#which is fun and interesting to me personally

[athenalvss]

WHO DID SHE DATE WITH? ( bruce wayne! )

summary: Batman had to stop a patrol for a meeting at the watchtower and the young Dick Grayson must wait there until his mother comes to get him, but something he heard once makes him start an investigation.

bruce wayne x wife! reader

open request - hot wife masterlist

They were patrolling the city when a call came from the Watchtower, so Batman had to take Robin there for a quick meeting with J'onn and Diana, but before leaving he left the boy a warning.

"Don't touch anything, don't bother anyone, your mother will come for you soon."

But Dick Grayson was a restless kid and too curious for his own good. He'd spent the last three minutes spinning around in a control chair, watching Barry and Hal talk and laugh. Why did he have to just sit there and not have a little fun with them? They looked funny.

But Bruce's words, "Don't touch anything, don't bother anyone, your mother will be here for you," were still on his mind, but it was too late; he was already breaking the second rule. Dick quietly slid out of his chair, walked over to them, and stood with his arms crossed. "Can I ask a question?"

Barry turned, still smiling. Hal raised an eyebrow. “Sure, little bat,” Hal said. “Do you want to know?”

Dick looked at them very seriously. "I want to know which member of the League my mom dated before she dated Bruce."

The silence was immediate.

Barry blinked. Hal choked on his coffee. Dick looked at them as if he'd asked about the weather.

"What... what did you say, champ?" Barry stammered.

"you heard right."

Hal and Barry exchanged a look of pure, shining curiosity.

“Is that… true?” Hal whispered.

"I've never heard of it," Barry said, leaning in as if Dick were revealing a state secret. "But now I need to know."

"Are you going to help me or not?" Dick, already a little tired, crossed his arms.

"Of course!" Hal responded immediately. "Anything for... the investigation..."

After a few long minutes of plotting the plan, it was finally put into motion. Hallway after hall, one by one, they began interrogating all available members.

Diana saw them coming from the hallway. “Hi, Dick,” she said with a sweet smile. “Are you behaving?”

Dick swallowed. “Yeah...well, technically no, but I'm doing some research.”

"Oh really?" Diana asked, interested.

Hal stepped forward. "Diana, this is for everyone's peace of mind. Do you know who Mrs. Wayne was with before Bruce?"

Diana gave a soft laugh, as if she'd just been asked for the recipe for immortality. "I know things..." she said enigmatically.

"Things?" the three exclaimed in unison.

"But its not my thing to tell."

"Diana, please!"

She winked and left without another word. Dick sighed a little in frustration. Obviously, Diana knew. They went out at least twice a week to spend time together, but his mother's confidant would never tell them anything.

The next person to be questioned was Aquaman, but he didn't turn out as well as they thought.

"Arthur. Did you ever go on a date with Bruce's wife?"

Arthur stopped talking to Mera and looked at them like they were talking prawns. "What? No! Of course not! I'm a married man."

"But before..."

"I'm still a decent man!" he exclaimed, crossing his arms in real offense.

Dick scribbled “Vehement denial, he was standing in front of his wife, he’d be a good suspect, but definitely not the mom type.”

“Who else is missing?” he asked quietly.

"Green Arrow isn't here today," Hal replied. "I think he was coming later."

"And I don't know if you want to include Plastic Man," Barry added, wincing. "But he'll probably say yes just to spite your dad."

Dick nodded thoughtfully.

"I think J'onn's" Barry said after counting on his fingers.

Dick looked at him expressionlessly. "Barry… really?"

Barry threw up his hands, offended, "Okay, okay, let's move on to the next one," Barry said, assuming his previous guess wasn't that smart.

The next person to be questioned was Superman, the man was sitting there in one of the chairs looking at his cup with a smile. "May I know what this little operation is up to?

Dick, Barry, and Hal stopped in front of him as if they were guilty in a trial.

"We're... solving a mystery," Dick replied seriously.

"We want to know which League member Bruce's wife dated before she was with him" Barry added, unfiltered.

Hal nodded solemnly, as if they were carrying on a noble cause.

Clark gave a short, relaxed laugh. He placed his cup on the table and looked at them with the calm expression of someone who's seen it all... and isn't impressed by anything. "All I can tell you..." he said calmly, "is that Bruce wasn't the first... but he was the last."

And with that, he picked up his cup again and stared off into space as if he'd just finished reading the end of a great novel. The three of them fell silent.

"What does that mean?" Hal muttered, confused.

"It means he didn't say anything," Barry complained. .

"It's a closing line to avoid getting into trouble," Dick said, arms crossed.

Frustrated, they walked away from the area. No more clues, no more answers. They returned to where they had started, near the checkpoint, and slumped into their chairs like defeated detectives.

Barry sighed. “I thought we were going to settle something today. What are we, the Uncertainty League?”

"We could have gotten more if we'd put more pressure on Diana," Hal said, annoyed.

"The worst part is, I'm even more confused than before," Dick muttered.

They were silent when the zeta tubes sounded, revealing that you and Oliver Queen were walking in together. Laughing, knowing, at ease, like two old friends sharing a joke from years ago. Oliver had the biggest smile on the planet. You gave him a gentle push on the arm as if he were remembering something only you two knew.

The three observers watched them pass, frozen. Dick narrowed his eyes. Barry opened his mouth slowly. Hal let out a soft, "No way..." voice.

And when you found Dick after looking around, you gave him a loving smile. "Hi, honey. Did you behave?" "

"Yes, Mom…" he replied, slowly lowering his notebook.

Oliver looked at them with a raised eyebrow, noticing the suspicious glances. "What's going on? Are you plotting against Batman?"

"No," they all said at the same time.

you watched them with a barely amused smile. "Are you ready to go, Dick?"

Dick stood up and walked toward you, but before leaving, he looked over his shoulder at Oliver. "Just so you know... if it was you, I'm going to find out."

Oliver stood still for half a second, then raised his hands with an innocent smile.

As mother and son walked down the hall, Hal and Barry slowly turned to Oliver. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

Oliver smiled. "A gentleman has no memory."

[cheeseceli]

Their crush covers their song

Pairing: ot8!skz × gn! Idol reader

Genre: fluff, reactions, extra delusional

Request: could you do their reaction to their idol crush doing a dance cover of their choreography with their group during a variety show?

Warnings: DELUSIONAL, reader is an idol, that's it

A/n: i changed the prompt very very slightly but the main idea remains | daily click

Bang Chan

‌Congratulations, you are now an idol

‌Which means that in this scenario, you and your group went to a variety show to promote your new comeback

‌Congrats on the comeback!!

‌And overall, you and your members were just having fun and doing a lot of games with the hosts

‌But then! A very interesting game showed up

‌The one where someone had to dance and the rest of the members would have to guess the choreo according to the sound of the footsteps

‌To make it easier, every member was dancing a choreo from your own group

‌And as Bang Chan was watching the video, he was finding it all very fun and cute

‌But then it's your turn to dance while you are facing your members' back

‌And you starts to dance a choreo that he is sure that does not belong to your group

‌Because it's a stray kids' dance

‌S-class actually

‌He has to repeat that part of the video a few times to understand that you ARE dancing his song

‌And the members guessed the song right away because apparently you recently learnt the footwork and has repeating it all the time

‌To the point your members knew the sound of the footsteps (!!)

‌He is now giggling and asking himself how to finally talk to you after this

Because trust me, he will find a way to finally approach you after this video

Lee Know

‌I think he is a bit traumatised when it comes to people covering skz songs lmao

‌I always have flashbacks to that live he reacts to boys planet

‌So he was low-key scared when he saw the thumbline of your group covering thunderous in a new stage

‌Don't get him wrong !!

‌He absolutely loves your group (and you cough cough) and he is aware you guys are like super talented

‌But as I said, traumatised

‌So he is kinda skeptical at first

‌Until I.N sends him a text like "yo your crush sang your part in the cover"

‌After knowing that, he can guarantee he never clicked so fast in a video before

‌Safe to say he was surprised to know your group did the song its deserved justice

‌And he audibly giggled at you doing his parts

‌(And if you're the one who did the laugh at the second chorus, better believe he repeated that part THOUSANDS of times)

Changbin

‌So for this let's imagine you and a few members of your group were doing a live

‌And you guys decided to play kpop random dance

‌Just like that Baekhyun live! hehe

‌As Changbin is your #1 fan, ofc he'd be watching that live

‌He was smiling all the way through because you guys were having so much fun and it was genuinely nice to watch it

‌He was also probably dancing along

‌And then ! Chk chk boom starts playing

‌And you know the chorus

‌You dance the ending like a pro

‌But you also dance THE changbin rap

‌The part where he rolls the r like rrrrrr yk

‌Anyways

‌HE IS SO HAPPY

‌Genuinely impressed because he wouldn't expect you to know so much of the choreo and also

‌Even when you're playing around you still dance so well

‌He just knows he chose the right person to be his bias

‌Starts spamming the live comments section (anonymously) asking you who's your bias in Skz

‌He just couldn't lose the opportunity yk 💔

Hyunjin

‌Did you just... Give him the best opportunity ever to finally talk to you?

‌Cause he's been waiting to have the chance to approach you for MONTHS

‌But then he suddenly wakes up to the news that your group covered God's Menu

‌In South Korea this can only mean one thing

‌please tell me you got the joke 💔

‌Anyways

‌First, he watched that clip of your group (and your fancams!!) so many times YouTube probably thinks he's a bot

‌Second, if you covered his parts, he is totally sure that you guys are actually soulmates and you should get married. If you covered someone else's part, this person will be the victim of his side eyes for the rest of the week.

‌Third, HE HAS AN EXCUSE TO TALK TO YOU !!!

‌He can just randomly approach you and say "hey I really liked your cover, thank you for covering us so well ☺️"

‌And hopefully you fall in love right there

Han

‌Okay so let's say you have this sorta tradition you do

‌That basically, from time to time, you cover a song in your group's YouTube channel

‌Pretty much his favourite event ever

‌And this time you covered twilight ✨

‌According to you, this song was your favourite from skz new album and you couldn't help but repeat it all the time

‌Not me self inserting here

‌And then

‌When he saw the title of the video, he hadn't even thought that it was THE twilight

‌It could've been from any other artist

‌But then the beginning of the song is oddly familiar

‌His eyes WIDEN when he realises you're covering skz

‌And now that's the only song he ever plays when he is on the car with the members

‌They are getting war flashbacks now from how much they were forced to listen to your cover 💔

‌But Han couldn't be happier

Felix

‌Out of all their songs he expected people to cover, he didn't think your group would decide to cover Freeze

‌That one song is intense

‌So first he was surprised

‌Later he was impressed

‌You guys have done such a GREAT job

‌If you covered his rap, he is 10000% more in love with you

‌But even if you didn't

‌He is still so in shock that you captured the essence of the song so well, specially if your group's concept is not that similar to skz

‌Not that he ever doubted it but anyways

‌Watches ALL tiktoks edits of that performance

‌You are all that show up in his fyp for the next five business days

‌And maybe even approaches you like Hyunjin had planned, but without that much overthinking lmao

Seungmin

‌Okay so since we are already being delusional

‌Your group is making a comeback and YOU were invited to Lee Mujin program as a way to promote the new song

‌One of the songs you decided to sing was cover me

‌And let me tell you something

‌Just when Seungmin thought he couldn't love that song more

‌You just made cover me even more special to him

‌Lowkey saves every single video of you singing that song

‌Specially his high note

‌And as a coincidence ofc he posts something on Instagram with cover me as the chosen song

‌But it was a coincidence

‌Trust

I.N

‌Well, since I miss pink hair I.N

‌Your group was covering the one and only case 143 song

‌Very cute choreo with very nice vocals

‌Everything was just really cute

‌And I.N was almost dying when he found out

‌I believe one of the boys would tell him something like "did you know your crush is gonna cover one of our songs"

‌And Jeonging did not believe that not one bit

‌Because the boys loved to tease him about that

‌But then that ended up being truthful

‌And he probably only watched the performance once because that was enough to make him malfunction

‌He'd think about that all the time but, in order to appear normal, he was tryna chill

‌Until your group released a behind the scenes video of you guys learning the case 143 dance

‌And he thought it would be okay for him to watch it

‌Until you compliment I.N's performance skills and tell the cameraman you looked up to him

‌Best jumpscare of his life

‌He's never gonna watch anything of your group ever again😭 (lies)

Masterlist | you'll probably like: meeting a pretty fan

Reminder this is just fiction!! I'm not trying to portray real life and you shouldn't believe that this is how the members actually are. This is just for the vibe and the delulu!

Taglist (open!): @yuyubeans @dandelions-143 @sleepyleeji @jinnie-ret @sheraayasherrecs @rockstarkkami @urlocalmultigroupfan @aeinzzzketchup @queenofdumbfuckery @sarita-sunday @lezleeferguson-120

Dividers by @thecutestgrotto | images 1, 2 and 3

[forcedinniter]

No the victim blaming is so painful. It's like... I know I was the one who started talking about the Dream SMP and FanFiction but also... maybe have you considered that there's something in my brain that desperately wants to talk about it all the time?

I try and stop talking about it (hell, I'm literally in therapy for anxiety) but at some point the floodgates open and everyone realises I'm weird as fuck. And then what can I do? Nobody wants a meaningful discussion about how society demonises the activities of teenage girls, especially non-mainstream activities of teenage girls (not saying fanfiction is just for teenage girls but that's certainly the stereotype). Nobody wants to understand that their stereotypes about non-mainstream interests (particularly those with sexual connotations) aren't true.

It's much more entertaining to think that I'm some smut addict who wanks off to porn about someone who was aged 16 at the time he became popular (which is obviously not true) than it is to understand what I'm really telling them.

And then when people are awful to you, there are so many of them that they can paint you as the irrational one. It was January-February. I wanted the windows shut. The ones I was sat right in front of whereas everyone else was away from them. There was ice on the ground. Things are lied about and information is omitted and then you're the one who's causing a scene for asking things to be dealt with.

I had a chair thrown at me and the first thing I was asked when I went into the office (15 minutes after the thrower was sent) was 'what did you do?'. Literally on the walk there the teaching assistant (who was not there for me but was helping to deal with the situation) sympathised with me and said how hard it would be to get anything done about it because of how much everyone in that class hated me for being weird and... *checks notes* wanting a window shut in winter???

A boy in that class later confessed that nobody there was actually hot (the windows didn't need to be open) and that this one girl who always opened the windows behind me and complained about being hot just hated me and wanted to get at me and everyone else joined in for fun, opening the windows with her every time I focused on my work so that they could watch me freak out. I was so paranoid that someone was opening the window. I was so cold. And they found it funny???

Emails I read from my head of year to my parents detailed wrong or misleading information she had clearly been told by other members of my year. Other people in my year had clearly lied on statements they'd written to get out of trouble and I was never asked to fact-check despite also being there. Even if I had, who would believe one person over 40?

And the yelling of my name. Calling me 'Mummy [forcedinniter]' because the idea of me being actually sexually desirable was a massive joke. I couldn't use certain routes at school because I was harassed so often.

So many issues, so many minor issues, wouldn't have been an issue if I'd had someone on my side, a friend next to me. But I didn't, and schools simply don't appreciate that.

The education system does not support victims of large-scale targeted harassment, does not support the victims of institutional bullying. Why? Because it's too much work. I was blamed because it was easier for staff to say '[forcedinniter] caused a scene unnecessarily about a non-issue' like windows or a little bit of name-calling than it was to say 'half the school is picking on an isolated, vulnerable member of this school and I am doing nothing about it because I can't be bothered to do my job'.

These events happened at a school I'd gone to through a managed move, done because of the exact same situation at my last school. My head of year knew I was struggling, isolated and vulnerable. She knew, because she knew exactly why I moved to that school. At first, she was helpful. Then I became too much work for her and it was easier to do nothing at all.

What can you do about bullying on a large scale? Put everyone in detention? (I knew the names of about an eighth of my year at best, a useful tool for tormentors) Maybe... write a letter to someone? (What would they do?)

The truth is that there is no way, but not even punishing the individual, to blame me instead? That was and is inexcusable.

every piece of ""autistic representation"" in hollywood sucks not just because of the infantalization and inspiration porn but because movie executives always fail to realize the real universal autistic experience: spending your childhood slowly and unfalteringly realizing all of your friends not so secretly hated and/or merely tolerated you at best and you've missed every social signal about it ever

[misspermitted]

I’m so unbelievably feral for the idea that, while the rest of the Saja boys are singing to the audience in Your Idol, all of Jinu’s verses are directed towards Rumi. I mean, in all fairness, the entirety of Your Idol is filled with jabs at Rumi and Huntrix, but while the others are singing to the audience directly counteracting Huntrix’s influence, Jinu is just talking to Rumi. Actually just the pure fact that Jinu 100% wrote Your Idol right after singing Free with Rumi drives me insane.

