#ALSO if i did complete that ridiculous goal my family would probably get worried and its not wirth hurting them either

[ladyloveandjustice]

Spring 2021 anime overview: Quick Takes

Now for my Spring 2021 anime thoughts! I’ve decided from now on if a season’s like, 20- to-24 episodes I’m just going to wait ‘til it’s done to review it unless I feels super passionately, so though I watched To Your Eternity (it’s good!) and MHA (eh), I’ll comment on them next time. Also, for the record, I watched the first eight eps of Joran: Princess and Snow of Blood but I dropped it because it had clearly crossed the line from entertainingly dumb to boring dumb. 

I will probably give Supercub and some other stuff a shot later, this was a stacked season! May give updates on all that later, but this is what I have for now.

ODDTAXI

Quick Summary: A mild mannered middle-aged walrus taxi driver is drawn into a case involving a missing girl, yakuza, Youtube clout-chasers, manzai comedians and idols with big secrets.

It’s rare to walk away from media and be like “that is a singular experience I will definitely never see repeated again” but ODDTAXI is definitely one of those. A tense noir thriller murder mystery starring cartoon animals that spends an entire episode detailing the one (cat)man’s very fall into darkness triggered by addiction to gacha games and an online auction for a novelty eraser? Also there’s a porcupine Yakuza who speaks entirely in rap? Also there’s tons of meandering conversations about stuff like manzai comedy and the struggle to go viral on Twitter?

Admittedly, I had a hard time getting into the first episode, the dry meandering humor not being enough to hold my attention while I was sitting still, but once I watched this while I was working out at the end of the season, I found it an easy binge. A ton of characters with dark secrets or dangerous ambitions, each with their own part to play in a tableau of intersecting events- and it all actually comes together really well.(As for the female characters, it’s a pretty dude driven story, but they do get nuanced characterization and even some good heroic moments from one of them.)

 It’s a great example of a carefully planned narrative paying off, with all the twists appropriately seeded and foreshadowed to reward viewers who paid attention. Even when it ended on a perfect “OH SHIT” moment and denied me closure, I couldn’t help but respect it. If you that all sounds interesting to you, definitely check out the first couple episodes and see if you like it- you’re likely to have a memorable, satisfying experience!

Shadows House

Quick Summary: Emilyko is a ‘living doll’ who’s told she was created to act as the ‘face’ of her shadow master, Kate. The shadows and their ‘dolls’ all reside on the mansion and are required to pass a ‘debut’ to prove they’re a good pairing. If they don’t pass, they might be disposed of. And so the mystery of the Shadow mansion grows...

This slice of gothic intrigue was my favorite of the season, tied with ODDTAXI. With an interesting premise, slightly tense undertones and a strong focus on character building and relationships, it kept me hooked the whole way through. And for any squeamish fans put off by the hype about it, don’t worry, while there are some suspenseful elements, I wouldn’t qualify it as horror. I thought the relationship between Kate and Emilyko might end up being a completely sinister one, but it’s thankfully a lot more complex than that and it’s really interesting to follow how both their characters and relationship grow. The focus of the show is, unsurprisingly, on the “dolls” slowly discovering their autonomy and personhood as they struggle under the rigid system imposed on them by the mysterious elders of this weird Victorian mansion. Can they develop a more equitable relationship with their shadow “masters” (who are also shown to suffer under this system)? There’s a lot to dig into there, and the show has the characters develop through learning to understand and appreciate each other, which is pretty heartwarming. Our hero, Emilyko, is the typical plucky ball of sunshine (they even nickname her sunshine), but she’s also shown to be clever in her own off-the-wall way and she bounces off the far more subdued and cynical Kate well, not to mention the other ‘dolls’ she ends up befriending. 

What’s more, the show spends plenty of time to developing several other character pairings and combinations, and they all have their own interesting dynamic that makes you want to see more of them. Same-gender bonds are at the forefront of this show, and many of them are ripe for queer readings (I definitely appreciated the healthy helping of ladies carrying ladies), but even outside that it’s nice to see a show where a strong, complex bond between girls is at the forefront. My only real complaints about the show are the anime original ending is noticeably a bit rushed (though it’s not too bad, and leaves room for a season 2) and I wish the animation used the whole “shadow” theme more strikingly (like the opening and endings do)- instead the colors are a bit washed out which makes the shadows blend into the background sometimes. The “debut” arc also drags a bit in places, but it makes up for it by having a lot of good character integration.

I hope to check out the (full color)! manga soon and see more of this quirky, shadowy story. There’s some physical abuse depicted, sad things happening to characters and naturally the whole “oppressive familial system” thing, but otherwise not much I can think of to warn about. I give this one a big rec, especially If you’re a fan of gothic fairytales and stories of self discovery.  

Zombie Land Saga Revenge

Quickest summary: In this sequel season, everyone’s favorite zombie idol group must claw their way back into prominence after a disastrous show- the fate of the Saga prefecture LITERALLY depends on it!

This was a fun follow-up to the first season- if you liked the first zombie-girl romp, you’ll probably enjoy this one. In fact, there were a couple areas it improved on- namely, Kotaro failed, ate crow and embarrassed himself a lot more this season, which made him more likeable (as did the fact the girls gained a lot of independence from him). This season also shed more light on what the ‘goal’ of this zombie raising project is and what kind of shit Kotaro got involved with to make this happen, and it’s appropriately off-the-wall and ridiculous. We finally got some backstory for Yugiri too! I wish it had focused on more of her interiority, but she got to be a badass in it, and it was a treat to see this zombie idol show turn into a period piece for a couple episodes (also her song ruled).

 Tae also got a cute focus episode and there was a particular SMASHING performance early on! Also That revelation last season that had the potential to turn creepy hasn’t yet, and hopefully never will. The finale was heartwarming with big hints of more drama to come- I’m definitely down for more zombie hijinks!

Vivy: Flourite Eye’s Song

Quickest Summary: A songstress AI named DIVA (nicknamed Vivy) is approached by another AI named Matsumoto, who says he’s from the future and they must work together to prevent AI exterminating all of humankind 100 years from now.

This show is absolutely gorgeous visually with some really nice action scenes, but when it comes to the story my feelings basically amount to a shrug. It’s fine! I guess! Vivy starts out as an interesting layered character- and I guess still is by the end- with her stoic but stubborn determination bouncing off her fast-talking bossy partner Matsumoto well. She never listens to him, which is delightful. The way the show took place over the course of 100 years was an interesting conceit as well. However, it bought up a lot of themes and then sort of... dropped them. For instance, Vivy interprets her mission (PRIME DIRECTIVE if you will) as protecting humans at all costs, no matter how destructive said humans are or what their fate is supposed to be, and is perfectly willing to murder her fellow androids to do this, showing she inherently thinks of androids (herself and her own people!) as less worthy. Which is a little alarming! There’s a very dramatic point in the show where they bring this up as a potential conflict for her character but then it’s sort of...dropped. Pretty much.

Actually, despite the premise, the show doesn’t dip into the “AI rights” as much as you think it would with the main theme being more about Vivy’s search to find her own creativity and discover what it means to ‘pour your heart into something’. Vivy herself doesn’t actually care if she has rights or anything. Which is in some ways fine, because ‘AI as an oppressed class’ has been done to death, but IT’S ALSO KIND OF IN THE PREMISE, so that means that the show just shrugs really hard at a lot of the questions it brings up  basically just going “humans and AI should work together probably” and that’s it. There’s a lot that feels underexplored. The antagonists in the show also either have motivations that don’t really make sense or have boring hackneyed motivations. In the finale in particular, it feels like a lot of things happen “just because” and it falls a little flat.

I also have to warn that one of the arcs focus on a robot ‘pairing’ where the dude-coded robots actions toward his partner are straight up awful and rob her of her autonomy, but it’s played like a tragic love story. I suppose you could read it differently too, but it definitely made me go ‘ew’ the story seemed to want me to sympathize with this robo dude,

Overall, I wouldn’t anti-recommend this show, it’s an all right little sci-fic romp (and definitely SUPER pretty). My favorite element was definitely the episodes where Vivy develops an entirely new (an loveable) personality, because it played with the idea of of an AI getting “rebooted” really well and interplay between her two “selves” was done really well. But there are a lot of other parts of the show that just feel...a little underexplored and empty, making me have an ‘eh’ feeling on the show overall. It’s definitely an ambitious project, and while it didn’t quite stick the landing, there’s something to be said for a show that shoots for the stars and falls short over a show that just languishes in mediocrity.

Fruits Basket The Final

Quick summary: The final season of that dramatic drama about that weird family with a zodiac curse and the girl who loves them.

It’s very weird that after not cutting a lot out, they kinda sped through some material for, you know, the finale. I guess they thought they couldn’t stretch this final arc to 26 episodes? Or weren’t cleared for another double cour? However, though there were a couple places that felt awkward, despite being a bit condensed it mostly held together pretty well for a D R A M A T I C and ultimately heartwarming conclusion. I was really disappointed they kept the part where Ritsu cut their hair for the ‘happy ending’, I thought  their intro episode not showing them in men’s clothes meant the anime had decided their presentation didn’t need to be “fixed” but WELL I GUESS NOT. That was the only big upset for me though, otherwise the adaptation went about how I expected, sticking to the source material. Furuba has a lot of bumps, from weird age gap stuff to ...gender, but it also has a lot of important feels and great character arcs. It was a gateway shoujo for many and has its important place in animanga history, so I’m glad it finally got a shiny, full adaptation.

#anime overview #spring 2021 anime #shadows house #oddtaxi #zombie land saga #fruits basket #vivy: fluorite eye's song #zombie land saga revenge #fruits basket the final #anime #my reviews #long post

[kyouxa]

Diabolik lovers Chaos Lineage: Subaru Sakamaki (Story 10)

In terms of the gameplay: The black choices lead up to a bad ending, the white choices lead up to a good ending. Please no reposting onto other sites, ask me before translating this into another language too! If you enjoy these translations, please consider supporting me on ko-fi.

Monologue

After successfully leaving the cave, Subaru-kun and I were able to safely reach the Scarlet mansion.

Fortunately, we came this far without having to start a fight, and without burdening the already injured Subaru-kun even more. 

But even so, I’m worried.

It’s about how Carla-san and everyone else haven’t noticed us moving here yet.

And then it also worries me that the Scarlet family should surely be aware of outsiders suddenly wandering around their mansion.

But yet none of Scarlet’s members have taken any actions, despite probably knowing we’re approaching them.

Place: Scarlet mansion — Outside

Subaru: ...Doesn’t this... somehow feel weird?

Yui: Yes, we ended up coming here easier than I expected, don’t you think?

Subaru: I thought it wouldn’t be possible for an enemy to get this close to Reiji’s mansion without dying first...

Yui: Shouldn’t we return then?

Subaru: We’ve come this far already, so we can’t turn back now. We will meet Reiji.

Yui: Alright, then let’s try to ring the bell at the entrance. This way we could reveal we’re not enemies. 

Subaru: Well, we can’t hesitate now. —Hm? Hey, be quiet. Someone’s coming out.

Yui: Ah…

*Reiji opens door*

Reiji: Welcome to the Scarlet mansion.

Yui: Reiji-san… !

Reiji: We are honored to welcome you two. Please come inside.

Subaru: …..

Yui: …..

Place: Scarlet mansion — Living room

Reiji: Here, have some tea. With this, you will be able to calm down a bit.

Yui: Thank you, Reiji-san.

Subaru: Hey, why are you serving us tea?

Reiji: Because the two of you appeared rather exhausted after your exile.

Subaru: But we’re supposed to be enemies. You shouldn’t welcome us like this either. What are you scheming?

Reiji: Your movements were merely reported to me by our familiar, which flew around the mansion.

It is just my style to simply treat my guests in a rather polite way. I prefer not to cause any difficulties to begin with.

Subaru: ...So you saw through everything after all.

Reiji: Of course. For example, I am aware that Violet’s members are currently looking for you and Eve , with bloodshot eyes.

Yui: You do, huh… ?

(With bloodshot eyes, he said… seems as if Carla-san is extremely angry)

Subaru: …..

Reiji: What happened there?

Yui: Subaru-kun… if we discuss this with Reiji-san together, maybe he’ll get a better understanding of the situation.

Subaru: Y-Yes.

Say, Reiji. Are you also aiming to become the supreme ruler?

Reiji: Yes, I am. It is part of my assigned mission after all.

Subaru: ...But do you even know why it’s your goal to even become the supreme ruler?

Reiji: What did you just say?

Subaru: I’m just saying that you should probably think of what kind of reason you have for this.

Reiji: You are saying quite ridiculous things. I do not need any reasons for this matter, this is simply one of my living purposes.

Subaru: Cut the crap. You can’t seriously call that a motive, right?

Reiji: As I said, I do not need a reason. Because I am more than assured that I will become the supreme leader.

Subaru: ...Tch. It’s useless.

Yui: (I wonder if anything we just tried to address triggered something in Reiji-san’s memory…)

(What’s another possible trigger other than becoming the next supreme leader?)

Ah, Reiji-san. Shu-san is also part of the Scarlet mansion, isn’t he?

Reiji: Exactly. He is one of my younger brothers.

Yui: Younger, eh… ? Is that really the case though?

Subaru: Say, doesn’t it feel a bit uncomfortable to treat Shu like your younger brother all of the sudden?

Reiji: ...Both of you have only spread quite the nonsense since entering.

May I ask what in the world are you trying to slowly set up with the current conversation we are having?

Yui: …..

Subaru: Reiji, believe what I’ll say now or not, but I’m actually one of your real brothers.

Reiji: Oh? That is a very interesting comment indeed. Why would someone like you, from the Violet family, be associated with me as a younger brother, while I am Scarlet’s leader?

Subaru: Everything’s strange about this situation in the first place. The Scarlet and Violet family, the overload story, Eve, the folklore and everything else.

Literally everything here is full of shit.

We still don’t know the cause, but our memory changed and we’re trying to kill each other in this place.

All of us had these strange memories about wanting to become the supreme leader like you, and we fight for this title for no meaning.

In the end, this is all a big and useless competition for Eve to make one of us the supreme ruler...

But she’s my, you know… my lover! And I can’t and won’t give her to anyone. 

Reiji: I see. However, I highly doubt Carla would approve of this statement. He will most definitely keep on looking for a way to become king.

Subaru: Yeah, you’re right. Carla’s the kind of person to even ask others to find a way for him to become the king.

I even tried to explain to him what I told you now. But he didn’t even try to listen to what I said.

Reiji: No wonder he did not. To be honest, I am also merely listening half-convinced to your current story.

I would not think the hard-headed Carla himself would listen to such a story like I am.

Subaru: …..

Reiji: ...Ah, I see. So that is the reason you both ran away from Carla. And now you have arrived here, right?

Subaru: Yeah. As soon as we told him about it, he insisted on treating us like complete traitors.

Reiji: I understand. So what? In the end, what do you, Subaru, want to do from now?

Subaru: I...

I want to keep on protecting her. That’s why I want you to lend me your strength, Reiji.

I’m sorry to suddenly beg someone else out of pity to help me. But I can’t do anything with my own strength only.

I can’t protect her with just my willpower anymore.

So please, help me. I beg you. I’m unable to do anything without depending on my real brothers here.

Yui: Subaru-kun…

Reiji: …..

If that is so, then please feel free to use this mansion. Let's keep this as a secret between us.

Yui: ...Are you sure!?

Reiji: It is no problem. We will discuss more concrete strategies about this matter from now on in the future. 

Please take a rest here tonight.

Yui: Thank you very much! 

Yay, we did it. Subaru-kun!

Subaru: ...Yes.

Hey, Reiji. Do you really believe in what we said after all?

Reiji: …..

I will prepare a room for you this instant. I promise for you to have a comfortable stay.

Place: Scarlet mansion — Unacoppied room 

Yuma: Here, this is the room. Don’t be sloppy with it.

Yui: We won’t. Thank you, Yuma-kun.

(So Yuma-kun is supposed to be Reiji-san’s younger brother here, right?)

(It’s just so strange to see Yuma-kun act under Reiji-san’s instructions all of the sudden)

Yuma: If something happens, just call out for somebody. Even though it’ll only come to me if something happens. 

Yui: Alright. If something happens, we’ll call for you then, Yuma-kun.

Yuma: Yeah, laters.

*Yuma leaves*

Yui: I’m so happy, Subaru-kun! At least we’re safe here for the time being.

Subaru: Yes, you’re right.

Yui: And it’s all thanks to you, Subaru-kun. Because you were the one persuading Reiji-san.

(On top of that, I’m more than happy about Subaru-kun’s real feelings and how he only wants to protect me)

Even if he doesn’t remember, your brother is still a gentleman as always, right?

Subaru: What the, what’s with that grin?

Yui: It’s because I’m really, really happy that Reiji-san ended up helping us out… 

Subaru: ...Well, I guess I do have to thank him for hiding us.

But don’t let your guard down because of that. We still don’t know if Reiji really believed in our story. 

Yui: Fufu, aren’t you also a bit reassured at the end, can’t you at least say that much?

Subaru: S-Shut up.

Yui: Fufu. I really hope Reiji-san’s memory will come back soon, and then we all could look for clues together to find a way out of here.

Subaru: I hope so too. It would be best to have more manpower anyway.

Yui: Yes…

(And if we don’t have to go against his brothers anymore, it would be the best for all of us. But Subaru-kun…)

For the time being, let’s go to bed already, okay? I know we have a lot to think about, but I’m also worried about the injury you got, Subaru-kun. 

Subaru: Ah? ...Isn’t it a bit too early to go to bed already?

Yui: Eh?

*Subaru gets closer*

Subaru: We’re finally all alone in this long-awaited place. So I guess I can go ahead and touch you a bit.

Yui: (He said that in my ear… !)

W-We can’t do that! No matter how friendly he looked, we still don’t know if Reiji-san is supporting us.

We can’t lose focus now of all time...

Subaru: So you want to say that you don’t want me to spoil you after what happened today?

Yui: T-That’s, um...

(Subaru-kun is so sly… if he says it like that, I don’t want to deny)

Subaru: Heh, your ears turned bright red. I can’t get tired of that face no matter how many times I see it.

But that’s not the case this time.

Yui: (That surprised me! Was he joking just now… ?)

Subaru: We’re still in enemy territory, and this might be our last-minute bet for now. But can we really trust them just like that?

*time passes*

Yui: Are you feeling better? By the way, were you the one who turned off the light?

Subaru: Ah, I’m good.

*door opens and dagger flies*

Subaru: Get down!

Yui: Eh!?

(A dagger suddenly started flying across the room and now sticks in the wall… !)

Subaru: ...Tch, that was close!

Yui: Eh, what!? What’s happening right now!?

Subaru: Damn, he set us up! We have to get out of the window!

Yui: Ehhh… !?

Choices

1) Sudden inability to move (black)

2) Believe in Subaru and run (white) ♡ ♡ ♡

— Sudden inability to move

Yui: (Subaru-kun, why so suddenly… ?)

Subaru: Hey, how long are you going to stand there!? Open the window already!

Yui: B-But… ! Why would I do this so suddenly…

Subaru: Stop uselessly thinking about that! Just believe me and do it quickly!

Yui: ...Y-Yes!

—  Believe in Subaru and run ♡

Subaru: We don’t have time, open the window now!

Yui: (I don’t know what Subaru-kun’s thinking right now)

(But he must have a proper plan if we do this, right?)

...Okay, Subaru-kun!

end Choices

Yui: (But even so… they threw a dagger at us, didn’t they?)

For that kind of thing...

(Did they throw the knife, knowing that we were sleeping there a few moments ago?)

Subaru: Come out, you guys. Stop hiding and face me!

*door opens*

Reiji: There is no way you avoided that hit. I truly admire how fast you acted in this moment.

Shu: I think he only managed to avoid it because the person who threw it sucks.

Kino: Yuma, I told you that you suck at throwing them.

Yuma: It wasn’t even me who threw it. Don’t rub your shit on others!

Yui: (Reiji-san, Shu-san, Yuma-kun and… even that boy they call Kino, are here)

Kino: I guess you’re right. I wonder if my arm became less capable after this long time?

Reiji: And that is precisely why I kept on telling you to keep practicing and not to slack off instead.

Shu: It’s always the moments that count that you’re useless in.

Kino: Meanie! Show at least some respect for me, you two.

Subaru: Hey, you guys. Don’t you have something to say? Didn’t you say you’d not want to trouble your visitors and comfort them instead?

Yuma: There’s no way you’re actually as dumb as you act. Both of you aren’t our guests anymore.

It already made things easier for us that you brought Eve along with you here. Now we just have to take her.

Subaru: So that’s it. In other words, you have the same motive.

Yui: That’s… ! But we believed in you...

Shu: You can’t seriously believe the enemy would let you approach and then voluntarily help you. If you have some grudge against someone, have it against your own stupidity. 

Yuma: Hey, never mind that and hand over Eve already.

If not, we won’t miss next time trying to hit you. 

Subaru: Stop fucking around! Who do you think would listen to you!?

Hey! We don’t have time to think about it anymore. I’ll hold you and then get out of the window, understood?

*lifts her*

Yui: ...Uwah!?

Subaru: Let’s go! Hold on tightly! 

Reiji: Wait right there… ! 

Place: Scarlet mansion — Outside

Yui: ...Kyaa… Ngh!?

Subaru: Shut it! 

*keeps running*

Subaru: We don’t have any other choice but to only think about running away from Reiji for now!

Yui: Yes…

Subaru: ...Fuck, you really can’t trust anyone in here… ! 

Yui: (Subaru-kun looks hurt… but that’s only natural. He was betrayed by someone he thought he could trust after all…)

But you’re not alone, Subaru-kun. I’ll always be by your side, no matter what’s going to happen. 

(This may not be too big of a relief for him now, but I felt as if I had to tell him)

Subaru: ...Yeah, that’s right. As long as I have you with me.

As long as you’re there—

Monologue

We are all alone and without any help in this world.

However, we haven’t yet lost the things most important to each other.

And that’s the only current salvation for us in this crazy world.

#Diabolik Lovers #diabolik lovers translation #sakamaki subaru #diabolik lovers subaru #Subaru Sakamaki #subaru sakamaki chaos lineage #subaru sakamaki chaos lineage translation #chaos lineage translation #chaos lineage #diabolik lovers chaos lineage translation #yui komori #Komori Yui #diabolik lovers chaos lineage #translation

[fleetingpieces]

Playing with the stars

What if Remus didn’t get injured and was drafted to play for the Dallas Stars?

This is a very self indulgent piece cause happy-sportsman-Remus pretty much lives rent free in my brain.

