#was trying to figure out why the hell i was getting random news links in my search results on duckduckgo

[wincerind]

is anyone else tired

[ebonysplendor]

Symptoms of Deceit (Demo) Review 🐙

TL;DR: We've all encountered fake people. You know, those people who pretend to be something or someone they aren't. But what makes Thaumo's situation so different...? Why can't he just be himself? Oh, because he's psycho. Right. Okay, fair point.

Game Link: https://strawberrysquid0.itch.io/symptoms-of-deceit

Notable Features: Two Yandere LIs, Self-Insert, Custom Pronouns, (slight) UI Customization, (minor) Backstory choice, Multiple Endings Spiciness: 2.5/5 -- Gets a little suggestive at one point...but not enough, and you're damn right I'm anticipating that in the future LI Red Flags: 3/5 -- Gaslighting, murder, stalking, nonconsensual stuff (two pretty light instances), your typical yandere stuff, ya know?

Wanna know more? Well, let's get into it!

You know when you've been out of the flow of doing something for so long, and you lowkey forget how to do the thing...? Not gonna lie, kind've going through that right now lmao. Like, when I tell y'all that, when I went off of memory, I could not for the life of me figure out why that little intro before the actual intro part did not flow right, and I totally skipped over the features, spiciness, and red flags. Lmaoooo I need to get back on my shit. Not to mention, I really like doing these and want to get back in the swing of things

ANYWAYS. This isn't about that; this is about this. This game that is. That's what I meant by "this", in case that wasn't clear...my bad...okay, anyways, getting back on track lmao

I honestly don't have much for the intro because, as typical, it's more suited for the review portion, but let me just say...it's pretty damned promising, and I have a temporary spiked interest in mimic octopuses...octopi?....octopuses; it'll make sense later, I swear, but let me just say this.

MIMIC OCTOPI...octopuses?...ARE SO DAMNED COOL? Like, it's quite literally what it sounds like. It mimics the behaviors of other marine animals, and damn do they mimic a lot of those things! They can mimic jellyfish, sea snakes, crabs, flatfish, shrimp, sealions, gah damned seaweed, fucking sea sponges-- like apparently it is a lot, and they are damned cool, man. I love these things. We stan the thaumoctopus mimicus -- lmao just remember that long, scientifically correct word; that was literally intentional, not just a random name drop.

But enough of that, because you know what has my interest more? This game, and I am excited to tell you about it. So, as per the usual, I will tell you as much about the game as possible without ruining the game itself, and trust me, you're gonna wanna play...but this also may be a bit hard to make spoiler friendly. We're gonna thug it out, and make it work, though!

So, enough yappin'. Let's get into it.

So boom.

It's the end of the day, and we're trying to kill the last bit of time that we have left before we go home. If you work yourself, then you know that I'm talking about that weird ass "It's too late to start working on something (nor do I want to) but I still have like a smooth 8 minutes before I clock out". That being said, we do the only logical thing and scroll on social media for a bit. We're in the middle of reading a post/news article, when this pops up:

I'll explain the article somewhat later, but just stick with me for a second and focus on the notif. We look up and--

Well hello, handsome! Ain't no way we're just working with someone this fine. His name is Nalis, by the by, and I'm gonna get back on track now lol.

So, we exchange a little bit of small talk before one of our other co-workers come up and pretty much yanks him away for some more work. Now, the thing about this is, the co-worker was acting pretty out of character. Like, she was just in a pretty ill mood...but then her personality totally flipped when she was talking to us, and Nalis just shoots us this look like "...the hell is going on with her?". But it's like whatever, because Nalis and her are part of the epidemiology team at our work, and we just figured that the stress was just starting to get to her due to the building cases.

Anyways, with our interaction with Nalis cut short, we clock out and head on home. While walking into the building, though, we run into this adorable, blushing mess of a man

Remember that long ass scientifically correct word I gave you? Thaumoctopus mimicus? Everyone, this is Thaumo. Thaumo, this is everyone. See? Told you it'd matter later lol.

Anyways, as expected, we get locked into some small talk, and Thaumo takes the plunge and asks for our number under the guise of "neighbors looking out for each other". ...Yeah, no, naur, that's all right.

We make it quick, shut him down, text the bae friendo, and go in for the night. The next day rolls around, we mess with Nalis for a bit, and...something quite curious happens.

Remember our co-worker that was acting weird yesterday? Well, she comes in, and we check in with her about yesterday, and she just--

Wha--? The fuck you mean, you didn't see him...?

Now, this wouldn't be an issue if she was scatterbrained or something, but she isn't in the slightest. Even when she's tired, she has a damned solid memory and would've definitely remembered something like that, so her simply forgetting is not likely or even probable. Something is very clearly off, but we're not entirely sure of why yet and before we can question it more, she leaves to go to her sector of the building.

Some hours of doing work later, it's around lunch time. We didn't bring our lunch today, so we sit for a moment to figure out what we're gonna do, but Nalis comes around the corner just in time. We make eye contact, but he doesn't really say much, and he looks...different somehow. We brush it off though and ask what he's doing about lunch and if it's cool if we can join him and...

Oof...okay, maybe not.

Despite this though, he fixes his face and tells us it's cool and invites us to go to the vending machine with him. Even still though, he's acting really weird. Like, he's being kind've withdrawn, he's being lowkey insulting, he's spewing all this weird shit about ethics and death, and his whole vibe is just extremely off. It's so bad that we don't even feel comfortable let alone safe with him being around us. I think he lowkey picks up on it though because then he's all "Just pretend that this conversation didn't happen", and it's just, lol what?

But bump it, we bail. We leave him in there, and thankfully, he gave us an exit to do so.

More time goes by, and the phone starts blowing up about some new hire. Well, let me rephrase that. Not a new hire, but someone that's pretty much going to be making sure that we're using the money that their company is giving us to good use and, wouldn't you know it--

That very individual is Thaumo, and he's going to be hanging out with us throughout this whole ordeal. Granted, this isn't entirely bad because the things that Nalis and his team do are extremely confidential, and we're quite literally left out of everything, so it's lowkey nice knowing someone else isn't going to have the full picture about what's going on either. Speaking of Nalis...

The asshole popped up at our desk a few hours later. Of course, we're not as happy to be around him, and he's trying to pry about why. This lowkey pisses us off because he's taking that whole "This conversation didn't happen" shit too literal, and it's like, bro, be fucking for real right now; this shit is not cool. Like, don't gaslight me and act like you weren't acting like a complete donkey during lunch.

"Didn't see us at lunch"? "No time for a full..."? Ayo, what the fuck man? First our coworker, now Nalis? What the fuck is going on with this???

Nalis helps us come to the conclusion that we had likely fell asleep and just had a super vivid dream. We don't fully believe this, but we literally don't have any other form of proof that would suggest otherwise. Either way, we calm down, Nalis reassures us, and we part ways with us going home and him back down to the lab.

That day ends and the next one begins in which Nalis makes a new group chat with Thaumo in it and without the boss, and Nalis is like "Arcade?". We decline, though, and so does Thaumo. We spend our lunch break with Nalis more comfortably this time, and the rest of the day proceeds like normal: uneventful. Well, that is until we're about to head home and receive this text:

Now, for some context, SWSS is Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. Remember that article that I mentioned in the beginning? The one with the body? That's what we were reading about, and it's pretty deadly. As I promised, I'll explain a bit more.

The world that we live in, people (can?) have animal associations, and those associations can be either strong or weak -- most people's are weak. That being said, naturally, the people who are suffering from SWSS have associations with sea stars, which is why Nalis was like "even though you aren't susceptible" because that's not our animal association. This also explains the animal contact photos/pfps, if you were wondering about that at one point, as well.

Anyways, we just think about how much SWSS sucks, and we proceed to clock out and take an alternative route home. Well, that kind've goes left because on this route home we still run into trouble. Admittedly, it was by our own nosiness, but it was trouble nonetheless.

To make a long story short...nah, I'm just fuckin' with ya lol. I ain't gonna tell ya.

To be real with you? I literally can't tell you because it'll be, what I feel, is a major spoiler, and there's no way for me to finesse it and tell you what happened without it completely spoiling it...even though I'm pretty certain you can read between the lines and see what's going on.

Just in case you didn't catch on and want a little more insight, I'll tell you this much: Remember that we live in a world where people have animal associations, meaning certain qualities, appearances, and abilities can be adopted; Thaumo has a strong association with his animal...

Again, I'm pretty sure you can read between the lines, but even still, you think you might know what's going on just off that, but you honestly have no clue, because also remember...

There's two yanderes this time, and I didn't even tell you Nalis' animal association.

I'm telling you -- it's not as clear of a picture as you may be thinking.

Okay, so admitedly, this review is LONG over due, because I played this months ago and just never finished the review for it, but I am so excited for this game to be completed!

The story itself is so interesting, and the fact that-- ah, I can't tell you but damn it, just, if you could still figure it out without me saying it or you could read between the lines, I'm just really geeked about this, and I want to see how everything pans out.

Like, I know that the content warning included gaslighting, but I didn't know that it meant like IRL! Like, I was -- oh my fu -- I can't really tell you that either! This is actually frustrating, not gonna lie lol.

Like I've mentioned, I am fairly confident that you can tell what's going on based on what I gave you despite me not explicitly saying it and doing my damndest to tip toe around it...but just know that that whole "gaslighting" content warning is applying IRL for me right now. Like, I have so many questions, and I demand that this game be finished so that I can get them answered!

The other wild part about this game, though, is that, if you actually go back and read it after getting some more information, there's actually allusions as to what's going on in certain scenarios! It literally made me go "Ohhhh now that part makes more sense! ... Yo, that's crazy". Like, it's honestly pretty well done as far being just discreetly enough to have you kind've gloss over it, but you can definitely pick up on it if you pay attention to it, especially if you go to replay it for the other endings.

Now, let's talk about the pacing. Pretty solid and well done, in my opinion! There were definitely some parts that were definitely more "storytelling based", but it didn't drag on for long, and the storytelling bits made sense and were necessary. Admittedly, it had somewhat rushed transitions to certain parts, but I still thought it flowed pretty damned well in all honesty. Then again, that's what happens when you have an interesting storyline, and people are more interested in the story itself versus the "You wake up the next day, and head to work after getting ready" transition.

Then again, I honestly prefer it to be that versus "You wake up. You go to the bathroom to brush your teeth. You look at your teeth. Ick. You get over the ick. You walk out. You go to the kitchen. You open the fridge. You reach it. You grab the mi--" Like oh my Gods, bro, I get it. Please get on with it. It's like, I get it because it's necessary, but like get to the point. That just kills the momentum to me, or if there wasn't any momentum to start with, it just makes the story/transition drag for longer than it needs to. Speaking of making things longer than needed and getting on with it...

If it's not obvious at this point, I definitely recommend this game. I recommend it so much that I will be providing you the link right here, right now, multiple times in a row. So just...ya know...click on any of those and download it to your computer, brah. All jokes and silliness aside, you'd be seriously missing out if you don't, because the story is there, and I find it super interesting. Also! If you'd like to, give the dev that ever encouraging and desperate "DROP ANOTHER UPDATE, AND MY LIFE IS YOURS~! Also, really love your game! You're doing really well! BUT PLEASE LET ME BANG NALIS AND THAUMO!". Also, also! I didn't see anything that indicated that they were open to monetary support, but if you find it, I'm sure they'd really appreciate the donation.

That all being said, that is finally all from me, and I will let you go about your day now! Big preesh for getting this far. Huge reminder! Please drink water, don't be dumb, and hope to see you around~!

Symptoms of Deceit

[brendathedoodler]

So. AS!Chain.

Which Links are closest to the others? Who are the new pairs/trios? Legend and Four acting as Twilight and Wild is perfect (especially since the Palace of the Four Sword is a thing 👀)

Thank you for answering and have a wonderful day/night!

It’s super cool you asked this, since I actually started a list of different groups within the chain, and who tends to hang out with who and why!

So, let’s start with the one you mentioned: Legend and Four! Four recognizes Legend’s bunny form, but doesn’t figure out that it’s Legend immediately (but it isn’t long after he sees the bunny when Legend isn’t around that he makes the connection). I elaborate more on that here (though that’s less current day and more how it was during Four’s adventure). Nowadays the two aren’t the closest, especially once Four realizes that those events haven’t happened yet for Legend. Probably for the best considering how many dumb and embarrassing things he would later see Four do…

One big group are the wanderers, which consist of Wild, Hyrule, Four, and Warriors. Wild keeps trying to exile Warriors from the wanderer group for keeping them more on track than they would without him, but it keeps getting vetoed by Four who appreciates that at least one of them will keep them from straying too far. Hyrule flip flops sides, usually depending on whether or not Wars let him investigate the neat thing he saw. It’s all in good fun, and even Warriors makes jokes about Wild’s continued failed attempts to “kick him out of the group”.

Speaking of Wild, he and Sky both love birds, and bond over that. When they’re in Wild’s era, Sky is all over Gustlift (Wild’s loftwing). The giant birds are SO cool, he loves them so much, and Gustlift is very affectionate with Sky (and the others too). When they’re in Sky’s era, Wild is eager to tend to his hens and coo over them just like he does. Everyone thinks they’re crazy for it (Wild is offended because there are plenty of other legitimate reasons to call him crazy, and adoring birds is not one of them).

Wind and Warriors are the new downfall duo. When Wind discovered this, he proceeded to claim that Warriors was his great grandson, which Warriors continues to insist isn’t true (not that Wars really knows much about his bio family/lineage). Despite grumbling about it every time Wind brings it up, Wars is really fond of him (and Proxi is too). Wind also gets the most lenience as far as Wars’ no touching rule goes (though he’s just as likely as anyone else to get hit if he surprises him with it).

Sky, Hyrule, and Time are very close. They knew each other before the others, though if you asked Sky, he’d say he thinks the other two are closer with each other than they are with him. Time is much more likely to show his mischievous side to Sky, who knew him as the kid who put fish in his bedroll every other night and killed monsters with a fishing rod. Hyrule also defaults to Sky or Time when he wants to talk or if he’s stressed out.

Hyrule and Legend are fae buddies. Neither of them are human or Hylian, and their adventures have either made that worse (Hyrule) or were the cause of it in the first place (Legend). That sort of inhumanity is something they can bond over, both in a serious way and a more joking way. Like scaring the hell out of random travelers at night. That’s always a fun activity. (Besides, Legend has come to realize that the Hyrule is the Great Fairy’s ghost that helped him during his journey, in much the same way the Hero’s Shade helped LU Twi).

Time and Twilight are close too, and suspect they may be related to one another (mostly due to an heirloom in Time’s family which is an item belonging to Twi). They’re both a part of the leadership squad, which helps their bond. Oftentimes you’ll see these two standing or sitting next to each other, though they don’t really do it cautiously. There’s a lot of trust between them, and they often spend time just doing their own thing while sitting next to one another. Time also keeps trying to convince Twi to be his drinking buddy when they stop in towns, but his success rate isn’t great.

Speaking of the leadership squad, they’re close too. That consists of Time, Twilight, Warriors, and Wind. They like to play card games in their downtime, though when they play there’s a 50% chance someone is cheating. It’s almost become a part of the games themselves, a competition to see who’s cheating, how they’re doing it, how well they’re hiding it, and if it’s a new technique nobody has used yet. Time is the best at sleight of hand, Wind is known for using his magical items to cheat, Wars is incredible at bluffing, and Twi’s the most likely to get away with it. (Midna and Proxi are not allowed to participate in or assist in the cheating and often go off to do their own thing together while the boys play cards)

Twilight and Warriors are also reading buddies. Twilight was the one who taught Wars how to read, and he picked it up very quickly. He’s broke as hell though, so Twi gets him a new journal and bottle of ink in almost every town they stop at.

Twilight and Wild bonded at first because Wolfie reminded Wild of his loftwing. Once Twi revealed he was Wolfie, Wild still saw a lot of similarities. Their attitudes are pretty similar, they both watch out for him in particular, and they feel like family. Wild, in turn, reminds Twilight of the rambunctious kids in his hometown, who are like brothers to him.

Time and Sky are both happily married (well, Sky is just engaged so far, but it’s close enough) and talk about their homes and their wife/fiancée often. Sky in particular is eager to get back; he really misses her and wishes he could get a break from all the chaos. Time misses his wife too, but he knows how to handle it and is more than happy to be an outlet for Sky to vent about it or talk about Sun.

Speaking of relationships, Four, Twilight, and Legend have the “my boy/girlfriend is a little odd” club. Four is dating Shadow, who quite literally lives in his shadow and was created in his image by the calamity. Weird origin story for a romantic relationship, and he knows it. Twilight has Midna, his tiny invisible minish girlfriend who loves to both help the group and cause everyone problems for fun. Legend, meanwhile, has a 10 ft long mermaid girlfriend (Marin) and is having a great time making fun of everyone else in the club after they made fun of him first.

Twilight and Legend both have animal forms and bond over that. After both their forms are revealed, Twi can occasionally be seen as a wolf with a little pink bunny on his back. Legend will absolutely deny this happens at any cost (Twilight won’t confirm anything but won’t deny it either).

Four and Wild often bond over food and neurodivergency. They’re the cooks of the group and often make dinner together, sharing recipes and ingredients and stories over the cooking pot. As for the neurodivergency, Wild has a lot of adhd and sees a lot of his own struggles in Four. Whether Four has it or not is up for debate, but the way his disharmony with the colors presents in a way that Wild finds really relatable. The cause may not be the same, but the symptoms are similar and they bond over that.

