#yay we’re at chap 3

[chanyueda]

Chest of Letters ; Ch. 3

i got emotional while writing this idk maybe im just that shallow

also there’s something waiting for you at the end !! dont mind the timestamp uwu

this is probably the shittiest writing i have rn but hope you enjoy uwu love yall

The long car drive to the airport sent a nauseating feeling to Steven, who still can’t get over with the letters he’d read. He told himself he’d leave the chest behind but here he was, cradling it in his hands. The lid was closed, locked and shut, the letters inside calling to be read. The key to it dangled from his neck, for it to be easy to unlock later.

“Why don’t you read one? We’re still a long way from the airport.” Star’s tone had a teasing ring to it as he looked up the rear view mirror, taking a glimpse at his now former roommate. “I could see that you badly want to read one.”

“Stop,” he groaned, “you’re making it worse. Yes, I do want to read it but I’m saving it for later...when I get bored.”

“That sucks.” Star clicked his tongue. “I wouldn’t get to see your reactions.”

“That’s better for me, I guess.” Steven laid down on the backseat, attempting to get some sleep. He’d held the chest so tightly as if it were to be a stuffed toy that he can’t let go. Which, if you think about it, is true. He can’t let go of the chest. It contains the memories he chose to forget completely, including the persons in it.

He sighed, took the key and stared at it in the air. He couldn’t resist anymore; he unlocked the chest once more and took out the paper at the top of the pile. It’s time to read another one, he thought.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly unfolded the paper and let out a small gasp upon seeing the first sentence of the letter.

Hey, should I still continue? I mean, I said I would but I’m not really feeling it. Anyway, I’d tell you something.

I didn’t get accepted to my dream university. I worked hard to get in there but, no, it didn’t pay off. I locked myself up in this room and now I’m writing to you. I got the letter just this morning and it couldn’t get worse. I thought I’d be accepted. I thought I did my best.

It wasn’t enough. Wish you were here to stop me from crying. I still remember you sending me confetti before because you thought it would make me happy and, yes it did. Send me confetti again please?

Maybe he forgot what a letter should look like; there were no salutations and there’s not even a sign at the end. How can they be sure this was from Andrew? But then, he realized that he probably wrote it in the envelope, still, he couldn’t stop the questions that formed in his mind.

Out of all the questions, he only spoke one out, “Confetti? I sent confettis?”

Steven had Star laughing in the driver’s seat like a madman. He didn’t get what’s funny about that, the only thing he knew is what he did was stupid. Who in the world would send confettis in an envelope? Steven did apparently.

“Wow you’re crazy, Steven. Didn’t know you sent confettis.” He took a left turn. “Now I know what I’d give you when you reach New York.”

“No, do not. If you do, I’m flying back here in LA.” He threatened. “But...you know...”

There was a shifting of air inside the car, the atmosphere deemed to turn into sadness.

“There were no greetings again and this time, no name.”

Star hummed.

“Don’t you hum on me! I’m bothered!”

“Well, what should I say? Yay? I’d seriously keep my trap shut than say something sarcastic that would tick you off.”

Instead of replying, Steven proceeded to read the fourth letter. It was...unsettling. The first few words took him by surprise. He wanted to rip the paper off, but he couldn’t. His grip on the paper only tightened of anger and guilt. It was fairly short too, like the last one he just read.

I’m sorry but I can’t keep writing to you anymore. I just...I don’t know. I don’t have the willpower to do it anymore. As I write this, I feel a heavy weight in holding my pen like...I’m struggling with every stroke. I’m close to ripping this paper off but I’m continuing this because I want you to know my current state. I promised to tell you everything, right?

I miss you. Come back, please? I’ve been asking you to do it but you haven’t...I guess you do hate me. Yeah, maybe that’s it.

It was over. No ending statements or anything. Just that final paragraph. He probably scrapped it all but still sent it anyway. Poor guy, he only wanted someone to talk to.

His cheeks felt hot; tears were actually streaming down it, completely drenching the paper. The guilt started to consume him whole.

“I did this upon myself.” He blamed himself again. How many times has it been? “I was selfish. I didn’t write back for whatever reason and now, he just...gave up? It’s only the fourth one, my goodness!”

He sobbed at the backseat, locking the chest and leaving it on the other side. He was a shit friend, and he knew that the moment he read both letters.

Was he even a friend?

Star pulled up on a curb. He couldn’t handle hearing Steven cry out loud.

“Hey, uh...” he clicked his tongue. “I’m bad at this but, there’s still a pile left for you to read. He didn’t give up on that letter.”

“How can you say that? For all we know, he stopped writing and the remaining ones here aren’t from him.” He wiped his tears with the sleeve of his jacket. “I’m a bad person, Star. I shouldn’t have ghosted my pen pal. I feel guilty.”

“It’s never too late. You can always write back to him. Though...I don’t know where you’re gonna look for that address though.”

Steven paid no attention to what Star said, instead, he continued to ramble on, “Don’t you see? He waited everyday for who knows how long...for me to write back and I never did! I’m sorry but...I am a bad person. I really am.”

The next events shocked Steven to oblivion; Star had slapped him hard.

“Get your shit together, Steven! Look, you can’t end it here, I keep telling you there’s still so much to read which means so much for you to know! And, you can write back!”

Hours ago, he wanted to do that. Now, he doesn’t know what to do. Andrew probably does hate him already. Even if he were to write back, it’s too late and he might do the same thing, ignoring the letters like what Steven did.

“I’m gonna continue driving.”

The chest sat unattended for minutes, but Steven could only wonder what else it contained. What other emotions could it contain? It’s like he’d opened Pandora’s box, but instead of releasing evil on the world, it released guilt and sadness through the written letters.

He opened up his phone and scrolled through his social media accounts. He needed to free his mind from everything he’d read. The thought of searching for his pen pal on the internet crossed his mind multiple times while scrolling but decided against it; his first name was the only thing he knew. There are a lot of people who share the name, so what are the odds that he’d come across an account that belonged to him?

Then he saw it. He saw a post from a person he was following.

The post was a screenshot from twitter. His eyes widened upon reading it. The tweet had lots of likes and retweets, but he couldn’t see the replies.

This tweet...he’s looking for him.

[sokovianheadtilt]

To Be Loved

Bucky Barnes x black!reader

Summary: Bucky spends some time with Logan

Warnings: none

A/N: alpine makes an appearance!! this is the last part of their backstory before I start getting into head cannons and one shots of their life together

Word Count: 1.6k

You spent weeks thinking about that forehead kiss. His lips felt warm, soft, a little chapped, like how you always imagined them to be. You could feel yourself growing more nervous around Bucky whenever he was around. You felt like you had to watch what you say more often, try not to be too off-putting and you couldn’t lie it was driving you crazy. You just wanted to grab his little grumpy face and kiss him like there was no tomorrow.

The thoughts followed you to work where you were currently having one of the busiest days of your life. You had been running around for your boss all day for a big case that everyone was preparing for. You kept checking the time for when you needed to leave to get Logan from school but you didn’t know if you would be able to slip away. You had to think of what to do and what options you had when you suddenly had an idea.

You grabbed your phone clicked on Bucky’s contact and waited for him to answer, which he did after two rings.

“Hey doll” he answered

“Hey, so this might be a bad idea and you could totally say no” you started and waited for his reply, yet he stayed silent “Okay, so I’m pretty swamped at work right now and I’ve tried to find a time to slip away and get Logan from school but I can’t, so…since you live right next to me and Logan loves you- like he won’t stop talking about you” you chuckled a bit “Can you go get him? I-I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t serious”

Bucky smiled on the other end of the line “Of course I can, anything for the little man”

You grinned “Thank you so so much Bucky, um, he gets out at 3, please don’t be a minute late or he’ll think he was forgotten again”

Bucky shook his head “I won’t, I promise”

“Good. I’ll send you the address and I’ll come get him at around 6 so can you keep him at your place until then?”

He nodded “Yes, we’re gonna have so much fun and I’ll help him with homework and make him a snack, all that good stuff”

You chuckled softly “Thank you so much I really appreciate this. I’ll call the school and let them know so they don’t think you’re a kid snatcher” Bucky laughed out loud at that

“Okay, go be a badass lawyer”

“Lawyer’s assistant” you corrected him

He laughed a little to himself “Still badass, bye doll”

“Bye you said softly before hanging up and taking a breath before going back to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky was outside of Logan’s school at exactly 2:30 as he sat in his car and waited for Logan to come out. He kept checking the time and took deep breaths to calm himself down. He did not want to blow this with Logan. He loved the little guy and if he messes up with Logan, he messes up with you. He wanted to make both of you happy.

When the time finally came, he watched the kids pour out of the building as he got out of his car and looked for Logan. He eventually saw him run out with his backpack flopping against his back as he saw Bucky and waved at him.

“Hi Bucky!” Logan said as he ran over to him and hugged his legs.

Bucky chuckled and leaned down to hug him back “Hey bud” he pulled back and looked at him “So, your mom is at work being amazing and she was busy, so you’re going to hang out with me for a bit, how does that sound?”

Logan grinned “Yay! You’re fun”

Bucky grinned “Yes, we are gonna have an amazing couple of hours, and I have an idea for what we’re going to do”

Logan nodded “Okay Bucky”

Bucky smiled softly and watched Logan take Bucky’s metal hand. He led them to the car and put Logan in his car seat which he kept a spare in his trunk in case Y/N needed one. He made sure he was secure and closed the door before getting inside and looking back at Logan “Are you allergic to cats?”

Logan shook his head “No, my grandma has a cat, I never sneeze, only when it ruffles its tail in my face”

Bucky nodded “Okay, I have a great surprise that can be very fun”

Logan grinned “Okay!” Bucky pumped his fist before starting the car and driving off.

He drove them back home and pulled into his driveway. He got out and took Logan out as well and brought them inside. Bucky looked at Logan and crouched down to his eye level.

“So, every week I see a nice lady who helps keep me happy in a way and she said a pet could help with that, so I got a kitten”

Logan gasped “Really? Can I pet it?”

Bucky smiled “Of course, he got up and picked the cat up off the couch and brought it over to Logan “Here she is. Her name is Alpine”

Logan cooed and pet her head gently “She’s so pretty. Her eyes are so blue”

Bucky grinned “Thank you, and you will get to play with her all you want after we do your homework”

Logan pouted “Aw, okay”

Bucky nodded “Okay, let’s sit at the table”

Logan put his backpack on the table and climbed onto the chair as Bucky sat across from him. “What are we working on today?”

Logan looked at him “Numbers. I’m not that good at them”

Bucky nodded “That’s okay, I can help you”

Logan nodded “Okay”

Bucky looked at the paper and started to help with his homework. Doing this with Logan felt oddly domestic to Bucky. He can imagine being a dad and helping his kids with his homework and he wants to do that all with you, and he hoped one day he would. He would happily act as Logan’s father figure if you let him. He was prepared to step up to the challenge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After they finished Logan’s homework, Bucky made them both some sandwiches as they played with Alpine in the living room.

You pulled into the driveway and got out, knocking on Bucky’s door. He soon opened the door with a huge smile “Hey doll”

You smiled “Hi Buck”

He moved out the way to let you inside as you saw Logan playing with a cat “When…why?” You turned to face Bucky who put his hands on his hips

“Today before you called and therapist recommended it and it helps. Her name is Alpine”

You smiled “She’s very cute”

He grinned “Thanks”

“You’re welcome. How was Logan?”

“Perfect as always. Helped him with his homework. He knows the difference between a 6 and a 9 now”

You chuckled softly “Thank you so much. He always gets frustrated with it”

‘I could tell I was the same way as a kid. I just had to reassure him that it’s okay if he doesn’t pick it up right away. Math is hard, and it sucks I really don’t like it”

You giggled “I know” you smiled softly and looked over at Logan and called out to him “Hey honey, go put your shoes on we’re gonna go back home”

Logan stood up “Okay” you watched him pull his shoes on and grabbed his backpack, running over and taking your hand “Ready mommy! Can I come play with Alpine tomorrow?”

You giggled and nodded “If it’s okay with Bucky”

Bucky nodded “Yeah of course. He can come by anytime”

Logan giggled as you opened the door “Wanna walk with us?”

Bucky nodded “Sure” he closed the door behind him as he followed you to your place. You opened the door to let Logan run inside, telling him to play in the living room as you turned to face Bucky. “Hey, thanks again for doing this”

Bucky waved it off “It’s no issue. You know I love him”

You smiled softly “I know and it means so much to him”

He smiled down at you as you looked into his eyes. You bit your lip slightly before leaning up to kiss him. You set a hand on his cheek and felt his hand rest on your hip. Your lips fit perfectly together like puzzle pieces. You’ve never felt like this while kissing anyone, ever. It was like a weight was lifted off your chest. Everything just felt right.

You slowly pulled away and looked at him “I uh..”

He caressed your cheek and pressed another kiss to your cheek “I hope you didn’t regret that because if you did we can forget it ever happened”

You shook your head quickly “No no I definitely didn’t regret it’s just..I have a kid, and we’ve already been through a lot and I don’t want to do this if you’re going to hurt us”

He frowned and pulled you a bit closer “Doll I wouldn’t even imagine hurting you or Logan. I love him so much and I know he’s your first priority, he should be. I like you so much I’m pretty sure I fell for you the moment I saw you”

You smiled softly “Okay, we can do this, just can we go slow?”

He nodded “Of course. Everything we do is on your terms and that’s not going to change”

You nodded “Okay,” you said softly and pressed another kiss to his lips “And I want us to sit and talk to Logan about this when the time is right”

He nodded “Got it”

You smiled and reached down to hold his hand as he spoke again “I’m all yours”

[thebatfamfanatic]

Six Times He Met Her

Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

Warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI, guy taking advantage of a minor in first chap, mention of underage smut in fourth chap, making out?, violence, mentions of blood/injury, main character death, adult language, angst

A/N: First thing I’ve written on Tumblr!! Tell me if anybody likes it, or if I broke your heart. And yes, I know I’m evil.

1-

The first time he saw you was around 2:30 in the morning. Jason was squatting on the edge of a rooftop in Gotham, surveying the dark scenery below him.

Somehow, there was still plenty of traffic on the dirty streets, plenty of cars honking and driving around. Jason always wondered who the fuck needed to be somewhere at 2 am.

He fiddled with a loose seam on the Robin uniform he sported each night, hunting down the assholes of Gotham (pretty much 70% of the city) and putting them in jail, where they belonged.

At 16, Jason Todd technically should have been in bed, maintaining a healthy sleep schedule and doing some rich kid shit during the day. Of course, his adoptive (long story) father, Bruce Wayne, richest playboy in Gotham, employed him to be his little tweety bird sidekick at night, so here he was, at the rendezvous watching the streets. yay. A scream came from an alley nearby. Jason stood, stretched his legs, and leaped down from the roof onto the ground. He pinpointed the alleyway where the noise was coming from and raced into it. A girl, about his age, had been cornered by some bitch dude who thought he could take advantage of this girl. Not on Robin’s watch.

Before the girl could scream again, the guy was on the ground and Jason was helping her up. She shakily took the hand he offered her and looked him in the eye. Shit, she had gorgeous eyes. Jason froze for a second, lost in her beauty, before clearing in his throat.

“Hi. I’m Robin, uh, you probably knew that. Are you okay, ma’am?”

He hated the squeak that came out of his mouth. He sounded like a fucking 5 year old. The girl raised her eyebrow. She had recovered rather quickly. “You don’t have to call me ma’am. I’m not some rich-ass royal whatever from Britain.” Jason liked this one. Sassy, but just so. He inquired where she lived, and she gave him the address. With his grappling hook at the ready, Jason pulled her closer to him. She jumped at the sudden closeness, but seemed to enjoy it. Maybe? He didn’t know shit about girls.

Jason shot the hook, propelling them up in the air, and landed on a rooftop. They continued this routine until he got in front of her house. It was still several seconds before he released her waist.

She started to walk towards her door, before stopping.

“Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Sorry, what?” Jason blinked.

“I thought you were smart, Robin. Its my name, dumb ass.”

Then Y/N disappeared into her house. Jason stood there foolishly outside on her front lawn for a while, thinking about the girl he had just met. She was unlike anyone he had ever met, and he realized 10 minutes later that he had forgotten to ask about where her family was and everything.

Oh well. Bruce would be expecting him anyways. Jason shot his grappling hook and started home, still dazed from the encounter.

2-

The second time you guys met was two weeks later. Jason was just Jason Todd, a normal 10th grader living in the shadow of his (adopted) older brother Dick Grayson. Nobody paid much attention to him, and he didn’t really mind. Mostly Jason focused on getting A’s in class and then retreating into the library until Golden Boy’s after school clubs were over.

That is, until you walked in. It sounded as if you had just moved here, and for a minute, Jason felt a little sorry for you. I mean, Gotham wasn’t the greatest place to spend high school, or any grade, in his opinion.

You looked at your schedule from across the hall and then up at the locker next to him. For a second, your eyes met his and Jason was content. Lost in those brilliant colors. And then you looked away and started walking towards him. He realized just in time maybe he should stop leaning over your locker as you stopped next to him.

“Hi. Y/N. Just moved here. Looks like we’re locker neighbors.”

Jason was about to reply with “I know” but restrained himself. “Jason. Nice to meet you. Congrats on moving to this shitshow.”

He managed to not grin like an idiot as you laughed. The sound was music to his ears, like beautiful bells. God, he was being sappy.

“It’s not much of a shitshow when you’re here.” Ooh, she flirts too. Jason smirked as you opened your locker and dumped your stuff inside, pulling out the things you needed for your first class.

The first bell shrieked just as you closed your locker. “See you around, Jason.”

The small smile you gave him made his day, and he almost forgot to get to class. Yes, you were certainly one of a kind, and yes, Jason wanted you. The question was how to get to that point.

3-

You guys had a couple classes together, and frequently sat at the same table during lunch, so it wasn’t long before you were quick friends with Jason. However, the next notable time you met was a little while after he got your number.

Jason was laying on his bed, scrolling mindlessly through Tumblr as he thought about ways to ask you out.

Y/N, would you grant me the honor of going out with me? No, too Romeo and Juliet.

Hey, want to grab ice cream? He had to make it clear what his intentions were. Then it wouldn’t be weird if he kissed you, right?

Oh, god, if he fucking kissed you….what would that be like? Before Jason could start fantasizing, his fingers were flying across the keyboard and he had sent a text to you. What did he do, what did he-

Hey, I was wondering if you’d like to see that new movie this weekend. It seems like something you would enjoy.

Hm. That was actually pretty good. Where did he come up with that?

Jason had just started inspecting his fingers for some kind of sign of being possessed by smooth-with-girls-syndrome when you responded. He looked up and read it quickly.

Sure, I’d love that! Thanks for thinking of me ❤️

A heart. You had put a heart at the end of it. Did that mean you knew it was a date?

Jason sighed. He certainly hoped so.

4-

The weekend date went good. By the end of it, Jason was sure you knew it was a date. The second one passed, and then the third. The third one was when you hesitantly pecked him on the cheek. The fourth was when he kissed you actually. It wasn’t a long kiss, but it was just enough for him to take you on a fourth date. An actual “will you go out with me on a date” kind of thing.

He took you to a restaurant in the fancy part of things. You two ate food that two broke 16 year olds technically shouldn’t have been able to afford, but Bruce helped Jason out.

Jason drove you home afterwards and discussed the topic of the upcoming summer during the car ride. What you were doing, where he was going. The entire time, Jason had butterflies in his stomach. He wasn’t sure how to act. Was he messing it all up, or were you actually into him?

Once he parked in front of your house and walked you up to the stoop, you looked at him. He noticed you were biting your lip nervously, and god, why did he think that was so hot? “My parents aren’t home.” It was the softest Jason had ever heard you speak, but he knew what you meant. He smiled gently, and kissed you again. This one was destined to last longer, and before either of you realized it, you had opened your door and you were leading him to your bedroom.

That night was one neither of you would forget, and by the end of it, Jason had officially asked out successfully.

5-

You and Jason spent a lot of time together after that. You met his older brother, Dick (who was very happy for Jason, too happy in his opinion) and his dad, Bruce Wayne. Bruce was cool, but very busy all the time.

By two months, Jason still hadn’t told you his identity as Robin, and he was running out of excuses. One day, you confronted him, assuming he was cheating on you. He tried everything, but he had to go out on patrol.

Jason left that night assuming you were broken up. The entire patrol, he wasn’t himself. Truth was, he loved you so much he was afraid of losing you. That had become his greatest fear. It was that night everything went wrong.

6-

You were out taking a late night walk. Down by the pier, a cold wind was blowing, and as you walked past warehouse after warehouse, you pulled your coat tighter.

You were affected as well, and confused about where you and your boyfriend stood. Did you guys just breakup? Did he love you? Did–

A scream echoed from one of the warehouses. You turned, afraid of stepping closer but afraid of leaving the person. Eventually, your curiosity won over and you climbed up several crates to peer into the window.

What you saw inside almost made you scream yourself. Robin, the hero everybody talked about, lay defenseless and bloody on the ground as a tall man-the Joker- whacked him over and over again with a crowbar.

You gasped, wanting to help, but you knew that would be foolish. You would just get in the way for a minute. Tears started to form in your eyes as Robin weakly cried out from the pain. He looked so…helpless.

Joker relentlessly beat him with the crowbar, and Robin’s mask began to come off. You rubbed the tears from your eyes just as the mask fell to the ground.

“No.” was the only thing that you could muster. Jason lay on the ground in the bloody Robin suit. Jason fucking Todd. There was your boyfriend, being beaten to death by the asshole of all assholes. That was why he kept disappearing at night, because he fucking protected the city!

You were mad at yourself for being so cruel to Jason without knowing what was really going on. You barely paid attention as Batman and Nightwing suddenly burst through the windows.