I’m fairly new to hockey and very much in love with it, but sorry in advance if there’s anything not hockey-accurate!

Once again, thank you Jazzy @inloveoknutzy for beta-ing this! <3 You’re amazing

And the beautiful world building and OCs belong to the amazing @lumosinlove Thank you so much for such a great story <3

CW: mentions of past abuse and mild spice.

Sirius Black was not a clumsy person. He was fearless, dedicated, precise and ruthless against his adversaries.

At least, that’s how he usually behaved.

Today however, Sirius was just stepping on the ice, glancing around the rink, when his eyes landed on a familiar player on the other end and he slipped. Sirius cursed as he grabbed onto the boards to prevent a fall, mentally slapping himself. He was never like this. And he already knew the man would be there, so why was he even surprised? Of course he was there. They were facing his team after all.

It was the first game the Lions would play against the Dallas Stars this season, but Sirius wasn’t sure if he was ready for it. Every game against the Stars was torture, and it had nothing to do with them being insanely good. Sirius liked that part actually, it meant he had to really push himself to beat them.

No, his problem came in the form of one very fit Remus Lupin.

Sirius hadn’t actually, properly seen Remus play in a couple of months, and the impact was even greater because of that. He watched as Loops skated effortlessly on his half of the rink doing warm ups. The way his body moved as he glided through the ice, his muscles flexing underneath his uniform, and the glint in his eyes were enough to take Sirius’ breath away.

Of course, everyone knew who Remus was. First draft, golden boy, star rookie a few years back. Sirius was slightly embarrassed of how well acquainted he was with the man’s career. He’d watched his every game since Loops had started playing for the NHL, and when he was alone in his house he would sometimes watch his old tapes, even though he would never admit that to anyone.

There was a loud clunk from one of the goalposts when Remus took a hard slap shot, and Sirius cursed again. His lithe body seemed to flow over the white surface, his stick an extension of his arm with how confidently he wielded it, and that fiercely joyful smile. Damn that smile. Sirius could only stare as Tyler Seguin went over and crashed into Remus, grabbing him into a headlock and saying something that sent the man laughing.

How the fuck was Sirius supposed to focus on the game with something so beautiful right there?

Shaking his head, Sirius went the other way with a frown etched on his face. 

“What are you so grumpy about?” said Pots as he went past him.

“It’s nothing,” Sirius replied. He leaned over his knees and breathed slowly, before slapping hard on his thighs once and setting his eyes on the thing that mattered right then. The puck.

And if there were a pair of amber eyes following his movements from the other end of the rink at that exact moment, he didn’t really notice.

The puck dropped not too long after and the game started. Sirius was first line and won the face off, swiftly passing the puck to Finn, who took it all the way to the Stars net where Dobby was ready for him. Before he could do anything else though, Loops cut his way and stole the puck from right under his feet. Sirius found himself staring in awe as Remus dribbled past one of their defensemen, before he snapped out of it and turned quickly to give chase.

“What the hell was that, Cap?” Pots shouted a few feet ahead of him. Sirius could almost hear the smirk in his tone.

He grumbled but did not lose sight of the puck in front of him. Those two seconds of distraction had been enough for Remus to reach their defensive zone; the way he teared up the ice was ridiculous. He took the shot, but it went straight into Kasey's glove.

Well, that was a way to kick start the game.

“Yeah, Bliz!” Finn congratulated, tapping his helmet.

When it was time for the first change, Sirius sat down heavily as Dumo’s line went out. He clasped his hands together between his knees, with his head bowed down. He had to focus. This was no time to admire what a great player Loops was. Or how obscenely good he looked in his gear.

The Lions knew him to be the dedicated, focused captain of the team, not this silly mess of a man who couldn’t take his eyes off another man from the opposite team. No, there was too much at stake for him to lose it like this. It didn’t matter that his friends knew he was gay, he couldn’t just flaunt it in front of the cameras and the wild crowd. 

He owed it to his team to get it together. He started picking up the pace after that, slowly falling into that absolute-hockey headspace, but still he felt that he couldn’t play his usual game. He kept getting slightly distracted for short periods of time, and by the end of the first period he felt incredibly frustrated with himself. It was mainly thanks to his teammates’ skills that the score was still tied 0-0.

He made his way back to the locker room behind them all, admonishing his own behaviour and telling himself he would do better in the second part of the game. He was so focused on his internal rant that he barely noticed Dumo falling into step beside him, and jumped when he placed a hand on his shoulder.

There was a knowing smile on his face that Sirius wanted to wipe off, but his tone was kind as he spoke, albeit slightly teasing.

“Mon fils, if you want to stare you have my full support, but perhaps we should focus on the game now, non?”

With that he chuckled, squeezed his shoulder and entered the locker room ahead of him.

Sirius took a second to stand outside the door, smiling at how simple and easy it was to talk about it with Dumo. The man was like family, a good kind of family. He’d taken him in and protected him against Sirius’ own mother, he’d given him a real home. It was such a Dumo thing to do, talk about his biggest secret as if it was the most normal thing in the world; Sirius could only shake his head as he followed behind him.

“Damn that Lupin!” was the first thing he heard as he stepped in. Finn was in the middle of complaining while making big gestures with his hands, and Logan and Leo were staring at him with fond, amused smiles on their faces. “It’s like every time you turn around he’s there! It’s insane how fast that man is.”

Talker came over then and slapped Sirius on the back.

“Don’t feel too bad Cap. He’s a beautiful man; sometimes I also find myself getting distracted by him.” At Sirius’ raised eyebrow, he added, “I stare with respect.”

He said it with a completely straight face, but Sirius saw the mirth dancing in his eyes. Some of the guys around laughed, adding a few comments of their own to the friendly banter. Sirius wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve such an amazing team. Although the last thing he needed right now was to keep on thinking about Remus, so he tuned them out until Coach came in to go over their strategy.

Second period started in a similar way than the first had, only the pressure had increased. The players were marking each other more tightly, the puck kept going from the Stars’ zone to the Lion’s, and there had been no shots on goal so far.

Halfway through, the whistle blew as one of the referees called an offside on Dallas, and both teams skated over for the face off. As Sirius was getting closer, Loops skated in his direction, locking eyes with him as he circled behind him, and Sirius had to will his body not to jump when Remus started talking with his mouth close to Sirius’ ear.

“I wonder what got the great Captain Sirius Black so distracted?” he said in a playful tone, and Sirius didn’t have to look to know he was smiling.

He was taunting him, the bastard, and fuck if that didn’t ignite a fire inside Sirius’ body.

“Worry about losing your own focus Lupin, or you’ll end up biting the ice,” he replied in the same tone, and was rewarded with a soft chuckle.

If Remus wanted to play like that, Sirius would give him a performance to remember. It was a challenge, Sirius could feel his body thrumming with the adrenaline of it as he finally relaxed completely and played the way he was supposed to from the start.

Sirius managed to change the rhythm of the game with a fast pass he sent Pots’ way, that ended up being the first goal; then Logan scored another one right before the second intermission, setting the team’s spirits on a high. But then Remus scored two incredibly gorgeous goals in the third period that left Sirius slightly light headed.

They were tied.

And right now Sirius was having an internal battle as well as the one going on by the boards, as he and Loops fought for the puck, their bodies close together and Remus’ witty chirps in the air. It was taking all of Sirius’ years of discipline to keep his head in the game.

“Oh hey, you finally decided to come out to play?” Remus said as he bumped into him from behind and Sirius had to bite back a laugh, before spinning around and lightly sending Remus against the boards in retaliation.

“Look alive, Lupin!”

With barely two minutes left on the clock, Sirius managed to get the puck across to Talker, skated behind the net to position himself on the other side of the rink, shook off two defensemen as the puck headed his way again, and immediately whipped it into the goal, making the horn blare.

Screams and cheers erupted all over as the whole team crashed into him. They won, but it had been a very close call.

Nonetheless, it was over now and Sirius could go back to his hotel room and be alone for a bit. And probably watch some tape. The guys were going to grab food on the way, so Sirius excused himself to go lie down and whack himself for being such a klutz during the first half of the game. He was sure it would become easier with time, today he’d just been less prepared than he’d thought he was, and he vowed to make it better.

Just as he was heading outside through the empty hallway, a door opened and he turned around to see Lupin and Seguin coming out of their own locker room, and the sight was just a bit too much for Sirius right then.

Remus was in his game suit, his hair wet from the shower, with a stray curl falling on his forehead that Sirius desperately wanted to brush off. He was once more laughing at something Seguin had said, which made Sirius frown as he turned away, shoving his hands in his pockets.

There was nothing he could do about it, he wanted too many things that he couldn’t have.

Once he was outside, having escaped through the back door that led to the parking lot, he leaned against a wall before he lit up a cigarette and took a few long hauls, closing his eyes for a few minutes.

“Hey,” a voice said beside him and Sirius almost jumped out of his skin.

“Fuck, are you a ninja or something?” Sirius asked, bringing a hand to his heart, still holding the cigarette. He hadn’t heard Remus coming out.

Loops grinned as he came to stand right next to Sirius, but then his eyes focused on the cigarette on his hand and he lifted an eyebrow.

“Does your PT know that you smoke?”

“No, and there’s no need for him to know. I only smoke when I’m stressed.”

“What are you stressed about? You were amazing out there.”

“Not in the first period,” Sirius mumbled as he took another drag, but Remus heard him.

“And why is that?” he asked with a smirk, taking a step closer.

Sirius huffed in exasperation.

“Fuck Re, do you know how hot you look out there? Did you really have to make it that hard on me?” he lifted an eyebrow at the innuendo, which only made Remus’ wolfish grin go wider.

“Hmm. You didn’t expect me to go easy on you just because we’re dating, right?”

Remus placed a hand on the wall next to Sirius’ head, guarded by the darkness of the parking lot, and looked at him straight in the eye. The golden flecks in Remus’ irises seemed to have a light of their own, and Sirius could only stare, transfixed, as Remus’ long fingers reached up to snatch the cigarette right from between his lips and placed it in his own mouth. Without breaking eye contact, he took a slow drag and exhaled to the side before stubbing the fag against the wall.

“Hey!”

Remus’ hand came to rest on the other side of Sirius’ head, and he pressed their chests together, slotting his thigh between Sirius’.

“Y’know, if it was that hard on you,” he punctuated by pressing his thigh down ever so slightly, smiling as a whine sounded at the back of Sirius’ throat, “there are other ways to help you relax,” he said with a tilt of his head, before he ducked down to suck on Sirius’ neck.

“I...Re...”

“You’re not flying back to Gryffindor tomorrow, right?” Remus whispered against the skin just under his ear, pulling a breathy “No” out of Sirius that sounded more like a moan. “Good. I can stay with you all night then, yeah?” he added before he scraped his teeth against Sirius’ ear lobe, and Sirius had to blink a few times to clear his fuzzy head.

"I...quoi?" He had to resist the urge to slap himself. Use your words, Black.  “I mean...what?” Oh yeah, much better.

Remus leaned back just enough to look at him with a smile, tucking Sirius’ hair behind his ear.

“Will you be missed if I take you home?” he said in an amused tone, tilting his head in a way that was so adorable Sirius had to fight to keep another whine in.

“I thought you had a team dinner you couldn’t miss.” Sirius hesitated before continuing, “Isn’t it too risky for us to do this?”

“No,” Remus said immediately. Then, after a short pause, “I mean, I do, and it is, but...I haven’t seen you in almost a month, Pads. I...I missed you.”

Sirius’ heart melted. It’d been hard on both of them since the season had started; their tight training schedules and the fact that they lived in different cities didn’t allow them much time together. Being apart from Remus felt like being off balance, like his world was tilted to the side, and it had only settled on its right edge the moment Sirius had gone on the rink today and laid eyes on Remus again.

Sirius cupped Remus’ cheek, and the other man pressed against his touch, closing his eyes as a fond smile slowly made its way through his face.

“What?” Sirius asked.

“Do you remember that first time I asked you out?”

Sirius was surprised into silence for a few seconds, before he got what Remus was thinking about and he huffed a laugh.

Of course he remembered.

They had been in a very similar situation to the one they were in now, but still, so many things had changed.

The Lions had been playing against Dallas too on that day, only they were at Hogwarts stadium, with their chance at the playoffs at stake. And Sirius’ parents had been there.

Their words, their hard looks, Walburga’s hand digging into his shoulder...it had all been too much and Sirius had found himself spiralling down into the scared, closed off boy he’d used to be before he’d started playing with the Lions. Before he’d been accepted into a real team, a real family.

At that moment, all he could think about was pressure, reputation, and secrets.

He couldn’t let his parents find out. He couldn’t let his friends find out. And then, after the game, he’d been alone at the parking lot trying to get his breathing under control, ripping a leaflet to pieces when a soft hand was placed on top of his, and Sirius had looked up to concerned amber eyes.

To the one person he was supposed to avoid at all costs.

Remus had removed his hand from Sirius’, taking what was left of the paper from him and throwing it in the bin in the corner.

“Hey! I was using that!”

“What for?” He’d sounded genuinely curious, which confused Sirius as they were cordial with each other but they weren’t really friends.

Staring ahead, Sirius had avoided looking him in the eye as he ran a hand through his hair.

“There was something on my mind.”

“Hmm,” Remus hummed.

Sirius had glanced to his side and found Remus staring at him straight in the eye, before the other man stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned on the wall beside him.

“Are you free?”

“Hm?” Sirius asked absentmindedly. He’d been too busy staring at the way Remus’ shoulders strained against his shirt to register what had been said.

The corners of Remus’ mouth turned up in a sweet smile, making Sirius’ breath stop completely. He couldn’t help but think he was gorgeous. 

“Are you free right now or do you have somewhere to be?”

“Oh. No, I’m done for the evening,” Sirius said, confused as to where that had come from.

“Well then, wanna go grab dinner?”

“I...what?” Sirius was perplexed. He’d not been expecting that.

“Dinner. With me,” Remus said, amused. What was going on? Was this...was Remus flirting with him? No, that couldn’t be it; Loops was known to be one of the most caring players out there, he’d probably seen that Sirius was struggling with something and just wanted to help. But even if that was it, he was not about to turn the man down.

“I...yeah. Yeah, I would like that,” Sirius said as a small smile spread over his face.

When Remus gave him a happy grin of his own, eyes shining bright, Sirius’ stomach had done a flip, and he’d known he was totally, and absolutely fucked.

He felt his body tingle just like it had back then when Remus trailed his fingers along his jaw, bringing him back to the present.

“Yeah, I remember,” Sirius placed his hands on Remus’ cheeks and kissed him, slow and steady, making Remus sigh and sag against him as he talked between kisses, never letting their lips part further than an inch. “You were so cute. And sweet. I was so fucking surprised that you asked me out, but I didn’t dare believe you actually wanted...well, me.”

Remus laughed, nudging at Sirius’ nose with his own. 

“How could I not want you? Did you look at you? Do you know how sweet, caring and amazing you are?”

Sirius groaned as he nipped at the other man’s bottom lip, making him jump in surprise. He let his fingers run among the wild tawny curls, pulling at them slightly at the back of Remus’ neck. Remus let his head fall back, and instantly felt Sirius’ mouth on the soft skin under his jaw, trailing warm open-mouth kisses until he reached his collarbone.

“Re,” he whispered, feeling his boyfriend’s chest rising and falling in short shallow breaths.

“Yeah?”

“Please take me home.”

#wolfstar #wolfstar fic #coops #lumosinlove #sweater weather lumosinlove #Sweater Weather #hockeyau #tyler seguin #coops sw

[le-loup-et-lion]

I know I talked about this on Discord once ages ago but did I ever tell you guys about my absurd harvest-mouse!Javert au?

Basically it's brick canon until Javert says to Valjean "I will wait for you here", at which point due to inexplicable fairy tale-esque 'you told a lie for the first time in your life' magic curse bullshit Javert is transformed right in front of Valjean into one of these lil guys:

Conceptually it's completely ridiculous, but what makes it funny is that's it's played completely straight.

"Autumn, you seem like a fairly serious person when it comes to this fandom so why on earth would you come up with something this silly" you say? well. you see. it literally came to me in a dream (no, seriously).

I imagine it as a very terrifying and painful transformation, which starts out almost like the pangs of a heart attack, with Javert clutching his chest and doubling over with a grunt as Valjean is walking away, causing Valjean to turn back around and kneel down with him, grabbing him by his shoulders and trying to assess what's wrong with him, ending up bewildered as Javert begins to glow with an eerie golden light which eventually engulfs him (but not before Javert can look up and meet his eyes one last time with an utterly petrified, vulnerable, pleading look). Then this blinding luminous form shrinks in Valjean's grasp until it is naught but a small floating orb, at which point the light begins to fade and whatever is left of Javert starts to fall. Valjean catches it in his hands and, somewhat horrified and awestruck, opens them to reveal the tinest little mouse he's ever seen curled up in his palms within the faintest fading golden glow.

Javert goes unconscious during this transformation, leaving Valjean to trudge back to his apartment in complete confusion with him (very gently) in hand, highly questioning his own sanity the entire time until Javert is able to wake up again and respond to basic yes/no questions.

(Javert of course absolutely loses his mind at first and tries to run away as soon as he begins to process the situation, but is unused to his new body and runs right off the edge of the table without thinking, forcing Valjean to panic lunge across the tabletop and grab him midair to prevent him from falling and hurting himself)

Anyway they are both very rattled and perplexed by this and Valjean keeps him at his apartment because they don't know what else to do.

Their whole hunter/prey antagonist/protagonist relationship gets pretty immediately and completely derailed by this, but not in like, a neatly resolved way, because they can't really just have a conversation about it at first, leading to ... a pretty weird mental state for both of them for quite awhile.

It also levels the playing field between them in a way because Javert was the only one who "knew" Valjean, and now Valjean is the only one who "knows" Javert.

Javert can't talk obviously but he CAN dip his little tail in an inkwell and write with surprisingly humanlike penmanship. (Also harvest mice have prehensile tails which they use to climb around vegetation; so it's more useful than he initially realizes—I wonder if they would be dexterous enough for him to write with just the tail itself, without having to grasp it like a pen in his front paw?)

His top hat fell off while he was transforming so it didn't transform with him (thereby remaining the only real proof of the situation, sort of) and Valjean sat it on his bedside table and filled it with bits of fabric (I like to think they're different colored cravats) for Javert to use as a hiding place/bed, which is just. the cutest thing ever if you picture it.

People on Discord were laughing about the idea of him wearing, like, a little waistcoat from a doll or something bc he's nakey and embarrassed about it lmao

I was thinking that shortly after this Valjean might fall ill, perhaps due to some wounds he received at the barricade (bullet grazes?) becoming infected by all the sewer muck he was wading around in, leaving him bedridden and unsure of the future (hmm, just like Marius). This would give him plenty of time to talk openly with Javert without anyone seeing, but also mainly force him to worry about Javert's immediate future as well, perhaps in his own absence (though he doesn't die in the end, of course). And then, their overwhelming mortality would probably make Valjean start talking about things he wouldn't otherwise have brought up.

Eventually after a long time of living with Valjean and watching him interact with others, and realizing the kind of person he is/that people can change/that the law and justice are two separate concepts/that he has spent his life helping to oppress people who often didn't deserve it, Javert manages to tolerate/accept and even appreciate Valjean in a sort of backwards Beauty and the Beast type au, and would turn back into his old human self again. But I haven't figured out exactly what the specific caveats of this "curse" (and therefore the breaking thereof) would be yet.

Like. Is it about being honest with oneself and others? Is it about learning to love? Is it about how seeing the humanity of others and treating them humanely is fundamental to what makes us human? What would break the curse, exactly? A kiss? A confession of some kind? A selfless act? Certainly it is more about him learning to love than it is about him becoming loveable; but then, are those two concepts not inseparably intertwined?

And why did he turn into a mouse, specifically, to begin with? (The real answer here is that my subconscious picked it while I was asleep, so I'm not sure; but) I feel like, in a metaphorical sense, Javert is a mouse who wholeheartedly believes himself to be a lion.

By which I mean, he was born into a position of powerlessness in society due to classism, racism, moral persecution, and economic inequality, and because of this he sought respect and power; but instead of trying to gain these things by fighting against the oppressive system he faced (as he believed it to be an unwinnable battle), he caved into it entirely and chose to become a servant of it, in return for a scant amount of personal security and the illusion of authority.

At the end of the day, however, he is still impoverished, disrespected, and distrusted. He is lying to himself in that he believes that through his self-sacrificial and self-stifling choices, he has fulfilled his goals to rise through the ranks of society, becoming his "morally best" self—but the reality is almost exactly the opposite. He has become the self-same monster that would gladly oppress people like him and his family. And he makes the choice to continue being that monster every day, because at least now he feels powerful; at least now people fear him enough to pretend they respect him.

Perhaps it is fitting, then, that his illusions finally break around him as he chooses to knowingly lie, not just to himself this time, but finally—and for the very first time—out loud. And in the admittance of his dishonesty to himself, he transforms physically into what he truly was all along—meek and small, voiceless and powerless; an inconvenient and easily forgotten pest in the eyes of society.

Would the acceptance of this truth, and the embracing of true humility, be what breaks him of the curse then; restoring to him his physical humanity at the restoration of his spiritual humanity?

