting quirk or that at twenty-five he was already built like a brickhouse. 

Those were all valid reasons, yes, but what had pulled you in was his smile and his genuine interest in you outside of your quirk.  But he was just like that you had quickly discovered.  He knew everyone’s coffee order and what they liked for lunch.  He knew when to push and when to back off.  He knew when to talk and when to listen , knew when he still had a lesson to learn.  The kids flocked to him.  Even now you’re still entirely convinced that’s actually his quirk, getting people to like him.  It’s not a difficult thing to do though.

Your brain stutters back to the present when a text notification pings from your cell phone as you sit in Kiri’s driveway, picking at non-existent lint on your gym shorts.  The cute ones you’re still convincing yourself were your only clean pair and that’s the only reason you wore them.

KIRI : i saw u pull up, u gonna come in or what 😂

Had he been waiting for you to get there?  You tapped out a quick response, one that hid the little flip in your stomach at the thought: creeper, you were watching for me lmao

Response bubbles immediately flash on your phone screen but you’re angling out of your car and shutting the door before he can reply.

Somehow, this house fits Kiri perfectly.  It isn’t big.  You had seen pictures of other top-ranking Pros’ houses.  Enji Todoroki’s house, for example, was fucking ridiculous.  But even without a massive floor plan, Kiri’s house is nicer than any you’d been in for some time.  Clean, straight lines and lots of windows.  In fact, you can see straight through the floor-to-ceiling windows out to his backyard when you reach the front door.  Is that a pool ?  Kiri had tons of fun showing pictures at the agency; it was a well-deserved investment for his already multiple years of service as a Pro.  The pictures hadn’t done the place justice though.

Kiri comes to the door, throwing it wide open with a huge grin that shows off his sharp teeth.  You ignore the way your mouth goes dry as he drags you in, babbling on like an excited little kid at you actually coming.

“I really thought you were gonna back out!  I mean, that would have been fine, of course.  I just can’t see the point of having the whole place to myself all the time.”  He’s irresistibly cute, walking around showing you the living room and the kitchen and pointing out to the backyard where, yes, there is indeed a pool.  “You can come over any time and use that too if you want!”  You thank him, warmth pooling in your stomach at how incredibly nice he is.

“Uh, we should probably get in the gym.  I have… stuff to do later,” you finish lamely.  You don’t have anything to do later but very quickly you’re realizing how far out of your depth you are here.  The familiar beginnings of the head over heels fall is washing over you in steady waves.  But you’re coworkers and the thought of coming to work every day and having to see his adorable face and not doing anything about it is almost making you nauseous.

“Oh, yeah, it’s just down the hallway,” he rumbles, leading the way and you follow trying and failing miserably to calm the nerves flashing through your veins.  You’re here alone with Kiri , the man you’ve been crushing on since you’d started working with him a year ago.  And now your stupid brain isn’t just thinking about what it would feel like to run your tongue along his teeth or how his hands would feel between your legs.  No, your stupid brain is thinking about what Kiri looks like when he first opens his eyes in the morning.

Your one-track mind is not getting any help, especially when Kiri walks through the doorway of the gym addition and immediately proceeds to pull his shirt up and over his shoulders and tosses it to the side.  Shit.  His back muscles ripple with the movement and when he turns to face you, it’s heart-wrenchingly obvious that he has no idea the effect he’s having on you.  He has to know .  Doesn’t he?  From your end, it seems wildly obvious that someone as good-looking as him should know .  

You glance around, eternally grateful for the fact that the gym is also attractive.  Floor to ceiling windows span two of the walls here as well and there’s a large set of French doors leading out to the yard.  You find yourself actually in awe when you get a better look at the landscaping.  It’s so green .  There’s a small patch of lawn but the rest is just artfully arranged native flora and fauna.  Violets, tulips.  Huge hosta plants.  And cherry trees heavy with their signature sakura blossoms.  

“Kiri, it’s beautiful!”  He comes to stand beside you, looking out the French doors as well.

“You like it?  I guess it is pretty nice, huh?”  You glance up at him, your chest expanding on a lurch looking at his smile.  You’d never noticed before but he has a light dusting of freckles across his nose.

“Yeah, really nice.”  You look out again, letting the silence grow until it feels like the most comfortable thing in the world.  After what seems like an eternity Kiri clears his throat, rocking back on the balls of his feet.  “What are you thinking for today?”  The question leaves your lips and you’re immediately regretting it; your stomach flips again when Kiri looks at you like you’re prey.

“Close combat, hand-to-hand combat.  You did mention a while ago you wanted to strengthen that, right?”  You throw your head back, rolling your eyes, and groan.  The two of you make your way to the center of the mat.

“Yeah, I mean, I’d be scared to take me on too,” Kiri says, large hands on even larger hips.   He isn’t as tall as some of the other heroes at six foot three inches but he’s wide , thick.  You know for a fact you couldn’t wrap your arms around his waist and have your hands meet.  He’s wearing the biggest shit-eating grin you’ve ever seen.  The sharpened points of his canines are out and on prominent display.   Famous last words you think as a snarl erupts on your face.

“I’m not scared , Kiri.  I just don’t want to wear you out .  You’re a Pro Hero.  You’re on the job a lot more than I am.  Plus, you’re getting kind of old.  Is that a little gray I see coming in?”  Kiri bares his teeth even more but it’s not lost on you that he quickly reaches up to rake his fingers through his hair.  There isn’t any gray, obviously , but the thought has Red Riot distracted.  Distracted enough that when you plant your feet and your fist connects with his face, your knuckles hit skin and not the reinforced rock of his quirk.

“ Shit.”  Kiri takes a step back, reaching up to cradle his jaw.  His tongue swipes out to lick at the blood on his bottom lip.  His vermillion eyes find yours and if you didn’t work with him on a regular basis, you would have felt fear at this moment.  You know he wouldn’t hurt you but even now, a thrill races through your veins like electricity.  He looks as if he’s going to devour you.  You take your own step back, readying your quirk, reaching out to it as your fists hold their position in front of your body.  A dark chuckle spills from his chest as Kiri calls on his own quirk.

Now it was your turn to be distracted; you had always been fascinated by Kiri’s quirk, the way his body looked when it hardened up.  The ripples of muscle still visible under the toughened skin.  The divots and ridges and how they mapped their way across his shoulders and chest and abdomen.  You knew how it felt to the touch in fake combat.  The Fatgum heroes all took pride in maintaining a healthy routine; sparring was a common workout that was previously done at a local public gym.  You wonder absently what it would feel like to touch him slow and at the moment.  When you could give extra attention with extra time. 