Joker laughed, and said something you couldn’t hear from the outside. Probably taunting Batman as he watched his apprentice get beat to death.

A fight broke out, Batman lunging at Joker as Nightwing rushed to Jason, laying broken on the ground. You had just enough time to duck as a Batarang came swooping out of the hands of the Caped Crusader and straight through the window you were looking through.

It was then you realized how close Jason was to death, and what you needed to do. The window pricked your jacket as you jumped through it, but you didn’t care. Gymnastics back in 6th grade helped when you landed awkwardly. Nightwing spun around, and it wasn’t hard to figure out that was Dick, which meant Bruce was Batman.

However, none of that mattered when Jason was half dead in front of you. Nightwing- Dick- made no effort to stop you as you knelt in front of Jason. “No, no, no.” You cradled his head in your hands, trying hard not to recognize how limp his body was, and how his chest barely moved as he struggled to breathe.

Jason’s eyes were closed, tears running down his face silently. You were crying as well, mumbling curses and things that made no sense.

“Please, don’t be dead. Please, I-I love you.”

You watched Jason make no acknowledgement he could hear you, watched him breathe once more. His chest rose and never fell.

You screamed and buried your head in his costume, not caring about getting blood on your face. Dick pulled you away wordlessly, out of the warehouse. You barely registered that the warehouse exploded behind you a few seconds later.

Dick let you sob into his shoulder for what seemed like hours. Him and Bruce exchanged a short conversation, both riddled with grief.

Six times you and Jason had met, and that was the last.

[maldito-arbol]

Are there any other songs that inspired you for PMIT and/or IBYBF, for the whole fics or just chapters even (Other than the title song lol)

OKAY OKAY IM GONNA TAKE MY TIME WITH THIS ONE. SO. Human was definitely the inspiration for the title of PMIT—it was something I was hyperfixating on when I published it, and I just ripped a lyric out for the title. I should note that chaps 1-2 were written months prior to posting, so there was no title yet, it was just “Sashannarcy Thing”. But then I found that Paint Me In Trust kinda matched with Marcy’s whole manipulation arc and I went with it. It wasn’t until I started IBYBF that I realized the next 3 lyrics after Paint Me In Trust fit like. PERFECTLY with the next stories I wanted to tell. So now the song inspires the whole series yay.

But we’re not here for Human, we’re here for mal’s Spotify playlists. SO. There were some things that were inspired by music but for the most part there were just songs that I associated with each chapter because I was listening to them while writing even if they had NOTHING to do with the story itself. So the song I was hyperfixating on when I started writing PMIT WAS LITERALLY—-

No this has nothing to do with the story, I didn’t even look up the lyrics while listening, it was just fun to jam to while I paced around like a madman writing delicious angst. And im giving it to u now bc it is good yes come look at my Spanish selection (I have a weird thing that every time I start writing a new fic or story there’s always that ONE Spanish song that I’m hyperfixating on and will forever associate with that story even if it makes zero sense)

Okay the next one might’ve had a little bit more of a resonance with the content of the fic itself. I was obsessing over Hop Along at the same time as Mi Cama, specifically the four songs Bruno Is Orange, Sirens, The Goose & The Wren, and THIS ONE

The inspiration here was mostly taken from the vibe. It’s just. So upbeat and yet sounds so sad at the same time. I actually started making a sapphic Warriors OC pmv that i never finished to it at some point, which is why it ended up steering off PMIT territory and into other territory. However, I still recall fondly listening to it as I was writing chaps 1-2, and I still hyperfixate on it from time to time now too.

OKAY MOVING ON TO CHAPS 3-4 BECAUSE THERE WAS A MASSIVE GAP BETWEEN 2 AND 3. So first of all. THIS. THIS MOTHER MOTHER SONG HIT ME LIKE A TRUCK

because of the lonely vibe of it—the feeling of watching everyone else all by yourself, because that’s how Marcy’s supposed to feel for like 90% of PMIT. just listen to it you’ll never be the same

PLUS! This song.

The line “two-faced bitches never lie and therefore I never lie” obviously was a huge one, but THIS WHOLE PART is so PMIT Marcy I could just die:

“Got to work on my brain then I'm

Crawling back to my grave and

I'm certain that I'm gonna die this time

No doubt is left inside my mind tonight

So I'm just gonna wait for nausea to set in, I'm

Peacing out at eleven.”

right? RIGHT? crying in the club tonight.

Im not gonna talk about Insane Clown Posse Im not gonna talk about Insane Clown Posse Im

I will not tell you which of their songs I was hyperfixating on when I was writing chapters 4 and 6 because it has NOTHING to do with the story except for the angry and evil vibe and i was writing angey and evil uwuwu Marcy at the time. Please do not associate Marcy with Insane Clown Posse she does not deserve it *sobs* Please do not go listening to random songs of theirs to find it, ICP is not for the faint of heart IDK WHY I HYPERFIXATE ON THEM HELP!! I would like to reiterate that oftentimes it’s literally just the VIBE of the song that kicks my ass into gear, not the lyrics not the lyrics I’m screaming just thinking about it.

Anyway obligatory Two Birds because Two Birds inspires ALL of my angst pairings

You listen to this song and then you automatically choose violence sorry i don’t make the rules

Okok now moving on to IBYBF.

This mother mother song released RIGHT as I started writing it, so of course you KNOW i was listening to it on repeat for all of the early chapters:

The line “maybe I am right where I’m supposed to be” really hit me in particular and there’s this vibe of Recovery after a mental breakdown so it was literally perfect for the premise of IBYBF oh mother mother you spoil me so

ALRIGHT THE NEXT ONE IS ANOTHER ‘VIBE’ INSPIRATION.

So okay i found this one RIGHT as I started writing Heart in chapter 5. I should preface this with: Heart’s feelings for Anne are NOT meant to be taken as romantic please don’t do that i will call the police, but Heart’s feelings ARE meant to be taken as an Obsession rather than a genuine care for another person. This is something I’m going to get into further during fic 3, and maybe possibly in the finale of IBYBF if the time is right, but Heart’s perception of what it means to love (again, NOT romantic) and to be loved are extremely warped. They have this insistence on claiming ownership of their vessels (which Wit and Strength do sometimes fall into in their more regressive phases but i digress) which is what ‘love’ means to them. If you are Heart’s vessel, you belong to them, you do what they think you want, you become what they think you want, but in reality it’s all just what they want. Their logic basically is: “I want to destroy everything I touch. You are my vessel, therefore you do too. I will make it happen for both of us, but most importantly for you.” and it just bleeds into EVERYTHING they do. They believe they are doing this extraordinary favor to their vessel, giving them everything they want, and that’s how they think they’re going to get their vessel to love them. BUT CLEARLY, THAT’S JUST ABUSE. YOU DO NOT OWN ANYONE AND YOU DO NOT DESTROY THE THINGS AND THE PEOPLE THEY LOVE. my god.

Okay okay so I got off-track. Back to the song. See the vibe of the song is an extremely aggressive kind of love that’s repeating in an obsessed mantra of “i want you to do this i want you to do that” which WEIRDLY resonates a LOT with Heart’s obsessive inclinations. Like put aside everything else and just look at lyrics like THIS:

“I want your horror, I want your design

'Cause you're a criminal as long as you're mine”

“I want your psycho, your vertigo shtick”

Does that not sound familiar.

I don’t quite understand how the song managed to find me at the exact perfect time but here it is and it’s now Heart’s theme song because i said so. Thank u this has been another “Heart is a fucking maniac PSA hours” <3

NOW ONTO CHAPTER 7! It was right around this time that Centaurworld s2 came out, which means my ears were full of just CENTAURWORLD SOUNDTRACK the entire time. Honorable mentions to Fragile Things, Fragile Things (Reprise), Rider’s Lullaby, The Nowhere King, It’s Gonna Be A While, Nothing Good, Becky Apples, Elk Tour Suite pt 3 & 4, Battle Round, and Last Lullaby pt 1, which I was listening to religiously as I wrote, but the big whammy is absolutely this one:

Obviously Horse and Anne are in very different circumstances right now but the theme of “My reflection has become an unfamiliar someone” rings true in both so there’s that <3

Anyway what is Mal listening to now? Obviously the entire Encanto soundtrack, haha you caught me. But also this one Jack Stauber song. Doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the story I just like it and it’s got a very melancholy vibe so that’s fun:

Go give it a listen if you’re not exhausted listening to all this other crap I just dumped on you.

As I wrote the Party Chapter I was also listening to Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ex’s & Oh’s by Elle King which also have nothing to do with the story but I just think it’s funny I randomly started hyperfixating on them again.

Sorry this post is SO LONG I just have so many Thoughts about my fics All The Time and it would be so weird to just randomly infodump them unprompted, but then u came and prompted me SO HAHA!! YOU HAVE FALLEN INTO MY TRAP!

Alright alright that’s all I have to say, thank u for reading! <3

[eldritch-elrics]

svsss: binghe callout party + the system’s punishment

so much happened in these chapters oh my god. i can’t believe i’m on chap 74 of 81

tldr: sqq needs to stop procrastinating on his sexuality crisis, also yay for cqms protecting its own but oh no for binghe discovering the truth about his parents, also COOL system penalty. oh and fake internet drama my beloved

zzl my poor, poor boy. i hate that he killed gongyi xiao but :((( he’s trying so hard to be nice to sqq!!! sqq’s making it so hard for him!

it’s also really interesting how fixated on repaying debts/revenges he is. i know it’s demon culture being different from human culture but i am going hmm… neurodivergence momence….

tlj, completely unprompted, once again: huh, so sqq likes threesomes does he? very interesting…

sqq saying he trusts binghe <3

seems like sqq believes binghe will change. i also believe in him! though seeing what lbh’s been like, we’ll see how fast that change happens lol.

sqq also says later that most of the tension between him and lbh has been a misunderstanding, which… yeah that’s fair enough. but sqq is very much at fault for a lot of that misunderstanding! because he is (or used to be, at least) shit at communication! at least he’s been taking responsibility

always astounded by how much effort liu qingge goes through to rescue sqq, whether that’s just his body or his actual person. sqq is really just drowning in men who want to do things for him

sqh confessing everything and babbling at lqg <3 and oh my god he fought mobei-jun?

binghe: only two rooms thanks :3 i don’t have money for more :3

liu qingge: i’ll fucking kill you

i really do want to see the scene of lbh and lqg trying to share a room. i was hoping maybe they would do some enemies-to-friends bro bonding but it seems like it’s too early for that… grudges like that can’t be fixed in one night...

we’re almost at chapter 70 and sqq still thinks he’s straight.

funny that the system says it needs to save resources? that feels like a bad excuse. there’s never been a problem like that before… and doesn’t it make sense for the system to just have infinite resources? i’m very interested in this statement. maybe it’s just bluffing to make itself seem less powerful than it is / delay sqq’s gratification

the fact that it’s not giving him any new coolness points is probably a good thing, since he spends all of them a couple chapters later. maybe sqq will gain back all those he lost in a rush at the end of the month

SQQ IS SO EMOTIONAL ABOUT GETTING HIS FAN BACK I LOVE HIM

binghe serving him breakfast waaaa

as far as i recall, binghe’s the only one who’s been able to make the system give sqq prompts with multiple-choice answers. protagonist power! one more piece of evidence for the idea that lbh’s subconscious is what influences the system most

lqg kicking doors down is so normal that sqq doesn’t react

poor zzl for the dozenth time: gets used as a seat cushion :(

this entire next part is just Hurting Binghe Hours

this scene felt super mdzs. it’s like… stirring up a giant crowd against someone, with the intention of ruining their reputation? reminiscent of jinlan city too of course but that theme of reputation is so central to mdzs that it made me think. also the whole thing about lbh being a bastard/otherwise outside the cultivation world norm... hmm.....

“tianlang-jun is not my father. i don’t need a father.”

fucks me up…

lqg and yqy: *knocks ten angry cultivators away from sqq* oops my hand slipped

lbh ran away… bingqiu separated once more :(

ohhhhh my god the system penalty. i had totally forgot about the whole “sending him back to his original world” thing but i’m so glad it got brought up again. all the peak lords must be worried sick haha... hopefully he’ll wake up in his bed in qing jing peak or something later and it’ll all be ok

meeting og!lbh… god i got chills. that part was so good

i can’t help but notice he lost his right arm and left leg….. just like edward elric……

that’s such a good system punishment tbh like.. it’s not sending him back to HIS original world, but it’s sort of like sending him to sqq’s original world, for just a few minutes…

yay meng mo saved him!

not surprised at how bad shen jiu’s situation was. i will have to read more about it later!!

i’m so close to the end holy shit. i expect we’ll get some more bingqiu development soon but it’s so funny that sqq hasn’t even realized he’s not straight, let alone that he likes lbh! i guess this novel is really their getting-together story more than anything (we’ve got the extras for established relationship stuff) but i feel like there’s still so much left to resolve!

speaking of extras… there’s an extra chapter plopped right in the middle here? thanks mxtx lol

ok my take is: reading fake internet drama is so FUCKING funny

i do not know anything about chinese webnovel internet culture but this scene still rings so true to me… people on web forums just be like that huh

airplane is so excited about all the arguing sjkdhsjd

the fact that peerless cucumber is labeled an expert.

peerless cucumber up in here with his fantastic takes like “the monsters are so much more interesting than the endless wives” and “the only good bit is binghe’s arc”

the person who comments “cucumber bro wrote so many words just to hate on it, must be true love”

the person who comments “hey guys wanna read my bingqiu slash”

the handful of comments that are like “the romance between binghe and the women is terrible but the relationships he has with the male characters are emotional and moving” just go to solidify my “airplane is gay and knows jack shit about women” theory

again, araki jojo vibes

what a way to die, airplane

and he was thinking of sqq too! just like sqq was thinking about him when he died :) it’s fate!

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Steve//i can see a better time, when all our dreams come true

hey! last part! i just want to say thank you to everyone who’s read, liked, reblogged and supported this series! you all mean the absolute world to me. i know this is gonna sound cringey or whatever, but this series is more than just that. i was originally supposed to write and post this last christmas. but something that i can’t really remember stopped me and i was so disappointed in myself. then this hell hole of a year happened and i had a major mental health crisis (something i am still recovering from) meaning i couldn’t do anything but watch the same three tv shows and scroll through instagram for about 3 months, as well as a bunch of other awful things. i thought it would be a miracle to just start writing requests again, but then when i was going through a notebook, i found this idea and remembered how much i loved it and how upset i was that i hadn’t done it. so i thought i’d try and do it, and after many, many days and nights of me stressing about the littlest things and driving my girlfriend absolutely insane by only talking about this (sorry, i love you!), i’d done it! and i am so proud of myself! i know its not the biggest achievement of the year, but it’s mine. so again thank you to not only everyone whose read this series, but also thank you to everyone who has read and supported everything i’ve done this year. i really do hope that next year is a better one for all of you! happy new year my loves! 

They say that time moves in different ways depending on the situation. 

For example, the day you spent hours driving to the beach with Steve and Robin felt like it was over in five minutes. But the time stuck under ground in a really crappy elevator with them felt more like a week. 

From the time it takes Steve to take his bandana and goggles off and to walk the three steps to you, it feels like days and seconds all at once. He wraps his arms around you, pulling you tight to him and the two of you let out a breath you feel like you’ve been holding for the past week. Finally you feel like you can breathe again, and finally the weight on Steve’s chest shifts a little. 

Your hair is matted, your clothes dirty and torn and there’s a cut on your cheek, blood slowly trickles down your cheek, staining your face and your t-shirt red. But you’re you, and you’re alive and you look like you don’t know whether to laugh or cry. 

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” You’re the first to speak, your words stumbling over each other. A chuckle mixed with a sob passes your lips as you hug him again, you hold him tighter than he’s ever been hugged before, it feels like his ribs are being crushed but he doesn’t care. He just presses a kiss against your forehead, and runs his fingers through your knotted hair. 

Hot tears land on the top of your head but you don’t feel them, you’re too busy crying into his shirt and the two of you stand like that for a few minute, thankful and very overwhelmed that the other one is alive and well. 

“I think I do.” He sobs and you let out a short laugh. “I love you so much Y/n. I am so fucking sorry. I’m such an idiot.” 

“No, no. It’s fine.” You cup his cheeks. “I was overreacting and I shouldn’t have stormed off. It’s fine.” You say and press a quick kiss to his lips, they’re salty because of the tears but neither of you care. “I love you Steve.” You finish and he breathes deeply, his shoulders sagging and the only thing that keeps him from falling is you. 

“I thought you were dead.” He cries. 

“Nah. You can’t get rid of me that easy.” You try, nudging his shoulder but he doesn’t smile. 

“I thought I’d never see you again. I thought...I thought.” 

“I’m fine.” You cut him off before he can finish his sentence. “Look. I’m good.” 

“I wouldn’t go that far.” He teases and you stare at him offended. 

“Rude. You do know that I almost died right?” 

“You’re so dramatic.” He rolls his eyes and yours widen. 

“Excuse me? I’m sorry who came all the way into an alternate dimension just to save me? Oh right. You.” 

“I only did that because I had nothing better to do. You know after boxing day things got a bit boring.” He shrugs and you slap his shoulder. 

“Asshole.” You mumble making him laugh. “How did you find me?” 

“Do you really think I’d forget the place we first met?” He replies, sending you a look and you squint up at him, the light from his torch blinding you slightly. “Sorry.” He mumbles and quickly turns it off.

“I thought given the circumstances you would have at least tried.” You shrug, staring at the floor. 

“Nah. Surprisingly it was the best day of my life.” He confesses and it surprises not only you but himself. That’s something he never thought he’d say. 

He thought Halloween 1984 would be a day that always hurt to think about. And yeah, thinking about what Nancy said to him still stung, but then he remembers you. 

You, in a costume he didn’t quite get. Your expression full of irritation that only softened when you saw him crying. You who asked what was wrong and stayed with him until he decided he wanted to go home. You who the next day found him to make sure he was okay. 

“Will you marry me?” He asks and your eyes widen.

“What?” You splutter and he stares at you hopefully. 

“I love you more than I have loved anything ever. You’re my favourite person ever, you make every day brighter. On days where I think I can’t do anything, when I think my dad is right about all the the shit he’s said and that little nagging voice in my head is shouting, you’re always there to tell me I’m wrong. You’ve helped me when I’ve been broken up with, beaten up and drugged. You fought a Russians for me and beaten up creatures from another dimension without even knowing what it was. I’ve never felt safer or happier with you by my side. I know I’m an idiot, but still...will you marry me?” 

“Steve.” You gasp, tears roll down your cheeks mixing with the blood and goo. “Yes. Yes I will marry you.” You reply and he lets of a sigh of relief. “Although, you didn’t get on one knee, and I don’t see a ring.” You tease and he rolls his eyes. 

His hands cup your cheeks delicately, he ducks his head down and presses a gentle kiss against your chapped and sore lips. 

“Steve? Steve? Are you okay?” Robin’s voice crackles through the walkie-talkie and you jump apart, suddenly remembering where you are. A loud crash comes from just outside and you and Steve freeze and stare at each other.

Thunder booms so loud it rings in your ears for a few seconds after and Steve feels the weight come back, only this time its shared with you too.

“I’ve got her.” He says slowly and eyes the bathroom suspiciously. “If you’re not already at the portal, go now. We’re on our way back...over.” He says and you hear a collection of relived sighs. 

“Yay! You said it!” Annie cheers and Steve rolls his eyes.

“What she means is we’re glad you’re both okay. Now get your ass back.” Robin adds and you and Steve don’t need to be told twice. Steve grabs the bat he dropped on the floor and reaches for your hand. He starts to pull you but is instantly stopped when he hears your cry in pain. 

“What? What’s wrong?” He’s in front of you instantly, looking you up and down for any injuries, and then his eyes land on your leg, and you watch him pale. 

“Stupid ugly thing got me.” You mumble and glance down at it, you cringe at the sight of the now brown blood, and inflamed scratches. Yeah, there is no way you’re going to be able to get that stain out.

“Can you walk.” He asks and looks around for anything to help. 

“I’ll be fine Steve. I just need to get used to it.” You reply. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes.” You nod. “Come on. I don’t want to be in Tina’s bathroom anymore than I already have been.” 

“Same.” He huffs and wraps his bandana around you. 

“What about you?” You ask while he puts the goggles on you. 

“I’ll be fine.” He waves you off. “It’s only a bit of dust.” He smirks and you roll your eyes. “Now come on.” He says quicker and wraps an arm around you. The two of you hobble towards the front door, tripping on a few vines and branches.

Steve helps you balance against the wall and the front door creaks as he pulls it open. 

“Okay.” He nods and looks back at you. “Nothing is waiting to kill us so I think we’ll be fine.” 

Famous last words.” You smirk and he rolls his eyes at you while helping you walk again. 

As soon as your outside, the door slams closed making the two of you jump. Wind rushes around the two of you and brown and black works its way into the cracks of the sky. Buildings tumble down around you, almost as if an invisible force is stomping on each of them. You and Steve share a look as the chaos seems to get closer and closer to you. 

“Shall we go then?” Steve asks, his eyes wide with fear and you quickly nod. 

“Yep.” You reply. “I hate parties anyway.” You say and a small smile twitches on your lips. Steve returns it and the two of you make your way down the steps and onto the street. 

Thankfully, Tina doesn’t live that far from you. In the past that was something you hated because it meant you couldn’t get out of parties, this time however, you’re very grateful for the closeness of your homes. 

In an ideal world, it means you’ll be able to get back to the right and semi-safe world in less than twenty minutes. However, if the past seven years have taught you and Steve anything, it’s that you don’t live in an ideal world. You live in the opposite in fact. 

