#also ignoring the fact that i always use a certain OC games like this and that oc doesn't use they/them lol

[korattata]

i really Want to like Stardew Valley

like yeah i prefer the farming games that have more fantasy element stuff with more fighting or whatnot. but i've still played a couple of SoS games and liked them too, and the game has a lot of mods that seem like they would be fun to play around with

but. tbh the game is kinda soured for me by the fact that there's no nonbinary/other protag option. there's no gender restrictions to the relationship elements right? soooo....??? i get that it's an indie game so less resources for development or whatever but like. there's so so many indie games that have been able to include an nb option. if someone has made a complete mod for it, there's no reason the dev, who has done many many updates to the game, couldn't also implement it??

it's just that sooooo often i see Stardew Valley as the top of the list of 'yeah!! queer indie games!!!' and yet. what i am isn't there! interesting. :)

#i knooow i probably sound like an entitled asshole. but i don't care atm #also ignoring the fact that i always use a certain OC games like this and that oc doesn't use they/them lol #but yeah the mod existing isn't good enough because. you can only use that on a pc. and also it should be in the base game too anyway #no idea why this hit my brain at 10am randomly but here's some words #*new creative post tag here*

[nekrophoria]

Tell us your 3 fave OC ships and the song(s) or other media you associate with them. Pass this on to 3 others (on or off anon) and let's keep the game going!

Thank you so much for this ask! <3

Honestly this is hella hard to answer for me given that

a) I can't get myself to keep going with Volatile for some fucking reason so a lot of potential ships in my story aren't realized yet or worse the characters in it haven't even been properly introduced yet (kill me, I'm bad at this)

and b) I'm really not that good at this whole romantic ship thing I'm realizing, the relationships that I personally find the most interesting in my story are either platonic, friendships, parental, sibling like relationships...that kinda stuff.

There are very few ships that I have planned in Volatile at the moment. And a lot of them are kinda crack ships or ships that are completely doomed by the narrative aka me.

Then of course there's the fact that I would spoil the hell out of people by dabbling into ships that haven't been introduced yet so....eh.....

That being said, I don't know if I can really give a good answer to this, much less an answer that anyone reading this could actually follow or find interesting at this point in time x_x

Anywhoo...I'll try.

Let's start with Roland and Liz,which is like the only potential canon ship I have in Volatile at the moment xDD

(some spoilery pics cuz I feel like it)

I absolutely adore these two together but as of now I don't think they'll have a future unless I decide to do a major rewrite. Idk. We'll see,

Anyhoo...these songs always makes me think of them:

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

Then my favourite Crack/AU ship, Mabon and Caspian (courtesy of @drawing-way-outside-the-lines)

They're not really a crack ship xD But I didn't really have the chance to develop them much just yet, so as of now they're just an outlet for more nsfw and edgy shit and a more unhinged Mabon who wouldn't really be in character in the canon universe.

I find their dynamic interesting though because I feel like they both see the worst parts of themselves in each other which validates them and their behavior in certain ways, but also causes them to low key despise each other. It's a picture book co-dependent relationship that could force them to confront parts of themselves that they'd probably much rather ignore.

They have a couple of songs that I relate to them but I feel like these sum up their relationship the best:

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

Aaaand last but not least:

Mel and Simon

I am not entirely sure yet how this ship will evolve, again, since Simon hasn't even been introduced in Volatile yet despite him being present on my blog for quite some time now.

But I think they're cute af together, and they have the potential to do each other a lot of good or absolutely wreck each other . That's all I can say as of now.

They also get two songs

One from Simon's view:

One from Mel's view:

#sims 3 #tag #Oc: Melvin Holloway #Oc: Simon Davis #Oc: Roland Lynch #Oc: Liz Thompson #Oc: Mabon AU #Caspian Jacob D'Angelo #I left out certain ships deliberately because they would be waay too spoilery #This is a whole lotta unnecessary rambling #I apologize for that

[dewphox]

I can’t believe people would use a being that is a homage to the late Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, as uwu-waifu bullshit.

So disrespectful.

I see where you're coming from, though I don't think that the way you are going about it is constructive or appropiate at all. Since you're on anon I can't say for sure if you're like 10 or 30, but I'm not mad either way.

So yeah I wanna give an honest answer to this, if anyone else feels the same way and maybe wants to have a discussion (though the whole anon thing feels like talking to a wall) you can really just talk to me. Ngl I am incredibly emotional and quick to get defensive, but the beauty of messages on the internet is is that I can give myself time to calm down and be rational and process these emotions before I respond. So Anon I hope that once you've hopefully seen my response that if you still feel a certain type of way about it that you can maybe give me the same courtesy. I just think that there's enough hate to hate communication on the internet already and I'd honestly truly appreciate the effort.

To start of I think it's ignorant to say that how I choose to enjoy my favourite media is ''uwuw-waifu bullshit''. People enjoy different things in many different ways. The way I do it is no different from D&D. There is a world with lore and characters that i adore and I love it so much that I want to experience it through something I've made. Making a character for a franchise is connected to so much research on the source material, as careful as it was crafted I take the time to think of many different ways to integrate a whole new person that hypothetically could fit like a DLC or you know, my player character (sometime it is more indepth than other times, but I always do research one way or the other).

Being put into Links shoes is a predetermined lens which i can enjoy as it's own story, but to me, I like to be a part of it either with a straight insert or an otherwise character of my own making. A tale of legend and heroic deeds is but one perspective and I love to see in what different ways this story or world can be enjoyed and looked at. And i don't think that this is wrong or something to look down upon. Just as is romance within that world and other bonds and relationships one will create and connect to their creation. Like how I made the windfish my OC's Father.

It is so much more than you make it out to be and I have had so many people throuought my art journey come to me and grief because they were bullied for simply having an oc be romantic with a canon character or god forbid a selfinsert or mary sue (and most of them were children, though I was more sad about the adults who's passion was taken from them before they could fully explore it). It is makebelief and hurts no one just because these people decided to share these scenarios with other people. I hope that in the future you can be less dismissive about that. I think it's important that we take the time to be kind, even if there's something we might disagree with and want to debate.

Now to the main point. To put it simply I think a character is allowed to be it's own entity regardless of intent, if ofcourse the intent isn't explicitly stated. (Like for example when they literally have Barack obama as a character in South park etc. Then that's not a refrence but a depicition) Which in this case it isn't actually. While researching what came up was filled with ''maybe'', ''possibly'', ''probably'' etc. More importantly though the game itself never states it and a game and franchise should always be able to be judged on it's contents alone wihtout outside remarks people may or may not have made.

Then there's also another character within the game. Botrick. His wiki also eludes to the fact that he might be a homage to Satoru. Wikis however are all written by fans and we can all just speculate even if the probability is very likely. The difference however is that Botrick shares a similar appearance with Satoru while the lord of the mountain has a similar name and I think both are tributes in their own right. Though Botrick may be a physical reference while Satori is a sort of spiritual tribute to him as a mentor and guardian figure. But it's still it's own character. Both of these characters aren't Satoru, the same as how actors aren't synonymous with the characters they play.

Also what if someone doesn't do deep dives into wikis and articles and forums? What if someone simply plays the game, enjoys it and make characters, contents AU's for it? What if had only read the genral wiki and not scrolled down to the trivia section where people first brought up it might be a tribute? I don't think that it should be neccessary to first get a bachelors degree in order to enjoy a game in fear of missing a detail that although never mentioned in the game was once maybe hinted at by someone. It feels like a roundabout and tiring way to enjoy a medium. And you should give people a fair chance and not come at them so aggressively, even if you're emotionally charged.

Having said all that, I was actually hesitant to make this idea I had using Satori for the same reason haha. Since I generally don't like characters that are meant to be real life people ( the same I don't like to ship with characters that are in canon relationships (hence i dropped Sidon UU ). With Satori however I felt it's removed enough that it's not an issue for me as explained above.

But I'm not opposed to the idea of changing a few things up! Names are changed in the blink of an eye and i am not uncreative enough to be incabalbe of thinking of different ways to incorporate my design into the lore. I could make it a blupee instead, or a descendant, or otherwise further removed entity with close ties to Satori. (My OC Dreem was close to being something like that before I thought of the windfish!) I simply adore these nature god archetypes like the forest god in princess mononoke and since in it's lore Satori was a sage before that died the idea of a humanoid version wasn't too far off for me.

So yeah, tell me what you think, I'm open for discussion and how other people see it as long as you give me the same courtesy and time that I did to formulate an appropiate response! I hope that we can all be kind to eachother and I wish you all a wonderful day!

#i actually wrote a different and longer answer #more detailed but it broke on me #it was so much omg I cry it was so good and nicely phrased #so sorry if this sounds less that #I wanted to answer and there's a lot that needed to be brought up #but like #it already took me hours the first time :')

[incorrectoverthehedge]

Why I got back into Over the Hedge.

So I can't sleep, why not write.

Over the Hedge was for a while a movie that, up until a few months ago, has been relatively unimportant to me. I remember seeing it once when I was a kid, and I do remember playing the hell out of the video game (I even beat it once in an entire day one summer), and that's about it.

It was always a movie that I found good as a kid, and for a while I never went back to it because I didn't want my childhood ruined. Granted I usually grew up with a lot of Disney and Pixar movies, so bad childhood movies were going to be hard to come by. I guess the closest was I think Snow Buddies, but even then it's more generic than anything.

Okay, getting off topic, Over the Hedge I didn't go back to for a long time because I didn't want to think the movie was lame nowadays. Granted I thought about it a few times, mainly because I liked the names RJ and Ozzie, and I used them whenever I wanted to make a neat OC that I would inevitably forget about in less than two weeks, but aside from that, nothing really prompted me to go back, which eventually resulted in me pretty much forgetting about it.

That was until a few months ago...and it involved a certain fan-favorite Opossum.

You see, on Left 4 Dead, there's a workshop where you can play as other characters. They can range from meme characters, to anime characters, to video game characters, and of course, animated movie characters. That of course is where this starts.

I had to find a model that would replace either Francis or Louis since my friends were sick of the model I was using. In case you were wondering, I was using this model:

Terrifying, I know.

It was funny to me at the same time. However, the biggest problem with it was that it was way too big and pretty much took up half their screens whenever they looked at me. So I had to find another model that would fit…I decided to use Louis this time, and then I found…this.

I decided why not, got it, realized that it had the exact same issue with Thumper the Monster Bunny, yet ignored it for some reason, and with the model, we beat the challenge, and everything was fine. That was until I really started thinking about it.

Why did Heather of all characters get a model in this game? In fact, while doing research for this video, it turns out she's the SECOND DreamWorks character to have a Left 4 Dead 2 character model, and the first was Shrek. Speaking of which, she now has TWO character models for survivors, and she's only second to Shrek who has only three.

LET ME REPEAT, SHE IS SECOND TO SHREK.

Anyways, this really got me thinking about what was the whole appeal of her, because I recently rewatched the movie and let me tell you, she probably has the least amount of screen-time in the film. Yet, she's the only one of the cast to have a model in Left 4 Dead 2 (at least until Ozzie was also ported), that was also ported to GMod?

That's when I started to look at the fandom more, and I realized that last year the subreddit had a bit of a resurgence when it came what I like to call "Heather-posting".

Posts about Heather were all over the subreddit, and not only that, they were some of the highest upvoted there. The image I'm providing is only the second highest, with 265. Granted that doesn't seem like much compared to others, but it's still noticeable. In fact, Heather is the main focus of nearly half of the highest upvoted posts.

Not only that, she's also fairly popular on DeviantArt, and even more surprisingly (and also thankfully), there's no...weird stuff involved there I've seen.

Have you ever heard the term "Ensemble Darkhorse" in TV Tropes? It's when a character who is rather minor or unimportant to the main plot get a massive following. Heather pretty much ticks all those boxes, and it's probably one of the most surprising ones I've seen.

How powerful is it overall? Well, I actually decided to make a character based on Heather and put her in a Hell's Kitchen roleplay. I didn't exactly expect to get far, or even really be that noticed.

Heather actually won.

She won.

Not only that, she actually had two people have a crush on her, one male, one female. That's actually wild.

In the midst of all that however, it resulted in me taking another look at the movie itself, finally looking to see if it lived up to the vindication it had been receiving recently.

Turns out that yeah, it's still a great movie. It's not going to be better than something like The Last Wish or Shrek 2, but it's a film that, in my opinion, has no real flaws. Maybe the cast could be a bit smaller, like remove the porcupine family so there could be some more screentime for Heather and Ozzie, since they're the two more popular characters compared to them. Despite this, the cast itself is likable, the story is easy to follow, the satire and visual humor is really funny, and man for Dreamworks film the movie looks absolutely GORGEOUS.

Of course, there's also the banger music, with Heist and Family of Me being my two favorite songs in the film, and it always inspires me to write about the gang and their wacky hijinks.

Oh yeah, the writing stuff. Yeah, I never actually wrote a lot of Fanfiction in my life, I usually kept it original for the most part. I think the only thing Fanfiction-y I've ever wrote was some absolutely hot dog water, dumpster fire trash about...

Sonic OCS.

I'm shivering just thinking about it.

Regardless, my writing has improved a ton, so at the very least I could do the gang justice by not looking like I just half-assed my writing whilst working on writing comedy, which is a style I've never tried before.

And let me tell you, it is really fun to do.

So yeah, what started as a simple dive into a character that I didn't expect to be popular, soon turned into a genuine appreciation for a movie that had at one point been treated as merely an afterthought, as well as a new love for writing comedy detailing the wacky misadventures of some fun characters.

That is why I got back into Over the Hedge.

Speaking of which, I've also been collecting some old merchandise from Over The Hedge, and let me tell you, some of that is real interesting...

#over the hedge #dreamworks #dreamworks animation #just a little ramble #okay its a bit of a big ramble #dont judge me #writing and stuff

[okthatsgreat]

me again sending a bunch of those emojis forrrr any oc you want to talk about :)🌋🤥😨🙈🎭🔫 and again feel free ignore some of the emojis (i know a couple of these were ones i sent the first time too LOL)

YAY!!!!! u are so cool ALWAYS thank you lily :] oh im gonna use sae. my friend sae but im gonna skip two of these bc i wanna keep a few facts about sae hidden to the people who are also in the rp ghfkjsghkfdggfhdgsjkgfdgshf IM EXCITED TO WRITE FOR HER !!!!!!!!! AND LOVE TALKING

oc ask game!