In fact, it makes me so insane I’m gonna meta analyse the entire song right now:

The Pop Industry Commentary

Let us begin with the base level analysis that we shall build off for the stuff that my shipper heart goes feral for:

So naturally the entire point of this song, which is why it’s such a good villain song, is to straight up just tell everyone watching that they’re planning to kill them and the audience not giving a fuck because of the power of celebrities. But what makes this song extra awesome is that it’s also essentially explaining about how teach member’s k-pop trope has manipulated the audience.

Abby and Escapism

Like you got Abs McGee going:

“Keeping you in check

Keeping you obsessed

Play me on repeat kkeuteobsi (endlessly) in your head”

Which is SO COOL because it totally fits with what we’ve seen from Abs. Which is that both Mira and Zoey get repeatedly distracted by him and stare at him (“keeping them obsessed, playing endlessly in their head.”) And one of his only lines is “I know they would (follow us in here), that one keeps looking at me” ie. keeping them in check.

Then his next line:

“Anytime it hurts

Play another verse

I can be your sanctuary”

Really clearly explains how him being, literally, eye candy distracts from things being serious. And further, a meta commentary on using media and simping over pretty abs to escape from life and things that do matter.

Romance and Parasocial Relationships

Then you’ve got Romance’s lines are:

Yeah you gave me your heart

Now I’m here for your soul

Now we don’t see much of Romance but what we do see is really interesting, and very much expands on my interpretation of him. Which is mainly his interactions with Mira (namely, staring) which the movies actual audience went crazy about as cute and romantic.

And that’s really funny because that’s totally what Romance supposed to be. He’s supposed to be the soft sweet one who people transfer onto and trust “Look at him looking at her, surely he’ll get a redemption arc” (he doesn’t)

Making me think this audience reaction was 100% intentional is Romance’s next lines:

Nae hwangholui chwihae (intoxicated with my ecstasy) you can’t look away

Don’t you know I’m here to save you

God the fun meta commentary on K-pop and fandom culture in this song and movie is so awesome. Like Romance being a whole satire on the one band member that has a relationship and gains peoples trust by sharing their personal life. This movie is so good!!

Mystery and Making Celebrities Superhuman

I won’t fully go into Mystery because I’m only analysing the movie song and not the full song which gives him more lines, but my reading of his small amount:

No I’m the only one right now

I will love you more when it all burns down

More than power, more than gold

Is that he’s about the celebrities that are put on a pedestal and have to remain carefully mysterious to stay there, whose fans do literally anything to try to impress them. I could go into how him being Zoey, the established people pleaser’s favourite is a really interesting exploration of who the act of “pedastal”-ing celebrities appeals to, but that. Is. Not. The. Point.

The point is that, in this song, the Saja boys are taking to the audience about, essentially, how they manipulated the hell out of them.

The only exception to this rule is Jinu, and this is because he isn’t a satire of K-pop bands. Jinu’s character is a narrative foil for Rumi.

Jinu’s Lines as Directed Towards Rumi

Now the counter argument to Jinu actually singing to Rumi is that he’s “just singing his master’s song/on behalf of Gwi-Ma). And at some points this is true, especially in the latter half of the song, ie.

I will set you free

When you’re all apart of me

Where “me” is clearly Gwi-Ma. (You may notice the “free” mention here. We shall address the little jabs at Rumi throughout this song in p2).

However there are other parts, particularly the first half, where Jinu is clearly not singing for Gwi-Ma because his tone is wildly different. At least in my opinion.

I saw a comment that really succinctly summed up the tone of Your Idol as someone who has already gotten what they wanted. They’re not asking for the audience’s adoration, they’ve already got it. They’re literally just bragging about it. And you’ll see that’s congruent with my interpretation of the other Saja boys who are just explaining how they’ve gotten such control.

Jinu is the only one who actually asks the audience to do something. And it doesn’t actually make sense that he does:

Listen cause I’m preaching to the choir

Can I get the mic a little higher?

Give me your desire

I can be the star you rely on

Why is he asking the already enamoured audience to listen? Why is he asking them to give him their desire when they clearly already have? Why is he saying that he “could” be their idol when he already is? It’s a completely different tone from the others’: “You gave me your heart” and “You can’t look away” and “I’m here to save you”

Also the phrase “listen cause I’m preaching to the choir” really doesn’t seem like something you’d say to the choir. Just saying.

Let’s Just Assume Because it’s Fun

In all fairness, no matter how much I try to justify it, I can’t actually prove that he’s singing to Rumi But let’s just head canon it because then we get to have some fun.

So Jinu’s first chorus is:

I’m the only one who’ll love your sins

Feel the way my voice gets underneath your skin

Listen cause I’m preaching to the choir

Can I get the mic a little higher

Give me your desire

I can be the star you rely on

Yeah I’m all you need imma be your idol

Now what I love about this is firstly, Jesus Christ the “I’m the only one who’ll love your sins” is so close to “I understand what it’s like to have patterns, I’m the only one who will.” Which is crazy shit. But also so clear in how shame is isolating and Jinu purposefully uses that tactic against Rumi to isolate her while also believing it himself.

Like before that first interaction with Rumi Jinu tells Gwi-Ma he’ll use Rumi’s shame to isolate her from her friends. And his “I’m the only one who understands” is absolutely the first step in doing that. And it works. She questions her order and feels isolated as hell.

But that tactic slowly morphes into something that actually makes Rumi and Jinu healthier, love and acceptance. While Gwi-Ma’s whole thing is seeing your sins and guilting you, Jinu sees Rumi’s patterns and accepts her. And in Free, which Jinu sings like right before writing this one, it gets explicitly stated that Rumi felt like the only time she’s felt like she could breath and like she could be more than her sins is with Jinu.

Jinu’s lyrics here is such an interesting response to “Free” in that he is saying, from this reading: “We can’t fix our sins, but I love you for them.” And, especially with him exposing her in front of her friends, “I’m the only one who will love your sins.”

In fact, it could be said that the entire of his chorus is him saying that Rumi is worshipping a false idol as a hunter. That she is a demon not a hunter. That he can be the code she follows, “the star you rely on.” That what Rumi desires, to “fix” them both, is wrong. Which, though incredibly concerning, is also not wrong. Rumi does realise that the hunter code is wrong, that the thing she is protecting is wrong. That she doesn’t need to be fixed. To a certain extent, Jinu’s points about Rumi and him always being demons, that she can’t fix it, is correct.

I love that if you read the lyrics in this way, you can hear the frustration in some of his lines. Like “Give me your desire” and “No one is coming to save you!” Taken in the context of his lines in Free, where he says that no one sees him the way she does, that it feels right to let her in, that he wants to be free with her, but doesn’t sing along to her chorus about healing what is broken and fixing him. And their later argument where he says that they can’t be fixed.

Why would he be singing to her?

What is also interesting is that Jinu clearly doesn’t expect Rumi to be there. When he hears her voice you see panic flick over his face. So why would he be singing to her?

I think this really gives a bit of insight into Jinu’s character as someone who is way more comfortable singing his feelings then saying them. And someone who is so scared of rejection. Almost every time him and Rumi have a conversation she gets the last word and he is usually quite frustrated with himself about it.

But he doesn’t want to be vulnerable with anyone. Even if he could communicate his feelings he’s incredibly hesitant to because he has been told for 400 years that he’s a terrible person and is both certain and terrified or rejection.

So when Rumi gets mad at him, like in their third meeting or in the argument before this, he leaves before she can say anything else. And probably cries like the boy failure he is. But the entire point of Your Idol is to counteract Huntrix’s influence so he can say what he wants to. About how he doesn’t like the hunters code, about how he wants Rumi to join him. And it’s actually incredibly useful song wise.

I also keep in mind with this headcanon that Jinu wrote this song after Free. Incredibly internally conflicted.

I had other things to say about Baby’s part and all of the subtle digs Jinu put into the song but this has already been insanely and unnecessarily long so, part two incoming for that (maybe).

[chongoblog]

Been reflecting on my older work since coming out as trans.

I remember a long time ago, this must have been almost 10 years ago, I had this idea for writing a story that essentially followed a super-randomized Nuzlocke of Pokemon Platinum. The details of the plot I had planned don't matter too much, but the characters I had written for it were.

I had always enjoyed naming conventions when it came to characters, and I wanted to name the main characters after recurring items in the Pokemon series. This led to characters such as Berry, X, Candy, and Stone, but the two characters I'm focusing on here are Fossil and Disc, two names that people following my work closely enough may recognize that have had incredibly different and interesting futures.

Fossil was the protagonist, while Disc was the name of the rival. Looking back, it's fascinating how different I had made them. Fossil's entire character was kinda summed up by "generic white guy". That was really it. He was obviously kinda confused about his whole situation, and maybe he would have gotten more character traits if I ever wrote more than an opening chapter, but that's about all the character development I thought of for him. Granted, he very much was meant to be the self-insert.

Then there's Disc. She was far from generic. I loved her so much that I ended up revitalizing her for another story idea a couple years ago that also ended up not going anywhere (at least not yet) and then pulling her into NCCT. When I did I even convinced my boyfriend to draw her.

Yes, Team Magma Grunt. Her personality was a lot more memorable. She was listening to classic rock songs. I remember having her singing along to “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” idly at one point in the little bit I wrote about her. And I also kinda imagined her being a bit of a flirt.

For Disc, like I said, I brought her back for a story I was working in called “Cross-Stitch”. It never got past the intro because the gimmick is a logistical nightmare (a story where the characters are all interacting, but the order in which you read the chapters are different depending on whose point of view you’re following), but I had a lot of fun writing her, especially since I wanted her goal to be to use the aforementioned gimmick to create a time paradox and fuck up the entire space-time continuum.

I even put her in NCCT, assuming that the story before would have ended with her getting arrested by a secret government agency and put on parole for trying to destroy the fabric of spacetime, and RPing as her was always a blast.

Meanwhile, Fossil went in a very different direction.

Fossil went on to star in an incredibly interesting stream series I did, in which I pretty much tried to make my original story, but in an actual Nuzlocke of Pokemon. I edited the dialogue of the rival to directly speak to me, the player, which I responded to on stream. He would also fuck around with my files and record me talking to my therapist. I also made a lot of cool premade video stuff for it. It was called Iggylocke, and it’s worth checking out, deadname and all.

But I never got to reveal the twist, although I’ve talked about it since then. The twist was that they found my notes in planning the series and cross-referenced it with listening in on my therapy sessions and found out I had subconsciously made Fossil everything that I hated about myself. And they were upset about that.

And looking back on that is very interesting now.

[suksatoru]

rabid royals

{prince!itoshi rin x princess f!reader}

summary: despite being arranged to marry his older brother itoshi sae, rin can't keep ignoring the way he feels about you forever. your reciprocation of his affections only makes the tension thicken and fold in a way that couldn't be ignored, and chaos was only inevitable by the time sae realized what was going on between you and his little brother.

warnings: arranged marriage, angst (but we THUG IT OUTT), fem!reader, brief sae x reader, rin is basically a lovesick puppy no one make fun of him, infidelity, cursing, & if you've read the prologue for this, it appears again as a flashback!

word count: 11.2k (asjadkj this took me wayy longer than expected !!)

Rin had been in his older brother's shadow for as long as he could remember. He was always one step behind, always lacking in some sense, always coming close, but never close enough. Ever since they were little kids, Rin had always borne the label of second best like a bad costume he couldn't take off.

Sae's always been destined for greatness, Rin was sure of it. Not only did his older brother possess an unbeatable mindset for himself and the Itoshi name, one he'd polished and carved expertly for the world to see, but Sae had the talent and skills to back up every ambition he wished to pursue. No matter how impossible a task or business deal seemed—if Sae was the one at the center of the ordeal, it was sure to go his way no matter how the situation fared before he entered the picture.

Despite it all, it was the small bits and pieces of him, the aspects of a person that made them human, which Sae lacked considerably.

A good husband, even just a decent one, would go and make sure you're okay. The words lie heavy on the curve of Rin's tongue, but he swallows them down the moment Sae's sharp gaze cuts to his.

"Rin, go check on her, will you?"

A wordless nod from his younger brother is all he gets in return, and Rin leaves Sae's room right after to go look for you.

Five doors down from his own room and three rooms down from his brother's was where you resided. It was decided that once the wedding was over, you would move into Sae's room with him. Rin knocks once on your door, waiting for your usual gentle voice to call him inside. He stands outside patiently, but after a near minute passes with no response, he knocks again, thinking you didn't hear him the first time.

"Y/n?"

Rin's hesitant call of your name is met with silence once more. His hand finds the doorknob, and he frowns once he realizes the door is unlocked. With a single, fluid motion, he twists it open and steps inside, only to be met with your empty bedroom.

His gaze sweeps over everything in front of him—the crumpled sheets and comforter of your bed, the little trinkets and gifts from your homeland littering your dressers, the assortment of necklaces laid out on the floor, and the empty spot beside the door where your outdoor boots usually resided.

Ah. So that's where you were.

A crease forms between Rin's brows when he realizes your hat is still hanging from your bedpost, and he grabs it without a second thought before he exits your room and closes the door behind him, heading straight towards the manor's gardens outside.

You didn't take very good care of yourself. You were still young—clumsy in getting adjusted to the new world you found yourself thrown into, and Rin can't even fault you for it. Who he's wished to reprimand many times is Sae, who doesn't seem to care about your well-being in the slightest. It was beyond frustrating to see Sae take no interest in the woman who would bear his children and take on the Itoshi name, but Rin's not sure what he expected from someone as emotionless as Sae. He'd imagined the one exception to Sae's coldness would be his own wife, but it seemed even you weren't spared.

Rin used to understand his brother better than anyone. They'd always come to each other when things got tough, and to Rin, it felt like he could face the whole world and win if Sae was by his side. But in the past few years, in which his nii-chan had gotten further and further into the political world outside the walls Rin was raised in, was when they finally began to drift apart. Rin simply didn't understand Sae's logic anymore. His principles and basis on seemingly everything had been flipped like a switch. Before, when they were children, Sae would spend every minute of his day with Rin, doing tasks for their parents together and spending time just being brothers. Now, the elder brushes off any attempt Rin makes to spend time with him, labeling it as a waste.

If Sae wasn't able to take good care of you, thanks to his persistent tendency to be isolated all the time, couldn't he have asked Rin to marry you instead? The marriage between you and Sae was purely political, so did it really matter which brother you married? At the end of the day, it was a union between kingdoms, not people. The bitter thought that he'd make a better husband himself is one Rin pushes down almost instantly in silent shame.

Stupidly enough, Rin had fallen for you. The sight of your smile and the echo of your laughter were the things to make his heart stutter—the things that allowed him to feel what love was like. But Rin believed his only option was to reject his heart, because to go after you was to wage war on his own brother.

Rin's fingers dig deep into the soft material of your hat as he approaches the glass doors leading outside. He takes a quick glance at his reflection in the manor's hallway mirror, blowing a stray strand of hair out of his way, before opening the door that led outside.

The chill that hit his face was unexpected as it was biting. Every gust of wind carried traces of snow, and they curled around Rin slowly, gliding through the air leisurely and wrapping him in a cold embrace.

You're a little ways down the main pathway parting the middle of the garden. Rin ducks back inside the manor and grabs a shawl hanging from one of the closet's hooks before leaving the manor and tightening his own coat around him.

"Y/n," he calls out gravely, and when you turn around, whatever thought was forming in Rin's mind is forgotten within an instant when your eyes meet his. He tightens his grip on the shawl and your hat, suddenly feeling himself get warm despite the cold that surrounded him.

Your cheeks are tinted a rosy red, and there are dozens of snowflakes hanging from the strands of your hair like it was the most natural place in the world for them to be. Plump lips are parted in surprise at his sudden appearance, and there are puffs of cold fog slipping past your lips as you wait for Rin to gather his thoughts.

"It's... It's cold. You should wear this." He murmurs, holding out the hat and shawl for you as he avoids your gaze. Rin can't stop himself from imagining the way your eyes must be widening in surprise, or the way your mouth must be forming that 'o' shape you make whenever you're particularly bewildered, and he can't stop himself from turning anyway to look at you, because when was the last time he's gotten to be this close to you without Sae or anyone else in his vicinity?