Like you said, the habitants of The Upside Down, don’t care much for cleaning, and it’s only made worse now that the entire things seems to be collapsing around you. Either it’s doing it on purpose so none of you can escape, or all of you just have some really bad timing. 

“So this whole place is dying?” You ask and look around. It certainly looks like it’s dying. It has done since you woke up and its only gotten worse. You also thought it was strange that you hadn’t been eaten by now. 

“Yep.” He replies. “Apparently all those times we thought we’d won but hadn’t. Did actually do something. It just took a while for it to feel the affect.” 

“And I’m in here because?” 

“Annie said that whatever dragged you in, was probably looking for anything to eat.” He replies and you think about it for a few seconds. 

“So why didn’t it eat me?” 

“How the hell am I suppose to know.” He says. “Do I look like the scientist here?” 

“Furthest from actually.” 

“Exactly.” He smiles. 

“So what’s the plan?” 

“We get out as quickly as we can.” 

“The more detailed plan?” You roll your eyes. 

“Dustin and Lucas got a bunch of explosives and fireworks. We’ve dumped them in here and as soon as we get out, El and Will’s going to explode them!” He says proudly and you look at him impressed. 

“Wo-Watch out!”

You and Steve narrowly miss being hit by a falling tree, only to trip over some sort of decaying monster. 

“Gross.” You huff and look down at your hands, now covered in blood and guts. “Are you okay Steve?” You ask while trying to stand back up. 

“No.” He mumbles and you frown as you turn around to face him. He’s hunched over in the middle of the road, dry heaving and your eyebrows furrow as you watch him. 

“What’s wrong?” You ask, however instead of answering you’re just met with a groan. “Steve? We haven’t got all day.” 

“It went in my mouth!” He exclaims and turns around, throwing his hands up in the air. “That things guts were in my mouth. I can taste blood. Oh god. I’m gonna die. Or turn into one of those. Y/n, if I turn into anything like that please just kill me. You have my permission to take a baseball bat to my head...just please, bury me somewhere nice.” He rambles making you snort a laugh. “It’s not funny Y/n.” 

“It kind of is.” You reply and he glares at you. 

“It’s not.” He mutters and slowly walks towards you. However he freezes when he notices your eyes widening. “What?” He asks. “Y/n? What’s wrong?” 

“Don’t move.” You whisper and he feels his blood run cold. 

“What?” He squeaks and watches you slowly limp and pick up the bat lying on the floor. 

“Oh god. It’s happening isn’t. I love you Y/n. Tell Robin it was me that broke her Walkman. I told her it was Dustin, but it was me.” He closes his eyes, expecting the worst. 

Something scratches at his legs and he breathes in, this is it. He’s going to die, so are you and everything is going to be for nothing. He wants to reach out for you, to hold you close and then at least you’ll be together, but he can’t he’s frozen. 

And then he hears a thud, a small whine and your heavy breathing. Slowly he opens one eye, expecting to see some sort of toothy monster staring back at him. But instead he’s met with the back of your head. He watches you drop the bat, the noise echoing into the darkness and slowly he looks down. 

He’s not entirely sure what tried to kill him, it’s unrecognizable now that’s been beaten into the ground, but it looks scary anyway. 

“It’s the same fucker that dragged me in here in the first place.” You look over your shoulder and wipe your forehead. 

“I love you so much.” He stares at you in awe. “That was hot.” 

“Shut up.” You huff but wink at him anyway. “Are you okay?” You ask and glance at his leg. 

“Oh, yeah.” He shrugs and looks at the small scratch. “I’ll be fine. What about you?”

“I’ll live.” You shrug. 

The two of you stumble around the corner and into the forest and you watch as your friends climb through the glowing doorway to the real world. 

“Guys!” Steve shouts making everyone freeze. The kids have already gone through, leaving just Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, Annie and Joyce behind. Tears form in your eyes as you stare at your friends. 

“Hurry up!” Jonathan shouts. 

“I’m trying! It’s a bit difficult though with my leg hanging off!” You shout back and watch as Jonathan pushes Nancy through the goo before running towards you. 

“Jonathan!” Joyce shouts, her voice can barely be heard over the wind. It blows through your ears and makes you shiver. Trees move wildly around you and you watch as the sky starts to fall away. 

“Well that can’t be good.” You gulp and walk a bit quicker. Jonathan stands on the other side of you, holding your waist and the three of you stumble towards the portal. 

They let go of you and push you through, you land on the forest floor with a loud thud and small groan escapes your lips. 

“Y/n!” The group shout and everyone moves to help you stand. You’ve never been so happy to see everyone. Robin and Annie pull Jonathan, Steve and Joyce through. And as soon as Joyce is stood up, El and Will press the detonators. There’s a loud bang that makes you all jump back, and you watch as the portal vanishes, leaving the brown of the tree trunk behind. 

“Is everyone here?” Joyce asks and scans the group. 

“It’s a bit late if they’re not.” Robin replies. “But yes...I think we did it. We actually did it! Yes!!” She cheers and jumps up and down. Everyone shares a look before looking back at her and even Annie looks a little concerned. 

“I can’t believe you all came for me.” You pull the goggles and fabric off of your face, and tears roll down your cheeks. 

“Of course we did.” Dustin hugs you. 

“You didn’t think we’d leave you in there did you?” Nancy asks also wrapping you up into a tight hug. The res of the group follow and soon you’re in the middle of an eleven people hug...not that you’re complaining though. 

“Jesus Christ. How long were we in there?” Steve asks and looks at the now dark sky.

“Who the fuck cares. Let’s go home.” 

Fireworks crackle and explode above your head. The sky lights up with red and oranges, leading the way home for the 12 of you. 

The residents hope that the bright lights will keep the darkness at bay, but from now on, they won’t have to.

“Happy New Year love.” 

“Happy New Year Steve.” 

[lokilickedme]

Submitted by @fudgemuffinanon

Ok I think I’m up to date….

1. HOLY SHIT WOMAN! You had Covid and just learned about it? How did you find out? Was it with a test? And you handled the asshat at the grocery store way better than I would have. I’m not patient, nor diplomatic, and I have major RBF syndrome… The temper goes with the face more ofter than I care to admit…

2. Your grandmother’s story was incredible. I know you don’t need another project but this could be a beautiful book. No fandom incorporated, just her story.

3. As @mollage said, the Universe is after you! But you may be one of the strongest woman I know, going through all your adventures with that attitude. Thank you Elizabeth for passing down your fiery spirit!

4. With everything that happened to you in the last few weeks, I can’t expect you to write anything. I’ll just wait and take what you give us. Fuck, I just have to deal with Baby Girl’s online school - Big Boy is responsible enough to deal with his class mostly alone - and I have to tell her to go back to the computer every 5 minutes and I’m going NUTS! And we have one more month to go…

Ontario has been in stay-at-home order since April 8th, and non-essential stores MAY reopen mid-June at 15% capacity and outdoor activities in small groups MAY resume IF we have 60% of population vaccinated with their first dose. We’re about 58% now according to Health Minister but they stopped giving Aztra as first dose, so all the pharmacies that could give it now can’t. There’s a lot less Pfizer and Moderna doses available so I don’t know how fast it will happen. But it means I will most likely get my second dose quicker than August. Yay me! Second phase won’t happen until we get 70% 1st dose vaccination. So we’re stuck for a while. We’re going out in the woods for walks once in a while so we don’t get too close to people but I want to go to a fabric store sooooo bad!! I’m done picking ticks off hubby everytime we get out.  And I’m running out of crafts to learn on youtube. 

Ok, enough ranting…  gotta go finish knitting Baby girl’s bday gift. A 6" turtle. With clothes. And a shawl. And boots. Yeah… Love ya!

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

Fudgey!!

Yup. All four of us had covid back in November of 2019, before it broke wide and before anyone really knew it was in the US. Husband was able to track it back to a coworker who’d returned from a family visit to China (he works with a large community of Asian Americans who travel back and forth a lot). The coworker came home sick, and shortly after that our household got the worst “flu” any of us have ever had (that was what we thought it was, a weirdly violent flu that hit each of us differently). I’ve never been sicker in my life, my husband thought I was going to die and he claims I told him to just let me go if it looked like I wasn’t going to make it. I’m pretty sure I meant it…it was that bad. I may have actually requested an assist to the other side at one point.

So anyway, a little while later it broke wide and when the symptom lists started coming out we started wondering if that wasn’t what we’d had. Husband finally a few weeks ago went and talked to the guy that had come back sick from overseas and the guy said “Oh yeah, I had the covid, did you get it too?”

By that time there had been approximately 150 known cases at husband’s workplace and six confirmed deaths from it. Grrrr.

At this point it was too late for us to get confirmed, but husband contacted a friend in Colorado who is a covid specialty ER nurse and described our symptoms and the timeframe of our illness to her. She said we absolutely had it - she’d had it too during that same timeframe, before it broke wide and before anyone knew what it was.

So now all my lingering weird-ass symptoms make sense. Big and Little are fine, they don’t seem to have any long-term problems, though I’m keeping an eye on them (especially Big). Husband is fine as well. Me? I took it in the seat of the pants, but like I was telling someone the other day, as soon as one of the longhaul clinics sets up here I’m gonna be there.

The putz in the grocery store was nothing unusual for here. What really gets me is the way people glare at us for continuing to wear masks - it’s almost scary. WTF is wrong with people.

Glad you liked my grandma’s story. Honestly I don’t know enough to write a book about her without having to speculate on a lot of in-between stuff because she was a very secretive person (probably for a good reason tbh) but what a tale it would be. She was a mess :D My mother has always been mad at me for taking after her - she never liked my grandmother much, there was some bad blood between them from decades back, and yeah that’s kind of a good story too lol

Ah, speaking of writing, I’m going to toss out a short chap of that silly self indulgent side-thing for The Department tonight (probably as soon as I send this reply off) and then I’m shooting for a chapter of the actual fic tomorrow at some point. Taking advantage of the husbandary absence (yes I know that’s not a word but it works)

I feel ya on the homeschooling - the boys finished their semester two weeks ago and the stress of that final week for Big (9th grade) was insane.

I wish we were under a stay-at-home order, but where I live hardly anyone obeyed it when we WERE. I love living here but I swear sometimes the people make me want to move off-planet just to find a higher intelligence demographic.

Anyway, I gotta see this turtle when you’re finished with it. You mentioned it so now you gotta show it. I’m going to bug you every day until you provide pictures because even though I can crochet a blanket like nobody’s business I cannot crochet a doll to save my own ass. Gonna have to rely on you for that ;P

@fudgemuffinanon

[rolyatswonderland]

TWST: A Mermaid’s Tale Pt.2

Yay it’s part 2 ^o^ I’m still not sure how many part’s this’ll have, but at most possibly 4 or 5-? we’ll have to see ^^;

Thank you so much to my bestie @blackevermore for helping me beta read the story! ;7; 

Pt.1 - Pt.2(Here) - Pt.3(Soon)

Professor Divus sat quietly in his office, completing a stack of paperwork, until his door was roughly slammed open. He glared, watching a few papers from the stack fall to the floor due to a sudden breeze sweeping in, but the moment he saw the familiar shade of red hair all he could do was sigh in annoyance. 

“Ah, you four again, whatever could be the issue this time.” Professor Divus saw Grim’s flames and knew that it meant that Deuce and Rolyat weren’t far behind. In all his years of teaching he had dealt with many troublesome students, the flaw of teaching at an all boys school. However it seemed that this year of teaching a new litter of puppies as troublesome as this four really had him questioning his profession, and one was neither human and the other not a boy.  Despite having dealt with many of their shenanigans before, the sight of Deuce carrying Rolyat with a mermaid tail certainly caught him off guard.

“Ah- W-Well you see Professor we...sorta need your help- haha.” Ace couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head, glancing over to Deuce who was still holding the newly transformed girl.

“Explain yourselves,” Divus commanded with a sharp glare, his stare so serious that surely the four students before him felt a shiver of fear go up their spines. Ace and Deuce took the lead in explaining what had happened, presenting him with the two cans of scales and Grim even admitting to his own mistake and stubbornness. He remained partially quiet for most of it, only letting out a hum in response or a nod. After they finished explaining, Professor Divus took the cans and examined them, turning them over before letting out a dissatisfied grumble.

“I see, some foolish pup did not properly label these containers.” Divus held the cans in his hands with a dissatisfied expression on his face, then looked to Ace who seemed to have a confused look on his face. 

“Uhm so, how come Roly didn’t turn into a whole fish on us? I mean she totally got splashed when the potion erupted but how come it’s just her legs that got the scale treatment?” Ace asked, Deuce and Grim nodding along, wondering the same thing.

“See this can here? It has a full fish drawn on the lid, this means that these were the fish scales you were meant to use in your assignment. ” Divus held up the still full can of celadon silver scales to show the group before placing it down and picking up the other can. ���While this can looks like it has a fish on it, in actuality, it has only a fish tail drawn on, as these are mermaid scales that you seemed to have mistakenly dropped into your potion.” He held up the other can, displaying the pattern that could have been misinterpreted as a fish, but if viewed long enough will show the very obviously mermaid tail like pattern.

Deuce sighed, crossing his arms with a shamed look on his face,“Ah- they both just sort of looked like fish to us so...we weren’t exactly sure.” He felt quite foolish for not noticing such a difference before since he only paid attention to the labels. 

“Hmmm,” Professor Divus looked over to Rolyat. The girl had been awfully quiet throughout their discussion, seeming rather spacey and she simply stared down into her lap while being held in Spade’s arms.  “Miss Rolyat?” It took her a moment to respond, with a slow reaction time as she lifted her head, as if having just realized someone had called her name, she warily looked over to the Professor but didn’t say a word.

Staring intently, the Professor could see that the girls lips were awfully chapped and dry. Focusing his view on her tail he removed one of his gloves, reaching out his hand to touch at the pearlescent tail to find it surprisingly dry, with no feeling of the slick ooze that should have coated her tail. But after adding all these things together did he realize what was going on, looking at the boys with an urgent but serious look in his eyes. 

“I’d advise you three to find Miss Rolyat a body of water immediately, her scales have started to dry out in the air, so her body is quickly being affected by the changes from the potion.” 

“H-Huh? What does that mean?” Deuce asked, looking down at the girl in his arms with extreme confusion. 

“Merfolk can survive out of water but not for very long, if they are kept too far from a body of water like any regular fish they will begin to suffocate, and due to the circumstances of her sudden transformation I worry that Miss Rolyats dried out tail is evidence that such a process has slowly begun.”

“HUH!?” The trio all gaped in shock. Their friend..was going to suffocate!? Immediately panic set it as they frantically looked to one another for what to do, but it seemed like Ace was the quickest to calm down after he realized something. 

“I-I know just the place we can take her to! But Professor what about an antidote?” Ace asked concerned, looking over at his teacher in hopes of an answer, but the seemingly unsure expression on the Professors face drew a pit in his stomach. 

“Sadly I ordered all the materials for the reversal potion to come in tomorrow, seeing as that was when you all would turn in your finished assignments and we would have then proceeded to the next phase of turning the animals back into their original forms.” Divus crossed his arms as he continued to stare at the girl.  “I will go and discuss with Mr. Sam to see if we can obtain the materials sooner, but if not she should be fine as long as you find her a body of water to reside in until a reversal potion can be made, so for now I suggest you three hurry.” The trio nodded, taking a small bow before excusing themselves as they quickly exited the room. Divus could only sigh as he sat back down into his chair, resting his head in his hand with a troubled expression. “What troublesome puppies indeed…”

~~~

Ace ran ahead of the group with Grim still latched onto his shoulders, and Deuce was following close behind as he held on tightly to their friend. “S-So- Where are we going!?” Deuce shouted, the trio speeding past students who looked on in confusion and surprise.

“We’re heading for mostro lounge!” The red head’s answer almost made Deuce stop in his tracks entirely, but he continued running. 

“Huh!? The freaky fish dudes!? You want us to go there?” Grim yelled in surprise, completely baffled as to why they would ever need to go to the Octavinelle dorm. 

“Look those guys are fish people too right? So if anything they’re our best shot of helping us out! I mean they’ve got that big tank too in the lounge!” Ace looked back at Deuce as they ran. The trio didn’t have the fondest memories of the lounge, the place only serving as a reminder of their time as forced servers and Grims poor time as a dishwasher made them shutter. But if there were any people who could help their new mer-friend then it would have to be them. 

“H-Hang in there Roly, okay?” Deuce looked down at the poor girl in his arms, she didn’t so much as open her eyes but she could still hear him, weakly giving him a thumbs up in response. 

~~~

After weaving and bobbing past various students and racing to the hall of mirrors, not even hesitating for a moment before jumping into the Octavinelle portal. Soon they made a beeline for the lounge, bypassing any curious dorm members. 

“Huh!? The Doors are locked shut!” Ace was the first one to get there with Grim, doing his best to push open the lounges double doors only to find them shut tight. 

“Nyaa! What the hell! Don’t tell me they’re closed- there’s no way!” Grim shouted, baffled at the locked doors, seeing how Azul would never miss a chance for business unless he really needed to. 

“Stand aside!” Deuce yelled, still running down the corridor before stopping just a bit away from the doors, and without a second's hesitation he turned his body, raising his leg in the air to swiftly kick at the doors, the trio watching them open on impact with his kick. Ace and Grim stared dumbfounded at their friend for a moment before watching him rush inside, the duo shaking it off as they ran and followed right behind them.

“Oh my, it’s you four” the tall Jade Leech was currently behind the bar counter, drying away at some dishes while Floyd, who sat at the bar, swiveled around in his seat to see who had made all the racket.

“Ehh, it’s crab and mackerel, with little sealy and lil’ shrimp too?” Floyd tilted his head curiously as he got up out of his seat, noticing the ‘little shrimp’ not looking too good in the arms of her fellow classmate. 

“Just who do you lot think you are to cause such a commotion before opening hours?” An annoyed looking Azul came walking up the steps behind them, having heard the crash of the lounge’s doors opening and assessing the damages that would surely need to be paid back. 

“Argh look we’ll pay to fix the door but seriously let us use the tank!” Ace didn’t want to be bothered with getting bombarded with questions, pointing at the large tank in the lounge as he stared down with Jade with a surprisingly determined expression, especially due to the fact that Ace was still somewhat scared of them. 

“Oh? The tank you say?” Jade raised an eyebrow curiously at his underclassmen. His brother however just stalked closer to Deuce and Rolyat before reaching a hand out to take off the blazer on her waist, revealing the beautiful light pink tail. 

“Waah! Little shrimps got a tail!” Floyd looked rather surprised, staring at the girl's pearlescent tail in awe. 

“Okay yes she has a tail! Now just use that benevolent heart of yours and help us!” Ace shouted.

“Fgyaa! She’s gonna’ suffocate if we don’t hurry!” Grim followed right after. Grim and Ace’s words of panic seemed to fully settle in for the aquatic trio. Azul seemed shocked and baffled at the sight of the mermaid tail before quickly regaining composure, adjusting his glasses before looking to his vice dorm head. 

“R-Right, Jade?” Azul was hesitant but quickly found his wording and turned to his right hand man.

“Hm, right away,” Jade nodded, setting the glass down and quickly making his way around the bar, beckoning his hand for the underclassmen to follow him through a door in the back of the lounge. The doorway leads to a backroom with a metal staircase leading upwards, seemingly for the top of the large fish tank that spreads a good amount around the lounge and even has a tunnel that connects the tank to the vast ocean that surrounds the rest of the dorm. Quickly the group made their way up the staircase, stopping at a platform before the large opening of the tank, the trio looking at their friend warily. 

“Ah, pardon me but could I see Miss Rolyat for just a moment?” Jade held out his arms to Deuce who seemed wary at first, looking to his friends before Ace just nodded, telling him it would probably be alright. Deuce sighed, nodding back to Jade and handing him Rolyat. Jade immediately took notice of the girls pailing complexion and how dry the scales on her tail had become, so without a moment's hesitation he carefully slipped off the girls blazer and began unbuttoning her dress shirt, revealing the simple whitish pink camisole underneath. 

“What are you-” Deuce went to stop Jade but stopped in his tracks when Jade shot him a look.

“It’ll be much easier for her skin to breath since it’s quickly started to change, merfolk are not known for wearing heavy layers you know.” Jade’s words quickly cut off Ace’s, the trio were about to question their upperclassman actions before simply letting it be, feeling that he would know best. 

They did stand by and watch warily however, watching as Jade carefully lowered her body into the tank before letting her go as her body floated down to the bottom. He turned back to go down the stairs, the trio following close behind as they joined Floyd and Azul who were watching the tank to see what would happen.

Rolyat looked as if she were peacefully sleeping despite being in water. A couple of curious fish would swim over and stare, some even having the courage to nudge at her with what little force they had. Eventually however, her tail slowly started to move as her eyes fluttered open, she moved to sit up, tiredly confused until she came face to face with a yellow tang. 

She screamed, hardly any sound coming out but saw the pleather of bubbles spill out of her mouth, suddenly realizing where she was she quickly covered her mouth and shut her eyes. But she soon realized that she wasn’t drowning, she uncovered her mouth and warily opened her eyes, looking around with confusion and then looked back at her tail as she moved around. 

The sound of Jade gently knocking on the glass caught her attention, her view immediately catching sight of her friends as she clumsily swam over to them, head accidentally bumping into the glass barrier that separated them. Holding her head in slight pain she continued to look on in confusion, just barely being able to hear what they were saying as the group talked. 

“She may remain here and we’ll do our best to provide support where we can, however I will expect some form of compensation for the repairs on the door.” Azul adjusted his glasses as he stared at the troublesome trio. The group only seems to sigh in response. 

“Yeah yeah we will, sheesh.” Ace scratched the back of his head in annoyance as he glanced over to Deuce who seemed to be typing something on his phone before holding it up to the glass for Rolyat to see.