🌋 VOLCANO - how bad is their temper? is it a slow boil, or an instant explosion?

sae is EXTREMELY patient!! as a fisherman she's had to learn how to stay cool-headed and calm under pressure, which means it is very difficult to get under her skin. she's usually very very slow to anger, just as much as she is slow to get much of a reaction out of! years and years of sitting on docks waiting for fish to bite will do that to a mfer GDFSKGJ

🤥 LYING - are they good liars? do they have tells to show they're lying?

sae doesn't lie a whole ton!!! i won't give away any tells but it's important to note that she lives a very simple, straight forward life that doesn't involve a whole lot of lying to other people. at MOST it would be lying through omission!!!! other than that she's usually quite truthful if you ask her the right questions lmao. not only is she truthful but she'll also start talking forever and ever

😨 FEARFUL - when scared, do they go into "fight" or "flight"?

FIGHT PROBABLY??? moreso freeze i think........... she is not fast enough for flight and isn't one to just book it and leave, especially since she often sways about like she's still got her sea legs half of the time lol. she doesn't resort to violence as a first resort either, but if push comes to shove she'll intimidate yknow??? like she'll step forward and act a bit tougher but its gonna take a LOT for her to start swinging ghfdksghfdjkg. i reckon she's a lot more likely to stop and think for a WHILE. like full sit down on the floor head in her hands moment. try not to get a headache immediately moment

🎭 MASKS - do they act differently around certain people? what's different between the way they act around friends, family, strangers, etc.?

oh you know i love making characters who hold a completely seperate identity to the one they portray to others but honestly sae doesn't hold herself super duper differently around certain people ghfksghk!!! she doesn't have a totally different "true self" like a few of my other ocs have but there are still subtle differences in how she acts around different people :) one of the biggest ones is just how tense she tends to get around people she's not super comfortable with. still prone to rambling and slow moving but her shoulders are always hella rigid lol. she's also a bit more awkward and out of place, like she's not entirely sure how to talk to them just yet so she manoeuvres herself in a way that's a lot more stiff

THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!!

#oc: sae #ask game #ask lee #lottiematthewsgirl #rp: ditw

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 26: Vengeful Potions

Fandom: Harry Potter (Hogwarts years 1-7) Pairing: Draco x OFC

taglist:@ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic @kmc1989

​​​​Story Masterlist // Romina’s Masterlist

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

Romina tugged on the ribbon bow of her high pony-tail. She turned her head towards the window of the compartment and looked at her reflection. She shouldn't have done it, but she did. And in secret again. Using transfiguration as soon as she stepped on the Hogwarts Express, Romina changed her hair all over. Instead of it being incredibly short, it was now incredibly long. Bright red shined on the tips of her hair. She'd done her best to look as different as possible from her mother.

According to Pansy, it had not been enough.

"Oswell," Pansy Parkinson proved to be a pain once you were on the recipient side of her wrath. She had Milicent Bullstrode on her side, also proving they were getting thick as thieves. "You decided to come back? And with a new hair-do? It's not going to work. You'll always look like Mummy-dearest."

Romina looked into Pansy's eyes, searching for anything that would give a sign of doubt, or at least regret, but there was nothing. Pansy now looked at her the same way she looked at Arden: with hatred. They were no longer friends. A part of Romina did lament the fact but she wouldn't let herself fall, especially to the likes of Pansy.

Romina did a small nod as she accepted the new reality. "So that's how it's going to be, then?" Pansy raised an eyebrow, not quite sure where Romina was going with the question. "Fine," Romina shrugged. "Hate me. But if you're going to do it, then be prepared for a good game because I'm not going anywhere." Pansy smirked, but it appeared she was more amused than threatened. "And fair warning, you do anything like what you did before Christmas again, and I might just have to live up to my parents' reputation."

"You? Okay!" snorted Pansy. Even Millicent snickered behind.

Romina didn't let that make her falter. Instead, she just smiled. "And just remember that I do also live with muggles so I've picked up on a few things that can and will make you hurt in a different way. Starting with…" she brutally stomped on Pansy's foot, making the girl shriek. "Scuse me!" she then moved around the girls, making sure her black suitcase knocked them against the glass door of a compartment.

Yeah, that kind of felt good.

All the way towards Hogwarts, Romina had spent it alone. No one wanted to sit with the daughter of Elora and Caplan Oswell apparently. It was fine. It gave Romina more hours to accept what might be waiting for her at school. When the train finally stopped, she got her suitcase and headed for the horseless carriages waiting for the students. Despite her best efforts to be aloof, she couldn't help notice that everyone passing by would give her a certain look, along with hushed whispers.

Romina had never felt so alone in those few minutes...

"Hey Oswell, I thought you weren't coming back?" Romina heard behind her, pulling her out of her darkening thoughts.

Draco had recognized her bright red ombre tips a mile away. He picked up his pace to catch up with her and seeing this, she stopped walking.

She rolled her eyes as the young platinum blonde came up beside her. "You'd like that wouldn't you, Malfoy?"

"Well, it does sound rather appealing. No more constant badgering for my more-than-clever Muggle jabs and Potter insults. Would make my life a lot easier, frankly."

Romina rolled her eyes and looked away as a smile crossed her lips. His playfulness was heartwarming. He chose to ignore everything and still treat her the same. There were no overwhelming questions like the "are you okay?" or the damned "how are you feeling?" one she hated the most. He chose to be himself with her. His rude, snarky self but himself nonetheless.

That's all she wanted.

"As if," she shrugged casually, though her smile was growing by the second. "Then who'd you have as a potion's partner? Dare I say…" she pretended to gasp, and even stopped for dramatics, "Hermione!"

The utter disgust that etched across Draco's face was both amusing and offensive on behalf of Hermione. "Don't ever say that again, Oswell. Ever."

"I would honestly pay to see who would kill each other first," Romina chuckled. Hermione was a force to be reckoned with all on her own.

"It's honestly insulting that you would ever entertain the idea Granger would stand a chance against me," Draco looked away, missing Romina rolling her eyes. He should be grateful she was entertaining this whole conversation at all. According to Arden, Romina had done everything in her power to avoid her friends. "And what the hell did you do to your hair now?"

Romina shrugged. "I just...tweaked it."

"Tweaked it!? Gave yourself a whole new look!"

"Using Transfiguration — again — so you can go ahead and be impressed now."

"Romina!" Arden's loud call startled the two into an abrupt stop. Arden was coming in a sprint towards them, along with Angel and Carolinha.

"Rom!" Arden threw her arms around Romina. "We missed you on the train!"

"I didn't feel like being with company," Romina said honestly as she pulled away from Arden.

"You didn't write back," Angel added when he gave Romina a hug, though he did it with no hint of reproach.

"It wasn't as if she was going to write to anyone," Draco bluntly said, missing the whole 'gentle' point. He didn't see any reason why they should be treating Romina so delicately, honestly. She didn't need it. If anything, they were probably annoying her with all their mushy behavior.

"I just wasn't in the mood," Romina continued, still attempting to play things off. She could really do with moving things along. "What Pansy did...it really messed me up, more than I already am anyways. I just needed some time."

"You can't let her do this to you," Carolinha warned. "We'll get her back."

Normally, Romina would say that there was no point in revenge, that it was wrong. But this time, she felt a different type of rage towards Pansy that couldn't be quelled with a simple muggle get-back.

"By the way, what did you do with your hair now?" Arden asked.

~ 0 ~

It was quite surprising for Romina to find out that the golden trio weren't right with each other. Romina found Hermione sitting outside in the courtyard with a book in hand. Once she questioned Hermione where the boys were, Hermione spilled the story of the firebolt present Harry had mysteriously received for Christmas. She started normally but as she got to explaining how she gave the firebolt to McGonagall despite Harry's and Ron's refusal, all of Hermione's words tumbled out together. Romina struggled to separate each of her words, but she ultimately got the jist.

"I mean, I just did what was right," Hermione said twice now since the girls started walking. She was back to speaking normally since she needed air. "I had to tell McGonagall about the present. It could've been sent by Sirius Black as a trap! You agree with me, don't you?" she looked to Romina for some well needed support she clearly hadn't gotten from the boys.

"I guess so," Romina scratched the back of her head. She probably wouldn't have thought that the Firebolt was a trap like Hermione did, but she supposed they should be grateful Hermione had. She was thinking reasonably, unlike the others. "Better safe than sorry."

Hermione seemed relieved to have at least one person on her side. She sighed in relief and gave Romina a quick hug. They continued to cross the courtyard shortly afterwards. "And McGonagall told Harry he could have the Firebolt back if it was safe, so...things will turn out fine. He'll get it back."

Romina knew Hermione was saying it to feel less guilty about the situation. Romina nodded her head, reassuring Hermione she'd done the right thing. "Harry will get over it because he knows you were only trying to do the right thing."

Hermione hoped she was right because it had been a rather quiet, lonely vacation after Christmas. She was glad school was starting again to at least see other friends. "You seem to be doing better," Hermione commented after a brief moment of silence between them. "Though I guess you changed your hair again because of what Pansy did? I'm so sorry about that."

"Pansy will get what's coming to her," Romina said as she came to a stop and turned to face Hermione. "She and I are no longer friends."

"I imagine so," Hermione could tell from Romina's face she'd meant every word. "But how do the other Slytherins treat you? I know Arden's okay...but the others?"

It'd never really been established what kind of relationships Romina had with the rest of the Slytherins. Neither Hermione, Harry or Ron had made any assumptions past the fact they were all Slytherins and they needed to be cautious around them.

"Honestly, so far, it's kind of confusing," Romina folded her arms and thought about the common room as of late. "Angel, Carolinha and Daphne say it's nothing to be ashamed of. My parents are not who I am."

Hermione smiled. "They're right."

"Theodore and Blaise just laughed and shook it off. And then Draco, believe it or not, has been helpful too. I think he gets me more than the others because of his own parents."

There, Hermione's smile faded. "I wouldn't believe Malfoy so easily, Rom."

"I know your problems with him, and I get it, but it's a bit different between us."

Hermione visibly cringed. "I'm sorry."

"Mhm," Romina dropped her arms to her sides and sighed. "Should I even ask what talks go on in the Gryffindor common room about me?"

Hermione smiled once more because she got to relieve Romina's fears about that. "Most of them are understanding. They know you and they know you'd never hurt anyone."

"I'm glad," Romina locked eyes with a few Ravenclaws walking past them. "I hope it's the same in the other Houses."

"I'm sure it will be," Hermione patted Romina's arm and coaxed her into walking again.

~ 0 ~

"We're doing this one," Romina presented Draco with a small parchment paper. She didn't necessarily wait for his reaction since she took off to go retrieve the needed ingredients for their potion.

Snape commanded the students to create a simple (in his perspective, anyways) potion that class period to demonstrate that they had indeed been listening to his lectures. The idea was for each pair of students to choose a potion falling under a minimum of five ingredients for its creation.

Draco's face had scrunched after reading the name of the potion Romina chose for them, and when she came back he made sure to voice his opinion on it. "You want us to create a measly Bulgeye potion?"

"It's not measly," she said calmly as she laid their ingredients on their desk. "I chose it with great care."

"It's boring," Draco slammed the parchment on the desk, gaining several looks from the other students as well as Snape who, after a few seconds, dismissed it and went back to his desk.

"It won't be, I promise."

Draco studied the girl who continued to calmly prepare things. "You're up to something, Oswell." Romina only raised her gaze for a couple seconds, but it was all Draco needed to see her hidden intentions. "It won't be boring?"

Romina smirked. "Not at all."

Draco tilted his head and shrugged. "Alright then, let's begin."

The two worked quietly throughout the class period. They were actually good partners and after a long year of Romina being detached and distant, Draco was glad (and relieved) to have his partner back. He did, however, wonder how long this would last. It wouldn't be the first time Romina duped him and everyone else into believing she was completely back to normal.

"That looks wrong," Pansy stopped by one hour into their work time. Her eyes disapprovingly looked over the brewing cauldron. "I'm so sorry, Draco, that you got stuck with her."

Romina secretly side-glanced Draco and made a 'shh' noise under her breath. Oh, he wanted to know what she was up to now. She looked very certain of herself.

"I'll have you know we're doing pretty good unlike yours," Romina sent a nod in Pansy's desk where her cauldron was spewing some type of odd color.

Pansy sourly smiled at the girl. "It would be a shame if something happened to yours, then, wouldn't it?"

Romina leveled Pansy's look with her own, a plain blank one. "I suppose." She waited a few seconds before glancing at Draco. "We need more of the sac fungi. Can you help me?"

"...sure…" Draco said slowly, knowing full well she most certainly didn't need help carrying the tiny portion they required.

Romina made a show of leaving a few ingredients neatly cut beside the cauldron. She flashed Pansy a sour smile, like the girl had before with her, and walked away.

"What the hell are you doing?" Draco hissed as he was forced to walk along with her.

"Teaching Parkinson a lesson, that's what," snapped Romina. She yanked him towards the table of ingredients and made sure he wouldn't move from there.

"What are you up to?"

"Shh," Romina put a finger over her lips. She looked over her shoulder to catch Pansy examining their desk. "She's so goddamn predictable," she whispered.

Because when no one was supposedly watching, Pansy picked up several ingredients Romina left on the desk and started tossing them into their cauldron.

Of course when Draco saw Pansy, he became infuriated. "I'm going to—" Romina had to yank him back before he stormed over and ruined it.

"Just wait for it," Romina turned him back to the table but continued to watch over her shoulder.

Just as Pansy was about to drop the last bit in her hand, the cauldron bubbled and suddenly threw its contents directly at her face. The girl's scream froze everyone in their spots.

"IT HURTS!" Pansy wailed as she staggered away from the cauldron. Her face was growing blotches of bubbly green while other clear parts were swelling up.

Snape was the one to storm over, but he showed no sign of sympathy for the girl. "Well of course it does! You're covered in toxic fungi! Just what were you doing here?"

Pansy didn't know if it hurt more to put her hands on her face or let everyone see her face covered in fungi. Course when she saw Romina smirking from the ingredient table, she knew exactly what happened. "It was Oswell's fault!" she immediately pointed an accusing finger in Romina's way. "She did something!"