Kiri closes the space between the two of you at the moment your mind strays and you barely are able to teleport out of the way to avoid him crashing into you.  You try to take a swipe at him as you materialize from in front of him to behind but this time he’s ready for you and he’s using his quirk.  Instead of moving out of the way, he plants his feet and allows your punch to hit.  Pain radiates up through your fingers and wrist.  It always irritated you that you had to prepare yourself to strike Kiri when he was using his quirk.  Otherwise, you’d be in for a whole lot of hurt every time you landed a punch.

Teleportation is a pretty handy quirk.  It gives you a pretty good advantage the more you work on your close combat skills.  The trick with Kiri was to keep going at him until he ran out of energy.  You hadn’t gotten to that point yet; your quirk had its limits as well.  You were only two years out of UA, Kiri was out by seven.  His strength was already fairly unmatched; sparring with him was always good practice.  You relish the thought of the day you can win a sparring session without tapping out.  It surges through you like pure energy.  

You teleport to stand in front of him again, shifting your weight into your hips and up through your right hook.  This time your fist connects with Kiri’s side and he lets out a small grunt.  Your fingers don’t hurt so bad this time and by the time Kiri is retaliating, you jump back a few feet.  He hmms, a sound that reverberates from his chest.

“That’s all well and good but how do you expect to do anything if you jump that far away?”  He lunges forward at a running start, leaping at the last second, sending his gloved fist into your stomach.  You were fast, but still not always fast enough.  You double over, the air rushing from your lungs and your pre-workout protein smoothie threatening to exit back the way it went in.  Sweat is already beading on your brow and sliding under your tank top.  You take a few breaths through your nose when an idea pops into your head; you stay bent over.  “Hey, I didn’t hit you that hard.  You good?”  

Kiri comes to stand in front of you, leaving him vulnerable.  He can’t see your smirk until it’s too late.  You wail on him, using some of the basic combos he’s taught you before today.  Satisfaction rolls through you when he actually takes a step back.  But then he puts his arms up in front of him, clenching his abdomen and bending inward to protect his core.  He drops just a fraction and before you realize what’s happening, he’s swiping his leg out to push through yours.  You watch in slow motion as you see his laughing face then the ceiling of the gym as you flip and land on your back.

If you thought you were out of breath before…  “Fuuu-.”  It’s a wheeze that feels like it’s ripping your chest open.  You’re seeing stars.  Kiri stands over you, hands on his hips again.  You stare at his face; the hero has his hair pulled back into a bun.  You snort, rolling your eyes.  Why does he still look so fucking good?  The sweat has caused some of the pieces falling out of his hair tie to curl.  His hair has curl to it?  You’ve never noticed before, considering he always gels it into spikes.  You like the curl.  “Are you--are you gonna help me up, or what?”  It was still painful to talk.

Kiri tilts his head to the side, just slightly, and crosses his arms.  “I’m thinking not.  Last time I let down my guard you got those good combos in.”  You stare in stunned silence, sitting up so you’re supported by your elbows.  Kiri shifts slightly and if you didn’t know better, you’d say he’s backing up to… get a better view.   

“Is that any way to treat your student,  Red Riot?”  You know you get under his skin when he clicks his tongue against his teeth and holds out a hand with a begrudging eye roll.  He pulls you up with ease, quickly enough that you almost lose your balance, swaying into his space.  You look up, eyes moving back and forth between his.  

He draws in a breath and drags his bottom lip between his teeth.  “First of all,” he says as he places his hands on your upper arms, “I’m not your teacher.  I’m not that much older than you.  Secondly,” he mutters as he tucks a stray lock of hair behind your ear, “our relationship isn’t that formal is it?”  He’s so fucking close.  This is getting dangerous.  Dangerous because Kiri is within kissing distance.  Dangerous because this gentle side of him is making you lose more breath than falling on your ass.  Dangerous because the thought of Kiri taking you on the floor right now is almost too much to bear.  

So you fall back on what you’re here to do.  Fight.  You flash him a wicked smile before rallying your quirk and teleporting a few feet away.  His hand is still raised in mid-air and when his head whips to look in your direction, his crimson eyes are narrowed and his nostrils are flared.  He laughs and rolls his neck, dancing on his toes.

“Okay.  I see.  I’m not gonna go easy on you, you know?”  You snort and put your fists up in front of you again.

“As if you were going easy on me before, Kiri.  Bring it on.”  He smiles, the sharp points of his teeth enough to make your thoughts swerve again before you bring them under control.  “Bring it on,” you whisper more to yourself as you brace for the fight.

Two hours later, you feel the strain in your muscles.  Your quirk is running low on reserves and you know you won’t be able to use it much more.  Kiri looks like he hasn’t wasted a breath but you can see he’s getting tired in the way his feet don’t move as sharply.  And if the length of time he’s using his quirk is any indication to his state of mind, you know the two of you will be calling it a day soon.  But you’re also both stubborn.  And you’re dying to get one more good move in on him.

The cockiness the two of you had at the beginning of the sparring session hasn’t gone away but has burned hot into determination.  No more smiles, only clear-headed concentration.  The two of you are an arm's length from each other, throwing various punches and switching quickly between using your quirks and not.  You’re breathing hard, sweat gathering at your brow as you throw another right hook that Kiri easily blocks.

“Get out of your head.  You can be too predictable sometimes.”  He doesn’t mean for it to come across as rude but the words strike a match to a guttering fire.  You bare your own teeth at Kiri even though they aren’t sharp and probably don’t look nearly as threatening but it helps you feel powerful nonetheless.  You drop without a second thought, lowering to your palms and sweeping your leg out in front of you in a wide arc.  A grin spreads across your face when your calf meets Kiri’s ankle.  He’s too physically dense for this move to work if he had seen it coming.  But he doesn’t.  And his solid 220 pounds of muscle falls hard.  

You allow yourself the satisfaction of the moment for only a split second; Kiri’s recovery time is much shorter than yours so it isn’t long before he’s scrambling forward.  He goes straight for your wrists to subdue you but with a smirk, you realize in his haste he’s put himself in the perfect position for you to possibly gain the upper hand.  You scoot up away from him just enough to drag his arm forward and swing your legs around his neck.  Then you elevate your hips and lock your core.

It’s over from there as you squeeze with every last ounce of strength left in your body.  It doesn’t take long for him to tap out.  You release as soon as you feel his loose hand tap your arm; he collapses over you and you’re too tired to move away or push him off.  Now his breathing is rough and you feel a surge of pride.  You reach up and place your hand on his head where his bun has come undone; he’s so heavy but it doesn’t feel bad.  In fact, the feel of Kirishima resting his head and upper chest on your stomach is feeling nothing short of good .  He’s still between your legs and suddenly the air is crackling with a new kind of energy when you gently comb your fingers through his hair.