“We’ll come see you again when lunch time rolls around, but until then hang in there okay?” Deuce’s words of encouragement could barely be made out through the glass, but Rolyat read along with his phone, but all she could do was simply smile sweetly and nod her head. 

They parted ways and she waved goodbye as her friends ran off to class, but now she felt a feeling of loss as she floated in the take, unsure of what to do in her current state. 

She looked over to the Octavinelle trio, Azul simply nodding to her as he adjusted his glasses and walked away, likely going back to the vip lounge. Jade simply gave her his usual mysterious smile, taking a small bow to her before turning away and going to assess the damages of the door that Deuce had kicked through. Floyd on the other hand simply sat in the closest seat to the tank and grinned his sharp toothy smile at her, finding something amusing, which made her worried since Floyd’s smile’s could mean a plethora of things. 

So just as Deuce had told her, all she could do was simply hang in there until they found whatever they could to fix this mess, and hopefully it wouldn’t take too long.

[2seokfan]

Scarlet & Hazel | Ch. 2

pairings: hoseok x reader x yoongi

genre: fluff, very light angst, smut (future)

word count: 4.3k

chapters: ch.1, ch.2, ch.3, ch.4

summary: 

Just cause you’re living paycheck to paycheck in a tiny apartment even after graduating college doesn’t mean you’re not happy. So what if your best friend is working her dream job making close to six figures every year?  So what if she’s in a loving, committed relationship with her perfect boyfriend that you’re 99% sure is going to propose to her sometime next year? It doesn’t matter that your idea of a perfect relationship is a $9.99 bottle of wine on Friday nights while you binge watch Netflix specials.

Ok so maybe you’re a teensy bit miserable. Maybe you have no idea what you’re doing with your life. Maybe all you need to do is accidentally cross paths with two hybrids who will drastically change that.

Meet “Scarlet” and “Hazel”, two of the most gorgeous hybrid men you have ever laid eyes on. With their help, you learn that life is an adventure, a roller-coaster with ups and downs, and you were too preoccupied with yourself to climb out of your own predicament. And hey, you’re not much of a romantic, but with these two, you just might change your mind.

a/n: Ch. 2 is here yay!!! Also please note that Scarlet and Hazel are definitely Hoseok and Yoongi, only the reader doesn’t find out their real names in this chapter. And please don’t hesitate to give me feedback or constructive criticism whether through comments or messaging <3

tag list: @wilhelminalucinda @ghostkat23​ @ayoo-bangtan

Blonde lady retracts her hand from orange hair’s arm, one eyebrow twitching in irritation. 

“And who might you be?”

You’re standing in front of the boys so again, you can’t really see their faces, but you take this opportunity to speak while they’re still frozen in shock.

“I’m their owner! Who are YOU and why are you bothering my boys?” You try to sound tough but internally your mind is going haywire. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. What the FUCK am I doing??!!

“Oh really? Their ‘owner’ huh? How convenient of you to show up right now.” Uh oh. She sounds skeptical.

To your utter surprise, orange hair wraps an arm around your shoulders and gives you a quick back hug. This does nothing to help your nerves because you’re suddenly being bombarded by the delectable scent of honey and cinnamon. Jesus Christ why does he smell so good? Get it together Y/N!

“That’s right! She’s our owner. We’ve been waiting for you!”

You quickly recover from your sensory overload. If the boys are playing along, that must mean they do need your help.

“Are you now?” Blondie’s voice is venom at this point. “What are their names?”

Fuck.

“Uh…” You glance at her red nails. Damn they are even sharper up close. “His name is Scarlet,” you point your thumb backwards at orange hair. “And uh…” you glance at your latte, now cold, “and he’s Hazel!” You gesture somewhere behind you to your left, where you assume white and grey hair is standing.

Blondie’s frown deepens. She crosses her arms, temporarily sheathing her weaponous nails. Still slightly unconvinced but unable to prove otherwise, she retorts back. “Then why are your hybrids collarless? You know I could call Hybrid Services on them right here, right now!”

At this point her arctic fox has now completely given up on calming her down, opting to stand behind her owner with her head bowed down. You feel so sorry for the poor thing, having to deal with such a selfish owner. But unfortunately you have no time to dwell on that. You have to think fast. If blondie calls Hybrid Services it’s over for you and the boys because you have no proof of ownership.

“W-well why do you think we’re out shopping today?” You speak a little too fast so you take a deep breath and slow down, pretending you didn’t just think up this idea right now. “I’m planning on buying them new collars of course. Their old ones wore down so we decided to throw them away. I was with them all day today and nobody complained. The one time I leave them to go buy a cup of coffee and I come back to a lady yelling at them? Do you have nothing else to do with your life than to bother other people? How embarrassing!”

Blondie’s eyebrows shoot up so high they almost disappear into her untouched roots. Her face is now comical, identical to a pop-eyed goldfish.

“I-I…” Her cheeks are now the same color as her nails. “I was only trying to find a suitable mate for my hybrid. Surely as their owner you understand that…”

“But did they say ‘yes’?!” You interrupt her, not wanting to deal with any of her bullshit. You’ve got the upper hand at this point. You cock your head to the side and put your free hand on your hip. 

“No they didn’t but that’s why I was looking for their owner. It doesn’t matter what they think!” Wow what a class A bitch. You can’t believe she still thinks she has a chance.

You hear a low growl coming from white and grey behind you.

“Well I don’t work like that. I’ll never disregard the opinions of my hybrids and put them down like you do!” You’re fuming at this point, nerves completely gone. “I’m really sorry you think that way and I hope one day you see just how narrow-minded you are. But for now kindly fuck right off!” You finish by sending her one of your most vicious glares.

Game, set, and match.

Blondie blinks twice, frozen on the spot, and completely lost for words.

“Miss… let’s go.” Sylvia’s timid voice breaches the silence as she tugs on her owner’s sleeve.

Blondie quickly comes back to her senses. “Hmph!” She turns on her heel, nose in the air, and grabs her poor fox by the arm, yanking her along. 

Sylvia turns her head back and manages a quick “I’m sorry” before she is marched off. You give her a reassuring smile, letting her know that she has nothing to do with this entire situation.

As soon as they are out of sight, you let out a huge breath, unaware that you were holding it for so long. 

“Well that was…” You spin around, facing the hybrid boys for the first time, “Oh wow...” 

Because in front of you stand two of the most gorgeous men to have ever blessed your eyes with their presence.

Now you’re speechless.

‘Scarlet’, the orange haired hybrid, is standing right in front of you with both hands on his hips and a blinding wide smile on his face. His tousled orange locks are parted, showing the full length of his chiseled face. With a sharp, upturned nose and a jawline that could cut, he looks effortlessly handsome. Now that you have time to observe him up close, you notice that he’s a red fox hybrid, which explains why blondie wanted him for poor Sylvia.

‘Hazel’, the white and grey haired hybrid, is standing slightly behind ‘Scarlet’ with his arms crossed and a sleepy look on his face. If you could describe him in one sentence, it would be ‘I know I’m fluffy but don’t fuck with me’. You have this primal urge deep down to touch his hair and squish his cheeks but somehow your instincts are telling you that if you attempted to do this he would scratch both your eyes out. He looks to be some sort of extremely long-haired cat, you’re guessing a Maine Coon, but you’re not too sure.

Faced with such beauty, you suddenly become hyper conscious of yourself. Oh shit. You’re basically barefaced, with unfilled eyebrows and chapped, coffee-stained lips. You look down and take in the bleach stain on the left knee of your sweatpants, then you notice the cocoa powder from this morning’s tiramisu on your tank top. Wow the one day I run into hot guys and I had to look like a mess express.

Your eyes travel back to the boys. ‘Scarlet’ now looks slightly concerned, his wide smile slowly disappearing.

“Are you ok? You’ve been silent for awhile now…”

You’re brought back to earth, away from your mental pity party. There’s nothing you can do about your current state of being, so why wallow?

You quickly shake the thoughts out of your head. “Sorry I zone out a lot.” 

You then remember why you’re talking to the boys in the first place. “But anyways, are you guys ok?? I’m sorry to surprise you like that but I just couldn’t stand by and watch her harass you.”

‘Hazel’ speaks to you for the first time, his voice low and slightly scratchy in timbre. “We’re fine now,” then in a quieter tone, “thank you.”

“I’m glad I could help!” You offer him a small smile. 

Your mind drifts to blondie again and instantly your smile turns into a frown. “I just don’t understand what her problem is! Sure there’s a collar law but it’s barely enforced this day and age!”

Hybrid laws have drastically changed in the last ten years. Although there are tons of improvements needed, since hybrids are still under the jurisdiction of their owners, small laws like the collar law are extremely lax nowadays. Think about it like jaywalking in the city. Sure it’s technically illegal but if no one gets hurt then nobody cares if you do it, unless an officer is bored and has nothing else to do.

“Well we appreciate you stepping in before she could call Hybrid Services anyway. That really saved our tails! Thank you!” You can see ‘Scarlet’ is visibly relieved to be out of that sticky situation, a smile back on his handsome face.

“Yeah no problem!” You take a sip from your cold hazelnut latte, trying to distract yourself from staring at him. He’s radiant, and if you look any longer you swear you’ll combust.

“By the way,” ‘Scarlet’ is now looking at your coffee cup, “where’d you get your coffee? We’ve been meaning to grab a drink but we’re new in town so we don’t know where to look.”

“Oh this? It’s from my favorite coffee shop! You guys should really check it out.” Your eyes light up and an idea pops into your head. “Wait, are you guys free right now?”

“Well we were just walking around the city before granny interrupted us so yeah, we’re free.” ‘Hazel’ answers nonchalantly, then shrugs. “Whats up?”

“So…” You shift your weight from one foot to another, here goes nothing. “I was thinking I could treat you guys to coffee!” You’re surprised by your sudden courage. You’ve only just met them yet these boys are affecting you so much. If Karli were here she���d say you’re whipped.

“Hmm?”

“Say what?”

Both boys respond at the same time, blinking at you, surprise evident in their tone.

“What I mean is, I’d like to officially welcome you to town!” You’re hoping you don’t sound too creepy. Now that you think about it, a complete stranger treating two hybrids they just met to coffee can seem a little off-putting. “You guys don’t have to say yes though! I just… I didn’t like how blondie treated you and I wanted to make it up to you…” You’re trailing off now. Just shut up Y/N you’re talking too much again.

“I mean it’s not your fault though…” ‘Scarlet’ scratches the back of his head.

“Ok.”

You whip your head in ‘Hazel’’s direction, his answer surprising you. Maybe it’s his body language, or just his overall demeanor, but you didn’t expect him to accept your offer.

He looks ‘Scarlet’ in the eyes. “She did save our asses, and I’ve been craving an Americano.”

‘Scarlet’ nods once. “Ok! Lead the way, miss, um…”

“Y/N. You can just call me Y/N,” you blurt out, trying to ease the awkwardness, “Uh, cool! This way.”

The boys trail behind you as you lead them past the various designer stores, heading once again back to Cozy Coffeehouse. Being the self-conscious hoe that you are, you hope the barista doesn’t recognize you returning while still holding one of their drinks. You shield your face with your free hand, drawing a snort from ‘Scarlet’ as he finds the whole ordeal hilarious.

“Back again so soon?” The barista recognizes you instantly.

Ah fuck.

“Yep.” You smile sheepishly at him. “But this time it’s not for me.” You turn to the boys behind you. “What do you guys want?”

‘Hazel’ shuffles in front of you. “An iced Americano please. No cream, no sugar.” Wow, someone likes to have fun.

‘Scarlet’ is still staring at the drinks menu, tilting his head to the side and tapping his cheek with his index finger.

You point him in the direction of their small specials menu sitting near the register.

“Have you checked out their specials yet? They change it up every season!”

“Ooooh cherry blossom latte. I’ll take one of those!” He attempts to pull his wallet out of his back pocket.

“Oh no no no!” You tut, “It’s on me remember? I’m a working woman and I can afford two coffees. Now put that wallet away!”

After you’ve paid for the boys’ drinks you head to the corner where ‘Hazel’ has already plopped himself down onto one of the couches.

“Nice place.” He takes a sip of his Americano. “Nice coffee too.”

“Right?” You sit across from him.

‘Scarlet’ is still at the counter waiting for his drink, since the cherry blossom latte takes a notoriously long time to make.

“So what are you guys in town for?” You try to start conversation.

“Business.” He takes another sip. “But today we’re just shopping.”

“Oh ok.” He doesn’t leave you with much to respond to but you don’t blame him for being so guarded. There’s got to be a reason why they were wandering around town without a collar, much less an owner in sight, but it’s not your place to pry. You sit there in silence for a while.

“That took a long ass time but it’s so worth the wait!” ‘Scarlet’ skips back, happily slurping on his latte. “It’s so good! Try it hyung!” He shoves the drink in his buddy’s face.

‘Hazel’ leans over, taking a small sip of the latte, then proceeds to cough and sputter as ‘Scarlet’ hands him a napkin.

“Eugh what is that? It tastes like pure liquid sugar!” He coughs again into the napkin.

“Isn’t it good?” ‘Scarlet’’s tail wags happily before he sits down next to ‘Hazel’, who is now gulping his Americano, hoping to wash away the sickly sweet taste of that abomination of a latte.

You observe them quietly, their interactions making you giggle. They seem like polar opposites but somehow their personalities fit together like a puzzle.

As they settle down, ‘Scarlet’ sets his drink on the table and faces you.

“Thanks for the treat Y/N, we really appreciate it!” He always seems to have a small smile permanently etched onto his face. You realize that unlike some people who walk around with an RBF (resting bitch face), he seems to have a resting happy face. You never knew foxes to be so happy. The ones you’ve encountered at the clinic either seem to be extremely timid and introverted, or slightly arrogant and haughty. He was neither, an embodiment of pure sunshine.

“No problem!” You respond. “By the way, is ‘hyung’ your name?” you ask ‘Hazel’.

“Oh, no.” ‘Scarlet’ laughs at that. “We’re Korean, so in our language, ‘hyung’ is what we say to older males. It’s a form of respect to call them ‘brother’.”

“Oh!” You internally cringe at your ignorance. Oops. “Then what are your names, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I kinda like the names you gave us actually. You can keep calling us that.” Hazel answers, finally having gotten rid of the sugary aftertaste in his mouth. His expression is back to being unreadable.

“Mk.” Strange. They seem very open to you inviting them for coffee but they’re not keen on revealing much about themselves. You don’t push them for answers though, having no reason to garner any information out of them.

“So you said you’re a working woman. What do you do?” Like Hazel, Scarlet also seems eager to switch the topic of conversation away from them.

“Me? I work at a private hybrid clinic.” Unlike the boys, you have no secrets to keep, and you hope to build trust by being honest and open about yourself.

“That’s really cool! Are you a hybrid doctor?” He leans in slightly, giving you his full attention.

“Oh no.” you laugh, a little embarrassed about your shitty job. “I’m just the receptionist, so I get the wonderful pleasure of dealing with people like blondie every day. “ You roll your eyes, emphasizing just how much you can’t stand some of those self-entitled owners.

The boys seem genuinely interested about you and your career, with Scarlet finding ways to prompt you into speaking more about yourself. Hazel mostly sits back and listens, occasionally jutting in with one-liners. Before you know it, you’ve basically told them your whole life story. 

You don’t consider yourself a private person, but you’ve never been so vulnerable to strangers before.  You find it odd how comfortable you are around them, the only challenge being how hard it is to maintain eye contact, still finding them both ridiculously attractive.

They continue to sit with you, listening to you prattle on and on. Your conversation shifts to the topic of hybrid rights, which to no surprise, you find them equally as passionate about as you do. Scarlet is a very animated speaker, using tons of hand gestures and bouncing up and down on the couch, rattling poor Hazel, who’s just trying to finish the last of his Americano in peace. You discuss how the last decade has seen a drastic improvement in hybrid laws but you both agree that more has to be done. At one point Scarlet gets so excited he stands up, proceeding to then sit back down straight onto Hazel’s unsuspecting tail. A sharp MREOOW is heard, with the cat snatching his crooked tail away from the excited fox and placing it onto his own lap, where he can smooth the ruffled fur.

“Oops, sorry hyung.”

You’re laughing so hard there’s tears in your eyes. How can they be so hot but so goofy at the same time? The duality really popped out.

It’s only until you notice the sun setting through the window in the corner of your eyes do you finally realize just how long you’ve been sitting here, chatting with the boys. You could’ve sworn you’ve only been here for 20 minutes or so, but it’s actually been a couple hours??

The boys seem to notice the time just as you do.

“Wow I was having so much fun I lost track of time!” Scarlet exclaims as he checks the clock on his phone. “We really have to get back and pack.” He looks at you and sighs. “This is our last day here and we’ve got an early flight to catch tomorrow.”

Your heart sinks just a little, having gotten so attached to them in just a short amount of time, but you make sure to plaster on a smile.

“That’s ok. Thank you for spending the day with me! I’ve had a blast!” You’re especially sincere, glad you got to spend the day with some company instead of wandering around on your own.

As they are both standing up to leave, Hazel stares at you for a moment, face devoid of expression, drawing a small blush from your cheeks with how intense his gaze is. He seems to come to a decision because he leans into Scarlet’s ear and whispers something that you can’t make out. The fox’s eyes shoot up for a second, then he quickly nods.

“Um, Y/N?” Scarlet gives you the biggest puppy dog eyes, soft orange ears tilting down anxiously. “I know we’re leaving tomorrow but can we have your number? We’d love to have a friend in this city!” 

How can you say no to that face??

“Of course!” Your heart is beating a mile a minute, excited at having an opportunity to keep in touch with your new friends. You whip out your phone and give them your digits.

“Thank you again Y/N! We’ll be back. Promise!” Scarlet gives you one last blinding smile, waving his hand before turning to head out the door.

“Bye Y/N.” A small, sleepy smile also forms on Hazel’s face before he too, turns around and shuffles behind his companion.

You wave as you watch them exit the cafe, deciding that it’s also time for you to head home.

You barely remember the drive back, with the two hybrids occupying 99% of your thoughts. You park your car in your designated parking spot (the extra $50 per month well worth not having to find street parking every night in your shady neighborhood) and make your way up the stairs of your small complex. When you stand in front of the door to your apartment, you notice some light shining from the crack underneath, signifying that your roommate is back.

“Ayah! You’re home!” You call out to her the moment you shut the door behind you.

Your roommate Ayah is in the kitchen, music playing on her small portable speaker as she stirs some sort of sauce in a pot.

“Y/N hi! I made spaghetti so I hope you’re hungry!” She turns and faces you with a big grin, ladle in hand and an apron that says “Kiss the Cook” tied around her waist.

“Yum! You know I can’t turn down anything you make.” You’re glad she’s back, having been gone this time for over a week. You were getting awfully lonely at home.

As soon as she’s done cooking, you both settle down on the small dining table and dig into the pasta, catching up on what you’ve both been up to. You know Ayah works for the medical industry and has to travel a lot for her job but that’s about it. Her career is a little too complicated for a simpleton like you to understand. She’s aware of this so instead she just fills you in on where she’s been the past week.

“They sent me to the middle of nowhere this week I swear Y/N! It was miserable.” She lets out a long sigh. “But at least that’s over for now. Too bad I have to leave again on Monday.”

“Aww, so soon?” You pout. See? This is why you two never have a chance to get closer. Oh well, at least you’ll make the most out of your time together now.

“But, there’s a huge convention coming up so you know what that means?”

“What?”

“Vegas baby!!”

“Nice!” You almost spew out sauce trying to reply to her, which is kinda gross you admit. But you can’t help wolfing down your food since all you’ve had today was coffee and tiramisu. She hands you a paper towel and you gladly accept, wiping the marinara off your cheek.

As you’re finishing your pasta, Ayah’s tone becomes a little more serious.

“Hey Y/N. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the lease.” She starts to gather the empty plates, rinsing them then putting them in the dishwasher. Before you get the chance to voice your confusion at where this conversation is going, she continues.

“So you know how this year’s lease is ending in like four months right?”

“Mhm” you hum, now guzzling a glass of water to wash down the food.

“And I love having you as a roommate and stuff so it’s got nothing to do with you but…” She pauses for a moment, contemplating how to form the correct words. “Recently I’ve just been promoted.”

“That’s awesome I’m so happy for you!” And you genuinely are. But it does sting a little, knowing the people around you are doing so well in life and you’re still stuck in a job you don’t really enjoy.

She sits back down at the table. “Well, I’ve been thinking and, now that I’m going to get paid more, I kinda want to have a place of my own.” She looks a little nervous breaking the news to you. “And please know that this has nothing to do with you as a roommate, it’s just that I’m getting older now and I want to start living independently.”

Honestly? You sort of had a feeling this was coming. Ayah is pretty successful and it’s a miracle she’s decided to live with a roommate till now. She’s being perfectly reasonable, giving you a sufficient amount of time to decide on your future living conditions. It still hurts though, not gonna lie.

“It’s ok. I understand, I really do.” You reassure her. “Thanks for telling me this now so I have time to work out what to do.” Your voice is a lot quieter now that reality has kicked in.

“And I promise to either help you find a new roommate or a new place to live. I’m not gonna leave you hanging.” She determines.

“Thanks girl, I appreciate it.” You try to smile at her but it comes off a little weak.

Later on in the evening, after you’ve cleaned up and lied down on your bed, you let your thoughts roam free.

What a day, Y/N.

You can’t believe so much has happened in the span of around 12 hours. Although Ayah’s news about moving out when the lease ends did hurt a little, it was not surprising, and you find yourself thinking again about the two very beautiful hybrid men you ran into today. You come to a conclusion. Even though today didn’t end on a very happy note, you still believe that it was an overall very good day. And you even made two new friends!