I never fully figured out the plot direction for this au but I still think about it now and then and try to add to it in my head. So possibly, one day longggg in the future, you may see. a very silly little fic on AO3

#Valjean #Javert #Les Miserables #Les Mis #Valvert #harvest mice #long post #I'm on mobile and I couldn't figure out how to put a readmore lol forgive me #fic writing #AU ideas #Fanfic

[clumsyclifford]

oh yes i saw about visiting your friends that sounds nice :) i hope you enjoy your time in your south american/dutch island. oh to be you going on a plane again. i haven’t traveled anywhere outside the country since covid and i just miss Being On The Plane

i may have to crack and read some of your 5sos fic. i’ve been watching interviews too and stuff it’s been sooo long since i’ve got into a new band this is exciting. (on that note any recommended videos or anything? and fic recs).

okay my fic yes i promise it has a happy ending (well. i hope it will. i kinda wrote way past what i planned for and i’m just writing with no set goal in mind. but me being me i love a happy ending so) it’s a little bit of a roller coaster but a lot of fluff between the not so fluff moments.

yes it was very nice!!! and i hope the island is fun. honestly i reeeeally don't care for plane rides. ALTHOUGH! i will say. that is probably at least partly because i'm used to traveling with my six-person family, which is a hassle and a half. plane trips and airports in general are WAY easier when it's just me traveling alone. so there's that. also on my flight home from austin i did have an entire row to myself which FUCKIN SLAPPED

oh my god ali lmao you are going to open a can of worms here that will never be closed. but yes GOOD you SHOULD do that. in terms of recommendations i'm worried that if i start i'll never stop so i am just simply going to give you my absolute favorite 5sos video series, the tower of truth equivalent: cocktail chats. i might recommend listening to youngblood the album before you watch it but it's. really not required. i mean half of it is talking about the album but the important half is just them getting wasted and being ridiculous. i love cocktail chats so fucking much. and it has a jack cameo at the end!

as for fic recs wowww it's been a minute since people have asked me for fic recs let me uh. let me think. um. okay. okay. this is fine i can do this. i'm going to give you like. a handful of fics that i consider both essential and/or my favorites. this is fine i can do this like a normal person i can give you a manageable amount of fic to read

first of all, helen @calumcest is the reason for the 5sos fic renaissance (that's a slight exaggeration but honestly not a big one) all of her fics are essential if you ask me BUT this one is the most essential: make me a promise here tonight. malum (michael/calum) fic. the second essential helen one is as the night gets older of you i grow fonder, a lashton (luke/ashton) fic. helen would tell you that her 2014 fic is all garbage but helen is wrong about many things. that being said her more recent fic is also great it's just also mostly incomplete chaptered fics so i cannot in good conscience recommend them.

next absolutely unquestionable essential is one of my favorite fics ever, @calumsclifford aka maggie's fangirl AU, the words you want are out of reach (but they've never been so loud). lashton fic but sneaky background malum. ive read it like. a million times. it is the best ever. i love it so much. i love maggie so much

i have a couple little niche ones as well, not written by friends. Influencer, a lashton fic, which is one of the only fics under 1k that i have read, not to mention read over and over and been obsessed with, but i'm literally obsessed with influencer. like we always will, a cake (calum/luke) fic that completely 180'ed my view of cake as a pairing. i'm a puppet on a string, lashton fic that. i mean. idk i just love it. Destination: Perth another awesome lashton one, and can't control myself, a FANTASTIC muke (michael/luke) fic, like truly one of the best muke fics.

and then you get to the ones that are clearly just my subjective favorites but i love them dearly to death! All I Really Want is You by hazel @allsassnoclass, a mashton (michael/ashton) fic that possibly invented romance. also the flatmate arrangement by meg @kaleidoscopeminds which is a cake fic but also combines two of my favorite things: epistolary characteristics and a cute little girl OC character. katie if ur reading this i love u.

there's the creek walk small talk malum series by adri @cringeycal that i'm in love with though in truth im in love with all of adri's writing, sorry to throw a series at you but the fics are short and all equally amazing.

you may have read this already but in case you haven't, meghna @reveriesofawriter wrote What are you after? Some kind of disaster, a malum/jalex fic that is essentially the story of malum through jalex's pov and it's amazing like everything meghna's ever written.

and of course i can't possibly exclude some of my favorite fics of all time for the most selfish of reasons: in a world of black and white by the aforementioned meg, a lashton fic written for me for the very first club fic exchange. it has a bit of sneaky jalex if you want that as well. and it's amazing and i love it so much. also i was just an only child of the universe (and then i found you) by sam @tirednotflirting a lashton fic she wrote me for my birthday last year.

i want to say this for the record: having typed this all up i swear on my life i tried to keep it to the important few but that's pretty much impossible considering (a) how many talented friends i have and (b) overall how much incredible fic there is out there. even the fics that i haven't read i can tell you that there are loads of people who love them and i have no reason not to believe those reviews! and just because a fic isn't in my, like, very top cream of the crop tier of recs, doesn't mean i don't strongly recommend it in general or love it with all of my heart. like please understand how difficult it was for me to narrow it down even just to this. so like feel free to request more recommendations (though this may have cautioned you away rip) for fics or writers or fics for a more specific pairing or word count or vibe or WHATEVER (like i tried to at least get one of each pairing on this list but i know there's no cashton and i am sorry for that it's not because i don't love cashton i do i promise). anyway you should never have asked me this question but you've done it now and there is no going back.

final note: i am excited for your new fic. tentatively. as long as there's a happy ending i'm fully down.

#oh by the way i have a tag for this as well it's #fic rec list #i think #it's an unofficial tag #so if you feel like scrolling that maybe afterwards. there might be something of value idk #guys this was so hard i felt like i was choosing favorite children #yes i put fangirl au but did i put magical bakery au???? no so was it really worth it???? #also like. just. ahhhh #i have the most annoying fic taste because i read no fic ever #and also a lot of the fics i love are ones that aren't by friends. like they're older ones or orphaned ones #and im terrible at keeping up when people post fic #because if it's longer than like 5k i just can't sit down and read it #trying to work on not being like that but it's a work in progress #so many great fics out there that i just. haven't read. #molly im so sorry #one day ill read bake off au. i swear to god. #ask #this got so long im so sorry #i should put it under a cut but i am not that nice #ali #propertyofawg #ali there are also writers in this fandom who have like certain specialties like meg and molly write mostly cake and #anna writes a lot of longfic and jess writes a lot of smut so like #whatever you vibe with there is probably someone who writes it #ahhh #to be clear this does not mean the writers aren't versatile. they are. all incredibly talented people. ahgfgfdfmlj fuckvgin hell #this is #help me

[jaminjims]

foreign bts 8th member {imagine}

anon request: Hi! I love your imagines!! Can I request a relationships with the members or life of a 16 year old foreign 8th member with ot7? headcanon or imagine (whichever you feel like) thank you!!!

a/n: thank you so so much for requesting bub! i loved writing this one (even though it is a little rushed) it made me think differently about some aspects of idol life, especially when looking at it from a foreigners point of view. but i really appreciate you anon, you will forever by remembered as my first requester so i really hope you enjoy this one love! ♡ 

pairing: platonic bts x foreign gender neutral!reader (i do have you refer to the older members as hyung though) 

genre: not gonna lie, this one is pretty angsty because it deals with my experiences of how the kpop community reacts to foreign idols/young idols (that being said, not everything will be completely accurate!) but don’t worry! there are still some fluffy moments (the members just love you so much and want to protect you from the world) 

warnings: bullying, loneliness, unhealthy coping mechanisms and destructive mentality 

words: 2.6k

[disclaimer: when writing idol aus, i will only be focusing on the struggles of the reader, not of the idols themselves because i don’t personally know what struggles they go through and how they handle them.] 

~**~

you were the youngest, and that really sucked sometimes 

like for the fact that the members practically hovered over you and made sure that you were doing your school work correctly and actually completing it rather than putting it in the garbage disposal (which might've happened before) but hey! all the other members were pretty much finished with their schooling so it wasn’t fair the you still had to do yours 

you have made that point multiple times only for the others to shut it down because you could basically make pockets with how full of holes that logic had

or when they fussed over you a little to much, “y/n, you’re not too stressed right?” “you’re sleeping enough right, maknae?” “here eat this, it’ll help you grow.”

you also found it hard in the beginning to really connect with anyone too. the drastic age difference between you and the others was intimidating and it didn’t help that you joined the group three years after they first debuted so everyone was pretty much like family and there you were, kinda just stuck in group that you felt like an outsider in 

not to mention that you painfully stood out from them because for god sake’s you weren’t even korean 

they didn’t know how to approach you either though. you were (still are) young and stubborn and had almost too much energy that you didn’t know what to do with 

and even putting the group problems aside, school was also very difficult for you

your parents abruptly moved you to korea when you were young because of an amazing job opportunity so you were thrust into a schooling society that wasn’t the best 

hell, you didn't even know korean the first two years you spent there 

you were just... different in so many ways and that’s hard on a growing child. some of your first memories were of children laughing and pushing you because you ‘looked weird’ and ‘couldn't speak.’ 

and you pretty much had to deal with that kind of treatment all throughout middle school and even a little bit of high school (even after you had learned korean) 

it was difficult for you to really be accepted by a society that would always see you as an outsider 

so you grew up a rebellious angsty teen who was hard to really connect to because you were just so used to deflecting others opinions of yourself 

and you just so happened to have a passion for dancing and singing (you were also pretty good at rapping) and that was enough to have bighit take a chance on this kid who was barely passing school 

despite what everyone said about training and all the complaints about it, you actually loved it 

you thrived in the type of environment where you had to constantly push yourself to be seen because you had always been pushed aside for how you looked and how you talked 

sure, you missed your parents a whole lot and being a preteen only magnified that feeling, but in this dance studio, in this recording studio, is where you could really stand out in the best way possible and make an impact 

you would show all the people that it was ok to be different, that you could still make it in a society that prioritized their beauty standards and had a set precedent for how you had to look 

you were going to be the one to break stereotypes and actually do something   

but it was because you were pushed so hard growing up, that you set ridiculously high standards for yourself and because of your mentality, if you didn’t reach those goals then you would practically hate and loathe yourself until you pushed yourself to do better 

you grew to have this close looped mentality that was ridiculously unhealthy, but as long as you could prove yourself and succeed, right?

it was that mentality that placed you on bts and when you got the announcement that holy shit, you were going to be the eighth member? you had cried for the first time since you started training

and even though it was a group that was already formed, you went in the confidence in yourself that you would make your group members proud

but that brought the age difference back into play. it had always been the older kids that had picked on you, and you were defensive at first 

it made you all the more motivated to seek their approval though, to make sure that they had no reason to see you as different from them, despite the way you looked and how old you were

and it was probably that fire in your eyes that drew them in

you were this little stubborn ball of energy that would concur anything in your path and still push yourself to do more 

it was oddly through school work (the dreaded work) and your age that brought you guys closer 

they could tell when you were struggling to get work done, and losing sleep over it. it would be the little things that gave it away, like you leaving your toothbrush out or you not putting up the clothes that were washed 

and they each saw themselves in you; burning determination, ready to go up against anything. refusing to ask for help even though you needed it 

so it started with namjoon

he would look in your school bag while on break in dance practice and write the answers to some of your school work on sticky notes and then put them back in your bag 

you would find them later on and frown but accept the help anyways because you really were struggling 

and then it would be jimin leaving you snacks in your room with encouraging notes and you would be lying if you said that didn’t help you through some tough times (you still have the notes today, but no one needed to know that)

and sometimes there were playlists that would just kind of show up on your phone that were made for relaxation and studying and something in you knew that it was yoongi’s doing 

and overtime, through the tiny gestures, they broke down your walls and you let them see a side of you that no one really ever got to see because of the circumstances that you grew up in 

but you were still stubborn, and refused to accept their help if they asked for it directly. which actually led to more fights than you would think

they would scold you for working yourself to hard and you would say “no, i need this exercise.” to which would lead to actual demands from them and refusals from you because its your goddamn mentality working at your confidence again 

right after you were officially announced as the eighth member, that’s probably when your personality shifted the most 

remember when i mentioned about how they fuss over you too much? this was the main reason why 

your looks. it always had to boil down to your looks and it was different when it was only school bullies making the taunting, but when your face was up for debate by the media, is when you got really fired up 

“bts adopts an outsider?” “it’s called k-pop for a reason, go back to your own country.” “is this seriously happening right now? i’m un-stanning.” “wth, y/n’s like, five. thats gross.”

it was these comments and articles that really got to you, but somewhere along the lines it wasn’t just you anymore, it was about your members and what they had already built for themselves  

you had let yourself start caring for them because they treated you like an equal and now you were only hurting them 

they noticed, when you started to spend more time at the gym and studio and they were informed that your grades dramatically dropped because you were so hyper focused on getting better that you were ignoring your own needs 

it was jungkook that finally said something to you after about two weeks of almost radio silence because goddammit he had actually gotten used to your presence and you couldn’t just leave because he would miss you to much 

they all would 

they thought that you would lash out at them when they confronted you about it, but what you did surprised them and you cried for the first time ever in any of their presences

because these people, your hyung’s, where suffering from the backlash that you created and you could see how it was affecting them and it seemed like all the trust and all the hard time spent trying to seek their approval was all flushed away now and you had worn yourself down so much that there was just a kid left who was scared 

so, so scared 

scared because you were different, scared because you had lost the people that you had grown to care for 

so when jungkook came into the practice room to see you leaning against the mirror with your head in your hands, he knew that something had changed 

and when he called out for you, you didn’t answer. this pattern repeated until he was left so worried that he started shaking you and he had to call the hyung’s

it was only when they opened the door and you made eye contact with hoseok that you started to tear up and then it was like the dam that was holding years worth of fear and hardships back just ... broke 

you clung to jungkook and just start sobbing and apologizing because all you wanted was to be seen and accepted but not at this high of a cost

and they were relieved. they had thought that you would close yourself off from them and shut them out, but it seemed like you were worried about that same thing as well 

jin and taehyung almost cried themselves and it took everything in hoseok to stop himself from draping you in a blanket and protecting you from the world because you were still so young and you didn’t deserve the hate you got. you were only sixteen and there was only so much one person could take 

you were small enough to get picked up and since you hadn’t been eating much, jungkook picked you up easily 

and you didn’t protest as he carried you out of the practice room and into the van that they usually shared

you were drained and tired and worn out and just overall exhausted because you never really showed any emotion except determination, if that could even count 

and even though you were all close enough that you shared meals and acted like siblings, you still surprised them everyday and showed a new part of yourself and they just found themselves growing more fond of you 

once you all piled into the van, jin driving with namjoon in the passenger seat, you looked up at jungkook, (you were still held against him, practically in his lap) and then looked back at the rest of them and what they heard almost made their heart stop, “i love you hyung’s” 

there was SO MUCH to unpack in that one statement when it came to you 

first of all, you had called them all hyung’s, which you hadn't done until now. always opting to add -ssi at the end of their names 

and maybe it was strange to be proud of that tile, but when it came to you, it showed that you really did trust them with anything and they knew how hard that was for you 

then you said ‘i love you.’ it still didn’t really process in their heads until they had gotten you to your bed (you had fallen asleep during the car ride back) and they were all sitting around in the living room 

“you guys heard that too, right?” hoseok murmured 

then slowly yoongi smiled that gummy smile of his and everyone’s face’s did the same because you really had become special to them, even if you did come in late to the group 

and oh if that didn’t trigger their protective side

they saw it as their personal mission to out you back together and build yourself up again because you were worth it and you did deserve to be here 

they started with getting rid of electronics, well at least for you 

they were going to try to separate you from the media for as long as they could because people were ruthless 

they also made a point to start posting more solo videos of you on their youtube channel, so the audience would actually be able to see past your ‘foreign’ face and look at your real personality (they even started posting things without the companies approval but would never tell you that because you were already rebellious enough) 

and their planned kinda worked, too 

and even if you still weren't accepted by many, more and more of the fandom was accepting you everyday and that meant something

at least one of them would be with you at all times (which actually kinda got on your nerves sometimes but you knew they were trying to help and you wanted to change, to grow, to make it easier on them) 

taehyung started giving you more and more of his clothes (which you loved sleeping in) and started to use you as his cuddle buddy more times than not because you were the “precious maknae that should be protected at all costs.” “but do i really need to be your body pillow, hyung? at this rate i think your the one who will kill me and then i’ll need protection from you.” “yah, go to sleep.” he would flick your forehead and then you would mutter ow under your breath but go to sleep anyway because you were actually pretty comfortable 

or when seokjin would call you into the kitchen just to try his food and you would groan at having to get up from where you were but in reality you actually looked forward to it because he really was so good at cooking 

and so it becomes kind of like a routine for everyone and they all take care of you in their own way and your quick to try and help them back, even if comes of across as a little weird and distant

like when you would always bring extra water bottles to rehearsal because you know hobi will dance the hardest and you would get worried that he might become dehydrated 

or every other night you would bring water to jimin with a honey cough drop because those are his favorite and it helps to sooth his throat after a long day of training

you also make an effort to contribute to the songs. so you start tagging along with namjoon and yoongi when they go off to their studios because you are also interested in producing and you would like to learn someday and they are all to eager to show you how 

and you actually make an effort to ask for help when you need it (which is kinda big for you) and jungkook is the one who helps more than not 

they didn’t give you time to build your walls back up again and even though you often slip back into the mindset that you consonantly need to work for approval, they are there to tell you that you don’t need to do that because you already make them proud and that you already do work enough 

you are enough. they see you and believe in you 

and really, that’s all you needed, but it was a relief when you started to be widely accepted by the fans 

but you’re here, you were enough 

and although its not always good all time, and at times when you don’t feel like you belong, your hyung’s remind you that they are your family, and that no matter your face or where you come from, you will always belong with them 

[end]

end note: holy cow, this was just a mess of emotions and i think i might have some sort of trauma i don’t know about because sad who?? apparently i know her very well. but i’m really happy with the ending even though everything in between is messy! anon if you’re reading this, thank you so much for this kind of prompt! it really got me to think differently and put me in a position where i had to really delve deep into negative and positive mental patterns and how its impacted based on how a person grows up 

also I REALLY LOOKED UP IF JIN HAD A LICENSE AT THREE AM IN THE MORNING JUST TO WRITE THREE WORDS ABOUT IT and i just?? find that really funny for some reason?? i don’t know man, i need to get more sleep, so i apologize for any errors. i love ya’ll 

~**~ masterlist 

request something! 

taglist: @boba-tea1206​ 

#bts #bts fanfic #bts imagine #bts 8th member #bts 8th member imagines #bts x reader #bts x male reader #bts x female reader #male reader #ot7 #ot7 bts #kim seokjin #kim seokjin fanfiction #min yoongi #min yoongi fanfiction #jung hoseok fanfiction #kim namjoon #kim namjoon fanfiction #park jimin #park jimin fanfiction #kim taehyung #kim taehyung fanfiction #jeon jungkook #jeon jungkook fanfiction #bts fluff #bts angst #jungkook x reader #taehyung x reader #jimin x reader #bts ot7 x reader

[heyitssmiller]

Chop It Like It’s Hot

Chapter 10: You’re Shrimp-ly Amazing

This is it! We’ve officially reached the end of this story! Thank you so much to everyone who’s read and kept up with this - I really hope you enjoyed all the cooking and pining and fluff. @lumosinlove Thank you for letting me run away with your characters and go completely overboard! You’ve created such wonderful characters that I can’t help but want to write about <3

Tag List:  @peanut-in-the-goal @whataboutmyfries @raxelle-nite-in-gale @heyoitslysso @spookydiyharrypotterbat

Masterlist for Chop It Like It’s Hot

.

Leo stopped in front of Logan and Finn’s apartment door and fished his keys out of his pocket, flipping through them until he found the key to their door - he had a key now. 

He had barely opened the door before he was tackled by both of his boys.

“Peanut butter.” Finn said happily, face buried in Leo’s chest.

Logan looked up at him with bright, happy eyes that were crinkling at the corners. “God, we missed you.”

Leo smiled excitedly and let them lead him inside the apartment. “Missed you - mmph.” He stopped talking as Logan surged up and kissed him, cradling his jaw in a calloused hand. Leo felt the tension leave his shoulders and kissed back, hands on Logan’s waist and sneaking underneath his sweatshirt. When he finally had the air to breathe, he finished his sentence. “Missed you too.”

“Stop being a Leo hog.” Finn grumbled good-naturedly, stepping in to give Leo a long, lingering kiss that left him speechless.

“Welcome ho – I mean, welcome back.” Finn said. “We made dinner. And before you make that face, it’s a recipe from Celeste. We even called her while cooking to make sure we were doing everything right.”

I love you two.

Leo didn’t say it out loud – none of them had. But hopefully soon. Instead he said, “Sounds perfect. What’s for dinner?”

“Hey, y’all, and welcome back to Cajun Cooking! A lot of people have requested that I do this recipe, so today we’re making shrimp etouffee. This is a Louisiana classic and there are a lot of different recipes out there but this is my mama’s recipe, so it’s very authentic. You can also use crawfish in this recipe, but mama always used shrimp because she knew a shrimp fisherman and could get a better deal.” Leo smiled at the camera set up in the kitchen, then looked over to his boys.

“Today we’ve got some familiar faces here to be my sous chefs for the day and help me out. If you watched the last season of Worst Cooks, then you’ll definitely recognize them.”

Logan and Finn stepped into view. Logan waved awkwardly while Finn gave the camera a mock salute. “Sup.”

“So first, we’ve got to start with preparing our fresh shrimp.” Leo said, holding up a shrimp that hadn’t been deconstructed yet. Finn made a disgusted face at it. “Start by grabbing your shrimp and just take the head off. You should feel where the head ends and the rest of the shrimp begins, so just grab there and pull.”

Logan and Finn shared a look of mild horror. Leo, like always, was unfazed.

“Next, hold where the legs are and peel back on the outer shell until you’re left with the soft shrimp meat on the inside. The legs should come off at the same time, too. Now be sure to save those shells! We’re going to use it for the shrimp stock later on. Make sure you pull the tail off, too.” He looked over at the other two. “Sound good?”

“Um…”

“It’s not so bad. I’ll do it with you.” Leo slowly showed them how to do it again, then motioned for them to get started.

“These look so gross.” Finn said, hesitantly holding a shrimp by the tail. Logan smirked and grabbed a shrimp before slowly bringing it closer to Finn’s face, those beady little eyes staring into his soul. Finn shrieked and scrambled backwards while Logan and Leo laughed.

They all got started on preparing the shrimp. Leo still did over half of the work, but he got to watch the other two grimace and flinch as they worked, which was pretty entertaining.

“While they’re finishing up, I’m going to show you a quick and easy way to devein shrimp.” Leo said, grabbing a de-shelled shrimp. “Start by making a slit along the middle of the back with a small knife and pull the dark vein out. Most people just rinse the shrimp under cold water to clean them, but sometimes this isn’t enough to completely clean the shrimp. In Japanese cooking, they actually clean shrimp with potato starch. The potato starch absorbs the smell and dirty particles from shrimp really well, so that’s what I usually do. Just grab some potato starch and rub it all over the shrimp and then rinse it all off. See how dirty the starch gets as you scrub the shrimp? That’s some clean shrimp right there.”

Leo looked over at his boys, smiling softly as they meticulously deveined shrimp. “How are we doing, sous chefs?”

“No one told me that shrimp shells can be sharp.” Logan said, sending him a playful glare. “Also, these are really gross.”

“But it’s going to taste so good.” Leo cajoled with puppy dog eyes that were proven to consistently work on Finn and Logan. Logan sighed, lips twitching as he fought a smile while Finn just melted.

They all got back to work deveining and cleaning shrimp until they were all done.

“Next we’re going to make our shrimp stock. If you guys could chop half of an onion, celery, and two garlic cloves, that would be great.”

Logan grabbed the vegetables while Finn grabbed two knives.