He rises up, his hands on either side of you.  His hips rest between your legs; the mingled heat radiating from both of you is almost more than you can take but there is no way you’re going to move anywhere.  He leans forward, so close you can see the flecks of burnt orange in his eyes.  If you moved forward just a little, you could close that space between you.  He leans down more, his mouth right next to the shell of your ear.

“Maybe not always predictable.  You did good today.  Probably some of the best fighting I’ve seen from you so far.  Keep it up.”  He grunts, a shift of his hips allowing the curve of his cock to brush against your clothed sex through his gym shorts.  He stiffens in what you think might be embarrassment.  “Shit, sorry, let me just, uh--”  The stuttering mess he becomes right before your eyes makes something lurch in your chest; you reach for his face without thinking.

“Kiri,” you whisper, rolling your own hips against his.  His cheeks are burning a shade of red almost as vibrant as his hair.  You bring up your other hand, holding his face between them and bringing him down to settle over you once more.  Your lips meet his; he seems to war with himself for just a moment.  A suspended second in time.  But then he gives in, slipping his tongue against yours in a delicious sliding vision of what’s coming.

He reaches between you to slip his hand under your tank top; his hand is big and nearly encompasses your side.  But it’s warm and gentle.  Gentle.  Who would have guessed that Red Riot could be so fucking gentle?  But he is and when his hand moves lower to slide below the hem of your shorts, you give yourself to him with no reservations.  His middle finger passes through the mess of your sex; a hissed breath rattles through his chest as your back arches on a ragged groan.

“ Shit.  You’re so wet .”  He slides his finger back and forth, gathering your slick on the thick digit.  He takes his hand away and you mewl.  “Can I?”  He asks breathlessly as he hooks his hands on the hem of your shorts.  You nod, eyes half-lidded.  He pulls them down along with your underwear and the way he looks at you, at what’s between your legs, you don’t even have the wherewithal to feel self-conscious.  Adoration.  It’s the only word you can think of and it makes you wonder if you’d made a mistake waiting so long.

He’s on his knees when he takes your legs and drapes them on either side of his hips; this time he doesn’t hesitate in slipping his finger into your cunt.  You nearly see stars just from that and if one finger is any indication, you’re in for it.  Slowly, he adds another, his hand pumping into you in a steady rhythm.  You’re grabbing for the ground, grabbing for him as a strangled noise pushes from your throat.  He reaches out with his other hand to splay it across your sternum and it’s the only thing anchoring you as he adds the third finger before scooting down to put his mouth on your clit.

“ Kiri,” you keen, shoving your hips into his touch, frantically scrabbling for his wrist that’s on your chest just to have something to hold on to.  He’s done this before, he’s had to.  He’s too good.  Too fucking good.  Already there’s coiling in your gut as incomprehensible words tumble from your mouth.  “Shit.  Shit.  Kiri I’m--I’m gonna--”  He rumbles approvingly against your clit; the vibrations send you closer and closer to the edge and when it crests, your back arches near pain as you cry out, your voice echoing in the gym.  It’s deep, roaring through all of your limbs but  Kiri keeps going, fingers still pumping, tongue still swirling around your sensitive nub.

Another orgasm breaks over you sharp and quick and the overstimulation has your legs quaking as your arousal gushes over Kiri’s hand and tongue.  But then he’s moving again, and you’re blearily aware that he’s shoving his own shorts and boxers past his hips to free his cock.  You stare as it bounces back to sit near the planes of his stomach; it’s already leaking steadily with precum.  Kiri looks back at you and when your eyes meet, you dart your tongue out between your lips to wet them.  Another time, maybe.  

Kiri leans forward to lift you up and the closer you get you can barely see any red in his eyes; his pupils are blown, his nostrils flared as he lifts you like you weigh nothing .  He could snap you like a twig.  But he won’t.  You know without a doubt this is the safest you’ve ever felt, even as he lowers you slowly over his cock and it does feel like you’re being split .

“ Fuuuck…”  You wrap your legs around him, your mouth dropped open, your hands gripping his shoulders.  You try not to dig your nails in but it’s almost impossible with how you’re being filled.  You knew Kiri was big but this was almost too much.  His forehead drops to yours as he pants.  But he’s not moving, won’t move until you tell him to.  It makes your heart ache and your cunt floods, drunk on the affection thrumming through your veins.  You roll your hips experimentally and the friction is bliss.  “Oh fuck, ohfuck.”  You move again, pushing yourself up and back down, listening to the hitch in his breathing.  “ Kiri, please, ” you whisper.  Those words… they’re enough.

Kirishima grips you by the hips, his fingers splayed and digging into the flesh; it’ll leave bruises and the knowledge cracks through you like electricity.  Let him leave marks.  Let him leave them everywhere.  He’s moving you up and down his cock, grunting, mumbling.  “Tell me, Kiri, tell me.”  His eyes meet yours again and his own mouth drops open.

“Fuck, you’re so good.  S’ tight.  Jesus, I-- ” Kiri moves his hands from your hips to support you as he lays you down on the floor of the gym.  The idea should be questionable but it’s not, it’s fucking not and you can’t concentrate on any other thoughts when Kiri grabs your wrists and pins them gently above your head with one hand while the other comes back to your hip.  He thrusts into you at a brutal pace but… it feels like home and you think in that moment as your cunt begins to seize around his cock that you would give up forever to continue touching him.

“Yes, Kiri, yes.  Right there, right--shit yesyes yes. ”  He pistons up, the veins of his cock rubbing just right and when he releases the grip on your hands, they’re moving to wrap around him on instinct.  He’s planting kisses along your jaw, mouthing up to your lips and back down to graze his teeth over your pulse point.  “Do it, fuckin’ do it, let them know ‘m yours, ” you slur and when he bites down you crash over the edge on a groan that’s really more of a scream.  Everything goes black but you're cradling him to you as his movements become more erratic.  The snapping of his hips is getting sloppier by the second and a steady growl punches from his lungs with each breath.  “Cum, Kirishima, cum inside me.”

He’s never heard those words before and it lights a fire in his veins.  His head is buzzing and then he can’t hear anything as his cock releases and he’s spurting searing hot ropes of cum into your cunt.  He goes until you’ve milked every last drop from him and he’d be lying if he said his world didn't suddenly feel whole.  Finally, his body settles and his chest drops to yours.  Everything slowly bleeds back into focus and somehow, everything seems more colorful than it did moments before.  You’re still clinging to him.