I’m sure there’s many other little connections that could be made, but those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head!

[localvoidcat]

heheh it’s that time again <- bout to go nuts about the FNAF piggy au brainrot again

this one’s mainly just a rough idea of the plot. it’s kinda a mess of many small stories combined, and the best thing to compare it to is those 3 story + epilogue books. everyone has their own little story, and it’s all combined. Admittedly I have a rough idea of the events and most characters haven’t been given new roles since I’m kinda using a similar method to the og (using a random picker to choose a character, but instead of assigning them blindly, this time I think!) but what I can say is shit gets worse before it gets better. not like bone shatteringly bad but I am going to need to look into how trauma effects multiple age groups kinda bad if I think of an epilogue.

there’s three plot ideas I have that are kinda set in stone right now, alongside others that will probably slowly come together in a way that makes it hopefully not too messy of just all of the alive people doing their own things

1: kinda based off of the OG game, a detective (William) and yes that name is ironic if you think of it) is assigned to the more recent missing persons cases from the company, slowly bringing him down a rabbit hole of questions as he links it with his sister and one of his foster parents both going missing around the same time when he was young. yeah sometimes the adults get killed too nobody is safe from the murders this time

2: one of the new engineers (Pony, though his name is changed since… I don’t think it really works, though maybe later he’ll use it) is admittedly not doing well, linked to a cult that is having him steal from his work. During a particularly stressful weak, he has a bit too much to drink but still drives a fellow engineer (Kona) home resulting in a car crash, killing the passenger but not him. this kinda just gets him to snap, leading to some rash decisions and his eventual death, though his story doesn’t end there

3: the third one would probably take place much earlier on, being an aftermath of an “incident” involving a malfunctioning animatronic which may or may not have been possessed. still figuring that out. Either way, the victim, Fillip (or Phillip? I’m too lazy to google this rn) has to pull himself out from the ashes of the incident while trying to figure out why it happened and also why the hell this company has so much damn dirt on it. I feel like it’d be a background plot before intertwining with the first, but again this is still in early stages.

one last thing I’m having to think up is why there’s so many different animatronics. like they aren’t just recolors they’re almost all unique. I’m thinking of the company having had one of the founders delve deep into creating the robots to distract himself from a tragedy + some of them just vaguely resembling their namesake for some sort of testing of tech, like security things. then again I might downsize and use the bunch of pig based recolors to my advantage lol. we’ll see though

I LOVE THAT SO MUCH this has so much to it i love hearing about this... i like the thought process behind why there's so many different animatronics i'm excited to see what you do with that

[ambisinistous-blog]

okay but i saw this and had a out of body experience

- Danny starts to carve figures made of ghost ice blue quartz like rock that for some reason is cold, under the guise of an artistically inclined meta,

- maybe he’s strapped for cash, maybe its just a passion project

- Anyway he starts selling figures, and one day  he’s looking in the comments/reviews of his store/etsy/sumshit one especially some random citizen trying to guess what the material is

- The customer bought a wonder woman figure. It’s Just Ice he thinks to himself,

-Wait, Holy shit.

- And so his greatest collection/line of figures was made “The Just Ice League”

- (Christened so after putting a message on his website about the materials for concerned customers)

- Sam blames the fact he was floaty from bloodloss at the time

- danny thinks he’s a comedic genius

- Then money starts rolling in,

-Like REALLY rolling in 

- It was all commissions for wonder women statues. hundreds of them. All shapes and poses, different styles, keychain minis

- At first danny is concerned, was this some kind of pervert? As a fellow hero (less active now after some treaties with local ghosts-thank god) he had been subject to some uncomfortable attention himself, and in no way wanted to contribute to making someone else go through such an experience.

- But the customer never asks for revealing or risque figures, only triumphant poses and battle scenes. 

- Did he mention the cash was also REALLY good.

-he likes to make sure emergency funds for both himself, Jazz, dani, sam, tucker, mr. Lancer and others were always at the ready and its nice to have some pocket money to treat his friends and buy sweet, sweet, astronomy textbooks

We flip to the other side of our story, Dick heard about it from wally who heard about it from his uncle barry’s bi-monthly tea (re: spar in any area were there were snacks, he never really understood the flashes dynamics with their rogues) with captain cold about a talented meta ice carver

dick looks into it and discovers the Just Ice League set figures, and naturally, as a connoisseur of elite puns himself he thinks its the best ever

He buys a wonder woman figure for Jason. Other than noting that the craftsmanship really was good he thought nothing of it.

Two weeks later jason’s busting down the door to his apartment (literally mind you, goddamit Jason) and demanding to know where Dick bought the figure. Dick gives him the link to the website.

Soon every corner of everywhere has a miniature.

Batmobile? Wonder Woman. 

Bathrooms at the manner?  Diana Prince in your face

Inside of private apartement and in strung from light posts around gotham? The Princess of Themyscira.  

Everyone assumes it to be an elaborate prank from Jason, and after seeing the horror on Bruce’s face from a realistic bust of the Daughter of Zeus herself in the medicine cabinet (allergy season in gotham is hell, goddamit ivy) well no hesitates on joining in.

No one really notices anything special about the sculptures, until 6 months later when they cant remember the last time Jason had an episode

When they try to look into the Website the BatComputer gets a virus so bad that any time the letter “A” was used 30 orders for bagels were placed

Eventually danny comes to Gotham for an artisan fair that coincides nicely with a new exhibit at the Gotham Planetarium.

So, his sculptures are famous in Gotham apparently? (few buildings in low income areas have proper AC units and Gotham summers are a bitch so most homes have taken to setting up small shrines of the figures that radiate cool air), Now that he thought of it he had been getting more requests for Local Gotham vigilantes, including less widely known bats like Signal

and then red hood shows up and OH. Now he knows why the Wonder Woman fanatic needed so many sculptures. The corrupted ectoplasm in this poor shmuck’s system seemed to have almost flushed out fully.

(Thank god it wasn’t a pervert)

Just to be safe he decides to give this guy some snow from the Far Frozen as a cleanser. But a handful of snow would be weird. Danny looks in his fridge, huh he’s got some cherry cough syrup...

He gives the guys a snow cone with his purchase (wonder woman of course), the guy stares at it for a second

FUCK! SHIT! who the fuck randomly gives out snow cones?!?! that was so much sketchier than loose snow

The guy downs it with only a moment of hesitation. WTF Wasn’t this Gotham? Capital of dont trust strangers?

Maybe this guy was a pervert after all?

As the guy finishes the cone he tips his head back towards the sun, impercievably tense shoulders dropping, a smile comes over his face and he takes in a deep, unhindered breath for what feels like the first time in forever, the blinding rage and rot, his brain finally free from the pit’s insidious roiling, and fear he realizes now

As the stranger has apparently has a come to jesus moment Danny makes the executive decision to Get The Fuck Out Of Dodge

The hustle and bustle of the market had packed itself up and moved away as soon as redhood came into view (The people rather liked Redhood now, but a reputation for blood was hard to lose, and if anyone would be able to pragmatically coexist unstable individuals it was the people of Gotham. They loved their Trash Raccon Anti-hero but they knew better than to try and pet the feral beasts that ruled gotham alleyways and trashcans.) so as soon as Danny realized what a goddam disgrace he was to any form of being capable of civilized interaction he packed up his tent, shoved all of his stuff into his chest cavity, and resolved to spend the rest of the trip invisible

When he gets home he makes another trade with technus to up the security on his website

Jason just stands there for a while. He decides to go to therapy. It helps alot. His family was so fucked up. He loved them though. (Yah see that Batman and Co?  He was fucking in touch with himself, he had the fucking balls to let himself be vulnerable. Y’all’s emotional constipated asses could never) 

He absolutely T-Poses and lords his good mental health and, *shivers* healthy coping methods over the rest of the bats and mocks them relentlessly

Alfred is so proud he cries and joins in any time 

Submitted Prompts #1

Danny meets the justice league. Uses his powers to make small statues of them, holds the statues up

"Behold," he says. "the Just Ice League."

[voxomniaetnihil]

A Little More About Me...

Why should you read my blog? Glad you asked! As a Black Man, it’ll be a POV you may not be used to, giving you something to ponder. Agreeing or disagreeing is fine, but as the saying goes: “you’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts”. My opinions & facts are as strong as Death Wish coffee, and I’m not afraid to engage them. Are you?

What will you get from my blog? Honesty, information and some laughs. Reviews, like politics, has become a dirty business and I like getting my hands dirty.  Just ask Anne Rice or Amos Lassen.

What will I be posting about? Books, movies, music, movie scores- I love me some movie scores!- politics and life in these United States. Something new I’m excited to try out is episodic reviews of tv & anime series- not so much current ones but old faves like Highlander, Slayers, Babylon 5, Hellsing, etc. And no, I will NOT be doing Smallville... 

What’s my cred? I’m a former Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer and a former- and current again- Amazon Vine Voice. I’ve been interviewed by prominent bloggers and correspond frequently with authors. I’ve reviewed for such book tour agencies as Bewitching Book Tours, Month9Books, Xpresso, YA Bound, Enchanted, Goddess Fish, as well as the occasional self-published author. I’m also a regular attendee at the BEA every year, so you’ll be able to get a heads up on what’ll be coming out.

How’d I get started? Welp, in 2009 the company I worked for- Virgin Megastores- closed down and I took advantage of my abundant free time by catching up on some reading. Ok, a lot of reading. Virgin shared the same building as Random House and about twice a month RH dumped their shelves out. And I’m not ashamed to say I was a dumpster diving mofo- it’s how I discovered the Anita Blake series. (true story)

I started referencing Amazon reviews about the books I was reading and came to respect and rely upon the information I received and the people who provided it. After a few months I figured I could do the same- I’m that one friend you'd always ask their opinion about movies, etc. I started moving up the ranks and boom!- Top 1000. This was before all the madness and mishegoss. Ah, the good old days…

I wasn’t in it for a side gig; it was always fun & interesting to me. Trying to hustle to keep my rank up combined with the tsunami of fake reviews and bullshitters angling for free stuff made me lose my taste for the game, so I slacked off for a good while. Then Wordpress suspended my blog claiming I was spamming for posting book tour promos, so I just said screw it. See ya when I see ya.

Now it’s a new decade with new ideas & challenges to tackle, so why the hell not? 

A few things about me personally: Proud Black Man. Former US Marine. Born, raised, still living in Brooklyn. 50+ years old.  6’5’’, about 260. One of the handsomest men you’ll ever meet. Big sports fan- Baseball (Mets), Football (Cowboys), Hockey (Devils), Basketball (Lakers). Works in Sports/Entertainment Security. Still working on my own fantasy novel & occasional dabbler in fanfic. Used to never drink coffee... used to. Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy. Wine tastes flat to me.

Thanks for stopping by. If you’re of a mind, hit the links and stalk… er, follow me around the internetz.

[notanettelmao]

The Food Blogger [Colin x reader]

This might have a part two if enough people like it

I actually talked about writing something with Colin about a month ago, but then I went out with some friends and had a family emergency and I somehow forgot about it?? So this is not really what I planned at first, lol

tagging some of the people that sounded really interested in my idea when I posted about it: @vic-top @iputthefaninfanfics @idylio24 (sorry if it isn't what you were expecting hehe)

Fandoms: Not Okay Movie Warnings: weed, me being bad at writing stuff that sounds like Colin, Danni is being Danni... Pairings: future Colin x reader Words: 1,7k

“Okay Y/N, take a picture, post it on Instagram, post the blog post with the recipe and link it to your stories. You’ve done this multiple times, nothing’s scary about it..” The girl mumbled as she moved around her table, trying to get the best angle to take a picture of her creation. The table had a thin white tablecloth thrown over it to cover the multiple paint stains from when the girl tried to be creative. On the tablecloth, in the middle of the table, sat a black plate with pancakes on top of it. The girl managed to sprinkle more powdered sugar on the pancakes as she found the right angle. At first glance, there was nothing special about the pancakes, maybe the three raspberries on top which ended up there after she thought the brown color of the pancakes was a little boring. But if someone would eat the food, they would find out it actually had a secret ingredient. Weed. 

How did the weed end up in the pancakes of a girl who has never even touched a joint? Funny story actually, it started with her getting a new job as a food blogger. On the same day, she bumped into a particular bleached guy, who smelled like weed. Hell, you could smell him from a few meters away, that’s how bad the weed smell was. Noone at work seemed to notice it, or maybe they were just used to it at this point. There wasn’t actually anything that interesting about him, except the good looks, pretty eyes, absolutely tasty-looking lips and- the girl’s phone buzzed next to her. She groaned and turned around to pick it up from the counter to look at who texted her. 

‘U free?’ 

Was what she saw under Danni’s name on her screen. What the hell did Danni want? She hasn’t talked to her since she found out she also had the hots for Colin. They had a fight about who could possibly actually end up dating him. Let’s say Danni didn’t like the idea of him not liking either of them. 

Y/N rolled her eyes as she clicked on the call button and put the phone near her ear, using her other hand to look at the pictures she took with her camera.

“Y/N? Why are you calling me, couldn’t you just text back like a normal person?” Danni’s voice was heard from the phone speaker not even after the first beep. 

“Kinda trying to work here, figured out calling would be quicker,” Y/N mumbled into the phone, still not knowing what to think about the other girl calling her. 

“Anyway, what do you want?” She asked right after and put her camera down on the table next to the plate, walking to her couch so she could sit down. 

“I was wondering if you would want to go out to get some coffee… Talk about boys… You know, all the stuff. You didn’t respond to any of my emails so-”

“Fine, I’ll be down in five.” Y/N hung up before Danni could continue. She was already regretting her decision. But she also didn’t want to let go of one of her only work friends. A stupid fight over a boy should not end a friendship, right? 

☆☆☆☆☆☆

Danni was late. Y/N stood outside in her black sweatpants and a black baggy t-shirt with some random prints all over it. She was regretting putting on her new Vans, as she could already feel the skin on her heels protesting. She was scrolling through her Instagram, liking Colin’s new posts when a pair of white shoes appeared on the ground in front of her. She slowly looked up, noticing the brown pants and lighter-brown hoodie. Finally, she saw Danni’s face framed by two blonde strands of hair on each side, tucked behind her ears. 

“Hiii!” Danni cheered, pulling Y/N into a hug almost making her drop her phone. 

“Uh, hi,” Y/N laughed awkwardly. Danni didn’t seem to notice.

“How have you been? I saw you gained some followers after those yummy-looking weed recipes,” Danni’s eyes sparkled when she mentioned the followers. Y/N slowly blinked, realizing the other girl just wanted to boost her follower count. 

“Oh, I’ve been great, yeah…” Y/N put away her phone as they started walking down the street. Danni started talking about her wanting to get into writing and Y/N was just nodding her head, not really listening. She was mostly looking around wondering where they were going to end up. 

“No way! Je obsessed!” Danni said suddenly, making Y/N stop and look at what she was looking at. They stood in front of a tiny coffee shop called Matcha Baby. A waitress put out a sign and walked back inside.

“Influencers eat free?” Y/N read aloud. She bit her lip, trying not to laugh when she noticed Danni checking her follower count. 

“Not today,” Danni made a face and turned to continue walking when she stopped and just stared. Y/N almost bumped into her as she didn’t notice her just standing there again. 

“What the hell Da-” Y/N started to say. Then she noticed what the other girl was staring at. 

“-nni. Oh, you’ve got to be shittin’ me.” She mumbled under her breath. A few meters away from them there was a black car. They both stared as Colin stepped out of it, smoke surrounding him as he breathed it out, and started walking their way. Y/N was already moving to the side so he could walk by. Danni had other ideas. 

“Colin!” Danni exclaimed loudly, making Y/N wince. Colin stopped right in front of them.

“Oh shit. Waddup honey? Yea I can’t take a pic right now. But-” Colin said, making Y/N snort. She quickly covered her mouth but Colin already turned his attention to her. 

“Oh, I’ve seen you before?” He asked, looking Y/N up and down. She made a surprised noise, trying to ignore Danni who was plotting her murder by the looks she was giving her. 

“Oh, I- Ehm I work in the same building? Make food posts on insta and.. stuff..” Y/N cringed as her voice cracked. 

“Shiit right! You make those lit weed posts!” He looked down at his phone, quickly typing something on the screen, and then turned it to face her.

“Haven’t actually seen yo acc on my insta, just saw an article. Give me your user?” He asked. Y/N’s eyes widened and she took his phone into her shaking hands, quickly typing her Instagram username into the search bar. She then returned his phone with a shy smile on her face. 

“Sick,” he tapped on the screen, few seconds later she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from screaming. Was this really happening?

“I work in that building too!” Danni said loudly so the two of them heard her. They both looked at each other and then turned their heads to look at Danni.

“Yeah. Anyway. I’m supposed to be going to-” Colin looked at his screen and then up at the coffee shop, “- there. Matcha Babyy. Plus my plug lives here so two birds one stone.” He waved his hand towards the building. 

“Yeah, I smoke marijuana, like, all the time!” Danni said, smiling. 

“Oh lord,” Y/N mumbled under her breath, deciding to pull out her phone and pretend she is doing something.

“Ever seen one of these?” Colin asked, lighting the weird-looking joint. Y/N quickly turned on her camera and pointed it at Danni when she saw her reaching for the joint. Danni inhaled the smoke and started coughing before she gave the joint back to Colin. Y/N was silently laughing as she sent the video to one of her friends back home. She missed Colin talking to a random fan on the other side of the street because of the spam of laughing emojis she got as a response. 