Romina was fast to stop smirking and hold her hands up. "But I was only getting ingredients we needed. How could I do something to my own work? And what's more, how could I do something all the way from here? I don't have the skills for that...do I?" she glanced at Draco innocently.

"Well, no not really," he was completely honest.

Pansy's eyes were almost bug-eyed from rage. "I know it was you! You did this! You did-"

"Parkinson, this wasn't even your desk," Snape stopped her from going any further. "Perhaps instead of dilly-dallying you should have remained at your own table working like I instructed you to."

"But can't you see? Oswell tricked me," Pansy all but stomped her foot like a child would when they weren't getting their way. And she wasn't getting her way.

"I don't think so," Snape took one look at Romina's and Draco's desk to see the remaining ingredients. "I do, however, believe you two" — he said for Romina and Draco, — "have mistakenly added some ingredients that don't belong here."

"Maybe that'll stop Parkinson from sticking her nose where it doesn't belong," Romina said all too proudly for the rest of the class not to snicker.

"Silence!" Snape commanded. "Parkinson, get to the infirmary now. Oswell and Malfoy, you better get this cleaned up if you expect to make my deadline on time."

Romina nodded and started back for their desk. She met Harry's and Ron's face with a proud smirk. They both knew this had not been any accident. The only one who seemed a bit disapproving was Hermione, but that was no surprise.

"You planned all of this, didn't you?" Draco was careful to whisper while they started cleaning up.

"Is it my fault Pansy is so nosy and sadly so predictable?" Romina innocently shrugged. "Maybe next time she'll think twice before messing with me," she said in a darker tone.

"Harsh," Draco paused for a moment to think it through. It was clearly the reason why she chose such a simple, boring potion. And yet, it turned out to be the funniest thing ever. She wore her victory with a proud smirk while she cleaned up, and he rather liked it. "Keep that up, will you? You might get more interesting."

Romina smirked. "Thanks. Now let's hurry so we can make the actual potion."

~ 0 ~

Word spread about Pansy's unfortunate accident and while Romina did feel an unusual satisfaction from it, there were others who now looked at her a bit differently because of it. She didn't think about what the other students would think about it and perhaps she should have. If people murmured about her before, now they didn't even bother hiding it.

"I'm not gonna hex you!" she hissed at a couple second year Hufflepuffs in the hallway who, in response, rushed to get away from her. "Geez, it was a simple prank."

Not a second later was she picked up from her arms by the Weasley twins.

"And what a genius prank it was, my dear Aline!" Fred said proudly.

"Would you hush before someone hears you?" Romina snapped. "And would you put me down!?" Her legs flailed in the air while the twins held her and brought her down the opposite end of the hallway.

"Course," George snickered. They stopped at the courtyard threshold and put the girl down on her feet.

"Now what was that all about?" Romina crossed her arms over her chest.

"We just want to commend you on your fabulous prank today," Fred dramatically flapped his hands in the air.

"Yeah, you've proven you can be a sly, sneaky prankster," George added.

"Great…" Romina looked between the twins without much understanding. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"That in the near future we might ask you to join us," Fred replied with an air that indicated she should be proud as well.

Romina couldn't help but chuckle. That made both twins grin.

"There's Romina! Glad to see you're doing better!" George took her in for a surprise hug.

Of course it only took Romina a couple seconds to figure out the purpose of this odd conversation. They were trying to see how she was doing in their own subtle way. Her prank was an indication she was doing better than before. And she even looked better.

"Thanks boys," Romina smiled softly at them and hugged them each. "But what have I said about carrying me like that?"

The twins each grinned mischievously.

"I've no idea," George shrugged. "Do you know, Fred?"

"Why, I don't believe I do, George."

Romina rolled her eyes while the twins went back and forth oh-so-innocently. That's one game she wouldn't be able to put a stop to.

~0~

As DADA came to a finish, Romina saw firsthand how Harry, Ron and Hermione interacted with each other. It truly was a sight to see when they all bickered, well mostly Ron and Hermione. They were arguing at a full level outside the classroom.

"Whatever, she just wants us to talk to her again," Ron said after Hermione had stormed away.

"You're so nice, Ron," Romina stepped into Hermione's spot, flashing the ginger boy a glare.

"Well…" Ron gestured after Hermione but his sputtering didn't exactly make the best defence.

"Please don't fight either," Harry quietly pleaded. He looked at Romina with a different type of expression, one that Romina recognized straightaway. It was the same look most of her friends gave her at the return of vacation.

"I'm good, Harry," Romina offered him a small smile. "Better than I had been anyways."

Ron snorted. "Well, with what you did to Parkinson who wouldn't be better?" Romina rolled her eyes but her smirk did indicate some agreement from her part. "How'd you pull that off, anyways?"

"She's predictable," Romina proudly pushed her hair over her shoulder.

Ron eyed the long mane of black hair peeking around her body. "Have I mentioned your hair is kind of weird?"

Romina looked at Harry. "And then he wonders why he gets into arguments with Hermione?"

"What?" Ron frowned while Harry shared a smile with Romina.

"Look, Hermione told me about the Firebolt incident…" Romina lowered her voice to a whisper though as soon as she mentioned the Firebolt, Ron went into a fit.

"The blasphemy! How dare she do that!? It was a Firebolt for God's sake—"

"Ron," Harry hissed for him to be quiet. "We don't need the entire school knowing McGonagall is in possession of it."

"You don't look as mad," Romina took note of Harry's rather calm exterior. "Must mean you understand what Hermione felt she had to do."

"Oh you cannot be taking her side!" Ron pointed a warning finger at Romina.

"I'm not, I'm just saying that what Hermione did was out of precaution. And judging by Harry's attitude, it looks like he might be agreeing too."

"He's not!" Ron immediately said but then wondered if Romina had a point. He turned to Harry with a questioning look. "Are you?"

"No, well...I mean…" Harry sighed, "I was upset but then...I don't know...I guess it wouldn't hurt if McGonagall took a look at it. What would I do with a curse Firebolt anyways?"

Ron looked like he'd heard the end of the world.

Romina clapped a hand on the ginger's shoulder. "And there you have it. Now you don't need to be so mean to Hermione. Now let's move onto why you talked to Lupin after class, Harry. You seem so buddy-buddy with him."

"Am not," Harry was quick to say.

"Really? I'm not an idiot. You want to try again?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "He knew my parents, alright?" Romina stiffened at the mention of his parents. It was just a plain reminder of what happened to them and by who. "And he's going to teach me how to defend myself against the Dementors."

"Oh…" the black-haired girl bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry, Harry. I-I didn't know."

"You're okay," Harry smiled at her.

"Can I ask why you waited this long to learn from him?"

"He hasn't been feeling well. You've seen him."

"Yeah," Romina had to agree. Anyone with eyes could see Lupin's deteriorating health a mile off. "What do you think is wrong with him? Has to be something chronic but I don't know what."

"Well, Hermione seems to know," Ron shrugged. "It's what she was saying earlier. I don't think it's true, though."

"Oh Ron," Romina chuckled. "Never doubt Hermione Granger. She's the one who saves your life." Ron huffed and looked away. "So Harry, when are you going to take these lessons from Lupin?"

"Tonight. So don't tell anyone."

"Never," Romina raised her hands in defense. "Who knows, you might be able to teach us a thing or two afterwards." Harry chuckled with her.

For a moment, it was almost as if nothing had happened to either of them.

#ocappreciation #ochub #allaboutocs #fd: harry potter #fyeahharrypotterocs #harry potter #draco malfoy #draco malfoy fics #draco malfoy imagines #draco malfoy x oc #harry potter fics #harry potter imagines #harry potters oc #oc: romina oswell #fic: legacies

[straye]

𝐃𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 : the hella sweet munday meme ( ORIGINAL SOURCE, FORMATTED TO BE A DASH GAME. )

♻ Any advice on improving Tumblr RP experience?

Block and blacklist, block and blacklist. Out of sight out of mind is a real thing here, and even reading everything on someone's blog to be able to do that efficiently.

⛅ Do you believe aesthetics are another form of expression?

In a way, yeah! I mean, the way I have my blog set up is certainly so.

☮ Are you feeling happy and inspired right now?

Happy, I guess. Inspired, errr. Trying!

☄ Has someone ever admitted to being inspired by you?

Maybe once? I mean Ren once said that the verse they made with Ghostshima was for me and I almost bawled my eyes out because I feel passionately about that evil little tape worm and the effect he has on Kogami past the grave. T_T

⚌ Who inspires you?

[dial up sounds]

♋ Are there any FC’s you believe should be used more? Why?

I don't use FCs at all if I can help it, so I think this is geared more towards people who use rl FCs? But if I had to say, as someone who observes secondhand, MORE SOUTHEAST ASIAN / BROWN / BLACK / INDIGENOUS FCS !!!

☸ Do you reblog from the source when someone practices reblog karma or do you follow it?

I reblog from the source for a cleaner activity tab, and I expect the same courtesy. Though, if it's something I can send in, I always try sending in stuff for memes.

☯ Do you believe you’re a forgiving person?

I'll be honest with you, no, and I've had very good reason not to be over the years.

⚑ Have you been forgiven for a mistake you’ve made?

Hard question, because I'd say kinda.

♛ Have you ever seen drama be maturely sorted out?

No lol.

♞ Do you tend to ignore drama?

Generally. It stops being drama if someone is a genuinely bad person or is up to some heinous shit though.

☾ Have you ever tried to bring peace to a situation?

One, a very long time ago. Now? Hell no.

☻ Have you ever made someone a promo or a positive shoutout?

Yes! <3 I always try to.

☎ What do you think about bias lists?

I only do these for like. KPop biases lol. Do you guys remember the mess that was follow forevers? I think we've learned from then.

☈ How many people would you say likes you?

I should hope my following, though idc if anyone hate follows.

♡ How many people do you like? Are there any people in particular that pop up?

Most of my following ??? I know me and @sorrowmarked , @withgutsandglory and @ungodli are super cool. I also wuv @kudakenai and @vtriol forever and ever. me and @yeonban have crazy meow meow to meow meow communication. Me and @n0fa0e have been friends for yeeeeears <3. And @naisetsu is pretty neat too. <3 ALSO @achroanimus FOR THEIR AMAZING IDEAS AND DEPICTION OF THE EVIL LITTLE MAN. I also owe so much to @amaeranthos. I also love love love what @vulpesse and @aahri do for a certain fox of whom I am smitten over ..............

☢ What calms you down after negativity?

Vidya games, talking to my best friend. :3

☠ What keeps you happy?

Thinking about Kogami Shinya.

☘ Is there anything that makes you instantly want to follow someone?

If they're funny as hell. Always.

☕ Is it often you hear people complimenting your blog? Characters, writing, theme, icons, etc.

No, not really, though the latest compliment I've gotten was the fact that my Kogami is so baby girl and I needed a moment to cry (positively) about that. <3

☂ What’s your best RP experience?

This was before this blog's time but when me and an ex made an entire multiverse of OCs. :( I miss that, and my OCs are still around, but that was a weirdly formative experience. Also when me and @ungodli had this rhythm for our first thread where our replies kept getting longer and longer and at some point we stopped apologizing for that LMAO AND WHEN ME AND @achroanimus STARTED OUR KOGAMI AND GHOSTSHIMA THREAD THAT I STILL NEED TO REPLY TO AUGH

⚈ What sweet things tend to happen to you from time to time RP wise?

When me and my partners will reply to something and when we see it we immediately alert each other with raw reactions <3

☐ What trends are you currently into?

girl idk.

★ What fandom do you consider welcoming?

I don't really pay attention to this. </3

☆ What are some the perks with the fandom you’re currently in?

It's small and quiet and if you want to be left alone you'll be well left alone.

☉ What fandom do you believe needs improvement? What could you do to do that?

No comment.

♦ How has roleplaying on Tumblr improved since you started out?

Um honestly yes especially when it comes to NSFW content and what kind of shit we'll let fly. It used to be that you'd see obscurely tagged full blown rl porn on your feed but now people have the courtesy to actually try tagging it better as well as people just feeling safe enough to call people out on bigotry and condoning gross shit. I kinda wish this environment is the one little 12-13 year old me started off on lol.

♨ Have you ever roleplayed with someone that has been problematic but offered critique and then watched them improve?

Yes but they did not improve.

⚓ Are there any small details you tend to like in roleplays?

Quoting some of my favorite medias / poems / etc. If you squint, you'll see my writing riddled with them. >:)

⚡ What are the good sides with duplicates?

I don't have a lot of experience with saying so but some of the villains I play where I don't mind duplicates : we really do understand these characters more than most of their fans do.

☀ What’s the best thing about roleplaying?

What isn't there to like about putting my character in all sorts of whacky scenarios or whatnot with characters he'll probably not have much interaction with or otherwise? Creating AUs, connecting with people through him, and even getting people into Psycho-Pass mwhahaha.

⛵ What genres do you like writing the most?

Slice of life, hurt-comfort, fluff, comedy, action. I want to try horror one of these days so bad.

☺ What tends to bring out your muse the most? What inspires you?

Little things that remind me of Kogami; then, I'm possessed by his spirit to let the world know that xyz is so him. Then his spirit leaves me. It often tends to be other forms of media, music, poems.

#munday. #do i dare disturb the universe? ∶ ( ooc. ) #do i dare eat the peach? ∶ ( dash game. )

[highwaytothedangerzone502]

Ghost Story - Chapter 8

Pairing: Rooster x Female OC

Word Count: 2511

Warnings: None

Summary: No one will miss a ghost. It'd been a running joke for as long as anyone could remember, something Ghost herself started, and she always said it with a smile on her face or with mirth in her voice. The untouchable stealth pilot in every sense of the word, no one could've predicted the depth of her turmoil over recent events, nor the extremes she would go to in order to protect the man she loved, not even those closest to her. Now, all that was left of the young aviator for Maverick, Hangman, and Rooster were the memories of the past, which would slowly fade with time. She'd come into their lives and made an unforgettable impression, and then, like a ghost, she was gone... Then again, ghosts can't die a second time.

Notes: The chapters/parts in italics are flashbacks. Also, I know I used Melissa Benoist as Juliette in India Lima Yankee but I really love her as an actress okay...