“Kiri.  Kiri, babe, I can’t breathe,” you say and he slowly rises, taking in your blissed-out expression.  Your eyes can barely stay open, your cheeks are flushed.  He backs up to see his handiwork on display, hyper-focused on the trail of the mingling cum dripping from the mess of your sex.  But you’re smiling.  Lazy and tired, completely at ease.  “Wanna take a shower?”  When you nod he doesn’t hesitate in standing to kick his underwear and shorts the rest of the way off his legs and then he’s grabbing you, scooping you into his arms and against his chest.  He pads out of the gym and across the hall to his bathroom where he deposits you on your feet, only after he’s sure you can stand and only long enough to turn the shower head-on.

He puts his hand under the water, waiting for it to get warm.  Steam billows from behind the glass door when he’s turning back to you to remove your tank top and your sports bra.  Thank god you chose the front-closure one today; you didn’t think either one of you wanted to struggle to get one up over your head right now.  When your breasts spill out of the high-impact fabric, you notice with tender amusement that his cock is half-hard again.  His eyes go dark again and he leans in for a kiss.  But it's slow and sweet. 

"You're so fuckin' beautiful," he whispers.  He ignores his arousal, ushering you into the stream of water.  Your care is the only thing that matters to him right now.  The heat slides across your body, and when Kirishima steps up behind you and begins soaping up your shoulders, it feels like heaven .

You take turns washing each other until you’re both blissed out in a different kind of way and the only thing either one of you can think about is sleep.  But the afterglow is fading and doubt is creeping in.  When you step out of the water, you stand awkwardly as Kiri hands you a towel.  “You okay?”  He’s actually concerned and you can’t put your finger on why you’re so fucking grateful for it.

“Yea, just tired.  I should, uh, probably get going.”  Kiri freezes and you think you’ve said something wrong, already crossed a line.  Your brain is like a broken record as the stomach-curdling image of having to see him at the agency flashes across your eyes in vivid detail.  But then he’s stepping into your space and pulling you in for a hug.  A hug.

“Don’t go,” he whispers into the crown of your head and it has you smiling like an idiot against his chest.  His skin smells clean and warm with a hint of spice.  You bury your face further in as you nod against him.  Then he’s leading you to his room, to the king-sized bed.  He peels back the comforter and the white sheets and pulls you in beside him.  Your back is against him and he hooks his foot around your ankles, bringing you even closer.  

He doesn’t say anything more, just lets out a huge sigh as he wraps his arm around you.  The last thing you notice before your eyes flutter shut is how your heartbeats are thumping at the same steady rhythm.  

Late afternoon sunlight slants in Kirishima’s bedroom window, creating interesting patterns across his blanket.  It’s pushed towards the end of the bed, your legs intertwined and tangled in the sheets.  He’s still dozing, his breathing not quite that of someone sleeping but not of a person fully awake.  You reach out to cup his cheek, stroke above his eyebrows, caress his lips with your thumb.  A contented sigh leaves his chest as he grabs your hand and kisses your wrist.  His eyes are open now and he watches you.  You smile at him, snuggling closer, not wanting the moment to end.

“Hey,” he says quietly, suddenly serious.  “I just want you to know, I don’t do this all the time.  I mean, I’ve been with other people before but I don’t…  I don’t really hook up .”  Things start clicking into place as you realize what he’s trying to get across.  He just fucked you stupid in his personal gym and somehow he looks bashful.  And because you love it, you’re not going to help him along.  You just watch, biting your lip to keep from giggling.  “I just.  I guess what I’m trying to say is I like you.  I’ve liked you for a long time.  And normally I would have wined and dined you first but...  Well.  Here we are.  Would you like to stay for dinner?”

That’s the last straw; your laughter comes bubbling out of you and Kiri is leaning back to look at you with a quizzical expression on his face.  “Is something funny?”  That just makes you laugh a little harder but the confused look he’s wearing has you leaning in to press your lips against his.

“I’ve liked you from the first day I met you, Kiri.  I’ll one-up your offer and tell you that I might like to stay forever.”  A grin rips across his face and your heart blooms with warmth and affection.  The world seems full of possibilities but none of them matter except for the possibility laying right in front of you.

[chudleycanonficfest]

Day 28, Post #1 by @floreatcastellumposts

Title: The Argument Author/Artist: FloreatCastellum Pairing: Gen Prompt: “Siblings: The only enemy you can’t live without” -Anonymous Rating: T Trigger Warning(s) (if any): Mild language

When he was a child, Ron had sometimes sat secretly on the stairs, feet in slippers too big for him, teddy tucked under his arm, listening to the goings on in the kitchen. Often his sister or a brother or two would be with him. This was especially the case when there was an argument, because they were a nosy bunch of kids, and they would grin gleefully at one another as they heard their mother roar over some issue, like when Bill came home with his first tattoo, or Charlie had done something dangerous like climb on the roof, or the many, many, many things that Fred and George had done. They would gather on the stairs and snigger and delight in their siblings being in trouble - that it wasn't them, and usually it was over something hilarious too. 

Today was quite different. The stairs were narrow, so Ginny was pressed right up against him, but she was gripping hold of his arm too. Behind them, Fred and George sat in grim, stony silence, their knees occasionally knocking the back of Ron's head, but, remarkably, none of them were squabbling.

'Is it so hard to just be happy for me?' Percy was bellowing, and that in itself was unusual, because it was never Percy in trouble. 

'It's not about that,' Dad was bellowing back, 'are you so naive? Are you really so foolish-?' This was unusual too, because it wasn't usually Dad bellowing. 

'Percy... Percy, we're just worried, we're just concerned...' Mum was sobbing. This was unusual, because she usually had a bit more fight in her, not this desperate pleading. 

'You're so cynical, the pair of you-'

'We're realistic! You've been promoted well above your grade before the dust has settled on the inquiry-'

'STOP BRINGING UP THE INQUIRY!' Percy sounded quite deranged; the ferocity of his voice made Ginny jump slightly, and grip Ron's arm harder. 'That - wasn't - my - fault! That was the point of it! That PROVED I wasn't to blame, I was acquitted-'

'Yes, and we were delighted,' said Dad, and to Ron's astonishment, his words sounded bitingly sarcastic, 'but even so, you have to see that mass scandal is not usually a precursor to promotion!'

'He SAW something in me!' 

'Yes, he did! He saw a potential spy! On our family - on Dumbledore-'

Percy let out a maniacal laugh, forced and sneering and sanctimonious, it made Ron wince as he heard it. 'And you say I'm arrogant?' 

'We've never said you were arrogant-' Mum tried to chip in desperately, but Percy continued talking over her. 