"Oh—sorry, sorry! I promise it wasn't snowing when I first came out to walk. I must have been too deep in thought to notice when it first began to fall," you assure with an embarrassed smile. Rin doesn't respond, his lips merely settle into a firm line before he raises the shawl in his hands and wraps it around your shoulders, twisting the fabric and pulling it close to ensure no cold seeps through.

"You need to be more careful, you'll get sick." He mumbles, lips twitching downwards into his usual frown before he digs his fists into the pockets of his coat, blowing another stray strand of hair from his face as you look down at the shawl he put around you with a gentle smile.

"I promise to remember next time, Rin. Thank you."

Rin huffs quietly in response with a short nod. Your eyes are drawn to one of the stray snowflakes that had fallen right over the gentle curve of his cheekbone, and you have to resist the urge to brush it off of him.

"Good," is all he says afterwards, his eyes flitting towards you hesitantly before they instantly dart away. In his mind, Rin blamed his horribly obvious and skittish movements on the cold before straightening his back and quietly bidding you goodnight.

Normally, Rin's steps were short and confident—never slow and always with a destination in mind. But as Rin turned away from you, his steps seemed to falter, like he wanted to say something more, but he ended up not saying anything else and walked back to the manor instead. Your eyes stay trained on his back as you nudge your nose against the comforting yarn of your scarf.

Your gaze doesn't leave Rin until he disappears inside. You lick your snow-coated lips to ease some of the tension you felt thrumming through you before turning back to the garden's pathway.

Rin looked breathtaking in the snow. His pale skin blended into the winter wonderland outside the Itoshi manor seamlessly, and his chiseled green gaze only seemed sharper in the moonlight. You noticed the way the snow seemed to swirl around him, too. You wouldn't be surprised if it was Aphrodite herself swirling a finger around Rin's figure and sending the snowflakes in a spiral that revolved around him and him only. Rin was just that beautiful.

Since the Itoshi manor was located up North, the land was in a perpetual state of winter, which also meant the garden they had outside had plants and flowers made for the everlasting cold; it was an environment they could thrive in. You admire the snow-coated petals of the flowers and how, despite the harsh conditions around them that would've already killed any regular flora, they stood tall, petals resilient and flourishing despite all odds.

The wedding was set to take place three weeks after you'd moved into the manor. It's been about a week since you've arrived, and the past few days have been filled with you visiting all sorts of people—the head chef, dressmakers, florists, and even the royal jeweler—to help prepare for the big day.

Sae wasn't there for any of it.

Frankly, you weren't too upset by it. He was busy beyond belief with securing the last details of his arrangement with your home nation. Marrying you was only a portion of the alliance, as there were still a dozen other things he had to review and arrange. Sae didn't have time to waste on something as trivial as choosing what color flower assortments each table should have as a centerpiece.

You tried to tell yourself it didn't matter—you shouldn't be this bothered. The servants were exceptionally kind to you, and you had even taken quite a liking to your personal handmaid (she was an older woman with a gentle soul, always sneaking you pastries and sweets from the kitchen to snack on just because she could), and Mr. and Mrs. Itoshi liked you well enough. Truthfully, you were being taken care of like a princess by everyone. Especially Rin, who sought you out every day with the simple intention of wanting to be near you. Sometimes, he wouldn't even make his appearance known to you; he lingered nearby, quietly and hopefully, just in case you wanted company.

But it was during the night, when you went to bed alone in a bedroom that felt too big for just one person, when you truly began to realize how lonely you felt.

Marrying someone made them your person. If Sae wasn't interested in forming any real relationship with you, then, well, you wouldn't have someone to call your own.

The thought of being alone frightens you more than anything else.

You couldn't really be alone with Rin around. Not when he doted on you every day, silently but steadily. But how long would that go on for? How long was it until he got married? The prospect of Rin marrying someone else sends a sharp pain straight through your chest, one that causes you to physically recoil and flinch before you shove your face back into your pillows with a groan.

No, seeing someone else marry Rin was something you never wanted to happen.

The night passes by in a blur, and so does the next morning. Eventually, you're heading towards the kitchen with the head chef—laughing softly at an old story she's telling you about the Itoshi brothers.

"They used to be very picky eaters—the oldest sir especially. When he was eleven, he sent his younger brother's birthday cake back to the kitchen because the frosting was vanilla, apparently not to his liking at all."

You have to stifle your laughter as you try and imagine an eleven-year-old Sae Itoshi getting upset over Rin's birthday cake not being the right flavor. Your lips twitch downwards as you think about how much their relationship has changed over the years—actually, you're not sure if you've even seen the two exchange any sort of pleasantries with each other. Not even once.

"Now, dear, I'll leave you to the cake taste testing—just call me in when you're all done. The spoons and napkins are laid out for you, so please enjoy what the bakers made. If you have any complaints, feel free to let me know at the end so I can pass on your message!"

You send her a tight-lipped smile, nodding your head and trying to hide your disappointment at being left alone once again.

"The sir is inside to help as well. Good luck!" She bows before her departure, and you still at her words.

Sir?

Sae had left early this morning to travel to a nearby city for a day trip of sorts, so that meant...

When you open the kitchen doors, Rin is sitting on a stool, staring intently at the assortment of cake slices placed on the table in front of him, and his head raises when he hears the door open a moment later.

It clicks closed behind you, and you stare at him wordlessly. For a moment, Rin thinks he may have crossed a line by asking the chef to assist you today with the cake testing after hearing you were doing it alone, but then your lips stretch into a smile so bright it makes something in his chest ache.

"Rin! You're here!"

You shuffle over to where he is, and Rin blinks rapidly as you drop yourself into the seat beside him. You're wearing a cozy sweater and plaid skirt to match, both a deep brown that complement you stunningly. Your hair is pulled back with a matching bow, and although this outfit is much simpler than what you usually wear, Rin is aching to let you know how pretty you look.

He has a feeling no one else has told you today.

"Hello," he murmurs, and the tips of his ears turn pink from the subtle scent of your shampoo, which is intoxicatingly sweet. Rin watches you get settled silently, grateful you seem happy to see him. Mindlessly, your finger reaches out to swipe at the frosting of one of the cakes, and you lick it with anticipation before your eyes shine with satisfaction.

"Yummy! So, you'll be helping me out today?" You grin, and Rin huffs, crossing his arms over his sweater. You note that his hair looks fluffier in the warm golden light of the kitchen, and his demeanor seems to soften at the sight of your smile.

"Yeah... Nii-chan is busy, like always, so I... I just don't want you to be alone."

You pause at his words, and his honesty cuts a little closer to your heart than you want to admit. You let your hands fall in your lap, taking a moment to let his confession sink in.

He doesn't want you to be alone.

"...thank you."

Rin's eyes widen a fraction when you scoot your stool closer to his, but his attention is quickly redirected when you pull a plate towards the two of you to begin—the air is tinged with the sweet smell of sugar and fruit, the atmosphere is domestic and calm, and Rin finds himself melting into the moment.

The next hour is filled with the two of you trying a variety of cakes. There were nearly thirty plates on the surface of the table, all spongy soft, decorated with heaps of creamy frosting, and layered expertly.

Rin wants nothing but to be good company for you, but he's not quite sure how to. He grew up with only one person close in age to him, and that was Sae. He didn't have any friends, only his nii-chan. But as they got older, the rift between them grew until it was an ocean—one Rin was sure to drown in if he ever tried to cross it. Losing his brother like that made Rin's heart retreat, and he's never made a connection with someone after Sae. He knows he doesn't talk much, and he's not as interesting as his brother, but...

"Rin, you're spacing out again!"

He's snapped out of his trance when you call his name, turning to see you laughing as you hold a spoonful of cake to his lips. Rin blinks owlishly before mumbling a sheepish apology under his breath and scooting closer to you.

"You want me to try this one?" He questions with a raised brow, and you nod enthusiastically.

"This one is really good! The cake is so tender, like a cloud on my tongue, and the chocolate is super rich. But, if you ask me, these strawberry wedges in the frosting are the best part." You grin, and Rin makes an attempt to smile in return—it's wobbly and unsure, but it feels right to smile at you.

He parts his lips for you, and you feed the bite to him. The realization that your mouth had been on the very same spoon makes him clamp down on the spoon in embarrassment, but then his taste buds get a feel of the cake, and his eyes widen a bit.

"Oh... this is really good."

"I know!"

After that, you feed him every bite right after your own. The sheer variety of cakes is what surprised you the most—there was dark chocolate, coconut cream, peppermint, honey lavender, and toasted coconut—all made with love and dedication. All made for you. Your chest feels warm and light at the thought.

Finally, there was one slice of cake left untouched. Tucking a leg under you, you reach across the table to grab it, pulling it towards you and Rin .

"This one is called Blackberry Elderflower," you comment, taking the label off the plate as Rin's brows furrow in thought.

"It looks okay, but I'm not sure if it can beat our first-place cake." Rin says firmly, and you can't help but laugh at the accusatory glare he offers the slice of cake in front of you.

"It was delicious! It had the perfect balance of sweetness, and those strawberries were heaven-sent, I'm sure of it." You grin, and Rin grunts in response, nodding his head.

Rin is the one to reach for the spoon this time. He carefully slices into the cake before bringing the bite to your mouth, hovering it over your lips before speaking.

"Remember, this is the last flavor. Savor the taste and consider it carefully—what we think about this one decides the final cake." Rin says, and when you nod with parted lips, he places the bite in your mouth and watches you carefully.

"Hmm. Alright, your turn."

You take the spoon gently from his grasp and dig it into the cake. Despite being perfectly capable of feeding himself each bite, Rin made no move to stop you.

His tongue darts out in anticipation, and he chews slowly once it's in his mouth. You try and fight back your smile as you watch his eyes suddenly widen, almost comically so. Rin's lips twist into a scowl as he's left completely appalled that another flavor actually managed to beat the chocolate cake you two were initially infatuated with.

"This is delicious." he mumbles in defeat.

"Uh huh! This is the one."

You're smiling again, picking up the cake's label and flipping it over to read the list of ingredients neatly printed on the back. Your legs swing back and forth on the stool you're sitting on, and Rin takes a moment to look at you. Really look at you. He only has to blink once before coming to his undoubtable conclusion.

Sae is really stupid sometimes.

If it was Rin marrying you instead—good gods, he'd abandon everything for you. He would take such good care of you; he knew he would. Truthfully, he was ready to bend his own body backwards and break every bone he possessed if it meant he'd get to see you smile. It took his breath away every time—because your smile gave him hope like no other.

Your cheeks are round and full with cake, and you let out a pleased hum as you swallow. Rin can't tear his gaze away from you—you're so close and just... there. It's impossible for him to do anything else but admire you. You're sitting close, close enough where if he shifts, his knee would bump against yours under the table.

You turn to look at Rin, and he's already looking at you.

His gaze is sharp, intense in a way that you haven't seen before. Not since...

He murmurs your name quietly, almost ashamed of himself, almost, and your heart leaps to your throat in an instant when his hands twitch in his lap, reaching for your face.

His fingers are soft and hesitant as they brush against your jaw silently in question. When you make no move of protest, stilling and watching him with round eyes instead, his index finger nudges your jaw towards him before he cups your cheek so tenderly that you nearly shiver.

"Rin..." you whisper, and he only tugs you closer. Rin's eyes are filled with a desperation you haven't seen before—a hunger that hasn't been satiated in too long, and he's trying to stop himself from moving any further. His other hand grips the kitchen counter as if he's physically trying to ground himself.

His hold on you softens, and he's close enough to where his nose is just about to bump against your own. Rin swallows the lump in his throat and stares at you silently with his mind screaming at him, because he has never wanted something in his life before so badly.

"What are you doing?"

Sae's voice cuts through the air like a knife, and Rin lets go of you in an instant, reeling back like he'd been physically struck at the sound of his older brother's voice.

Sae stands in the doorway, one hand still perched on the door he'd just opened and his gaze trapped on the two of you. He squints, eyes narrowing and lips settling into a thin line before Rin suddenly moves away from you. His chair drags loudly against the floor as he does, and he looks upset.

If Rin's mad, you're not sure if it's at himself for letting it get this far or if it's at his brother for interrupting. Again.

Rin's murmuring under his breath about how there's somewhere he needs to be, pushing past Sae before he has a chance to even say anything, and moving straight for the exit. He's barely a blur of green before he's gone within seconds, leaving you and Sae alone in deafening silence.

Sae is still in his uniform. It's pressed as pristinely as usual, with his shimmering silver sword hanging low on his hip. He regards you silently before speaking up.

"Did you two decide on a flavor?"

If Sae's angry, he does a remarkable job at hiding it. His voice is just as even and calm as it always is, but there is something terrifying simmering in his gaze—something as hot as molten lava, and it's threatening to boil over. Your lips part, but when nothing comes out, you have to take a moment to collect yourself.

"Yes, but I... I'm sorry, I didn't—we were just—"

"Don't worry. Rin will get over his little crush on you soon enough."

Now you were stupefied. You stare at him, rendered speechless, and he stares back in silence. Sae makes a mental note of how you kind of look like Rin when he's about to cry—his brother would make the same face when they were younger. Parted lips, wide, glossy eyes—and since the one thing Sae absolutely cannot stand is crying, he sighs through his nose and looks away.

"Come with me."

He beckons you over with two fingers, and you practically scramble out of your seat to follow him. He's halfway down the hall when you're out the kitchen door—and you have to walk as quickly as you can to catch up. Keeping your head low, you don't say anything.

Sae stops short in front of his bedroom door, fishing out a small golden key from the breast pocket of his uniform before inserting it into the doorknob and opening the door. He holds it open for you, and you walk in silently, stiff as a board.

There were no personal touches in Sae's room. It's large, larger than your own room—and it feels even emptier, too. It was also spotless, but you expected nothing less of him. The moment Sae grabs your hand is sudden and you have no time to react before he places the key in the palm of your hand.

"This is the key to the master bedroom you and I will share. You can come here anytime before the wedding to move in all your stuff. I'm rarely ever home, so there's no need to worry about me getting in your way or anything like that."

His tone is clipped and sharp, leaving no room for negotiation. You nod your head slowly, turning the key over in the palm of your hand as you observe it. Sae walks over to his dresser, opening one of the drawers and pulling out a small, velvet box—he opens it a moment later before handing it over.

"This is for you."

You open it, and inside is the most beautiful ring you have ever seen. It has a thin golden band with an elegantly cut emerald gem resting on the hilt, one that glimmers spectacularly in the dim light.

"It should be to your liking. I had my royal advisor pick out the best one he could find." Sae hums, watching you carefully as you slip it onto your finger. The band alone must have cost a fortune; forget the gem—you can feel the sheer quality of it by touch alone.

"Thank you."

Your voice is a little breathless, your eyes weary, and your head bowed. Sae looks back towards his desk, where a number of scattered documents resided on top.

"Don't thank me. I didn't do anything."

Then again, with the riches Sae had, this ring probably meant nothing to him.

"All right, you can leave now."

Sae's back is turned towards you a moment later, and he busies himself with the documents on his desk. The way he doesn't spare you even a glance more lets you know just how important Sae found you in the moment. You stand there for a moment, swallowing the lump in your throat and holding the small velvet box close to your chest.

He hears you shift behind him as you start heading towards the door. Your brows are bunched together, and a plethora of emotions explode in your chest. You're confused with his reaction to you and Rin's proximity, angry at his constant avoidance, and just... sad.

You take your leave quietly, but Sae's voice, softer than you've ever heard before, catches you on the way out.

"Good night."

You don't have the strength to respond without your voice breaking, so you close the door quietly instead.

Maybe you should feel more remorse for feeling nothing for Sae and everything for his brother. But you yearned for Rin. Quietly, passionately, and undoubtably.

Sae didn't understand the way either of you felt—he thought Rin's feelings for you were some form of a minor crush, but you knew it wasn't as simple as that. It never had been.

Sae may not have known it, but he didn't stand a chance with you since the night you first met Rin.

flashback ⋆˙⟡

You had arrived at their family's magnificent manor in a simple satin gown, a bowed head, and a broken heart.

Initially, you had no idea what the Itoshis looked like, didn't even know their names, and spent most of the evening indulging in mindless chatter and eating small pastries instead of getting to know your betrothed. It seems like he wasn't interested in marrying you either, since he never bothered to come down and introduce himself.

No one stayed with you, mingling throughout the party and getting drunk on different sparkling drinks instead, and you found yourself gliding down the long halls of the Itoshi manor like a ghost. You walked with no destination in mind until you heard the gentle melody of someone playing the piano. Magically, at that.