Chapter Songs: Cold December Night Last Christmas

***

Ghost

Over the course of the following weeks, Ghost joined the Daggers for more dogfight football every Saturday morning. She enjoyed the game itself and felt a certain amount of pride every time Maverick chose her for his team whenever he found himself as captain. She'd become closer to him, half the time chatting with him and Penny before migrating with the seasoned pilot to the Daggers outside. Ghost would stay as long as she could when Bryn showed up to avoid creating suspicion, but she figured sooner or later, someone would figure it out.

Ghost hung out with Bryn weekly, usually for dinner or breakfast, and the girls had their catch-up sessions. Thankfully, Bryn rarely brought up Rooster. While Ghost wondered why this was, she didn't prod. Of course, the few times Bryn did bring up Rooster, she practically glowed. Ghost continued to find herself simultaneously happy and depressed over the situation, but she kept the latter emotion to herself.

They'd just had breakfast, and Bryn had remarked Rooster left his jacket at her apartment and that she wanted to return it to him but that they weren't seeing each other until Thursday. Ignoring the fact Rooster might've spent the night at Bryn's, Ghost offered to bring it over to Penny's since she knew Rooster hung out at the Benjamin household more than his own apartment half the time. Bryn took her up on the offer, and that's how Ghost ended up at Penny's front door. She rang the doorbell, and a few moments later, Maverick opened the door, blue paint on his cheek. 

"Are you joining the Blue Man group, sir?" Ghost asked, biting back a smile.

Maverick laughed. "No, Penny roped me into redecorating, and her paintbrush found my face instead of the wall."

"You turned around at the wrong time!" Penny shouted from the other room.

Maverick grinned. "What's going on? If you're here for Rooster, he's out right now."

"I am, but since he's here most of the time, I figured I'd drop off his jacket for Bryn." Ghost peered over Maverick's shoulder to see Penny approaching, blue paint on her face and shirt, prompting the pilot to ask, "Do you two need any help?"

"I think anyone's more trustworthy with a paintbrush than Pete here," Penny teased, shooting her boyfriend a playful glance. "But I'm sure you have better things to do today."

Ghost shook her head. "It's this or doing laundry, and I can assure you this sounds like a hell of a lot more fun."

"Three may be a crowd, so I will let you girls work on the painting. Pen, I'll finish building the bookshelves and cabinets."

Maverick kissed her on the cheek and disappeared into the kitchen to wipe the paint off his face. Ghost shrugged off her black leather jacket and slipped off her shoes before she followed Penny into the office in the back of the house, passing by a bunch of furniture neatly stacked and piled together in the living room. She slipped on some shoe protectors, despite not wearing any shoes, and entered the room. Half a wall was painted dark blue, two were still a pale teal, and the last was entirely white, and a bunch of thin, unpainted wooden boards were piled in the corner. Ghost raised an eyebrow and nodded at them. "What's the idea for those?"

"I'm supposed to paint them and put them in a specific pattern on the wall, but Pete and I were debating whether we paint the wall and the boards separately and then put the boards on, or if we should put the boards on now and then paint it all in one go. I was for the former; he was for the latter."

"Well, I'm here now, and I think your idea is the better way to go."

"I knew roping you in was a good idea." Penny beamed and knelt next to the pile. Ghost joined her. They each took a paintbrush and a board and systematically started painting them a rich navy blue. Penny opened up the conversation with, "Any plans for Christmas?"

"No. Mom's on a business trip overseas and can't make it home in time."

"You're very welcome to have Christmas with us," Penny offered, reaching for the last board. "We're having the Daggers over for dinner, fancy dress and all."

Ghost thought about it, tempted by the offer and by the chance to spend time with the makeshift family Maverick had created with the young pilots, but the Daggers had a special bond amongst each other, forged by an adventure a rare few experienced. Ghost didn't have that bond with them outside of Rooster and Hangman, and she barely had a relationship with the former right now ever since he started dating Bryn, although that was due to Ghost, not Rooster. He'd reached out to her multiple times, and she'd pushed him away. It's what she did best when she found herself with emotions she didn't want to face: Ghost would avoid them and the cause of them until the feeling disappeared.

Of course, rather than admitting all this to Penny, Ghost simply said, "I would love to, but are you sure you don't want it to be just you and the Daggers?"

"Why would we want that?" Penny asked, sounding genuinely bewildered.

Ghost shrugged, playing as casual as possible. "You've all developed this rapport with each other because of what you went through with that mission. I wouldn't want to impose on that."

"Let me tell you something-" Penny started, dipping her brush into the paint- "you're as much of a Dagger as the rest of them. There is no doubt in my mind you would've been on that mission had your mom not intervened. When I asked Pete about inviting them over for dinner, he said yes. Want to know what he said when I said I'd be inviting you too? Pete said: I assumed she was included when you said the Daggers. We both see you as such. You should too."

Ghost smiled appreciatively at the Benjamin matriarchy, touched by her words and the insinuation that Maverick cared for her the same way he did the Daggers. "Then count me in for dinner."

"Good, because if you said no, I was going to have Hangman and Rooster throw you overboard out of your own apartment to get you here. Also-" Penny pointed her paintbrush firmly at Ghost- "you can't wear black or white. That's an order."

Ghost groaned. "Why?"

"Because I'm not letting you blend into the background like you always try to do."

"I don't try to. I do blend in."

"Not on Christmas. I'm forbidding it."

"If it was anyone but you giving me the orders, I'd ignore them." Ghost sighed, setting her finished board aside. "But I'll do it. I will wear something other than black or white. Can my shoes at least be black or white?"

Penny mulled it over before finally saying, "I'll allow it."

"Much appreciated." Ghost stood up and, with her hands on her hips, stared at the partially painted blue wall. "Should we get to painting this now?"

"You work on that one, and I'll work on the others," Penny confirmed. The girls took over their respective projects, momentarily falling into silence and jamming to the Christmas music blaring. However, the conversation lull didn't last long when Penny asked, "So how long have Rooster and Bryn been a thing?"

Ghost would've denied knowledge of the secret with anyone else, but Penny knew everything, and there would be no point lying to her. "Started dating a few days after I got here. They've kept it quiet to see where things go, but I figured it out, so that's the only reason I know."

"Interesting. I thought he was going to ask you out."

"He might've if she hadn't asked him on a date a few days before I arrived." 

Penny halted her painting. "Does she know you like him?"

"No. Bryn wouldn't have asked him out if she knew. Pretty sure the only ones who know I like him are you, my mom, and maybe Maverick, and I plan on keeping it that way. It's not like anything will happen between us now, even if they did break up. I don't date my friend's exes."

"Is that why you've been avoiding him?"

"Possibly..."

"Haven't you heard that distance makes the heart grow fonder?"

"Usually distance helps me get rid of feelings. If I have that barrier, they'll disappear. I just need to get deployed again, and I'll be fine. All right, this wall's done. Want me to start working on the other ones? Or should I start with the pattern?" Ghost queried, intentionally diverting the conversation away from Rooster.

"Look at you, Speedy. Let's wait until Pete finishes the cabinets. You start working on that last teal wall. I want the eyesore gone."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Ghost saluted Penny and set to work. The girls continued chatting, thankfully not broaching the subject of Rooster again for the remainder of the painting session. Finally, after two hours of hard work, a lot of paint, and only a few specks of paint landing on Ghost, she and Penny stepped back to admire their work. 

"I'm going to enlist you to help me with all my redecorating instead of Maverick," Penny remarked, crossing her arms. "Get a lot more done with you."

"Then I guess you don't need me to help bring in the cabinets?" Maverick's voice floated from the doorway, causing the girls to turn around. He wore a cheeky grin.

"That was fast!" Penny said.

"Rooster helped. He's in the shed putting some of the tools away."

"Ghost, why don't you help Rooster carry in the cabinets while Maverick and I start working on the logistics of the pattern I want to do?" Penny suggested, winking impishly when Ghost shot her a 'really?' look. Still, not wanting to disobey, the pilot acquiesced and shuffled out to the shed. She discovered Rooster leaning against the counter, staring down at his phone, but he looked up as she approached, and an elated smile graced his face when he said, "Hey! When Mav said he was going to go check on the girls, I thought he meant Penny and Amelia. I didn't even see your motorcycle parked."

"It's across the street. So-" Ghost motioned at the cabinets before her- "we ready to lift these? I feel like we'll get in trouble if we don't get a move on."

"Penny is running a tight ship with this redecorating," Rooster agreed, moving toward one of four cabinet sections. They started the process of moving the pieces one by one, and although they moved quickly, Maverick had used a heavy, sturdy wood, so even the fit pilots were huffing and puffing by the time they finished. Penny called it a day after that, deciding they'd make mistakes if they were all tired, so they migrated to the kitchen and cracked open some cold drinks. 

"Ghost, did Penny talk to you about the Christmas party?" Maverick queried, taking a sip of his beer.

"Yes, sir, although she had some ground rules for my attire," Ghost replied drolly.

Rooster tilted his head. "What kind of rules?"

"No black or white clothes for me."

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you wear anything but those colors for as long as I've known you."

Ghost shrugged. "Makes laundry easier to do."

"And it's easier to blend in," Penny added, raising a challenging eyebrow. Ghost neither confirmed nor denied this, but it gave away the answer anyway. "I think you might be one of the very few Top Gun graduates who doesn't want to be seen."

"I'm a stealth pilot. I'm not meant to be seen. I think I've done a pretty good job of it, too."

"I don't know how," Rooster commented, smiling down with what could only be described as adoration. "You're impossible to miss."

Ghost flushed at the compliment but not wanting him to see the reaction his words had on her, she said, "You've always had a sixth sense for me. You and a handful of people."

"Who are the others?" Maverick asked curiously.

"Other than Rooster and not counting my mom? Hangman, Penny, Bryn, and you've developed one too."

"I have to make sure I don't get tackled by you in dogfight football," Maverick jested. "You pack a punch."

"You can thank Hangman for that. All throughout our friendship and when we were dating, we would watch college football every weekend, and whenever our families had Thanksgiving together, some of us would play football before dinner."

"I knew you and Hangman had dated, but I didn't realize you two grew up together."

"Oh, yeah, since we were born. We didn't start dating until college, and then again for a couple of years when we kept getting stationed together."

"Any chance of you two getting back together?" Penny prodded, eyes glittering with intrigue.

"No, not that I'm aware of."

"Would you want to?"

"I don't know. Our last breakup nearly broke our friendship, and I don't want to risk that happening again." Ghost finished the rest of her drink and tossed it in the recycling bin. "Speaking of Hangman, though, I do have dinner with him in a bit, so I need to get going, but Penny, next time you need help with redecorating, let me know!"

"Does tomorrow work?" Penny countered, nodding at the furniture in the living room. I'm desperate to get that all back in the office either tomorrow or the day after."

"Count me in. Just call when you're ready for me to come over." 

"I'll walk you out," Rooster offered, setting his half-finished beer down. After bidding Penny and Maverick goodbye, the two pilots exited the house. When they reached Ghost's motorcycle, Rooster said, "You want to grab dinner sometime this week?"

"I'll check my calendar, see what my availability looks like. I've been keeping busy to try and combat the claustrophobia," Ghost told him. "You think Bryn would be okay with us having dinner?"

"I don't see why not," Rooster replied, stiffening slightly. "You and I are just friends."

"I know, but she's still dating you. While there's nothing between us, I don't want her to worry about it."

"You think she is?"

"I don't know, but if she's not, I don't want to make her start."

"I'll talk to her about it, but I want to hang out with you, Ghost. Girlfriend or not, you're still my best friend. I'm not going to sacrifice our friendship to be with someone. You were there for me before she was."

His words made her heart melt, and Ghost reached up and hugged him, the first time she'd shown him any physical affection since he started dating Bryn. "I know. I'll see you soon, okay?"

Rooster nodded. Ghost mounted her bike and pulled away with no intention of following through with the dinner plans.

***

Tags: @supernaturaldawning @shanimallina87 @polikszena @lgg5989 @callsign-milano @bradshawsandbridgetons @harper1666 @shadeops21 @double-j @copaceticwriter @rotating-obsessions @sharkprestige @thedarkinmansfield @lapilark @mickeyluvs @starshipfantasy @bennypears00 @mandowife221b @the-navistar-carol @getmyprettynameoutofyourmouth @carmellasworld @0hb0llocks @nicangelinee

Chapters: Chp 1 Chp 2 Chp 3 Chp 4 Chp 5 Chp 6 Chp 7 Chp 8

#top gun #top gun maverick #fanfiction #fanfic #top gun fanfic #top gun fanfiction #tg #maverick #rooster #hangman #phoenix #bob #coyote #fanboy #payback #halo #fritz #omaha #harvard #yale #charlie #ghost #ghost story #winchester #bradley bradshaw #top gun 2 #iceman #penny benjamin

[sleepyowlwrites]

Sleepy! :D :D Happy STS! I have two questions for you!

I know you don't really plan too much, but I gotta ask, partly out of curiosity and partly because I'm totally down for tips: how do you keep track of all the details concerning all your OCs? How do you build each of their storylines and flesh them out so well? (Also, do you keep notes in docs just for OCs, or do you just sort of keep details about them spread across posts? Like, in general, how does your track-keeping work?)