'You think you're important enough to warrant the Minister for Magic spying on you? You think he considers you in the same circle as Dumbledore? More to the point, you think Dumbledore truly respects the likes of you?'  

'Fudge has been going round making it more than clear that anyone who supports Dumbledore can clear out their desks-'

'Utter rot-'

'-He knows I'm friendly with him, he knows I have advised the school on muggleborn inte-'

'No one cares!' Percy screamed. 'No one cares about that stuff! You're ludicrous!'

'Ludicrous?' Dad echoed, with an uncharacteristic scoff to his voice. 

'Ludicrous! Not everything is a conspiracy, not everything has an anti-muggle agenda - I know what this is really about, you're embarrassed that your own son is rising above you, is succeeding where you haven't-'

'Percy!' Mum's gasp was so clear that Ron could easily imagine her hand leaping to her chest. 

'I've had to struggle against your lousy reputation ever since I started! Do you know how embarrassing it is? Do you know what it's like having people ask if I'm related to the muggle-mad Weasley on Level Two-' 

'That's enough,' said Dad coldly. 

'I lie to them, d'you know that? I tell them we're only distantly related.' 

'What the fuck?' Ron heard one of the twins whisper behind them. 'Is he serious?' 

'I never imagined I had raised you to be so small-minded-' Dad was spitting back.

'It's baffling that you raised me at all! You, who has no ambition, no sense, no idea of how ridiculous you come across with your obsession with muggles - is it any wonder you've always been passed over for promotion-'

'-Because of bigotry!'

'-Any wonder you've left your children to grow up in poverty? To be humiliated by the failures of their father?' 

'Stop it! Percy, stop it!' Mum was wailing, and whether it was Fred or George directly behind him Ron didn't know, but their knee was trembling against the back of his head. 

'It's not failure, it's a matter of principle and integrity!' Dad roared back. 'There are more important things than gold, that's what we've always-'

'You are deluded! You are so blinded by your persecution complex, by your victimhood, that you cannot be happy for your son!' Percy’s voice was hoarse and raw, whether from tears or overexertion, Ron wasn’t sure. 'You can't bear to see him succeed where you failed! To see him make something of himself!'

'Why would I be happy watching my son be manipulated and used? Make no mistake, Percy - this is no achievement, this is Fudge playing you as a puppet - if you're ashamed of your background, that's your prerogative, but there's no denying this family is known to be close to Dumbledore and Harry, and Fudge is waging a vendetta against-'

‘You’re an idiot to run around with Dumbledore!’ snapped Percy. ‘He’s heading for trouble - gone completely power mad the last few years - you know full well his glory days are over. You’ll end up going down with him-’

‘Fudge is fighting a campaign against Dumbledore when he should be-’

‘I know where my loyalties lie, and it is not with my old teacher! It is with my employer, the leader of my government, with people who look at the facts!’

‘The facts are that Harry-’

'Yes - Harry - here we go,' snapped Percy. 'You rank the word of a child above the expert testimonies and mountains of evidence brought up by the inquiry, above your own boss - no wonder he thinks you're cracked. You’re determined to see conspiracy everywhere-’ 

‘How can you say that? You saw the aftermath of what happened, you saw him-’

‘I saw the actual dead boy, I saw Diggory!’ snapped Percy. ‘Think what his family is going through, their child’s death being used as a political quaffle-’

‘That is Fudge’s doing! That is his choice! He has chosen to make a mockery of Diggory, to disregard Harry-'

‘To question the story of a teenager,’ corrected Percy. His tone was cold and quiet, the kind of sanctimonious "I'm being the grown up here, actually" patience that Ron found unbearably aggravating. ‘The only evidence is his word, it’s not unreasonable to question a witness. In fact, it’s a perfectly standard part of due process.’

Ron’s growing anger was now twisted with a kind of lurching dread. The snide little comments in the Daily Prophet, which they had all blustered and raged and gasped in revolted disdain at over breakfasts for the past week, suddenly felt sinister. As he thought about it, Percy had never joined in… had always been silent… 

‘Percy…’ said Mum, so faintly that, as one, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George all leaned forward to listen. ‘Percy, surely you… surely you believe him? Surely you can’t believe he deserves what they’re saying about him? He’s just a child - it’s like the whole world’s forgotten that he’s just a child.’ 

'Yes, he's just a child - so why should he be the centre of everything?' Percy demanded. 'Why should he shape our family? Impact our careers?' 

'Percy… if you had seen him in the hospital wing, if you had looked into his eyes…' 

'Mr Fudge was not convinced,' said Percy, as though that settled the matter.

‘Has he asked you about Harry?’ Dad asked abruptly. Beside Ron, Ginny was shaking. ‘Casually?’ 

‘I - no more than is to be expected when you have someone famous living under your roof-’

‘What did he ask? What did you say?’ 

They heard a brief, thick silence, and a sharp exhale of air. ‘He… he’s not relevant to this discussion. This is beyond - this isn’t the issue - the only evidence is his word, as I said-’ 

‘You don’t believe him.’ Dad’s voice was blank, stunned, quiet. ‘You… you know that boy, Percy.’  

‘You don’t believe in me,’ said Percy, and Ron could hear his tears now, the slight thickness to his voice, the sniffs between words. ‘You’d rather believe in some ludicrous conspiracy theory from a teenager who thinks he sees You-Know-Who around every corner than believe that your own son might have worked hard, might be talented, might deserve his career. You’d really think so little of me.’ 

‘That’s not it. That’s not it at all,’ Dad said quietly, and Mum was crying loudly. ‘We just-’

‘I don’t care!’ said Percy harshly. ‘I don’t care what you think! Not any more! Years I’ve put up with it, years! I’m going - I’m gone - I don’t want to see either of you again - you’ve made it clear that you don’t have my interests at heart, this was your choice-’

‘What do you mean?’ Mum shrieked, and they could hear the scraping of chairs being moved aside, thundering footsteps, Mum begging-

The door was thrust open, and Percy stood for a moment in the hallway, looking up at the four of them sitting on the stairs. His expression was unreadable. Tear tracks shone from beneath his horn-rimmed glasses, and his mouth was a thin, grim line. 

‘Move,’ he told them. 

‘You’re being a right bellend,’ said Fred at once. 

‘MOVE!’ 

They did not, and Mum had come running after Percy, hanging desperately onto his arm though he tried to shake her off. ‘Come on, Perce,’ she pleaded. ‘Come and sit down, let’s all cool off and talk about this-’

‘Get out of my way,’ Percy told his siblings once more, and now Ron stood. 

‘Harry’s part of our family,’ he blurted out furiously. 