“And please don’t cut yourselves.” Leo hastily added with a grimace. “I taught you knife-handling, please tell me you haven’t forgotten it.”

Logan leaned up and kissed his cheek. “You worry too much, baby.” Then his eyes widened and he glanced at the camera guiltily. “Shit. We can edit that out, if you want.”

Leo didn’t even have to think about it. He reached over and tangled his fingers with Logan’s. “I’m fine with it if you are.” He glanced over at Finn, who had stopped chopping his onion and was looking at them with teary eyes. “Finn?”

“One of these days,” He said with a laugh, “I’m gonna make the onions cry.”

The other two laughed with him, shuffling over to hug him. Logan reached up and wiped away the tears. “You’re ridiculous.”

Finn shrugged. “Yeah. But I’m happy.”

“So are we.” Leo said, unable to contain his smile. “Ready to get back to cooking?”

***

They had invited people over to eat all the shrimp etouffee at Logan and Finn’s apartment after they were done recording. So sure enough, at six o’clock on the dot, there was a loud knock on the door.

“Come on in!” Logan called as Leo added more Tabasco to the pot and Finn watched as people piled into their apartment.

This. This was what he wanted for the rest of his life. His boys next to him and his friends in the living room talking loudly over each other.

This was home.

Dumo, Celeste, and the kids were the last to enter. Dumo made a beeline to the team to try and break up the bickering that had started up while the kids immediately swarmed Logan, clamoring for attention.

Celeste smiled apologetically. “Well, this is chaotic.”

“It’s nice.” Leo said, quickly sampling his dish. “Much better than an empty apartment.”

She hummed sympathetically, resting her arms on the kitchen counter separating them. “I remember that. Having hockey player partners who travel all the time is tough, isn’t it? And to be long distance, too.” She whistled lowly. “Have you considered moving?”

Leo looked over at Logan listening patiently to the kids and Finn washing dishes at the sink and couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. Yeah I have.” He laughed in disbelief. “Is that crazy? We haven’t even known each other for a year.”

She shrugged. “Are you happy?” At Leo’s nod, she continued, “Then who cares if it’s early by society’s standards? I, for one, know those two would be over the moon if you moved in. They pout when you’re gone.”

He laughed fondly. “That doesn’t surprise me at all.”

“Oh! I’ve been meaning to ask you this for weeks now and it just keeps slipping my mind. Could you share your jambalaya recipe? I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since you made it.”

“Well…” Leo winced. “It’s actually a family recipe. We don’t want everyone to get their hands on it, you know?”

“I mean, we’ll be practically family soon enough.” Celeste teased. Leo smiled so broadly that those dimples could’ve been seen from space.

“Give me your chocolate cake recipe and it’s a deal.”

Celeste laughed loudly and looked over to Logan, who was shuffling over with Katie clinging tightly to him. “I like this one.”

“Yeah,” Logan agreed. “He’s a keeper.”

“Yo, are we ready to eat yet?” Pots shouted from the living room. “Kasey gets grumpy when he’s hungry.”

“Do not.” Kasey grumbled.

“We’re ready.” Leo called. “Hope you boys like some spice.”

“Even if you think you do, brace yourselves.” Finn added. “Leo’s got a heavy hand with the Tabasco.”

“Because it tastes good on everything.”

Logan squinted at him. “Does it, though?”

“Do you want me to prove it?”

“No.”

***

They arrived at the rink early, still blinking sleep out of their eyes and yawning and leaning into each other for warmth.

“You ready to skate?” Finn asked, leading the way to the equipment room.

“Sure. I’m probably a little rusty, though. I haven’t skated since high school.”

Logan closed the door behind them, giving Leo a curious look. “Why’d you quit?”

Leo sighed. “I was a gay kid in the south. Hockey’s not known for being very accepting even when you live in more tolerant places. But in Louisiana…” He shrugged and grabbed a pair of skates in his size. “It wasn’t worth it, no matter how much I loved to play.” Looking at their sad expressions, he hurried to continue, “But it’s fine. I don’t regret it. I found where I was supposed to be, and I love what I’m doing. And I wouldn’t have met y’all if I hadn’t gone to culinary school.”

“It’s still not fair.”

“No,” Leo agreed, moving to stand in front of Logan. “But now kids in the same situation have you two and Cap to look up to. And that makes a world of difference. Now, are we going to skate or not?”

Logan and Finn lead him to the locker room, where they grabbed their own skates, and then down the tunnel to the ice. They all laced up their skates and glided out onto the ice.

“See? Not too rusty.” Logan said, leaning forward to look at Leo on the other side of Finn. “I’m sure you’ll do fine at family skate.”

“Thanks for inviting me, by the way.” Leo said, quickly adding, “It’s just… I know we haven’t been together all that long, but y’all mean so much to me, so being able to get to know your friends and family is –” 

He trailed off as Finn skated in close and kissed him oh-so-gently before leaning back and running his hand tenderly through the gray tuft of hair at his forehead.

“I love you, Peanut.”

Leo sucked in a breath and stared at him.

“We love you.” Logan amended, joining their little huddle.

Leo smiled softly, his heart feeling like it was overflowing. He grabbed both of their hands in his. “I love you, too. God, I love you so much, you have no idea. I’m so glad you two got signed up for that show.”

“Dumo and Celeste, the accidental matchmakers.”

Finn grinned. “We should bake them a cake.”

“We can do that.” Leo agreed. “We’ve got nothing but time.”

And with that exciting new prospect they continued their skate across the ice, hand in hand.

#lumosinlove #sweater weather #coast to coast #finn o'hara #logan tremblay #leo knut #o'knutzy #chop it like it's hot

[night-time-writing]

The five times Bakugo and Shinso were almost caught and the one time they tell everyone

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28236678

Word Count: 3,110

1.

The evening was quite peaceful despite the constant movement of the city around him. Katsuki took the time it took to get from the train station to his destination to think. Tonight was his and Hitoshi’s first real date. Katsuki had planned the night carefully, not that he would ever let Hitoshi know that. The two had been dating for around two months now but had decided to keep it a secret when they first got together. The discussion came from not wanting the class to pick into their relationship. They were both pretty closed off people, and they didn't want the extra’s opinions to affect their new, growing relationship.

They had yet to go on a real date so that the class wouldn’t find out, but they did hangout more outside of class. Despite Katsuki’s first thoughts, Hitoshi and him actually had a decent amount in common. They were both powerful and extremely determined and passionate about becoming a hero. They would both do anything to reach their goals.

Although they had their problems, they were both bull headed. Katsuki was quick to anger, and Hitoshi went silent when he was angry, which just managed to piss Katsuki off even more. However, they could balance eachother out. Where Hitoshi rarely took care of himself, Katsuki was all about taking care of your body. Hitoshi helped Katsuki pull his head out of his ass and stop judging people as harshly. In the time they had been dating, Katsuki had made a better relationship with Deku. After all, Deku was now one of Hitoshi’s closest friends, with his insistent need to bud into everyone's business.

Before he knew it, he was standing outside Hitoshi’s house. Katsuki knocked hard on the door to make sure the occupants would hear him. The door soon swung open to reveal Present Mic. his hair was down and he smiled brightly at Katsuki. Past Present Mic Katsuki could see an unimpressed Aizawa before Eri ran into the room and his face lit up. 

“It’s great to see you Bakugo, Hitoshi will be right out.” Present Mic greeted him

Hitoshi then rounded the corner and Katsuki paused. He was dressed nicer than usual. They had both decided, evidently, to dress nice for their date. Hitoshi was wearing a nice pair of blue jeans and a purple button up. Katsuki was wearing a  pair of black skinny jeans and a white tee shirt with a jacket.

Katsuki was aware of how nice Hitoshi looked, but quickly looked away. After all Hitoshi’s parents were standing right there, watching the two boys.

“Ready to go?” Katsuki asked as Hitoshi moved past Present Mic and stepped outside.

“Yeah, let’s go” Hitoshi turned around smiling and waving at his adopted parents.

“Have fun studying!” Present Mic called out to them as they walked away from the house. They both shook their heads at the man.

After they were a decent distance from the house, Katsuki reached his hand out and grabbed Hitoshi’s hand. Neither of them were great with physical contact and PDA, but they tried.

“Did you tell them we were going to study? Because you didn't attempt to look like we are going to study.”

“Nope. Hazashi came to that conclusion all on his own.” They both laughed lightly at that.

“Nice to know we don’t look like we would date each other. Perhaps the extras won’t put it together then.”

“So, are you going to tell me where we are going?”

“To get food” was Katsuki’s only response.

Hitoshi rolled his eyes and shoved Katsuki by running into him slightly, all while keeping their hands clasped as they walked down the street. Katsuki had planned the whole date, and kept the specifics from Hitoshi for fun.

After they got on the train and sat down Katsuki looked over to his boyfriend. Hitoshi looked more at peace then he normally did. For the first time that night Katsuki relaxed. He was no longer as worried about anyone discovering them, or worried that Hitoshi would hate what he had planned. Katsuki was just happy to be able to treat Hitoshi to a nice mean and hangout in a setting where they didn't have to worry about the class finding out.

2.

    Katsuki was pleasantly surprised that Hitoshi liked the little mom and pop joint that he took him to. When picking where to go on their date Katsuki put seclusion first. He found this small, hole in the wall, type ramen restaurant. It was small, locally owned, and not very popular. It was also far enough away from U.A. that it was unlikely that any of their classmates would go there tonight.

    Once they got their food, Katsuki was in love. The food was so good, the restaurant definitely deserves to be more popular, in Katsuki’s opinion. Based on Hitoshi’s reaction, he agreed. Katsuki then made a mental note to come back sometime for another date.

“You should make the class ramen sometime” Hitoshi suggested as they started to get ready to leave. “Then we can see how you compare.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes as he placed the money on the table. He knew that Hitoshi was trying to bait him into complying by using his competitive nature against him.

“Only if you help. Those fuckers can eat a shit ton of food.” Katsuki often made dinner for the class since none of them were competent in the kitchen. They had since come to the silent agreement that the class had no say in what Katsuki made. There were too many opinions, with no way for everyone to get what they wanted and Katsuki didn't want to deal with it. Katsuki still hated doing all the cooking though because he had to make so much food. He still did it though because he cared about his classmates, not that he would ever tell them that.

“Deal” Hitoshi agreed. Katsuki knew the only reason he agreed was because they both knew that he was too much of a control freak to actually let Hitoshi help. Just as they got up and started heading for the door a familiar voice called out to them.

“Bakugo! Shinso!” Katsuki turned around to see Sero standing by one of the employee's only doors, waving at them as he made his way towards them. “ I didn't know you guys knew about this place. Isn't my mom’s cooking the best?”

“Your mom cooked the food?” Hitoshi asked.

“Yup! This is our family restaurant.” Katsuki silently cursed himself for finding the one restaurant that was owned by one of his friends' family.

“Shame you don't have your moms talent for cooking.” Sero just laughed at Katsuki’s words. Katsuki rolled his eyes at Sero. “Anyway, give my compliments to your mom. I gotta go, see you later soy sauce.” Katsuki then marched out of the restaurant. Hitoshi followed shortly after. 

Katsuki was pissed that their date night was ruined by soy sauce face, of all people. He had just wanted to have a nice dinner, and then a calm walk with his boyfriend. A time where they weren’t worrying about being caught, before they had to make their way back to school. Now all that Katsuki could think about was how soy sauce saw them on a date. He was probably going to tell the whole class and they were never going to have peace again.

Katsuki marched down the street until he was a decent distance from the ramen restaurant. This is when he finally stopped to let Hitoshi catch up. As soon as Hitoshi was close enough to Katsuki he reached out his hand and grabbed Katsuki’s. “I really don't think he put it together, okay? He would have asked questions, so let's just do whatever else you had planned and enjoy our time together.”

Katsuki sighed. He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Hitoshi’s lips.

“Very well.” Katsuki replied. He then led Hitoshi by their joint hands for a nice walk before making their way to the dorms.

3.

    In the end Katsuki was able to enjoy the rest of their date. They were gone longer than originally planned and they got back to the dorms after dark. All the lights were off in the commons which meant that everyone else had already gone to bed. So the two of them had to be quiet when entering the dorms just in case. Upon further inspection, the dorms seemed completely abandoned.

Hitoshi nudged Katsuki once they were near the couches. Katsuki looked over at him to see that Hitoshi was smirking at him.

“I don’t think anyone will catch us now.” Hitoshi said, pulling Katsuki in for a kiss. For a moment Katsuki forgot where they were. He forgot that a lot of his classmates were probably still awake. That Deku of all people, was quite likely to come down to get food from the kitchen. Instead he deepened the kiss before smirking and shoving Hitoshi over the back of the couch.

It was supposed to be a harmless fall, uncomfortable? Yes. However, he was supposed to actually land on the couch. Katsuki didn't expect Hitoshi to land on the couch, then quickly flip himself on to the floor. Katsuki definitely didn't expect Todoroki to then shoot up from the couch where he had apparently been sleeping.

Todoroki looked around, taking in the dark and empty common room. “I must have fallen asleep during the movie again. I wonder why they didn't wake me.” Todoroki barely looked at the two of them before heading up to his room.

Katsuki looked at Hitoshi as Todoroki got on the elevator. He had no clue if Todoroki put it together or if he honestly just didn't care. However, he knew that the whole situation was kind of ridiculous.

“Apparently we are horrible at being discrete considering the minute that we go out, we almost get caught three times. If you include my dads.” Hitoshi laughed, pushing himself up off the floor.

    Katsuki shook his head and smiled slightly as the two of them went to the elevator and headed to their rooms.

4.

    After their date they decided to lay low for a bit so that the people that saw them on their date wouldn't get suspicious. That meant they were back to sneaking into each other's rooms when they wanted to be together. It normally wasn't a big deal to hard because their friends would normally leave them alone when they were in their rooms not wanting to be around others. As long as they had been social enough earlier in the day to meet their friends standards.

Currently the two of them were sitting in Katsuki’s room on his bed. Earlier they had been talking and playing video games. However, now they were just making out on Katuski’s bed.

Katsuki was so engrossed in the kiss that he didn’t hear the loud commotion outside his door. That is until his door banged open, hitting the wall hard. They were able to part and throw themselves to opposite sides of the bed, just in time for Kaminari to poke his head into the room.

“What the fuck are you doing in my room Dunce face?” Katsuki yelled, getting up off the bed.

“A couple of us are having a Mario Kart competition and we wanted to know if you wanted to join.” Kaminari smiled brightly at Katsuki. 

“Why would I do that? I wanted to be alone, away for everyone’s loud yapping.” Katsuki snapped.

“I would like to point out that you are currently not alone, you are hanging out with Shinso.” 

“That’s because mind fuck over here knows when to shut up and get out.” Katsuki then pointed out the door. He directed Kaminari out of the room despite his protests. Katsuki then shut the door and then made sure to lock it this time.

“I can’t believe I forgot to lock the door. It’s a good thing Dunce face is as dense as a pile of bricks.” Katsuki looked over to Hitoshi. Hitoshi was smirking slightly at Katsuki. “What?”

“Mind fuck? Is there a double meaning to that one?”

“I’ll show you a mind fuck.” Katsuki smirked.

5.

Katsuki was good on his promise and was currently in the kitchen making the class ramen. Hitoshi was ‘helping’ Katsuki cook. At first he did help, cutting up the vegetables and such, but now he was just moving around the kitchen trying to mess Katsuki up.

Katsuki was adding the last of the ingredients while shoving Hitoshi every so often to keep him from messing with anything. Usually Katsuki didn’t let anyone in the kitchen while he was cooking. He definitely wouldn’t let anyone in the kitchen if they were acting like how Hitoshi was. The only reason Hitoshi was allowed to stay was because Katsuki knew that despite his antics, Hitoshi wouldn’t actually mess up Katsuki’s food. Hitoshi knew how much Katsuki’s cooking matters to him.

Hitoshi went to steal the spoon off the counter, but Katsuki saw him from the corner of his eye. Katsuki moved quickly and was able to snatch up the spoon, elbowing Hitoshi before he began stirring the ramen. That is when Kirishima decided to pop into the kitchen.

“Everyone is wondering when dinner will be done. It smells amazing.”

“It will be done when it’s done. How many times do I have to tell you guys to leave me alone when I’m cooking.”

“But Shinso is in here.” Kirishima pouted. “Why won’t you let me cook with you, but you’ll let Shinso?” 

“Because mind fuck can boil water without burning it, now get the fuck out shitty hair.”

“That was one time, and how do you expect me to get better if you never let me try?” Kirishima complained lightly as he walked out of the room. Not once questioning Hitoshi’s presence. 

+1.

After Hitoshi excused himself from playing board games in the commons, Katsuki made sure to wait the appropriate time before he too retired to ‘his’ room.

“As much fun as this has been,” Katsuki said, rolling his eyes, “I’m going to go finish my homework.”

“Okay, goodnight Bakubro.” Kirishima called out as Katsuki walked away. Kirishima always said goodnight when Katsuki excused himself anytime after dinner, knowing that Katsuki would not be coming back down. 

Kirishima was so aware of Katsuki’s habits, it was weird sometimes. The only other people who knew Katsuki so well were his parents, Deku, and Hitoshi. Since Kirishima knew him so well, Katsuki was surprised that he hadn’t put it together that he was dating Hitoshi. Or maybe he did know and just wasn’t saying anything. However, that was equally as surprising, considering Kirishima was horrible at keeping a secret and how loud mouthed all of his friends were.

Katsuki sighed before opening Hitoshi’s door. He shut the door behind him then walked over to Hitoshi’s bed and collapsed into it.

“Oh come on, they aren’t that bad.” Hitoshi laughed, turning his chair around to face Katsuki instead of his desk. 

“They are that bad.” Katsuki refuted, glaring at Hitoshi. “Dunce face knocked down the Jenga tower five times while trying to build it to play the game. But that’s not what I was thinking about.”

“So, you didn’t come here to complain about your friends. That’s a first. You must want to complain about a different class member. Is it Midoriya, or Todoroki?” 

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Neither, I was thinking about us.” 

Hitoshi’s smile dropped at that. “Do you no longer want to be in this relationship?”

“No! That’s not what I mean.” Katsuki sat up, turning to face Hitoshi, and placing his feet on the ground. “I want to tell the class that we are dating.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Honestly they should already know based on the things they see, and if they don’t already know, then they are never going to be able to figure it out on their own. Might as well get it over with and tell them.” 

“Way to make it sound like a good thing.” Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “But okay, let’s tell them. When do you want to tell them?”

“Why not now?”

“Now?”

“Yeah, like ripping off a band-aid. Why delay it?”

Hitoshi rolled his eyes before getting up and holding his hand out for Katsuki to take. Katsuki took it and they walked to the commons hand in hand.

“Bakugo! Your back!” Kirishima greeted him happily. His eyebrow raised once he noticed both of their hands collapsed together.

“Mind fuck and I are dating, have been for awhile. That’s it.” Katsuki said with a huff.

The commons then fell into complete silence. The lack of response was beginning to worry Katsuki when there was a sudden crash. Kaminari had, once again, knocked over the Jenga tower. That is when the class got over their shock and the room descended into complete chaos.

Some of them were shouting out questions. Others were talking to each other, either about how in the world they were dating, or how in the world they missed the signs. Which students were which? Katsuki was unsure, it was to fucking loud to hear even his own thoughts.

“Wait, wait.” Mina said, loud enough to gain the classes attention. “None of you knew? It was so obvious.”

This only accomplished making the class angry and arguing that it wasn’t all that clear.

Deku then spoke up. “I knew. It was kind of obvious. Kacchan is very rarely soft and people tend to drive him nuts quite quickly. Yet he spends quite a lot of time with Shinso, and he stopped snapping at Shinso as much.”

Kirishima chuckled slightly. “Well I’m happy for you guys, as long as you guys are happy.”

The  rest of the class quickly echoed Kirishim’s sentiment. In that moment he realized just how supportive the class was, and how happy he was to  no longer have to hide his relationship. 

Bonus:

    “That’s it Hazashi. Hitoshi and Bakugo aren't study buddies.” Shota snapped at his husband.

“What do you mean?”

“They are dating, and have been for a while now”

“What? No way!” Hazashi looked at Shota with a look of utter confusion and disbelief.

Shota gave him the ‘Your being really fucking dumb’ look. Hazashi’s face then morphed into just confusion, mixed with a little bit of sadness.

    “Why wouldn't he tell me Shota? Does he not trust me? Does he feel like he cant talk to me?”

    Shota sighed and mentally prepared himself to comfort his husband for the rest of the night.

@bakushinrights requested this.

#bnha #mha #bakugo katsuki #shinso hitoshi #shinbaku #bakushin #hitoshi shinsou #katsuki bakugo

[franniebanana]

CQL Rewatch - Episode 7

Their first vow together. So nice! I actually do like the parallels here between Lan Yi and Wei Wuxian, and Baoshan Sanren and Lan Wangji: you have one set being reckless and untamed (I said it) and the other set trying to restore order. It’s kind of funny that the ancestors are switched, though. So here we have Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji vowing to bring all the Yin Iron pieces back to the cold spring pond to neutralize them, and of course Lan Wangji’s first reaction is, “None of your business.” It’s cute how Lan Yi takes Wei Wuxian’s side and has a sense of pride for her close friend’s disciple. I think he’s an honorary Lan in her eyes.

And then Lan Yi gives them a warning to not make the same mistakes she made. Wei Wuxian’s like, “Yep, got it, I promise.” But we all know from the beginning that this obviously doesn’t go well for him, since he dies in the first five minutes of the series. He will go on to make some questionable decisions, most of which are driven by his emotions, which are often not in check. Side note: I love this series, but I don’t like how they took a great grey character like Wei Wuxian and turned him into a character where many of the things that went wrong were caused by other people.

Another side note. That fucking Yin Iron fell on the guqin so many times, and it didn’t dent it at all. Is the guqin made out of iron too? I thought it was wood. If I did that to my violin, I guarantee you the violin would not fare very well.

Forever a favorite moment. It was great enough that they were tied together by Lan Wangji’s headband, but even better that Wei Wuxian fell on him. So great—such a tease to the audience. And this is as close as we get to the scene in the book when Lan Wangji uses the body binding spell to keep Wei Wuxian on top of him all night (ooh, my heart skipped a beat when I read that).

Also, taking the screenshot, I noticed you can see the impression of the little metal piece from Lan Wangji’s headband. Little things like that interest me for some reason. I wonder if it bothered Wang Yibo—did it press too hard on his forehead? I remember him saying he’d get tan lines from the headband.