“So cool that you have a fan!” Danni said in between coughs. Colin shot a quick look at Y/N and then back to Danni.

“Oh yeah, I got a- I got a bunch. That’s just one.” He chuckled.

“So like, what are you? Like, at Depravity? I see she-” he waved his hand towards Y/N, “ is a food blogger. What are you?”

“I’m a- I’m a writer,” Danni said. Y/N rolled her eyes. Writer, sure. Colin completely zoned out taking selfies with his joint as she talked more.

“I wanna develop my work by traveling and stuff. And maybe like, going on one of those writer retreats-” That got Colin’s attention. 

“Oh, you’re going on a retreat?” He zoned out again as he got a notification. Y/N just stood there, staring at the two of them as if she was watching a movie. She only needed popcorn. 

“I’m going to Paris for it,” Danni said out of nowhere and Y/N choked on air, almost falling over. Colin looked up from his phone to Danni. 

“Shit. That’s dope. Hey, get pics,” he was ready to walk away when Danni stepped into his way, making Y/N start choking once again. 

“I’m gonna get lots of pics! Yeah. Throw them all up on the gram!” Danni made a random dance move and Y/N turned to look at the lady that was sitting on the ground next to them this whole time. They both had the same look on their faces, they were completely done with Danni.

“By the way, this was laced with, like, mad wax, so your tolerance must be OD as fuck. Damn, ma. Good luck in Paris, Jenny.” He turned to Y/N.

“Good to meet you both,” he said as he walked away.

“Danni,” Danni said, turning around to look at him walking away.

“What’s up?” He stopped and looked at her.

“My name is Danni.” 

“No, it’s Colin.” He said. Y/N busted out laughing. 

“I’ll see you at work,” Colin said, looking at Y/N. Then he turned to look at Danni.

“Or I guess I won’t.” He then walked away. Danni started laughing loudly, making both the homeless lady and Y/N look at her like at a crazy person.

“Fuck me,” Danni said as she finished laughing. 

“Fuck you indeed,” Y/N mumbled under her breath, making the homeless lady snort. 

[gofancyninjaworld]

Six degrees of Stench

I joke/not joke that One-Punch Man canonicity consists of canon and not canon (yet) link. Wild shit just happens because it can and somehow it works.

So, for shits and giggles, a handful of headcanons that I’m fairly sure *won’t* be becoming canon.

First degree: cute

When Genos wants to wheedle a new toy (like a kit car) out of Kuseno, he makes the old man his favourite treat: home-made doughnuts, a chocolate dipping sauce, and freshly-ground coffee made over the stove. Kuseno claims every time that it won’t work. It's never failed.

Kuseno is strict about his bedtime: from the time he retires at 11 pm to when he appears at 6 am, Genos better have a damn good reason for disturbing him. A leg dropping off does not qualify. Most afternoons, Kuseno also has a nap behind his desk. He has always claimed to be just mediating when Genos has asked.

Second degree: unexpected

Although neither man knows it, Kuseno is the reason King quit competitive gaming: there was this one mysterious guy he just couldn't beat. It still haunts King.

Kuseno himself no longer does competitive gaming: between Genos keeping him busy and missing his once-faithful rival, it's lost its appeal.

Third degree: connections

Bofoi was his old student.  They each changed their names for... reasons.

Fourth degree: Chekov's gunman... or there's no badass like an old badass

Manga-only.  Kuseno finally shows up to give his boy a hand. As Genos tells Kuseno to fall back already, the old man levels one of the suit's shoulder-mounted guns and... there's a void where there was once a dragon-level monster, not even a curl of smoke remaining.  Kuseno: yeah, I came up with this last week but I've not yet figured out how to make it small enough to install on you.

Fifth degree: Old man, you scary

Webcomic-only.  The climax of the battle sees Genos and Saitama get to the heart of the Organization and just as things are getting super tense, a third person joins the fray.  It's Kuseno, heavily armed and very much alive. That bring-back-a-dead-person-so-long-as-their-brain-is-intact technology we saw elsewhere?  He was the original inventor.  Genos: but you told me to run away!  Kuseno: And yet, here you are. Be so kind as to shelter behind Saitama-kun, will you? Kuseno (to the enemy): I don't mind if Genos gets beat up, that's how my boy learns. But you bastards made him cry...unleashes hell

Sixth degree: Cruel, cruel world

Like something out of a cruel soap opera, the reason Genos and Child Empror look a bit like each other is that they're siblings but each was so convinced the other was dead that they'd never thought to look into it. In Isamu's case, his foster parents had been very good at gaslighting him so he doubted his very memories.  As they compare notes, suddenly the random attack makes sense... it'd been intended to grab Isamu in the first place. Something else makes sense too: why Kuseno had arrived so fortuitously. Genos: Oh, I was the consolation prize.

And so...

Webcomic edition: Genos finds his inconsolable grief over losing the old man suddenly become consolable, although it's down to Saitama to accidentally on purpose to say something that puts it in perspective, e.g., by pointing out that there was nothing false about the affection he had had for him.  

Manga edition: Since the old man is alive,  Genos confronts him.  He doesn't deny it but says that he'd intended to kidnap Child Emperor alone to forestall the massacre that happened.  And yes, while to begin with, he'd thought of Genos as a consolation, he's long since changed his mind. Yes, it's true that Genos doesn't have the mind of the century, but he's got the sort of intellect one meets only a few times a decade.  His courage though?  That's the sort people write legends about. Now let’s talk about you trying harder to stay alive long enough to become one.

[redhairedwolfwitch]

Doctor Y/n - Ortho Fellowship - 24 - Grey's Anatomy x Fem!Reader

"Have they still not figured out what's going on with Webber?" You murmured, pulling the pillow closer to yourself as your body tried to wake up.

"Not yet, they're still running more tests." Teddy replied, pulling you closer to her.

"Both of you hush, it's not time to get up yet." Jo groaned, rolling over so she could bury her face in your shoulder.

///

"Let Koracick know what you find, I'm gonna let him take over." Amelia stated as her hand went to her back.

"Oh, you don't have to tell me I'm better than you Shepherd, I know I am."

"You're not! But my water just broke! Y/n, get over here!" Amelia exclaimed, summoning you as you were walking over.

"Uh, do you want a wheelchair? Are you gonna walk?"

"You do Richard, I'm good to walk, sorry about the floor..." Amelia replied, taking your arm so you could walk her to labour and delivery.

"I'm gonna call Link! Good luck!" Meredith called after the two of you, Amelia waving her free arm as the two of you walked.

"Do you remember when you got all upset about something Jo said and you ran away and went missing for hours and then it turned out you ran to Teddy's and were standing on her porch in a rainstorm?" Amelia asked as the two of you kept walking.

"Why are you bringing this up now? You're in active labour and your water just broke." You pointed out, your eyes widening as Amelia gave you a look.

"Because I thought I was scared then, but right now, I am terrified."

/// Flashbacks ///

Jo could always tell when something was up with you.

Even when she was with Alex and barely saw you, she knew something was up.

She was basically psychic when it came to you, and the new girl you were trying to date because you thought Teddy Altman wouldn't love you back was a big red flag to her.

"What's her name?"

"What?" You asked, carefully removing your arm from Jo's grasp as she had pulled you into the supply closet to talk.

"What's the name of the girl you're distracting yourself with because you think you can't want who you actually want. You did the same thing to that blue-haired girl when you were pining after Leah. So, what is name of the girl you're distracting yourself with?" Jo asked, folding her arms as your frown turned into a glare.

"Why do you care? You're all happy with Karev and I've never said a bad word about that!" You retorted, folding your arms as Jo raised an eyebrow.

"Are you serious? I care because you're never going to find 'the one' if you keep acting like this. I thought you were more comfortable with actual healthy relationships after Hannah and Leah, but you're never going to be happy if you keep filling the void with these random girls you don't even plan on staying with more than two weeks. It's like you don't know what you deserve. You need to stop trying to fill the void with throwaways-" Jo cut herself off as she watched the light in your eyes dim.

"I don't know what I deserve because I am a throwaway, Joey." Your voice was croaky as you tried to ignore the pain in your chest, flinching away as Jo took a step towards you.

"Braces, I didn't mean-"

Jo was cut off as the supply closet door slammed behind you, leaving her standing alone in the dark as the realisation of what had just happened began to stick.

---

Everyone was trying to pretend like that hadn't been listening to the entire conversation that you and Jo had loudly discussed in the supply closet.

The key word being trying.

You were already hurrying away, leaving your bag in the fellows lounge, you were walking out of the hospital with nothing but your Yale hoodie pulled over your scrubs and your phone on silent in your pocket.

---

"Jo? What the hell happened?" Alex asked when he spotted Jo walking out of the supply closet, her face pale with shock.

"I fucked up, Alex."

"What?" Alex frowned, his eyes widening as Jo began to sob.

"I think I just ruined my relationship with Braces."

"Hey, hey, why do you think that? You and Y/n have fought before-"

"I called her a throwaway and then she ran out, I need to find her-"

"What are you all doing standing around? We have a slammed ER and no doctors down there to help!" Bailey's voice had everyone running, leaving Jo and Alex to sigh as they considered their options.

---

It was throwing it down with rain by the time shift ended.

"Has anyone heard from Braces?" Jo had been asking around the entire hospital after you'd disappeared and had other people covering your surgeries and monitorring your patients.

"Jo, she's probably at her apartment, come on, I'll drive you." Alex suggested, heading out with Jo as shift ended.

"But her backpack is in the fellow's lounge-"

"We'll bring it with us, I guess."

---

"She's not here." Jo murmured as she walked around your lifeless apartment.

"Landlord hasn't seen her since she left for shift. Is she still not answering her phone?" Alex added as he followed Jo inside.

"It goes straight to voicemail... we need to find her, because I spent the entirety of shift making sure every Jane Doe that was wheeled in, wasn't her, Alex. We need to find her! What are you doing?" Jo exclaimed, frowning as her phone beeped.

"Making a group chat search party. Avery, Mer and Maggie are on watch at the hospital, even Robbins has been calling Y/n apparently, Amelia and Owen are checking out the park with baby Leo."

"Alex, I don't know where else she would go, Braces is sentimental, she wouldn't go someplace that isn't significant to her feelings, especially since I just broke her." Jo whimpered, her hands covering her face as she began to sob.

---

You weren't sure where you were walking until you got there, sitting on the soaking wet bench as the rain poured and it got colder and colder.

You were 10 years old all over again, sat in the cold, all alone.

Your stomach churned in reminder that you hadn't eaten, but in that moment you couldn't even tell if there were tears running down your face, or if it was just the rain.

Hours had gone by, eyes closing and exhaustion washing over you when you heard the voice you had been craving since your best friend, your person broke you and your heart.

"Y/n? Oh my god! You must be freezing! Have you been out here the whole time?" Teddy asked, spotting your soaking wet form sat on the bench outside her hotel.

"Didn't, know, where else, to go." You muttered, wobbling as Teddy wrapped her arm around you, holding you to her as she walked you inside, much to the disgust of the hotel staff.

Things were hazy as Teddy persuaded you to change into warm clothes, drying yourself with a towel after you wouldn't let Teddy see you - you didn't want her to see your scars. She knew then that you were insecure about something, but it was only when she noticed the burn scar, reminding you of the 3 year old you and Jackson Avery saved as the bus blew up, that she understood.

She tucked you into her bed, slipping a hot water bottle under the covers as you began to shiver. It was only when you were warm, dry and asleep that she found your phone and plugged it in to charge.

It was Arizona who had added her to the staff groupchat of people trying to find you.

Teddy: I found her. She's safe.

Jo wouldn't stop calling, but Teddy knew you weren't ready to talk, even when you were awake. Sat like a zombie on the side of the bed as she waddled around, leaving you warm socks, a cup of tea, even eventually offering you your fully charged phone.

It was only when Teddy went to the door to see where room service was that you spoke.

"Please. Please don't leave too." You whispered, trembling as Teddy waddled over to you, pulling you into a nurturing hug.

Things were not the same since that day, but Jo noticed that after that, you weren't even attempting to fill the void. Especially after the hour long conversation you had over the phone with a very worried Arizona Robbins.

/// Return to Present Day ///

"S/n, can you watch over my post-op patients?" Link asked as he arrived to Amelia's patient room.

"Yeah, yeah, on it!"

"You just sent my cuddle buddy away." Amelia whined as she watched you head out the door.

///

"Bailey!" Amelia grinned, holding her hand out.

"Oh, no, uh, I'm gonna go prep Richard-" Bailey gestured to the door.

"You stole the father of my baby while I'm in active labour, and he sent my cuddle buddy away!" Amelia replied, leaving Bailey to huff as Carina nodded at her.

///

Y/n: I'm in the OR gallery, Webber has cobalt poisoning

Y/n: Link is removing his cobalt hip and swapping it out

Teddy: I'm on my way

///

"Hey, how are they doing with the hip?" Teddy asked as she slipped into the seat next to you.

"It's sludge. It's deteriorated so much tissue that it's basically sludge." You replied, watching as Link flicked the sludge from Webber's hip into the bowl.

///

"So this lack in dating doesn't apply to everyone else, right?" Hayes asked, leaning on the nurses station with Jo.

"I mean, just because I'm miserable doesn't mean everyone else has to be, Braces is happy with Teddy for one." Jo replied with a small smile.

"Okay, I'm not wrong, then? 'Cause I get the feeling people are having conversations about my personal life that I'm not privy to." Hayes remarked, leaving Jo to tap her fingers on the station.

"You know, you should smile more." She deadpanned, patting him on the shoulder before walking away.

///

A soft smile passed over Teddy's face as she watched you lean closer to the window, watching intently as Link began to place the new hip.

A grin passed over both your faces as Link threw two thumbs-up at the gallery, revealing that he was done.

"Holy shit."

"What? What's wrong?" Teddy's grin fell as she turned to you.

"Link's here, but Amelia's in active labour." You realised, grimacing as Teddy's eyes widened.

///

"She had the baby." You smiled, having ran straight from the OR gallery to find Link and Amelia fawning over the newborn.

"Braces! Webber came off the vent easy and he's awake. Pierce is staying with him." Jo explained as she walked over, side-hugging you as Teddy softly smiled.

"Yeah, let's not start thruple rumours on top of everything else." you chuckled, smiling at Jo and Teddy as the three of you walked down the hallway, no clue of what was coming next.

///

Tags: @nnightskiess @emskisworld @multifandomlesbianic @thegirlwhowishedeveryonelived @inquisitive-nix

Doctor Y/n will continue in Attending Orthopedic Surgeon

[greatqueenanna]

10/03/22

Long time no see friends and followers! It’s been a little bit since the last update, and I’ve been a little absent for some time - until my recent analysis. I honestly don’t have much of an excuse, except that real life gets in the way. Also, I'm just honestly bad at staying in contact. Many of my friends can testify to that (haha...sorry -.-). However, Thank you all for sticking around anyway! There are 421 of you guys now, and I'm so thankful for every single one of you!

-----

Before I go into some updates, I want to point out some other socials of mine that you can go and check out.

I have a Twitter page! @AnnaQue87671831

Although my activeness is a little random, I always update whenever I have a new analysis or another original post. You can also see the link on my main Tumblr page, but I'll go ahead and post it here too.

I have a side blog! @gqa-lite

I made this side blog so that I can post more unorganized and heated thoughts, shipping, and occasionally my own fan art without mudding up my main page. I also post about non-frozen topics - I'm currently obsessed with Kingdom Hearts (specifically Kairi) and Lore Olympus (specifically Demeter) so be warned haha.

-----

A. As you may or may not have seen, I am working on my Frozen Canon Talk! Fourth Edition. Since the last version, my overall views on what's canon have become a lot more complex. I've been doing much more research and trying to figure out how to better label and organize all Frozen content. Below is a proof of concept for you guys.

--------

B. For a while, I kept hinting at a theoretical Frozen Character Trivia post, where I basically go over all of the information we know about the Frozen characters (personality types, ages, birthdays, etc.) In the last update, I mentioned that I'm trying o figure out the best method to introduce it because I didn't want it to just be a rehash of what you would find in a fan Wiki. Being completely transparent - I still haven't got a clue. I've tested different ideas here on Tumblr, and the site honestly doesn't support anything creative without it going blurry. Thus, I'm still experimenting with different ideas, possibly going with PowerPoint (even though that's also a bit boring) but it may still take some time. Sorry about that.

-----

C. Another thing I keep bringing up is the possibility of a Frozen Podcast. As said before, this is currently in development hell. I'm looking into the new Tumblr Post + subscription system - why? because If I have co-hosts and guests, I would have to pay them haha...ha...so anyway, if this doesn't work out, I may just do a solo podcast series on youtube.

-----

D. So what's next on the analysis schedule? Good question. Obviously, A Polar Nights Review is long overdue so that's a given - expect it to come hopefully mid-October. After this, I will be updating Kingdom of Plenty to add Polar Nights additions - you can expect this sometime in early November.

For other subjects, a poll! Below you'll see a link with some analysis ideas and you can go ahead and vote for which one you want to see next. You can pick multiple if you'd like. Also, as always, If you have any analysis requests, collab ideas, or just want to hear my opinion on something, do not hesitate to send me a message!

*Poll Here*

[soupbabe]

Stardust Crusaders w a Chubby s/o!