Right on cue, your phone vibrates near your pillow. You grab it and check that an unknown number has texted you in a group chat.

You swipe to open the message.

Unknown: Hey Y/N it’s your favorite fox Scarlet!!! (this is followed by a string of emojis) Anyways we want to thank you again for today, we had so much fun!! (more emojis)

You: Hi Scarlet! :) I had fun too!

Scarlet: Also doesn’t this remind you of Hazel??

He sends a picture of a very fluffy but grumpy looking cat with the caption “Why am I here when I can be sleeping??”

You laugh out loud, trying to muffle the sound with your pillow.

You: LMAO im dEAD

Unknown: Hey shut up fox that does NOT look like me. Now let me sleep

Ah so that must be Hazel, ever the happy kitty.

Scarlet: It’s not even that late tho?! You sleep too much cat

Hazel: And what about it? Also hi Y/N please tell the fox to let us sleep, we have a flight to catch tmrw

You: Hi Hazel! And sorry for blowing up your phone sleepyhead

Scarlet: Ok ok fine! Night Y/N we’ll talk to you soon!!! (another shit ton of emojis)

You: Night boys have a safe flight tmrw!

You lie back down with a big smile on your face. That definitely improved your mood. You snuggle up under your blanket.

Right before you drift off to sleep, you remember that you forgot the one chore you promised to do today, which was to go grocery shopping.

FUck.

Oh well, you’ll do that tomorrow.

Previous | Next

[oikawatower]

2 ❧ blooming day! | s. hinata

━━☆⌒*. after admitting to being shoyo’s secret admirer, you ask him for his help, thus beginning the blooming day of your relationship.

ミ✭ author’s note — ch. 2 ! yay ! it’s a short chapter tbh .. tysm for waiting ! updates will be every other monday for this series <3

▂✫⌒*･ﾟwarnings — none!

▂✫⌒*･ﾟtaglist — @sugaanoya , @daicasteri , @cup0fstarz

・‥━☆ chap. one | masterpost | chap. three

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

“YOU’RE my secret admirer?”

Hinata repeated the question, unable to comprehend that you had deemed him as ‘crush potential’.

“Yes,” you started, “Why’re all of you so surprised? I thought volleyball boys were cool?”

The boys looked at each other, trying to verify if you were genuinely confused or teasing them. One of them spoke up, “To be honest, the only one who’s popular among girls is Kageyama.”

“Hey! But thanks for thinking we’re cool!” Another thanked you.

You nodded, relief washing over you. It was irritating enough for you to crash their practice, but to remind them that they’re not popular amongst the students of Karasuno? You wanted to hide behind a rock!

You looked at Hinata, “I hope you don’t mind, but can I talk to you outside? I have to ask you a question.”

Hinata looked towards the coach, his gaze asking for a quick break to follow you.

Coach Ukai gave a dismissive wave of his hand, “Just be quick, Hinata.”

“Thank you!”

Hinata followed you outside. When you turned around to face him, you noticed how the sun made his smile brighter.

How are you so ... radiant?

You clasped your hands behind your back. Hinata, quickly sensing how nervous you seemed, sent you a gleaming smile. As if he’d wanted to say, ‘take your time’. Though you couldn’t, he’d miss out on practice before you started talking.

“This is weird of me to ask but,” you raised your chin, “have you ever been in love?”

“Does volleyball count?”

“No, I meant with a person.”

Hinata shook his head, “Nope! Why do you ask, anyways?”

You scratched the back of your neck, unable to answer him. The embarrassment set into your stomach as you tried to come up with anything but, ‘I read too many romance novels and now, I want to experience an unrealistic love story.’

“I-I want to know what love really is,” you turned your face away, “But I’ve never...”

You couldn’t believe you were outting yourself to a complete stranger—well, more like the target of your selfish wants. It took months to tell Suzume that you want to experience love, why’d it take you only a few hours to tell Hinata? Someone you barely knew, someone you, supposedly, ‘admire’.

“You’ve never what?” Hinata pushes.

Right, Hinata doesn’t know you like the back of his hand. He only knows you as his classmate, someone who never raised his interest. But you had viewed him in the same way.

You took in a deep breath, “I’ve never been in love with someone.”

Hinata tilted his head, “So? Neither have I! It’s normal for people our age.”

You contemplated if you should ask him for his help. How does this work? Do you ask him to be your boyfriend? Or do you surprise him with a kiss?

Hold up, how do you initiate a relationship?

In novels, they confess first. The downside is you have yet to catch feelings for the boy in front of you. On the other hand, movies tend to be more dramatic and straightforward. A kiss seems a little too forward, especially with you being his ‘secret admirer’. He could think you’re a crazy stalker after it!

“If you’ve never been in love before, then how’d you figure out you like me?” Hinata’s cheeks were tinted a rosey color.

Shit.

How were you supposed to answer that? Do you tell him the truth and make him feel bad?

“I’ll tell you the truth,” you rub your temples, “My friend told me to make a project out of finding love, so I chose you as the person, and now, I need your help with it.”

You looked at Hinata. His eyes widened, and he seemed to have trouble finding what to say. You sighed, “You don’t have to if you don’t want too.”

Your fingers wiggled in anticipation. You hoped he says ‘yes’, too tired and desperate to find another person to ask.

After few seconds, Hinata stammered, “A-Are you asking me to be your boyfriend?”

“Yes!”

You bounced on your toes as Hinata’s face glowed a bright red. His features making an expression that you’d seen him make so many times.

“Shoyo Hinata,” you confidently declared, “Will you help me find out what love is as my boyfriend?”

Hinata quickly nodded, “Yeah! I’ll be your boyfriend!”

As a reply, you lightly chuckle, “I have to go now.”

Before running away, you give Hinata a small kiss on his warm, round cheeks. The adrenaline coursing through your veins, you could feel a spark of electricity when your lips made contact with his skin. Hinata, probably feeling the same spark, squealed in retaliation.

“I look forward to falling in love with you, Hinata!” You waved goodbye as you turned around to run home.

The sun kissed Hinata in the same spot you had. His hand reaching up and caressing it, his eyes never leaving your retreating figure. His mind fuzzy from what had happened, could only make out the way your lips felt on him.

It took him until he got home, crashed on his bed, and tossed a volleyball, to realize he had a girlfriend.

And it took him a few more seconds to realize, he had no idea how to initiate a romantic relationship.

Oh dear..

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・．

[aspiring-ginger]

Of All the Stars in the Sky (Jaskier x Reader)

Request:  Yay! So happy your requests are open! I love your wriring. Can you please do something with Jaskier? Maybe reader has been trained with a sword most their life and travels with Geralt and Jaskier. He could write a song about the reader (very original haha) or reader gets hurt and Jaskier worries for them. I don’t know, thank you ♡

Summary: Geralt & the gang are on their way to Vizima when some trouble brews outside of the city gates. Suspicions rise when the reader doesn’t show up to the New Narakort Inn as planned.

Warnings: Strong language, violence. Nothing unusual for the Witcher.

Word count: 5,808

Pairing(s): Jaskier x reader

A/N: Here ya go, anon! I got carried away and couldn’t choose one of the two options, so I just did both. Almost 6k haha. Reader’s gender wasn’t mentioned so I did my best to keep it gender neutral. I took some inspiration from The Witcher 1, as well as the Carnal Sins questline from The Witcher 3. Also thanks to my best friend for helping me write this (she doesn’t have a tumblr or I’d tag), thanks bb!! Some of you wanted to be added to my taglist so I’m going to do it by fandom, character, and series. Please specify which you want to be tagged in or else you’re getting everything lol. So anyone who commented on Forget-Me-Not chap 1 is going to be just for that series, unless you said otherwise. Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy this one! As always requests, comments, and feedback is always appreciated. Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Taglist: @dandelionwitcher​ @thunderdog8​

Masterlist

There was a simple comfort found on the open road. Surrounded by nature untainted by man, nothing but earth and sky around you. Everything raw and untamed just as nature intended.

It was here out in the open where you found yourself currently, head resting on your bunched up cloak propped up on a log, angled up at the sky. Geralt and Jaskier were around somewhere, each tending to his own business. Geralt had been holed up in his tent, most likely replenishing his stock of potions and elixirs after your last hunt.

Geralt had learned quickly that any and all alchemy was to be done privately in his room or tent, away from Jaskier’s prying eyes. You had only been travelling with the odd pair for a few weeks at that point, still unsure of the limits and boundaries you had with the two. You had been sitting with them close to the small campfire Geralt had set up. It was a warm night, the boys both shedding their outer layers and rolling their sleeves to get as much air as possible. You were intrigued by the witcher’s alchemy as you had never seen anything quite like it before. Sure, you’d seen your share of healers’ work but this was something else entirely. Apparently neither had Jaskier, as he was avidly asking questions and inching closer by the minute. It wasn’t long before Jaskier’s relentless inquiries turned to bickering, and whatever unfinished concoction Geralt had been making was spilled. The ground sizzled when splashed, as did the boys’ exposed skin. While you pitied them both for the chemical burns, the rest of the week had been pretty entertaining. Stock full of pouting and theatrics.

You snickered at the memory as you stared up at the night sky. Jaskier’s childish actions that week had really brought the three of you together, and solidified your part in the rag-tag team. You had come to the rescue when ambushed by bandits later in the week. Geralt was unable to defend both himself and the bard given his current injuries, and you had swooped in at the last second deflecting a blade aimed at Jaskier’s throat. After that moment you had decided to stick with the boys for good.

“What are you laughing at? Something funny in the sky?” Jaskier teased, propping himself up against the log next to you.

You hadn’t heard him approach, jumping slightly at his words. He had been washing up at the nearby creek and you weren’t expecting him to be back so soon. The fresh smell of his soap- a mixture of sandalwood, sage, and a sweet fruit, cherry maybe?, hit your nose as he nudged your shoulder with his and laughed.

“No, just remembering something funny,” You smiled.

“Oh? Would you care to share? Geralt’s ‘locked’ himself in his tent so I could use a bit of a pick me up.” He teased, stretching his arms behind his head to mimic your position.

You jokingly hummed in thought, “Remember that time with Geralt’s potions and you managed to burn right through your shirt? What, a year ago now? You demanded extra special care for your 'terrible wounds’ that whole week! I swear I thought Geralt was going to tear your head off.”

“In my defense, that had been one of my favorite shirts from home, which was absolutely flattering by the way, and they really were terrible wounds! I seem to recall you coming to my rescue- my knight in shining armor with her noble steed,” He giggled and dramatically draped a hand over his forehead.

“I’m sure Blueberry just loved carrying your spoiled arse around,” You snorted.

Jaskier scoffed, “Blueberry and I have become great friends since then. She adores me!”

You heard your mare snort as if in response, and the two of you dissolved into a fit of giggles and laughter. You wiped a stray tear from your eye and sighed. You turned your head to look at the bard

“We’re finally headed back to Vizima tomorrow. Are you excited for a real bath and a soft bed?”

“How could I not? One can only travel on the road for so long before needing a well earned refresher. Even the witcher has his limits,” You hummed in agreement. “Besides! I’ll be debuting my newest song. This one will be a hit, I’m sure of it! Even better than the last!”

“Really? Even better than Toss a Coin?” You raised a brow in mock surprise.

“Let’s just say that I have a better inspiration this time around,” He turned to face you as well, throwing a wink in your direction.

You let out a nervous laugh and prayed to Melitele that the darkness around you hid the blush that dusted your cheeks. You cleared your throat and pointed up at the sky, hoping to change the topic.

“Do you ever get lost in the beauty of the stars? We see them every night, yet each time I look up they almost take my breath away. I get dizzy just looking at them all.”

Jaskier let out a low chuckle, “Wonderfully spoken, (y/n). Mind if I use that in a song?”

You rolled your eyes “I’m being serious! I just don’t understand how something so beautiful just goes unnoticed by so many.”

You heard Jaskier hum next to you and you glanced over to see his reaction. His face and body was turned to face you, a small smile gracing his cheeks. Firelight flickered in his bright blue eyes and you were overwhelmed with the scent of him again. Seconds ticked by as you were pulled in by his gaze. You could’ve sworn you saw his eyes dart down to your lips. His face was so close to yours, you just wanted to reach out and brush his still damp hair out of his eyes, pulling his face close so you could-

You awkwardly cleared your throat, sliding yourself away from him before you could do anything foolish you would regret.

“I um, I-I’ll see you in the morning, Jaskier. Goodnight.” You scooped up your cloak and scurried over to your bedroll. Seeing as how you only had two tents between the three of you and you quite enjoyed the weather this time of year, you offered Geralt and Jaskier a tent each. You cursed yourself and you turned away in your blankets, trying to ignore the bard across the camp.

Jaskier sighed and called his goodnights out to you and Geralt as well. He glanced up at the stars with a wistful smile. It would only be one more day, maybe two, before he could finally follow through with his plan. He had connections with the New Narakort Inn where he arranged your group’s stay in the city. Hopefully by then he would have the lyrics finished and ready to perform. His previous attempts at flirting had failed to get your attention, so as a final resort he devised his whole plan to perform his new song to you, as a confession. 

He climbed into his tent, pulling out his notebook and scratching out a few words with a sigh. He made a note to mention your love for the stars, and you technically didn’t say no to his request to quote you earlier. He pulled out his lute and rehearsed the melody of the song, mumbling possible lyrics under his breath. You smiled as you rolled over, Jaskier’s calming chords lulling you to sleep.

You woke as the first rays of sunlight began to peek through the trees above. A light fog had settled in around you, refracting the light around you. It was quite pretty, actually. You sat up and stretched your arms out, then ran a hand down your face when you faltered. Looking down in confusion, you saw an extra blanket pooled in your lap. One sniff and you identified it as Jaskier’s. Since when did he wake up early? You supposed it had gotten a little chilly during the night, but it was spring after all. You wanted to enjoy your time outdoors before the heat would put you in a sour mood.

You sent a nervous glance at the two tents opposite you, pausing to listen if the occupants had woken up yet. Satisfied when you heard silence you pulled Jaskier’s blanket up to your chest and took a deep breath. You couldn’t hide your smile at his sweet gesture and a quiet giggle escaped your lips. You laid back down all giddy, burying your face into his blanket. It wasn’t long before you drifted back to sleep.

Jaskier emerged from his tent later that morning. Geralt had already started packing his things away, giving him a nod in acknowledgement. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out an apple and tossed it at the bard. Jaskier caught it, buffing it against his shirt before taking a bite. He wiped juice off his chin as he walked up to the witcher. Geralt raised an eyebrow at him with an amused smirk. 

“What, is there something on my face? Bad bedhead or something?” Jaskier tutted, placing one hand on his hip.

“Really, Jaskier?” Geralt responded not bothering to elaborate, but inclined his head in your direction.

“Wha-?” He faltered, “What are you talking about, Geralt? It’s too early to decipher your broody minimalism,” He swallowed thickly, fidgeting the apple in his hands.

“Thought your spoiled arse would be cold sleeping without a blanket.” Geralt shrugged, hiding a smirk. He left the bard sputtering to come up with an excuse.

Taking Geralt’s cue that he was done with the conversation for now Jaskier took another bite and sighed. He forgot about the witcher’s heightened senses and would have to be subtler in the future. He was pretty sure Geralt already took him for a fool, but he’d prefer not to fan the flames any more. His head shot up realizing that you could’ve heard their conversation, wincing at his carelessness. His shoulders slumped back down when he saw your still sleeping form. Seems like Geralt didn’t wake you on purpose. Ha ha, very funny.

He quietly padded up to you, careful not to make any sudden movements. You had his blanket snuggled right up against your face, a small smile gracing your features. Jaskier couldn’t help but grin as he felt his heart squeeze at the sight. He gently shook your shoulder and called out your name.

“Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty! We’ve got quite a day ahead of us. Up and at 'em!” You squinted your eyes at Jaskier for disturbing your sleep. He laughed at your pouting and strolled away to pack his things.

You stared forward for a few moments waiting for your brain to fully wake up. Your eyes shot open wide- you still had that damn blanket pulled right up to you- and you quickly shoved it off. You winced and hoped you didn’t look too silly in your sleep. You packed your belongings as well. You certainly didn’t feel like a sleeping beauty as you smoothed your rumpled hair back down.

When you had everything stuffed back into your saddlebags and pack, you went to greet Blueberry with her morning pets. It seemed Jaskier already beat you to it- he was feeding her the remnants of his apple and running his hand through her mane. He muttered praise under his breath as he untangled knots with his fingers. You swallowed and paused to gather your thoughts before coming any closer. If he kept this up any longer you just knew you wouldn’t be able to concentrate with his hands around your waist for gods know how many hours until you arrived in Vizima. 

You slung the bags around Blueberry’s back and gave her a gentle pat, giving Jaskier a curt smile. 

“I don’t feel all that great, so you can go ahead and take the reins today,” At least that way you would be able to hide your face if you were embarrassed. “And that way I’ll have better access to my sword. You know, in case monsters or bandits or something,” You justified. You didn’t know who you were trying to convince more- you or him.

You turned on your heels and briskly walked back to your spot. You felt ashamed that you let yourself get carried away with your thoughts. Stupid girlish thoughts. You sighed as you strapped on your light armor. You were a fool to hope Jaskier was anything more than a friend. You double checked your sword- inspecting the blade before sheathing it at your hip. You restrung your shortbow and slung it over your shoulder, and secured your small quiver at your hip. Bandits often patrolled the roads close to the city. Geralt would hear anyone coming way before you, but you wanted to be prepared.

The ride in was mostly uneventful, you spent most of your time dodging Jaskier’s lute case every time he whipped his head back to say something to you. You hadn’t been fast enough the first time, and he and Geralt would not let it go, relentlessly teasing you for being bested by a damn lute. At first it was funny and you laughed along with them, but after the 8th or so close call it got old fast.

You parted ways with Geralt and Jaskier at the city gates, following your usual routine. You would check the outskirts for work for either Geralt or yourself. You often took on hunting jobs or other contracts that didn’t directly involve monsters, since that was obviously Geralt’s area of expertise. Geralt would check notice boards within the city while Jaskier would secure room and board at the best inn he could find that would let him perform. He would take care of Roach and Blueberry and by the time he was done, you and Geralt would return and discuss your findings. Dividing and conquering was your best strategy to ensure you made the most coin you possibly could. 

As you slid off of Blueberry’s back, Jaskier informed you to meet at the New Narakort Inn. It was unusual for him to be so prepared, but you shrugged it off as perks of being a bard/entertainer. It didn’t take long to find a notice board in the outskirts. Most of the papers posted were generic notices to the public- “be wary of the merchant with the red hair, don’t give yer money to a witch!” Or complaints of missing livestock- completely useless. There were two promising notes, however. One claiming that Old Farmer Ned’s goats were being slaughtered by terrible beasts. You pocketed that one for Geralt. The other asked for a good amount of venison for some nearby butcher. You tore that one off for yourself.

As you perused the board in front of you, you paid no mind to the villagers milling about. You did begin to take notice as a commotion started to your left. 3 burly men dressed in matching rags and similar tattoos surrounded a young elven girl with their weapons drawn. She clutched a covered basket close to her chest and sobbed. One man held up his blade while the other gestured for the woman to hand the goods over. You couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying, but you guessed the elven woman was begging to let her go. An uneasy feeling settled in your stomach as you glanced around to see if anyone else around noticed what was happening. You frowned in disappointment. Men and women rushed past with heads down ignoring the scene, some even cheering on the men and calling out racial slurs. The first man had stepped even closer to the poor girl, his sword held against her neck as the other men jeered. You sighed and rolled your shoulders back. There was no way you could let this happen, not when you could do something about it.

In the blink of an eye your sword collided with the first man’s, pushing it away from the woman. You held an arm out to her and gestured for her to get behind you.

“You know, you shouldn’t take things that don’t belong to you. Apologize to the woman and walk away,” You threatened with a snarl. The girl ran behind you and clutched your sleeve in fear.

The other two men laughed and pointed their swords at you, the first one just rolled his eyes, “And what are you going to do about it, elf lover? You gonna stand up for this nonhuman filth? We deserve that basket. It should be ours. And once we take it, we’ll get to have our way with her. You want that too, you little shit?” He sneered.

You spat at their feet and swung your sword to disarm the man, kicking him in the groin. He crumpled to the ground as the other two stepped forward, swords swinging. You dodged one and parried the other. They circled around you into a flank position. The second man lunged at you. You stepped back and grabbed him, using his momentum to send him crashing into his buddy. The first man stood up and began to reach for his sword. You turned, smacking the butt of your hilt against the back of his head as he bent over. He collapsed back to the ground with a thud. 

The third goon shoved the second off with a grunt and came charging at you, empty handed. His fist smacked right into your chest knocking the air out of your lungs. You hunched over and gasped. The goon saw this as an opening and raised his leg to kick your face in. Your eyes trained on the ground saw his leg lift up, and you took this opportunity to sweep his legs out from under him. He fell to the ground and clawed at your leg. The other man came at you with his sword. Your blades clashed as you shook your leg in an attempt to get rid of the fool at your feet. With a strong kick of your leg, you forced your foot into the man’s face. You heard a sickening crunch and he screamed in pain. With your foot now free, you turned your attention back to the last man standing. You parried blow after blow, the man relentlessly swinging at you. He was quite sloppy, and you quickly found an opening to disarm him as well. You held your blade against his neck, drawing a bit of blood. The man trembled and raised his hands in the air in defeat. 

You spat in his face and shoved him to the ground, “You and your friends can go and fuck right off. Next time you think twice about who you’re robbing.” You drove one more kick into his stomach for good measure. 

The man scrambled to gather the other two thugs and their weapons before scampering off. They called out slurs and insults as they left but you paid them no mind. You bent over to pick up a jar that had fallen out of the woman’s basket. She had just been carrying groceries home. 