The angelic sound seemed like a safe haven for you in the perpetually dark night, and you followed the music with tentative steps.

Soon, you found yourself in front of a tall, oak door and bowed your head through the frame to peer inside. A strand of hair fell in front of your eyes, and you pushed it away before your gaze fell onto the boy playing the piano inside. You couldn't see his face, only his back faced you. Pale, slender fingers play the instrument in front of him like it was his destiny, and after all the rage and heartbreak you felt throughout the day leading up to that night—a rare serenity of calm filled the empty hollowness in your chest, warming you entirely.

The boy looks to be about your age, and he remained entirely entranced by the piano in front of him as the pads of his fingertips danced—you watched his skilled fingers perform stunningly for no one at all. Well, besides you—but Rin didn't know you had been watching him. Not until he heard you sit on the piano stool beside him, smiling shyly with eyes twinkling in the dim moonlight that spilled through the glass panes.

His heart skipped a traitorous beat when you asked him to teach you how to play. His lips parted, as if you'd rendered him speechless. And you had.

"I... who are you?"

"No one important. Tell me, what's your name?" You questioned softly, curious eyes peering up at Rin with a shine he'd never once seen before. He tells you his name and asks you for yours in return before repeating it to himself quietly.

Rin didn't tell you how he forbade everyone, even his own family, from entering his music room. He merely slid a few inches over to give you more room and explained the history of how the piano came to be before placing his palm and fingers over yours.

Rin taught you a simple tune he came up with on the spot that night. It only spanned a few keys and held a slow tempo so you could follow along easily, but it was inspired entirely by the feeling he felt in his chest the moment he saw you smile at him.

He held his breath as he watched you play on your own only an hour later, a rare smile gracing his features. There was something about the way you treated his piano, careful fingers pressing down on the keys like they were glass—like they were alive and you were afraid to hurt them—before the tension eased and ebbed out of your form with time.

You'd arrived at the ball at six and spent a little under an hour at the actual event. You had spent the rest of the night with Rin's hands splayed over yours.

Sae was late to his own party for no reason in particular, arriving in a pristine suit and his bright pink hair gelled and styled for the occasion. To say he was intrigued to learn you'd been missing for the majority of the party from your mother and father's panicked expression was an understatement.

The first ten minutes with you gone? Sure, it made sense. You could have been in the bathroom or in line to get some sort of refreshment. After thirty minutes, he decided maybe you're out getting fresh air on the manor's balcony, or perhaps you're strolling through the gardens and giving the forgotten flowers outside some much needed attention. But once your time being missing hit the hour mark, his mother approached him and told Sae to go get his brother, who also hadn't come down in a while.

Sae knocked on Rin's music room door twice, tapping his foot impatiently outside as he thought about your whereabouts. Perhaps you did go to the manor's balcony for some fresh air, but maybe you fell off the twenty-foot railing and were lying dead somewhere. For some reason, the thought doesn't seem to stir much of anything in his chest.

He realized he'd been waiting outside the door for far too long and twisted the doorknob with an impatience he didn't usually allow himself to feel.

It took Sae a moment to understand the sight in front of him. Rin, smiling softly with his hand over yours, and you���hair pinned back to reveal lovely eyes and painted lips stretched into a smile so magnificent that Sae actually had to blink in order to confirm the graceful sight was indeed real.

And then it just clicked. Neither of you saw him, neither of you recognized the true identity of each other, so he took a step inside. The tension in the air shifted, and finally, you noticed him.

"Rin, just what do you think you're doing with my wife?"

When it came to avoiding people he didn't want to talk to, Rin had the qualifications of a professional. His lean frame allowed him to push through crowds of people easily without making a disturbance, and he was sneaky—taking advantage of all the spots he used as a kid when playing hide-and-seek with his brother to seemingly vanish into thin air whenever you got too close.

It wasn't that Rin wanted to avoid you; no, that wasn't it at all. He was just sure that he wouldn't be able to hold himself back if he saw you again. It didn't make sense how someone like you could end up with someone like Sae—it was absurd and horribly unfitting.

He's been doing his best to fill his time with things that don't remind him of you, but it's difficult. Dueling with the guards isn't helpful because he finds himself getting distracted and tripping over his own feet when he gets a glimpse of you passing by in one of the manor's windows above, sitting in on Sae's meetings is far too boring for him, and all the servants in the manor were busy preparing for the wedding—everywhere he turned, he was surrounded by the mere mention of your name, and it was maddening.

Accepting the fact that he can't not think about you, Rin makes the decision to expand the song he taught you the first night you two met.

He'd spent the majority of his day in his music room, playing and scribbling down every note on his sheet as the song progressed and grew into something beautiful—he was spinning the little melody he taught you that day into a full number that was playable, and he imagined himself performing it for you one day.

Maybe you'd lean your head on his shoulder while he played, or maybe you'd ask him to teach you the song—both possibilities are enticing, and Rin can't help but wish they were true.

There's something wrong with him. He shouldn't be thinking of playing the piano for you—he shouldn't be thinking of you at all. But there's no point in even attempting to stop himself, you'll intrude on his thoughts whether he likes it or not.

"You're so stupid," Rin mumbles to himself, pulling the piano cover down and resting his cheek against the cool surface with a sigh. The song was done now, he'd played it over more times than he could count and until his fingers ached—but it was ready.

He uses his pen to write your name in the title spot at the top of the sheet, and after looking around to absolutely ensure his brother wasn't hiding somewhere in the shadows, Rin draws a small heart right beside your name.

It's as if every time Rin does anything regarding you, Sae emerges from the depths of hell itself to find him, and the sharp bangs that sound against Rin's door a second later seem to confirm his suspicions.

"Rin! Shit, get out of there now, we have a big fucking problem—"

Rin stuffs the sheet in his music folder in an instant, kicking back his feet and getting off the piano stool within another second before swinging open the music room's door.

Sae is standing on the other side, and Rin can immediately tell something is wrong. The bags under his brother's eyes are heavier and more prominent than usual, and his hair is a bit of a mess, seemingly because of how much he'd been running his hands through the pink strands.

Rin has never seen his brother look like this. Sae was the calm one, the one more composed than everyone else in the room, and the one who had absolute control. But now, seeing his brother's clenched jaw, the frenzied look in his eyes, and the incoherent words he mutters under his breath as he drags Rin by the elbow and back into the music room has him dumbstruck.

"Nii-chan, stop. What the hell happened?" Rin hisses, tugging his arm out of Sae's grasp as the latter slams the door shut behind him. Sae knows how much Rin despises having other people in his music room, so the fact that he disregards that fact entirely and barges in anyway lets Rin know his brother isn't in the right state of mind.

"The wedding's off—I made a big fucking mistake. Her parents are going to demand she go back home, there's no doubt. And when that happens, we're going to lose our biggest trading partner yet. I don't know what—"

"Off? What the hell are you talking about? What did you do?" Rin snaps, watching Sae's fists coil harder—and before his brother can punch something out of rage—Rin stands in front of him and grabs hold of his shoulders.

"You need to tell me what you did. How am I supposed to help if you won't tell me what's going on?" Rin questions, and Sae pushes his brother off roughly, looking away in anger. His brows are pinched together, and it takes him a moment to get the words out, but they're as clear as day once they leave his lips.

"I got another woman pregnant."

Rin stills, and for the first time in his entire life, he sees the heat of regret in his older brother's gaze.

"I don't even know who it was. Whoever it is—she left the baby on the goddamn doorstep of the manor and fled. There's only some shitty note left behind telling me to deal with it. Shit, I'll find that woman and kill her if I have to. Who the hell does that?" Sae murmurs, more to himself than to Rin, as he sits down on his piano stool with an exhausted sigh.

"Who's going to raise it? The servants can't, it needs an actual mother of royal lineage—all the women I had relations with were lower class, never noblewomen—it will be virtually impossible to find a new wife that would accept a boy who isn't a hundred percent royalty, not when we're about to lose our biggest trading partner yet. I have my month-long trip to Spain two days after the wedding is supposed to happen—I can't miss that either, it's too important." Sae sighs, and Rin stares at his brother, speechless.

"You don't know who the mother of this child is?" is all Rin can manage to say as Sae shakes his head no.

Wordlessly, Rin sits beside Sae on the piano stool. He stares hard at the ground, and Sae sits beside him with his head in his hands. He was obviously stressed out, but Rin has nothing to say. This was his older brother's fault—and he had messed up badly.

Unbeknownst to them, on the other half of the manor, you're peering into the small bundle lying in one of the servant's arms—you can already tell what's going on. The baby has a full head of unmistakable pink hair, and everyone around you is panicking.

"Can I hold it?"

She looks up at you suddenly with wide eyes, smiling hesitantly while using her free hand to pat your shoulder comfortingly.

"Of course, dear. Are you feeling alright with all this?" The woman questions softly, and while her touch is gentle, her eyes are concerned. You shrug wordlessly, smiling at the baby in her arms.

"I'm not sure what to feel right now. But this baby didn't do anything wrong, so I'd like to hold it. Though I can't tell if it's a boy or a girl. Do you know which it is?"

"It's a boy." She says softly, lowering the baby into your arms as you hum.

He looks just like Sae. With delicate pale skin, tiny green eyes, and a little frown tugging down his lips—you know in your heart that this was his son.

You don't know what's going to happen now—you were never given a choice with this wedding, but you know there was no world where your parents would have you marry Sae knowing he had been seeing other women casually enough to produce a baby.

For now, you simply snuggle the little bundle closer to your chest with a quiet sigh, pressing your body further into the cushions of the couch as the sound of chaos around you turns to static.

It's been nearly a week since the surprising arrival of the Itoshi heir, and the day of the wedding was only getting closer. Unfortunately, it seemed like the entire manor was buzzing with panic and stress.

Mr. and Mrs. Itoshi have already formally apologized to you, but you had yet to see Sae. There was no time to inform your family back at home about the news, because by the time they received the letter that the wedding needed to be called off, they would already be here at the manor for the wedding. There was absolutely nothing that could be done to stop them in time.

Right now, you're rocking the baby boy back and forth in your arms, humming quietly and yawning to yourself, wondering what Rin must be up to.

There was a chance he'd attend the emergency council meeting scheduled for tonight after dinner to figure out what to do with the baby and you—you'll have to finally face Sae, but you're almost... relieved you don't have to marry him. Yes, of course the entire situation was disastrous—but while everyone around you seemed to be spiraling because of the news, you found yourself able to catch your breath for once.

"How can such a cute baby cause so much chaos..." you mumble to yourself as his nimble little fingers play with one of your bracelets. You wondered when he'd get a proper name and who would take care of him when you ended up leaving—the reminder that you had to go also reminded you that you'd have to leave Rin behind, too.

Rin. You'd remember him forever.

You arrive to the meeting early, since you didn't have much else to do after lulling the baby to sleep. The meeting room in the Itoshi manor is lavish and large, designed with high ceilings and glass panes that shimmered in the sunlight. There are about fifteen chairs lining both sides of the long table, each cushioned and empty. Well, besides Sae's seat, where at least a dozen envelopes and a hundred documents were laid out in front of him. He hasn't noticed you yet, too busy with the mountain of work in front of him, but when you place the ring box he'd given you in front of him, he looks up.

"It's okay," you start before he can say anything, and you watch his body stiffen at your words before he sighs. He rubs a tired hand across his forehead before speaking.

"I stopped when I knew you and I were arranged to get married. I just didn't think..." he trails off, and you can hear the bitter resentment in his voice.

"It's okay." You say more firmly this time, before awkwardly patting his shoulder in an attempt to soothe him. Sae looks up and watches you with narrowed eyes, silently questioning if you were some sort of a saint. He half expected you to slap him, yell at him, something, but you just stood there in front of him, quiet and in deep thought.

"I don't know what will happen," you start, and he raises his eyes to meet your gaze as you continue.

"—but I know you're under a lot of stress. You work very hard; I've only ever seen you working since I've arrived, so I hope your council finds a solution that works for us both." You conclude, and as the others begin to enter the meeting room, you don't wait to hear Sae's response before you move to take your seat.

The royal council members are the first to arrive in a hurry. They're discussing a number of things as they find their seats and immediately recapture Sae's attention, swarming him. A few relatives enter the room with Mr. and Mrs. Itoshi before Rin finally makes an appearance.

He seems a bit overwhelmed by all the noise and people clamoring into one room, and your heart rate quickens at the sight of him. Rin looks even more handsome than usual, sporting a dark sweater that complemented his hair and a simple pair of pants to match. You can see his gaze sweeping over the room before it lands on you, and his back straightens once he sees you.

Maybe Rin sees the silent plea in your eyes, the need to not be alone, because his feet shift towards your direction before he moves and takes the empty seat right next to you. He doesn't say hello, and neither do you—but having Rin next to you is more comfort than you could have hoped for in a time like this.

You try your best not to look at him, but your body betrays you, and your gaze finds him anyway. Rin looks up the same moment you do—bringing about a single second of the most intense eye contact of your life before you both look away in embarrassment a second later. Sae watches the entire scene unfold in front of him with his brows pinched together in thought.

You were three years younger than Sae and two years younger than Rin. You were all in the same general age range—but Sae knew he had much more real-world experience than you and Rin did combined. You, being a girl, and Rin being the youngest, just meant you were naturally both sheltered and innocent. Unfortunately, Sae was forced to grow up quicker, and he knew how horrible the world could be.

Sae cared more for Rin than he let on. Of course he knew he could have had his brother marry you instead—truthfully, it would have made his life easier. But Sae had no idea what kind of person you were. If you were anything like the royal women he knew, you'd be a snob: you'd be selfish, unkind, and have your own personal agenda—all the things he didn't want Rin to encounter. Sae had no interest in subjecting his brother to such filth. He knew he was heartless, but Rin's heart bruised far too easily.

You were different than what Sae expected. He wanted to find something about you to criticize or to frown upon. Something he could flesh out and show Rin saying, 'Look, she's not good for you.'

But when Sae watches his little brother's sly attempt to hold your hand under the table without anyone noticing, he can only sigh quietly in resignation.

"Alright, let's get this meeting started. There are a few major things we can clear now, so let's do that."

Quickly, the murmurs of everyone's prior conversations faded as Sae cleared his throat and stood up.

"The wedding doesn't need to be called off," he starts, walking around the table as his royal advisor quickly raises his hand with an exasperated sigh.

"Sir, with all due respect, there's absolutely no possibility her parents will allow you to—"

"That's not what I'm saying. The wedding will continue, but it won't be mine."

Sae rounds the table, approaching you and Rin with relaxed steps. Rin feels you go rigid in his hold, and he does the same once Sae comes and stands behind you two. Before either of you can react, Sae's hand is under the table and snapping around Rin's wrist—pulling it out from under the table as he holds up your intertwined hands for everyone to see.

The look of absolute mortification on Rin's face almost makes him smile.

"It's a good option. We'll have these two think about it and let us know what they decide later, but it'll most likely work out. I'll allow it, since these two can't seem to keep their hands to themselves or their eyes off of each other. It's disgusting how obsessed they are with one another."

You and Rin look towards Sae, identical faces of absolute bafflement: you both stare at the elder with wide eyes, flushing with embarrassment at his bold move. Sae doesn't spare either of you another glance as he turns towards the other council members, who mumble their agreement at the prospect.

Sae lets your intertwined hands go before heading back to his seat. You don't dare to look at Rin now—you always knew there was a possibility of you marrying him, but you never thought it would actually come to pass. Now you needed to talk to Rin more than ever before anything was confirmed. He sits there, stiff as a board and silent just like you, but he doesn't let go of your hand. If anything, his grip tightens just the slightest bit.

A serious look crosses over Sae's face as he sits back down, and everyone seems to be holding their breath as they wait for Sae to address the real issue at hand.

"The boy... he's going to be a problem. No one will marry me knowing I have a half-blood son. I'm sure you all know how picky people are with keeping their royal bloodline pure and all that. But that means he won't have a mother, and I won't be here often enough to raise him."

The murmuring starts again at once, concerned whispers flooding the room instantly as everyone tries to come up with some sort of a solution. Suddenly, a voice from the back rises.

"Could we put it up for adoption?"

There's an uproar of protest as everyone turns to the voice in bewilderment. The council member sinks into their seat with embarrassment, apologizing profusely for even suggesting the idea—but Sae doesn't seem bothered by it at all. His chin is perched on his fist, and he merely sighs before leaning back in his chair.

"It's a possibility if we can't come up with a solution. Stop being so rowdy and give me a better idea instead of complaining."