Gender neutral reader babey!! Also added Iggy (platonic) to replace Old Joseph because the most I got was sugar daddy Joseph. He has that Speedwagon Foundation money, that's it.

Also this really do be showing who my favorites are out of them skdndkkd

~ Jotaro Kujo ~

He doesn't care what you look like, but that doesn't stop him from checking you out occasionally. You look different compared to a lot of students he's seen at his school and he highkey low-key likes what he's seeing

Looks just aren't that important to Jotaro in my opinion, he knows what it feels like to be given unwanted attention or people only wanting him just for his looks and nothing else. Why would he act the same way to you?

That being said, if you are in a relationship with him he's surprisingly sweet.

When y'all are alone he likes to give you little complements while you're cuddled up beside him or on top of him, playing with his hair.

Not the biggest on pda because he knows that the rest of the group *cough cough* Joseph and Polnareff *cough cough* would tease him to hell and back, but sometimes Star Platinum would be sneaky and give you surprise hugs from the back while he rubs his cheek against your chubby ones

It never fails to make you let out a little chuckle and you kiss him on the cheek to show appreciation to both Joot and Star <3

I fully believe that his favorite part of your body are your big arms. Like they're so soft omg and when the group can rest for a bit he likes to rest his head on them and silently enjoy how soft they are

You like to tease him about how soft he can be and you'll get one out of three reactions: Him pulling his hat down to hide a flustered Jotaro, a playful (but still scaring looking) glare, or a flick to the forehead

~ Noriaki Kakyoin ~

I feel like he wouldn't be too shy about his attraction to you, complimenting you at random times but it wouldn't be overbearing. It's mostly just to see how cute your face looks when your face heats up and you try to quicky push away the flustered feelings

How couldn't he not find you attractive? I like to think that he's a huge art nerd and your figure reminds him of those people in paintings who radiated beauty and gracefulness

Uh yea doesn't matter if you literally go feral in fighting, that's all that comes to his mind when he sees you sjsnsjsk

Somewhat shy when it comes to pda, but he is touched starved so he'll always link his slim fingers with your soft and chubby ones while you guys travel

Loves to lay his head on your fluffy stomach, twirl his lil hair noodle and he'll fall asleep within 5 minutes

This is a very good thing to exploit when he's up late playing on his Game Boy that sneaked in while preparing for the trip to Egypt

Just fuckin uh y a n k him into cuddle time and he'd probably won't complain too much. You're warm and it's very nice.

His favorite body part is your thick thighs, he likes to lay between them while he plays his game. You're his favorite gaming chair technically.

Eh don't worry though he gives lil celebratory kisses to them everytime he wins a game

~ Jean-Pierre Polnareff ~

Absolutely adores plus sized bodies! There's more to love and hold onto, you know?

Your biggest supporter, supplier of confidence, and the booster of your ego

"Oh Mon cheri/Ma Cherie! You look so amazing in those new clothes! Your curves look wonderful as always!~"

He's beefy as all hell and he will lift you up. Literally doesn't matter how heavy you think you are you are getting treated like royalty

Squeezes your soft frame like a teddy bear sometimes.

Enjoys pda, but like it's mostly having his arm around your squishy waist and if you aren't comfortable with it he'll respect it 1000%!

Will absolutely show you off to anyone and everyone! He almost got decked by Star once for annoying Jotaro because he kept going on and on about you and you just laughed at it

Enjoys having you lay on top of him, ngl it's like his own weighted blanket and you get to be able to bury your face in his big bara tiddies

He likes to touch you a lot and enjoys holding you close at night. I just think it's because he wants to double check to see if you're actually real. He's lost a lot of loved ones and has been learning to cherish them more before they're gone and having you here with him and staying for as long as you have makes him fear that he'll lose you for a tiny bit so he takes any opportunity to get to be with you.

I think he'd just admire your stretch marks! It makes you unique and he loves the way you laugh when he places lil smooches all over them

~ Muhammad Avdol~

Absolute sweetheart the love I have for this man is immeasurable ajdjsksjsn he's so gentle with you it doesn't matter how you look he would love you regardless your size

He seems like a man who is proud of his knowledge and appreciation of other cultures, his favorite thing is to feed you his favorite foods, watching your eyes light up while he tells you interesting facts about how they make it and where it comes from

Really not one to go wild on pda, hand holding or draping an arm around you around you to keep you close is what he's comfortable with

He seems like he'd know how to bake omg he'd absolutely lose it if you baked with him because he can just sneak up behind you, wrap his arms around your tummy, while just acting like the close proximity between your faces isn't making your face show visible signs of your mind going 'y/n.exe has stopped working'

His robe is absolutely huge on you and it's your favorite blanket when the group has to sleep in the desert.

I can imagine it smelling so nice like what comes to mind is white sage?? Anyways, his coat is definitely a comfort item you wear on those days where you do feel a bit insecure. It's big, soft, and smells like the man that brings you the most comfort.

His chickens adore you so much!! Literally they would have to or else Muhammad would not be in a relationship with you lmao, he believes they have good judgement and they're like his kids.

They love to be by your side and they love to be in your lap, you're just so soft it's like heaven to them

Yea his favorite body part is your plush tummy! He just finds it cute and it's his favorite thing to either rest his head on or grab onto while cuddling! If you wear a crop top (or shirtless if you're a masc person and crop tops aren't your thing :) ) and his face just burns up omg you're so handsome/beautiful how did he ever get so lucky

~Iggy (Platonic. Of course.)~

(IM SO SORRY BUT I'M LAUGHING AT THIS PICTURE SO MUCHS SKSHSKNSKSKS)

You're his owner, the only one who can pet and dote on him like the little feral baby he is <3

He lets you take a piece of his coffee gum and occasionally steals treats for the both of you to share sometimes

Although the majority of it goes to Iggy because it's all covered in dog drool

When it's car ride time he loves to lay in your lap or sometimes he forces has you carry him around because he enjoys being able to relax in your big arms

If people start staring at you inappropriately, including any of the Crusaders, expect them to get barked and growled at

If anyone decides to make rude comments surrounding your weight, enemy or not, they're getting their hair ripped out and their left shoe shit in <3

You make sure to buy him extra gum and call him a good boy

He's like your furry little bodyguard, if anyone does or talks some shit, they're going to get hit

[twirlyeyebrows]

How Could I Have Known?

(A Zosan Fic)

Link to Chapter 13!

Link to Entire Work on ao3!

Ch. 14 - “Cheers.”

The week that followed their last conversation had been interesting, to say the least. Trying to become friends with someone you’ve only ever argued with for as long as you’ve known them was difficult. Despite the little bit of discomfort, progress was being made. Zoro and Sanji could both tell, even the crew was starting to notice. Every small smile at each other here or there and any extra helping hand with a task added to the familiarity of the new bonds they were trying to make. They had even been having fewer fights over seemingly random things and when they did fight, they were a lot more civil with their bickering.

Sanji thought it was wonderful being able to act somewhat normal around the swordsman. He didn’t have to try to avoid Zoro anymore and he didn’t take that for granted. He no longer had to tiptoe around him, pretending to be ignorantly bliss of everything going on. Still, they weren’t in the place Sanji had hoped they would be. After all, his goal was to be friends with the other man, not just acquaintances. He’d concluded that Zoro was not going to make the first move. It drove Sanji a little crazy but he tried to understand things from Zoro’s point of view. In the end, he knew it would have to be himself who initiated any plan-making between them, which was admittedly stressful. Sanji had always gravitated towards women so how the hell was he supposed to build a relationship with Zoro when he had no experience?

He had been thinking about how to approach Zoro the entire time. Not only how to approach him but also what to say. He didn’t know what he wanted to do, let alone what Zoro would want to do. Every idea that came to his mind sounded too romantic or too cheesy. Sanji didn’t see a problem with this; If he was being honest with himself, any way he could spend time with the swordsman sounded like a good idea. He knew Zoro would probably think otherwise. He knew Zoro’s personality and figured he probably wouldn’t want to go get ice cream and walk around a shopping district.

Sanji sat on the edge of his bed, pondering these thoughts as he had been for the past week. He glanced over at the crumpled papers on the floor of his room. Every page detailed a plan for a certain way they could hang out. He had decided that every single one of them was going too far too fast. He knew that Zoro had feelings for him, but should they be doing things that are so… coupley?

He snapped out of his daze and stood up, making sure to pull the blanket out straight to get rid of the wrinkles that had been left. He walked over the corner of the room and picked the papers up one by one, throwing them in the small bin by his bedside table.

“Why am I thinking about this so much?” He asked himself, bending down to pick up the last torn-up page. He made his way over to the trash can and stared down into it. He tossed the ball of paper into the bin and paused. “There has to be something I can do. I can’t keep doing nothing.” Sanji felt like he’d said these words to himself about a thousand times before. He began to pace around his room, taking quick breaths in and out through his cigarette. He maneuvered around the freshly done bin of laundry at the edge of his bed that he had neglected to put away. “I bet that idiot moss isn’t thinking about this at all. When is there ever anything in his brain? I’m sure he’s not even worrying about any of this right now.” He spoke as quickly as he was walking around. “He’s probably just training or thinking about the next time he’ll be able to get his hands on more food and booze.” He sauntered over to the mirror and stared straight into it. He looked at his disheveled expression and chuckled. He couldn’t believe how much this was affecting him. Seeing it in the mirror only made it more real. “Maybe I should make him cook for once so he doesn’t have to wait for me.” He said sarcastically. Zoro had always had a problem with nagging Sanji for food, usually after he trained or took a big nap. The swordsman was always hungry and he tended to make it vocal. This was just one of the many things that had triggered their unending arguments.

Sanji watched his face change suddenly in his reflection. “Wait, that’s not a bad idea.” He said quietly. He talked to himself in the mirror as if it were a completely different person listening. “Cooking isn’t too cheesy right?” He asked, almost waiting for an answer. “If I teach him how to cook something then I’ll at least be in control of some aspect of all this…” He continued to think out loud. “And not only will that open doors between us, it would also mean I can get tomorrow’s lunch prepared a day early!” He laughed and lifted his arms into a shrug. As he kept pondering this idea, he folded his arms against his chest. “Although that would mean I’d have to let someone else in my kitchen, and they’d have to use my utensils.” He sighed at the realization. He never trusted anyone else with his tools and he didn’t want to start. Those appliances were the only things that felt like they were truly his. Anything that means that much to someone has to be hard to give up, even if it is only to one other person. He frowned at his reflection. “I guess that’s what this is all about though- trust.” He decided he’d consider it.

He only stopped staring in the mirror when he heard a huge crash from upstairs on the deck. Surely, it had to have been someone goofing off but he might as well go check it out. It certainly beats staying in his room talking to himself. Still, what could be happening this late at night?

He glanced at the mirror one more time, fixing his hair and pinching out what was leftover from the cigarette he had in his mouth. As he walked up the stairs and onto the deck, he grabbed another from the small box in his pocket, grabbed the lighter, and lit the cigarette in one motion. He puffed a small breath of smoke into the air before stepping out into the view of the rest of his crew.

Sanji’s eyes got wide as he surveyed the scene in front of him. Everyone was sitting around in a circle in the middle of the floor. Zoro was grabbing Usopp by his shirt with his other hand on one of his swords. Usopp’s face displayed confusion and terror as he tried to communicate something to the man inches away from him. Although he wasn’t able to due to his stuttering speech. Zoro looked like he was about to slice Usopp into a hundred pieces. The rest of the circle looked shocked but more than that, they looked intrigued. Luffy sat there with barely a clue of what was happening and the rest of them were on the edge of their seats. None of them had noticed Sanji’s appearance on the deck but he couldn’t stand by quietly, this was far too intriguing.

“I-It was… was just a simple question..” Usopp said, the beads of sweat dripping down his face like the air was boiling. Zoro gripped his shirt tighter and Usopp looked like he was fighting for his life at this very moment. Sanji watched with intent, waiting for the perfect moment to make himself heard. “You- You chose truth, d-don’t blame me!” Usopp had turned his head and closed his eyes as if he were bracing for an impact. Zoro let out a nasty huff and let go of the fabric in his grip. Usopp fell to the ground and picked himself up with his arms, leaning back and catching his breath.

“I did not.” Zoro looked at everyone in the circle. “You assholes made me.” He crossed his arms and broke eye contact. Even in the navy blue of the night sky, Sanji could see his cheeks flush red as the circle went silent.

Sanji had seen enough to pick up on the bigger picture of what was going on. He decided now would be a better time than ever to chime in, whether it was a good time for everyone or just him, he didn’t know, but he was too entertained to be stopped.

“So what was the question then?” Sanji asked as he swaggered over to the small crowd on the deck. Nami, Robin, and Chopper’s snickering stopped, Luffy smiled with a huge grin, Usopp looked about 10x more terrified now, and Zoro’s blush deepened by about 3 shades.

“Good god, what did they ask?” The cook thought to himself as his eyes grew wider.

Zoro looked at Sanji with a desperate look, as if to say “Please take back your question.” Sanji got the message but chose to ignore it.

This time, Luffy chimed in. “We’re playing truth or dare!” He said, throwing his rubber arms in the air. Robin peered up at Sanji from the ground and smiled as well. “We would’ve asked you to join but we didn’t want to interrupt you in case you were doing something important.” She said sweetly. Sanji opened his mouth to say something in response but Zoro cut him off.

“We’re not playing anymore. Game’s over.” Zoro said, standing up and turning away from the crowd. Sanji glanced over at him in utter confusion.

“But Zorooooo” Luffy whined. “You didn’t answer the truth Usopp gave you!” He said with a childish pout. Zoro turned back, shot a dirty look at Usopp (who yelped and shivered at it), and made eye contact with Luffy. “I chose dare, I was never going to answer any “truth” anyone gave me in the first place.” He said through gritted teeth. Nami rolled her eyes and sighed. “You say dare every time! It was getting boring.” She spoke in an annoyed tone, clearly not bothered by Zoro’s attitude. “Whatever. I’m not playing anymore.” Zoro said as he stomped away from the gathering and into the nearest room he could escape to. Sanji took note of that room coincidentally being the kitchen.

Sanji looked back to the group in awe. Since when did Zoro ever act so childish? The rest of them looked at each other with looks of disappointment. They’d obviously just missed out on something huge.

“So does anyone want to answer my question since he obviously won’t?” Sanji said, letting out a small laugh of shock. Sanji turned to Usopp who was still on the floor cowering in fear. “What did you ask him?” He said as he tried to conceal how curious he really was.

“All I asked was if he liked anyone! In terms of truth or dare, isn’t that basically small talk?” He said, his shaky voice finally calming down. “I don’t know what got into him.” He stood up and dusted off his pants.

Chopper stood up as well, adjusting his hat on his head. “I thought he’d just say no and move on…” He said skeptically. Nami hopped to her feet and helped Robin up after doing so. “It is odd how he reacted in such a way, isn’t it?” Robin questioned. Nami grinned from ear to ear.

“Guys! It’s obvious!” Nami chirped. She stuck her arms out at her sides. Everyone looked at her with a deadpan look. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp tilted their heads to the side like dogs. Nami sighed and put her face into one of her palms. “You guys are hopeless.” She stated, removing the hand from her face. “It’s obvious that Zoro likes someone! Who wants to place bets on who it is?” Nami had an evil smile on her face, a smile of pure greed and willingness to exploit.

Sanji had been unable to process any of this information until now. He had been standing there with a blank stare the entire time but now it was starting to hit him. There was only one thought running through his mind; “This isn’t good.”

“Zoro? Liking someone? Doesn’t that seem… impossible?” Chopper pondered out loud.

“I can't think of a single time I’ve ever seen him act romantic at all. Except maybe around his swords, do you think he’s in love with one of his swords?” Usopp joked.

“I don’t think he’d be able to choose just one.” Robin giggled. Luffy laughed in tandem.

Sanji felt like he was going to throw up. Standing here and listening to everyone talk about this was worse than he’d imagined. That feeling of knowing more than anyone else was back and it sent an unpleasant chill down his spine. He had just gotten rid of that feeling, why did it have to come back?

“Now that you mention it, you’re right Usopp. When has he ever shown interest in anyone?” Nami asked, half-serious and half-rhetorical. Everyone shrugged. She looked as if she just lost the lottery with that one question.

“Why would he act like that though if that isn’t the reason?” Chopper stared up at Nami. Nami responded with a sound of puzzlement. The whole group looked stumped.

Luckily, it seemed that Zoro’s overall grouchy demeanor and vacancy of anything love related had saved both their asses today. Sanji let out an internal sigh of relief. It didn’t help much considering now he knew the thought of Zoro having a crush would be in the back of their minds. He battled within himself on whether to say something or not. He could either make the situation extremely worse or settle the discussion a little bit. Would he be able to steer them in the other direction if he did say something? Would they suspect him if he tried to speak up? The thoughts pooled in his swarmed brain so much that he didn’t even realize everyone was walking away as soon as he came back to reality. His mouth hung open ever so slightly, his body prepared to voice his opinion that would now be worthless. Why would they have cared what he had to say? It’s not like he had been there while they were playing, they probably wouldn’t have listened to him anyway.

As he watched the rest of the Straw Hat crew walk off presumably to bed, he heard them muttering amongst themselves. He tried to pick out keywords but there was nothing he could string together from their mumbles that could be formed into a coherent thought. This worried him beyond belief but as he remembered a certain man who had run into the kitchen a few minutes ago, those worries melted away. Of course, as things had been going so often recently, those worries were replaced with different worries. These new ones, only naturally, are of Zoro.