Feel free to ignore this one if you prefer keeping your original fic and fanfic separately, but you mentioned Power Rangers fic?? 8) Which seasons and what about? (Miiiiight secretly be trash for specific seasons myself, haha.)

oh breezy. you're such a treasure. I love you.

question 1: I have a few methods and they all work together in a chaotic way.

first of all, I have a really good visual memory. when I combine visual and kinesthetic together by typing down information, I can keep it in my brain pretty easily. I also combine the rubber duck method and explain my character facts and arcs to my purple walls and whatever actor has been in whatever thing I've most recently watched. sometimes my mom, but she can't remember whatever I told her last time, so it's not super helpful. I also tell writeblr friends, like you, or Dreamy when she's like "Sleepy don't you have any new tidbits for me about Jet pretty please" and I'm like "I guess I can come up with something" and then I remember even more.

second, I use scrivener, and whatever info I come up with either during ask games or randomly, I just stick it in the folder for that. youth story, anxiety story and rain story have their own docs. summon, magick and city are all in another doc (but this hnnnng...might change soon) and there are folders inside folders. here is the current state of affairs:

I don't always label everything the same, but I could, if I took the time.

third, I sometimes write up character stats by hand to help with memory, too, and sometimes write down ideas or snatches of scenes or sketch maps and stuff. writing and typing have there own spaces in the brain, apparently, so they sit different. in my current writing journal, I have a whole bunch of summon story notes, meta-portal character stats, scenes from youth story, poetry that I was writing from memory, and random sentences.

fourth, I have character tags, and if I've put any kind of details about a certain character in a post, I'll tag it accordingly. we all know tumblr's searching function is bunk, but if I click the tag c: zan, then I will see all the posts that relate specifically to him. I just detailed a bunch of stuff about Moss for Dreamy, and tagged the ask so I can find it again when I'm trying to remember if I ever told anyone that Moss likes to do crossword puzzles.

fifth, there is no fifth. my main method is the first one. I just retain information the best if I repeat it to myself out loud and then also write it down. so that's what I do. same as at work. if I want to remember something, I repeat it out loud several times and then also sometimes write it down on my hand for later.

you gotta find what your learning type is and allow yourself to find methods that utilize and benefit from it. I'll never be able to glean information from audiobooks or podcasts, but I can watch video essays and learn a lot. because I'm visual, and secondarily kinesthetic, so I work with that. do what works for you!

question 2:

I had planned on writing for all the episodes that were most beloved to me in a whole bunch of series, but ultimately, the only fic I've written to vague conclusion (it's still unfinished at 7K) is for Power Rangers Samurai. I wrote it out of frustration and spite because I was so underwhelmed with the writing of that season/set of seasons. also I don't think Mike was anyone's favorite character but he was mine, so I did my usual "insert oc to make canon characters confront their feelings" thing but I don't think I'll ever finish this one. I'd like to get around to writing stuff for the other series like Ninja Storm, RPM, Wild Force, Dino Charge and Time Force. nothing can make me write fix-it fic for Mystic Force, though. even the franchise refuses. we've done dinosaurs FOUR TIMES NOW and we still can't get a magic power ranger do-over.

my favorite series is RPM, if you're curious. wait, not only do I have to write the mercenary wip for you, but I have to write power rangers fic for you??

I'd do it, though. you know I would. do you know? I'm am externally motivated. if I want to be internally motivated, I have to create external stimuli. that could be you.

oof, why do I have so many stories? the people who can write one thing at a time are champions of this sport.

thanks for dropping by, Breezy! take some waffles to go!

#sleepy answers #sts #breezy friend #writing advice

[miqojak]

vermilion, tangerine, timberwolf - i really admire your confidence and your attitude and your dedication to plot and 3d characters who fuck up sometimes. i haven't reached out because my availability has been super erratic and i'd hate start something just to bail two weeks later, but you seem like someone who'd be really cool to tell a story with, maybe one day~

VERMILION = Your roleplay inspires me TANGERINE = I love your aesthetic TIMBERWOLF = I would trust you in a fight without rolls

I'm super touched by all of this!! To know that I was so inspired by others that I've gone on to inspire yet more people... is really up-lifting? Creativity is such a genuinely special thing we all get to share in - and I do love a character with depth! ...especially in a long-term plot that gives you room to explore that, and what it means, and how they grow (and as much as I like RPing my own OCs, I feel like I've DMd so much guild stuff over the years, that I have a penchant to want to continue setting up plots in a way that whoever I'm RPing with can explore their character's virtues and flaws and how those change as we grow/are put under pressure/etc). And hey, I've long since determined that RP-fights are best done without rolls - assuming you can trust the person not to throw realism out the window...and again, I've done a lot of dark RP, and run a lot of guild events over the years, and you have to be fair, to have fun! I believe in a touch of realism to my fantasy (the amount of research I do on fighting styles before I write combat...), and respect the fact that a character isn't always ready for a hit, or a certain twist in a fight. No matter what kind of badass you are... well, we're all prone to making mistakes. No one can go into every fight prepared for every eventuality and block all hits, land all of their own, etc. And on that note, if your OC is a fighting badass? That should also shine through, and rolls don't account for that. It's obnoxious to know my OC might excel at something, then fail because a random roll says so (I love my TTRPGs, but modifiers slow down RP in a video game...). I want characters to succeed when they should, and fail when appropriate also! (That's not to say that I don't still toss a roll into my RP now and then, when I'm not sure what might happen, or feel a couple outcomes are equally likely, so I leave it to fate! I use rolls...

In major public events, I get why rolls are used - it helps get a fight done and over with in a timely window, and all that...plus you can't 'cheat' with a roll out there for people to see. But within the confines of like, my FC or a trusted RP partnership? Well, I'm glad that is something you feel you can trust me with, because I work hard to earn and maintain trust, and that's a scenario it can be hard to trust others in - you don't want your OC crushed by someone who dodges all hits, feels no pain, and only lands critical hits or something, you know? (Which was essentially the first RP scene I had in FF - someone ignoring all hits and all pain and concussing my OC... not fun to be stomped on while all your posts are basically ignored.) And hey, mental health has been stealing me away from my creativity all winter, and even lately I've been struggling to want to be creative with Gpose, and such - so don't worry! I think your aesthetic is baller, as well, honestly, and would still love to write when you feel you've got the time! (Not like I won't be patient...hell, ADHD can strike and I'll forget to respond to social media for a week sometimes, myself.) Never hesitate to reach out and brainstorm with me!

#thanks so much! #I appreciate the heck out of this #I totally understand a hectic schedule #but have no fear of reaching out #you or anyone else! #and characters with flaws are the best kind

[duelistkingdom]

Yugioh protags for the ask meme? 👀

i've only watched dm, gx, and 5d's so i'll only do those

YUGI MUTO

First impression: ".... is this what love is..."

Impression now: BABY EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME, I'M STILL INTO YOU... no but FOR REAL do i need to say it? this guy's main power comes from his ability to BEFRIEND people. he's sooo strong but at the start was only ever able to use to defend his friends. he had NO self confidence and his arc was about gaining that confidence to stare down SETO KAIBA and say "sure, why not" when kaiba asked if he was THREATENING him. and the whole "you know i'll do ANYTHING to save a friend so BACK OFF" is criminally underrated. but here's the fucking tHING he's like. everyone treats him as this poor innocent lamb but he's NOT. he ALWAYS thought bullies should suffer. and like. he's always had this fucked up sense of justice. and the underrated moment in the manga when it's YUGI who tells jonouchi to set that serial killer on fire... [stares in the distance] and this dude straight up IGNORED the fact that he was having black outs who DOES that. and - [i am forcibly removed from the premises]

Favorite moment: SURE. WHY NOT!

Idea for a story: hello rivalshipping week

Unpopular opinion: uhhh peachshipping is cute actually

Favorite relationship: i can't pick one i can't pick one they're all so GOOD is the thing yugi relationships are literally sooooo peak

Favorite headcanon: yugi has burn scars on his hands from assembling the puzzle in the fire you can pry this from my cold dead hands

ATEM

First impression: eeee he's so COOL and AWESOME and AMAZING

Impression now: he's so cool but he's also the biggest dork alive. someone PLEASE help this man, he's a poor little meow meow

Favorite moment: the time he blew up a guy simply for making anzu cry like king shit

Idea for a story: :) i have many and that's a warning :)

Unpopular opinion: every single shadow game penalty he dealt out was justified, actually. and i mean that 100% i'm not joking i'm being dead serious. also revolutionshipping is actually adorable and criminally underrated

Favorite relationship: literally cannot pick. like up there is my oc x atem ship HOWEVER i love them all equally

Favorite headcanon: this man cannot fucking see

JADEN YUKI / JUDAI YUKI

First impression: i actually passed on gx when i was younger because i didn't think much of jaden

Impression now: eight year old me, you were so fucking stupid for not giving this boy a chance. maybe you wouldn't have gotten into a bad relationship if you were busy mooning over this anime boy. no but i KNOW fifteen year old me would've had the biggest crush on jaden. i would not let anyone date this boy, however. this kid is a MESS. this kid is an adhd mess and i'm fairly certain he's aro/ace.

Favorite moment: everything that came out of his mouth in the dub was a treasure

Idea for a story: i have none

Unpopular opinion: i have no idea what the popular/unpopular opinions are in gx spheres because i'm holding off until i finish the sub

Favorite relationship: i love his relationship with both jesse and yubel pls

Favorite headcanon: again, i'm stubbornly insisting this kid is aro and has no interest in learning what romance is.

YUSEI FUDO

First impression: hehe card games on motorcycle guy, he's so serious

Impression now: OKAY BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? yeah he's the card games on motorcycle guy and yeah he comes across serious but he's also kind of... a dork? he cares SO MUCH about his friends. this is a man who woke up to two kids staring at him and instantly adopted them. also the way he just... fixes stuff for leo without leo needing to ask? the fact that his entire LOVE LANGUAGE is just taking care of others? and the fact this man NEVER ONCE YELLS? you don't understand no one understands and the fact that stardust dragon's special ability is called "victim sanctuary" and that's... who yusei is at his core? like yusei will take in people and take care of them.

Favorite moment: when he tells aki "no one has the right to turn their backs on you" and declared he needed her so ernestly and so gently i was fucking losing my marbles. it's hard to pick one yusei moment tho cause so many of them are so good

Idea for a story: i have so many that i can't pick one to share right now

Unpopular opinion: i really cannot stand yusei/jaden as a ship (mostly because again, i consider jaden aro but i also don't consider yusei poly most times). like 90% of it are hardcore ship opinions tbh? and it's all because i really Do Not Like other yusei ships most times. i'll tolerate them but like... but also for god's sake this man is not ur uwu waifu please shut the fuck up and stop degrading his actual skills. and also this man is a top i'm sorry but this man is like. deadass a full on top. not a switch, not a bottom, but an actual top.

Favorite relationship: we all know how i feel about faithshipping but ACTUALLY i love that this man is a genuine father to leo & luna. the first examples being when he resized leo & luna's duel disks so they can actually USE them properly and when luna fainted after her fortune cup duel and he carried her off the pitched. throughout the entire second half of the series, we just see yusei time and time again dropping things to take care of the kids. they come along on his date with aki. when leo brings him plans for the skateboard duel runner, yusei builds it with no question. the man drove down a mansion's door because he simply thought luna might be in danger. like you don't understand this man is a FATHER and it is actually SHOWN SO WELL

Favorite headcanon: he and aki are married idc

send me a ygo character and i'll answer these

#gee i wonder who my favorites are #ask games

[hb-writes]

The Firstborns

A Sylvie Bridgerton Story - 1815

Sylvie (OC) is the eldest child of Hugo Bridgerton, the older sister to George (OC), and a cousin raised alongside the infamous Bridgerton brood. Born in-between Daphne and Eloise, Sylvie has made it her mission to delay her season again and again. Will 1815 be her year? 

A/N - I’ve read the books and watched the show, so fair warning there are likely spoilers and it’s also likely a mix of both media because my mind honestly didn’t separate them - it just choose what it wants from the books/ tv show. 

---

It was often said that elder brothers could be the worst sort of thing to happen to a young woman of marrying age, but Sylvie Bridgerton had three elder male cousins and could rightfully attest to the fact that they could be similarly problematic. 

Sylvie supposed they were essentially siblings, the Bridgerton brood labeled tidily from A through H, because she had been raised mostly by their side as an alphabetical outcast, the elder of the two children born to Lord Hugo Bridgerton, left in the care of her Uncle Edmund at her father’s passing, the responsibility then left to her cousin, Anthony, only a year after that. At least that was the way society dictated it. 

Sylvie had always been quite certain it was really her Auntie Vi who was in charge of her and her younger brother, George, though. Or more precisely, Sylvie was quite certain that Auntie Vi was in charge of everything, her Viscount of a cousin included. 

But as Sylvie sat twiddling her fingers in Anthony’s office for the third time in less than a week, she was starting to question that certainty. 

Sylvie had assessed that her cousin looked rather disgruntled, though she supposed Anthony had simply had that look about him for about a week or so now.

“So, are we to have a little chat or…?”

Anthony had ignored his cousin from the very moment after instructing her to take a seat a little over a quarter of an hour before. He focused instead on whatever was keeping him chained to his desk at this time of night, some paperwork regarding the estate and the family finances.

“If not, maybe you’ll allow me to borrow a book to pass the time?” Sylvie gestured to his brimming shelves. 

“Sylvia.” 

Anthony set down his pen, eyebrow raised as he interlaced his fingers, settling them on top of the papers before him. He was surprised she’d humored his silence for so long, nearly fourteen minutes when he’d expected no more than three to seven.

“Is my given name truly necessary?” she said, allowing only a moment of silence before continuing. “I suppose from that alone I should gather I’m in some sort of proper trouble?”

Anthony only stared at her and then, despite himself, he sat back in his chair, rubbing his temples and rolling his neck. 

If anyone thought raising girls was an easy business, they’d clearly never done it themselves. They’d never met Daphne or Eloise or Francesca or Hyacinth Bridgerton. And they’d certainly never met Sylvia. 

It still shocked him a bit, the differences between the Bridgerton girls, his younger sisters and his younger cousin. It was impressive, the way they could each vex him in such creative and distinct ways, their ability to bring him to laughter matched equally by their making him wish he had remained an only child, and entirely cousin-less as well. 

On some days, Anthony wondered if every Bridgerton below him in age didn’t actually gather in the drawing-room at an agreed-upon hour to arrange a schedule designed solely for agitating him, deciding who would next take a swing and what technique would be employed. It seemed that Sylvie had been assigned extra vexing duties as of late, though that was not entirely surprising to him. She had always seemed to enjoy it a bit more than the others. And she was bloody good at it too.

“Are you ever not in trouble, Sylvia?” 

Her eyes longed to roll, his continued insistence on using her full name bringing her the slightest bit of frustration, because despite all of the evidence otherwise, she did prefer when Anthony wasn’t lecturing her. She actually quite enjoyed his company when he wasn’t scolding. 

“On those precious few evenings when you actually do go out, or better yet go to your own home, I find myself in a distinct lack of trouble. No one else deems me fit to be scolded, however—” 

“However—” Anthony sat up and straightened his jacket. “—I am seemingly required to do so three...or four,” he said, allowing for the chance they’d find themselves in the same situation the following evening, “nights a week, all because you think a little untoward behavior will allow you to put off your season for another year.”

Sylvie was left with her mouth open, her elder cousin’s words an effective silencer and stunner, finally coming straight to the point after the two of them had danced around it for weeks. 

“I—”

“Hear precisely what you are saying, my dear cousin, and will stop all this nonsense at once?” Anthony suggested. 