Some people were suggesting having the boy be raised by the servants in the manor, but Sae was insistent on making sure he had a proper mother and father. Mr. and Mrs. Itoshi were too old to take care of a baby—so that was out of the options, too.

You and Rin could take care of it. If anyone's thinking it, no one has the courage to voice it. Sae considers the idea silently as everyone discusses solutions noisily around him. He knows he can't speak the possibility into existence yet—he didn't even know how Rin would react to possibly marrying you; it seemed like too much to dump a baby into the picture too. Sae was running out of options, that was certain, but he wasn't going to force anything onto Rin until you two had talked.

Sae glances up to look at you and Rin. Both of you sit side by side, with neither of you speaking. Rin's brows are furrowed, and he seems to be in deep thought. You look nervous, peering up every few minutes with a small frown at every obnoxious suggestion said in regard to what to do with the baby. At some point, Rin's hold on your hand had become considerably tense, and you brushed your thumb over the back of his hand in an attempt to comfort him.

There was also the possibility that Rin didn't want to marry you. The entire situation was becoming far too messy, and you could feel yourself sinking further and further into your seat. After another hour of arguing that led to nowhere, Sae ended the meeting curtly and stated there would be another meeting some other time. Now that everyone had been dismissed, they were beginning to file out of the meeting room to leave. You look over at Rin hesitantly, only to find he was staring at Sae. You couldn't make out his expression nor what it meant.

"Do you want to talk to him, Rin?" you question softly, and Rin swallows the lump in his throat before nodding slowly. You gently pull your hand out of his grasp; his touch lingers on you for a second longer before you pull away completely, and you blend into the crowd a moment later and disappear out the exit with everyone else, leaving Rin and Sae alone.

You had absolutely no idea what would happen now.

Marrying Rin? It almost sounded too good to be true. But what would happen to Sae's son? There were far too many factors to consider.

With not much else to do, you found yourself walking down the manor's hallways in an attempt to try and clear your head. There was an inordinate amount of things going on, and you needed to take a step back and think about what you wanted to do.

You liked Rin. You liked him a lot. But you had no idea how he felt—you two had never once discussed what was between you, and you can imagine he must feel just as conflicted as you did. You knew there was something between you two, but would Rin ever want to go further?

It wasn't an appropriate time to go look for Rin now. The sun had set hours ago, and it felt like the manor was asleep with the lack of people you saw in the halls. With no other idea on what to do, you head back to your room.

You would just have to find Rin tomorrow. Getting ready for bed, your movements feel more sluggish and slow than usual. There's a gnawing feeling in your chest that won't go away—telling you that you're not going to be able to sleep peacefully until you talk to Rin. You're not sure how you'll be able to rest with so many issues untied, but there didn't seem to be anything you could do about it now.

Rin was most likely asleep now since it was so late. You could knock on his door and check since he was only a few rooms down, but you quickly shake away the thought with a sigh. Slowly, you untie your hair from your usual updo, take off your makeup, and slip into a simple nightgown. The soft fabric hugs you in a warm embrace, and after brushing out your hair, you walk towards your bedside table to blow out your candle when you hear a sound.

It's muffled and soft, so quiet you almost miss it at first. You don't move, listening closely to see if you can hear it again, and just when you think it's gone away, it starts up once again.

Slowly, you lower yourself onto your knees and allow your head to dip low enough where you can press your ear against the floor. You hear it much clearer now; the gentle vibrations coming from Rin's piano are as distinct as they are marvelous—blending together as naturally as watercolors.

The revelation that Rin was awake in the music room right beneath you is startling.

You've never heard him play at this time of night before. The melody he strings together has you sinking onto the ground completely, and the sound of his music is just as soothing and magical as you'd remembered. You picture Rin's slender fingers moving about the piano as artfully as they did the night you first met him, and you let yourself stay on the floor for a few minutes longer to listen.

By the time he starts up his next song, you've already grabbed your candlestick and started your path downstairs towards his music room.

There was no way you'd be able to sleep knowing Rin was awake—there was no use in even trying, because you were sure you'd end up staying awake to listen to him play anyway. Your footsteps are hurried and purposeful, and while you're not entirely sure what you'll say to Rin once you find him, you know you can't wait any longer to see him.

You open the door as quietly as you can, slipping inside and gently locking it behind you. You watch Rin's fingers come to a slow stop, and you move forward until you're standing right beside his piano stool. You're holding your breath, clasping your hands together nervously as he turns to look at you.

"Hi, Rin." You offer with a hesitant smile.

"...Hello."

He moves over wordlessly to make space for you to sit beside him, and you make sure to keep a little more distance than usual between you two once you're seated, only because you're not sure how Rin felt. His response is immediate—brows pulling together as his lips tug into a small frown, but he doesn't say anything, just quietly watching as you carefully place your candle on the edge of his piano's top.

The warm glow of the candle highlights every feature of yours in a fiery gold, and Rin's eyes widen a bit when he sees your hair is down. You're in a simple nightgown and not wearing any makeup either, and he's positive his heart is stuck in his throat. The soft curve of your cheek looks far too kissable in the candlelight, and he inhales sharply when you finally turn to look at him.

"I heard you playing from my room and couldn't ignore it." You smile, and Rin makes a small sound of embarrassment in the back of his throat once he realizes he must have kept you awake. Before he has the chance to apologize, you speak up.

"I wanted to talk to you either way; I don't think I'd be able to sleep until I did. But if it's too late for you, or if I'm interrupting—"

"No—no, I just... came here to clear my head. Couldn't sleep either." He mumbles quickly, discreetly moving the music sheet with your name written at the top back into his folder and out of your sight as you smile, relieved. Rin notices it doesn't reach your eyes, and he tries his best to mask his concern. His brother always told Rin he had a horrible poker face, so Rin does his best to school his expression into something neutral.

"Do you want to marry me?"

Okay, maybe Rin would have been able to appear as calm and collected as Sae usually does if you hadn't asked him that question outright. He becomes flustered in an instant, stammering as the tips of his ears turn a bright shade of red. He tries to string together enough words to form a coherent sentence, but after an entire ten seconds of stuttering, he simply clamps his mouth shut to avoid any further embarrassment before he takes a steadying breath.

"Yes."

You lean back a bit at his words, almost as if you weren't expecting them.

Rin's never been good with communicating how he felt. He often found himself retreating when his emotions got too overwhelming or confusing—facing them head-on was something he's always struggled with, but he wants nothing more than to lay his heart bare for you to understand. He watched his brother slip away because they couldn't talk, couldn't voice their thoughts when they were upset, and Rin didn't want to lose you because of his inability to trust—so he tries his best.

"I feel happy when I'm around you, it's as simple as that. I would never say yes unless I knew what I wanted—I was... I was mad at myself when I found out you were marrying nii-chan. It wasn't something I wanted. I'm not well versed with all the business stuff he does, and I know he's in a tight spot, but he would never ask me to marry someone I didn't want to. We can figure this out together, you and I—there's really no one else I'd rather be with than you."

Are you sure, Rin?

Rin had said yes to his brother then, and he's saying yes to you now. He's never been more sure of anything in his life. His future, his hopes, and his dreams all depended on what you said now.

You're already looking at Rin when he looks up to meet your gaze. Your eyes are glossy, and your smile is just as sweet as he remembered it to be. He can't stop his lips from twitching at the sight—can't stop looking at your lips at all. And when you lean forward, you can just barely hear the hitch in his breath.

"Can I kiss you?"

You whisper the question softly, but Rin doesn't have the strength to respond. Instead, he leans forward to meet your lips. They brush over your own once, tentatively, before his hand moves to cradle your face. Carding his free hand through your hair, his mouth molds against yours.

The kiss was gentle and timid, undoubtedly imbued with every bit of love you and Rin felt for each other, and there wasn't a single other place either of you would rather be than in each other's hold.

seven years later ⋆˙⟡

Akio stands outside his parents's bedroom door, shifting from one foot to the other before turning to look at his two younger siblings behind him. Haru and Akie are yawning, still clutching onto their blankets and stuffed animals tiredly, but they smile lazily as they peer up at their older brother.

"I can't believe you two followed me." Akio huffs, irritated, but Akie merely nuzzles into her older brother's arm with a yawn.

"You were loud. And we wanted to come!"

"Let me go in first. You guys can come in after, kay?"

The pair nods, and Akio slips into the bedroom as quietly as he can, letting the door click close behind him. It's already six am—there was a chance you and Rin were still tired, but the little pink-haired boy was ready to start his day. Slowly, he approaches the bed, poking your cheek once to confirm you're asleep before huffing and lifting one leg up and over the bed.

He crawls onto the heap of blankets, squeezing himself into the small spot between you and Rin on the bed easily as the latter stirs in his sleep. You must sense the little boy, because your eyes flutter open a moment later.

"Oh, good morning." You smile with a sleepy giggle, pressing a gentle kiss onto Akio's cheek as he huffs, snuggling into your side.

"Ma, it's six already. I can't believe you guys are still sleeping." The little boy murmurs, turning to look at Rin with a scowl—adorably appalled at the peaceful expression gracing his features.

"You're an early bird—but me and your papa like to sleep in. He's very tired, you know?"

Akio mumbles something into your chest, winding his arms around you in a bear hug as he pokes Rin's stomach with his foot.

"Dad's going to teach me how to make eggs for you. And the twins. But I really just want to make them for you."

You laugh quietly, but the sound is still enough to wake up Rin. Akio quickly rolls off of you, poking Rin's cheek with his finger as he slowly begins to wake up.

"Wake up, lazy."

"Go away."

Akio winds his arms around Rin either way right after, and you watch Rin tiredly pat the boy hanging off his back. The door creaks open a little further, and you see your twins heads poke through right after. Rin finally manages a small smile, sitting up and pressing a kiss to your forehead before beckoning the rest of the children inside.

They come in squealing, immediately hopping onto the bed and climbing onto you and Rin. Your husband yawns, circling his arms around any kid he could get his hands on while closing his eyes.

You pepper everyone's faces in good morning kisses, and after Akio's made sure he's disrupted you and Rin's sleep enough, he drags himself and the twins outside to brush their teeth and get ready for the day. Once they're out, you bring the blanket around you closer and brush your nose against Rin's.

"Hi."

"Hi, pretty."

Rin's touch is gentle as he cradles your cheek, and you both spend a moment simply staring at each other, admiring the face you've come to love more than life itself. He pulls you into his chest, breathing you in as you slump tiredly into his embrace.

He taps his pointer finger against your waist slowly, and every tap was to the rhythm of the song he'd made for you so many years ago—just as he did every morning.

a/n: oh my god...it's done...hollllyyyyYYY MOLY this took me a while but yay i'm so happy with it!! :D sae's kind of a deadbeat i'm sowwyyy 😞 rin and reader are happily married and sae's prospering overseas and doing business :p maybe one day he'll settle down, but who knows!! thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed it :))

tags: @rroxii @tsukimoon-chan @rainychi2 @cheriiepies @jukiamae @hotdogkongmalaki @theogfruitl00psmunch3r @danhoneyyysblog @mfreedomstuff @introspectiveintroverthere @ocean-mochi @kajironunaji @minasgirl @jiavirie @literallyn0ne @ankol-heap @ysvanielle 

[joluvsfinnick]

Pretty Girl

victor f!reader x finnick odair mini fic

based off this request ! thank u lovely, i hope u enjoy <3

summary - finnick meets a quiet victor who keeps to herself. he’s curious. she’s not interested— or at least that’s what she says.

word count - 2.4k

You’re not hiding.

Okay, maybe you are. But only a little.

It’s not your fault the beach is the one place in District 4 that doesn’t feel like it wants something from you. It doesn’t ask questions. Doesn’t dig into your past. Doesn’t try to peel you open like a fruit with something sweet inside. The sea is fine with you just being there, sitting on your usual rock with your knees tucked to your chest and your chin tilted toward the horizon.

You like the quiet. Which is exactly why you hear him coming.Sand crunches behind you. A foot slips briefly on the rocks. And then,

“Didn’t peg you for the ‘looks like she’s having a deep philosophical thought’ type.”

You don’t bother turning around. That voice is unmistakable. Smooth, infuriatingly amused, soaked in saltwater and shamelessness.

“Didn’t peg you for someone who talks just to hear himself,” you say. A low laugh. You hate how nice it sounds.

“Oh, I definitely do that.”

Of course he does.

You sigh, loud enough to be pointed, quiet enough that you can pretend it wasn’t. “Shouldn’t you be off somewhere… flexing or flirting or signing seashells for admirers?”

“Tempting,” Finnick says, and you hear the smirk. You feel it. “But you’re more fun to bother.”

Great.

You glance at him sideways as he climbs onto the rock beside you, all golden limbs and ocean breeze like he belongs in some Capitol-made fantasy. His shirt is gone, of course, because modesty isn’t part of his brand. He props himself up on his elbows and stretches out like this is his rock, his sky, his afternoon.

You pull your legs in tighter.

“You’re kind of everywhere lately,” you mutter.

He grins. “I live here.”

“You live two houses over.”

“I meant here, on the beach.” He gestures vaguely, then gives you a look. “And yet you don’t run away when I sit next to you. That’s promising.”

You stare out at the sea. “I’m considering it.”

“But you haven’t yet.”

You don’t respond. You don’t have to. That’s the thing with Finnick, he talks enough for two people and then some. He seems to like filling up silences, which you normally hate, but somehow… he does it without making it feel suffocating. Just irritating enough to keep your attention.

“Is this your routine?” he asks after a beat. “Come out here. Glare at the waves. Ignore handsome passersby?”

“Only the insufferable ones.”

“Ah, so just me.”

You glance at him again. His hair is still wet, sticking to his forehead in lazy curls, and there’s a line of salt dried on his collarbone. He’s smiling in that relaxed way people do when they know they’re winning, or think they are.

You raise an eyebrow. “Don’t you get tired of people fawning over you?”

“Depends on the person.”

You hum. “And if they don’t fawn over you?”

“Then I follow them around until they do.”

You snort, unintentionally. Crap. Finnick perks up like he’s won something. “Was that a laugh?”

“No,” you lie.

“Sure sounded like one.”

“I was clearing my throat.”

“Sounded a lot like a ‘Finnick, you’re hilarious and charming and I want to braid your hair.’”

You deadpan, “If I ever say that, assume I’ve been replaced by a Capitol clone.”

His grin widens, and he shifts to face you more directly. “So what do you do out here all the time, pretty girl?”

You narrow your eyes at him. “Don’t call me that.”

“I would use your name,” he says lightly, “but you haven’t given it to me yet.”

You blink. “You know my name.”

“Sure,” he says. “But you haven’t given it. That’s different.”

You roll your eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

You shake your head but don’t answer. He’s not wrong, technically. You’ve never offered your name to him, even though you know he knows it, and he knows you know he knows it, and—Ugh.

You’re suddenly very interested in a particularly ugly shell by your foot.

After a pause, he tries again. Softer this time.

“You always come out here alone?”

You shrug. He doesn’t press, which is surprising. Most people do. They want the tragic backstory. The “how did you win” and “what was it like” and “do you still have nightmares.” But not Finnick, not right now. Instead, he leans back again, staring up at the sky.

“It’s weird, right?” he says. “How loud the sea can be when you’re trying to think.” You glance at him, a little caught off guard. He doesn’t look at you, just smiles faintly like he’s saying it to the clouds.

“…Yeah,” you say after a moment. “Weird.”

The quiet stretches, but this time, it doesn’t feel sharp. Eventually, he kicks a pebble off the side of the rock and watches it bounce down the slope.

“So,” he says, back to his usual grin, “if I keep showing up here, will you eventually warm up to me, or are you going to keep treating me like I’m some annoying seagull?”

You hum thoughtfully. “Well, if the shoe fits.”

“You wound me.”

“You’ll survive.”

“Only barely. I might need resuscitation.”

You make a face. “If you fake-drown to get me to kiss you, I’m kicking you back into the ocean.”

“Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t enjoy that.”

You shoot him a look. “You’re exhausting.”

“And yet…”

“…And yet I haven’t pushed you off the rock. Yet.”

He grins, wide and dazzling. “Progress.”

He doesn’t stay long. Just enough to bother you, chat a little too easily, and make himself unforgettable in the most irritating way.

When he stands to leave, he stretches with a groan like lounging around beside you was hard labor.

“Same time tomorrow?” he asks, already halfway down the slope.

You raise your voice just enough for him to hear. “You do realize I come here to avoid people, right?”

He turns, walking backward, arms spread wide. “So change your schedule.”