Sanji figured that it was now or never. All the conditions were perfect: the rest of the crew had just wandered off to bed and Zoro was already in the kitchen. There probably wouldn’t be another opportunity this good for a very long time. And as long as he makes his move now, whoever is on night watch tonight won’t be able to hear them from inside. He took a deep breath, told himself to get it together, and power walked his way to the kitchen.

He burst open the door and he saw exactly what he was expecting. There Zoro was, sitting at the table, his swords against the wall, and his face in his hands. He looked as miserable as he always did. When the swordsman heard the door open and the fumble of Sanji trying to catch his balance after his immediate halt, he lifted his head. He looked both delighted yet unappreciative that Sanji had barged through the door. There was no doubt he had a lot on his mind.

Zoro looked at Sanji with an unphased glare as if to show how used to all this shit he is by now. “So I’m assuming I don’t need to spell out for you what happened?” Zoro said, glumly.

Sanji laughed. He didn’t mean to, but he couldn’t help it. This whole situation felt unbelievable, it was hard to comprehend that it was real. Everything had already been so difficult to work out when it was just between the two of them, but now there was the potential that the rest of their friends could find out? It felt like the universe was playing one huge prank on them.

“Yeah, that won’t be necessary.” Sanji said, reeling in his laughter. He walked over to the table and sat down across from Zoro. “Here we are again, mm? What is it with us and this damn table?” Sanji said lightheartedly, folding his arms against the wood. This elicited a chuckle from Zoro. “No clue.” He responded plainly. Sanji could tell he was still thinking about what had just happened outside. He thought he might as well try to clear the air a little bit.

“If you’re wondering if I told them, I didn’t.” Sanji began. Zoro pulled his stare away from the table and refocused it to Sanji. Sanji could feel Zoro pleading with just his eyes. He was clinging to every word that Sanji said. The cook gulped. “No pressure.” He thought to himself as he mapped out what to say next. “At first, they came to the conclusion that you have feelings for someone but they didn’t discuss who. We have Chopper to thank for that.” Sanji’s eyes wandered away from Zoro. Once again the eye contact had begun to feel like burning. Zoro cocked his head to the side and Sanji continued to explain. “Thanks to your stubbornness and overall lack of emotion, Chopper brought up the fact that you’ve never even acted interested in anyone, so how could you possibly like someone in that way?” Sanji took a deep breath through his cigarette and exhaled. He watched Zoro’s face turn to annoyance in his peripherals. Sanji considered that how he phrased that last sentence might have been a bit insensitive. Whoops, too late now.

“I guess that’s not as bad as it could’ve been.” Zoro said, his complexion returning to normal. Sanji nodded in agreement. He decided not to mention the mumbling he witnessed on his friends’ departure, he didn’t know if Zoro would be able to handle that. Plus, what would he even say about it? He wasn’t able to hear a single word of what any of them said so what would be the point in telling Zoro something that he had no information on?

Zoro cleared his throat and stood up from the table.

“Well, I guess that’s that. I’m gonna go to bed.” He said as he began to trudge towards the door.

Sanji repeated what he had said earlier in his mind once more. “Now or never, now or never.” He couldn’t let this opportunity go to waste. As weird and awkward as this may end up, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he didn’t at least give it a shot. He twisted his body to face Zoro.

“Hey, wait-” The words fell out of Sanji’s mouth. He wasn’t in control of his speech anymore. Maybe that was for the best. Zoro stopped in his tracks and turned on his heels. He looked at Sanji with that same look of pleading. If Sanji wasn’t mistaken, Zoro had been hoping he was going to say something more.

The chef cleared his throat. “Would you want to maybe, like, do something?” He nearly whispered. His face started to heat up, that was alright though because so did Zoro’s.

Zoro felt his heart race around in circles. He still wasn’t used to this whole love thing, but moments like this felt incredible.

“Sure.” He countered with no hesitation.

Sanji met his gaze back with a look that urged him to go on. Zoro stared for a few seconds, not knowing what else to say. Suddenly it clicked and his eyes went wide.

“Oh, you mean like now?” The flustered swordsman asked eagerly.

Sanji chuckled softly, closing his eyes. “Yes, “like now”, you idiot.” He said, mockingly. He opened his eyes again to see that Zoro had taken a few steps forward.

“What do you wanna do?” Zoro asked, trying to hide his enthusiasm. The way his eyes practically sparkled was a dead giveaway.

“I was thinking of getting a head start on food prep so I’ll have less work to do tomorrow. It would be nice to have an extra set of hands, if you wouldn’t mind.” Sanji shrugged as if he hadn’t planned this all out earlier today.

Zoro’s eyes were about to pop out of his skull. He felt his heart running marathons as opposed to just circles. His stomach flipped in excitement. He hated how easily Sanji made him feel like this but he decided to worry about that later. Right now, he was just in awe that the other man had offered to let him help with the cooking, he never let anyone help him cook. Zoro’s chest tightened as he realized the amount of trust Sanji was putting in him at this moment. This was a big deal, (even if the chef was trying to make it seem like it wasn’t) and Zoro was going to cherish every second of it.

After receiving no response from Zoro and instead just a blank stare, Sanji decided to speak once more. “I'm not just using you for free labor, by the way. You can have some of the meal if you’re still that hungry.” Sanji paused and puffed his cigarette. “Just don’t bank on this becoming a regular occurrence. I still have to feed five other mouths, y’know.” He was acting as collected as he possibly could. Internally, his mind was going a million miles a minute.

Everything from the thought of someone using his kitchen utensils to the thought of holding Zoro’s hand again crossed his mind. Sanji knew he wouldn’t be able to ignore those thoughts for much longer. He had started to connect the dots within his mind but came up with every reason in the world for them to be false. Until proven otherwise, nothing was going on.

Zoro took a few more steps forward. Sanji stood up from the table and walked over to where he was standing. Sanji stood inches away from Zoro, awaiting an answer to his request. The swordsman looked starstruck, maybe even petrified.

“So…?” Sanji spoke softly, egging Zoro on. Zoro felt a vibration course through his whole body. Why did the cook have to say it like that? This was the worst time for him to be feeling numb with affection.

“Yeah.” Zoro finally spoke. His voice was rough and shallow. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’ll help you, Curly.” He said while a small but authentic smile crept onto his lips. Sanji immediately took notice of how contagious it was to see Zoro actually smile. He smiled back.

Sanji clapped his hands together in a pleasant fashion. He grinned widely. “Great! Let’s get started then!” He said, cheerily. The excitement he had hadn’t been fabricated in any amount, it was 100% genuine. Not only was he cooking (his all-time favorite thing to do), he was finally getting to share that experience with someone else. Sure, he’d worked alongside other chefs at Baratie, but this was different. He’d never taught someone how to cook before, let alone someone he… well he didn’t want to think about that right now. What was important was starting on this dish. On his own, he could whip something up in a cinch with no problems. Now, he had to take into account the time it would take to teach, correct, and help the other party. This wasn’t something that bothered Sanji, though, if anything, he was giddy about it.

Zoro put his hands in his haramaki as if it were a set of pockets. He couldn’t stop telling himself in his mind not to fuck this up.

“So, where do we start?” Zoro asked, a small shake of anxiety lining his words.

Sanji laughed, detecting the nervousness. “Well, first you need to relax. I can hear the fear in your voice, it’s weird coming from you.” He said in an almost joking manner. Zoro blushed in embarrassment and looked away. His gaze was caught by the cook again as he began to speak in that gentle tone.

“I’m gonna walk you through everything step-by-step. Don’t worry, I’m not going to let anything happen to my kitchen. Just trust me.” Sanji said as sincerely as he could.

Zoro nodded in agreement. It was going to be difficult to let go of the fear of messing anything up. He knew that this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Cooking with Sanji almost felt like a dream. Despite his thoughts, he trusted Sanji more than anything or anyone else on the planet. Even more so now that the cook had asked for his trust directly. He was going to try his best, and as long as Sanji knew that, Zoro knew he’d be alright.

“Alrighty! Now since that’s out of the way, we need to actually choose what to make.” The chef said with delight. Zoro smiled to himself. Since when did Sanji say things like “alrighty”? He truly did become a whole different person when he cooks.

Zoro waited for Sanji to continue his thought but he didn’t.

“Did you want me to choose something?” He asked, slightly concerned.

“Why not? I’ve made just about everything I can think of with the ingredients we have. This is your first time so naturally you should get a say in things.” Sanji spoke, still smiling ear to ear.

Zoro choked back a cough as Sanji described this experience as a “first time”. He almost made a joke about being a “virgin in food preparation” but thought best not to mention anything that could lead to “that” conversation. Zoro figured he’d pass away on the spot if things ever got to that point.

“Okay, uhh…” Zoro tried to think back to everything Sanji’s ever made. That was a very difficult task, as one could imagine. “What’s something that’s easy?” He inquired.

Sanji put his hand on his chin and thought.

“Honestly, everything I make is relatively simplistic, with a few exceptions of course. How good a dish can be is a lot more dependent on the skill and care of the cook than it is on the recipe itself. However, if you’re wanting something with minimal steps, we could always start with a basic fried rice.” The way Sanji spoke was clear and concise. Every time he spoke about food, it was clear he knew exactly what he was doing. It was extraordinary. All Zoro could do was nod along and attempt to follow.

“That sounds good-” Zoro cut his sentence short as he watched Sanji waltz over to the cupboards and instantly begin grabbing pans and setting them on the stovetop. Zoro awkwardly followed behind him. He stood there like a statue, watching Sanji get to work.

“Is there uh, anything I can do to help?” Zoro shrugged. He felt useless compared to the man who was feverishly rummaging through the spice drawer. Sanji paused and turned his head back to him. “Yeah, actually!” He exclaimed. Zoro couldn’t believe how Sanji’s entire demeanor changed so fast as soon as he began to work in the kitchen. “If you could go down to my room and grab my apron, that’d be great. There should be another one too in the same laundry bin if you don’t want your shirt to be covered in food by the end of the night.” Sanji quipped back at him. Zoro gave a shallow “Mhm” and headed out of the kitchen promptly.

The fresh nighttime air hit him in an instant. He folded his arms together, trying to get back the warmth he had just lost. The crisp air did feel refreshing, though.

His heart beat faster with each step he took. Anytime he had to go anywhere near Sanji’s room he felt a pang of curiosity. He’d been in Sanji’s room before, of course, but only a few times. There was never any telling whether it would be the same as the last time he was in there or not. He thought about it often. He had the layout completely memorized. From the position of the mirror to where his bed was, he knew that room like the three swords at this waist. He couldn’t hide the fact that he had daydreamed about this room a lot. Before he realized that he had feelings for the man, he never understood why he often hoped Sanji would let him sleep in there one day. Fast forward to after the realization, it was more than painfully obvious. He hated how much he dreamt about waking up next to the cook. He thought about the way his hair would look all messy against the pillowcase, how his voice would be hoarse from a good night’s rest, and how his eyes would have a hazy blue film over them as he woke up. He wanted to see all of these things up close. His heart craved them. It felt impossible to engrain in his head that this was never going to happen.

Zoro felt his heart give one solid beat as he stood outside the entrance of Sanji’s door. He can’t believe the cook was alright with him walking into his private space like this. Zoro didn’t feel like he was worthy to be in here. But Sanji had asked something of him, so there was no way he’d walk away.

Zoro turned the knob of the door and walked in. His senses instantly went wild. He was first hit with the smell of cigarette smoke and a floral fragrance. He turned on the light to reveal the contents of the room. The layout was the same- bed in the same spot, dresser still there, mirror over here. He took note of how Sanji’s room was being kept. The bed was pristine and well made as always. His eyes followed to where his nose was telling him the scent was coming from. His eyes locked onto the dresser and he walked over to it, making sure to take each step as delicately as he could. He peered at all the different bottles and little containers. There were lotions, hair gels, cuticle oil, colognes, and even a couple of perfumes. Zoro smiled to himself. He thought it was girly of Sanji to wear perfume but it’s not as if he could say anything bad about it when the scents always left him entranced.

Zoro looked to the bed, in search of the laundry bin, and let his eyes fall on the heap of crumpled papers in the trash can. He stepped closer to it and realized that they were all covered in writing that was none other than Sanji’s. His interest went through the roof. His brain told him to pick up one of the papers and unfold it but his heart told him that invading someone else’s privacy was a bad move. As badly as he wanted to know what Sanji could’ve possibly written on those pages, he decided not to look. He’d rather be unknowing for the rest of his life than make Sanji upset, especially with how things were looking up.

His eyes scanned along the rest of the bed, finally noticing the laundry bin by the end. He walked over and began to shuffle through the pile of Sanji’s clothes. Zoro used every fiber in his body not to pay close attention to anything he was grabbing as he searched for the aprons. After about half a minute, he was able to locate both of the garments. One is the classic baby pink apron that Sanji always donned while cooking, and the other is a royal blue blank one of the same material. Zoro never thought he’d find himself grabbing an apron for himself, but here he was. Now that his scavenger was complete, there was no reason to continue lingering in the other man’s room. He took one last glance around, trying to take a mental image of the space one last time, and headed out, eager to get back to Sanji.

As Zoro walked back into the kitchen, he was greeted by Sanji’s lovely smile and an entire spread of ingredients laid out on the countertop. Zoro strolled over and handed Sanji the pink apron. He watched with affectionate eyes as Sanji tied the knots around his neck and waist. Zoro had a bad habit of noticing Sanji’s silhouette in everything he wore. The apron was no different. He couldn’t help but stare at the man’s small waist and long legs. He looked so perfect, like someone straight out of a magazine. There was never a day that went by where Zoro didn’t imagine his arms around the chef’s waist, embracing him a warm hug that he knew would be the most ethereal feeling ever. Zoro was brought back down to earth by Sanji’s snicker.

“Something caught your eye, you love-sick swordsman?” Sanji said, taking note of where Zoro’s eyes had wandered.

The apples of Zoro’s cheeks flushed with a terra cotta hue. He’d been caught and he couldn’t defend himself.

“Didn’t I tell you that if you called me that, I’d kill you?” Zoro said, remembering their conversation from the week prior.

“I believe so, yes, but I don’t think you have it in you.” Sanji said suavely.

Zoro couldn’t do anything to protest. Sanji was right, he didn’t have it in him. He couldn’t even begin to think of doing such a thing.

“Just put your apron on, Idiot.” Sanji said in a sarcastic tone and a small giggle. He flashed another sly smile at the swordsman. Zoro put the apron on. Sanji chose not to acknowledge how much he enjoyed seeing Zoro’s broad figure in an apron that was admittedly too small for him. His thoughts were hypocritical and he knew it, but as he said, there wasn’t any rhyme or reason to why he was thinking like that, so what was the harm?

Zoro sighed and attempted to take his mind off of being cornered. “Okay so really, where do we start?” He asked, eager to get on with the cooking.

Sanji slid the cutting board across the counter and away from the sink, making sure to grab a small but sharp knife and set it on top. He whipped around and took the 2 green onion stalks within his grip, also placing them on the cutting board.

“First we need to cut up some vegetables. I put the green onion on here for you to chop.” Sanji paused and caught Zoro’s eye. “I’m assuming you know how to use a knife, right?” Sanji said. He tried his best not to let any of his nerves show. Sharing anything in his kitchen was nerve-wracking, even if it was just a knife and a chopping board.

Zoro smiled in disbelief. He made a gesture over the swords leaning up against the wall near the table. “I think I’ll be able to manage.” He said promptly.

Sanji let out a small breath, releasing a tiny puff of smoke into the air. “Kitchen knives are different from katanas, dumbass… but I’m sure you’re right.” He forced himself to have trust in Zoro. It’s not like he didn’t, but this was foreign to him. Letting someone else touch the tools that were most important to him was something he’d have to get used to if this ever happened again.

Sanji watched closely from behind as Zoro began to chop the onion. He was about to comment on how he was doing it wrong, but he couldn’t. Zoro wasn’t doing anything wrong. His hand was in the right position, the size of the onion coins was perfect, and he was remaining calm and confident as he diced. To say that Sanji was impressed would be an extreme understatement. He watched in awe as the swordsman finished the first green onion and set down the knife on the side of the cutting board.

“Is this good?” Zoro turned around, meeting Sanji’s gaze. He was caught off guard by how open the cook’s eyes were. “Did I do something wrong?” Zoro felt a rush of guilt flow through his body. How could he have already messed this up? How hard was it to cut an onion?

“N-No, you didn’t.” Sanji shoved himself right next to Zoro to look at the cutting board and the chopped vegetable on it. Sanji was too shocked to notice that their shoulders were completely pressed together. Zoro was not. “These are perfect! How did you do that?” Sanji said with a gaping mouth. Zoro let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s almost like I’ve been training with blades my entire life. I know these knives are different from my swords, but you tend to pick up a few things about different blades when it’s kind of your whole life.” Zoro said, nonchalantly. He scooted slightly away from the cook, just enough so that their shoulders were still touching, but not crammed. “I’m sure you wouldn’t be bad with a few swords yourself, Cook.” Zoro said with a little more tenderness than he meant to.

This comment snapped Sanji out of his impressed daze. That must’ve been one of the most endearing and sweet things he’s ever heard Zoro say. He felt his mouth get dry. Suddenly the man in front of him was far more interesting than the onion he had just sliced. He couldn’t say anything. Everything that came to mind felt too out of his comfort zone. Too warm. Too affectionate. He cleared his throat and switched back into a cooking mindset.