 ‘He’s not, Ron,’ Percy growled. ‘He’s your friend, that doesn’t mean everything he says is right - move out my way.’ 

‘How can you say that!’ Ginny demanded. ‘What’s wrong with you? How can you say all these horrible things?’ 

Percy started climbing the stairs, pushing Ron aside and stepping over Ginny, furiously struggling past Fred and George who immediately made their bodies as big and awkward and gangling as they could imagine, shouting colourful insults at him as he pushed past and thundered up to his room. 

‘He just needs to calm down,’ Mum was squeaking. ‘Go - go to your rooms, let me and Dad talk to him-’ 

‘No chance!’ 

‘I haven’t said my piece yet!’ 

He returned just a few moments later, carrying a bulging bag with a jumper sleeve trailing out, a little line of abandoned socks and a pair of underwear left on the stairs. ‘I’m going to stay with friends,’ he said. 

‘You haven't got any,’ goaded George. 

‘Be quiet, George!’ Mum wailed. ‘Percy-’

‘Then I’m getting my own place, I’m not staying here anymore - I’m not letting you all drag me down with you. If you’re all going to be traitors to the Ministry I’m going to make sure everyone’s well aware that I don’t belong to this family any more-’

‘You do, Percy, you do - you’ll always be my son-’ Mum’s words were barely audible beneath her crying. Percy pushed past her, and stormed towards the door. 

‘Percy!’ Ron shouted, and to his surprise, Percy turned and looked at him. 

Ron could not find the words for his contempt, could not find an insult strong enough, could not decide what to do with the rage that was coursing through him. All he could hope was that Percy could feel it in his cold, hard stare. ‘How could you?’ 

Percy said nothing, simply looked back for a moment, and then turned his back and strode swiftly to the door. Mum was running after him, and though they heard the ear-splitting crack of disapparation, she stood in the doorway shouting his name. 

Dad had not followed, and with a creak, Ginny rose beside Ron and descended the last few stairs. She peered through the doorway to the kitchen. ‘Dad?’ 

Ron heard a splutter, and then dry, heaving sobs. Ginny vanished into the kitchen. Behind him, Fred and George were muttering mutinously, swearing and cursing. 

‘What’s he playing at?’ 

‘He’s an idiot. A big-headed, pompous, ridiculous idiot, we’ve always said it, we were right.’ 

‘Who does he think he is? Does he really think that promotion is normal? Does he honestly think he’s that extraordinary?’  

‘Moron…’ 

Ron’s jaw was aching from gritting his teeth so hard, his heart was trying to break through his ribcage and go after Percy to beat him. 

‘Do you really think he meant that stuff he said to Dad?’ George said. ‘It’s just…’  

‘I bet he does, the git,’ said Fred. ‘I bet he really does pretend he’s not part of the family. He’s ashamed of us. Slimy, brown-nosing prick…’ 

‘All that stuff about poverty? So uncalled for.’

‘That’s it, really, isn’t it? He’s a greedy arsehole.’ 

‘Well, he’s certainly written himself out of the will now, hasn’t he?’ 

‘He won’t care, nothing for him to inherit anyway, apparently.’ 

That prickling, heated anger was back - his very ears were hot with it, he wouldn’t be surprised if steam had been bursting out of them. The memory of Harry, pale and shaken in the hospital wing, his hands gripping Mum’s robes as she hugged him, was lingering in his mind. ‘Did you hear all that crap about Harry? Did you hear what he was saying about him? Harry!’

‘Yeah,’ muttered George. ‘Pillock.’ 

‘Why would he say that? What the bloody hell is going on with him? He’s gone bonkers. When did he turn into such a - a -’ He still could not quite find a word strong enough.  

‘Berk?’ suggested George. 

‘Something along those lines…’  

‘Easier than admitting he’s horrible, selfish, idiot snob, I suppose,’ said Fred. 

‘Money’s always been an issue, but blaming Dad like that is just…’ 

‘Nasty,’ said Ron, simply. 

‘You can make money without completely selling out and betraying your family,’ said Fred seriously. ‘You can do it and keep your integrity.’ 

‘He’s acting like we weren’t fed enough,’ said George spitefully. ‘Percy didn’t even get that many hand-me-downs, really - Mum and Dad were doing all right before they were hit with twins, and we all know Ginny was probably unexpected.’ 

‘Was she?’ said Ron distractedly.

‘Are you joking, you were only about eight months old, who picks then to decide to have another baby?’  

‘Mum.’ 

‘Fair.’ 

‘Anyway,’ said Fred, ‘Percy’s not exactly been hard done by, not really. He’s just always been ashamed we’re not as well-heeled as his smarmy new colleagues at the Ministry.’ 

‘It’s childish,’ said Ron, who was feeling another lurch of guilt as he thought back on the previous year. ‘It’s really petty…’ 

‘We’ve all wished the family was better off now and then,’ said George fairly. ‘Who wouldn’t? But that was a seriously low blow. God, poor Dad,' he added, his voice lowering further. 'I'm glad Ginny's gone in to comfort him, I don't even know where to begin.'

‘Do you think he’s really gone for good?’ asked Ron.

‘Hope so,’ said Fred viciously. ‘Hey - one less mouth to feed now, maybe the family’ll be better off.’ 

'You know what else,' Ron said sharply, his brain whirring, 'did you hear him dodging Dad's question about what he's said about Harry? Good thing he's buggered off before we go to the Order Headquarters, isn't it? Who knows what he would have blabbered about?' 

Fred was looking at him as though in a new light. 'You know what, Ronniekins, that is a really excellent and disturbing point. You're a bit of a bright spark at times, aren't you?' 

'Brighter than Percy,' Ron muttered.

[kirathehyrulian]

Non-Challenge Art 🧱Another Brick in the Wall🧱  Art Master Post

(right click, open image in new tab images for better quality view) (Please do not edit/alter. Feel free to reblog, but please do not repost. At the very least please give me credit.)

Artist: @kirathehyrulian | Ao3 | LJ Author: @road-rhythm​ | Ao3 | Storylink: Ao3 Pairing: Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester Fic Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Word Count: 19,898 Summary: When Sam vanishes on a case, it feels like every nightmare Dean's had since he got his brother's soul back is coming true. Waking up buried alive doesn't exactly make it Sam's favorite day, either. The Winchesters will do anything to save each other: that’s almost a natural law. But in nature, everything has a cost, and Sam and Dean have a bad history of not examining the price tag.