And then he’s gone—vanishing over the dunes with a wave and a wink. You stare at the space he left behind, then you look back at the sea, arms around your knees again, and let the breeze tangle through your hair like always. But this time, when it tousles the strands near your mouth, it tastes just a little like laughter.

You should’ve known he’d be back.

You were hoping he wouldn’t, obviously. You enjoy your solitude. The quiet. The consistency of being left alone. But no, Finnick Odair doesn’t seem like the type to leave things be—especially after you failed to glare him off the beach the other day.

You see him before he sees you.

He’s striding down the shoreline barefoot, hair damp, sea breeze tugging at the hem of his linen shirt like even the wind wants a piece of him. His trident—stupid, overcompensating thing—is slung casually across his back like he’s a one-man war parade. You sigh and turn your attention back to the horizon. If you don’t acknowledge him, maybe he’ll get bored. It takes exactly six seconds for that hope to be crushed.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite antisocial beach cryptid.”

You don’t turn. “And if it isn’t District Four’s favorite narcissist.”

“Ouch.” He flops down next to you, obnoxiously close. “Jealousy’s not a good look on you, pretty girl.”

You glance at him, a little shocked by the nickname, but you quickly recover. “You’re insufferable.”

Finnick leans back on his elbows, stretching out like he owns the entire damn coastline. “You missed me.”

You snort. “I actively prayed for a shark to find you.”

“Romantic. I’d let you eulogize me if I die.”

“I already wrote the speech. It opens with ‘Finally.’”

He laughs, loud and easy, like you’re hilarious instead of mildly homicidal. “You know,” he says, glancing at you sideways, “if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you liked me.”

“I don’t.”

“But you’re smiling.”

“I’m not.”

“You were. Just now.”

You roll your eyes, but your mouth is twitching. Just a little. Betrayal. You quickly shift your gaze to the water, hoping he won’t notice.

Spoiler: he does.

“Wait—” he leans in, far too pleased. “Was that a blush?”

You scoff. “No.”

“Oh, it was! Don’t deny me this, pretty girl, it’s my first win of the day.” You try to fight it, but the warmth creeps up your neck anyway.

“I swear to the ocean gods,” you mutter, “if you so much as mention this to anyone—”

“Oh, don’t worry.” He grins. “I’m saving it for special occasions. Like your birthday. Or your wedding toast.”

You turn to glare at him, but he’s just beaming at you like you’ve handed him a trophy. “Shut up,” you say, mostly out of habit.

He rests his chin in his palm, gaze flicking over your face. “You know, you’re kind of cute when you’re mad.”

“And you’re kind of tolerable when you’re quiet.”

Finnick chuckles, not even a little bit deterred. “You know, I could stay quiet. If I had proper motivation.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Like what? Gag order from the Capitol?”

“No,” he says, tilting his head. “Like maybe…a compliment from you. Just one. Honest and from the heart. No sarcasm.”

You stare at him. He stares back, cocky and unrelenting and you can’t help but sigh while rolling your eyes.

“…You’re not bad looking.”

His grin turns feral.

“Oh, no. No, no. That’s not allowed. I’m writing this down.”

You smack his shoulder. “Don’t make it weird.”

“It’s too late,” he says brightly, “You said I’m not bad looking. This is a legally binding moment.”

“You’re unbearable.”

“You’re blushing again.”

You curse under your breath, looking back out at the water and desperately pretending the heat on your cheeks is from the sun. Next to you, Finnick is still grinning like he just won a silly game.

The sun sinks low, painting the sky with warm streaks of amber and rose, and the ocean hums quietly beneath the sighing breeze. You stand at the edge of the dock, toes curled over weathered wood, lost in the delicate peace of evening. Behind you, Finnick’s steps fall softly, but you already know he’s there, he has that way of arriving without warning, like a sudden tide. The salty breeze carries hints of citrus and something unmistakably him.

“Hey, pretty girl,” he says, voice easy but charged, like he’s playing a game he’s already winning.

You turn just enough to catch the sparkle in his eyes, that crooked grin tugging at his lips. You want to stay aloof, to keep your walls firmly up, but your mouth betrays you with a faint smile.

“What do you want, Odair?” you ask, low and careful.

“To see if I can make you smile,” he answers, stepping closer, the scrape of his boots on wood a soft rhythm in the evening air. “And maybe borrow some of this sunset light for myself.”

You scoff, shaking your head. “Good luck with that.”

Then, without thinking, your hand shifts as you adjust your balance, and his hand is suddenly there, fingers curling around yours with a gentle certainty that stops your breath. He doesn’t let go.

Instead, his grin deepens, eyes lighting up with that playful spark and something softer, something almost shy. “See? You can’t help yourself, pretty girl.” Your heart stutters. You try to pull back, but the warmth in his hand anchors you, and the world seems to hush around the two of you.

“I wasn’t trying to—”

“Flirt?” he finishes for you, his voice a quiet tease but full of meaning.

You don’t answer, because your cheeks have warmed beyond words. You look up, meeting his gaze, and for a moment everything feels electric, silent, suspended in the fading light.

Finally, you whisper, “You’re impossible.”

He laughs softly, thumb brushing lightly over your knuckles. “And you’re my favorite mystery.”

The sun dips below the horizon, but Finnick’s grip on your hand stays firm, like he’s not ready to let go just yet.

[felixfrecklesandhoneyjisung]

The Grand Counselor (SKZ OT8 x reader)

You are the Grand Counselor to the Emperor, and when His Imperial Majesty sends you to The Levanter -- the most famous pleasure house in the Empire -- you are not prepared for what awaits you with the eight beautiful men you meet...

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Soooooo this was meant to be my 1k event and I'm not quite there yet, but I wanted to post a little preview to gauge interest in the idea.

I haven't included my taglist because this is a bit different to my usual content and I wasn't sure if people would like it, but if there's enough interest and I go ahead with the idea I'll start a separate taglist for this fic.

WARNINGS: This preview does not contain sexual content but the series itself will be explicitly NSFW. I will list individual warnings/kinks in each chapter.

Will be written as fem!reader but no physical traits will be specified e.g eye colour, hair colour etc.

On a final note, if this fic is not for you that's absolutely fine but I will not be engaging with any hate comments. This is literally a reader insert kpop fic lol I'm not interested in historical accuracy and this fic is not set in the real world or meant to represent any real places or periods. This is also not a real representation of SKZ. Nothing to see here but some good old delulu fun.

There were eight doors in front of you, and behind each was one of the Empire's finest courtesans.

"It is an honour to welcome you to The Levanter, Your Excellency," the Madam of the pleasure house had greeted when you first arrived, stepping through the elaborate entrance bracketed by jade pillars.

The Levanter was one of the most exclusive establishments in the district, if not the entire Empire. Even the richest nobles choked at the price of a night here, and as such the clientele was predominantly restricted to the inner circle of the Imperial Palace, such as yourself.

"His Imperial Majesty sends his regards," you replied politely.

The Madam dropped into a respectful bow then opened her arm towards a hallway on the right. "Please, come with me."

You followed her into a small room where a table had been prepared with sweet-smelling tea. Nodding to your two bodyguards to wait outside, you took a seat on the plush carpet opposite the Madam while she set about pouring you a cup from the steaming teapot.

Years of practice had taught you how to maintain composure in uncomfortable situations, but those situations tended to be heated negotiations with war councils and neighbouring monarchs -- not pleasantries with brothel owners -- and you were out of your depth.

You were the Emperor's Grand Counselor, second only to His Imperial Majesty in terms of power and influence. Strictly speaking that should have meant you could have anything you wanted, but in reality it meant you had the world's most demanding job. A job which left little room for anything else.

You had laughed when His Imperial Majesty suggested sending you to The Levanter because you had been "working too hard lately" (you were probably the only person who could laugh in the Emperor's face and not be marched to the guillotine). It was only when he made it clear that it was not a suggestion and all the arrangements had already been made that your smile quickly disappeared.

The Madam pushed a cup of hot tea towards you. "Now, as I'm sure you're aware, Your Excellency," she began. "The Levanter is somewhat different to other establishments."

That's putting it mildly you thought.

"While it is common for pleasure houses to have dozens of courtesans, we have only eight. I guarantee you will not find their match for talent or beauty anywhere in the Empire."

"I have no doubt," you answered, taking a sip from your cup.

"His Imperial Majesty has generously paid for you to spend a night with each of them."

You spat out your tea.

The corner of the Madam's lips twitched, suppressing a grin. "You may be interested to know that no-one has ever had the opportunity to do so before."

Of course they fucking haven't. The cost of one night at The Levanter was more than most people's income for an entire year -- paying it eight times was unheard of.

"His Majesty is certainly... generous," you said carefully. "But I assure you one night will be quite satisfactory."

"Nonsense, Your Excellency!" the Madam exclaimed. "It's all arranged, and the courtesans are keen to meet you."

It was rare for the Grand Counselor to be left speechless, but you found yourself grappling for excuses and coming up with nothing. You knew it was pointless. No-one refused the Emperor. If you tried he would only send you back here again.

The Madam slid open a drawer and withdrew a carved mahogany box, placing it on the table. She lifted the lid and one by one extracted eight bronze keys with different coloured ribbons tied to them. The keys were laid out in front of you and your heart began to pick up speed.

"Before we go any further, Your Excellency, you should know..." The Madam's face remained polite, but there was a hard edge to her voice now. "We do not tolerate abuse of any kind here. The safety of our courtesans is paramount, and they reserve the right to refuse to spend a night with a client. No matter who they are."

You were taken aback by the statement. One of the main reasons you had never visited a pleasure house before now was the notoriously poor treatment of courtesans. You had certainly never heard of a courtesan being able to refuse a paying client, but suddenly your opinion of The Levanter improved drastically.

"Of course," you said. "I must say I'm impressed at the principles you operate with."

"The Madam smiled.

"Now then, it is time to choose your partner for this evening."

All the moisture in your throat evaporated and you felt like you were sucking air through a straw. You were no virgin, but this was different. You were accustomed to always being in control, and now you had veered sharply into unknown territory.

"I can summon them and introduce them in person so that you may see which of them captures your interest the most. Or if you prefer to tell me a little about your preferences I would be happy to suggest--"

"Ah! That won't be necessary!"

The thought of explaining your sexual preferences to a total stranger (where your bodyguards could definitely overhear on the other side of the door) was more than you could handle. Besides, you had a tendency to overthink. It was a crucial element of your job -- the fate of the Empire depended on your good judgement -- but the whole point of being here was that you needed to stop thinking so much.

"If I'm to spend a night with each of them surely it doesn't matter who I meet first," you reasoned.

You glanced down at the selection of keys, glinting under the flickering lanterns. Daring you to choose.

They were identical apart from the ribbons: green, blue, yellow, purple, red, pink, orange, and black. Your hand hovered above them for a moment before impulsively picking up the red key.

"A fine choice," the Madam nodded approvingly. "He is one of our most sought-after courtesans. Several clients who spent a single night with him declared their undying love and begged him to run away with them." She chuckled to herself. "As of yet, no-one has succeeded in winning his heart."

This didn't surprise you. Allegedly the clients of The Levanter were known as Stays because once they visited they never wanted to leave.

You followed the Madam back to the main foyer, clutching the red key in your hand. You were still a little uneasy, though less so than when you first arrived, but you had to admit your nerves were now tempered with excitement. You were intrigued to meet the man who had left so many broken hearts in his wake, and curious to discover what talents had ignited such intense passion in his former clients...

"You will find him on the top floor," the Madam directed, indicating the sweeping staircase before you.

Your bodyguards made to follow you upstairs, but you instructed them to stay put. The last thing you wanted was an audience.

You bowed to the Madam. "Thank you for your assistance."

"My pleasure, Your Excellency."

You turned to begin climbing the stairs, but you could hear the wry smile in the old woman's voice when she spoke again.

"I hope your evening is most satisfactory."

And now here you were, on the top floor of The Levanter, with one key in your hand and eight doors in front of you.

The doors were also identical, but there were matching ribbons tied to each handle. The red door was at the far end of the long corridor and you were overly aware of the sound of your footsteps as you walked towards it.

Could he hear you approach? Was he also nervous, or excited? Fuck. It had been so long since you'd been with anyone, you were probably rusty. What if you bored him? What if he didn't like you and it was all horrendously awkward and this entire thing was a mistake and would the guillotine really be so bad--

Stop you scolded yourself. Don't think for once. Just let go.

Forcing a deep breath into your lungs, you fitted the key into the lock, turned it with a soft click, and pushed the door open...

Please like/comment/reblog if you enjoyed this or would be interested in a full series! Thank you 💜

Dividers by @cafekitsune

[orellazalonia]

Hey! Could I ask for a Yelena x reader where they're going on just a cute fluff kind of a date at a carnival or at a cat cafe? Thank you so much I love your writing! Keep doing what you're doing

Have a good day!

Hello there! Thank you for the kind words and the request. I’m not going to lie, it was a joy to write something with Yelena. It makes me want to write for more characters I like. Regardless, I hope you enjoy and Happy reading!!!

Chaos at the Carnival

Summary: Yelena takes you on a chaotic but sweet date to a local carnival, showing off her competitive streak at the games while you struggle and laugh along. Between cotton candy, teasing, and a quiet moment atop the Ferris wheel, she shows you the softer, vulnerable side she saves only for you. (Yelena Belova x reader)

Word Count: 1.8k+

Main Masterlist

Yelena wasn’t someone you ever expected to fall for. She was sharp in every way, her wit, her eyes, her aim. Dangerous in combat and unapologetically blunt, but somehow, beneath all of that, she had a softness for you that felt… rare. Sacred, even.

And you’d grown addicted to that softness.

It showed in the way she brought you coffee in the mornings without asking how you took it because she already knew. In the way she always made sure you had your favorite snacks. The way she said your name slowly, like it mattered.

You weren’t a spy. Not a part of the Thunderbolts either. You worked a normal job, with a normal routine, and normal expectations. Yelena joked that it was “adorable how boring” you were, but her voice always lost its edge when she said it. Like it was a kind of peace she didn’t realize she needed.

“Let’s go on a date,” She said that morning, casually flopping onto the couch beside you.

You looked over from your book, raising a brow. “A date?”

“Yes. One where we go somewhere that doesn’t involve explosions or being hunted. Something cute. You like cute.”

You smirked. “You don’t.”

“I do when you’re involved.”

You flushed, earning a proud grin from her.

“And where exactly is this cute date supposed to be?”

Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Carnival. Tonight.”

You blinked. “Wait, seriously?”

“Come on,” She said, already pulling her boots on. “I promise not to shoot anyone… unless they deserve it.”

You shook your head laughing, your heart already giving in. You knew how rare this version of her was. Light-hearted, unguarded, and playful. And you’d follow her into that chaos of neon lights and sugar highs in a heartbeat.

After all, if Yelena Belova wanted to go on a date with you, who were you to say no?

The air was already buzzing with color and sound by the time you arrived at the carnival. The sun had just started to dip behind the horizon, casting the sky in cotton-colored hues of pink and gold. Yelena walked a half-step ahead of you, practically vibrating with energy, her black hoodie pulled over her blonde hair and her eyes scanning everything like she was still on a mission. Only this time, her objective seemed to be snacks and fun.

She looked back at you with a wicked grin. “Look at this. Lights, people, unhealthy food; It’s perfect.”

You laughed under your breath, following her as she wove through the crowd like she had a personal vendetta against walking slowly. There was something contagious about her excitement. The way she tilted her head when she saw something interesting. The way she kept glancing back at you, just to make sure you were still there. Like she couldn’t fully enjoy any of it unless she knew you were watching, too.

“First stop,” She declared, abruptly turning toward a cart with a bright pink sign that read $5 COTTON CANDY in hand-painted letters, “is this masterpiece of sugar.”

You watched her argue playfully with the vendor about which color tasted better. She settled on a swirl of pink and blue and held it like a trophy, eyes wide with childlike wonder. You didn’t have the heart to remind her she was supposed to be an elite assassin and not a five-year-old at a fair.

“Want some?” She asked, offering you a piece and raising her eyebrows in challenge.

You reached for it only for her to yank her hand back just slightly, her mouth twitching into a smirk. “Too slow.”

You rolled your eyes, stepping forward to take it from her anyway, your fingers brushing hers in the exchange. It was such a small thing, but it sent a soft flutter through your chest. She must have felt it too, because her teasing look softened for just a second, her eyes lingering on yours before she turned back to face the crowd.

She licked the sugar off her fingers without shame. “We’re going on the Ferris wheel later. And the rides that spins really fast. You’re not allowed to chicken out.”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“You didn’t have to. I know your nervous face.”

You narrowed your eyes at her. “That wasn’t my nervous face.”