“Great! Well, uh, clearly you’re great at cutting things so… here. Do these too.” Sanji said, trying to regain his composure as he grabbed ¼ of a red onion and mushrooms. Zoro took the handful of vegetables from Sanji’s palms and set them to the side of the cutting board. He instinctively went back to the second green onion that had yet to be cut.

“When you’re done with the green onion, make sure you slice the mushroom finely and mince the red onion.” Sanji ordered.

“Got it, Chef.” Zoro retorted. He didn’t need to turn around to know the exact face Sanji was making. He knew his curly eyebrows were raised to his hairline.

Zoro was right, Sanji’s expression was one of pure shock. Not only had Zoro taken a command with no argument, but he had also understood the command perfectly. He didn’t need to ask for clarification on the difference between mincing, slicing, and dicing, something Sanji never expected anyone else but other cooks to know. And of course, the cherry on top, Zoro calling him “Chef”.

Zoro referred to Sanji as “Cook” all the time, it was one of his go-to nicknames and it had been for a long time. “Chef” was different. He had never heard Zoro refer to him like that. It felt formal, respectful, maybe even a little seductive. Sanji felt his cheeks flush with a light crimson blush and he desperately returned to his craft, needing something to distract himself from that.

“I’m gonna start on the eggs.” Sanji said with a strained voice. Zoro hummed in response but laughed in his mind. He made sure not to show how amused he was on the outside. Catching Sanji off guard had to be one of his favorite pastimes, he just always wanted to make sure he never went too far.

Sanji cracked both eggs into a bowl and began to beat them. When the eggs were done he set the bowl aside, oiled a pan, and set it on the stovetop. He turned one of the burners on and waited for the pan to heat up.

“You almost done slicin’ and dicin’?” Sanji spoke in a tone that made it sound like he was the lead heartthrob love interest in a terrible rom-com. Zoro loved it. He knew the second that sentence left Sanji’s mouth, he’d be thinking about that for the rest of his life.

Zoro couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Yeah, just about.” Zoro said, mincing the last little section of the red onion and separating it from the other ingredients. “Sliced. And. Diced.” He mimicked the cook’s tone.

Sanji gave him a nod of approval in response and grabbed the cutting board from Zoro’s station. He examined each of the ingredients carefully. Sanji was stunned at how perfectly everything had been tended to. He might’ve just found himself a new cooking helper if he could get that lucky.

He scraped the cutting board clean of the ingredients (keeping the green onions off to the side to be a garnish later), sweeping all of the vegetables into the warmed-up pan. He stirred them around with a spatula and began to fry them. At this moment, something hit him.

“Hold on…” Sanji said, deep in thought.

“Hm?” Zoro questioned as he set the dirty knife down in the sink to be washed later.

“I’m missing an ingredient. How could I have forgotten an ingredient?” Sanji said to himself, nearly in a panic.

“Oh shit, really?” Zoro said, trying to sound more alarmed than he was. He didn’t understand why Sanji would freak out over something like that, it didn’t seem crucial. What difference could one ingredient even make?

“Yeah, I should be adding corned beef immediately after the vegetables. I’ve made this recipe a million times, how could that have slipped my mind?” Sanji said, knowing there was more to it than just a simple slip-up.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine without it, is it that important?” Zoro asked, genuinely. He didn’t think it was that big of a deal but if it was, he wanted to be corrected. He understood the concept of how one thing being out of place can mess up something as a whole, he saw it all the time in his training. If his grip was too loose, a slash was too fast, or his stance was unbalanced, he could risk any one of his moves going awry. He tried to compare Sanji’s art to his own, in hopes of getting a better understanding.

“It wouldn’t be detrimental, but there would be a missing element of flavor, something I try to avoid at all costs.” Sanji couldn't help but be hard on himself.

Zoro made his way over to the fridge and pulled out the meat drawer. “You said corned beef?” Zoro called over to Sanji who was still stirring the vegetables.

“Yeah but I don’t think-” Sanji’s thought was cut short as Zoro smiled and held up an unopened package of corned beef that was presumably hiding in the back of the drawer.

“Here it is!” Zoro said, filled with pride at the simple find.

Sanji felt his heart drop into his stomach. Why was he getting so frazzled? How could he have not seen the container in plain sight? Why did Zoro helping him make him feel so appreciated? Why was his heart beating so rapidly at the swordsman’s tranquil smile?

“Oh. I guess we do have some. Thanks.” Sanji mustered up the ability to say.

“No problem, Twirly.” Zoro’s smile returned to a normal resting face but his facial expression still showed signs of contentment. “I guess I’m better at finding ingredients than I am at finding my way around a town, huh?” Zoro joked about himself. Sanji felt that flip in his stomach again.

Sanji opened the package, removed 2 ounces, and plopped it on top of the ingredients in the pan, letting it fry along with them. Sanji felt his hands shake. He had never felt like this before while cooking. He didn’t like it. He knew something was wrong when he was taking more glances at the moss head behind his back than he was at the food currently simmering on the stovetop. Luckily, the dish was almost done so he’d be able to get out of the situation quickly. Although, for some reason, when he thought about leaving, both his brain and heart yelled at him to stay.

“Oi, do you wanna do this part? You are the one learning, afterall.” Sanji asked Zoro once the concoction in the pan was at the right point.

“Absolutely.” Zoro said simply as he made his way over to the pan. “What do I do?” Zoro asked, kindly.

Sanji was able to calm down as he explained the next steps to the rice. Nothing grounded him more than what he knew best.

“You’re going to move the things in the pan to the side, add a little more oil, and then pour the eggs in.” He guided.

Zoro did exactly as he was told. He fumbled a bit with the eggs, accidentally spilling a little onto the stove, but that was to be expected.

“Okay, now,” Sanjii grabbed the container of rice that he had cooked the day prior. There was more than enough left for this recipe so there was no point in them making more. He popped the lid off the container, grabbed a measuring cup, scooped one cup of rice, and handed it to Zoro. “Since the egg isn’t quite firm yet, add the rice in and then stir it all together.” Sanji instructed.

Zoro emptied the contents of the cup into the pan and repeated this once more with a second cup of rice. Zoro was glad that Sanji hadn’t lied when he said this was an easy recipe. He had realized that cooking was a lot more fun than he thought it was. Even if all he had done was chop some things up and fry them, because of the simplicity of the meal, he was able to enjoy himself.

Sanji handed Zoro the salt, pepper, and soy sauce once everything looked as if it were just about completed.

“We’re almost done, just the finishing touches are left. You should add roughly ½ teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, and 1 ½ teaspoons of soy sauce, that should be good.” The cook continued to detail.

Zoro would be lying if he said he knew those measurements off the top of his head. He didn’t know how much a teaspoon was without using a measuring spoon. He didn’t want to make that clear though, things had been going so well, he didn’t want to sound pathetic by asking for an aid. Luckily, he did know what a pinch was, so he started with that.

When he got to the salt, he did the same thing he did with the pepper, only he continued until Sanji told him to stop. It was a fool-proof plan. As long as he listened to what Sanji was saying, he wouldn’t add too much or too little of anything, and he could avoid asking for a teaspoon.

He felt confident as he grabbed the bottle of soy sauce, feeling like he had a general idea of what a teaspoon was. He began to pour and quickly heard the twirly eyebrowed cook gasp behind him.

“Zoro, that’s way too much!” Sanji laughed, grabbing the bottle out of his hand.

Sanji sounded unbothered but Zoro felt mortified. Of course, he had to fuck up on the very last step. He just prayed he didn’t mess up the entire dish. He was so nervous that he barely even registered Sanji saying his actual name.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” Zoro said with remorse. “I hope I didn’t ruin your food.” Zoro felt like he had just killed the good energy completely. He knew how important food was to Sanji, especially the food that he made. If he messed that up, he didn’t know if he’d be able to forgive himself.

“C’mon, you’re being too hard on yourself. It’s just soy sauce, it’s an easy fix, I swear.” Sanji encouraged. Zoro moved out of the way to let Sanji in to fix the dish and within a minute Sanji grabbed a spoonful and exclaimed that it was perfect.

“Even if you would’ve completely messed it up, which you didn’t,” Sanji made sure to emphasize that Zoro hadn’t done anything wrong. “This isn’t my food, it’s ours. We made it together, don’t sell yourself short.” Sanji found himself blushing with these words. Zoro blushed back and avoided eye contact. He recalled when he had accidentally called Sanji “beautiful” out loud when he meant to say it in his head, he didn’t want this to be another one of those moments so he gazed at the floor.

Now that the meal was completed, Sanji didn’t know what to do next. He didn’t want to leave but he didn’t know if his heart could take it if he stayed.

He then remembered that he guaranteed Zoro a portion of the food once it was completed. This could either go surprisingly well or dangerously wrong, but Sanji couldn’t back out of this gamble, not after he had already promised.

Sanji sprinkled the green onion slices over the top of the rice and scooped out a large portion into a container. He snapped the lid on and put it in the fridge, saving it for the next day. He grabbed a spoon and scooped two bowls with the remaining rice dish in the pan. He made sure to add more to the serving he would be giving to Zoro.

The chef put out the cigarette in his mouth and threw the butt into the trash can. He grabbed both of the bowls in a typical waiter fashion and walked over to the table. Zoro followed closely behind him. The swordsman sat down as Sanji placed the dishes on the table.

“Where are you going?” Zoro questioned when Sanji didn’t sit down with him. He sounded like a puppy whose favorite toy had just got taken away.

“No meal is complete without a drink to compliment, I’m surprised that you didn’t bring it up first.” Sanji called back, tauntingly.

Zoro hadn’t thought about alcohol at all. Nothing could compete with Sanji when it came to taking up space in his mind.

Zoro laughed bashfully and waited for Sanji to return.

The cook came back with two glasses and a bottle of alcohol that looked like it had cost a lot.

“Are you sure you wanna drink this? That looks expensive.” Zoro said, pointing at the bottle.

“It is, but what’s the point of having it if it's just going to sit in the cabinet?” Sanji questioned.

“Yeah, but why drink it now? Don’t you want to save it for a special occasion?” Zoro sounded baffled.

“What do you mean? This is a special occasion, you cooked something for the first time!” He reminded Zoro, excitedly. Sanji then lowered his voice to nearly a whisper. “And… we did it together.” Sanji said with a shy smile. Zoro bit his tongue so as to not say anything stupid and romantic.

“I guess you’re right, Cook.” Zoro said, watching Sanji pop the cork and pour equal amounts of the liquid into both glasses.

“Cheers.” Sanji cheered, raising his glass in the air.

“Cheers.” Zoro clinked his glass against Sanji’s.

Both men proceeded to take a large sip from their cups, cringing at the alcohol content first, then admiring the flavor a second later. Setting the glasses down, they stared at each other for a moment.

The silence was comfortable. The company of one another felt right. The warmth of the alcohol had flooded both men’s faces and the taste of the rice they had made together was just right. They ate in silence until both men were done.

By the time both of their bowls were cleared, they had become extremely accustomed to each other’s quiet company. Who knew that simply just sitting and listening to the clanking of spoons against bowls and glasses against the table could be so calming? It was so nice, so relaxing. Definitely a moment they both needed after the hurricane of things that had gone on recently.

Now that their food was all gone, the question of “what do we do now?” remained.

The swordsman and the cook were both a little bit tipsy, not enough to make a huge difference in their characters, but enough to elicit an extra boldness they may not have had before.

Due to this, Sanji was the first one to speak after a few minutes of dead silence. He had a certain question he had been dying to ask for weeks now, he just never found the right time to ask it. As he looked at Zoro, more specifically, Zoro’s eyes, he considered this might be the moment.

They'd been having a great time tonight. Cooking had been a blast, the food ended up great, and now they both had traces of liquor flowing through their veins. It felt as if all the hardship before had been leading up to the present. This feeling was so good.

He knew there wouldn't be a better time to ask the question than now, so he grabbed his glass, sipped the last bit of the alcohol still in it, and prepared himself.

“Zoro?” Sanji looked up at the swordsman through hooded eyes. Zoro looked like he was about to collapse. His eyes glinted as the cook said his name. “Can I ask you something?” Sanji asked slightly nervously.

“Of course, anything.” Zoro meant it. He couldn't think of any question that would be off the table at this point. He was on such a high from how good the night had been so far, nothing could bring him down. Especially not when he was alone with his favorite person in the world.

Sanji nodded and stared down into his empty glass, rotating it in his hand and watching the leftover drops swirl in the concave. He looked up once more, making unyielding eye contact with the man in front of him.

“Why did you fall in love with me?”

[ablackfangirlwrites]

Jealous ll

Part 2!!!! I linked the sone again cause its a bop and I love it also heres pt one!

You had had enough

Thats what you kept telling yourself

As you got ready tonight

You weren't going sit in the house anymore waiting for keigo to show up whenever he felt like it

Tonight you were going out for you

You thought about how you used to have fun, how you used to be happy

And how miserable you had been lately and you decided

If Keigo didnt appreciate you anymore

Then you'd find someone who would

So thats why you found yourself looking in the mirror admiring how well you dressed up tonight to go out

You almost forgot how hot you were when you put in a little effort

You had originally stopped because keigo would tell you how beautiful and perfect you were without make up or anything

But now you were on the prowl for someone new to notice you and keigo's words meant little to nothing to you right now

Tonight you were gonna find someone to show you just a little bit of attention you craved so much and it wasnt going to be keigo

Just then you saw keigo staring at you from the reflection in mirror

he was home unusually eailer

"Dont you have to work?" You asked bitterly

"Where are you going?" He asked ignoring your statement

Sighed and rolling your eyes and picking up your purse you turned to him before leaving the bedroom, "Out. You don't have to wait up for me."

"You're being ridiculous y/n."

He said following you but you ignored him

"Y/n? Y/n?" He kept calling you, "You cant just go out an-"

"And why not?" You turned to him before you left the apartment, "according to you were not even really dating-"

"You know why that is." He told you seriously

You huffed out a fake laugh, "yeah, but its still okay for you to flirt with anyone?"

Keigo didnt respond to that making you chuckle, "Exactly...like I said im going out dont wait up." Then you slammed the door leaving.

You knew you were being unreasonable with him

You knew the two of you needed to just talk and make up

But you kept letting your anger from all your arguments cloud your judgment

Because you just wanted him to feel the same hurt and jealously you had been feeling more then anything

Keigo stared at the door you had just slammed

Things somehow got worse in the following days after your argument on your anniversary

You refused to talk to him

He tried to apologize to you but you basically brushed him off

Keigo wasn't sure what to think you said you hated him, you wouldnt sleep in the bed with him

Yet you hadn't packed up and left so that was good right?

But that distance that was growing between the two of you was wider then before

And he didnt know what to do to fix it

And now you were going out clearly dressed to find someone else

Did you really hate him? Had you really had enough of him?

Hell, he couldnt even blame you if you did he thought

You had put up with so much of him up until now

And maybe some of what you said the other night was true? Had he gotten too comfortable with you always being there?

But that was only because he loved you

Keigo was truly in love with you, and dispite you suspensions he never cheated on you

And he would never do that, you were the only one he wanted even now when you two seemed to be at each others throats

He still wanted you, and he couldn't picture his life without you

So thats why he ended up following you to the bar you were currently at

He made sure you hadnt noticed him staying in the back out of your sight

And he hated what he saw

He saw you having fun

You had met up with some of your girlfriends the three of you all laughing and drinking

You acting like you didnt have a care in the world, like the two of you didnt argue before you left out

Having a good time as if you didnt leave him alone in the house

He watched you dancing as though you were having the time of your life as other mean stared and gawked at you

He watched as a guy singled you out and was clearly flirting with you

And worst you let him and was encouraging him

You kept touching his shoulder laughing at his jokes letting him dance against you

Words couldnt describe the irritation he felt watching

He wanted nothing more then to rip that mans hands off you and fly away with you in his arms

But part of him felt like he deserved this

This feeling he had, was it how you felt?

If so he needed to fix this, was all that he could think

And he was about to go to you, but before he could someone called out his name

"Hey! Hawks is here!"

Fuck he said to himself when a crowd started to form around him

His eyes then connected with yours knowing you heard he was here

And for a moment he thought you were gonna come up to him

But instead you kept talking to the random guy ignoring him

Hawks wanted to go to you and talk to just take you back home

But was having trouble getting away from the crowd

He was all smiles talking to his fans but the whole time he kept his eyes on you

But somehow it became a battle to see who was going to be more stubborn

You continued to dance with the random guy, but now you knew keigo was here watching you

You convinced yourself not to care, you came here to have fun and he wasnt going to ruin it for you

But thats just what he was doing as you watched him talk to some random girl now

He was here to get under you skin, you were sure of it

But two could play this little game

Both of you having this little war with each other watching each other from across the room

And you couldnt lie you were enjoying it a bit

Seeing his eyes watching you, knowing he had to be feeling the sting of jealousy as another man held you close

But It all came to a head when you saw the girl he was dancing with lips on his neck

He wasnt looking at you when you saw that all his attention clearly on her

You couldn't deny the sharp feeling in your chest at the sight

And not wanting to see anymore you left the dance floor telling the guy you needed to go to the bathroom

Hawks pulled away from the handsy fan

Denying anymore of her advances

Yeah he had been trying to get under your skin now but thats was a bit much

But now when he looked up to find you again, only to see you were gone

His stomach sank

Where did you go? You had to had just seen that?