You turned around and offered the jar to her with a smile. She stared at you with wide eyes before thanking you profusely. She pulled you into a hug with a sob, choking something out about the kindness of some humans. You awkwardly patted her on the back and placed the jar back into her basket. She started to take out her coin purse insisting on payment but you just held up your hand and shook your head. There was no possible way you could ever take her coin. All you had done was step in to help a woman in need. Just doing what was right. You told the woman this and she responded with another sob. She shook your hand and hurried away with a wave.

You sheathed your sword with a sigh. The villagers avoided your gaze and went out of their way to give you a wide berth. At this point you just desperately wanted a bath, good food and drink, and some quality time spent with your friends. You went and picked up the notice you dropped by the board before you stepped in to help. All you had to do was speak to the butcher to negotiate pay and the amount of meat needed. Then you could finally head into town.

The sun was setting by the time that you made your way past the city gates into the Temple Quarter. It had taken much more time to track down and speak with the butcher, and you hoped that you had enough time for a quick soak before Jaskier’s performance. Even though you’ve heard him play countless times before, you couldn’t miss even a single performance. Seeing him lute in hand playing for so many people was simply put, a breathtaking experience. He was in his element, oozing confidence and charm as he circled the room singing his heart out. Faces in the crowd smiled and cheered along with his songs, clapping and raising their mugs in approval. Every time he would glance back at whatever table you and Geralt had chosen, your heart felt as if it was about to burst. He always looked you in the eye and winked before turning back to the crowd and each time the butterflies in your stomach went crazy. He was so happy and pure and every time without fail, he took that moment to acknowledge you. 

Even just thinking about him made your cheeks flush as you walked through the slums of the city. It was only a few more blocks until the Trade Quarter, where the New Narakort was located. You smiled as you saw the torches of guards posted at the gate over the top of the hill. You were so lost in your thoughts as you approached, that you failed to notice the shadow lurking in an alleyway nearby. It darted out as you walked by and grabbed you. A hand was clamped over your mouth before you could cry out and you were dragged back into the alley. The hand released you and you whipped your head around to identify your attacker. A strong blow to your face left you spitting up blood with a groan.

“Serves you right for helping out that disgusting nonhuman, you piece of filth!” You recognized the voice as one of the thugs from earlier.

You opened your mouth to respond, but instead a strong kick to your core knocked the words right out of you. You took blow after blow, spitting up blood when you got the chance. There were at least the same 3 men from before, but you were so disoriented you couldn’t even tell. They paused every so often to let you catch your breath and try to fight back before kicking you down to the ground again. Kick after kick after kick you struggled on the ground. There was a sharp pain in your right thigh as, what you guessed could only be, a dagger drove straight into your poor leg. You screamed out in agony and suffered another blow to the head. Each attack seemed to be growing in power as you clawed at the ground to try and escape. A sob escaped your lips as you felt the slash of another blade across your back. The men around you cheered and laughed, all taking part of the fun.

“You don’t mess with us, you elf loving whore!” The main attacker cried. With a laugh his final blow to your head had you seeing stars, and the world faded to black.

When you came to, you were alone. the moon was already high in the sky, and you couldn’t make anything out in the alley around you. You groaned in pain as you tried to sit up to assess your wounds. The dagger that was plunged deep into your thigh was still there, stopping most of the bleeding. That was good, but every time you even shifted, you cried out in pain. You had to take it out but you didn’t have any of your supplies on you, you left it all packed on Blueberry. The cut on your back scabbed up, but you probably opened it back up by moving around. Your whole face felt swollen, and you tasted blood. You were sure you looked like absolute shit.

You struggled to stand. Leaning heavily against the wall, you spat out more blood. You shuffled against the brick wall, hands clawing any groove you could grab just to pull yourself forward. You manage a couple of steps before you collapse down the ground. Fuck. You didn’t know how far you could go in the state. You let out a frustrated sob. Would Geralt and Jaskier be able to find you in time? Did they even notice you were gone? Your thoughts were racing as you heaved yourself up once more. You banged your leg against the wall and yelped- your vision going fuzzy for a moment. If you could at least drag yourself out of the alley, maybe there was a chance a guard would find you?

You heard footsteps approach and winced- were those thugs coming back for more? You looked up and saw a silhouette of a man.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help.” You heard a soothing voice call out. You groaned and shifted against the bricks. “I saw what you did earlier, outside of town. You helped one of my kind. I wish to repay this kindness.” He stepped closer and slipped an arm around you, holding you up so your weight wasn’t on your injured leg. 

“Please, save your energy and don’t speak. My name is Palmar, I’m a trained healer. I’ll take you back to my house to patch you up. Do you live here?” You shook your head, “Are you here alone?” You shook your head, “We can send word to your companions once we get you safe. Is that alright?” You nodded. You then lurched forward, Palmar holding you up.

The journey to Palmar’s small house went by in a blur, the pain in your leg too strong to focus on anything else. When you arrived, he laid you down on a cot in the main room. It was small with only a fireplace, a table, your cot, and a hallway visible. Once you were propped up with pillows, Palmar lit the fireplace and several candles throughout the room to provide light. You finally got a good look at your savior. He was tall and scrawny, dressed in a simple shirt and pants. He looked young, maybe 30 years you guessed. The top of his auburn hair was pulled into a bun while the rest hung down to his shoulder. He caught your gaze and smiled, warm brown eyes filled with warmth.

“I assure you, I have treated many wounds like this. You are in good hands. I told you my name, but I’m afraid I didn’t catch yours,” He strode around the room, gathering various vials and bandages.

“(Y/n). I travelled here with a witcher and a bard- Geralt of Rivia and Jaskier. I was supposed to meet them at the New Narakort.” Your voice was raspy and strained.

“The New Narakort? A fine establishment. I’ve heard their stew is to die for,” He smiled again, undoing the straps of your armor and weapons. “I’m afraid this is going to hurt. Like a bitch,” He chuckled “I’m going to pull the knife out on the count of three, alright? Ready? One, two-” you braced yourself for the pain, crying out as he yanked the dagger out early. Palmar quickly cleaned out the wound. With the knife gone, he helped you strip down to your smalls. He cleaned and dressed the rest of your wounds, muttering words of encouragement as he went. As the pain finally began to lessen, you felt your eyelids droop with exhaustion. Palmar let out a small chuckle.

“It’s alright, my friend. You can rest. I will go fetch your friends while you sleep.” You furrowed your brow at him, not understanding why he was being so kind.

“I don’t understand, why are you helping me?” You forced your eyes open. You didn’t want to fall asleep without knowing the answer. Palmar helped you back into your shirt and lay comfortably on the cot.

“As I said before, I saw what you did for that poor woman outside of town. You stood up to those humans. No other human would’ve stepped in like you did. I am grateful. I was walking home when I saw those awful humans leave the alley and my gut told me to check it before I continued home- and I found you.” You sighed, happy with his answer for now. You couldn’t keep your eyes open any longer so you snuggled closer to the blankets. As Palmar stood to leave he whispered, “My daughter was killed by that very same gang. The one you stood up against. This was the very least I could do to help.” You slipped into a dreamless sleep.

You felt a clammy hand grab yours, and another shake you awake. You opened your eyes to a bright blue pair looking down at you in worry. Jaskier. 

“Oh, thank the gods. Geralt, they’re awake! Oh (y/n), you have no idea how worried I was for you! We waited at the inn and when it got dark and you still hadn’t shown, well Geralt said not to worry, but I just knew something wasn’t right! You’ve never missed any of my performances. I couldn’t let you break your streak, so I waited for you. And waited, and waited. Then this lovely man showed up and- gods! I’m just glad you’re alright,” Jaskier rambled, squeezing your hand tighter and tighter with each word.

“Jaskier, I’m okay.” You squeezed his hand back with a smile. 

“Blueberry is waiting outside. We’ll take you back to the inn.” Geralt said as he gathered your things and carried them outside.

Jaskier said something to Palmar in Elder as he helped you out of bed, which he responded in kind. You made a mental note to ask Jaskier about it later. They exchanged a few more words, and soon they had you out of the door and on Blueberry’s back. Palmar shook your hand one last smile and thanks before you were on your way. Geralt lead Blueberry by the reins while Jaskier walked beside you, his hand coming up to nervously rub you calf. On your uninjured side, of course. 

Your friends slowly lead you through the streets of Vizima, right to the New Narakort. Jaskier helped you inside and to your room while Geralt took care of Blueberry. Jaskier fussed over you, helping you wash your hair and settling you into bed, fluffing every pillow in the process. He bid you goodnight with a squeeze of your hand and blew out the candles, but he hesitated at the door. 

“Jaskier? What’s wrong?” You asked, voice laced with worry.

“You could’ve died. They left you in that alley to die and I could have lost you,” Jaskier choked out.

“Julian. It’s alright. I’m alright. I’m safe now. Don’t worry.” He snapped his head up when you called out his real name.

“(Y/n), I always worry. Every time you go out with Geralt on a hunt, or when you pick up odd jobs around towns. I worry. I’m always going to worry about you, because you’re my friend. Actually- hang on a minute. I’ll be just a moment!” He rushed out the room in a flash. Your heart ached at his words. You’re my friend. Just a friend. A bittersweet smile escaped your lips. It was obvious just how much the bard cared for you, but it still wasn’t enough. You sighed, swallowing back tears and waited for him to come back.

Jaskier was true to his word- he was only gone for two minutes at most. He burst back into the room, out of breath with his lute in hand.

“(Y/n), the reason I couldn’t have you miss my performance is because of my new song. Remember? I’ve finally finished it, and I couldn’t have you miss it, because…” he faltered, hands wringing nervously, “I wrote it for you.” You looked at him in surprise as he held the lute up and began to play. The melody was beautiful. It was somewhat familiar as you had tried to eavesdrop whenever you could in camp, but you had never heard the words before. He sang about a fierce warrior with (h/c) hair shining in the sun as they defeated their foes, their bravery and kindness unmatched. The beauty of their laugh and smile was enough to turn the heads of everyone as they walked into the room. Their love of the stars in the night sky, 'each time I look at them, they take my breath away’. He was quoting you, in a song he wrote for you. No, wrote about you. He wrote this song about you. Tears sprang up in your eyes as you came to this realization. Jaskier’s fingers slipped as he saw your reaction.

“I-it’s horrible isn’t it. I figured. I should’ve waited a bit longer- practiced it more.” He groaned, running his hand down his face. “(Y/n), I’m sorry. Obviously I need to work on this one a bit more but.. you have to understand that you almost died. I wrote this song and you almost died. I had to play it for you before I would lose the chance because… because (y/n). I love you.” His piercing blue eyes were filled with hope as he looked into yours.

“Julian- I love it. It’s beautiful and I love the song and I love you too,” your words were all rushed together- you couldn’t get them out fast enough.

Jaskier launched himself at you, careful of your wounds, and embraced you tight. You breathed in his familiar scent. 

“So since you love me back, does that mean I get to kiss you?” He asked with a smirk, legs straddling your own.

“Oh come here, you,” you laughed. Your hands grasped the sides of his face and pulled him close. You could feel his hot breath against your lips as he hesitated, before he pressed his lips against yours. Your eyelids fluttered shut in content. If this is what it took to finally be with your favorite bard, you’d do it a hundred times over. Now you could finally call Jaskier your own.

[snzunii]

— SEE YOU AGAIN [21]

+ summary. in which you and sanzu are in a very chaotic marriage.

+ tags. romance, fluff, heavy (?) angst, modern au, smau, arrange marriage au, college setting, use of profanities, eventual smut, 18+

+ note. hi hello ?? chapter 21 yay. thanks to @feralforran again hehe kai thought of some of the scene for this chap hehe and i always tell her about the plot so yeah HSJSUAKS feedbacks are appreciated <3

+ status. on-going

+ masterlist.

one year and nine months ago

Your mother was just looking at you while you give her such ridiculous laugh—for fuck’s sake, you are studying for some big test tomorrow and she bothers you with insane jokes? “You’re fucking kidding?”

“Watch your language when you are talking to me.” she stares at you with disbelief in her eyes, daunting you with her authoritative voice as you can see her ball her hand into a tight fist, you didn’t mean to, that just slipped out of your mouth because how can you believe it? “We’re having dinner with them tomorrow.”

You snorted, turning your back to your mother and focused on the bunch of papers in front of you once again, “I don’t want to-”

“You never listen to me anymore.” your mother was, safe to say, pissed at you. “You’re going even if you want to or not—even if I have to drag you out of here. Don’t test me.”

She walked out, slamming your bedroom door. You got your phone as soon as your mother stormed out, dialing Senju’s number. After a few rings, she answered the phone. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Yeah. Okay…so, we’re having dinner at your house tomorrow because apparently I’m getting married to your brother in six months?” just saying it makes you laugh, because it is fucking ridiculous. You haven’t talked to him for years and you aren’t forgetting that you ignored him—he is probably mad at you, big time. “Please tell me if you know something about this big joke.”

Then there’s the fact that you are hiding something from him considering that you’re much of a coward to talk to him and now you’re getting married? You can’t even show your face to him even though they’ve been home for months now—for months, you’ve avoided crossing paths with him—hiding, running when he’s nowhere near you and he’s literally at the other end of the cafeteria. Luckily, you have different programs and you’re not in the same building. You aren’t surprised that he enrolled in the same university as you are since your parents have been trying to make you talk to each other.

So, that was the reason? It’s because they’re planning to marry the two of you? Is that why they wanted him to break up with Naomi too?

You heard Senju’s laugh, “What are you saying? You? Marrying Takeomi?”

“No, idiot. Your other brother, why would you think it’s Omi?”

“Oh. That makes sense. Wait.” you rolled your eyes, not bothering to argue with Senju even more. “I don’t know anything about it. Let me ask Haruchiyo, okay?”

Your eyes widen immediately at the mention of his name, you can feel your heartbeat getting stronger each second. It’s annoying you, really. How can he have this effect on you still? You shrugged it off and focused on his sister who happens to be annoying you right now. What is Senju even thinking? “What? Don’t ask him! I mean—ask him but don’t tell him that I was the one asking-”

Senju snickered, completely ignoring what you just said. “Hey. Haruchiyo I’m on the phone with your best friend, she’s asking if you knew something about this marriage or something? You're getting married, huh?”

“Senju, you little shit.” you whispered, you were about to end the call when you heard him speak.

“Huh? Is that her?”

“Yeah. You want to talk to her-”

And that’s when you ended the call. On the other hand, Haruchiyo was about to reach for Senju’s phone when you dropped the call. “Oh, that’s too bad. She ended the call.”

“Yeah, of course. She’s still ignoring me.” he said with a bitter voice, do you think he doesn’t know that you’re hiding from him? You think he doesn’t notice how you scramble away when he’s about to enter the cafeteria with his friends?

It’s annoying him, of course. The woman that he loves is ignoring him, he can’t even see you up close which he longs to do for years. He’s still mad at you for ignoring him but the moment that he stepped his foot on that airport—the thought of seeing you again was the only thing that was on his mind.

He wanted to go to you that time, believe him—but you’re the one who stopped talking to him—let’s just say that he was waiting for you to approach him first.

For months, he waited—until his mother just told him this news that he is getting married to you—he was head over heels for you that he didn’t even question his mother, he just looked at her with a bit of confused but mostly surprised face while mumbling the word ‘okay’.

Now, it just hit him that it was real.

What the fuck would he do now?

…

You were standing outside their main door, your parents were already in but you’re still gathering your thoughts outside their house. You were nervous, there isn’t any doubt in that. You’ll see him up close, again. Just the thought of facing him is stirring up some emotions in you.

What would you even tell him? Would you apologize? Explain? Perhaps, tell him about the reason why his ex-girlfriend broke up with him?

But how could you do that to him? He’s going to talk and see you again after years and yet the first thing that you’ll do to him is hurt his feelings by revealing to him that his mother isn’t the woman that he looks up to?

Your thoughts fade once you hear a voice behind you, making you squeal in surprise as you turn to him with a shocked expression. “What are you doing out here?”

“H-huh?”

Fuck. Yes, really, fuck. You’re fucked because the person that you were avoiding for years is right in front of you. He certainly got taller, he still has long hair but a different hairstyle. You can’t help but gush over him, he still looks handsome—if possible, even more handsome. There’s his blue eyes that you adored looking at—pretty long lashes pointing at you.

And, you know what it is, there goes your heart, going mad inside—as if it was begging you to let it out because of how loud it was pounding on the walls of your chest.

Haruchiyo was looking at you with a blank stare but deep inside, he was going insane as well. You’re finally in front of him. He doesn’t know how the hell he could control himself. He could pull you in for a hug right here but he stopped himself.

There’s no doubt, you’re still the prettiest girl in the universe for him.

“It’s cold out here.” he said, opening the door. “You coming in?”

“Yeah.” you said, your lips were trembling as you answered him. You have got to stop giving him one syllable word as a response—but you weren’t prepared for this. How else would you act around him?

The dinner, as expected, was awkward for you—but thankfully, Senju is there with you. They’re really talking about the wedding plans that they have been planning for a year now and they’re just telling you both six months before the wedding.

This is all of a sudden for you, they just can’t shock you with a news like this one. How come Haruchiyo isn't saying something about it? So, he’s fine with all these? Isn't he mad that he had to break up with the woman that really loves just so he can be tied to you?

You admit it, it’s not like you don't want it. Come on, this is your dream… to be married to the love of your life. But not like this, not while you aren’t on speaking terms. You don't want to be stuck in a marriage where you’re the only one who’s loving him—you want your feelings to be reciprocated. You don't want him to hate you even more. To be honest, he’s a complete stranger to you right now.

And you don't want to repeat it over and over but it’s your own mind that reminds you about this big secret that you’re contemplating to tell him—and to add to that, this secret that might ruin his relationship with his mother.

You don't want to start a life with him that was built on a lie.

“Yeah, no.” you suddenly speak, turning all their attention to you. “So, we have no say in this? You suddenly dumped this big news on us and expect us to go along with it?”

It isn't visible in his eyes but he was hurt. What is it that he has done that made you ignore him? That made you sound so resentful that they’re marrying you two?

You looked at him and were about to open your mouth so that you could urge him to say something but you stopped—you're not that close to each other anymore for you to ask him to protest with you.

Why are you even doing this?

There's a clear answer for it actually.

You’re guilty, you don't think you could ever be married to Haruchiyo and hide something from him.

present

It’s funny how Naomi thinks that you would actually let her. What does she want? Does she think Haruchiyo would go back to her if she told him about that? You’ve come a long way for her to ruin what you have right now.

Why can’t she leave you both alone?

You wanted to say all that to her face but you didn't have any strength to do so. You just let her get out of your sight with a taunting smirk on her face. You didn't even notice there’s tears at the side of your eyes until you look at the mirror—fucks sake, this trip has caused you so much tears when you’re supposed to have fun.

You fixed yourself, certainly, you can't let your husband see you in a state like this. You know he would bug you about what’s wrong until you give in and tell him and you’re really set on not telling him.

What’s there to tell, right? You have fought that guilt inside you. Just almost two years ago, you didn't think that you could be married to him without hiding something from him and look where you are right now, happily married to him.

So, really, there's nothing else to say to him. You wouldn't want to sabotage the life you have with Haruchiyo right now.

You went out of the restroom and saw your husband walking towards your way with a bright smile on his face. Once he saw you, you did the same—smile at him as if you didn’t have that confrontation with his ex-girlfriend.

“Hey, you.” you walked towards him, wrapping your arms around his neck. “You just can’t keep away from me for one second, do you?”

“I really can’t.” he answered with a menacing grin on his pretty face, “You want to dip in the pool?”

“Uh-huh? Sure-” you weren't even finished speaking when your husband started pulling you around until you reached the pool area—there weren't any people around since most of them were in their cottages or asleep already. “Looks like we have the pool to ourselves—Haruchiyo!”

As expected of your husband, he would totally carry you and jump in the pool with you in his arms. “Fuck you—the water went in my nose you shit.”

The only thing that you got from him was a laugh after pulling you close to him and now you’re facing each other—your legs wrapped around his waist while his arms are circling around your body—he placed a small kiss on your nose before looking at you with such a lovestruck look in his eyes.

It was making you conscious, you’re pretty sure that your cheeks are heating up—he always looks at you like you're his most precious thing in this world because you truly are. What happened last night broke him, of course he was afraid but mainly it’s because he hurt you.

He never wanted to hurt you like that again, knowing that he already caused you so much pain for years. As much as possible, he would like to show you how much he adores you, how he’d be willing to spend his whole life with you.

There isn't any regret inside him that he married you, he’s actually thankful because he got to be with you this early—you both might've wasted some time when you’re apart but look at where you are right now.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you mumbled, “Stop it-”

“I’m thankful you married me, you know?” he started, “I thought you would run away at our wedding.”

You looked directly in his eyes while moving the stray strands of his hair out of his face, “And why would you think that?”

“Because… you remember the night that we first met again? You sounded mad, like you didn't want to marry me. Then you didn't talk to me for months again until our wedding.” he pouted, earning a chuckle from you. “What?”

“You’re like a big baby. Of course I wanted to marry you then. I was just…” you sighed. You said that you didn’t want to build your marriage in a lie but that’s exactly what you’re doing right now. But it’s a good kind of lie, right? “I thought you didn't want to marry me too because it was sudden.”

Now that you think about it, the reason that your parents gave you is that your mothers were best friends in high school and they had this pact that they would arrange their children—that absolutely made you roll your eyes, you swear that they got that from some movie—that’s a shit reason.

And if that’s really the reason, they have no right to plan their children’s lives like that. They didn't give you the freedom to choose that way. After that, you didn't even bother asking because you know they wouldn't give you a proper answer and even if you protest—you know your parents already made up their mind.