For more art from me please check out my “myart” tag here on Tumblr.   👇(Artist Notes, Bonus art and Spoilers below the cut) 👇

Artist notes:

“A room in darkness. In the middle of the floor, a thing on fire. Sam came near. It was a heart. The heart burned, but did not char. The flames licked along the surface of the organ in blue and orange, but the flesh within was fresh, perfect, wet, and red. Underneath the fire, the heart pulsed. He took it in his hands, in awe of its beauty. He trembled to touch it. It seemed he had never seen heat or light before now, and in the logic of dreams, he knew what he had to do with it. He was always going to do it. He raised it to his mouth. When he ate, he felt it burn all the way down.Then he woke.” - Another Brick in the Wall Chapter 18

Months, this art project has been in the works for months. If I look back at the text logs, it was all the way back in May, this year, when I started trying to crack down on it. Part of why it took so long was because I felt so drained in a lot of different ways. But, hey better late than never, right?

Normally, I have more things to say in this section, but because this set was stretch out over months I don’t remember everything off the top of my head. So, I’ll just go with a few bullet points that come to mind: •I know I started out wanting to do something more abstract but that went out the window when I started drawing. What can I say, I prefer defined art. I did try there at the beginning, though, I promise. •Sam’s green because first of all he’s dreaming of the sewer he’s trapped in (and sewers to me mean green atmosphere) and it’s supposed to be otherworldly/strange because it’s a dream. I promise it had nothing to do with the Grinch or Kermit. Though that was a funny happenstance. •The heart was originally going to be red surrounded in flames, which was closer to what the text described, but then I saw a reference of a heart on fire that looked like it was lit up like the sun. Which I think still fits the dream’s description still. So, I switched tracks on that part because that was like bright sun heart. •Originally what the blue and orange flames description meant just a single flame with the blue color as a core and the orange flame at the tips. Think of the type of flame you’d see on the stove top. But I thought it meant separate orange and blue flames, and once I had that idea it was hard to accept in my head. Plus, a lot of references of things on fire didn’t incorporate that combination. So, that’s how I end up doing what I did. •The hardest part was probably trying to figure out the heart/fire, runner up or alternatively how to draw an open mouth Sam. Thank god for the many Jared/Sam pics easily accessible out there. •I’ve been listening to a lot of Doja Cat lately, the main song was the one I linked below but really it was the hour long vid version, several times. •I made the title card last because I completely forgot about it till the end. So, I quickly made it mostly within a day. My favorite part about the process for the title card was deciding the font with author. We tried out four, one was a joke font, but I said I was going to try them all out and I did.

Idk, if anyone has any other questions they want to ask send me an ask or reply or reblog I’ll try to get back to you.

Bonus:

These pieces just show a little bts of the art. I removed most of the fire and the blood and took away the black filter so you can see the foundation of the work that was built upon. The fire covers up some of Sam’s face and I was proud of some of those profiles which I had to sacrifice for the fire in the final pieces, lol.

🎶Musical inspiration or just music I was listening to during (watch/listen at your own risk):

[floweryotter]

My ML Season 5 wishlist

So now that we are officially in hiatus, I will enlist all the things I theorize or want to see next season so when it finally premieres, I can keep track of what ends up happening

I'll keep it pinned so I can keep adding new stuff it occurs to me or that I remember thinking in a past time or that I heard from someone else and loved the idea

First theories, speculations and headcanons:

The first episode will start with the continuation of Strike Back's last scene / GUESSED CORRECTLY (by Gloob's first minute release of Evolution)

The miracuclass will fight - or at least try - not minding they have no powers anymore / GUESSED CORRECTLY

Parisians will also sum up to the fight in one way or another / IN PROCESS (by Gloob's first minute release of Evolution)

The rich adults will be relevant for Hawky's plan, especially Tomoe / IN PROCESS (did you saw Multiplication’s teaser... yeah...)

Adrien is gonna remember about Felix's monocle and find out what it was for... / FAILED (Gabi has it...)

The episode titles are mostly kwami-related but also universe lore-related / IN PROCESS 

LB will start to be more open with CN little by little until she finally addresses what happened with Chat Blanc / IN PROCESS (Ladynoir conversation in Perfection my beloved)

Adrien won't trust Felix any time soon and will keep mad with him

Adrien will punch Felix in the face (i know... too ooc...) / HALF-FAILED (I will take Adrien launching the basketball to Felix’s memory in “Multiplication” as a partial succes lol)

Su-Han will finally do something productive and start training LB and CN / FAILED (the bitch has been MIA since Evolution, tho I hope his at least back for the finale)

Chloe actually gets redeemed for good / IN PROCESS (LISTEN! I have a new theory that she can still change for good if they get rid of Audrey at the end)

Secret code between Adrien and LB to know he is the real one / FAILED (yeah i don't think this will happen anymore)

Gabriel will have the "brilliant" idea to wear all the miraculous and perish :) / HALF-GUESSED HALF- FAILED (ok he will perish but not because of the miracoulous, but because of CN's cataclysm... lol?)

An episode will be named "Adrien" / FAILED (I had this in mind but never wrote it here so I'm updating)

Theories, speculations and headcanons from this post:

Alix will finally become the permanent holder of the rabbit miraculous in “Reunion” / HALF-GUESSED (happened in “Evolution”)

Alya will reunite with Trixx in “Reunion” “Illusion” (changed due to recent evidence in “Evolution”) / FAILED (she it didn't happened)

We will see Felix again in “Reunion” (new one) / HALF-GUESSED (Ok he appeared  in “Multiplication” so... much earlier than I thought)

The kwamis will reveal against Gabriel in “Deflagration” / HALF-GUESSED (Plagg cataclysming his own miraculous was chef's kiss)

“Revelation” will have some of the main problems and mysteries solved / HALF-GUESSED (at least we saw a little of wha's going on with Lila, but there's so much more we still don't know...)

“Confrontation” will be mainly about the Agreste-Graham de Vanily / FAILED (well I wouldn't have ever imagined this was gonna be school centric and having Lila be the main villain again)

We will see the Order of the Miraculous in “Collusion” / FAILED (I WAS SO WRONG HAHAHA but what happened at the end is still sooo grounbreaking)

LB will do some guardian badass move in “Revolution”

“Representation” will show us more context about the kwamis

We will see a wish granted in “Conformation”

New theories, speculations and headcanons:

The scarf will make an important comeback

We will see an upgrade of Chat Noir’s costume or powers in “Destruction” / FAILED (the only thing that was destroyed were my theories about this lol... oh and Mothriel's arm)

Ladynoir will recover part of the miraculous in “The Kwamis’ Choice” / HALF-FAILED (probably...)