Did you leave with that guy? Hawks started to panic when he didnt seem him either

Where did you go? Why was he being so stupid just now? He should have just went to talk to you

Just then keigo noticed the guy you had been flirting with at the bar and went up to him

"The girl you were dancing with? Where'd she go?"

The guy looked at him like he was crazy "whats it too you?" He challenged him

But keigo wasnt in a playful mood and grabbed the man by the collar, "Answer the question asshole."

The guy quickly put his hands up in defeat, "she just said-

"Hawks?"

He heard his name called out and looked behing him to see you

"What are- you are so unbelievable." Yku shook your head storming off

You couldn't believe him he had the audacity to attack the guy you had been talking to

It didnt take much thought to figure out why

And it annoyed you to no end

So keigo could flirt and let girls kiss all over him but if you had a guy around you that was too much

He was such a hypocrite

You were angry your whole way back home

You stood in the mirror once you got back

But with a different feeling in your stomach then the feeling you had before you left

You felt defeated your plans of fun had been ruined and you felt like your back in the same spot you had been in

Hawks was giving you a little bit of space taking his time getting back home

Because now you were probably madder than before at him

When hr got in he saw you had just got out the shower

"Y/n..."

You heard him call out your name But you ignored him

Y/n, you have to listen to me."

You werent going to turned around but before you knew it he hugged you from behind

"Im sorry."

"Let go of me hawks." You spat out but he didnt budge

"Just listen to me y/n..."

"Why are we doing this to each other?" You asked quietly, "Why do you keep hurting me? What are we even doing? It clearly isnt wor-"

"Ive been an idiot, y/n."

Keigo buried his face in your neck, "I've been so stupid, but please please dont leave me."

You were trying to fight back tears, "I dont want to leave you keigo....but I cant-"

"Dont say you can't with me anymore. I need you." Keigo pleaded holding you tighter

You were so frustrated

You still loved him, you still wanted to be with him, because when things are good between you they're great

But the way your relationship had been it was becoming too much

But you wanted to stay with him

Because you loved him

You moved your hands and held on to his arms secretly enjoying his embrace that you missed so much

"I know you mean well keigo-"

"I love you so much y/n," keigo cut you off again, "I know ive been an asshole, ive been neglectful, ive been the worst, but dont give up on me. Please."

You finally turned around to face him and hugged him back

You could see the sincerity in his eyes as you did "I love you too keigo but I just cant do this- we keep hurting each other...thats not what your supposed to do to the people you love."

Keigo pulled back "You want me to tell everyone about us? I will." He told you, "You want me to tell you everything ive been doing I will, I promise you Ill to whatever it takes to fix us. I dont want to live the way we have anymore."

You knew he was serious and your heart leaped hearing his words but you werent sure

"You're the only one I want y/n" he said giving you a light kiss

Almost like he was asking for permission

"Ill do whatever it takes for you to forgive me."

He said inbetween kisses, "you're so important to me, im sorry i made you think you weren't."

You couldnt lie he was finally saying everything you wanted to hear

And you wanted to believe him

"You promise?" You asked him

"I promise."

[riffheartsgraziella]

Regrets (Riff x Graziella)

When I was 13 years old, I made a FanFiction account so that I could write stories about Riff and Graziella.  No one else seemed to be doing it, so I was determined to do it myself.  What I wrote at 13 was honestly not so great, but throughout high school, I continued to grow in my writing and write oneshots about any random Riff x Graziella scenario that would pop into my head.  The last story I wrote on FanFiction was in 2012, and I honestly didn’t think I would write much again after that.  After seeing the new West Side Story (three times now), I was suddenly inspired to start writing again, just for fun.

The majority of my Riff x Graziella stories are based on the 1961 film.  After writing about them so often, I feel like I have a good handle on Riff’s and Graziella’s voices and their relationship, based on the way it was portrayed by Russ Tamblyn and Gina Trikonis.  Since seeing the new West Side Story, I’ve also been inspired to write stories based on Mike Faist’s and Paloma Garcia-Lee’s portrayals.  However, in my opinion, their dynamic was unique and different from Russ and Gina’s (which is great, because it means I get to enjoy both without comparing!). So that means I’m still trying to figure out the best way to write for Mike and Paloma’s Riff x Graziella.  All that being said, I did recently publish my first Riff x Graziella fic based on the 2021 film.  I’m going to post it below, but also link it here if you’re interested in reading it on ff.net.

I have some ideas for more R x G  fics based on the 2021 film, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to write them sometime soon!

Regret, Graziella realizes, is a cruel thing. It’s like a window that shows you all the things that could be, but only after they’ve been snatched away.

She’d never been one for regret. From the time she was a kid, she’d decided that it was better to just take each day as it came, without looking backward or forward. When her old man left them, she hadn’t spent months moping on the couch like her ma. When her cousin got killed in a street brawl, she didn’t get all weepy about all the things he could have been. When Tony got sent upstate for beating on that Egyptian King, she didn’t make any false promises about waiting for him. Wishing things could be different than they were was pointless, and Graziella wasn’t one for wasting time.

Riff had understood her in that way. He’d been the same. He never looked back and he sure as hell never thought about the future. She’d always loved that about him. Even when she’d been with Tony, there had always been something about Riff that she’d been drawn to. He understood her in a way Tony had never been able to. That’s why she hadn’t felt an ounce of regret when she’d started going with Riff after Tony got locked up. She never felt regret about anything when it came to Riff.

Until now.

Now Riff is gone and regret is the only thing Graziella knows how to feel. It punches her in the chest every time she remembers his smile, the feel of his arms around her just the night before at the dance. It slaps her in the face when she thinks about the nights they would lay in each other’s arms until the sun came up, her fingers tracing the scar beneath his eye that he’d earned from a rumble with the Emeralds. It was always then, in that suspended bit of time between darkness and dawn, when it was just the two of them, that he would whisper the sweetest things in her ear, things that were only for her to know.

He had loved her. She knows he did. People might have thought Riff cruel and selfish and incapable of love, but she knows better. She knows that he loved her, that he loved the Jets, their family. He died because he loved them.

He had loved her. And she had loved him.

But she’d never told him. And that was the most painful regret of all.

He’d come to see her before the rumble with the Sharks. He’d been nervous. She could tell from the way his hands shook, and the way he messed with the bracelet he always wore. It had been his mother’s bracelet. He’d told her that once, when she’d been playing with it after they’d made love. Over time, she’d come to realize that whenever he was really nervous, he’d twist the bracelet back and forth, sometimes clasping and unclasping it, sometimes just tugging on it absentmindedly. She had always wondered if he thought of his mother when he did that, the mother who’d died when he was six years old, leaving him on his own when he was just a kid.

He’d been twisting that bracelet before the rumble, until she’d grabbed his hands and kissed him, intent on making him forget about all his worries. Afterwards, she’d snatched up the shirt he’d left at her place the night before when he’d been getting ready for the dance. Knotting it at the waist, she’d smirked and winked at him. “Do I look like a Jet?” she’d teased.

He’d grinned then, the first smile she’d seen from him all night. “Too pretty ta be a Jet,” he’d told her, pressing another kiss to her lips and slipping a finger through one of her blonde curls. “I’ll see ya later, Grazi,” he’d added, running his fingers through her hair one more time.

It was then that he’d paused, looking down at her with those eyes that seemed to see everything all at once. He hesitated slightly, looking torn between wanting to say something and wanting to hear her say something. She’d known in that instant what he wanted her to say. What he needed to hear. She’d hesitated, too, her lips parting but nothing coming out of her mouth as she looked up at him.

Chuckling sadly, he’d moved away from her, twisting his mom’s bracelet once more. “See ya, Grazi.”

She has to close her eyes as the pain of regret pierces her at that memory. Maybe if she closes her eyes, she won’t have to see Riff looking at her. Maybe she won’t have to hear him silently begging her to tell him she loves him.

Why didn’t she tell him?

For all his talk and all his bravado, all Riff had really wanted was for somebody to love him. His old man had dipped when he was a baby, his mom had died when he was a kid, his best friend went to prison for a year and then was a different guy when he got out. All he’d had was the Jets. And her. And she had let him down.

Burying her face in the collar of his shirt, the shirt that still smells like him, Graziella weeps. For the first time in her life, she weeps for all that could have been and all that would never be. She weeps for the broken little kid who just wanted someone to love him. She weeps for the angry boy who just wanted a place in this world. She weeps for the man he will never get to be.

She weeps with the pain of a regret too overwhelming to bear.

She weeps for Riff. Her Riff.

“I love ya, Riff,” she whispers, pressing her lips against the collar of his shirt. “I’m sorry I never told ya.”

[zintranslations]

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 132

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 132: By Day, By Night

After hanging up, Lin Qiushi got out of bed. He went to the living room to check on the door and television, making sure both those things were still the same as they had been during daytime yesterday.

After that, Lin Qiushi left the apartment in a hurry. Halfway out he even got a call from Wu Qi, asking why he wasn't at work.

"There's something I have to do." Lin Qiushi was already in a car and had honestly completely forgotten about going to work. He tried to wheedle: "Ask for time off for me."

Wu Qi, "okay, how long should I ask for?"

Lin Qiushi, "half a year?"

Wu Qi, shocked, "…half a year?? Are you planning on resigning?"

Lin Qiushi glanced at his watch, not thinking of work at all.

"Or yeah, you can just resign for me."

Wu Qi seemed like he had something to say, but whatever words were on the tip of his tongue never made it out—he only sighed: "Fine, I'll get time off for you. If there's something going on you've got to tell me, alright? Don't carry it all on your own."

Lin Qiushi made a noise of agreement, expression still pensive.

The car continued on, and over an hour later, it arrived at where Lin Qiushi wanted to go. Lin Qiushi got off, went upstairs, and knocked on the door—every motion done in a single smooth breath. The truth was, however, that these few simple motions were only possible after extensive emotional preparation done during the car ride.

The door he knocked on opened after a bit, revealing a beautiful middle-age woman—it was Ruan Nanzhu's mother.

Because before they'd entered the door, Ruan Nanzhu had taken Lin Qiushi home. Now Lin Qiushi had a clear memory of where Ruan Nanzhu's old house was. Coming here this time was simply to confirm one thing…

"Hi Auntie," Lin Qiushi greeted politely.

"Hello." The woman watched Lin Qiushi with curiosity and asked, "is there something I can help you with?"

"I wanted to ask, do you know who Ruan Nanzhu is?" Lin Qiushi asked carefully.

"Ruan Nanzhu?" The woman's tone of doubt sent Lin Qiushi's heart sinking, and the question on her face only grew stronger. "Sorry, I don't know who that is."

"Then do you know Ruan Baiye?" Lin Qiushi brought up another name—this was the name of Ruan Nanzhu's older bother.

"Baiye? He's my son…" Mama Ruan said. "He's not home right now, but he'll be back later tonight. Are you looking for him?"

Lin Qiushi, "ma'am you…only have one son?"

Mama Ruan nodded as the way she looked at Lin Qiushi got stranger and stranger. Which was fair. Suddenly coming to her house and asking questions like these, Lin Qiushi didn't seem like a normal person at all.

Lin Qiushi had no idea what else to say either. After bidding Mama Ruan goodbye, he rushed back downstairs and hurried off to another location.

Ruan Nanzhu's existence had been completely wiped. There was nobody in this world named Ruan Nanzhu, not even to his parents, and even Obsidian, the organization that he led, had stopped existing…

This time, Lin Qiushi's destination was Li Dongyuan's White Deer.

When he arrived at White Deer headquarters, Lin Qiushi discovered that the building that once belonged to White Deer was now commercial offices, labeled with the name of XX Bank. Lin Qiushi was standing in the doorway contemplating how to sneak upstairs when he saw a familiar face leave the building. That person was wearing a suit and speaking to someone beside him; judging by appearance alone, he was that baby-faced Li Dongyuan that Lin Qiushi knew.

Seeing this Lin Qiushi hurried forward and called, "Li Dongyuan!"

Li Dongyuan's feet stalled, and he glanced in Lin Qiushi's direction. With eyes both cautious and distant, he asked, "who might you be? If you'd like to discuss something please book an appointment with my secretary first."

"I—" Lin Qiushi said. "Do you know me?"

Lin Qiushi lifted an eyebrow and didn't speak. His expression though, gave Lin Qiushi an answer—he did not know Lin Qiushi, and even thought Lin Qiushi's question odd.

"You don't recognize me?" Lin Qiushi also couldn't quite convey how he was feeling just then.

"Should I recognize you?" Li Dongyuan smiled a smile that wasn't quite a smile as he scanned Lin Qiushi up and down.

Lin Qiushi suddenly recalled something else. He said, "then do you know Zhuang Rujiao?"

Li Dongyuan didn't answer, and still seemed unfamiliar with the name.

"What about Jin Yurui?" Lin Qiushi tried again.

"You know her?" Li Dongyuan's smile, however, faded. "You're one of hers, then?"

Lin Qiushi could finally be sure why some people didn't exist in this world—because they were still alive. If they still survived in the world outside the door, then they did not exist inside this door. Both Li Dongyuan and Jin Yurui were dead, so they had new identities inside this door.

And, those who had died inside the doors aside, the people who were competely unrelated to the doors did not seem affected by this rule at all. They existed both inside this door and outside it, and had nothing to do with living or dying.

"Is there anything else?" Eyeing Lin Qiushi, who was deep in thought, Li Dongyuan lifted his chin with a cold expression. "If there's nothing else why don't you take your leave? This is a place of work."

Lin Qiushi took one last look at him before turning to go.

"Who is that?" the person standing beside Li Dongyuan asked as they watched Lin Qiushi leave.

"I don't know," Li Dongyuan said. "Looks kind of familiar though. Never mind, bring me that data and let me confirm…"

Lin Qiushi left White Deer headquarters and glanced at his watch. It was already twelve noon. An idea surfaced in his mind, and Lin Qiushi got out his phone to book a roundtrip flight for C City the next morning.

There were some matters he wanted to confirm in C City; it was already too late to go today, so he could only hurry there tomorrow morning and try to make it back in one day.

Fact of the matter was, Lin Qiushi didn't want to try spending the night on an airplane. Hell knows how terrifying that would be.

After taking care of lunch at a random spot in town, Lin Qiushi returned home and took a nap. As he thought about what would happen later that evening, Lin Qiushi thought he wouldn't be able to sleep. But in fact he slept quite well, passing out the moment he hit the bed. When he woke it was already five in the afternoon. Chestnut sat by his side, meowing, looking to be hungry again.

Lin Qiushi got up and, after fixing up some food for Chestnut, called some delivery for himself. He ate while watching TV.

He saw the trailer for Tan Zaozao's new movie. From the language of the advertisement, Lin Qiushi figured out that Tan Zaozao had already won the award. The award-winning movie was exactly the same as it had been on the outside, only the director was a different person this time and not Zhang Yiqing.

This world was so very similar to the world that Lin Qiushi lived in, but there was one fundamental difference—Ruan Nanzhu, the person Lin Qiushi most wanted to see, was not here.

Good thing that was so, actually. This door, for a lot of other people, would likely be of insurmountable difficulty. Like Zhuang Rujiao. Or Cheng Yixie for that matter. That was because here, they could once again see their most beloved person…

The night deepened, and Lin Qiushi got everything ready.

Around ten in the evening, it suddenly began to rain outside.

Water came down as if tossed from a ladle, washing clean the earth scorched dry by the sun. Lin Qiushi stood by the window, watching as passersby scampered home along the sidewalks until only streetlamps were left on the empty streets, with only the occasional car passing by.

Chestnut fell asleep sprawled out on the couch. The atmosphere grew quiet. Some senseless program played on TV as a queer sort of silence began to crawl out inside the house.

Lin Qiushi smelled petrichor. He used to be quite a fan of this smell, until he encountered a particular door. After that, this tainted scent of rainwater became something a lot more unpleasant.

The hour hand turned bit by bit, and twelve o'clock was nearly here.

Lin Qiushi sat in the living room, as if a spirit waiting for the death god's verdict. The switch from day to night came, and the clock hanging on the wall finally began to ring: ding dong, ding dong, ding dong…Twelve chimes heralded in another world.

The moment it became twelve, someone was immediately knocking at his door once more. Backpack on, Lin Qiushi came to the door, and through the peephole saw a woman standing on the other side, smiling at him.

He remembered the woman's name. It was the NPC hidden among the crowd in the Sister's Drum door, Xu Jin.

"Hurry up and come out already," Xu Jin told Lin Qiushi. "Come out already, my sister's coming to find you."

Lin Qiushi didn't open the door. He heard a soft noise from the window, however, and when Lin Qiushi turned, he saw a figure pressed against the glass.

It was a person with all her skin stripped off, her body a mess of blood and flesh from head to toe. The bloody face pressed against Lin Qiushi's glass and her mouth split open, showing Lin Qiushi her stark white teeth. It looked like she was trying to open up the locked window, and judging from her motions, she seemed close to succeeding.

Opening the door looked to be the only option right now. Gritting his teeth, Lin Qiushi twisted open the door handle and faced Xu Jin, standing on the outside.

Xu Jin clearly knew what Lin Qiushi was worried about, and began to chuckle.

"How could I bear to hurt you?" A pause, as her gaze lingered on Lin Qiushi's backpack. "My diary is still in your hands. Did you give it a good read yet?"