“That’s—That’s not what I wanted to say,” she answered.

“No, of course not. I would never dream to expect as much.”

Sylvie took a breath as she considered her options. She wanted to ask for another year of reprieve. That’s what she had planned for, waiting at least another year before subjecting herself to the same torment Daphne had endured only two years prior.

She was still young enough to justify a delay and she’d successfully done so for two years already, citing a need to finish out a few academic endeavors the first year and an ankle injured in a particularly ruthless game of Pall Mall the next, but she hadn’t postured herself correctly for her cousin to be amenable to a conversation on delaying yet again. But then again, Sylvie hadn’t truly postured herself very well for Anthony to be amenable to her requests for nearly a decade by this point. 

“But Georgie—”

“You do not need to concern yourself with matters concerning your brother. The boys will be at Eton come the next fall. They’ll be home for the summers. No matter who you marry, you shall always be welcome to visit him here or at Aubrey Hall, and I’m sure George should like to come to visit you as well.” 

Sylvie’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she cleared her throat and regained the ability to form proper words. “Actually Anthony, I had expected that Georgie would be living with me.” 

Anthony shook his head, sitting up in his chair. “George will be at Eton. He and Gregory will both be at Eton and then—”

“He is my brother,” Sylvie answered. “My responsibility.” 

“I think you’ll find that both you and George are both my responsibility. And that responsibility extends to seeing you settled in a comfortable marriage and your brother receiving a proper education before, when he is ready, he also settles into a comfortable marriage.” 

“When he’s ready?” Sylvie repeated. “Why is it that you boys get to marry when you’re ready and we young ladies are simply commanded to join the parade when you men determine it’s the proper time? Why do you get to decide everything?” 

Anthony could have been honest and told Sylvie that he wanted them all tucked away into the safety of marriage because he didn’t know that he would be around to see to it if there was a delay. 

Or he could have spoken to her from firstborn to firstborn, appealing the fellow eldest child he found in his younger cousin, aligning them through their common thread, and insisting that he only did these things because it was what he thought was best for them, same as she did for the younger ones and George especially. 

Or he could have been quite frank and informed her that he had no desire to have multiple Bridgerton girls in season at the same time, though the prospect of settling Sylvie, Eloise, and Francesca down all in one go was enticing. 

But Anthony didn’t tell her those things. He offered a much simpler explanation, one which he suspected would allot less room for argument on the part of the cousin who was testing his capacity for patience at such a late hour.

“Because I am Viscount, Sylvia.” 

Sylvie released a quick breath and turned her face down to focus on her fumbling fingers as she considered it. Anthony had only uttered four simple words, but there was a whole lot of complicated meaning built up behind them.

Because you are Viscount.

And a man.

And I am nothing.

A woman, and therefore, nothing. 

Property. 

A dowry. 

A machine for use of creating an heir. 

Meant to be seen and not heard. 

Nothing.

She found it all hard to swallow after her upbringing even though she knew Anthony, and the other male Bridgertons, didn’t truly live by those beliefs. But society did. The ton did. And so the second she entered society, it would become reality, in a way. 

Sylvie had never before been discounted on account of being female. As a young Bridgerton girl, she had frequently gone out into the fields tagging along behind her older cousins, playing the very same games as the boys, climbing trees and forging streams. Even once they moved to London year-round, Sylvie had retained a certain amount of autonomy. 

And though they often went toe to toe, Anthony had always respected Sylvie’s position as George’s older sister, and he’d always acknowledged the importance of the common ground that stood between them, that of the firstborn sibling, affording her an extra measure of respect that he’d not afford to even Benedict in certain matters. It often came out in shared glances across the room, or their lending one another support with simple nods in response to “Right, Sylvie?” or “Right, Anthony?”

Although they had never explicitly discussed it, Sylvie assumed when she did one day marry, her brother would come to stay with her, assumed that if he were still of a certain impressionable age, George would officially become the responsibility of her and her future husband. 

And if she didn’t marry until later in life, until her younger brother was fully grown, or if she never married at all, she was alright with those scenarios as well. She loved Bridgerton House and Aubrey Hall and being surrounded by family, her wild cousins and brother running about and shouting at all hours. She didn’t long for the solitude of marriage. And despite loving children, she wasn’t entirely sure whether she wanted to bear her own.

“But—”

“What could you possibly have to say to argue that point?”

“I’m not going to argue whether or not you’re the Viscount, My Lord.” 

Anthony rolled his eyes, but didn’t comment. He rued the day that his cousin learned that she could somehow twist his title into an insult. 

Sylvie smiled, considering his silence permission to continue, not that she was truly waiting for it. 

“I’m going to argue against this season. Daphne didn’t meet Simon until the season in which she turned one and twenty, and your own wife didn’t have her season until one and twenty, and—”

“And you’re telling me that I should allow you to wait until you are one and twenty?” 

“No,” she said. “You, my dearest cousin, are the Right Honorable Viscount Bridgerton, and I am well aware that I cannot tell you what to do. I am merely asking that you consider my humble little request.” 

Anthony snorted. “Sylvie Bridgerton? Humble, eh?”

“My ability to be humble is not the question at hand, Anthony,” she muttered. “And neither truly is the time at which my season should take place because... well, your wife has already agreed with me. Kate thinks one and twenty is the perfect age for a first season.” 

Anthony’s thumb rubbed at his temple, an entirely subconscious gesture on his part. “My wife has already agreed with you?”

“Yes, the Viscountess has agreed that I should be allowed to wait a year. We had tea this afternoon while you, Ben, and Colin were at the club.” 

“Of course you did.”

“She also said that you’ve lost a bet to her and as such, you will have no choice to go along with us.”

Anthony closed his eyes and his nostrils flared before he released a deep exhale. “You’ll be the death of me.”

“Me or Kate?”

Anthony waved a hand in the air. “I’ll let the two of you work that out. Not as if my opinion on the subject matters.”

“So, you’ll tell Auntie—”

Anthony’s booming laugh cut off Sylvie’s words. “No, no, my dearest cousin. I shall leave that particular discussion for you.” 

He stood up from his desk then, taking his hat as he stepped towards the door. “Best of luck. Do let me know how that goes.” 

#bridgerton #bridgerton oc #bridgerton one shot #bridgerton fanfiction #bridgerton fanfic #anthony bridgerton #sylvie bridgerton

[heartofsnark]

He’s Not Real, She’s Not Pretending (Johnny Silverhand/OC Female V)

Notes; Sooooooo, I’m posting porn for a game that won’t be out in 20 days, that I just started to seriously look at 2 days ago, but ummmm Johnny Silverhand like fuck man. He’s living rent free in my head both in game and irl. I already have an oc and I really wanted some fuck, so my V is named Aidan, she is a baby and a a slut in this context. This is completely based off oh hey, if we fuck in game, and Johnny in brain, Johnny watch us fuck. And then it spiraled. 

Word Count: 4303

Chapter Warnings: Voyeurism, Unprotected Oral Sex, Blowjobs, Cum Swallowing,  Protected Vaginal Sex, One Night Stand/Semi Anonymous Sex, Calling out the wrong name, MMF Threesome, but like while he gets laid Johnny is like lowkey cucking this guy but he don’t even know cause he can’t see the man cucking him, its weird, metal fingers on clit, like that’s a thing here, cumming on someone/semi-facial???? And the weirdest thing to explain is like, she’s deaf and takes out her hearing aids, so she’ll only hear johnny since he’s in her head that bypasses hearing damage, so like, disability device being removed for sex????? What is this??? Who knows?????

Edit: I HAD A FUCKIN SENIOR CITIZEN MOMENT AND FORGOT TO MENTION; @enchantedbythebidders IS ALSO TO BLAME BECAUSE SHE HELPED PUT THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD, SO THIS IS NOT ALL MY FAULT!

“Really, this guy?” Johnny scoffs and rolls his eyes, leaning against the bar. Aidan is once again somewhat thankful that no one else can hear the long dead Rockstar that lives in her head. 

She pretends she doesn’t hear him either, despite him being the one voice other than her own who she can hear no matter what. The man standing in front of her is attractive, as far as she’s concerned, over 6ft with plenty of muscle and some cybernetics glinting against the side of his shaved head. The alcohol in her system has made it easier to ignore Johnny, but it brings the reason she’s here to the forefront of her mind. 

Aidan needs to get laid, plain and simple. She hasn’t had a proper orgasm since Johnny started living rent free in her head. There’s a certain level of embarrassment at just how easily and maybe even unavoidably peeps on her. He pops visibly into the world whenever he feels convienet, for him that is, and seems to make a habit of making sure she knows he’s there when she’s in some state of undress. Johnny’s watched her change without a hint of shame, making comments on her body and laughing at her reactions, like he’s not the weirdo. He’s sat in the bathroom while she showers, talking to her about plans of burning the city down, like she wasn’t fucking naked. 

Safe to say, she hasn’t ventured into what would happen if she tried to get off with him around. She doesn’t need him making snide comment while she has a hand in her panties. But, with a hookup, another person and a decent amount of booze. She may just be able to distract and loosen herself up enough that she won’t even notice him, though he has a habit of making himself impossible to ignore. But regardless, the former nomad needs this, she’s constantly tense and finding herself horny at every provocation, her dumb sexually frustrated lizard is even starting to think Johnny’s hot which is not a road she needs to traverse. Talking to the ghost in your brain is one thing, trying to find out if his holographic form comes with a dick is another. 

“You do remember I can hear your thoughts, right, Samurai?”  

“Is everything okay? You seem distracted?” The guy, who’s name she’s already forgotten, asks. As if she needed more reason to ignore Johnny. 

“Oh yeah, sorry, there’s just been something kind of annoying nagging at the back of my mind. But I’m good, you wanna get out of here?” 

“Yeah, sounds good, there’s a motel not far from here.” 

“What are we waiting for then?” 

“Ugh,” Johnny groans and rolls his eyes, evaporating into cyan static as Aidan leaves with her bedmate for the night. 

Hands reach up into her bleached bob as the man presses Aidan against the door, his lips against hers, a strangers tongue roaming her mouth. She puts her hand over his, attempting to move it lower, as nice as her hair and face being touched is… This isn’t romance, she wants to be groped, manhandled, to feel him squeeze her ass or shove his hand down her pants. Even at the door before they’ve entered the room, she just wants to get fucked. But he doesn’t get the memo. His hand doesn’t move from cupping the back of her head. 

“Didn’t go for brains, did ya?” Johnny’s voice taunts and Aidan bites down harder on the stranger’s buttom lip than needed, her annoyance for Johnny seeping through her actions. 

Normally, when someone annoys the everloving fuck out of her, as Johnny is so prone too. She’d remove her hearing aids, submit herself to silence until they get bored and fuck off. But, Johnny’s in her fucking head, his voice echoing through her mind as clearly as her own thoughts, the only noise in this world she can’t shut off. 

Aidan reaches behind her, opening the motel door and stepping into it, tugging the guy, what the hell was his name again, in by the bottom of his t-shirt. Kiss broken, she watches as he closes the door behind him, right in the holographic Johnny’s face. If that would actually prevent him from following, she’d be ecstatic. She’s sure he’ll be back in a moment, because he’s never fucking gone for more than a heartbeat. Doesn’t matter, she decides, this isn’t about Johnny. It’s about scratching her itch and cumming. She yank her shirt off over her head and throws her bra after it, whats-his-name, blinks for a moment before his eyes look over her breasts; pale and freckled. It was sudden, a quick cut to the chase, and she knows that. 

“I, uh, really fuckin’ need this.” She admits, face flushing. 

“Hey, no need to beat around the bush then,” the guy laughs, and he has such a pretty smile, she wishes she remembered his name. 

“Fuckin’ hell, you that damn desperate?” Johnny’s laugh mingles with the strangers, now plopped down on a chair in the motel room, “you gonna start humping his leg, next?” 

The chair is positioned just across from the small room’s bed, Aidan and her partner standing beside it, between where Johnny sits and the old mattress. Johnny sits casual, strewn with his legs wide open, at the perfect vantage point to stare dead on at Aidan and what-his-face. 

“You alright?” 

“Yeah, yeah, just that annoying persistent nagging fuckin’ thought,” she grumbles, tapping the back of her head, she’d give anything to rip that fuckin’ chip out right now.

“We don’t have to if you’re-“

“No, no, uh, if you’re still up for it, I really really want this.” It’s so sweet of him to offer to stop and she recognizes that but dear lord that kindness is not what she wants right now. She needs someone to fuck her brains out, so Johnny will leave with them. 

“You’d probably be getting laid more if you didn’t act like a nutjob, you know that?” Johnny cuts in, that too pretty cocky smirk across his face. And he probably heard that too, fuck. 

“Okay, if you’re sure,” the stranger says, pulling his shirt off over his head, Aidan’s eyes following down the line of hair that vanishes into his jeans. She kicks off her boots and starts unbuttoning her jeans, waiting for him to get the message. As nice as his chest is, she needs his dick, like yesterday. In her mouth, her cunt, anywhere, she just fucking needs it. 

“I’d be puking if I could,” Johnny taunts again, but he’s laughing dark and deeply, no hint of disgust, “really had to wind up in a cock whore’s head, didn’t I?” 

He could always leave, she nearly tells him so, but stops herself. Knowing it’d confuse and or frighten her hookup. Instead, she kicks off her jeans, leaving her in nothing but her panties as the stranger starts to undo his own jeans. Her thighs are clenching and she’s already slick. 

“My entire existence is in your head, so no, I can’t help but see your little show. So, if I’m stuck watching it, I might as well have some fun with it too.” 

He wants to see a fucking show? She can give him a goddamn show.  

Stranger drops his jeans, kicking out of them along with his shoes. And Aidan doesn’t hesitate to drop on her knees in front of him, she’s practically drooling as she pulls down his boxers, hearing him curse above her. He’s already hard, leaking pre-cum, and hot in her grasp. She licks up the length the next moment, dragging the silver ball piercing in her tongue along it, wetting the underside with drool. 

“Oh fuck…” 

“Fuck.” 

Johnny’s and the stranger’s curses mingle, she tries not to worry about what the forgotten rockerboy is thinking, why he’d curse like she’s drooling on his dick and not a rando’s. Whatever he’s going through is his own fucking problem, he’s the one who wanted to treat her like his own personal porno flick. She teases her tongue across the head of his cock, licking along every curve of it, then lapping where pre-cum drips out. Aidan gives a moan when she tastes it, trying to convince her bedmate it’s the best thing she’s ever had. And while it’s more a faint bitterness, the mere fact she’s tasting cock makes her insides clench. 