I love this little smirk he does. A moment when Wei Wuxian’s gift to gab really pays off. Instead of letting Lan Wangji talk and explain the situation, Wei Wuxian keeps speaking, lying about what they were doing. I’d like to think he does it in part to protect Lan Wangji and to stop him from breaking any of his clan rules, but likely it’s another chance for him to prove himself as someone Lan Wangji can trust. And I take Lan Wangji’s little acknowledgement of him there as his silent “thank you.” It says a lot, I think, that Wei Wuxian is willing to lie to Jiang Cheng in order to protect the Lan Clan’s secrets.

I’m sorry, but every time I hear Nie Huaisang say, “You were gone a whole day and night,” my mind immediately goes to the gutter—like the implication is that they were doing something inappropriate during that time. I keep expecting a sex joke, only to remind myself that this was on Chinese television and that would, of course, not happen. Jiang Cheng says a similar thing (and my mind goes the same way that time too), but in that case, canon book Jiang Cheng does later accuse them of having a more-than-friendly relationship, and he does not say it in a nice way.

Also, throughout the scene that precedes this, where Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are discussing what to do next with Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen, it really feels like wangxian just want to go on a buddy road trip together, and they are so disappointed when they are turned down. Oh, I didn’t screencap it, but Lan Wangji has the saddest sad face at the end.

I think Lan Wangji is a little impressed here but he doesn’t want to admit it. Wei Wuxian has a great gift to come up with ridiculous stories and lies at the drop of a hat. I love that Wei Wuxian doesn’t have to come up with a scary snake story when he could have just told Nie Huaisang what he’d already told Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing, but he does anyway. Mad respect.

This also kind of amuses me because Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji can never really have a moment alone. They keep getting interrupted by other people when I think they just want to talk about what they experienced. Instead we just have all these shared glances. Nothing like a big fat secret to get close to each other, right?

Omfg Jiang Cheng is so jealous! I thought maybe I was imagining it or just projecting my own ideas onto him, but NO—he is jealous! He’s all like, “If you like Lan Wangji so much, why don’t you marry him?” I mean, that basically happened. I’ve gone on about this before, but I love the tension between Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji, and the fact that it continues even after Wei Wuxian dies makes it even better. Jiang Cheng is so stubborn and continues to hold a grudge against Lan Wangji, and it bothers the fuck out of him that there’s someone out there devoted to Wei Wuxian, by whom Jiang Cheng feels so betrayed.

And, I mean, by this point, it’s already started. As soon as they get to the Cloud Recesses, Wei Wuxian starts paying more attention to Lan Wangji than he does to either Jiang Cheng or Jiang Yanli. And Jiang Cheng likes to say, “You’re worrying my sister, you’re hurting my sister” when he really means, “You’re worrying me.” His stupid pride gets in the way of having a good relationship with Wei Wuxian. And I don’t think Wei Wuxian would ever put Lan Wangji above Jiang Cheng, who he considers his family—at least not at this point. It’s not until the second half that things switch, and really, even then, in the CQL-verse, the two are probably equal in Wei Wuxian’s mind. He backs off from Jiang Cheng due to Jiang Cheng’s attitude toward him.

Okay, Jiang Cheng’s jealousy aside, I love how steadfast and supportive Wei Wuxian is of him. As soon as he catches on that Jiang Cheng is jealous, he immediately starts trash-talking the Cloud Recesses and talking up Lotus Pier. It’s very cute, very sweet. He’s a good brother to him, really.

Now who’s jealous? Just kidding. I love his wistful expression here, as he watches them go off. Anyone who’s read the book knows that Lan Wangji does get jealous at times and certainly frustrated with Wei Wuxian’s coquettish behavior. I would say he is more longing at this moment, maybe even wanting to get closer to Wei Wuxian, without really understanding why himself. There’s such an isolation to his world: even though he’s surrounded by other disciples, he doesn’t have any friends. He’s maybe regretting how quickly he refused to the invitation to Lotus Pier. I think, on the one hand, Lan Wangji has found one person in this world who not only shares a secret with him, but who has similar goals—on the other hand, his code of ethics are all over the place. His heart and mind are conflicted: he wants to get closer, but he doesn’t want to make the wrong decision. To his Gusu Lan Clan mind, Wei Wuxian is all wrong, but his heart says otherwise. And I’m not saying he loves him already—but he is already seeing a kindred spirit in Wei Wuxian, someone who he can rely on, someone he can trust, someone who has his back, even if it means bending a few rules. And in a relationship, you have nothing if you don’t have trust.

I never noticed that they were communicating telepathically here. Or something. I dunno. I guess it’s not that clear.

Also if it feels like I’m ignoring all these parts with the Wen Clan, it’s because I am. I mean, not really, but this is all the Yin Iron stuff that I don’t really care about. And I’m not in the Xue Yang fan club either, so I’m not going to spend time on him until he’s actually in it in Yueyang (possibly) and Yi City. Actually, confession: I’ve never watched the Yi City flashback episodes. I read it, so I know it, but I never watched it hahaha. I will this time around. I made that pact with myself.

AWWW, HE SMILED!!!

Ahem, excuse me. This is too fucking cute, though. The rabbit lantern that Wei Wuxian drew just for him, his cute baby smile, and the Wei Wuxian pointing it out with a grin. Cuteness overload—my heart can’t take it.

But I also had a sad thought that if Wei Wuxian hadn’t come over, Lan Wangji would be sitting here alone. He’d make his lantern all on his own, send it off into the sky, say his own prayer to himself, and never hear Wei Wuxian’s, which likely sends Lan Wangji over the edge with his feelings. Everything he thought about Wei Wuxian was true, and maybe it’s okay to like him, maybe it’s okay to consider him a friend, maybe it’s okay to trust him that way.

Just a shot that I liked. Enjoy.

I feel so bad for Jiang Yanli here. I also feel bad for Jin Zixuan, even though he’s a complete dick. I understand how they both feel here—to be tied to someone you don’t know, from the time you were small children is incredibly unfair in my eyes. That being said, I know this still happens in other parts of the world, and it’s implied that it’s common in our CQL/MDZS world (which would make sense, of course). I like the feeling of siding with Wei Wuxian, wanting to come to Jiang Yanli’s defense and protect her honor, while also still having an understanding of how Jin Zixuan must feel about the whole thing. His choice has been completely taken away. And he’s, what, 17 here? What 17-year-old boy wants to be reminded constantly about how he’s already engaged? It’s not typically a young man’s dream to settle down and get married—not that it can’t be! But the implication here, with all the girls tittering about it, is that they’re all excited about marriage, and he wants nothing to do with it. Of course, Jiang Yanli isn’t either. I think she really just wants to get to know him and spend time with him, before even thinking about marrying him.

Ah, a momentous occasion: the first time Lan Wangji tries to stop Wei Wuxian from getting himself into trouble (not counting the first time they met, when he was literally trying to police him while breaking Cloud Recesses rules). I like this shot, because you have Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji on either side of Wei Wuxian, and Jiang Yanli in the front, literally putting her body between him and Jin Zixuan (actually this parallels her final scene). It kind of shows the depths of their relationships (or at least what the director wants to show us). You have Lan Wangji, who grabs onto Wei Wuxian to try to stop him from further brawling; Jiang Cheng, who stands beside him, but isn’t really involved otherwise—standoffish, in a way; and then Jiang Yanli, who physically gets in the way. She’s the quintessential big sister. And I’m not saying Jiang Cheng doesn’t care—he does, but I think his first thought always has to do with the honor of the Jiang Clan and, while he’s standing beside Wei Wuxian, it’s almost as if he doesn’t want to show any involvement with this brawl, because that would look bad.

Ah, the old dudes meeting, while Jiang Cheng stands off to the side awkwardly, wondering if he should be there or not. At the outset, this meeting to decide their children’s future seemed kind of bad, but it actually turned out nice, with them agreeing to call off the engagement. Very progressive, I thought.

Two things I learned in this scene: Wei Wuxian doesn’t want to marry a woman and he doesn’t want to leave the Cloud Recesses yet (TL: he doesn’t want to leave Lan Wangji). He seriously looks so disappointed when she says they’re going home soon.

This feels like a mixture of “I’m worried about you” and “I don’t want to be left out.” We already know at this point that Wei Wuxian doesn’t want to leave the Cloud Recesses (more that he doesn’t want to leave Lan Wangji, because he doesn’t like all of the rules, obviously). He also is very interested in what’s happening with the Yin Iron, as he has also vowed to protect it with Lan Wangji. He is very perceptive—he knows something is happening, that Lan Wangji is going to go off on his own, and he wants to go with. It’s kind of hard to say if this is more out of duty or his adventurous spirit, but either way, he wants to help Lan Wangji.

“After his leave, things will be as quiet here as before.”

Look at how sad he is! The only person he considers a friend has just left, and at this point, he doesn’t know if he’ll ever see him again. It’s possible, sure, but then only at clan gatherings, and that’s if Wei Wuxian and Lang Wangji even happen to attend the same one. I believe we know from the book that Lan Wangji doesn’t typically attend gatherings (when he’s older), he often skips them. And Wei Wuxian isn’t necessarily important enough to even be invited, so he would have to be a guest of Jiang Cheng. Obviously we all know that they do go to gatherings and see each other again, but this is what I’d be thinking if I were Lan Wangji, okay? Like, when am I going to see him again? Will I ever see him again?

I leave you with a wholesome picture of Wei Wuxian and a rabbit. Also adorable that he contemplates bringing the bunnies back to Lotus Pier, but doesn’t because Lan Wangji might get lonely. MY HEART!

Other episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

#wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #jin zixuan #cql #the untamed #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wwx #lwj #cql rewatch

[fific7]

Something Blue

Sirius Black x Reader

@omgrachwrites 500 Follower Celebration

AU prompt: Arranged Marriage

Summary: Sirius is not going to agree to this. At all.

Warnings: Swearing, brief mention of parental child abuse, Smut Lite but maybe 18+ just in case. The age of consent is 16 in the UK, sorry if that’s not in line with your own country’s/state’s laws.

A/N: Sorry for the child abuse but we all know what darling Walburga’s parenting goals were. This is mainly non-canon, my imaginary HP AU.

(my GIF)

Sirius Black leapt up out of his chair, knocking over his ornate crystal glass as he did so.

“NO! NO, NO, NOOOOO!!! I will not agree, I will never agree!! I’m not a piece of meat to be auctioned off to the highest bidder!”

His younger brother looked as if he was trying to disappear beneath the fancy lace-edged tablecloth. But it wouldn’t budge to the side enough for Regulus to slip under it.

His father leant back in his seat, sipping from his wineglass, all the while contemplating his eldest son, an ambiguous expression on his aristocratic face. Sirius looked like a mini-me of Orion, except without the silver-grey hair at his temples.

His mother. Well.... his mother. Her face looked like a dragon’s might as it built up to unleashing a huge tongue of flame onto an unwary passerby. Only scarier. Much, much scarier.

Sirius didn’t want to hear what she had to say - or rather scream. He turned on his heel and started barging clumsily out of the huge dining room. Before he could reach the door however, her shrill voice rang out, bringing him to a halt involuntarily.

“SIRIUS ORION BLACK! Return to this table NOW! Who gave you permission to leave the room??!! We haven’t finished discussing your marriage!”

He hesitated for a moment, but then resolutely continued walking to the door. But yet again he didn’t reach it. A long string of stinging spells hit him, making him cry out and drop to the floor.

His mother glided across the room, and stood over him. “Get up, you weasel! Miserable little whelp!” He couldn’t move. Another round of the same spells hit him. He twisted in pain, curling up into a foetal position to try and protect himself.

“Walburga!” his father’s deep voice rang out. “That’s enough. Sirius - get to your room! I’ll speak to you later, boy!”

Sirius hid under his quilt, still in pain from the quantity and strength of the stinging spells inflicted on him. He only had a month of the summer holidays left before he returned to Hogwarts for his 6th year. He sobbed quietly. 30 days of torture to endure. How was he to survive it?

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

Sitting on the Gryffindor common room sofas with her friends & dorm-mates Lily & Mary, Y/N Y/L/N eagerly caught up with all their gossip from the summer holidays. That’s what first day back at school was meant for, after all.

They were even more eager to hear all about her holidays. She came from one of the old pureblood wizarding families, and they’d taken her and her younger brother to the South of France for a month.

They ooh’d and ahh’d at her descriptions of the palm trees, the beaches, the sunny weather, the French couture, the tedious formal balls she’d had to attend. She’d rolled her eyes as she described all the handsome but crushingly boring French wizards she’d had to make small talk with. And then there was the matter of....

Their chat was rudely interrupted by 4 teenage boys hustling into the common room, noisily and boisterously talking to each other. They were collectively known as The Marauders.

James Potter made a beeline for Lily, leaping athletically over the back of the couch she was sitting on and landing right next to her. “My Lilyflower!” he yelled, flinging an arm over her shoulders.

Like clockwork, she threw off his arm, scowling at him & snarling, “Get lost, Potter!”

Y/N and Mary grinned at each other, caught by Lily and also getting a glare from her.

The other boys also squeezed onto the couches, Sirius Black next to Y/N, Remus and Peter on either side of Mary.

“Hi, guys,” said Y/N, “how were your holidays?”

And so their summer stories were quickly added to the gossip pot, except that Sirius just mumbled, “Was okay,” and nothing else.

Y/N watched him, worried. She knew only too well what his parents were like. She guessed he probably didn’t have the best of summers. She’d speak to him later on.

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

She lay in her bed that night, thinking about Sirius. They’d always been good friends, ever since kindergarten, as their families moved in the same social circles. But they genuinely liked each other, it wasn’t just the family/same circle thing. Amongst other things, they shared the same view about the whole pureblood scenario and loved the same kind of music.

He’d admitted to her that this summer had been the worst yet. She’d hugged him to her, giving him all the silent support and comfort she could. They had sat there by the fire in the common room for hours, both shedding a few tears.

But they’d discovered one surprising thing in common; both sets of parents had announced that they were currently arranging marriages for their eldest children.

The next evening, Y/N and Sirius had a very satisfying venting session about the (in their eyes) antiquated tradition. But their parents were determined to continue with it. And that meant they had no choice but to follow their parents’ wishes.

Neither of them knew who their “intendeds” were to be yet, as negotiations between all the interested parties were still ongoing.

Y/N had been pondering on that, quite a lot in fact - throwing out every unattached pureblood name she could think of. Sirius had eventually snorted and declared that he didn’t give a damn, as he wouldn’t be consummating his marriage.

“Sirius!” squealed Y/N, “that’s the whole idea of getting married!”

He shrugged, “Don’t care. I’m not doing it and fuck the lot of them!”

“Apart from your wife!” sniggered Y/N, and Sirius joined in her laughter.

One evening in the common room, while cuddling each other on the couch, Y/N laughingly said to Sirius, “Wouldn’t it be a riot if they matched us two?” and both had then descended into fits of giggles.

“Bloody cattle market,” grumbled Sirius, “it’s ridiculous. We’re still almost children ourselves.”

Because what they did know, was that they’d be married off shortly after their 16th birthdays.

The pureblood wizarding world wanted a lot more little wizards & witches running around as soon as possible, so the more usual matrimonial ages of 17 or 18 had been pulled back to facilitate this.

Sirius’ birthday was in early November, while Y/N’s was in early December. It was still September, so they still had a couple of months of freedom left.

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

Their friends were totally shocked when told about the arranged marriages, not understanding the tradition and culture behind it. But they tried to be as supportive as possible.

Lily and Mary went on several wedding dress shopping trips with Y/N, as her parents had agreed that she could choose her own outfit. Finally she found a figure-hugging ivory column dress with a long train, and a simple veil attached to a tiny tiara. The dress was tastefully cut, with a low - but not too low - sweetheart neckline.

With a matching pair of high-heeled satin court shoes, Y/N looked elegant and beautiful. She was really pleased with her choice, and didn’t give one thought to what her husband-to-be would think. How could she, when he was a faceless unknown entity? She put the outfit in its garment bag and stowed it safely away at the back of her wardrobe.

Sirius and Y/N bonded even more over the predicament they found themselves in, whispering and gossiping in corners about it.

“Well, I’m just going to act like the royalty I am, and have lots of side girls,” declared Sirius.

Y/N burst out laughing, “Sirius! You’re such a colossal drama queen!”

“Huh!” he huffed, “and what if I am? The whole thing’s a complete farce!!!”

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

Nothing was heard from either set of parents by mid-October, and Y/N & Sirius were hoping that they’d been unsuccessful in arranging any matches yet. After all, the formal engagement shenanigans still had to take place before the actual weddings.

However, neither of them had been able to resist whining to their families at every possible opportunity about the whole idea. It was only too apparent to everyone that it was still a very unwelcome plan to both teenagers.

Not that it bothered the families in the slightest. Each complaint washed over them, ignored, like waves running over the sand with each turning of the tide.

Sirius’ birthday came and went. Nothing. Nada. Radio silence. Y/N looked gleefully at Sirius, “You might’ve escaped it, you lucky devil!”

He grinned back, “Hey, don’t jinx it, Y/N!”

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

But it seemed she had jinxed it.

Two days before Y/N’s birthday in early December, Sirius vanished from Hogwarts. No-one seemed to know where he’d gone, but Y/N had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

She was certain that her lifelong friend was going to be an engaged man when he returned. And very shortly thereafter, a married man.

How would she deal with that? It was such an alien concept.

Would his wife have to come and live with him at Hogwarts? What if she was horrible and didn’t fit in with their friendship group? She sincerely hoped she wasn’t an awful person, but some of those pureblood girls...!! Hellish!!!

But what if she monopolised his time & didn’t even want him to hang out with his friends at all?

She was very worried that her friendship with Sirius would never be the same.

Oh well, probably not all that long to go until she found out the answers - good or bad.

She didn’t really think about how Sirius would react once she was married, too.

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

The day after her birthday, Y/N was summoned to Dumbledore’s office.

Her stomach knotted and her hungover (birthday party) head throbbed even more. What could she possibly be in trouble for? It must be something big, otherwise surely a telling-off from McGonagall would have sufficed?

It turned out that her parents had sent for her, and they were in Paris! Her heart sank. Damn! They’d found a fiancé for her, and she was obviously expected to go and meet him, possibly even become engaged to him as soon as they met.

She wondered if it would be one of those boring boys she’d met over the summer. Her family hadn’t holidayed in France for a while prior to that, and now she wondered if the real reason had been for her parents to check out some potential fiancés for her.

She groaned.

Dumbledore gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’m guessing from that groan that you’ve got an idea what this is about? I’m not going to comment at length on pureblood traditions, but I will say this - it seems to be happening very quickly, and you are still so young....” He sighed.

He reached out and handed her a small metal trinket box, which had been sitting on the corner of his desk. “Two minutes,” he warned, and once the time had passed, Y/N disappeared with a swirl, landing in a very elegant hotel room in Paris, on the Champs Elysee.

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

“WHAT??!!! she screeched at her mother. “No! I will not!!!”

“Y/N, you will. We decided that an engagement was not required, as they are a useless waste of time & money. This way, you will begin your married life immediately.”

Y/N stomped over to her bed and threw herself onto it. “Just so I can get pregnant sooner, huh?! Well, no..... I won’t do it!”

Her father came into the room, frowning deeply at her temper tantrum. He spoke to her sternly.

“Your wedding dress will be delivered to the room in 15 minutes, young lady. It’s being steamed at the moment. As soon as it gets here, you will put it on and I’ll take you down immediately to the ballroom for the ceremony.”

Y/N burst into tears. “Father, I haven’t even seen or met him!! How can you expect me to marry him today?!”

“That’s exactly it, Y/N. It is what’s expected of you, to carry on the pureblood line. They are a noble family and it’s a very advantageous match. I am sure you will like him.”

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

Her father had more or less dragged her into the ballroom.

There were a few rows of chairs, covered in ivory silk and set in a crescent shape round a flower-covered altar. Some French purebloods were already seated on them, along with family members.

The celebrant watched Y/N being coaxed and prodded up the aisle by her father. Merlin, what a couple these two were going to make, he thought, frowning slightly as he looked down at the sulky male face and crossed arms in front of him.

Y/N was shoved next to her bridegroom eventually, and she cast a sideways glance at him. He picked the same moment to scowl over at her.

Everyones’ heads in the room snapped up as both Y/N and the groom cracked up in hysterical laughter.

Given the relatively small pool of suitable matches, some would say it was quite predictable that Y/N and Sirius would end up standing beside each other at the altar.

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

Much later that evening, Sirius & Y/N locked the door to their honeymoon suite.

They’d changed into more relaxed clothes before the reception, and Y/N began to pack away her wedding dress and accessories, which she’d left on the bed earlier.

Sirius was hovering. It was the only way Y/N could describe it. He paced from the french windows which led out to onto a large balcony, to the small lounge area, to the en-suite. And back. And again, his long legs carrying him there and back in a few moments, over & over.

“Sirius.... you’re going to wear a path in that carpet with all your pacing back and forward.”

She heard him clear his throat, gulping a bit, so she turned to him.

“Please... just sit down for a minute.”

He sighed, then plopped down onto a chaise longue. He put his head in his hands.

“Y/N.... I’m so nervous.”

She sat next to him. “Why?”

“We’ve been like brother and sister all the time we’ve known each other! And now... well, you know....” he looked up at her, looking so worried that she immediately hugged him. He tensed up as she put her arms round him, so she stroked his cheek gently.

“Sirius, it’ll be fine. Just fucking relax, please, will you!”

He leapt up. “Why are you so CALM!!” he yelled.

He marched over to the en-suite, going in and slamming the door.

Y/N sighed and rolled her eyes. She was well aware that she was now hitched to a king-size drama queen, but Sirius was handling this a lot worse than she’d expected.

She went back to packing her wedding clothes away. She was beginning to get a bit annoyed with him, because after all - she was in exactly the same position. But he seemed to have lost sight of that, steeped in his own insecurities. Didn’t he wonder how she might feel, having to sleep with her “brother”?

She wasn’t blind - she’d always found Sirius very attractive, he was a very handsome, sexy boy. But she had violently pushed away any erotic thoughts of him, precisely because of their sibling-like day to day relationship. And she was sure he didn’t think of her in any other way, judging by the number of girls he’d flirted with and snogged (and more?) during his 4th & 5th years at Hogwarts.

An hour later, Sirius was still locked in the bathroom. Y/N left him to stew.

She finished packing up all her things, then changed into the ridiculous nightgown her mother had insisted she wear on her wedding night.

She thought that her mother must be stuck back in the Victorian era, as she regarded the floor-length, white, floaty piece of nonsense she was wearing. Wasn’t this what they called a passion-killer in Muggle novels? Although it was quite see-through, now that she looked closer.