Lin Qiushi, "…" Why did he feel like he was being teased?

But there wasn't time for him to worry about that, because Xu Jin's sister was about to come in though the window. Xu Jin grabbed Lin Qiushi by the arm and ran. The two made their way down the hall and came to the elevator.

"Go on inside, but watch out," Xu Jin said. "There are other things that want you dead."

Lin Qiushi asked, "what about you?" He recalled that Xu Jin didn't have a very good relationship with her sister.

"Me?" Xu Jin’s eyes curved up in a sudden smile. "How do you know that I don't want you dead?"

As soon as she said this, the skin on her body began to fall off patch by patch. The startled Lin Qiushi rushed into the elevator and pressed a number.

Xu Jin was chuckling again, and though her laugh was bright like silver bells, her terrifying appearance struck a sharp contrast.

Even though she now looked scarier, she didn't seem keen on pursuing Lin Qiushi.

The elevator started. In theory, Lin Qiushi ought to be safe, but that weird sense of danger once again assaulted the top of his head.

Lin Qiushi looked all around him, and when he spotted a certain something hanging in the elevator, goosebumps appeared all over his body. He'd spotted behind him, on what should have been an empty elevator wall, a huge black picture frame. There was nothing inside the frame, but the frame was pointed at exactly where he was standing.

Lin Qiushi reacted swiftly, hitting the button for the floor closest to him. At the exact same time, black water stains began appearing on the white paper inside that frame. First there was only one drop. Then it began spreading on the canvas paper.

He watched as the shape of that stain began to look more and more like a woman. It dispersed across the canvas and, in a short amount of time, managed to coat the entire large canvas.

Luckily it was then that the elevator reached the nearest floor. Lin Qiushi immediately took off, and the moment he cleared the elevator, a pair of pale white hands burst out of that canvas paper, searching around like it was looking for something to grab hold of.

Lin Qiushi was currently on the sixth floor. The moment he was out of the elevator he turned for the emergency exit right next door, bounding quickly down the stairs.

It was dim in the stairwell, with just enough light to see the path beneath his feet. Lin Qiushi ran down two stories before feeling something was off. He took a closer look, and discovered that he'd been turning round and round on floor six.

The stairs seemed to have become a mobius strip—up, down, backward, forward, it all came back to the sixth floor.

Lin Qiushi's feet screeched to a halt. He took in his surroundings, and noticed, on the white stairwell ceilings, little black spots of water appearing. That chilling stench of rain too was spreading through the air.

The thing had found him. Lin Qiushi made an executive decision and left the stairwell, stepping out onto the hallway. But back in the hall, Lin Qiushi discovered that the corridor had underwent a terrifying change: black frames hung on both sides, and inside each frame was a human head with its expression all twisted up. As for the ceramic tile floor, there was now a new carpet, thick and black—the pattern on it looked the same as in a door they'd encountered before.

Lin Qiushi looked up and saw, on the other other end of the hallway, another painting hanging. That painting was a woman in black with a long, sharp hat. Her eyes were half closed, but it felt like she was staring right down the hall and meeting Lin Qiushi's eyes.

Lin Qiushi wanted to leave the hallway, but when he glanced back, he found that the stairwell he had just came from had disappeared. The length of the hallway too seemed to be slowly shortening; Lin Qiushi could sense the painting of the woman getting closer and closer, closer and closer…

At that moment, a drop of water fell onto Lin Qiushi's forehead. Lin Qiushi gave it a wipe, and realized that it was blood. On reflex he looked up—a black hole had appeared above his head without him noticing, and blood was dripping from its edge onto his head. A pair of black eyes glimmered faintly in the dark, and then right after, a pair of pulpy, bloody hands reached out of the hole for Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi's instincts were to back away, but the strange thing was, the hands stopped when they got to him. As if a miracle, he sensed no animosity from this pair of hands.

The hallway was still getting shorter and shorter, as if it were becoming a cage keen on trapping Lin Qiushi inside. With a clench of his teeth, Lin Qiushi reached up and grabbed the fleshy mess of those hands, and then felt a sudden force as he was brought out of that shrinking hallway.

"Aiya, looks like you can't manage without me after all."

The voice belonged to Xu Jin, but from appearance alone, he couldn't tell it was her at all. The skin on her body was completely gone, leaving only scarlet flesh and blood. She was grinning brightly at Lin Qiushi, and the contrast between her smile and appearance was strange, but Lin Qiushi didn't find it scary at all.

"Thank you," Lin Qiushi said to her.

Xu Jin didn't speak. Her gaze instead leaped over Lin Qiushi to look behind him.

Sensing something, Lin Qiushi too twisted around, and spotted on the other end of the darkness a pair of glowing red eyes.

"Meimei, my sister."

The owner of those eyes was also a skinless monster. She didn't have any legs and could only walk on her hands, but that didn't mean she was slow. She glared at Lin Qiushi with vitriol and bared her teeth; like a hyena hunting its prey, the sheer amount of hatred in her eyes was strong enough to materialize.

"Why did you betray me?" she said. "Do you like him that much? Since you like him so much, why don't I keep him here for you?"

Xu Jin tilted her head, and also smiled.

"But Jiejie, even if you did that, I still won't like you."

After that, she told Lin Qiushi to run, and threw herself at her sister. The two monsters clashed and tangled together.

Lin Qiushi got up and sprinted in the direction of the light. By the time he reached its source, he found that he'd already escaped from the apartment building, and was standing in the yard of the residential block.

It was still raining outside. Lin Qiushi pulled an umbrella out of his backpack and slowly pushed it open, stepping out into the curtaining rain.

The rain came down in sluicing torrents, and the streets were completely empty, with only water splashing along the ground. The rain ought to have been noisy; but at a time like this the loudness of the rain only made the world sound more silent in comparison.

"Help me—help me—"

There was a sudden cry for help. A silhouette came stumbling out of the rain, and Lin Qiushi could just make it out: she was a pitiful-looking young woman, staggering through the rain in a long dress. It looked like she was being pursued by something, and when she spotted Lin Qiushi standing not too far away, it was like she'd found an oasis in the middle of a desert—she came running immediately.

"Help, help!! Please, I'm begging you please help me, something wants to kill me…" She fell to the ground, looking up pathetically at Lin Qiushi. "You're also someone going through the doors, right? So am I, this door is so scary—"

Had this been reality, Lin Qiushi would've definitely helped the young woman up by now. But at this stage he wasn't moving, and a light furrow had appeared between his brows. The truth was, he found the person before him a bit familiar—more specifically, everything that appeared at night now was familiar, and he was certain he'd seen this person somewhere before.

"Mister, mister." The woman collapsed in the rain saw Lin Qiushi unmoved, and slowly crawled forward. She wiped at the rainwater on her face and said, shakily, "I know a safe place, and I can bring you there. Do you want to come with me?"

Lin Qiushi said, "do I know you?"

The woman said, "we met once in the door, and you even helped me out." Her lashes lightly trembled, looking vulnerable as anything. "But I didn't deserve that mercy, I still didn't make it."

"We met inside a door?" Lin Qiushi now found the shape of her eyes familiar. "Which door?"

The woman approached Lin Qiushi, saying, "you know, that one."

As Lin Qiushi watched her, he suddenly spoke: "There's something behind you."

The woman halted.

"A giant picture frame," Lin Qiushi said. "She's here."

The woman wheeled around in fright, but when she didn't see anything behind her, she suddenly realized that Lin Qiushi had recognized her. What had been a pitiful expression immediately went cold.

"It's been a while," Lin Qiushi said, "Yang Meishu."

The woman chuckled coolly.

"You still recognized me?"

Lin Qiushi shrugged. "I didn't want to, but I can count the people who wanted me dead on one hand. Since you're not a ghost, you must be somebody who hates me…"

He paused, and quickly announced, "she really is here."

But Yang Meishu didn't believe him. She said, "do you really think I'm that dumb? You've fooled me once already, you think you can do it again? I—"

As she spoke, getting more and more agitated, she felt a sudden breeze behind her. Yang Meishu glanced back, and found the woman in black standing right behind her. The woman's white face was impassive, and in her hands was a black picture frame that she swung right at Yang Meishu.

Yang Meishu knew this was likely it for her, and a terrible scream came out of her mouth. Right after she screamed, she became a portrait in the hands of the woman; soaked from head to toe, her expression bore both fright and a lively, vivid resentment.

Lin Qiushi took the opportunity to run further away. The woman didn't seem intent on chasing after him either, only watched him go with an icy gaze.

The rain came down in torrents, and Lin Qiushi was completely soaked. In such a strong rain, the umbrella was practically useless. As he ran, he fished out his cell phone and sent Ruan Nanzhu a text.

How are things on your end? After some thought, Lin Qiushi added: I'm fine over here, don't worry about me.

After the text was sent, he didn't get a reply for the longest time. It wasn't until Lin Qiushi found a place to hide from the rain that the message notification dinged, displaying four simple words: I'm good, don't worry.

Seeing the message, Lin Qiushi huffed a bitter laugh. Because how could he not know? Had Ruan Nanzhu truly been alright, the text would not have been so short. Ruan Nanzhu had trained his way through so many doors, so god only knew how many malicious NPCs and dead people from the inside he would meet at night. From what Lin Qiushi understood of him, if he had everything under control, he would've definitely sent a message first asking about Lin Qiushi's situation. Now, even his text message was so short. The situation on his end could not be good.

He wanted so badly just to be by his side—Lin Qiushi clenched his phone and thought bitterly. Whatever he had to experience would be fine, as long as he could be by Ruan Nanzhu's side.

[Ch. 131] | [Ch. 133]

[jjkpls]

the wishlist (m) - 4

“What does it mean if a guy talks about your nipples?”

> genre : smut, fluff

> pairing : jeon jungkook x reader (f)

> total words : 4.7k

> content/warnings : back at it again w/ the bff2l; one sided love, lot of pining; sextoys talk; explicit language; ambiguous infidelity ; awkwardness

previous - next

The issue is that Jungkook -and you're not a bitch for thinking that- is a little bit of an idiot.

He can be very smart. He can be wise and present unsuspecting resources and knowledge. He can teach you things you don't know anything about, figure out others you struggle to -but not during stressful times like for say an escape game because during those, he turns absolutely, utterly useless. 

But he is an idiot too. An idiot that sometimes shapes situations and conclusions and ideas in a very peculiar way that is very singular to him.

That’s precisely what happens then. He plays his role right, to its full extent, with great dedication and commitment. Except he missed a memo, misread the script and ends up playing a role that's not the one you planned for him. He believes that he’s your new adult toy provider (as if there is such a thing).

When you think he’s coming over to share a meal or play some game or binge-watch a series you promised to wait for him to experience together, he has a box hidden in his pocket or carried under his arm. 

He has the decency to not comment on it the first time around. He just set it down on the coffee table, between the bowl of chips and the one filled with guacamole. You see the logo on top of it. You recognize the design, reffined, minimalist with the pretty pastel matte colour. 

He probably identifies the shame and the annoyance on your face, painting your cheeks and reshaping your eyebrows, and doesn’t say anything. Simply smiles to himself and starts talking about the series’ new episode that’s about to start. 

It takes a lot of efforts, coming from you, to ignore the conspicuous object sitting just in front and in between you. But eventually, probably because more than a decade of friendship with this guy have grown impressive mind muscles on you, you manage to make abstraction of it. 

It just stops existing for a while until he leaves and you’re curious to see what’s inside. And again you have the same old intentions as before. The same ones.

You won’t use it. 

It’s curiosity. And it's fine for you to be curious because he’s the one buying it and gifting it to you. Why should you be blamed?

Freshly hopped in bed, just done reading the notice hanging over your face, you’re yawning and sending your eyebrows high in interest. Again you won’t use it but it sounds very interesting. That’s when you get a text from him.

Guk

So about the toy!

As if you were waiting for his explanation. As if the conversation got cut short and you were expecting him to pick it back up whenever possible.

You won’t entertain him.

You

I said not to buy me this.

Guk

You never said that! You said something about me being crazy but never about buying one again

Because you're mostly made of petty bitch material, you scroll higher quickly, wishing to find something, any text that would corroborate what you’re saying.

You don’t find anything though. Because you never actually told him to not buy you other toys by text, and now that you come to think of it, you probably never did out loud either because you didn’t fucking know that he would even consider doing so.

It’s not even Christmas anymore. It’s not your birthday. There’s even less of a valid reason for him to get you this therefore, of course, you did not explicitly warn him not to, you didn’t think it would be necessary.

You

It’s not even my fucking bday why???

Guk

I told you the lady at the shop

But who the hell is that lady?

Guk

She talked about a lot of products and they all seemed cool and because you liked the other one I thought I’d get you this one too

You

Jungkook

This simple response says a lot, you hope he can read between the pixels of his screen the desperation, the irritation, the frustration, the silent insults. 

Guk

Listen it’s super cool it's supposed to mimic the touch of a finger

Jungkook then proceeds to explain to you how it works. The original idea being a system with a tiny ball rolling under a silicon skin, to place on your clitoris to have the illusion of a finger's touch. And it’s interesting and innovative surely and sounds intriguing as in, you wonder if it’s accurate, but you’re tired and it seems like you’re wading in some sort of swamp you can’t escape from. There’s a fire burning your skin from your cheeks to your chest. You’re both hating this conversation and unwilling to just draw a final period to it. This asshole.

You

I can read

Guk

So you opened it already??

There’s a bunch of excited emojis that follows his last message and fill up the empty space your lack of response leaves. 

Why and how can he be so eager?

Here comes the delusional part of your brain. It’s a very wide, very deep hallway covered in bookshelves filled to the brim with stupid interpretations and beliefs and sometimes even memories you’ve shared with him. Often next to the laters are pinned an article from a teenage magazine or the jacket of a romance movie, specifically there to validate that yes, indeed, it must have meant something. 

The door of that corridor just creaked opened. You can discern the sound, you can feel the particular atmosphere without even having to take a step through. 

Is it really that normal to be so excited about that? For him? As a friend?

It’s the most frustrating part: you are friends. Friends who supposedly can tell each other everything. Friends who can ask each other anything. 

You should be able to talk about it. Just ask him. If there’s anything behind this whole mess, if he means to tell you something, if it’s wholly mindless, if there’s no hidden agenda.

It should be fine. There’s only trust and affection in this friendship. 

You are still too scared, you are terrified that he’d start linking dots, ask himself some new questions, potentially answer them himself, and have you all found out.

You'd have your barely well-worn cover thrown completely away. 

You send the blank emoji. The one with even the eyes closed. It summarizes your actual state pretty well, speechless, relatively annoyed. 

Guk

She said you could try it on other parts of your body too

Guk

At first

Guk

Like on your lips or your nipples

You want to die.

Now.

No, better, you wish to have never been born. 

Why is he talking about your nipples? Why?

And through all that, you still feel like something is wrong with you, along with your feelings. 

Turns out you are so overwhelmed by his clueless inadequacy, you need a good half an hour and a random shot of tequila to get through it. When it’s gone and exhaustion of a long day and alcohol have knocked nervousness and panic out, you fall asleep, forgetting about answering his outrageous last texts. 

“What does it mean if a guy talks about your nipples?”

Min's finger stops midair, above the cash register she's been working on. She needs a good minute to get back to her senses and while you wait, anxiety invades you. Maybe you should never have brought it up. 

But this question, the torturous thing is slowly killing you.

Min finally turns her head to you, eyes squinted and eyebrows drawn low. She sucks in her pretty red lips before opening them to start formulating, with it seems a certain struggle, an answer. 

“I don’t think I quite understand.”

It’s a pretty straightforward, relatively easy question. That’s what you'd want to say but you’ve reached the state of bashful regret and decide not to press it. Some things are better just left alone. 

“Who talked about your nipples?” She ends up asking the one thing you wished she wouldn’t because there is no way you’re giving his name. 

“Doesn’t matter.” You mumble, turning around slightly, getting back to the task you were here, paid, to do -wipe the shelves clean and not talk about your “““love””” life. 

“I think it does. You wanna know if it means something? Like the guy's into you?”

“Something like that.” Your cheeks are aflame now. No doubt about it. You silently curse at your manager who refuses that you don’t wear the ugly hat that holds your hair back because having a curtain of hair to hold behind, as a help to keep some of your remained, sparse dignity would have been peachy. 

“What did he say exactly?”

Silence. You’re not elaborating. She sighs, defeated. 

“Well, I suppose... he’s considered the fact that you have boobs. If it’s a straight guy, that’s a good sign, I guess?” She shrugs.

You don’t like the answer. It’s exactly what the wrong, defective part of your brain, the one directly wired to your heart, wanted to hear. 

She doesn’t even have the context, anyway. It doesn’t mean much, doesn’t hold much power in your court of sensibility. 

She stares at the side of your face, clearly attempting to drill holes in your head to try and find some answers. You’re awfully silent, have said too much yet not enough and she’s dying to know the whole story. You won’t give in and she can tell. There’s no way you’re sharing the whole thing. The most, probably, probative point of the whole story: the sex toys. It’d turn her into a devastating tsunami of nonsense and misinterpretation and drown you in its wake and you can’t, when you’re already struggling to stay afloat, allow that.

Tag list: @fangirls94 @realswimshaddy @safi4x @pnkd @somewhereinthestarss @kpopfandomftw @kai-kai-bookshelf @pasteljoonie @ggukkieland

A/N: Don’t forget to click on the next button on top, two parts are being posted simultaneously :)