It’s not like it didn't work out, right? You both love each other anyway.

And so, now, here you are—making out with your husband in the middle of the pool, you pulled away when you felt his hands roaming down your ass. “Hm, no. Not here.”

“There’s no one here. We can do whatever we want.” he leaned in for a kiss once again but you’re quick to push him by his forehead. He gave you a blank stare, “Killjoy.”

“Wha-” you looked at him with disbelief. “What did you just say to me?”

“Excuse me, please do not defile the pool. Other people swim there.”

“Ah, man. Fuck off.” Haruchiyo said glaring at his friends who just lowered his chances of fucking you right here on the pool. Well, it’s not like you’d go for it but who knows, maybe if his friends didn’t walk in you’d be swayed.

You laughed once you heard Ran’s remark, you turned around and saw him walking towards the side along with his brother. Rindou sat on the poolside, dipping his legs on the water. “The resort’s nightclub opens up later, you guys want to go?”

“Sure.” you smiled, “Why not?”

…

“That’s enough. I’ll tell Takeomi about this, you know?” Haruchiyo told his sister as he got the shot glass from her. Your lip curled upward as you saw how protective your husband is to his sibling—he might have always made fun of Senju but you know he cares about her—they’re really just used to showing it by constantly making fun of each other.

“No no. Don’t tell him—okay, I’ll stop!” Senju said standing up in an instant, Haruchiyo looked at you with a vexed expression, probably asking you to help him with his sister.

You put your glass down and walked towards Senju, “Hey. Hey, come on let’s get you to bed-”

Senju just nodded at you. You looked around your table; your friends have their own little world, it’s either their talking and drinking and some of them are on the dancefloor—you’re scattered in this nightclub.

The night is fun except where earlier in the dancefloor—your husband is close to getting into a fight because some random guy just danced behind you—it’s chaotic, really, but fun. As for Naomi, it’s expected that she’s here but she’s keeping her distance. You didn’t want to worry about her since it looks like she wouldn’t try to do something tonight, and if ever she's planning something… you’re not going to let her.

You helped Senju to their cabana along with your husband who’s constantly teasing Senju that he’ll tell their older brother about this. “Haru, stop it.”

“What? It’s fun—Senju, you’re heavy, walk properly.”

Senju just rolled her eyes at him. You were already in front of their room when Senju stopped, “If you tell Takeomi about this I will kick you—oh, my phone. I left my phone, let’s go back-”

“I’ll get it.” you said, you turned to Haruchiyo and tapped his shoulder, “You tuck her in.”

Haruchiyo scoffed, “What is she, a child?”

“You know I can hear you. I’m right here.”

You just shook your head when they started arguing again, you didn’t want to hear any more of it so you walked back to the nightclub to get Senju’s phone. You were about to enter the club when you saw Naomi coming out—and you know it, you don’t have the energy to have another confrontation with her but you guess she just likes to piss the hell out of you—bumping on your shoulder purposely.

“What the fuck is your problem?”

She turned to you with her eyebrow raised, arms crossed as she look at you with such hostility in her eyes, “You’re my problem. Tell Haruchiyo and I’ll leave you both alone.”

Do you have to spell it out for her? You don’t know what she’ll gain by doing this. “And how many times do I have to tell you that he doesn’t need to know?”

You don’t want to make a scene—you don't want to engage in a petty cat fight with her. You scoffed and are about to leave when she speaks once again, “Wow. You’re just horrible, you act all nice but you’re just a fucking bitch—you really think he doesn’t deserve to know? That his parents aren’t who he thinks they are? I can’t believe you would hide something like that from him.”

You laughed, “You really don’t understand, do you?”

“No. You’re the one who doesn’t understand anything. You knew this for years and you kept your mouth shut! You know? If you really love him then you’ll tell him the truth about his family. You knew how your mothers threatened my mom! You knew his father had a child with my mother and-”

“What?”

That voice. It’s not yours nor Naomi's. You need to back the fuck up a minute—you didn’t know about his father, the only thing that you knew was the phone call between your mothers. But that’s the least of your worries because the person that you and Naomi were arguing about just heard everything.

Including the things that you kept from him for years.

“Can you… repeat what the fuck you just said?” you had never seen Haruchiyo like this before, he kept on looking at you and Naomi back and forth until his eyes landed on you. It was like you were thrown into the cold ocean, you were trembling—unable to speak as you see how Haruchiyo’s eyes reflect something different while he’s looking at you. “You… you were hiding something from me?”

+ see you again taglist. @hanmascult @ryouhoe @fl4mepillar @meena-in-a-nutshell @haruphilia @hxked @xxrwzy @sophiesuna @douraken @mapachemapato @kawaii-desv @eriskaitto @smolaf-filipino @hanmasgf @mitsuika @lustiel-winchester @cryszus @babydiamondblog @sseorin @k0ut4r0u @bbloblobb @gulfkfl

+ tokyo revengers taglist. @cosmiclvsh @tojisqueen @imnotjo @r-xochitl @bekky06 @toshiswifey @ninetyeightrins @litle-crow @n-nara @hollowpurpl @iiclal @miyuuuuuposts @haitanilove @aclairysm @awkcasted @yukie35 @chronic-claire-universe @chosoisbaby @marixxi @spaceemeeat @shizukuusagii @amaejiki @parca-de-destinos @missysimpy @a-astxr @fr00g1es @gwynsapphire @kookie-my-little-sunshine @kqtsukisgf @angtsumu @cakenchill @madarasgf

[icharchivist]

first: WAHHHHHHHHH 😭😭😭 I got so emotional!!! so emotional!!!! so much that I can’t even do this first second pattern bc I have SO MANY thoughts!!!!!!! I’m writing this in my notes instead of straight into the askbox so u know it’s serious business™

ok so debut night!!! I was like ahah yeah it’s a tragedy whatever it’ll be fun to start out with and then the voice acting was SO good that it knocked me out of the park and I almost cried haha. it’s crazy how good the voice acting in a3 is like I love how the dialogue and voice acting works well together bc like it’s limited but so effective!! u can so very clearly see and understand the style they’re going for. especially like tsumugi’s death scene... the Talent jumped out it really did... uh and ok so. I think I may be a littleeee confused abt the play bc I had always interpreted tasukus last lines as raphael to be like abt his being secretly in love with michael. but now that I’m actually reading the line that’s like oh don’t fall for a human it only ends in misery I know that all too well or whatever... ig the implication is that raphael was in love with another human / the same lady michael was in love with in the play. side note I had to go back and edit the proper names in instead of tasuku and tsumugi lol... but speaking of!! speaking of the voice acting and the play itself I 1) love how blatantly obvious it is when tsumugi goes for that grander, tasuku like style of delivery!! like u could just so easily feel the difference it was wild... and 2) tsuzuru is once again spot on with his writing, lol... I felt that like raphaels inability to save or help michael really parallels how tasuku feels abt tsumugi so well, and it’s wonderful that they r able to resolve things and tasuku can properly compliment him on his acting where the angels fail to do so. it’s very good. and I think the play rly highlights (for me at least) that like. to tasuku, it was tsumugi who was sort of an unreachable existence. like were he to idolize and respect someone’s acting, it would be tsumugi. and I think that like caring carries over into their roles really well, because I think in michael’s love for a human tasuku sees like... tsumugi’s style of acting. the heart that he’d lost while within the god troupe. mb I’m losing my mind a little but ah. the play rly works with their relationship so well!! im very excited to see the other winter ppl get main roles tho—same for all the troupes!!! now this ask is too long so I’ll have to do another part lol

going to start off this second part of the ask abt hisoka bc oh my GOD. hisoka. like I was just thinking “hm where r the winter troupe cgs anyways” and then BAM. hisoka CRYING???? especially since he doesn’t seem that emotional it was a really hard hit!!! and who tf is august.... ok well actually theory time!! skipping ahead to the end theres that note that like mentions December and April and. not to expose my friend but very many years ago (a couple years before a3 was launched, at the very least) she wrote this story where there were like 12 orphan assassins and they were all named after months. I remember the main dude was named dec lol. coupled with my “hisoka is capable of murder” bit? listen.... I’m not saying anything but I’m also not not saying anything if u feel me. also I feel like assassin / thief with mysterious background is a common trope!! that was silver from the pokémon adventures manga too... why is this my reference point lmao. anyways I’m unclear if assassins would make it into a3 but like.... if the yakuza and supernatural stuff makes it in...

okay moving away from conspiracy theories and into emotions!!! the quotes from like EVERY mankai actor before the final production made me SO emo... and yay!!! they won!!!! (though admittedly I almost had a heart attack when no one clapped) but they won!!!! that ending cg!!!! and I adore how sakyo immediately goes after god troupe man (I know his name is reni I just don’t feel like calling him that) for the money lol it’s just so sakyo-like. also I love the lil mixed troupe interactions!! I found the game night ch so fun.... ahh, now I wanna reread that ch since it was so good lol

all in all I was super satisfied ahh!! I am SO excited to start up spring troupe again (HELLO character development!!! and chikage) and I’m even MORE excited to get thru all the act 1 events!!!! as a final note, is there any way to reread or replay the flair conversations? I didn’t want any spoilers for the plays while I was doing the practices for them so I kinda sped thru the first time ahah...

HELLO FRIEND IM SO HAPPY TO GET SUCH A LENGHTY ASK ABOUT WINTER IM LKDJFLKDJFLKFD  Winter makes me feel shrimps emotions (i know the whole “shrimps can see more colors than humans can’t comprehend” thing has been disproved but i’m not letting go of that expression, i REALLY feel emotions humans can’t comprehend anymore and i’m going to make it everyone else’s problem)

1) First about the voice acting, rIGHT this is just so fascinating to me!!! I remember after act 2 i came back to reread the main act 1 chapter and i was so thrown out by how GOOD the voice acting was, especially for the first few troupes having to convince you they’re not comfortable or good at acting yet. Winter whole thing is that they’re more subtle and mature and you really feel that with their voice acting, Tsumugi’s voice especially knock it off the park anytime he’s on screen. 

2) Second: what does it say about me that i’ve never, ever considered your reading a possibility because i was so set on “oh Raphael you’re in love with Michael sooooo bad you see it as a tragedy already because you can see him throw his life away” i didn’t even consider “maybe Raphael went through that too”. Though i guess if we’re going with that reading i can totally see “The Woman” they let themselves consumed by easily be a representation of acting or even more the God Troupe, with Raphael/Tasuku knowing to step away before it consumes him completely while Michael/Tsumugi, by his love and passion, pushed himself until he broke, which fits and it hurtsssss god Winter plays hits so hard.

3) Third: oh god yeah when Tsumugi goes for Tasuku’s acting it’s just. It makes me SO uncomfortable, i’ve experienced this scene like three times by now and the third time i was just “can i skip it i can’t go through this again i can’t Tsumugi i love you i can’t do this”. It doesn’t match the play at all and it just throws everyone off balance, and Tsumu you could have told theM YOU WANTED TO DO THAT.... god

4) Fourth: I LOVE YOUR READING SO MUCH I LOVE IT I LOVE IT YES YOU’RE RIGHT!!! Just as we follow Tsumugi let his passion consumes him until he breaks, Tasuku’s character arc really jumps out in Raphael, like, everything you say!!!  The way Tasuku/Raphael knew how the feelings Tsumugi/Michael felt would hurt him on the long run but he didn’t know what to do about it until it was too late, the regrets and the way Raphael voices his frustrations.... Tasuku struggles to be honest without acting (Tasuku pls i love you) but having such a role really help him expressing all he feels about Tsumugi and i’m HHHH this is so good so so good!!! but yeah i also love that Tasuku finally manages to actually compliment Tsumugi naturally, that he understands he can’t let him destroys himself again and it’s just gnhhhhh Tasuku is so kind and considerate and i care about him so much....!!!

5) Fifth: “i’m losing my mind a little” winter mood, winter mood winter mood- (though every troupe’s mood tbh but Winter is gnhhhhh kdhd hdhjf??? you feel me) (i am BIASED i can’t help it TwT) but yeaH i’m looking forward to see how you react to the others plays because the roller coaster juST BEGUN!!!

Onto part 2... Winter Troupe Chapter Feels... 2!

6) Sixth: DLFJDFKLDF HISOKAAAAAAAAAA I LOVE HIM SO MUCHHHHH. Hisoka crying fucked me up so bad!! so so bad!! Like on my first read i didn’t know what to think of him as he starts out very apathic to his troupe and then the more it goes on the more you can feel he starts to open up and i’m soft for this sort of slow burn, but then this whole scene happened and it HIT ME IN THE FACE, he was crying, i was crying, we were all crying, the Unopening Door opened a flood of emotions i can’t cope with. He sounds SO VULNERABLE during that scene and i know all of the Winter Troupe united on “taking care of him” but that’s really the moment i went “i care you and i will keep taking care of you” and look at me now. Thanks funky little scene for ruining my life. I’m glad you liked it i’m aldhjflkjdfkd Hisokaaaaa.....

7) Seventh: I am not commenting on the theory but 👀 that’s so highly specific your friend has a galaxy brain i love it. and i love the idea of “well we have yakuza and supernatural entity what’s an assassin adding himself to it” dLKFJDLKF i know everyone in Mankai calls Izumi out everytime someone joins but that’d be peak. I’m not going further about what December and August and April are all about but i love this plotline sO much, the few mentions of August when Hisoka regained his memories for a minute still haunts me, the guilt he seems to feel and this pain i’m just... godddd such a good set up. I love this plotline.

8) Eigth: EMOTIONS!!  Oh GOD YEAH THE ENDING WITH ALL THE OTHER ACTORS... I cried so hard it’s just. It really shows you it’s not just the culmination of the Winter chapter but of all the act 1 main plot and it really makes you feel how much of a journey you’ve been onto!! A3 is so good at showing you the growth of its characters that especially by the end of Winter you really saw how all of them grew in their respective chapters and how cozy they felt in their new home in the remaining chapters, and the fact this chap has those defining character arc’s lines really drive home “oh my god that was a journey” i love them sO MUCH.... 

9) Ninth: wE WOOOON!!! They’re all so good i just. i’m gonna cry just thinking about it dlfdjlfk i know like, the game has so many content so you know it can’t end at the end of Winter but the suspense really was there. BUT YEAH LMAO I LOVE SAKYO DOING THAT IMMEDIATLY, man sure has the eyes on the prize and we love him for that.  AND THE GAME NIGHT SCENE they are all sO CUTE and sWEET and they’re a family now and i’m hHHHHH i love a3 a normal healthy amount that isn’t just making me cry thinking about how all of them grew so close even through mixed troupes.

10) Tenth: I am SO happy you were satisfied with the plot so far!! I’m genuinely so happy that you decided to take that journey with us and that you shared all of this with me, and i’m so so happy you liked it!! There is still so much content and all of it is so worth it! 

11) Eleventh: Yes!! The flair conversations are all readable on the Mini-Chat tab! So they’re easily accessible and they’re sorted in a way that’s easy to read so you can feel comfortable skipping the flairs if you want until you have seen the stories the flairs are all about. They’re all kinda set during the rehearsals (except for some crosstroupe conversation that wouldn’t make sense if they were like how the Summer Troupe talks with the Spring Troupe in their Flairs DKLFJDF but it’s okay what is a timeline anyway) so some of them are set pre-development and it’s wild to get back to them. I love rereading Flairs i get emotional everytime.

ANND That’s it for this ask! i had a blast reading through your thoughts and i’m so happy and excited!! i’ll send you the drive now so you can start digging through it whenever you feel like it :3c good luck grinding for act 2, meanwhile i hope you’ll have fun with all the act 1 events i compiled for you!!

(side note i need to update the drive too but it’s mostly act 2 content anyway, the only two act 1 things i need to update on it is Sakuya’s birthday card i think?? i think Itaru’s is already in act 2 so i’ll try to get around to it eventually but it’s so far away anyway) (edit: i forgot that the three cards i got for the latest revival are from act 1 DLKJFD okay so i’m missing three cards -)

The drive has backstages and event stories and it may be a lot and overwhelming ahah. Focus on the event stories for the plot and go back to the backstages whenever you feel like it, no need to read them at the same time, unless you want to in which case everything is set up for you :3c and there’s a file with cards that aren’t associated to events too so... lots of goodies hanging around. I’ll send it to you in DM ;O 

Take care and thank you so much for all your thoughts! my inbox remains wide opened for any others thoughts you may have as you go further into it :3c

[whatsseobb]

Every Piece of You (Crystal x Gigi Fanfic) - Chapter 2

[A/N: hi it's b and i think we're starting to warm uppp w the story so yay! enjoy the chap, leave a comment if you do anddd we'll see you next time <3

tw / cw // blood , NSFW , assault (and feel free to add in the comments if you saw something that could be triggering, i'd love to add here) ]

                                      Chapter 2 AO3 Link

Synopsis:

Crystal felt a taller woman stand to her left as she made herself appear busy looking at the art piece. Then, the woman talked with a low voice, “You know why I’m here.” What she said was a simple statement, but it was filled with so much more.

[lililiyababe]

shiver | k.sy

→ paring: kwon soonyoung x neutral reader

→ genre: sweet sweet fluff + light make-out

→ warnings: suggestive language

→ word count: 1.4k

→ summary: when a blizzard knocks out the heat in your small apartment, you and soonyoung desperately search for ways to stay warm

→ a/n: for the lovely anonnie who requested i write a soonyoung fic similar to this one i wrote for junhui!! thx so much for ur kind words n support n im so so sorry it took me a MONTH to finish this request hhhh i hope i could meet ur expectations <3

Soonyoung absolutely despised the cold.

He knew that this time of year came with its benefits⁠—snow, hot chocolate, knitted sweaters, and the like⁠—but Soonyoung swore he would trade all of them in without hesitation for a temperature above freezing. Not only was he sensitive to the chill that always managed to sneak in through the creavases of his heavy jacket, but now not even his own apartment was safe from the hellish weather that plagued your town. As his breaths left small traces of fog in their wake, Soonyoung could only pull his thick blankets tighter around him, burrow further into the couch, and complain loudly about his misfortunes.

Your head finally poked around the corner after about the third time he exclaimed your name in agony. Although he knew you couldn’t see his full figure since most of it was submerged underneath his blankets, he continued in his exaggerated trembling and muttered through chattering teeth, “Did you fix it?”

In response, you simply rolled your eyes and shushed him, one finger harshly pointing to the receiver pressed against your ear. “Yes, I understand,” you spoke kindly into the phone despite the irritation that riddled your features. “There really isn’t anything you can do?” Soonyoung sat up straighter, straining to see if he could pick up anything from the other half of the conversation. However, your reaction told him all he needed to know.

“Are you sure?” You plopped yourself down beside him, the hood of your giant winter coat falling with the action. With a sigh, your gaze met Soonyoung’s, and his could feel his own heart plummet into his stomach. “Okay, well, thanks anyway, I guess. Mhm. Bye.”

It was only when you threw yourself back against the cushions and groaned in frustration that Soonyoung realized he wasn’t alone in his misery.

“Please tell me that was a ‘yay i’m so happy the landlord is on his way to fix everything’ groan?” He muttered with a halfhearted smile. While he knew it was far from the truth, his stupid question did succeed in bringing a hint of a smile to your face.

“Nope,” you shook your head with a sigh. “The blizzard knocked the power out all across town, so until the city fixes it—“

“Don’t say it,” Soonyoung groaned, dramatically flopping his head against your shoulder.

“No heat. We’re gonna have to tough it out.”

“No...” Soonyoung muttered weakly, drawing out the word for as long as he could while gradually falling into your lap. If there was one thing he despised, it was being trapped inside with nothing to do. The fact Soonyoung could feel the bitter winter chill slowly turn his hands numb only proved that he truly was in his own personal hell.  “But I’m cold,” he whined, his voice muffled by the fabric of your jeans.

You scoffed. “How are you even cold? You’re hogging all the blankets.”

It was true; Soonyoung had gone through your entire apartment and collected as many blankets as he could find once he realized the heater had stopped working. He lost track of how many he had piled on top of himself, but even wrapped up in his cocoon of warmth, Soonyoung still had goosebumps pricking his skin.

“Maybe I need something beside blankets to keep me warm...” He shifted so that he rested on his side, looking up at you through thick lashes. His request, of course, seemed innocent—he simply wanted to cuddle with you—but he wouldn’t complain if your mind wandered to other, more fun implications.

You hummed with an amused grin adorning your features. After years of knowing you, Soonyoung realized he received that specific look far too often. Your eyebrow would always quirk, a dazzling smile occasionally followed by a small chuckle would overtake you, and your irises would shine with something Soonyoung believed to be affection. Sometimes, you’d give him this look and kiss him passionately; others, you would find the object nearest to you and hit him in the arm with it. Such is love, he’d tell himself while suppressing a laugh.

Luckily for him, that day, you settled on the first option. Soonyoung always found humor in how quickly things could progress between the two of you⁠—one moment, you’d be bickering over blankets and the next you were sitting on his lap, kissing him gently. He knew for certain that his lips were slightly chapped, that his fingertips probably felt more like icicles as they ghosted over your cheeks, but feeling your breath against his skin filled him with the warmth he had been missing.

Eventually, you unzipped your coat, an action that excited Soonyoung until you draped it over his own shoulders and pulled the hood so snuggly over his head that it covered his eyes. He felt his face crack into a bright smile, and he threw his head back against the couch cushions. “Why?” His tone hinted at annoyance, but, if anything, your oddities held the opposite effect over him.

“Your ears looked cold,” you replied with a giggle. Soonyoung merely hummed in response and replaced the grin on his lips with your own.