She lay down on the massively deep and comfortable quilt, picking up her book and beginning to read. Not what she’d envisaged doing on her wedding night. She huffed to herself; it looked like Sirius was following through on his threat not to consummate the marriage.

After another hour or so, her eyes started fluttering closed as she began dozing off. She jumped a little as she heard the bathroom door open. She leant up, on her elbows.

Sirius edged slowly into the main room. He was naked as the day he was born, but shyly covering himself with both hands. He stared at her at she lay on the bed.

“I...” he gulped, “I’ve... never slept with anyone before,” mumbling down into his chest, not looking at her. That took her by surprise. Judging by the standard hallway gossip, Sirius had slept with half the school. “Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say. Then she spoke up again, “Well, neither have I.”

He suddenly met her eyes. “Thought you might like to get a look at the goods before we have sex.”

“So we’re having sex, then?” she questioned him.

“We have to, don’t we?” he replied, “We’ve got to make babies, and soon, or else we’ll never hear the end of it.”

“How romantic, Sirius.”

“Just being realistic. You were the one who told me I had to consummate my marriage, who said that was the whole point of getting married.”

He dropped his hands down to his sides.

Her eyes raked over his tall, slim, athletic body, lingering on what was between his legs. It was - a lot bigger - than she’d been expecting, and he didn’t even have a hard-on yet. He had more body hair than she’d guessed too, studying the smattering of hair on his chest, and the line of dark hair leading downwards from his navel. Her eyes roamed back up to meet his.

“Why, Sirius, I’m impressed. Who knew what was lurking under those worn-out jeans of yours?”

He gave her an uncomfortable smile, but walked to the bed, clambering onto it one knee at a time and lying down next to her. He moved his body half over the top of hers, and looked down at her, lying underneath him. He reached right down to the hem of her nightgown and pulled it up slowly, watching, fascinated, as her body was fully revealed to him. He gently tugged the gown over her head, dropping it to the floor.

His breath caught in his throat, and she could hear him beginning to breathe more quickly, more deeply. He reached out a tentative hand and ran it over her stomach and onto her breasts, palming her nipples and making her breath catch too.

Suddenly his mouth was on hers, kissing her hungrily until she pushed him away to gasp some air into her lungs. He lay fully on top of her, running his hands desperately over every inch of her body, starting to pant as he did so. She was returning the favour, beginning to learn the contours of his lightly muscled torso.

She felt his lips next to her ear. “You’re beautiful. Perfect. Gorgeous.” He smiled down at her. “I never let myself think of you and me being together like this, Y/N, cos I never thought it’d happen.”

He kissed her again, trailing his lips down her neck and onto her collarbone, placing small kisses all along it. She could now feel how aroused he was, his erection pressing insistently against her thigh.

“And now we’re married, that is how it’s gonna be. I can have you in my bed every night, love you where and whenever I want. I can’t believe my luck.” He laughed, a low, self-deprecating sound. “I might’ve told myself that I loved you in a brotherly way, but clearly.... you now know that’s not the case.”

“Hmmm,” Y/N pondered, “I think you may have a point. I think I might’ve been mirroring your thoughts, Sirius.”

“So.... does this mean we’re now saying we’re dedicated fans of arranged marriages?”

They both laughed.

He kissed her deeply, sensually sliding his tongue into her mouth. She kissed him back, the kisses growing gradually more and more passionate.

Eventually Sirius stuttered, “Y/N! I... I think... I’m gonna...”

Y/N looked up at her handsome husband and pulled his head down to hers for a kiss. She took him into her arms and pulled his hips against hers.

“C’mon, Sirius, let’s explore these pastures new together,” she whispered to him.

He nodded, “Yes... let’s, love,” thumb brushing over her bottom lip, up and onto her cheekbone.

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

Sunlight streaming through the french windows woke them the next morning.

They were still tangled up together, and it felt good, felt so right.

The two of them gazed into each other’s eyes in the golden early morning light. The smiles on both of their faces were as bright as that sun.

He stroked a strand of hair off her cheek, she ran her fingers over his strong jawline.

The first of many, many such mornings.

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

#sirius black x reader #ben barnes #sirius black fanfiction #sirius black imagine

[pl-panda]

Damienette arranged marriage: part 12

Credits: Miraculous Ladybug team for the elements I take from MLB show. DC for their characters, @ozmav for the AU, @maribat-archive for giving me access to so many different stories to have take inspirations from, @thyladyanput for idea for Chat Damian and me for the plot.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Part 9 Part 10

Part 11

Damienette arranged marriage: part 12

NEXT

--------------------------

Marinette felt an excruciating pain in her chest. It was like her heart burned alive. She kicked Chat Noir right below the belt. He let go of her and stumbled back, this time falling onto the blanked an holding his manhood. Marinette also fell. A green light covered the general area of her heart.

------------------------------

The excruciating pain slowly died and light faded, but both still lingered. Marinette could feel her limbs stiffen to try and counter the pain. It was like she just survived a serious heart stroke.

She slowly managed to stand up. Chat d’amour was still lying, crying in pain from her two punches. Marinette got to the edge of the balcony and looked down. Her body was still hurting, but she managed to jump over the barrier and slide down the edge. Her beautiful red dress was dirtied and damaged, but she didn’t care. She had to get away. She had to escape. But she was still too close. She had to get down. But she was three storeys above the ground. It took her only a moment to make the decision to jump.

People who were down there watched in fear as young girl fall from the roof. Marinette had to think fast. She cursed herself internally that she left her bag at Chloe. Tikki was still there. She did not plan on leaving in this outfit. She loved the dress, but there was a need for some accessories. Specifically, a place for Tikki. Acting in panic she tried to grab herself onto some sill, but it did little to actually work. She was sure she would smash into the ground.

Hard pavement came much to fast. She only managed to slightly bend her knees and extend her legs to minimize the impact. When she came into contact, the momentum pushed her into the ground and she felt immense pain in her soles, but to her relief she was able to walk. And more importantly, to run. All of her person was full of pain and each step felt like walking barefoot on broken glass, but the fear of what would happen if the Akuma caught her won over physical discomfort. She had to get away. She had to get to the hotel. Marinette needed Tikki. And more importantly she had to check if Damian was safe. Oh Kwami! Damian! He tried to defend me and Chat threw him at the wall! He must have been hurt badly. He doesn’t have miraculous to protect him!

But what mattered most was that she had to stop Chat. She couldn’t let him harm anyone because of her. He was doing it because she rejected him. He got akumatized over the fact that Ladybug rejected her and then apparently he shifted his focus on Marinette, only for her to publicly start dating Damian! But that was no reason to wreck the whole city. To get akumatized! To try and kiss her!

She shuddered at the memory. This was not okay. Marinette remembered her panic. In the hindsight, maybe breaking his nose was not a sign enough… I will go straight to castration if it ever happens again. Great. Now I sound like Damian…

“So your mother is some cult leader that decided to play a matchmaker?” Chloe asked in disbelief. “Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous! And why Dupain-Cheng? I mean I… What does she brings into it? How would your mother even know about her?”

“I am not sure.” Damian admitted. He operated on half-truths since the beginning of the talk. “Maybe that’s exactly why. Marinette has heart of gold and she doesn’t care about people’s past, their status or family. She just looks at them and what they have inside.” He spoke from his own experience. She didn’t care that his mother was the one who forced him into this. She apologized for inconvenience she caused him.

“But why her? There must be thousands of girls like her that would entail at least some benefit…”

“I can assure you miss Bourgeois that there is no one like her.”

“I guess…“ She wanted to say more, but seeing Damian start to glare through the window angry made her stop. Now there was the brooding ball of angst she heard so much about.

The whole talk while waiting for the ambulance was taking too freaking long for his liking. They sat here for almost half an hour by now. He could only guess that Akuma attack was making things hard, but he had no idea why since no one besides him was hurt to his knowledge. It was like people stopped caring about them. He tried to call Drake again, but there was no answer whatsoever. It was almost like they were isolated from the rest of the world.

The realization dawned on him. He was a complete idiot. The idiocy on par with that of Drake. “Nobody is coming. I think I know lover cat’s powers.” He stated

“Then talk instead of sitting there like an utter idiot!”

“Isolation. He wants to have Marinette only for himself, but this idiot probably used his powers on us too!” Damian was fuming. Chat not only tried to take Marinette against her will, but his whole goal was to make her separate from everyone. Screw the rules, he would gut him and worry about the consequences later.

Standing up he felt pain rush through his leg. Damian frowned, but he used his sword in scabbard to support himself. That is until Chloe pushed him back to the bed.

“You are not going anywhere Lover Boy. Last thing I need is you making Dupain-Cheng a widow before she turns sixteen.”

“Why are you suddenly so defensive of her?” Damian scowled at the blonde. From what he knew, she was not the kind type. And he didn’t buy the sudden ‘change of heart’ thing.

“Because I don’t want to be alone! I want to have friends! I know I am utterly ridiculous, but I want to have real friends! She was ready to just forgive me and defend me! I want… I want to repay her!”

“Then man up and help me get to my room. I need to call one person who can help us.” Damian snarled. He was still unconvinced, but it seemed that it didn’t matter. It was that or leaving Marinette alone with the French Psycho #2. Blonde frowned, but helped him nonetheless.

They arrived at his room and Damian got a reinforced case from under his bed. He made sure to open it just a little bit and snatch the satelite phone and smash it back locked before Chloe saw the kevlar suit inside. It was enough revelations because he fucked up today anyway. His brothers would not let him live the fact that he revealed the marriage anyway. If he also outed himself as Robin, he would probably just return to being a hermit in the mountains. It would sure be easier than the scolding from father and jokes from his brothers.

He pulled the phone and pressed several buttons. After scanning his finger, the screen came to life. He picked the number and called. After two rings a muffled voice came from the other side.

“Yeah yeah. I need Superboy so drag your tired ass here this instant!”

“~~~~”

“I don’t care what your father said!”

“~~~~”

“Eh… My wife is in trouble… I hear one tease from you and I am asking father for Kryptonite knuckle dusters for birthday!”

There was a sound of incoming plane and suddenly someone crashed through the window. The boy wore a zipp-up jacket with Superman logo, jeans trousers and had ruffled black hair. He was about thirteen, maybe fourteen.

“‘tsup?”

“Shut up Superboy.” Damian frowned. He had to restrain himself not to out Kent in front of the irritating girl. He wished he just got Mari home when he had a chance.

“I though we were on the first-name basis Robin!”

The sound of Damian’s facepalm could be heard in Fortress of Solitude.

——————————————��———————————————————–

Taglist (sorry if I missed you)@pheonixashtree @sassakitty @unabashedbookworm @vixen-uchiha @maggiecc12 @actualdisasterwoman @tired-butterfly @shizukiryuu @floralfi @imanerddealwith @northernbluetongue @krispydefendorpolice @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @bluesoulblueheart @theatreandcomicfreak @disneyfoxuniverse @mindfulmagics @alwaysnumberonetruth @nyaabinch @jardimazul @lenamau @rosep16 @dramatic-squirrel @sonif50 @daminett4life @lulutheawkwardess @weird-pale-blonde-person @mooshoon @jeminiikrystal @mochegato @moonlightstar64 @dragonflyswing @silverwhiteraven @shamefullove @magic-miraculous @valeks-princess @heaven428 @mlbchaosqueen @winter-gardenflower @spicybelladonna @emo-elaine13 @vetilora @karukofox21 @my-name-is-michell  @sturchling @lokiifriggasonn @redscarlet95 @melicmusicmagic @interobanginyourmom @the-fusionist @razzledazzle247 @miss-mysterys-blog @darkthunder1589 @i-is-mysterious @catthhay @the-one-woman-army @zestyzealot @dahjokester @write-for-your-life2 @mermaidreject @peachedpocky @sassakitty @dahjokester @crazylittlemunchkin @novicevoice @justafanwarrior @eliza-bitch @schrodingers25

#mlb x dc #maribat au #maribat #arranged marriage au #crossover #guardian!marinette #batman #damienette #marinette x damian #league of assassins #order of the guardians #mlb #miraculous lb #miraculous ladybug

[piyoduki]

naeishi

This is just an essay (?!) about Naeishi and why I like them. I just want to dump my thoughts about them somewhere because I love them a lot.

... a very, VERY long essay, featuring lots of screenshots. I don’t expect anyone to read this but if you do, enjoy?!

1. They’re cute

Very important reason and self-explanatory. They’re cute. 

2. Ishimaru relates to Naegi

Everyone already knows Ishimaru has trouble relating to others and making friends. But Naegi is actually the person Ishimaru considers to be the most similar to him (even though Naegi disagrees).

Ehe.

And also, just before the second picture Naegi says this:

But in the end of DR3, what did Naegi do? Even though he’s just a ‘normal’ guy, Naegi managed to rehabilitate the remnants of despair and decided to rebuild the school. He even ended up in a leader position like Ishimaru once did. They are more similar than Naegi thinks.

3. Professor Naegi!!!

After Naegi teaches Ishimaru about the wonders of having a hobby (that isn’t studying), Ishimaru happily praises him as Professor Naegi. Which Naegi is embarrassed about for obvious reasons. But anyway, Ishimaru started to look up to Naegi on their first FTE and wants to learn more from him.

‘I didn’t totally hate it.’

Ehehe. The idea of Naegi teaching Ishimaru about his favourite games and shows while Ishimaru intensely studies them and makes notes is really cute.

But I really like their relationship because it feels like they both can learn a lot from each other. Obviously, Naegi can help Ishimaru make friends and help him loosen up a bit and relax, but Ishimaru, besides helping him study, since they actually have similar ‘goals’ (although Naegi doesn’t believe he’s capable of it), Ishimaru would motivate and encourage Naegi not to give up and to be more confident.

4. Ishimaru secretly likes Naegi’s fashion sense

In their second FTE, Ishimaru confesses to Naegi...!

That he likes his totally cool hoodie!! Ishimaru, who only wears his school uniform 24/7 and has ten sets of them because he’s poor thinks Naegi’s hoodie is awesome. 

(But does Naegi have any right to criticise him when he sleeps in his full uniform as well?! WITH SHOES?! I’m so disappointed in you Naegi...! At least Ishimaru takes off his uniform when he sleeps! Not to mention Naegi has another hoodie with the exact same design but with short sleeves... Maybe they can bond over their clothes collection, except they're all the same type of clothes...?)

But it gets even better, as Ishimaru comes up with a reason (excuse) to get Naegi to hand over his ‘incredibly stylish hoodie’. 

...He totally wants to wear it.

Naegi manages to give an equally ridiculous reason (excuse) to convince Ishimaru not to confiscate his hoodie, by calling it a hard hat. If only Naegi did give Ishimaru his hoodie, then maybe it could protect his head from getting bonked.  

Naegi really loves his hoodie and defends himself. But Ishimaru still insists that he hand it over eventually. Totally because he’s breaking some non-existent dress code and NOT because he thinks it’s stylish! 

5. Friendship (FTEs and School Mode ending)

On their first meeting, Ishimaru thinks Naegi has a nice name (Makoto can be read as truth), and Naegi thinks he’s annoying... but if you do his FTEs Naegi does grow to understand him and change his mind. After all, Ishimaru isn’t a bad person, while he can be harsh and strict he is not purposefully trying to push people away and Naegi understands that. 

I think it’s also easy for Naegi to relate to Ishimaru as well. Since he’s just a ‘normal’ student, and while Ishimaru is a very extreme example of an honour student, his life basically revolves around studying which isn’t exactly foreign to Naegi. And Naegi can see exactly what Ishimaru is missing - hobbies and a friend. 

Naegi softens his impression of Ishimaru once he realises he has trouble connecting with others. While he does not have the best grades, not a prefect, or in many clubs, Naegi has one thing that Ishimaru doesn’t and deep down secretly wants, and that is the ability to communicate with others and make friends. 

And while Ishimaru is a disaster in social situations, he is completely aware that his personality/words/actions push people away.

He also apologises to Naegi whenever he ‘gets carried away’.

And Naegi, being the positive encouraging friend he is, cheers Ishimaru up with his words. 

In the final FTE, Ishimaru invites Naegi to study with him, instead of forcefully dragging him to study together:

Rather than being all ‘eh I don’t really want to study’ like he would be at the start, Naegi asks if he doesn’t mind if he stops by... To Ishimaru, studying together is the equivalent of playing a game or watching a show together - it’s his hobby and he wants to share it with Naegi. 

Ehe. He’s very happy.

Naegi interrupts their study session because he wants to know more about Ishimaru’s hatred for geniuses. He’s genuinely concerned and curious about him...! Ishimaru tells him about his grandfather, and how he messed up his family’s life. After that, Ishimaru says he’s really happy to have met Naegi, because he thought he would be surrounded by geniuses in this school for ‘Ultimates’. They continue studying and Naegi believes they’ve become true friends.

...But that’s not all! In the Trigger Happy Heart event at the end of School Mode, Ishimaru thinks to himself:

He’s aware that people find him annoying, but he still wants someone he can talk to. And once again, Ishimaru thinks Naegi is just like him.

If Naegi picks the best option:

Naegi tells him it’s fine to just be himself and talk about whatever he wants. He doesn’t feel like he’s forcing anything on him. 

But Ishimaru is still worried that Naegi sees him as a nuisance. Ishimaru wants to be friends with Naegi, but he feels bad for talking so much and wonders if Naegi even likes listening to him... and Naegi reassures him that he considers them to be friends. Ishimaru still asks for permission because he’s unsure (and has never had a friend before besides him and Oowada in the main story, but in School Mode the sauna battle didn’t happen), and of course Naegi is happy to become a friend Ishimaru can talk to anytime.

Naegi doesn’t pressure Ishimaru into changing his personality to become comfortable with him, he likes him the way he is.

If Naegi picks the second best option:

Naegi reassures him that his feelings are valid. It’s basically similar to the best option but shorter. (And if you want to be a monster and tell Ishimaru he’s annoying and watch his heart break, you can pick the bad options but we all know Naegi is too nice for that.)

Finally there’s the School Mode ending:

Foreshadowing. :p

Ishimaru manages to compose himself after remembering what Naegi (and living trapped in the school) taught him. Also Ishimaru’s face gets really nervous when Naegi mentions ‘I have to believe this isn’t the last time we’ll see each other’... 

Naegi is possibly Ishimaru’s only friend in School Mode, so it makes sense that Ishimaru might be worried that Naegi would leave him and he would be alone again.

Naegi remembers his promise with Ishimaru:

He even does his signature pointing pose when he says it! And Ishimaru wants Naegi’s help to achieve his goal. Naegi is shocked because as he thought before, he doesn’t believe he can do something so grand like changing the world to one that rewards effort rather than talent.

Ishimaru reveals that he wants Naegi to become his partner. He trusts him so much and wants to work with him to change the country. (Meanwhile in DR3, Naegi’s trying to do something similar on a smaller scale...) 

‘I saw then that no matter what darkness might stand before him, he would shine through it.’ If only that were the case in the main game... 

6. In the killing game

They are both ‘good’ people who don’t want any killings to happen. Because of his personality, Ishimaru takes the lead and tries to come up with ways to stop any murders from happening (like the morning meetings to keep track of everyone, and saying naive things like ‘if you’re the killer please raise your hand’). Naegi is more passive and doesn’t take any sore of leadership role until maybe the last chapter, but they both are the type who can’t imagine their ‘friends’ killing each other. 

Oh, and Ishimaru does the forget forget beam to Naegi in a small conversation in chapter 1. Cute.

Sadly, after chapter 2 Ishimaru gets broken and Naegi tries to talk to him... somewhat. Ishimaru doesn’t respond to anyone and Naegi gets distracted by Alter Ego. Ishimaru does go to Naegi directly and asks him to let him meet Alter Ego (who he deludes himself into thinking is Fujisaki). It’s probably because Ishimaru does feel the most comfortable with Naegi compared to everyone else (since his bro is...). Naegi brings Ishimaru to Alter Ego despite Kirigiri’s warning (if you talk to her, she says that he might be dangerous but Naegi does it anyway). Also if you click on Maizono’s door, Naegi thinks to himself that Ishimaru must have felt the same way when he lost his bro, so he sympathises with him.

Unfortunately, Naegi (and everyone else) kind of forgets about Ishimaru when he becomes Ishida and runs away. If you try to talk to Ishida during Free Time, he just tells Naegi to go away because they didn’t bother to write any FTEs for him. Grumble grumble. Naegi is sadly too passive and doesn’t bother going after Ishimaru/da any further (he usually waits for people to come to him before helping). Ishimaru dies a lonely, quiet death justlikehisgrandfather and everyone worries about Yamada instead. And that’s the end of Ishimaru. 

------

Some random depressing Ishimaru thoughts that don’t have anything to do with Naegi but I wanted to include them anyway: 

• In the very first trial, the two people on either side of him died so Ishimaru is already isolated from everyone else in the first (!!!!) trial. (Naegi is one spot besides Maizono too.)

• Ishimaru and Sakura are the only dead characters who don’t show up in the small group photos Naegi finds in chapter 3-4. Sakura makes sense since she died in chapter 4 and the next photos are just the big group ones, but Ishimaru... It would be nice if they appeared in a photo together in chapter 5.

------

7. Angst potential

Did someone say ‘angst’? Naeishi has a lot of angsty elements. Of course, they’re in a killing game and Ishimaru dies. But Naeishi can have:

• Memory loss. It’s very likely that Naegi and Ishimaru could have been pretty good friends in their first year together, or at least close enough that Naegi didn’t feel annoyed by him anymore (like through his FTEs):

That last sentence has a nice translation. So when they forget everything and get thrown into a killing game, it’s pretty sad to think about them forgetting everything about each other and becoming distant. And it’s even more painful if Naegi got his memories back afterwards and realises he did nothing to save him... 

• Unrequited feelings. Yeah. This can work both ways. Naegi or Ishimaru feeling like they’re not good enough for the other...

• Guilt. Goes with the first one, but if Naegi had kept an eye on Ishimaru even when he became Ishida (and when he needed someone to help him more than ever...), maybe he could have saved him? Or at least let him know that SOMEONE else does also care about him, just like his bro. Anyway Naegi feeling guilty is tasty.

• Happiness doesn’t last. For some reason there are a few comics where Naegi and Ishimaru hang out and do some happy thing (like Naegi showing Ishimaru how to play a game), and promising to show him more, or something like Ishimaru promises he will beat the game before they graduate. And then it ends with Ishimaru falling into depression and eventually dying while Naegi is helpless... Their promises never got fulfilled.