“It was. I’d bet my cotton candy on it.”

“Bold of you to assume I won’t eat it just to spite you.”

Yelena laughed, a real one, the kind that made people glance over because it was so unguarded and joyful. She hooked her arm through yours. “Come on, detka. Let’s see what other trouble we can find.”

As the two of you drifted deeper into the glowing heart of the carnival, you realized something: this wasn’t just a date. It was her way of showing she was safe with you. That she could be silly, loud, and sugar-happy, and still be loved for it.

You squeezed her arm gently and let her lead you through the chaos.

You both found your way to the games next. The game booths were loud, chaotic, and suspiciously rigged but none of that mattered to Yelena. She stood in front of a row of milk bottles like she’d been preparing for this moment her whole life. Leftover cotton candy in one hand, plastic ring in the other, and eyes narrowed with laser focus.

“I’m going to crush this,” She announced.

You raised an eyebrow. “You’ve literally never done this before.”

“Exactly, which means beginner’s luck. Plus, I have exceptional aim. Trained assassin, remember?”

You leaned on the booth’s counter, arms crossed. “Just don’t cry if you lose.”

Yelena hurled the ring with casual precision. It bounced once, then twice, then landed perfectly around the top bottle. The bell rang loudly, and the bored teenager running the booth gave a slow, sarcastic clap before handing her the prize she chose: a horrifically ugly stuffed raccoon with crooked eyes and one arm sewn backwards.

She held it up proudly. “For you,” She claimed, bowing her head slightly. “From my heart to yours.”

You took the raccoon with both hands, staring into its uneven plastic eyes. “It’s… hideous.”

“Exactly why I picked it. You’ll never forget me when you look at this nightmare.”

You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t hide your grin. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And talented. Don’t forget talented.”

She dragged you from booth to booth after that, determined to win as many prizes as possible. Ring the bell? Nailed it. Shooting gallery? Perfect score. That game where you have to knock over cans with a baseball? She asked if she could use a throwing knife instead.

You, on the other hand, were struggling to even hit the board.

“Are you trying to miss?” She asked after your fifth attempt at popping a balloon with a dart ended in disappointment.

“No, I just– these darts suck!”

“Mhm.” Yelena stepped up beside you, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder. “Here, let me help.”

You tried not to melt when she slid behind you, her chin practically resting on your shoulder, guiding your hand with both of hers. “Just like this,” She murmured, close enough that her breath brushed your ear.

You threw. It missed completely.

There was a beat of silence before she said, “Wow. You are very special.”

You turned and whacked her in the arm with your hideous raccoon.

But it didn’t matter that you were failing miserably. She was glowing, laughing with her whole chest, cradling your weird new stuffed friend like a baby, and collecting game tickets and prizes she didn’t even want just for the fun of it. And when she looked at you, her eyes sparkled like the carnival lights above.

“You’re still my favorite, even if you throw like a sad noodle,” She reassured, nudging your side.

“I’m touched.”

“You should be.”

And with that, she grabbed your hand and tugged you toward the Ferris wheel, humming under her breath like she hadn’t just decimated half the booths with supernatural precision.

The Ferris wheel creaked as it turned slowly, the metal glowing under strings of golden bulbs. You and Yelena climbed into your little compartment, and the attendant dropped the safety bar with a clang before sending you off into the air.

It was quiet up here. The kind of quiet that made you breathe a little deeper.

Below, the carnival still buzzed with life with kids screaming from the spinning rides, music blaring over distorted speakers, and food vendors shouting out deals. But it all softened the higher you rose. Up here, the chaos became distant, almost dreamlike. It was just you, the lights, and the warm weight of Yelena pressed against your side.

She leaned back lazily, one leg crossed over the other, her arm stretched across the back of the bench so her fingers just grazed your shoulder. Her other hand still clutched the leg of the cursed raccoon prize, swinging it slightly back and forth like it had done something wrong.

She didn’t speak right away, just letting the moment breathe.

Then she looked at you out of the corner of her eye and asked, “You having fun, or did you agree to all this just because you like me?”

You gave her a look. “You really need me to answer that?”

She tilted her head. “Yes. I like hearing it.”

You huffed out a laugh, but nudged your arm against hers. “Yes, I’m having fun and yes, I like you. Maybe too much.”

Her mouth twitched like she was trying not to smile. “Good.”

The Ferris wheel jolted slightly as it came to a stop right at the very top. You could see the entire carnival spread out below in bursts of color and movement. It was beautiful in a messy, overstimulating kind of way.

Yelena leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees, and looked out over the horizon. For a moment, the tough exterior dropped. The teasing, the confidence, the chaos, it all settled into something quieter.

“This is the kind of thing I never really got to do growing up,” She admitted, voice soft. “You know, the normal stuff. Dates, carnivals, sugar highs, and losing terribly at games.”

“You didn’t lose at anything.”

She grinned. “I know. But still.”

You reached out and took her hand, threading your fingers through hers. Her grip tightened instinctively, like maybe she needed that more than she was letting on.

“We can do this kind of stuff anytime you want,” You said. “You don’t have to be good at it or pretend it’s some mission.”

She turned to you fully then, her eyes catching the reflection of the lights below. “You really mean that?”

“Of course.”

Yelena leaned in slowly, resting her forehead against yours. Her voice dropped low, serious in a way that made your chest ache a little.

“Thank you,” She whispered.

And then she kissed you.

Not in that quick, cheeky way she usually did, but soft. Gentle. Like she was asking a question and answering one all at once.

Up there, in the air, lights, and stillness; it felt like the world had shrunk down to just the two of you and neither of you minded one bit.

[thattimdrakeguy]

Jason Todd: Once, one of the Bat-Family's Greatest Characters

I LOVE Jason Todd.

This is a character I freaking adore.

For most characters it'll take more than just a couple stories for me to really like them beyond simply seeing the potential. But Jason, it took this one story (I read his other comics after the fact), and I knew I loved him. (I also watched the movie first, like almost everybody else.)

Because he's a rare character that showed off how far his potential could go all in one iconic story. This one story made The Red Hood iconic. That's power you can't easily create.

I think what made him so great though is often forgotten to time. Sometimes what made him great comes back, but there's enough times he's so...different, that I felt the need to make some posts about just how good he once was.

People think he's the hot-headed (which he can be, but it's vastly overplayed by some), doesn't take anything serious, lovable rough around the edges, big brother, jokes for the sake of joking, scamp of a character.

He is not.

He is...so much more.

Jason Todd is often portrayed as a freaking numb-skull. A risky idiot who rushes into things because he thinks it's fun.

Not who he is.

I think Jason Todd is one of the smartest characters in the entire Bat-Family.

He is a master fighter, a genius planner. He's a damn genius all around really. He doesn't even joke without intention on how it'll throw off the other person. It's not nerves, or for the sake of humor like other heroes, it's tactics to him.

These are literally in the first pages of the Under the Hood comic. Which you'd think would be the first comic read for anybody trying to research the character in order to write them.

And people often think he's just the Punisher of the Bat-Family, there's a good chance you've seen him described as that too. I seen it maybe a couple times in the past couple days alone.

He does more than just kill criminals.

He manipulates them. Uses them.

He tears the criminal underworld of Gotham City from the inside out like a disease destroying the host body.

Again, he's planning, tactical, calculating, smart, focused.

It makes him so much more interesting than the usual shoot-em-up-and-let-God-sort-them-out vigilante anti-hero. There's more to him. There's layers. He stands out among the crowd. He's terrifying in a whole different way.

For years I've seen in my head how good his comics could've been had they taken an angle more closely to this. Letting you see the master plan out his work, and how interesting and amazing that'd be.

Instead--he's basically a mercenary under some writers.

He ain't no damn mercenary.

Making him that feels totally insulting to the character given all the talents he'd showed. It's so lazy to simplify him into another mercenary character.

Killing isn't a business to him. Killing isn't a job to him.

It's an obligation of doing what's, to him, morally the right thing to do with the talents he has.

It takes away his urgency, his passion, his dedication, to what he does.

You don't think this far into something and have it not be personal. It's what makes him so enthralling, and engaging. You have to see what he's doing next. You have to! You couldn't stand it if you didn't!

Can't get that when he's just another guy with a gun.

There's also some people that think he's not as good as other Robins.

Bullshit.

There's decent odds he's more talented than your own fav. He's certainly more talented and skillful than my fav. I don't have a problem with that. I want these people to work best at what they are.

Jason being as skilled as he is, makes him a threat, and adds to him.

Acting like he's not as good as the others feels like another insult to him.

So, I implore you, give the real Jason Todd a chance. You may be greatly impressed with what you see.

[mehrfh]

Misogyny, huh????

So, it is Misogyny to call out ‘love’ whose basis is treachery, dishonesty and scars left by the betrayal? Shisui only needed to be a man to showcase how quickly people would have flipped on that ‘ship'...

Moreover, hardly care who ships whom, I care about narrative distortion and thinking somehow Jinshi, who appears in every volume, is comparable in potential and meaning to someone who largely disappears...And somehow the character would have been a better choice over a man who rewrote half of his kingdom's rules in both political and personal sphere for a woman...

Lastly, KnH is what it is because of its exemplary, complex and intriguing women and female characters....They are badass and formidable and memorable...KnH/TAD would hardly be what it is had it not been for its female-orientation...And Shisui was definitely a complex and tragically beautiful character...And who knows MaoMao and Shisui meet in future (which most likely will be) and I bet it would be interesting...But having said this she did not deserve to be raised at level of a heroine or main character at the expense of others, plain and simple...Narrative has worked, and will work, without her...The fact that Shisui actually kind of becomes a reason MaoMao comes to even become wary of her relationship with women in terms of safety is conveniently ignored...She struggles with Yao and Enen and even gets bitterly reminded of Shisui's betrayal when she thinks Chue betrayed her in that particular sequence of Western arc II...So this is not something that is talked about by the ‘misogyny' folks as how much difficult it becomes MaoMao to trust even female friendships again...

Also, legion of complex, beautiful and intriguing characters waiting to be adapted by manga and anime are far too fabulous and important for me to miss Shisui, I am sorry...So, it will take me even more of developing a blind spot, or worse being in denial, that somehow she was indispensable to the narrative or to MaoMao, and that she had potential to become like Jinshi for her... I have problem with this view not from a shipping context (ship whoever you want, heck I might start shipping Jinshi and Rikuson) but I have a huge problem when people start to IMPOSE their interpretation/ship on the narrative.... And tend to diminish a pivotal character like Jinshi or suggest somehow Shisui and Jinshi's love for MaoMao is same... Well, no, you do not lie to people you love, put their lives at stake for your grand plan (or performance) or reveal everything to them in the heart of rebellion... So, as I said in the beginning of this post, would have been fun to see acts of Shisui being committed by a man and you would have seen the same people talking about misogyny using feminism to discredit the same ‘beloved' ship... Also, given sometimes Jinshi is deemed as toxic for way low level of dangerous behaviors (and rightfully so) and dismissed as a perfect partner for MaoMao, having a manipulating, traumatised, betraying character being painted as love interest is sure the way to understand what kind of healthy love folks want to promote! Hardly an excuse to criticise one person's language of love, while eulogising another's despite both being teenagers caught up in family politics....As I said earlier, may a Love like Shisui's never find me where all I am left with is regret, scars, angst and sense of uncertainty as to what we meant to each other...

Ending this by saying I love Shisui and poetry of her character, her bond with MaoMao and wholeheartedly empathise with her difficult circumstances but, as a reader of 16+ LNs, no way she was with MaoMao what Jinshi had been or became...MaoMao, no matter how much Shisui cared about her, was more or less, a prop in her grand performance (whom she tried to protect by first bringing her to the centre of crisis)... You don't do that to a friend, let alone someone you love... Everyone suffers in the KnH, some have really, really terrible stories, like Rikuson and Chue...While I am completely on-board with humanising the obnoxious villains (prev Emperor, Shisou) and view morality of good or bad actions with a subjective lens (Anshi), what I am against is someone's tragic story becoming an excuse of raising the character to an unwarranted pedestal who gambled on dangerous probables and betrayed a friend (Shisui), and then go on and impose it on the narrative, especially when far less manipulative and less dangerous behavior tends to pull Jinshi down from a pedestal....Also, Jinshi is put on a pedestal not because he is perfect but because he has the ability to see the wrong of his acts and courage to actively change himself for better and courage to actively go against everything that tends to harm those he cherishes, you don't see everyday a crown prince jumping in front of a bullet to save a random soldier... I love Jinshi because in spite of him being deemed as perfect, sometimes too perfect, he knows his limitations/flaws, acknowledges them and remains honest with those he loves and changes what he needs to! It is his acceptance about himself as a flawed human being despite the reverence and importance associated with his station that makes him such a forever favorite character...

[aunno127]

i don't think i've completely combed out what's happening in your response yet but i've got enough down to add some thoughts, so just correct me if i'm wrong.

in relation to your original post and my first thoughts, i don't disagree at all on the claim, that kuga is incredibly loyal to mikumo. rather, what i'm disagreeing on is the cause for it, and the interpretation of the characters of world trigger that inform that cause. to me, kuga's loyalty is an informed decision made on the basis of his knowledge and justified trust in osamu's character. hence, mikumo is not a beneficiary of kuga's decision (which i feel that you feel is warped by his past, i'll get to that), he is a beneficiary of his own qualities. kuga would in fact do some rather wild shit if mikumo wanted it, but the examples you listed are in my opinion not impossibilities at all. if mikumo needed to do reprehensible things to achieve his goals at this stage, he would too. that's what's crazy about him - he's not a "decent" person, and i think if we get anything more about mikumo's past it could really shed some light on why is he how he is. i think we both agree that something is revealed about kuga's character from his loyalty to mikumo, but while for you i think it's that kuga has chosen to follow someone decent as a result of his past as a child soldier (which i don't think is ashihara's intention tbh, more on that), for me it's that what kuga wants in a partner aligns with mikumo's crazy/value (same thing). thus, while kuga's loyalty is interesting, it's not extrodinary to me as it is to you, nor is it interesting for the same reasons.

ok, about kuga's character, the whole child soldiers and warzones issue, and the opinion of the narrative on the child soldiers and warzones issue. you make a very clear distinction between the warfare kuga experienced and the safety and peace at border, and you especially noted how kuga's experiences contribute to your interpretation of his loyalty to mikumo. what i want to raise is that for one, there isn't as clear a distinction between warfare and safety in the neighborhood and at border, and that secondly, you can't interpret kuga's character as majorly defined by being a child soldier (as we understand it irl) in a way coherent with the narrative, because that's not how the author wrote it regardless of if that's ethical.

for the first point, i just don't quite agree that kuga is at border to frolick (this might be an exaggeration of your statement) and have a good time (this is not). mikado city was subject to a devastating attack and it resulted in (1) a serious turn by kido and his faction to creating a large, organized defensive force and (2) an influx of occasionally vengeful and almost always driven recruits, many of which are now a- or high b-ranks. miwa squad is not here to fuck around. the first time we saw kazama and tachikawa squad, they'd just returned from an away mission where they acted possibly as an invading force. out of kuga's friends, kageura squad used to be a-rank, toma is currently a-rank, and murakami is responsible for the defense of the city. these are all people that do know about war. tamakoma-2 is also aiming for a limited timeframe mission to find chika's brother, who is linked to hatohara and ninomiya squad, find replica, which requires travel to (i think this is the name viza mentioned) tropoi, and find a fix for kuga's body, which is still dying. these are not unimportant problems. all this is to say there is a real urgency for characters (that may have been represented inadequately in the manga due to the difference between story timeframe and irl timeframe) at border, and there are dangers that everyone is only tanking so well with jin's direction. things may be fun, but border is the stage of the story.

ok, the child soldiers. speaking negatively, my opinion is that the author just did not factor in ethical standards and the real-life and in-story psychological effects of children in warzones. i don't like blaming these things on outside factors but here it might very well be because world trigger is a shounen. this is relevant to kuga because i don't feel like he has been portrayed as a victim of his childhood. on the more justified end of justifications, characters - even very young ones - have often been subject to something that directs them to fight or join border. i don't know for kuroe, but chika has experienced issues her whole life leading to the loss of those close to her, and midorikawa was saved from certain death (i believe following the death of his family?) by jin. like in the scene with somei and katori after the first invasion, for some teenagers, becoming a border agent is the most worthwhile use of their time. on the other end, with someone like kanda, it also may not be. the situation at border on meeden in mikado city is that joining is worthwhile for many, and the situation with trion development is that starting at a younger age gives you an edge.