She looks up with big gray eyes, her pick of the night has his eyes closed, biting his lip at the feeling of her on his dick. And then she takes him down her throat, gagging softly at the resistance there as she pushes her head down further. Determination, she takes him until her nose is flushed to his hips. Her jaw aches at the stretch but she ignore it in favor of swallowing around his dick, letting the muscles squeeze around him. It’s hot and heavy in her mouth, twitching in and leaking in her throat. Aidan holds still for a moment, just swallowing and moving her tongue around him, imagining how the length of him  will fit inside of her cunt. 

Then the ache is a bit too much, the need to breath a bit too strong, and he’s murmuring curses as she pulls off of him completely. She keeps her mouth open wide, panting and showing off the way saliva still connects her mouth to his cock. 

Johnny curses and she sees him in the chair from her peripheral, watching with heavy lidded eyes as she sucks cock. She spares a side glance at a shift of movement, silver arm glinting as it catches the light, she realizes he’s rubbing his own cock through his pants. There’s a noticeable tent forming, which may answer a previous question… Her face goes brighter red, but she pushes through, this isn’t about Johnny or at least it shouldn’t be. 

And she’s back on the stranger’s dick, sucking him off in earnest as she bobs her head up and down the length of him. Never quite as deep as the first swallow, but she moves as far down his cock as her new pace will allow. Occasionally feeling the head teasing the back of her throat. Fingers entangle with her hair as she reaches a hand to play with his balls, squeezing and massaging them, his groans have gotten louder, testicles drawn tight. He has to be close, she wants her reward for a job well done. 

“I’m gonna cum…fuck…” He warns and she pulls back for a second, gently clenching the base of her cock between her fingers to help stop him from shooting his load right that minute. 

“You want to cum on me or in my mouth?” She gives him his options and he whines, she expected to be the one tossed around and fucked raw, but it’s becoming more obvious she picked out a guy who’d rather be bossed around a bit. Even if it’s not what she was looking for, she’ll take it, happily. 

“Can’t fuckin’ think right now,” he groans, “just wanna cum, please.” 

“On your face and tits,” Johnny says, low and husky, making it clear he has no trouble making a choice. Though, judging by his cock still being tucked away in his leather pants, he’s not quite as cum-brained as her hookup. 

And after a moment of considering Johnny’s request, Aidan wraps her lips around the man’s dick and gives a hard suck, letting go of the pressure around him. He groans as he cums directly down her throat, hot heavy spurts of it on her tongue. She swallows every last drop, not letting any of it touch her face or chest. 

“Bitch.” 

She swallows the last bit, grinning at Johnny’s insult, as she strokes the stranger through the last of his after shocks. Aidan stands up, she’s still in her panties, now soaked through with slick. She turns to face the bed, her ass now to Johnny and her hookup, allowing them a view as she purposely bends over to peel her panties off. Allowing both men to see her slick aching cunt; panties in hand, she turns back to face them. And she tosses them at Johnny with a devious smirk, to the unnamed stranger, she threw them to empty chair. But her and the ghostly anarchist, within their own reality that exist merely due to a chip in her head, her panties landed in his lap. His hand grabbing the wet black silk and wrapping them around her fist. 

She’s not sure how it works, far from a techie in her knowledge, but she can see him interact with objects. From smoking cigarettes to leaning his weight against whatever he sees fit, after all if he couldn’t interact with anything in the physical world he’d phase through the chair, floor, and everything around them. But to everyone else it’s not seen, the objects just laying flat and useless. 

The stranger’s hand grasps her hip, in her personal space within the moment, having stroked his cock back to full erection. 

“Want me to return the favor?” He offers to eat her out and she’s surprised at the heat that rushes up her cheeks, despite just slobbering on his cock the question makes her blush. 

“Let him do it,” Johnny says with a drawn out groan, her panties still in his hand as he undoes his belt and pulls his cock out, “wanna see you get licked.” 

Would have though he’d have learned by now, she’s not interested in fulfilling his requests. 

“Fuckin’ really,” he curses out at the thought, realizing he won’t get what he wants from her and he can’t do anything about it. His voice is edged and sharp, a hint of anger. 

“Appreciate the thought, but I need you in me, bad. That okay?” 

“Sounds good, I got a condom in my jeans, give me a second.” He starts to rifle through his abandoned jeans and jacket, Aidan clenching her thighs as she waits, she’s finally about to get what she needs most. 

“He’s not gonna fuck you right.” 

She tries hard not to audibly groan at Johnny’s words or watch the slow drag of his hand over his cock. Then she notices the black fabric he presses against himself, using to jerk himself off, her panties. Aidan likely deserves that, but she’s more distressed over the way it makes her insides clench than worries of the fabric. Though given what he is, she’ll probably find them virtually untouched later. 

“I’m serious, Samurai, he’s not gonna give you what your after. He’s too soft for you, can’t fuck you the way you need.” 

Shut up, Johnny, she rolls her eyes letting the sentiment ring out in both of their minds. 

“Got it,” her date, if you can call it that, returns with condom in hand, she takes it from his hand. 

“Lay back on the bed, I’ll take care of everything,” she tells him. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he says and god if she wasn’t so desperate the words could have dried her up quicker than the Sahara. Even when she wants control, that is not a nickname she cares for. Johnny laughs when she wrinkles her nose. 

“Told you so, ma’am.” 

“Don’t call me that,” she says to both to her hookups earnest slip up and Johnny’s condescension. 

“Sorry,” her hookup offers as moves to straddle him, her back to his view. 

“It’s okay, we’re strangers, don’t know everything about each other.” Her voice is a little kinder as she rolls the condom down his length, listening to the little inhales of air as he feels her touch. 

“Hmmm, wouldn’t be nicer with someone who does, someone who knows it all, someone in your head.” Johnny has moved, zipped, to stand at the foot of the bed. So, he can watch her more clearly she assumes. His cock and her panties are still in his hand. 

She ignores him, instead moving to hover over the stranger’s cock, letting the head just tease her slit open. Aidan whimpers and whines, unable to help it at the feeling of being stretched open as her weight comes down slowly onto his dick. Inch after inch sliding into her, pressing at her deepest parts. Despite some kinks misaligning, he fits nicely inside of her, helping scratch the itch. 

“A nice dick don’t mean anything if they don’t know how to use it,” Johnny taunts again, his gaze is hot on her skin, “I know everything you’ve been wanting, everything that you dream of that gets you going and makes you whimper, and I know for a fact this guy isn’t gonna give it to you.” 

‘Fuck off’ she mouths the words, despite knowing he can just hear her think them, she starts to bounce herself on the stranger’s cock, chasing her pleasure as she fucks herself on him. But she doesn’t miss how Johnny starts to stroke himself faster, nearly matching the pace she’s set for herself. 

“Might as well be ridin’ a toy. 

“Fuck… you feel so good,” the man beneath her groans just as Johnny starts to mock his prowess. 

“Good? That’s all he’s got is good?” 

“Fuck…” 

Aidan closes her eyes, trying to shut out the image of Johnny if nothing else, while both men’s voices ring out, audible even over her own whines of pleasure, she tries to focus on how good it feels to finally be full. Bouncing her ass harder as she rides the stranger’s cock, hoping somehow the smack of flesh against flesh, the creak of a bed could drown them both out. 

“Bet your tight, a wet little vice wrapped around his cock.” 

“Fuck…faster please…” 

“He’s probably already close, feeling the way you stretch around him, watching the desperate little way you fuck yourself on his dick.” 

“Hnnnn, fuck..” 

The two men’s voice go back and forth, a mess in her head, an overwhelming mess where Johnny’s words edge her further but the noises of her hookup stir up guilt, how could she get off to him being shamed? How could she get off on Johnny’s taunts and teasing, why does every word he say stoke a fire deeper inside of her, make her wetter, and push her closer to edge. While the man she’s actually fucking only seems to set her back on that journey.

Johnny isn’t real. She tries to tell herself, not physically, he only exists to her. Aidan should focus on what real and here and beneath her, but everything draws her back to the phantom in her head.  

Despite how close she is, she can’t cross the precipice, a wall built up in her core that won’t let her cum. That tension in her stomach refuses to snap, refuses to allow her the pleasure, the rush of endorphins, she’s been so desperate for. She fucks herself up and down as hard as she can, the smack of skin hitting skin echoing, and she’s sure she’ll bruise herself in her desperation. Tears of sheer frustration build in her eyes, why can she just fucking cum?

A hand cups her face, flesh and warm, vaguely slick with sweat or precum, she doesn’t know. But Aidan opens her eyes, looking straight up at Johnny. His dark brown eyes look down at her, dark hair falling into his face. 

“Take out your hearing aids for me?” For once his voice comes with a little upward inflection, insinuating a question and not a demand. 

“Huh?” 

“I want to be the only thing you hear right now.” 

And this time she listens, throwing one quick look over her should at her hookup, his eyes closed and head tossed back in the pillows, lost in the feeling of her around him; Aidan gently pulls out her hearing aids and the world goes quiet. No more sounds from him, not even the faint whirr of the fluorescent lights, or the slap of flesh. 

“Good girl,” Johnny says, his voice ringing out as clear as ever, for it comes from her own brain. The praise makes her clench and whimper, the kind of attention and names she likes best. He leans his forehead to hers, his hair tickling her face. 

He’s not real, but he feels real. She feels his skin, hears his voice, can smell the cigarette smoke on his breath. And she feels metal fingers, cool as they pushing against her slick cunt, finding her swollen clit with ease. She whines, as he rubs her, stroking friction against her nerves. 

“So fucking wet, you’ve wanted my hands on your for a while, haven’t you?” He teases, a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. 

“Yes,” she lets him hear it in voice and thought. 

“He may be inside you, but I’m the one who’s gonna make you cum, you got that?” 

“Yes, yes, fuck, please,” she whimpers, fucking herself and grinding against Johnny’s fingers. Every bounce and rub of his fingers pushes her closer to the edge. 

“Who’s gonna make you cum?” 

You, Johnny. She thinks but doesn’t dare say it, for fear of the man beneath her hearing, even in the throes of pleasure, she needs to be rational, Johnny isn’t real and if she starts screaming the name of a ghost while she cums… 

“Say it, out loud,.” His fingers slow their movement, nearly stopping their motion altogether, his threat clear and she fucking needs this. 

“Johnny!” Another hard rub before she’s finished the first syllable and his name becomes a scream, the tension snaps, the bubble of pleasure pops, and she’s overwhelmed by her pure euphoria. Toes curled and squirming she finally finds her release, cumming around the man inside of her, mind going blank for a moment.

Then the fog in her brain starts to lift, aftershocks coming and going, she can feel the condom bloated with cum inside of her…. Johnny is laughing, chuckling a rich and warm sound, and oh god she said his name. 

Aidan puts her hearing aids back in, clenched in her sweaty fist this entire time, trying to do so quick enough that it isn’t noticed and she can catch anything he may say. 

“…ohnny?” 

She catches the very end of it and oh no, oh no. Johnny’s still laughing. 

“Hmm, didn’t quite catch that, something wrong?” She tries to act nonchalant, like she just missed it, as she pulls herself off his cock. The emptiness makes her whine, but she may need to detach herself from this situation as soon as possible. 

“Who’s Johnny?” He asks again as she turns to face him on the bed, the stranger’s eyebrow raised. He doesn’t seem mad, just genuinely confused. 

“Yeah, who’s Johnny?” The old rockerboy says, smirking and how he can look so cocky with his dick still hard and out, she has no idea. Why is she even thinking about his dick, she catches herself, that’s oh lord. 

“Uhhh, why do you ask, who said anything about a Johnny?” 

“You did, loudly, while you came.” 

“Uhhhh….” 

“He got you there.” 

“Look,” the guy says, smiling kindly, “like, if you’re hung up on some other dude, it’s cool, like you said, we’re strangers. But, uh, if you’re thinking that much about this Johnny guy, you should probably just like talk to him about it.” 

“I’m not hung up on, Johnny, I assure you.” 

“Hmmm, debateable,” Johnny taunts and she’s gonna rip this fucking chip out of her brain if it kills her. 

“Say what you want, but I clearly wasn’t the guy on your mind tonight.” 

“Hard to compete with the guy who’s in her mind.” 

“Uh, yeah, I guess, sorry…” 

“No worries,” he says and she’s continuously thankful he can’t hear Johnny’s snide ass remarks, “I’m gonna grab a shower then head out, rooms already paid for if you wanna chill here.” 

And her one night stand gives her a friendly tap on the shoulder, like they’re bros and his dick wasn’t just inside of her, then heads to the motel bathroom. Aidan collapses on the bed, face flushed and struggling to accept the mess of a night. 

Then a weight settles over her, Johnny suddenly straddling her sternum, knees on either side and pressing into the bed before he sits his weight fully on her. His cock is still hard and leaking, has been the entire time, now smearing precum hot into her skin. 

‘The fuck are you doing?’ she mouths, glaring up at him. 

“What no love for the guy you’re so hung up on?” 

The shower starts up in the background, which should block out the sound of her talking to the ghost currently stroking his dick over her tits. The head flushed red and his pace quickening, he’s been shifting pace back and forth this entire time, no doubt he’s close to bursting. 

“I fuckin’ hate you, you know that?” 

“I know for a fact you don’t,” he groans beneath his breath, as his cock twitches in his hand, “besides, told you where I wanted to cum.” 

“Y-Ahh!” 

He curses beneath his breath and she yelps as it hits her, cum splattering across her chest and face. It certainly feels real, hot and thick across her breasts and chin, salty when her tongue swipes away a drop that hit her lip. But no one else but her and him would ever be able to even see it…  

Images of being able to walk around Night City filled and covered in his cum, with no one else even knowing flicker across her mind. 

“You’re not even pretending to hate me anymore, are you?”  He’s grinning wickedly, face flushed beneath the dark scruff of his beard, long hair sticking to his forehead. And she can’t find in her to disagree. 