8. Wholesome?!

Anyway, because I don’t want to end it on a depressing (?) note, Naeishi is just... very soft. Ishimaru really wants to become Naegi’s friend, and he’s awkward about it, but you can tell he really enjoys Naegi’s company. When he talks in his FTEs, Ishimaru is really excited because he’s never really had this kind of conversation with another person before (just talking with someone normally is new to him). While he can be judgemental and set in his opinions, it’s possible to change his mind as long as you give a reason that he can accept (like games helping you make friends and the hard hat hoodie). And Ishimaru does get bothered/guilty when he realises he might be forcing his opinion on Naegi, and apologises, because deep down he’s worried of what Naegi thinks about him. He doesn’t want Naegi to dislike him.

Naegi knows there’s a lot more to life than just studying and school, and he feels bad for Ishimaru. So he tries to help him, and share his own opinions, and Ishimaru realises that he has a point and wishes to continue learning new things from him. At the same time, Naegi admires Ishimaru and thinks he’s a very strong-willed and dedicated person. While initially he finds Ishimaru comes off kind of strongly, he slowly understands why he is the way he is and ends up enjoying spending time with him, even through studying. 

In conclusion, Naeishi are very good. I like how their relationship progresses gradually and naturally, I like how their personalities complement each other, I like how painful they are... I like how they are (relatively) normal, or how they have some things in common (school) and can relate to each other, and how they admire aspects of each other. I love them a just a bit. Thanks for somehow reading/skipping to the end. Have a cute pic from the anthology as your reward: 

#danganronpa #naeishi #naegi makoto #ishimaru kiyotaka #long post #text post #in the brain there is only naeishi- #shsl ishimaru essay writer #that's me #fish thoughts

[blushing-starker]

For my Gracie dear. What would I do without you in my life? Merry Christmas darling. @vaguekiwi

"Well, you wouldn't really be in this position if you had accepted my proposal, baby cheeks. In fact, I'm practically drooling over the thought of you saying fuck it and coming to visit with a few surprises beneath that second skin you're rocking." Two sentences, two very different tones of voice, both trying to coax him in. Reprimand and flirt, the only possible courses of action for Wade when it came to them.

"So I guess it's true what they say; chivalry died when you were born, Wade. Every single conversation between us is proof and the world knows it." He grinned as soon as he heard the exaggerated gasps over the landline, always loved these tennis matches with his partner in crime.

Sure, the 'red devil' of Cliffwood often threaded barely subtle, often outlandish innuendos into their interactions and never denied the neighborhood a chance of seeing him draped over Peter, but it was, God forgive him, fun. Exciting and a little thrilling.

And also past their bedtime. So to speak. "I gotta go and I know Wanda likes to cook late. Go help her in the kitchen, Mr Gifted Hands. Vision might give me an A in the next exam if I told him I encouraged you to make his favorite lasagna." It won't happen, obviously. The Maximoffs, because Vision had adopted the name on his second date with Wanda long before their wedding, were usually chaotic neutrals that tried sticking to the right side of the law. Hopefully, Mr Maximoffs' morality would at least allow the man to add a five point bonus on Peter's next physics test.

"Oh, you finally admit my hands are gifted, Mr Parker? How forward of you." If there was one thing that he loved about being friends with the incorrigible Wade Wilson, it was how the man oozed sex like it was nothing. His surety in it, in flirting, in courting and joking made Peter feel at ease. Most people, even those like Mr Rogers with his slightly conservative views, enjoyed Wade's antics because they were harmless.

Most of the time. The guy had slept with two thirds of the town, after all.

"I'm not sleeping with you, Wade. What would Vanessa say of-"

"Please, the woman basically throws me at people in the hopes of watching me sleep with them."

"you being with me before her?"

"..."

Peter squinted at a shiny red nail, worried he'd somehow messed up Morgan's job of decorating him in the Christmas spirit. The lamp next to the couch is a tad dimmer than usual, right, he has to swap the bulbs. He'd completely forgotten in the midst of playing with Morgan and Rocky, baking them brownies, battling the upstairs shower mold, decluttering the toy boxes and throwing something semi appealing for dinner. There was a spare light in the, was it the garage? No, his memory had been reduced to physics laws and the kids' allergies, but Peter's sure he would have noticed. Maybe Morgan had hidden them in the office, Rocky liked chewing on light bulbs so it's not too unlikely

"Shit, Parker, now I'm thinking about that, Jesus. Christ on a bicycle! Hmm? It's nothing, Wanda, just Peter being a brat and a tease."

"Hey, I'm not a brat!"

"Says you. I bet a certain member of the awesome facial hair club could evidence the opposite. Actually, I'll go right over and ask, hey!" The sound of Wade distinctly face planting onto the Maximoffs couch sent Peter into enough hysterics he could barely make out what Wanda was saying.

"I sincerely apologize for the little devil-"

"I'm almost two heads taller than you!"

"that can't seem to mind his manners no matter how many times we try to teach him how to be human."

"It's," God, he's wheezing like a freshman first day of gym with Coulson, "perfectly alright, Miss. I'm the one that should say sorry for keeping him up so late, I know he has chores to do around the house. Lovely Christmas lights, by the way. I think you guys might win the competition again this year."

There's a tiny worm of guilt crawling up his throat; how could he distract Wade when Wanda had her hands full with an energetic baby ready to sprint out of the house at any moment?

"Oh sweet Peter," she drawls out the vowels, like they're honey and she's trying her best to stretch them out, savour them, "you really think so? I thought the yard looked perfect, but Vision insisted on decorating the roof to 'ensure our win against my dear brother in law'. And please, a happy Wade that's finished his teasing for the day is wonderful for us. He cleans faster and doesn't kiss my cheeks as much."

"Wait, you did the roof?" He knew the Maximoff siblings were intense, had witnessed Pietro stabbing flamingos into Clint's lawn just to add some color to his already bright remodeling a weeks ago.

"You haven't seen it? Tell Morguna's father to take you outside to see it while the kids are watching television. That way you can go back with an excuse if you get too nervous with him."

Peter spluttered, ignored the fact his cheeks were flaming, pretended he couldn't hear Wade's howling through the phone. "I don't, I wouldn't, it's not like, I mean. The, the kids will probably sleep early tonight."

"Perfect, you won't have an excuse and he'll finally kiss you. Oh, Vision. Hello, dear, I'm saying goodbye to Peter. That idiot might kiss him tonight."

"Hello? Hello, Peter. I'm very happy for you both; but may I request you kiss after midnight? I'm afraid I made a substantial bet regarding that kiss and was hoping to get Clint back over Banner and Natasha."

Great, he'd died and entered a hell where the only thing he could do was stutter and flush crimson. Typical Parker luck, really.

"SurebyeMrandMrsMaximofflaterWade."

He slammed the phone back on its pedestal, dove into the leather couch and screamed until his throat ached.

--------

"Daddy? Peter, daddy's here! Don't let him go to our room until we're done with the Christmas card, please!" He yanked his head from under the cushions, scrambled to the door, tripped over Morgan's race car, narrowly avoided the destruction of Rocky's Lego chop shop, hastily stashed a pink apron in the drawers by the door, failed to straighten his sweater (a gift from the kids' grandmother) and took all of ten seconds to fix his hair before opening the door. In the exact moment the owner of the house leaned against it to enter.

There's a second where realization kicked in, worry is splashed over both their faces, he darted forward to help so the man's heart didn't shut down on them right then, said man wanted to preserve such a young, healthy body; they tried to control the damage.

They failed. Spectacularly. Crashed into each other, somehow elbows and knees sunk into bad spots, bone snapped, ligaments wept in pain, a chest became winded, one of them got a black eye and the other a constricted throat. This was, of course, before it started raining and two idiots got drenched while piled up on the front door.

Peter gasped, wasn't sure whether it was better to lie under his dream, his wet fantasy, his goal in life or allow his brain some oxygen.

To be fair, this would only happen the once. He could breathe for the rest of his lonely life.

"Uh, welcome home, Mr Stark. How was work to, today, sir, that's not my thigh." Wade would know. Jesus, Wade would find out Mr Stark touched his dick for the first time and it wasn't even on purpose.

"Kid, I'm so sorry. Here I was wondering if I could give you your Christmas gift without ruining the box and now look at me. Peter, you don't have to come back to work if you don't want to-"

"Wait, you got me a gift, Mr Stark?"

"I will pay you for this whole month, obviously." The man shuffled back, attempted to shakily stand up like a foal and immediately slid down onto the sleek young man.

"Not come back to? Mr, ow, Tony, I'm not going anywhere. Not on Christmas, not ever. Look at me." Don't look at what's between my legs, Peter prayed, don't look at how you are between my legs, don't look.

Tony Stark glanced down, inhaled sharply and snapped his gaze to the au pair's. He may have leaned against what he hoped was his Christmas gift. Maybe.

"I'm not leaving, Mr Stark." The rain kept drizzling into the house, his throat continued to ache, the distance between their two bodies remained the same. But there was something in Mr Stark's eyes now, yes indeed, something Peter had resolutely ignored for the past six months while working with the sweetest family he'd ever known. It was the same something Wade yelled about when talking about his best friend's employer's face as it regarded the au pair.

"I think Wade might kill me if -"

"Rhode's is gonna choke me out if-"

"Are you two gonna kiss or not?"

They risked whiplash to peer right at, or, in Peter's position, upside down at Morgan and Rocky who unflinchingly stared at the ridiculous site their fathers made. Rocky even shook his head the way Tony did when he was disappointed. Little Morgan criss crossed her arms and Peter thought he'd sob because that's just how he taught her.

"We were going to put mistletoe on the door when you came in; we finished the holiday card months ago so that was the one thing left on the to do list."

"Months ago? I helped you two make one last week!"

"Oh yeah, how were you going to hang up mistletoe, daughter mine? There's no nail." A soft thwump over the doorway. It seemed Clint had given Morgan her own bow. And she knew how to use it.

They collected their courage, scraps of reduced pride, some drool and a tiny drop of sweat before turning to the man they'd been waiting for for so long.

"Mr Parker, will you do me the honor of bestowing a kiss upon an old man with creaking bones and heating hair?"

Oh. Oh, this was happening.

"I love your hair and I'll get you a walker that has a cup holder for water and a few pain pills. Mr Stark, will you kiss a kid from Queens who's so into you the red devil of Cliffwood himself doesn't dare sleep with either of us and get in the way?"

"Well, first of all. A walker, really, am I that old. Second, nice call on the pain pills, very good save on the hair. And please. He'd never get in the way of us two-"

"Great, are you gonna kiss me?"

"Why, Mr Parker. Don't mind if I do." It was a soft statement he would otherwise confuse as a plea.

"Fucking finally." That was a bit more of a pained gasp instead of a sigh of relief, but Morgan and Rocky were doing enough sighing for the both of them afterwards.

Afterwards though, when the blood is finally distributed to the right places

"Yeah, I think I broke my wrist and you should get that throat checked. I'll get the car."

"Tony, it's the fifties. I can get the car while you call Bucky to look over the kids. Anyone talks to me and they'll think you had something to do with my throat."

"That is a fantastic idea, sweetheart. Save it for later, maybe raincheck?"

"Get the car, Tony."

"Yep. Come on, you rascals. Help an old man out."

----------

Wade can't look at Tony without howling, mutters something about a limp wrist while Vanessa sighs and apologizes, compliments Peter on surviving life with a ridiculous best friend by his side. He says it's ok. Wade's his go to guy for whenever Peter has to get his head in the game and his lips on Tony's.

#Merry christmas darling #gracie dear #👑 #starker #peter parker x tony stark #tony stark #peter x tony #ironspider #i am sleepy #soft!starker #idiots in love #theyre just #vaguely waves #theyre idiots in love ok #im so sorry its not the squirrel fic #ill get right kn that #my writing #*wandavision* #*background ship* #*wade wilson* #*side character*

[carriagelamp]

September Book Roundup, back-to-school edition aka The Season Of Red apparently?

Here is a selection of the books I’ve read this month. Summer is over, so the little bit of brain power I had managed to scrape together is quickly disintegrating, so enjoying the hodge podge of stories.

Binti

This was probably my favourite book that I read this month. It’s a novella I first heard about hear on tumblr and went to find a copy in my library. I have since bought the collected trilogy so I can read book two and three at my leisure because it was honestly just that friggin cool. This is exactly my flavour of scifi and I tend to be very very picky about the scifi I consume. It’s about a girl named Binti, a member of the Himba people (a real group of indigenous people from Namibia). They are a people well known for their mathematical and technical prowess, but due to their strong connection to their homeland and the earth they choose not to travel through space like so many other humans do. However, when Binti secures a position at Oomza University, the greatest university in the galaxy, she chooses to go against her family’s wishes and traditions in order to set out into space to attend. Everything is ruined though when her spaceship is attacked by a hostile alien race and everyone is killed but Binti, who must rely on all her intellect and abilities if she wants any chance at survival.

A seriously cool book with great world building – it really successfully introduces readers not only to the fictional scifi world and races of the novel but also to the culture and traditions of the Himba people. It’s a quick read, and feels like a cross between Dead Space and Tamora Pierce. Would totally recommend a read.

Fake Blood

A Canadian graphic novel. It was a goofy cute read. It’s about an awkward group of friends in middle school, and one boy with a crush on one of the girls in his class. Knowing her love for vampire stories, AJ decides, like any self-respecting middle schooler, to try to pretend he’s a vampire. Naturally nothing goes right and some things go wrong in unexpected ways. It’s funny and cute. Nothing amazing but it was a cozy evening read.

The Last Book On The Left

I’ve been listening to this podcast a lot since my friend recommended it to me and finally decided to read their book. For those that don’t know, The Last Podcast On The Left is a immaculately researched comedy podcast that’s hosted by Ben Kissel, Marcus Parks, and Henry Zebrowski, and explores the darker realms of human nature. Ghosts, paranormal, aliens, cults, and of course serial killers. In this book they collected several of their biggest name serial killer series, did some renewed research, and put together a book that is both informative, irreverent, gross, and very funny, complete with some really amazing illustrations by Tom Neely. A very cool read (and listen, if you decide to check out the podcast instead), I really love how they tell these stories without idolizing or romanticizing the people they talk about. Their humour always makes sure you know exactly how much of a pathetic loser these people are. Fantastic true crime, from someone who has never really felt the need to read about true crime before.

Midnight Sun

I won’t harp on this one, everyone is already going to firmly have their opinions here. I grew up on Twilight, I was reading them as they came out, and I still love them. Were they dumb? Oh my god yes. Did they have problems? Sure, they came out in 2005 it was part and parcel. Were they also a really fun for a thirteen year old to read? Absolutely, I don’t regret it. Sometimes teenage girls should just to get like things without being mocked.

Anyway, I am off my soapbox now (can you tell this is still a raw spot for me?) I unironically loved this book! Getting to see Edward’s perspective was really cool, and since he can read minds it essentially let you get the perspective of everyone else around him too. The Cullens family is a great set of characters so it was really cool to see more of them, and I was very impressed by how Stephenie Meyers took a YA romance she wrote in 2005 and was able to make it feel updated and more appropriate for a 2020 audience even though she couldn’t actually change any of the events themselves. So fans of Twilight, don’t be ashamed, go read Midnight Sun and have the shameless fun you deserve. Is there anymore appropriate book for the bizarre ass year that was 2020 than a return to this goofy nonsense?

The Paperbag Princess

(and Up, Up, Down, and Robert Munsch in general)

I’m back in schools so I’m back to reading children’s book! And honestly, and of you that don’t occasionally sit down and read a kids book out loud don’t know what you’re missing. Anyway, Robert Munsch is a Canadian author, and one of my all-time favourite children’s authors. It surprised me to learn he isn’t as well known in the States apparently? I don’t know if that’s changed or not, but he is a Canadian staple for a good reason, his books have ridiculous premises, are specifically written to be fun to read out loud, and have beautiful, involved, and hilarious illustrations. The Paperbag Princess is one of my absolute favourites, and as a kid it was one of the first stories I had ever read where a princess is the one saving the prince… and then telling the prince to piss off when it turns out he’s a jerk. Up, Up, Down is another favourite I reread this month, because it’s just hilarious funny and makes a fantastic read aloud with kids. Some other Robert Munsch I reread this month include: Mmm, Cookies, More Pies, Ribbon Rescue, Just One Goal, and Andrew’s Loose Tooth. You just cannot go wrong, for kids or adults.

Pit Pony

Another Canadian staple while I was growing up. If you’re a young adult know who went through the Canadian elementary school system, you probably had your entire heart ripped out and stepped on by this chapter book. It’s a historical fiction that looks at the economic hardship, debt slavery, child labour, and animal abuse that was tied to coal mining in the Maritimes. Finding a copy was harder than I would have expected give how pervasive it was a decade or so back, but reading it again was a pure shot of nostalgia.

Seeking Refuge

A graphic novel written by a German-born Canadian about a Jewish girl who flees Nazi-occupied Austria by way of Kindertransport to become a child refuge in England. It follows her as she is moved from host family to host family as the war continues to pick up and gradually makes it’s way to the United Kingdom as well. It’s very poignant and the pencil-sketch illustrations are an interesting change to a lot of the graphic novels that are out right now. This story is still aimed at a younger audience, so it never gets too brutal but it still is a hard hitting story, especially with everything else going on right now.

Silver Spoon #9/10

I know I’ve talked about these books before, but my library got some more since I last read them, so I’m continuing my way through the series. It’s about a teenaged boy who, after having a breakdown from the pressure he was feeling to study and succeeded, decided not to attend an academic, urban high school, but rather to apply for an agricultural high school so he could live in the dorms, far away from his parents. The series just gets more and more heartwarming as it continues. It’s all about failure and overcoming and how worth can be measured in different ways, and about family and understanding each other and coming together… but also about the realities of farming which aren’t always very nice, especially when it comes to finances and survival. It’s written by the mangaka behind Fullmetal Alchemist but I’ll be honest… I think I like this series more. It is honestly one of my all time favourite manga series, it just has so much heart.

Ruby Finds A Worry

aka Ruby’s Worry apparently? I can’t figure out why this has more than one title. I actually read it in French not English, so for me it was Le Souci de Calie. Regardless, this was a nice little picture book for talking about worries and anxieties with children… especially with the amount of Covid stress a lot of kids are dealing with. It explains in a really nice way how talking about anxieties are often the best way to make them more manageable, and how pretending nothing is wrong can just let it grow bigger and bigger. A good explanation for kids and possible a good reminder for adults.

War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery

I read this because the Mcelroy family wrote it so I figured Hey! Why not give it a go! And I’m glad I did. Their brand of humour was all over it, and it made the story a delight to read. I don’t follow all of Marvel’s weirdness, so I didn’t actually know most of the characters (Miles and Kate were actually the only two I was familiar with) but they do a great job of introducing the characters and making them all feel distinct and interesting. I absolutely adore the Dog of Gods (God of Dogs) who is a very very good boy. And Miles is absolutely always a delight so you can’t really lose. It’s a single book that I think is a part of a larger plotline that I have zero interest in. This book is a fine one to read though if you don’t mind jumping into the middle of the action and just getting swept along for the ride. Also Mcelroys!

Witcher Omnibus

Bleh. Absolutely not worth it. All the misogyny and Dumb Bullshit that I hate in the original books and from video games in general. Honestly, Witcher III did way better by its characters than most of these short stories. The only one worth reading in it is Curse Of Crows – that one was actually really enjoyable, probably because it was about Ciri and had an actual fucking woman on the writing team. (Seriously guys what were you thinking with Fox Children that’s literally just a story from Season of Storms but done worse. Fuck off.) If you like The Witcher, go read Curse of Crows and skip every other story in this book.

Billy Stuart: Les Zintrépides #1

Another French (Quebecois) book I read, though I believe you can get it in English as well (Billy Stuart and the Zintrepids). It’s a chapter book / graphic novel hybrid, and was honestly a fairly fun little read. It’s in a similar vein to Geronimo Stilton but done much better in my opinion. The humour was funnier, the characters felt less like caricatures, and while it still used stylized fonts it was also less intrusive and eye-strainy than the Stilton books. Also when the story suddenly pivots into the main adventure and mystery of the series? Fantastic. Was not expecting a hell-beast to appear part way through the story. Very interested in reading more.

Over all, it was cute and funny, and I can see it being a good next step when children have read their fill of the Stilton series and want something similar but possibly a bit more involved and coherent.

#chatter #book review #book reviews #midnight sun #twilight #stephenie meyer #last book on the left #last podcast on the left #lpotl #binti #robert munsch #paperbag princess #marvel #war of the realms #journey into mystery #mcelroys #mbmbam #silver spoon #fma #the witcher #billy stuart #zintrepids #geronimo stilton #spiderman #canadian literature #canlit #cancon #manga #graphic novels #comics

[greekletters]

it’s that time again..

Here’s the next one shot! Also posted to AO3 and FF.net for those who follow there. 

Prompt: Stop trying to cheer me up. 

It’s monos, as always.  ---------------------------

It had been nearly a week. The entire team had been walking on eggshells. All because of this stupid Dust Theory exam.

The exam that Weiss Schnee failed.

But it hadn't been one of those nearly there failures where you scored ten percent or less from a passing grade. No, it was one of the ones where your first answer determined whether you got the rest of the questions right. And Weiss got the first question wrong. So she ended up getting all the questions wrong.

After Goodwitch had returned the exams back to you, there was that moment of initial shock. The 'how could Ruby AND Yang score higher than Weiss?' kind of shock. You know, the one that no one has ever experienced before and probably will never again.

Once that had settled down, Weiss seemingly entered into some really odd form of a grieving process. What was she grieving for exactly? Who knows, at this point it might as well be your sanity. Because it was all downhill from there.

Of course there had been the obvious denial that she got the question wrong, that the exam was flawed. That somehow all of you but her managed to get the same answer, but hers was actually the correct one.

There were also some short lived attempts at trying to bargain with Goodwitch. All of which were futile. "The results are final, Miss Schnee." That was the response when she asked to retake the exam. Or when she offered to correct the exam and hand it back in for partial credit. "The results are final, Miss Schnee." Every. Single. Time.

And you had done your best to try and help her work through this. But she wanted no assistance getting over her loss.

"It's just one exam Weiss. It's not the end of the world. We have four more exams left in the semester. You have plenty of time to boost your grade."

"Blake, you have no idea what this does to my average! It will literally destroy my untarnished record."

"How terrible that must be." You cared that she was upset. You just thought her reasoning was a little ridiculous.

Striving for and expecting to achieve academic perfection was a little unreasonable of a goal to have. No one was perfect. Not even Weiss Schnee, although you would fight anyone that attempted to suggest otherwise.

"Do you understand how this looks?"

"Like you made one mistake, just like any of us could have just as easily made?"