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Summer of K-pop Tag, 6

[introduction/full list of questions]

Today has been rough health-wise, but I wanted to sit down and jot this post out--for myself, mostly, since I'm working on choosing consistency over perfection! Does consistency on this blog really matter? Not particularly, except that I really enjoy posting here (which maybe I should be giving more credit to!), but I'm hoping that attitude will transfer over to other areas of my life, too! I think consistency is good for me, but it's also something I'm notoriously not-great with, especially when it comes to things that I do just for myself.

Happy news: I got a new heating pad today, AND I bought myself an ICEE when I went to pick the heating pad up! I chose the cherry flavor :)

In terms of k-pop news: I saw that an Oh My Girl comeback is happening later this month!! The teaser looks heavenly—I’m hoping we’ll get something like “The Fifth Season” again?? And the Kiss of Life album is on Spotify now, so I'd like to check that out pretty soon! And I keep hearing people shower praise on the Ateez album, so it's been on my mind as something to listen though at some point--I've heard "Wake Up" and "This World" but that's it!

Current Obsessions:

Estúpida Mentira — Ringo Galperin (this again! i think it is a comfort song now)

Questions of the Day: twice: "dance the night away", "more & more", or "talk that talk"?

"More & More" of course. I like "Talk that Talk" quite a lot, but "More & More" has a special place in my heart. It was my first comeback as a fan of Twice (I still remember learning the dance to it back in 2020!!), and it's dark, moody club music, which is a sure way to my heart. Twice sound fantastic on this song, too--it feels like, despite the unfamiliar style, they really made it their own, not too mysterious or brooding. "More & More" just makes me so happy, but "Talk that Talk" does inspire similar feelings for me, including the admiration of their performance skills, so in a few years it may well have "More & More" status in my heart.

[No, I don't like DTNA at all, really. I feel like "DEJAVU" should have been the title track of that album??]

what's your favorite song from twice's taste of love?

"Scandal" was my first love from this album (I mean do you HEAR those house keys at the end of the chorus??), but "Baby Blue Love" won in the long run. "Baby Blue Love" is just such a sweet song, and the chorus has this nice swing to it that makes it really addictive. It's not exactly a cute song, but it uses Twice's experience with cute bubblegum-pop to its advantage--the members sound particularly natural and comfortable here, and that makes it not only my favorite from this album, but also my favorite Twice song ever.

Tomorrow: Red Velvet!

[blksuwie1]

RivaMika FanFic Rec List Part 1

Hi friends!

I decided to make this rec list because I've been consuming so much RM fic lately that I've been having a hard time keep tracking of which ones I'm recommending. So, I decided to make this for my selfish reasons lol but I figured this would be good to share since it seems we have some more incoming RM fans our way.

We're currently at 916 RM fics as of today. When I first started reading about this wonderful duo, there were only about 600 or so and it just exploded over the past years. It's so awesome to see our little ship gain some headway.

As always, feel free to add in your own recs! This is merely a beginning list. The links to the fics are attached to the title. I'll include some ratings and brief summary. See the tags below for quick info:

Tags

+ = Completed work

- = WIP

* = nsfw

The Song Remains The Same by MoraLeeWright. Rated M, * and +. What can I say about this masterpiece that hasn't been said already? This is probably the best intro to rivamika that you can ask for. Really good rival to lovers done in a realistic manner. So damn good, you'll consume it in less than three days. Recommended to anyone who is a bit iffy about this pairing and needs some convincing. The smut is beautifully done too. Fantastic slow burn.

Just Until The Storm Has Gone by MoraLeeWright. Rated E, * and +. When I tell you I screamed at some of these scenes! A much more angsty composition to the post canon au fics out there, but done so well. You almost forget how much angst the characters feel when the sweetness of their actions outweigh them. Author is incredible and has more works, but these two are just *chefs kiss*.

Surviving Peace by die-forellex (heatinfreezing). Rated E, * and +. This fic was my first RM fic, and I'll never forget it. It's hot, sweet, and oddly comforting. There's a particular, ahem, mouth on private part scene that always me fan myself in chapter 2. The satisfaction you feel when these two are finally finally happy, it's so wholesome. Just mind the tags--ackerbaby and pregnancy is big in this one.

To you, five years from now by a_sassin. Rated E, * and +. A different take on a post war au that has Eren and Armin alive, trying to navigate their last years as Mikasa returns to them. Oh, and she's pining for a certain captain *grins gleefully*. This is angsty but not as heavy as you'd expect. Very spicy but sweet. Definitely give this a try.

The Sound of Lightning by LycheeGreenTea. Rated M, * and -. Ackerbabies? Ackerbaby. This cute but action packed WIP is such a worthy check out. There's something about Daddy!Levi and Mommy!Mikasa that eats at my rm heart. Another take on a post war au that leaves you wanting more. A spicy scene and some domestic fluff is all you need to want more from this author.

After The War by loneackerman (aka the wonderful @rivaille-13) Rated M, * and -. THIS STORY. Anyone who is reading this can attest to just how amazing the plot and development of these characters are. There's a delicious slow burn element to it, and it's recently been resolved...let me tell you, worth the wait. Author is almost done with the fic I believe, but please check this story out. It's one of the best post war canon healing au's out there.

Same Old Thing by Raewyll. Rated M, * and -. Did someone say underground adventure? This was one of the best stories I had the pleasure of following along for a while now. I think the author has one more chapter left over. This is great for those who want something kind of spicy but not too spicy. The tension, plot, and action are all still there though.

I am from a burning village by @valya-azucena. Rated M and -, possible *. There's so much I want to say about this fic but can't coherently describe how amazing it is. The tension and build up of these characters is so SO good, and I screamed at the last update. 10/10.

Inexorable by @alienheartattack. Rated T and +. Hello modern au! I devoured this fic during work shamelessly. It's short and sweet, and there's just something so hot about the secretary/boss trope that eats me up.

Paths in Constellations by LamentableBrat. Rated E, * and -. HOLY SMOKES. This fic has torn me apart, y'all. When I tell you I cried AND am hotly bothered, no one else can do this but this author. It's an incredible fic and am so excited to see where it goes.

Soldiers Don't Get Happy Endings by heretosayhello. Rated T and -. I had to do a double take when I saw this was rated T because holy heck, this author just writes the tension between them like no other. There's a lot of Ackertalk and new plot lines I'm incredibly jealous of that I didn't think of first. SO GOOD.

Deep Sea Running by @linaxlight (shameless self plug). Rated E, *, and +. Post canon AU of what happens when the old Levi squad comes back to Paradis Island. Everyone else seems to have moved on three years after the ending of the war, and they make their peace saying goodbye to Eren. But Mikasa chose to stay behind back then, and she'll need to face Levi eventually. Sequel has Ackerbabies because I love them.

That's all for now folks! I'll do a part 2 next time.