“Y’know...” he muttered with a small sigh. Although he pulled away enough to allow himself a moment to breathe, he could still feel your eyelashes brushing against his cheek as you kissed along his jawline, causing him to completely forget his train of thought. You hummed inquisitively once you reached his neck, eyelashes fluttering as if prompting him to continue. Oddly enough, you were the only person he knew that could actually make Soonyoung speechless, and most of the time you hardly used any words to do so.

He whimpered quietly, for in heated situations, Soonyoung always regressed to a whinier version of himself. Not that you ever complained about the noises that got caught in his throat; in fact, they were encouraged.

As your tongue peaked out between your lips to trace the dips in his skin, Soonyoung’s hands slid underneath your shirt to rest against your back and push you even closer to his chest. Immediately, you inhaled sharply, painfully, as the cool air hit your bare skin, causing Soonyoung to pull away with concern dancing in his irises.

“Cold,” you muttered, tugging at the blanket Soonyoung was sitting on top of.

“Oh,” he breathed a sigh of relief, and before you could say anymore, he slid down the couch so that he was laying on his back and you rested on top of him, slipped off one of his many blankets, and wrapped it tightly around you. “Does this help?” he whispered as his knuckles brushed gently against your spine. You shivered yet nodded nonetheless, and he wondered if his touch held a more powerful effect over you than the weather outside.

Your nails threaded gently through Soonyoung’s hair, and suddenly nothing else in the world mattered aside from pulling you impossibly closer and kissing every inch of your skin he could.

And so he did, with his hands, shaky from the cold, tugging you closer by the hips. He focused on kissing you as if he’d never have the pleasure of doing so again, on bringing that dazzling smile back to your cheeks, on making you whisper his name into the miniscule space between your bodies.

Now, it was his turn to leave trails of kisses down your neck, eliciting a small gasp from you, partially because you weren’t expecting it and partially because he knew you wouldn’t know how to explain away any marks that he left without severe embarrassment. He chuckled at the thought, bringing one hand up from its place on your waist to cup your reddening cheeks. He tenderly kissed your forehead, then your nose, and your other cheek.

You hummed in contentment and rested your forehead against his, and he watched with a grin as your eyes fluttered blissfully closed. The heat of your breath warm Soonyoung cheeks as you murmured into his skin, “You still cold?”

As Soonyoung felt your chest rise and fall against his and saw the hint of a smile tug at your cheeks, he felt many things, but cold was not one of them.

“Nope,” he sighed, nuzzling further into the couch, his thumb tracing light, absent minded patterns against your cheeks. He could feel your body relax—your breaths deepening and eyebrows softening as his fingertips ghosted over your skin—and you kissed him slowly. Lazily, as if you had all of eternity to share with Soonyoung underneath this massive pile of blankets. After pulling away with a soft hum, he muttered, mostly to himself, “this feels perfect.”

[nellynee]

Together alone lore bits

In the fresh aftermath of Together alone, we’re getting a lot of YAY Pink Pearl and all that, but there’s a few things I’ve noticed that no one else has pointed out yet. 

Ok so this first point I have seen pointed out so it’s important to remember, that Steven’s dream is not a play by play of Pink and her Pearl, the presence of Steven specific things (his bear, chaps, guitar) confirm this, even if Yellow Diamond’s neck had not

Pink Pearl is the cutest thing I love her

Also the way Steven carries himself when he floats. We’ve known it was a callback to Rose for a while now but is it like, legit PinkD muscle memory?

Some pointing out that the smooch might have been a hint to why PD and her Pearl were separated good eye everyone. It immediately makes me think of the episode “Now we’re only falling apart” and Pink’s openness, awkwardness, and attempts to build a rapport with our Pearl

Yellow’s happy face in Steven’s dream made me happy. There’s goodness in that relationship, even if it’s in his subconsciousness

Dreams of coughing up hair are actually usually attributed to physical discomfort rather than having some sort of meaning. That being said, such dreams usually have to do with being in stressful situations, and wanting to get rid of the thing causing discomfort immediately 

I have to wonder, whether or not Pink Pearl’s presence was Steven’s subconscious. Her disappearance, followed by White’s immediate appearance, might be indicative of her being White’s patsy in Steven’s dream.  

I do, truly believe that thanks to the color scheme, the dream sequence, if indeed influenced by memories, was a confirmation of Pink Pearl. But taking into account what I stated above, there is a chance that the memory was of OUR Pearl, and White inserted her own (think Connie’s mom replacing Yellow in Jungle Moon). Just throwing ideas out. Not likely. Don’t think that’s the case. but there it is

I also do 100% think this was a dream, not a memory. Other than the mirror they were preening before, there was nothing new in that dream. Yellow’s expressions, the Pearl present, juggling, Rose and Pearl flirting, White in that pose, are all things Steven is aware of, mostly was recently introduced to, and could be attributed to him

ALSO, and most important. Steven calls it a dream. In the other two instances we’ve seen of him reliving Pink’s memories, he’s been aware of it on some degree. Even when he didn’t know what was happening on Jungle moon, he could recognize what he was seeing was something that happened, that the emotions were not his own, and how that pertained to his powers. He knows when he’s living a memory. Steven experience that dream as a dream, not a memory.

Confirmation that the pebbles aren’t isolated from other gems (ie, they aren’t hiding from Steven’s friends). I’ve seen thoughts on how the pebbles might be to Pink what the comb and walls were to the other Diamonds, semi sentient byproducts of their extractions. Their little society thrived on Pink’s good will, it was simply how she applied these not quite gems.

That they are so quick to declare Era 3 on Pink’s return further supports the theory that the resource crisis came not from the lack of acquisition of Planets, but from whatever Pink was able to provide (ala extraction)

Which brings the question, how old was Pink? We usually assume, based on how they treat her, that she was significantly younger than her diamond sisters. But if all four of their extraction liquid is needed to make viable, full strength gems, then we should, at the very least, be in era 3 already. There should have been an era before Pink and her contribution, before she was made

Meaning she may have been just as old as her sisters

It’s just, the being treated as a child because she was younger never sat well with me, because we are being continuously smashed in the face that a newborn gem knows exactly what it’s made to do, how to do it, and how to fit in. The outlier gems we know and love are just that, outliers. That they would have to coddle Pink while she learned the ropes as a young gem is ridiculous. That they had to coddle Pink because she showed repeated incompetence as a ruler in the style the Diamonds are accustomed to makes more sense. 

Pink, as Rose, often lamented her inability to change and her deep belief in a gem not changing their purpose. Not something she’d be so set in if she herself was able to change.

So basically, Pink might be just as old as Yellow and Blue, but her incompetence and childishness has nothing to do with inexperience, and all to do with how she acts and how she’s treated in kind. She Emerged childish, and remained so, not expected to change.

Between Yellow’s jealousy of Steven getting to talk to White, and Blue’s eagerness to please her and comparing that need to please White with their own Court’s requirement to please their Diamonds, I’m leaning pretty heavy into the ‘White existed before all, and made the others’ theory.

YELLOW PEARL WALKING EN POINTE MY BALLERINA WEAK ASS CAN NOT HANDLE

“You can accept or reject the members of your court at your leisure” What happens if they’re rejected?

Like, this is such a stressful situation for Steven. Good on him for double checking tradition and protocol and trying to impress he knows this is important and needs to get his foot in the door. Breaking the mold is not what he needs, and this is so hard for him my poor boy.

I’ve been sitting on this for a long time. But I feel like dancing and singing for gems is a lot more than demonstrative. Between the dancing having some sort of correlation for gems getting into the mindset and harmonizing for fusion, the Pearls being requested to sing to make Blue feel better, the idea that a Diamond should never need to dance, the corruption being a song, I feel like there’s something physiological going on here. I’ve been hovering on the headcanon that song can artificially boost a gem’s mentality (as sung by say, a servant, like a comb or Pearl), but I’m starting to wonder if the foundation is there for canon

Based on her mouth, Yellow Pearl is actually making that smug AF face when she says “my feelings are irrelevant” and like... I can see her thinking that way based on the proud demeanor she puts on and the expectations of a Pearl. It’s a good thing she’s recognizes and is ok with that fact.

Blue Pearl speaking up! We all like to characterize her as shy but like, she buts in when Blue is needed, went exploring while Blue grieved on earth and found Greg, has somehow arranged with her Diamond the allowance to draw during court...Heck the way she glances down when Yellow is talking and then inputs that she likes to draw looks more like contemplation than hesitance. She’s not shy, she’s soft spoken, like her Diamond!

Really all this Pearl interaction is so good I could watch it forever

Yellow Pearl your aesthetic is on point and I love you (pun intended)

Even after explaining to Yellow and Blue, the idea that they don’t really comprehend what he is, and thus can’t change out of his “prefered shape” to something more pleasing to White is a hard hitter, but expected. Their comprehension of what’s going on with Steven/Pink is a delicate, complicated thing, and explains a lot about why they think of him as Pink, because they don’t really understand what he is.

Though Blue changing the subject to the Earth gems feels like the show writers desperately trying to acknowledge this without talking through the logistics or consequence, yet, since there’s a lot to cram into an episode. I feel like they might be saving that comprehension by the Diamonds for an emotional climax

Blue Pearl hiding her drawing like. She knows when that’s allowed and now aint it

Like, being immersed in homeworld and seeing how stifling it is, you can almost physically see Blue making allowances for subpar gems for Pink’s sake. Their reluctance, even in the face of obtaining usable gems, to work towards Earth makes a lot of sense this way. If they’re struggling to deal mentally with four outliers, then why would they want to waste effort on a planet of traitors and off colors, even with a few usable loyal gems to sweeten the pot? It’s just a few lowley gems and they’ve been gone this long already. It’s bellow their notice. They are making allowances for Pink, because this is her little project and she’s doing something productive. But it’s more cute than anything

We now have our homeworld Garnet spectrum! We already knew about Hessonite, but we now have the Demantoids and the Pyropes as well. Of course, the Demantoids are a green spectrum, and Pyropes are red, giving us the core three colors

The way Blue says “I’ll take care of it, I’ll take care of everything” when asking Steven if he’ll ring in the ball is very telling. When she arrives latter, she congratulates Steven on how well he’s done, but this right here, after she’s gotten fed up with his attitude, his lack of understanding, ect, is very similar to her dismissiveness of Pink in Steven’s dream on the moon base. Gem society is one that expects perfection from the second you are made. It makes sense that eons of picking up any slack that Pink left behind as a leader in a society that doesn’t need to learn has made them unwilling to teach and quick to frustrate and jump in

The way Garnet says “She’s not going to listen to me, but she may listen to Pink” makes me wonder if she saw something. It would explain why she showed up anyways.

The wall statue that sings is the creepiest thing ever. It also might indicate that there are no gems whose purpose is music

Lets talk for a moment about this

Over the course of the episode, we get a pretty good idea of what the whole room looks like. This point in time is before the arrival of the guard. Rubies will stand on the left side, with the yellow spectrum gems, and the sapphires on the right side (this is debatable, as we see them in both directions when the dancing breaks up, but they are at the very front), with the quartz, made up mostly of Amethysts with a sprinkling of Jasper, taking up a row between this crowd and the Ruby/Sapphire line. There is a Sprinkling of Aquamarines in the back attending the curtains. 

So here’s what I want to talk about. 

Who’s gems are these?

I kept an eagle eye out, and of all the gems, only the Amethysts (like the famethyst, blue) and the Rubies (like the Ruby gang, yellow) have designation diamonds. So there are a few possibilities. None of these possibilities necessarily excludes the others. It could be all, none, or a combination of these.

That higher ranking gems do not need disgnational diamonds. If you’re a court gem, then you should be recognizable by your diamond by sight. 

The primary group of gems here are shapeshifted. Blue Diamond mentions that the court gems should be putting their best gem forward for their diamond, and the dancing for this particular group of gems seems oldy specific to their shape. Steven universe puts a lot into the little aesthetical details for worldbuilding. That most of these gems are homogenous in clothing design, the odd leg mass, lack of businesslike diamond insignia when they’re on the guards... A lot of people are disappointed that the diamonds didn’t dress up, but the diamonds are perfect as they are, why should they? This might be a court gem’s idea o dressing up. I went back through The Answer, to see if I could find any cases of these gems silhouettes in the crowd, and a few of them actually do show up! Some in the form of round skirts, but a lot of the clockwork gear skirts have waist and up matches in the crowd of Blue’s court.

These were the only, very specific type of gem allowed to even attend. Despite listing Garnets, none are apparent in any way in the crowd. The cut of gems are also very suspiciously homogenous for a show so focused on detail. Even Shadow puppet flashbacks had differentiating gem cut. But, this is Pink’s first debut, and Blue does mention taking over everything right before this. She may have dictated which gems were allowed, or expected to attend. Hence, we get this homogenous bunch, a gentle and easy to please group, a kids glove version of court for Pink, amethyst and like quartz, sapphires, and rubies, so Pink’s earth friends can blend in, and Aquamarines, to guard the door and not ruin this for Pink.

these are bulk gems designed without thought. But again, with all the detail and worldbuilding that Sugar has been painstakingly slotting together for years before the show was even approved, this seems not at all the case

So what does that have to do with who’s gems these are?

I think there are two possibilities. One is that the entire group is Pink’s. As of the arrival of Blue and Yellow, Steven is already going through the process of greeting the clockwork skirted gems, and Pearl says they are nearly complete. We are then (before the Diamonds) given the arrival of Amethyst, who we know must arrive with the other quartz. All the Quartz have Blue Diamond’s yes, but the quartz crowd is made of of Amethysts and some Jaspers. We know that (Despite our main Jasper being Yellow’s) Blue took on a majority of Pink’s quartz soldiers, and up till now, Amethyst and Jasper have been associated with Pink specifically. 

Then, the arrival of our Ruby and Sapphire, with a group of their own kind, all presenting themselves specifically to Steven. The Rubies all have Yellow diamonds on them (and we know there were Rubies taken in by Yellow) but present themselves to Steven anyways, meaning these may have been Pink’s warriors.

We know, from Yellow Pearl, that the Diamond’s all worry about acknowledging the presence of their own Courts. Steven would be presented with his, to approve or reject at his leisure, as would Yellow, and Blue. Now there’s no guarantee that all of these gems have been acknowledged, but the fact that the Sapphires, all blue, presenting themselves to Steven means that colors outside his spectrum are not automatically excluded from his court. (And are these all his sapphires! OR are these ALL the Sapphires there are? Either way, that is incredibly rare compared to the sheer numbers coming out of kindergartens. No wonder Blue recognized our Sapphire.)

We also see none of the Garnets that Blue listed as attending, nore Agates, which Zircon (during the Trial) mentioned should be in Pink’s Entourage, despite the fact that their purpose is to keep grunt gems in line, and there are Amethysts in attendance. This could indicate there there are more gems due to arrive after their Diamonds.

Alternatively, and more likely, the group of pastels on the right are Pink’s, and the group of greens and yellows on the left are Blue and Yellow’s. Following the idea that these gems were hand picked to either let Pink’s friends blend in, or to be so passive and simpering and forgiving that they are basically Baby’s First Court, we also see a Yellow and Green gem (the outliers who later fuse) reacting to Yellow and Blue specifically, and their fusion has yellow and blue diamonds on it. Finally, of all the silhouettes I found in The Answer, all of them belonged to the group on the left, which makes sense, if both have examples of Blue’s court.

TLDR: Pink’s gems on the right, Blue and Yellow’s on the left, Amethysts and Rubies are Pink’s, Saphire’s like, 70% sure Pinks, and the entire group was demanded, and the only ones allowed, to come. Also the skirts are not every day attire.

The first time I saw Amethyst in the limb enhancers, I thought for sure that she would be wearing them all of Diamond days and that she’d be taking them back to Peridot. I was legit disappointed by Opal fusion because of this.

Also was 100% sure Amethyst’s trick was gonna be picking her nose.

Notice, that on little notice, Sapphire, Ruby, and Amethyst all know the dance they are supposed to do. Sapphire and Ruby make sense, if said dance never changes, but Amethyst seems to be failing more from the unfamiliarity of limb enhancers than lack of knowledge. Gems don’t learn or get taught things on homeworld, so I wonder if it’s something Amethyst just knew, if Pearl or Garnet taught her, or if it’s something to do with the music. I really just want an episode dedicated to her obtaining her limb enhancers. 

Steven batting away the floating finger is precious.

so.many.sapphires

Sapphires are such an ascetic I love them all

Our Saphire is still most babe

But seriously, they present themselves to Steven, are they all Steven’s Sapphires, or just ALL the Sapphires that exist?

again, Padparadscha, so I think there’s more Sapphires. So these are all Steven’s Sapphires?

Everything about the Diamond entrance is so extra. but understandable. It’s a poshed up, showy event for the sake of the lower gems. It’s SUPPOSED to be extra

But them striking their mural poses are ESPECIALLY EXTRA

dat blue diamond hip sway. It’s ok random crowd gem, I’d cry too.

Not sure when to mention this but the circle cut gems with nose placement baby girls I’m so sorry. 

That Aquamarine with the nose like wow

Jasper.... she made out good

two screens of interaction an I had already shipped the future fusion gems

White Diamond’s (Through her Pearl) reiteration of era 3, and her creepy, almost approving stare, says a lot about how she’d feeling about Pink. I’m starting to buy more and more that that her performance at the end of “Legs from here to homeworld” were the dredges of 6000 years of denial in the face of Pink shattering and her current mood is pushing Steven as hard into that niche as possible. I’m really getting the feeling that she might actually help with corruption, on the condition that Pink Diamond never leave homeworld again. Heck, that might have been her plan all along, in giving Pink the kind of colony she did and with corruption. 

Really, the way that it cuts from White Pearl’s stare, down to Steven looking up, is in such a way that insinuates that she’s staring at Steven.

The way the cog wheel skirts bend, and knowing Sapphire has legs, is what inspired the “shapeshifted for the occasion” bit

regardless, I think there’s legs in there

For serious though. That these gems have such flat looking clothing, when we see such variance in other gems before, that they all have the same cut of gem and hair makes it look like just simplified crowd building. No to say that we don’t see examples of recolors and copy pastes in the crowd. But there’s such variance in the facial expressions and we’ve seen some of these silhouettes before. SOMETHING is up with this weird group of gems, especially with such detail everywhere else. I would bet REAL ACTUAL MONEY these gems were hand picked to be the most appealing to White Diamond for Pink’s benefit by Blue

People are already ragging on Connie for being super dumb about dragging Steven on the Dance floor but like. This is the first real exposure gem culture too, and no one is focusing on her to manhandle all these rules and manners into her. There was an entire episode dedicated to him experiencing Gem Stuff on a much more intense level than her and all the trouble that caused in their relationship. But even understanding the gravity of the situation. She’s right, White isn’t there, and the Diamonds so far seem really lenient with Steven, and they weren’t intending to fuse. On top of that, this is obviously a callback to Alone Together. She’s trying to cheer him up the same way he cheered her. She’s trying to be emotionally supportive to a friend who’s so emotionally worn out and exhausted. She has no reason to believe a few moments of dancing wouldn’t be forgiven, and the payoff of cheering Steven is way bigger than that risk. Her perception of the situation is different than our, and that was the smart, kind, thing for a friend to do at the time.

Sapphire notices Steven and Connie, but SO DOES RUBY. I wonder, based on their IMMEDIATE reaction of fusing, what they saw before the ball? Did they see this possibility and come because of that, keeping their eyes peeled just in case?

Buuuuut based on her dialog, I do wonder if Connie intended to fuse? Like, you know what happens when you dance girl? Again, White isn’t there, Yellow and Blue are lenient, Steven is a diamond, and she hasn’t really had the taboo of fusion bashed into her head with the same context Steven has. Steven is tired, and tired of being Pink. The line “Im here” is such a loaded one with a lot of history in fusion for them, especially after the episode Mindful Education. She might have been outright asking if he needed to fuse for a while.

Stevonnie’s fusion twirl is just... so cute and dynamic and so reminiscent of Garnet’s second fusion I love it

Why do we get Amethyst and Pearl’s reaction here but not Ruby and Sapphire’s GARNET WHAT DID YOU SEEEEEEE?

Pearl’s reaction to seeing Garnet too. They know that fusions have no chance against the diamonds. What does this stand do other than paint targets on them? Did Garnet warn them beforehand? like “If I fuse during the ball shits going down form Opal”? What’s going to happen to them now? What. has. Garnet. seen?

Honey I don’t know who you are, but you’re a mess and I love you unconditionally. She’s just so happy to be here

Also Everyone else is shocked and then there’s this disgusted bitch. That being said, this does confirm these gems to be different types, despite having such similar cuts

But Opal and Stevonnie both looking at Garnet and Garnet just being like IDK. Just a hard, solid reminder that Garnet can only predict when someone acts typical to themselves, and two court gems fusing in secret is not predictable at all

It makes me wonder, under what circumstances does this sort of thing occur? What is it exactly about cross fusion that fulfills some sort of need in gems? We know it tends to happen when gems are of similar mind and emotional state, so I can see it happening accidentally, but it happens so rarely, and seems almost addictive to the gems in question. What are gems fundamentally lacking that fusion gives them?

That this girl, this candy apple, seaweed, grass in the wind mess of a girl, is 100% on board after like two seconds cause she’s just so happy to see another cross gem fusion just, don’t hurt her please.

That being said, the through the teeth kind of anger we are seeing from Yellow and Blue speaks a lot more of embarrassment than true fury directly at what they see. White’s influence is a mighty thing.

What I’m saying is, how different would it would have gone, if Stevonnie hadn’t happened at the ball?

Stevonnie in Pink Diamond’s outfit is everything I possibly could have wanted. I still want to see them with their hair down post Connie hair cut though.

And that’s... it, that’s the end of the episode. We don’t see the end of the ball, or what happens to the Crystal gems, or where Stevonnie was taken. We know they unfuse next episode, and that it’s the last episode before the special, but this one got me really thinking