"Not just that! I am a Schnee. I failed a Dust Theory exam. My family IS Dust Theory."

"So, you basically failed yourself twice?"

That was the absolute worst thing you could've possibly said. Because the onslaught of tears and boisterous sobbing that followed was heart wrenching.

From there, Weiss sank down into the gutter of depression. She barely ate anything. She slept all day when you all weren't in class. She didn't talk to any of you unless it was some mumble of yes, no, thank you or no thank you.

And you had to give Ruby and Yang credit. At first they respected her space. Ruby brought Weiss coffee every morning. Sometimes she drank it, sometimes not. She reminded Weiss to shower and take care of herself.

And Gods bless Yang. It took all she had to just be quiet. And she did it for a solid four days. She didn't bother Weiss at all. No puns. No shoulder bumps. No outrageous gestures of any kind.

And you, you just gave her space. Any attempt to ask if she was alright or needed anything was always met with a hushed "no" or "I'm fine."

But silence is temporary. Very temporary if Yang Xiao Long is nearby. So when the three of you are sitting at the lunch table together on the fifth day of The Silent Schnee, Yang finally breaks.

"I can't do it anymore."

"No one is making you eat vegetable soup. There were plenty of other options." You gesture towards the food line with your spoon before dipping it back into your own soup.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about Weiss."

"I agree." Ruby's participation pulls your attention from your soup and up to the table in front of you. "It's unnatural for me to have to remind Weiss to study and do her homework. It needs to stop. We have to do something."

"See? Helping Weiss wins, two to one. You're outvoted, Blake."

"I never voted. I'm abstaining. You two can do whatever you like. Just don't come crying to me when she freezes you to a wall, or sets your hair on fire." You grab your tray from the table and start to make your way to the trash to clean up after yourself.

"Oh come on Blake, you aren't going to help us at all?"

"Ruby is Weiss' partner. She should be able to handle it. And you, well, just good luck."

"I know I'm her teammate and combat partner but you're her…"

"Her what?" You look at Ruby, unamused by her not so subtle suggestion.

"What Ruby is trying to say is, you are Weiss' non combat partner."

"Ha. Well, since I'm non combative, I'll be in the library."

The days that followed were filled with over the top gestures of kindness, jokes, puns, tons of junk food and overall loudness. All of which seemed to do nothing but agitate a stoic and ever silent Weiss.

Honestly, it was annoying you. So you could only imagine what it was doing to Weiss. She had repeatedly asked that Yang lay off. And insisted that Ruby not bother. Then finally, one day when you were returning from the library late one evening, you hear it. The moment you knew would happen.

"Quit it Yang! Enough is enough." You can hear Weiss' voice echo down the entire hallway. "Let me go!"

"Nope. Sometimes you just need someone to hug you when you're sad! I'm not gonna let go until you say you aren't sad."

"I'm not sad, I'm FURIOUS!"

Ruby's voice cautiously fills the air.

"Maybe, Yang maybe you should just let her go?"

You can see the eyes of Nora and Jaune peeking through a sliver of a crack in the doorway of the room across the hall from your own. And you can hear what you are fairly sure is Pyrrha trying to pull them away, insisting they not be so nosy.

You roll your eyes to yourself as you slowly open the door to your room, trying to balance the books you have in your other arm as you push the door open.

When you step into the room you see what looks like the aftermath of a war. Stuff is everywhere, books on the floor, the curtains and corners of the bedposts look like they've briefly caught fire at some point, and there's coffee spilled all over the desk. You remain in the door way because you aren't really sure where to go.

"Stop trying to cheer me up!" Weiss yells as she squirms to get out of Yang's grasp.

"If I let you go, will you stop setting stuff on fire?"

"Fine!"

Any other time, you would've believed Weiss would honor her word. But as soon as Yang releases her from her bear hug, all you see are shards of ice heading directly for you from out of clouds of dust.

Without thinking, you use your semblance and end up landing halfway on a pile of books. Next thing you know, you scream out as you slip and fall to the ground. Reaching out for anything that can break your fall. Only finding the edge of an open dresser drawer, which follows you down to the ground. Which is where you lay, groaning in pain with multiple books underneath you, the ones you were carrying are now covering your body and the drawer you dislodged lays beside you, broken into three pieces.

"Oh Gods! Blake!" You hear Weiss call out as you close your eyes.

"Good job Snowflake! You killed my best friend."

"Are you okay, Blake?" Ruby calls out to you. And all you can do is give her a small thumbs up, not even bothering to open your eyes.

When you finally do open your eyes, you see Weiss kneeling down beside you, with Ruby and Yang standing over you, behind Weiss. There is a look of concern on the sisters' faces. But Weiss has her lips pursed together like she's, wait, is she laughing?

She grabs onto your hand and pulls it to her chest, leaning her head back as she continues laughing. Yang exchanges a worried glance with Ruby.

"I think you broke her, Blake."

"I think the only thing I broke is my back. Maybe my ribs. I can't tell. It all hurts." Weiss begins to pull the books off of you as she continues to giggle. Once you can sit upright, she stands up and offers you her hand and helps pull you from the floor to your feet. "I'm glad my clumsiness has provided the necessary humor to knock you out of your funk, but can you please help me get to the nurse's office?"

"Of course." She says, sliding her hand around to the other side of your waist to help support your weight.

"Do you want me to help? I can carry you."

"I think you've done more than enough helping today, Yang. You and Ruby have Grimm Studies homework that's due tomorrow and I know for a fact that neither of you have even started."

"Old Weiss has returned." Ruby says, throwing her fist into the air in victory.

"And the two of you can clean this mess up while we are gone too."

"Oh yeah, Weiss is definitely back to her old self. No fun." Yang mumbles as the two of you make your way down the hall towards the nurse's office.

"You don't have to help me walk, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? That fall was pretty bad."

You take an agile jump forward. Completely unharmed by your fall. The benefits of Aura.

"Blake Belladonna," she fakes a gasp, "were you faking it?"

"Maybe?" You give her a smirk. "But I got you to hold my hand."

"Look at you, ever so sneaky."

"I also have some good news for you." Your smirk turns into a full blown smile.

"And what would that be?"

"I talked Goodwitch into dropping our lowest test grade of the semester." You nudge your shoulder against hers.

"Are you serious? How?"

"It took me a while to convince her. I prepared a speech and demonstrated the benefits and how the alleviation of stress helps students perform better over the duration of the semester and some other stuff that I found while I researched in the library."

"You did research for me? How sweet."

"Well, you are Ruby's combat partner. But as Yang likes to say, you are my non combat partner."

"That's quite suggestive, though not inaccurate."

"I'm sorry that I said you failed yourself. It was thoughtless and I didn't intend to upset you."

"Thank you. Although I must admit, your apology is mostly unnecessary. If only for the fact that I grossly overreacted the past week. Being overdramatic doesn't suit me. Far too much work."

"So you think we can stop by the cafeteria on the way to the library, or is that far too much work too?"

"Absolutely not, I'm starving."

"I'm not really hungry, but I'd love something to drink."

"Coffee?" You roll your eyes, knowing she's just teasing.

"Tea."

#rwby monochrome #rwby checkmate #rwby fanfiction #rwby #blake belladonna #weiss schnee

[titaniumblender]

Happy HK secret Santa  @emmmmiru !!! I hope you don’t hate this lmao, I’ve discovered I really need prompts when writing christmas fics so I combined like several and I think it sort of worked???  Also plz excuse my ER/hospital knowledge it’s very outdated because my reference hasn’t worked in an ER for like years so I did my best lol. So, without further ado plz have Doctor Toshiro/Nurse Karin and mistletoe, for some reason I really just like RAN with the mistletoe thing!! 

Karin was twitchy. She’d been waiting in the Starbuck’s line for a solid fifteen minutes before her order was finally taken. Now here she was, stuck waiting another ten minutes for the actual drink to be made. There were four people in front of her too.

Today was her first day at her new hospital. She was finally escaping the shadow of her brilliant family at Karakura General Hospital, KGH. Both her father and brother were well known and highly sought-after doctors. Ichigo, a renown neurosurgeon and Ishhin, probably one of the best ER doctors around, training a number of great pupils in emergency medicine. Even her own twin sister was well known, Yuzu was one of few dietitians in Karakura and a good one at that.

Karin herself was a damn good nurse and she knew it, but she got rather fed up with being known exclusively as Kurosaki Junior. Yuzu didn’t seem to mind the nickname as much, but of course Karin wasn’t as nice as Yuzu.

So, here she was, a town away at a brand-new hospital starting her first shift on Christmas Eve, just her luck.

And now her need for Starbucks and caffeine was going to make her late.

“Venti gingerbread latte for Karin.” The barista finally called out and Karin practically sprinted to the counter.

Quickly grabbing a lid and pushing it onto the cup Karin briskly turned around ready to get to the hospital ASAP. Only to run smack dab into someone, immediately spilling her precious gingerbread latte all over this nice someone’s crisp white dress shirt.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” She asked before looking up at the very attractive man she had spilled her hot drink all over.

He was probably one of the most attractive men she had ever seen with white hair, piercing blue eyes and a very attractive face. An attractive face that was decidedly unimpressed with situation as his white shirt dripped latte. He brought a hand up to his face, pinched his nose and muttered, “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

“Wait, Toshiro?” Karin asked, his unimpressed scowl triggering a memory of that very same face but much younger lecturing her about proper hospital etiquette.

“Karin?”

“Yes! How are you? It’s been so long; dad really misses you.” It was really her who missed him, but he didn’t need to know that.

“I’m doing just fine Karin, but I think I’d be much better if we could have this discussion when I don’t have coffee all over me.”

“Ahh right! Let me get you a paper towel, I’ll be right back.”

And then she disappeared quickly, trying her best to calm her heart rate.

Toshiro Hitsugaya had been one of her father’s most promising medical interns and Isshin had loved him so much he became part of the family. Did a young nursing intern, happen to find him very attractive? Yes. Did that same intern also happen to develop a huge crush and sulk for weeks when he finally left to pursue his career at a different hospital? Also, yes. But she still had her dignity dammit!

The current twenty-five-year-old Karin was not the same as twenty-one-year-old lovesick Karin, she would not be caught pining over Toshiro Hitsugaya. She was better than that.

Grabbing a wad of napkins, Karin returned to Toshiro and resisted the urge to dab at his well-muscled chest with them. Instead, she handed them to him before seeing the time. “Toshiro, this was great, but I really have to go, I’m late to my first shift!”

Toshiro had no chance to respond before the dark-haired beauty was gone and he was left still sopping wet with latte. Classic Kurosaki.

Karin barely managed to make pre-shift, sliding into the nurse’s station just as the charge nurse started giving everyone the basic rundown of how the shift would work.

Karin knew the brief layout of the hospital and how it worked from her few training shifts, but she wasn’t sure she was entirely ready to be thrown into a Christmas Eve shift just yet. Unfortunately, another nurse had come down with a nasty flu and Karin was forced to cover for her. Since Karin had never worked a Christmas or Christmas Eve shift before she had absolutely no idea what to expect.

She really hoped Christmas Eve wouldn’t be as insane as it was on Gray’s Anatomy.

After pre-shift ended Karin approached the charge nurse to let her know of her newbie status. She was a kind older woman named Yuki and Karin knew immediately she’d like her.

“Oh, don’t worry too much dear. Christmas Eve usually isn’t that busy, this is probably a good first shift for you to learn how we work here. But just to be safe I’m going to assign you to beds 6-12, they’re usually not as hectic as the trauma room. The doctor on tonight is also one of our best. I’m sure you’ll have no problems but if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask him. He’s very thorough in his work so I’m sure he’d be more than happy to help you learn the layout here.”

As Yuki finished speaking Karin spotted a messy head of silvery-white hair walking towards them and she quickly realized exactly who her ER doctor would be tonight. Just her luck.

“And speaking of, there he is. Karin, this is Dr. Hitsugaya and he’ll be the doctor in charge of the emergency room tonight.”

She could have kicked herself; she really should have put the pieces together. What was the likelihood she’d run into Toshiro at the coffee shop next to the hospital before her night shift randomly? Very slim.

“Hello again Karin.” He said with a small smirk, and she couldn’t help but notice the new green dress shirt he was wearing underneath his white coat brought out those piercing eyes of his. He was really so unfair.

“Toshiro.”

His eyebrow twitched; an annoyed reaction Karin was thrilled to evoke.

“Karin how many times do I have to tell you it’s Dr. Hitsugaya.”

“Oh, you two have already met then?” Yuki interrupted innocently.

Yes, yes, they had. She had an embarrassing schoolgirl crush on him, thought their weird sexual tension might lead somewhere only for him to leave after his residency never to be seen again. She was only a little bitter. But it was FINE.

“Yes, we used to work together at another hospital.” He smoothly replied and Karin was thankful he didn’t bring up her family and exactly which hospital they’d worked at. She didn’t want to be known as Kurosaki Junior again and he seemed to understand.

“Well, I hope we have a good shift Toshiro.”

His eyebrow twitched again, and she couldn’t help but feel pride at how she could drive him so crazy in such a short amount of time.

As it turned out Karin did have a pretty good shift with only a few hiccups. Thankfully, nothing too insane happened and as Yuki promised beds 6 to 12 were pretty relaxed. The most notable patient was a man who had smashed his hand through a fish tank.

Karin was forced to carefully tweeze out the glass while one half of his family yelled at him across the bed about his recklessness. From what she could gather the two sides of the family were arguing about some family recipe and it had led to an all-out brawl.

She was a little chagrined when the other half of the family arrived twenty minutes later with his cousin who had third degree burns from cooking said family recipe.

Overall Christmas Eve wasn’t that bad. Karin had learned about the hospital staff more than anything. Mostly that they were a bit crazy. At first Karin hadn’t immediately noticed the mistletoe pretty much EVERYWHERE in the hospital but the more she paid attention the worse it got. Every doorway, archway, hallway, and windowsill were covered in the plant. There was even some hanging off the light fixtures. She privately thought it was a terrible fire hazard but whatever.

After hours of encountering, it at every corner of the hospital during her shift she caved and asked what it was about on her lunch break. Matsumoto, an impressive veteran ER nurse whose only goal in life seemed to be to drive Toshiro insane, was more than happy to let her in on the hospital gossip.

Only for Karin to find out it was all over some ridiculous wager. Apparently, there was a longstanding bet in the hospital about who could catch a certain white-haired doctor under the mistletoe first.

In four years running, not one had ever been able to kiss him. Doctors, nurses, and X-ray techs alike had all tried their hand but to no avail. Not a single soul had ever gotten near him.

Karin couldn’t help feeling a little pleased about this. So, what if she still harboured a little crush on the man and was smug no one had snagged him yet? Who could blame her, he was hot.

It was widely believed Toshiro was some sort of ninja in his spare time because he’d never been spotted near the mistletoe which was an impressive feat seeing as how it covered every possible surface.

“So why does everyone want to kiss him so bad? Other than the bet of course?”

“Karin have you seen that man, who wouldn’t want to kiss a face like that?”

“Fair point.” She was willing to admit he was indeed a very fine specimen.

“So, who are you betting on this year Matsumoto?”

“You.” And with that ominous answer, Matsumoto winked, grabbed her empty tray and left the cafeteria.

Karin could only gape at her back.

The rest of her shift was just as relaxed as the beginning and for that Karin was thankful. Her mind was now completely filled with Matsumoto’s last words. What was she supposed to do with that? Why would she have a chance of winning that bet with Toshiro. Did Matsumoto know something she didn’t? Sure, they’d shared some heated looks at her old hospital and yeah, people usually told them to get a room whenever they argued but that didn’t mean he was interested in her right? She definitely would have known if Toshiro Hitsugaya, star ER doctor had a crush on her. Or would she?

It was these thoughts that occupied her mind as she put on her street clothes and exited the hospital for the night on complete autopilot. There was no way she could have missed her first love liking her back. No way. Or at least she really hoped not.

And it was these very same thoughts that caused her to make her way down the main stairs in a daze. As she turned onto the empty sidewalk right outside the hospital, she was so engrossed in her thoughts that she failed to notice the black ice covering the previously snowy sidewalk. She promptly slipped and fell onto the concrete and after that she really didn’t think of much at all.

Woozily looking up, Karin heard him muttering to himself, before her blurry vision became clear.

“Injured slipping on the sidewalk, trauma to the head, likely has a concussion.”

And then he looked up from her chart and finally noticed just who his patient was. “Karin, for fuck’s sake.”

“Hey Toshiro.” She awkwardly waved and after a moment added, “You know you have a terrible bedside manner.”

His eyebrow twitched, “It’s Dr. Hitsugaya.”

“Ya, Dr. Hitsugaya whatever, what’s my prognosis, can I go home? I want to go to bed.”

“Too bad. You’re not sleeping until I know your brain is fine or someone’s there to wake you up every two hours.”

Unfortunately, Karin’s list of people to monitor her for concussion symptoms was very short and consisted solely of Yuzu. Yuzu, who was also conveniently at her boyfriend’s for Christmas eve. Her brother and father were both working tonight and she was unsure when they’d be off. Toshiro seemed to sense this because he started to open his mouth, probably to suggest she stay at the hospital and she immediately cut him off.

“I am not staying at the hospital tonight so you can forget that.”

He gave her a withering look before responding.

“Karin, I can’t just release you and you know it. Stop being stubborn and just stay here.”

“No.”

There was a long-suffering sigh in response and then, “I guess it’s up to me to keep you entertained then.”

“Aren’t you the only ER doctor on right now? Don’t you have like other patients to deal with?” She asked defiantly, she would be going home to sleep even if it was the last thing she did. Which, it very well could be if her brain was seriously injured but she didn’t really want to worry about that.  

His eyebrow began to twitch again at this. “Yes, Karin but they’re all in stable condition for now and contrary to popular belief we’re not usually that busy on Christmas. Besides my shift is almost over anyways. I was just going to go chart for the last half hour.”

“So, I can go to sleep then?”

“No, you can nap on the couch in my office and I’ll wake you up and take you to Ichigo’s. Rukia should be home if he isn’t.”

She almost argued back but then she saw the infamous unimpressed look on his handsome face and knew not to bother. This was not an argument she would win.

“Whatever.”

Karin was momentarily confused when instead of responding Toshiro left the room, practically sprinting through the archway to avoid the mistletoe. She eased herself off the bed to follow and quickly became aware which parts of her body had taken the brunt of her fall: mainly her butt and her head. What a great Christmas eve this was shaping up to be.

She managed to settle herself just as Toshiro appeared around the corner rolling a wheelchair. “Toshiro, no.”

“Karin, yes.”

This conversation repeated several times before Toshiro simply took it upon himself to forcefully shove her into the wheelchair and Karin found herself being awkwardly wheeled down the hallway. Today was definitely not her day. She supposed having one of the most attractive doctors in the hospital dote on you wasn’t the worst thing to happen.

Toshiro’s office was exactly what she expected it to be like, overly organized and painted in different shades of grey and blue. He brought the wheelchair to a stop next to his predictably grey but very comfortable looking couch. He moved to help her to the couch, but she waved him off.

“I’ll be back I just have to go collect some paperwork. Take a nap and I’ll wake you when it’s time to leave.”

She didn’t need to be told twice, she had already maneuvered herself onto the plush couch and was ready to conk off. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed was his scowling face as he ripped a sprig of mistletoe out of the doorjamb.

She woke next to blaring hospital lights as she was once again wheeled down the hallway, this time towards the parking garage. “Do I want to know how you got me back into this wheelchair without waking me up?”

“With great difficulty Kurosaki and that’s all you need to know.”

“Yeah, I definitely don’t want to know. So, there’s no way I can convince you to just drop me off at my apartment, right?”

“Not unless I stay the night Karin and to be honest me sleeping on the couch in that situation is not how I had imagined that would play out.”

Was that flirting? That was definitely flirting but she wasn’t going to call him out on it. She didn’t have the presence of mind to verbally spar with him right now. But clearly her sleep deprived brain had other ideas.

“So, tell me Toshiro who do you think is going to win the hospital mistletoe bet this year?”

 Why did she bring that up????

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He replied easily as they arrived at his black BMW.

“Yes, you do, and quite frankly I’m impressed I’ve never seen someone literally somersault away from a group of nurses.”

He groaned as he courteously opened her door before helping her inside his of course perfectly clean car.

“Karin it’s not funny, it’s gotten to the point where I dread the Christmas season. I considered an extended leave of absence for the whole month of December.” His face as he started the car told he was 100% serious.

“Why don’t you just kiss someone then?” She asked as he started the car, making his way towards her brother’s apartment. His unenthusiastic grunt was her only response.

“You could even rig the betting pool; I’d bet Matsumoto would help you and you would make bank.”

“Of course, you’d suggest something like that Kurosaki.”

“Yeah, just so long as I’m in on it, I want a piece of the cut.”

This time she got an amused look in response instead of annoyance.

“No but for real just pick a cute nurse, give her a smooch and it’s all over. Four Decembers is a long time to deal with this.” Somehow, she managed to refrain from suggesting she herself be this cute nurse, but she was sure if he really wanted, he could figure it out.

“They usually start in November.”

“Even worse.”

The rest of the ride was spent in their usual amicable silence. A few times Karin almost nodded off but was pleasantly awoken by a swift smack in the arm each time. Stupid doctor Toshiro.

They arrived at her brother’s apartment soon enough and she nearly had to fight Toshiro so he wouldn’t go inside and apprise Rukia of the whole situation. “I may be tired but I’m not tired enough not to let Rukia know I probably have a concussion.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyways thanks for taking care of me, I owe you a favour.” She said as she dragged herself out of the warm car and around towards the building entrance. She was about to give one more wave when the driver’s side window rolled down and Toshiro beckoned her over.

“Can I collect on my favour now?”

She gave him what she was sure was a very confused look, what could he possibly want from concussion Karin at 4 am on Christmas morning?

She bent down closer to the window to ask him what the hell he could possibly want from her when suddenly her sleepy brain was made aware of the fact that Toshiro Hitsugaya was suddenly holding something above her head, and it was mistletoe. Her eyes went back and forth between him and the plant for several seconds before she finally spoke.

“Really this is your big move. I’ve been waiting for this since I was 21 stupid.”

“Whatever Kurosaki are you going to put me out of my misery or do I have to spend the next 4 Decembers avoiding this stupid plant again.”

He looked entirely too pleased with himself but really Karin could deal with it if she got to kiss one of the hottest ER doctors. Who could complain?

The next morning Matsumoto won the betting pool and was seen discreetly sharing her earnings with a certain white-haired doctor and his new girlfriend in the break room a few days later.

#hitsukarin secret santa #:) #HitsuKarin