kuga specifically i don't think has been written as a child soldier, and instead more as a child...free agent. in fact, younger members of border fulfill moreso the idea of a child soldier because they are directed to fight for border, although border is honestly very well-organized and also has pay. kuga was raised to survive by his father, and they travelled as a much smaller unit. while yūgo's parenting isn't all that good by irl standars because you should probably leave your kid somewhere safe to grow, i think for one the world of world trigger doesn't offer that environment anywhere (look at the first invasion of mikado city, for instance) and for another yūgo wanted to raise his kid so he survives and does well in their environment. of course, kuga has a near-death experience followed by his father's sacrifice, and at this point kuga wants to get his father back. there's some things at play here, one of which is guilt, but it's not the biggest aspect in my opinion. kuga stated very plainly that his death was a result of his bad judgement and that yūgo shouldn't have sacrificed himself in kuga's place, but this didn't seem emotionally charged the way chika feels about the fates of others because of her. kuga just sees it as a given, that based on what he understands of the world, yūgo's death should not have happened, so he should reverse it. instead of guilt, he doesn't get it. so i guess the whole point is i agree with you on the fairness but not morality thing for kuga, and then he's also emotionally stunted, just that it wasn't because he was a child soldier? at this point i have been writing for so long i don't even see a point anymore.

oh right, yeah, loyalty to mikumo. so the qualities of kuga resultant from his past are for one not as traumatic as we might reasonably assume because of the author's choices, and also his qualities are less relevant to being a child soldier (directionlessness following loss of guidance, ineptness, in need of attachment to a cause) than they are to being a child free agent (nonexistent moral bounds, unemotional understanding of the world, fairly good judgement at least in my opinion).

just looked back to check over what you wrote again, and i think i started this off with a slight misunderstanding of your point, which is that kuga would follow mikumo even if he makes some "villain-arc" worthy choices. to answer this cleanly, i think i am entirely in agreement unless you think mikumo wouldn't make those decisions, however i think you just mean the story isn't going to back mikumo into that corner, so cheers to that. i disagree with you about kuga's character motivations based on what i think of the author's opinion on children fighting and my own interpretation of kuga, which may be subject to my own biases. because of my different idea of kuga's character, i think we think of kuga's loyalty to mikumo differently. finally, i disagree about your depiction of border, as well as kuga's current situation. to a lesser degree, i think you don't give mikumo enough credit, but i'm not sure about that.

also, there's no coherent way to put this, but i'm glad that you responded so soon and that there's other people interested in discussing world trigger. for me, whatever i think of specific character interpretations comes secondary to that.

rewatching World Trigger. I forgot how gay it was. Osamu straight up says "hey Yuma. I know that we've only known you for like five days, but I can't help but notice that you aren't doing anything with your life right now. Mind if I borrow it for a bit?"

And then Yuma responds with "while its true that we've only know each other for like five days, your kind yet stubborn nature has compelled me. Sure. Why not? From this moment on my life is yours to do whatever you want with. One condition, though. You have to be my boss" and then throughout the story he occasionally makes these little remarks like "I'd do anything my captain (osamu) asked me to."

Like bro what? I really don't think that Osamu fully realizes the weight of the loyalty he somehow managed to earn from Yuma. I don't think he could realize it. From his perspective he cringefailed his way into b rank while Yuma did all the work. "And now Yuma would kill or die for me" is just not a conclusion that would ever occur to Osamu based on the avaliable evidence.

And like, what's going on here from Yuma's perspective? I get that he was a man on the brink when the story started, pursuing a sincerely suicidal plan, and then said plan failed and he was left with absolutely nothing, but I still feel like there has to be more going on here. He decided that he would follow Osamu through hell and back the very same minute that Osamu asked anything of him at all.

It's like, combat is all Yuma has ever known. He doesn't see any future for himself at all, but he especially can't imagine a peaceful one. But he's not a bad kid. He doesn't go out of his way to hurt people. Osamu has proven to be a pretty decent person, willing to sacrifice himself to save the lives of relative strangers. Maybe, the way Yuma sees it, yeah he's a weapon, but if he follows Osamu at least he'll be a weapon pointed in the right direction. He'll fight because it's all he knows how to do, but osamu would only ever ask him to fight for worthy causes. Y'know?

Anyway. The point is that Yuma accepted helping Osamu as his new purpose in life after knowing him for less than a week, and that's A Lot, no matter how you look at it.

[thankchaosforspellcheck]

Fun parallels between Susie & Dess that I've noticed:

rebellion:

Dess is clearly positioned as the "rebellious older sibling figure" for Noelle & Kris. She watched channels they weren't supposed to, had scary games she was clearly hiding from her parents, and had her room decorated in a much darker fashion then the rest of the Holiday household.

Susie, meanwhile, is more of a "rebel without a cause" type. When she's shown that her actions have a positive impact, like with her friendship with lancer, she does try to do the right thing, but from what we've learned about her past, she's rarely been given that chance. Now, in the present, she's rebelling against aspects of the prophecy and encouraging Kris and Noelle's own rebellions, Noelle against her Mother and (unknowingly) Kris against both us and the individual they made that promise to.

food insecurity:

One thing that hit me hard during our exploration of Dess' room, is that she had a CONCERNING amount of Army Rations in there. Now, maybe they're just for camping (which Noelle mentioned they did a lot), or because she was on a survivalist kick, buuuut I could definitely see Carol as the "Sends a kid to their room with no dinner" type. She also specifically chewed Noelle out in their kitchen, so Dess might have had good reason to avoid going in there.

On Susie's side of things, we've already seen signs that Susie isn't getting enough to eat at home. She's munching pretty much constantly on anything she can grab, whether it's actually food or not. I'm pretty sure the only time we've seen her dismiss any form of food was with the french-fry by the picnic tables, and that was only after we'd been hanging out for several days & had (theoretically) full meals.

Musicians:

Dess seemed most interested in the guitar, but she still had a pile of old instruments in her room. Those easily could've been forced on her by Carol, but she still likely expressed an interested in them for Carol to consider going that direction. After all, Noelle doesn't have any instruments in her room, though she does still sing in the church choir. Dess is even referred to as a "Musical Prodigy" by Tenna, though it's unclear how accurate that is.

Meanwhile, Susie has shown constant interest during chapters 3 & 4 in playing an instrument. The type doesn't seem to matter, since she attempts to play both the drums and the guitar during these chapters and expresses a long-held desire to play the piano. Plus, she seems to develop a sense for the drums pretty quick, going from random banging in the music challenge to getting nearly all the notes in the 2nd Tenna fight. If anything, she might be a "musical prodigy" as well, if given the right opportunity.

Relationship with Kris and Noelle:

Kris & Noelle are both implied to have been close to Dess. Noelle misses Dess' guitar playing and may have been inspired to get into creepy games by her (since we can find a bunch of scary games in Dess' room). She also brings up several fond memories of Dess both in game and on her blog. Kris seems to have looked up to Dess, as they play Dess' part in the song "Raise Up Your Bat" and is said to have gone through a drastic personality shift after Dess' disappearance. She was the "cool older sister" to both of them.

Susie, meanwhile, becomes close to both of them over the course of the game. They were both interested in her pre-deltarune (Noelle had a crush, while Kris seemed to find her bullying... funny?) and, once given the opportunity, they both end up really admiring her. Susie may be their closest friend outside of each other and like. Berdly.

Overall, there seems to just be a lot of parallels between the two!

[fluoriteflygon]

DashCon 2 Final Thoughts:

I have one more post in my queue as a send off, but a final thoughts feels warranted.

DashCon 2 was incredible. It was MORE than incredible, words can’t describe how amazing yesterday was.

I have never been very good at talking to people. I think plenty of people on tumblr can relate to that. I was a weird little autistic kid who could never seem to get it right, who hid behind my family and whispered what I wanted to tell strangers to them so they could say it for me. Yesterday, not a single person felt like someone I couldn’t talk to.

The community was kind, and respectful, and amazing to interact with the whole day though. I could set my bag down and know nobody would steal it! At one point, I had my stuff spread out across FOUR different places and not a single thing was lost or stolen! When I almost lost my water bottle, it was at the stand I had forgotten it at (sorry again to that artist).

I’ll be honest, I was nervous about going to an event like this alone. But I made so many new friends and mutuals—I had nothing to be worried about in the first place.

I only got to go to one panel (after that I wanted to finish up my shopping and get a picture in the ballpit, and by the time I was done it was time for closing ceremonies, and then they had the party immediately after) but the panelist was fantastic, the concept was interesting, and the crowd was engaged. And the panels I didn’t get to go to because they were during my volunteer shift? The crowds were great for those too! I could hear them from my station!

Speaking of volunteering, my group was AMAZING and I felt so insanely lucky to be able to work with them. I would kill to work with them again, and if this con keeps going I really hope to become a longtime volunteer. As happy as I would’ve been going as a guest, being on the team making it happen was an extra kind of special and I couldn’t be more proud.

The dance party at the end was so much fun, it kinda reminded me of cast parties I used to go to in middle/high. People were so friendly during that, I got to dance with people I’d never met and scream the lyrics to songs we loved before getting their names. That’s how I made some of the new mutuals I got! We danced and then we exchanged handles. Both on here and over on Instagram.

Of course I also loved getting to meet a creator I’ve been a fan of since I was literally 12 who’s the entire reason I have the interest in internet history I do (and, by extension, is the entire reason I went to DashCon 2 in the first place). I still can’t believe it. She was incredibly nice both times I talked to her! I still feel bad about only having a copy of a Pokespe volume to get a signature on lol, but hey it just means that book is extra special, yeah?

I also don’t think I’ll get over THE Croaker complimenting my cosplay. Like the tags said, the president himself said he liked my shoelaces. I’m glad to report that both internet celebrities they got were very nice and lovely people!

This is all a bit of a ramble, and I’m sure I’m forgetting something I’ll be mad about forgetting later, but my final thoughts are that this is what DashCon was always intended to be: a niche little event for a community of people who found each other over the internet, and one which brought them all together for a short period of time. Something that makes all the weird little kids who never fit in—who could never seem to do anything right—feel seen, and heard, and accepted, and loved. It succeeded in that and more.

If it weren’t for the merch and the bruises and all the new friends, I would’ve thought it was a dream.

Thank you to everyone involved with Dashcon 2 in any way—organizers, con-goers, volunteers, panelists, online attendees, people who followed the event on tumblr, whatever. That really was the best day I could’ve possibly asked for.

It was a sense of community I’ve never experienced before, and it was magical.

Long live DashCon 2!

[ao3commentoftheday]

10 ⧽. what genre is generally the easiest or most enjoyable for you to write? which is the hardest?

Since we've got a few folks who are new to tumblr, I'm going to explain how these games work since I didn't really get into it before. I'll put the answer in bold so you can find it in between the rest.

I reblogged this ask game. By reblogging it, I let people know I was interested in answering the questions. @nonepizzawithleftglitter (great username btw) has now sent in the number of the question they want me to answer.

They could send in multiple numbers if they want to. They've also included the text of the question, which doesn't always happen but is often appreciated since it means the person answering doesn't have to track down the meme again.

If you're the one sending in the ask, it might also be useful to add in the name of the meme - mostly in cases where the person you are asking has recently reblogged more than one ask meme and in cases where you're just sending the number. So this ask could have been "10 for the fic writer ask game"

With all of that out of the way! The easiest and most fun thing for me to write is definitely, 100% comedy, hands down, no question.

One last thing about the vague "rules" of these games (not actual rules! do what you want!). It's a good idea to add a link to the game in your answer to the ask if you want to keep playing. That way folks who are interested in seeing the questions and maybe asking you one can easily see it without having to scroll back in your blog to find it.

[inariedwards]

I want to add to this from the point of view of contemporary art, by which I mean things like visual arts, performance, dance, even poetry, etc... smaller fry types of industries where there is even less money and fame to be had. Circles like these run purely on humans, and you really need to not be an asshole to the humans if you want to have a career in these things.

I've moved to a more of a curatorial direction in recent years. In my previous home town I was on a board of an association and we invited artists to do exhibitions and other programming, we applied for funds to pay those artists, and overall sorted everything out. Aka we did a lot of the work that isn't fun or glamorous.

And one time I worked with an artist whose work was really interesting and phenomenal. But she was not fun to work with. Communication with her didn't feel nice, I felt like she took me for granted, and being in the same space doing the actual physical work of the setup was really uncomfortable. She had kind of an assholish attitude.

So even though I am now in a different context and her work could fit well in the museum I work in, I won't bring her up in any planning meetings, because I don't want to work with her again.

-

And before anyone tries to call foul with "what if people have autism-" -- Dr. Tingle and I are both autistic. Being an asshole has nothing to do with neurotypes. There is no Asshole Spectrum Disorder. BBC's Sherlock is fiction, an asshole fantasy imagined by a scoundrel (to borrow the good doctor's terminology).

No matter what your neurotype is, you can live everyday trying to become a better person, you can choose to treat other people with kindness. You can make choices, and other people are allowed to make choices, including choosing to not offer creative work opportunities to someone who is an asshole.

BEING AN ASSHOLE AS A BRAND

lots of authors have been posting great pieces of advice for up and coming buckaroos and i agree with so much of it. GREAT RESOURCES right now so i thought i would add my own. usually i use words like scoundrel but for meanings sake i will just be direct: dont make being an asshole your brand

let me preface this by saying it should be taken with HUGE grain of salt, you can do whatever you want buckaroo its YOUR art and your personal expression. to be honest i often refrain from ‘advice’ because id rather simply tell what works for me, but i feel like this one is pretty universal.

i am in incredibly rare position to have come up in TWO MAJOR CREATIVE INDUSTRIES and reached ‘traditionally published’ or ‘major film studio contract’ level completely separate from each other, without connections between, and this is ABSOLUTELY a massive factor in the buckaroos who trot long term

there is always a sort of incoming class of buds who rise up, and inevitably a few of them will seem to WANT to make enemies with everyone around them the second they have even the smallest voice. i UNDERSTAND in the sense that we have these legendary jerk artists in our culture. HOWEVER

1 those artists generally let their asshole flag fly AFTER they reached the top and 2 if not, it was a different time, there is simply not enough money in the creative fields for major creative entities to tolerate talented up and coming assholes. it is FINANCIALLY a different timeline now

EVEN SO you can point to a few old big timers who are notorious assholes but i would say its important to consider JUST HOW BIG WOULD THEY BE IF THEY WERE ALSO KIND. what if they were that talented AND watched out for their buds? heres what happened to the 'jerk brands' i trotted up with personally

every single one of them got intoxicated by the identity of being mean or ‘just tellin it like it is’ and then fell directly onto their face. the only ones who escaped were those who started that way on the trot up and IMMEDIATELY pulled it together and stopped and changed course

i know it might seem obvious to many reading this but you would be SHOCKED how many buds thinks it is a COOL IDENTITY to cultivate. some will probably subtweet this haha but listen bud, the directors you trash SEE IT. publishers DONT NEED TO TOLERATE TALENTED ASSHOLES ANYMORE THERES NOT ENOUGH MONEY

important reminder that i am talkin on artists who are PUBLICLY assholes, who trash talk their classmates or their fans. the ones who EMBRACE THIS IDENTITY as a sort of flag to wave because it gets them attention. theres plenty of SECRET assholes who find success, unfortunately. that is other topic

it is also important to say that FIGHTING THE POWERS THAT BE or protesting the scoundrels of the world is not being an asshole. KINDNESS CAN BE STRONG AND DIRECT AND POWERFUL. we need kind, strong buckaroos these days. it is not a weakness to love, and you should speak up for those who need it

so what can be done? what happens if you are reading this post and thinking ‘oh heck i can feel myself falling into asshole trap?’ well as a first reminder you can do anything you want bud, HAVE AT IT because i am not telling you this for MY sake, but if you want some actual advice id say this:

just being kind is MUCH easier than it seems, it only takes a little effort to reach out to your buds, to help, to encourage, to assistant, to talk about how much you liked someones film or song or book. jealousy or frustration are NATURAL feelings, but you dont have to let them run the show.

you MAY have to mourn the times an author couldve reached out for a book event that never happened because you turned them into an enemy. or a record executive read the stuff you said in some interview and pulled the soundtrack slot that was waiting for you on their desk. but IT IS NEVER TOO LATE

YOU can turn those feelings into fuel instead of venom, and GUESS WHAT it will genuinely be great for your art. LOVE is such an incredible driver, even when its manifested from anger or darkness. it takes some work, but i believe its worth it for your heart AND your prospects as an artist. LETS TROT