#cyberpunk 2077 #cp2077 #johnny silverhand #have i been kicked out of the fandom before the game comes out? #okay cool

[gaygryffindorgal]

Chapter 1: What Lies Ahead

Summary: A new year is starting at Hogwarts and Verna Malinda is entering her fifth year. She may have a little too much on her plate for the upcoming year though, because she’s been elected prefect...

Pairings: Eventual OC/Merula Snyde

Word Count: 2.5K

Warnings: Mild swearing

A/N: Matthew Luther belongs to @hphmmatthewluther

As this is a rewrite, some of the dialogue is from the game either directly, or modified to fit the new narrative.

If anyone is interested in being tagged to new upates, let me know!

(Verna was born in December 1972, so she was 13 during the autumn term of her 2nd year)

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Chapter 1: What Lies Ahead

Verna Malinda had been anxiously awaiting the beginning of her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, even with a detention of indeterminate length looming in front of her. She knew in her heart that this year was going to be important, and not just because of the O.W.L. examinations but because of the events of last June, and the chance of finding Jacob in the next vault. For Verna, summers had, for the past four years, felt like an inescapable limbo. Every year she longed to be back at Hogwarts, delving into the mystery of the Cursed Vaults. This year, however, she had been elected as a prefect to her great surprise. She hadn’t really considered prefectdom as something to aspire to, because all her time was spent either breaking the rules or planning to break them. Was it really appropriate for a Hogwarts prefect to be serving detention? Mysterious were the ways of Professor Dumbledore.

~

As the Hogwarts Express whistled as a signal for departure, Verna waved to her father from the train’s window and then turned to her friend, Rowan Khanna, the one out of the two of them who should’ve been the prefect. Rowan pushed their glasses up their nose and smiled.

“What is it?”

“I ought to go find Charlie,” Verna said as the train picked up speed. She’d been feeling all kinds of weird about talking to Rowan ever since she got the letter proclaiming her prefect. It had been Rowan’s ambition to claim that spot ever since year one, and somehow Verna had managed it even though she hadn’t even tried.

“Alright, I’ll find Ben. We’ll hold a spot for you, if you get a moment to come sit with us,” Rowan replied and the two headed their separate ways. So far it didn’t seem like Rowan was holding Verna’s election as a prefect against her. Even in their letters, Rowan had only seemed supportive and proud. They had been friends since first year, and Verna hadn’t exactly stolen Rowan’s spot on purpose. In fact, she was fairly certain she had entirely too much on her plate for this year even without being a prefect.

~

Once Verna located Charlie Weasley, Gryffindor’s resident Dragon-enthusiast and Quidditch hero, and as it happened, her fellow prefect, the two of them headed to the special carriage meant for prefects and the Head Boy and Girl.

“What in Merlin’s name possessed Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall to make you and I prefects?” asked Charlie, sounding genuinely confused, although in his defence, it was truly baffling.

“I have a theory that it’s to make us so busy we won’t have time to do any curse-breaking,” Verna reasoned.

“Bill’s a prefect and he’s had plenty of time,” Charlie argued but then added: “Though maybe that’s why he became the Head Boy… Wow, actually you might be right.”

“Thanks Chaz,” Verna laughed as the two entered the prefect carriage. It was already quite packed with new and old prefects, as well as Bill and the Head Girl, Ella Higgs.

“Are we late because I had to wait for you…?” Charlie whispered and Verna shushed him as Ella and Bill started to congratulate them on their achievement. Verna locked eyes with a certain Slytherin student across the carriage. Apparently Merula Snyde had also become a prefect. Verna should’ve expected as much. Her hair looked tousled as usual, but she had elected to sport a dark eye-makeup, which somehow made the purple of her eyes look even more prominent. Merula gave her a look of loathing and then promptly ignored her. Verna’s mood sunk.

“Hi Verna!” came a greeting from among the other fifth-year prefects. It was Matthew Luther, a Ravenclaw chaser who had given Verna a run for her galleons last quidditch season. Verna was pleased to see not only complete arseholes had become prefects.

“Hey!” Verna replied, taking her place among the others.

“Hi Luther,” Charlie whispered, smiling.

“Nice to see you two made it as prefects.”

Verna was about to answer but was quickly silenced by Bill who very deliberately raised his voice and started his introduction to the wonderful world of prefectdom, looking at the three of them meaningfully.

~

After nearly an hour of instruction, Bill and Ella bade them pleasant journey and reminded them of their job to patrol the corridors in regular intervals. After that, many returned to their friends or settled down in the prefects’ carriage. Bill walked up to Verna and Charlie.

“Congrats on becoming a prefect Verna!” he said and slapped her arm for good measure.

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to be as responsible as you, William.”

Bill laughed and Charlie rolled his eyes.

“Well, I for one think you two will do just fine,” added Bill.

“If you say so…” Charlie mused. “Should we find Rowan and Ben?” he asked Verna.

“Yeah, see you later Bill!”

“Remember to patrol the corridors! And don’t abuse your power!” Bill called after them as Verna and Charlie headed back to find the compartment their friends were sitting in.

“I don’t think he actually has as much faith in us as he lets on…” Charlie said.

“Yeah, probably not. After all he lives with you, and I’m the one who roped him into this curse-breaking stuff in the first place.”

“Yeah, at the ripe old age of 13.” reminded Charlie. Verna was really starting to doubt Professor Dumbledore’s judgement.

~

Rowan and Ben had found a carriage and reserved spots for them. The two seemed in good spirits and Verna felt much more relaxed. If Rowan was on her side, then everything was going to be okay. Even Ben seemed to be okay, even after he was used to attack Verna under the imperius curse last year.

“How was it?” asked Ben as Verna and Charlie took their seats. He glanced quickly at Rowan, who nodded encouragingly. Verna figured Rowan and Ben had been discussing the incident before she and Charlie arrived. The food trolley had passed ages ago, so Verna nicked a treacle tart from Rowan who gave her an exasperated but amused look.

“Pretty standard stuff, honestly. They explained everything we were told in the briefing about prefects at the end of last year,” explained Charlie.

“Who else was elected?” Rowan inquired.

“Oh you’ll never guess Slytherin’s-“

“Merula,” Rowan said before Charlie could finish.

“Yeah, and she seemed right pleased about it too, I bet she’s gonna have a blast abusing her position,” Verna grumbled. She really was not looking forward to yet another thing to compete over with Merula.

“Not if we abuse our position first,” Charlie said, grinning.

“No,” Rowan admonished them when they saw Verna’s matching grin.

“I’ll disown you both if you sink to her level.”

Both Charlie and Verna stopped grinning.

“Sorry Rowan,” Verna said bashfully. “We’ll try our best to make you proud.”

Rowan groaned in mock-annoyance, and all four of them laughed at the absurdity of the notion of Charlie and Verna as prefects. Even Ben. Verna’s hopes for the year were rejuvenated a little.

~

The rest of the journey went by in a relatively normal manner. Verna and Charlie patrolled the corridors every now and then but didn’t face any incidents. Tonks gave them both grief about becoming prefects though, and loudly announced that this is why she had trust issues. Verna couldn’t exactly blame her, they had after, pulled pranks together in the past and prefects had a well-earned reputation of being spoilsports. After sunset, the train arrived at the Hogsmeade Station and Charlie and Verna were again required to perform their new duties. Verna hadn’t really thought about how small the first years looked until they all filed out of the train and followed Hagrid to the boats. It wasn’t that long ago she had been in their shoes, completely terrified and anxious to start looking for her brother. Jacob. The thought stung like a wasp. It had taken four years and she was no closer to finding him as she was to finding the next cursed vault. Jacob had always been there to protect her and help her and what good was she, if she couldn’t do the same for him?

~

The Great Hall was all decked out for the Welcome Feast when they entered. Verna always felt a sense of belonging at the sight of Hogwarts, but it was also always mixed with something like dread. This year instead of Professor Dumbledore, it was Professor McGonagall taking the podium to hold the traditional speech after the Sorting. Apparently, the Headmaster was on an errand outside of Hogwarts. They were also going to have a new teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts, which at this point surprised no one. The new DADA professor did surprise Verna, though. It was Madam Rakepick, the curse breaker Dumbledore had hired to investigate the vaults last year. Rakepick turned her eyes to Verna and something passed across her features, but Verna couldn’t place the expression. Then, just as fast as it had arrived, it passed, and McGonagall bid everyone dig in their food.

~

After the feast, as Verna and Charlie were getting ready to herd all the new Gryffindors (including Bill and Charlie’s little brother Percy) to their common room, Penny walked up to them, looking excited.

“Hey!” she beamed and tailing behind her was a small blonde girl who looked very much like Penny. “How was your summer?”

“Oh, you know, researching advanced curses, eagerly awaiting for my detention this year, the usual” Verna joked.

“I worked on my extra credit stuff for Professor Kettleburn,” Charlie said. “And hung out with my siblings. Fred and George have gotten it into their heads they wanna be the best quidditch players in the world and I have to be their coach.”

“That sounds really nice! We need to catch up more later, I just wanted to introduce you two to my sister, Beatrice,” Penny exclaimed, and the younger girl waved her hand at them.

“Hi,” she said, rather excitably.

“Hi Beatrice, I’m Verna and this is Charlie.”

Next to her Charlie smiled wide and shook Beatrice’s hand. It seemed to Verna that she appreciated being treated like a grown-up.

“Figured you were Penny’s sister when they called Haywood during the Sorting,” Charlie said.

Beatrice nodded. “And now we’re both in Hufflepuff! I was hoping for it, but I would’ve been happy with Gryffindor too.”

“Bea is… sort of a fan of yours,” Penny explained looking at Verna. “She’s always asking me to tell her stories of my adventures with the famous curse-breaker Verna Malinda.”

“Now I can join you!” Beatrice said. “To find your brother and the cursed vaults.”

This, admittedly, took Verna by surprise. She glanced at Penny who, by the look on her face, had not expected this either.

“Bea…” Penny whispered.

“I mean it, I want to help,” Beatrice insisted.

“Well… Maybe you can help with some small things, but I’ll be honest with you, it’s really dangerous stuff,” Verna told the young witch and hoped that was the end of it. No such luck.

“You investigated the cursed ice when you were just first-years,” Beatrice protested.

“That’s… true…” Penny admitted but didn’t look happy about it.

“And Harry Potter defeated You-Know-Who when he was just a baby!”

“She has a point, you know,” Charlie cut in.

“Knock it off, Weasley. There’ll be plenty of time for death-defying adventures when you’re older Bea, for now you can just show Verna what you made for her,” Penny said with a glare at Charlie, who seemed vaguely apologetic.

With only a little complaining, Beatrice presented Verna with a yellow, self-made puffskein toy. It was extremely cute, and the gesture made Verna wonder how much Penny had exaggerated her stories.

“Thank you, Beatrice, this is super cool,” she said as she inspected the stuffed animal. After that, she was served to a story about shaving the Haywoods’ pet puffskein every week for the hairs to make the toy, after which Penny had clearly had her fill, because she whisked Beatrice away and Charlie arched an eyebrow. “Wow, they really do just keep getting smaller.”

~

Up in the Gryffindor Tower, the young students were excited but obviously tired, so Verna kept her introduction short and let them explore on their own or just go to bed. After that, the two new prefects made their way to their favourite corner of the common room. The couch there was already occupied by Rowan and Ben.

“Hey guys,” said Ben meekly behind his new Charms textbook.

Charlie squished into the vacant spot between Rowan and the armrest, while Verna sat on the floor, not bothering to drag the nearest chair closer.

“I think I’m going to possibly have a mental breakdown this year,” she mused. “I mean I still have to find my brother, do normal homework, play Quidditch, study for O.W.L.s, and now be a prefect.”

“If you had started studying for the O.W.L.s first year like I told you, you wouldn’t be in this situation,” Rowan simply said. It’s not like they were wrong, but Verna still rolled her eyes.

“Literally no one else but you does that, Rowan” Charlie jumped into her defence, which Verna appreciated. She fist bumped Charlie over Rowan’s lap.

“You two are impossible,” Rowan said warmly and turned to look at Ben. Verna followed their gaze and noticed Ben looked distinctly uncomfortable. Well, more than usual.

“Ben…” she started.

“I just wanna say I’m sorry,” Ben blurted out. “I know you already said it’s fine last year, but I don’t think it’s fine. I’m too easy a target to use against you, and I don’t think you should include me in your plans anymore.”

Verna stared at him for a moment, trying to find words. Any one of her friends could’ve been used as a pawn by a dark wizard. After all, they were only students up against adult wizards.

“Ben, I get it. I’d probably feel the same way if it was me in your shoes right now, because it easily could be. You’re not weak for losing against an adult.”

Ben bit his lip nervously. “But I-“

“We need you. You’re one of my best friends and nobody blames you for what happened,” Verna countered before Ben could form a proper argument.

“In the train you lot acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary when everything is!” he slumped against the couch and let the textbook fall into his lap. “I’m going to bed.”

With that, Ben got up and disappeared into the boys’ dormitory, his friends’ pleas falling on deaf ears. Verna looked at Charlie and Rowan.

“Maybe he just needs some more time…” Charlie mused.

“I think I was too harsh on him last year,” Rowan said. “I apologized though. In the train. We had a whole chat about it.”

“I’m glad,” Verna said with a smile. It hadn’t felt right, when Ben and Rowan weren’t on speaking terms.

“He just hasn’t had the easiest time at Hogwarts,” Rowan continued. “And all this business with the vaults… I think it has us all on edge.”

“Understatement of the year…” muttered Charlie.

“Well… It’s only the first day of it, we’ll have plenty of time to make more understatements,” said Rowan gloomily.

#hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hphm fic #charlie weasley #merula snyde #verna malinda #*my writing #vmatcv #*mine #this is really character driven #idk anything about writing a consistent story longer than one chapter so we'll see how this goes #any constructive criticism is appreciated #i'm NOT a professional writer in any shape or form #and i feel like i have to state this every time but english isn't my native language #basically i have no idea if this is any good but i can't keep fiddling with it anymore or i'll never post it #*hits post and hides under a rock for 3 business days*

[zhowongli]

coming home (right into your arms)

notes: hi friends. sorry i have the vocab of a child. slightly suggestively end. mentions of two younger sisters with names, but feel free to ignore/replace the names! song accompaniment recommendation: folklore album by taylor swift!

summary: because you drew stars around my scars. AU in which the phase that made you fall in love with your soulmate is tattooed on your wrist. it starts as exceptionally light and grows darker as you fall in love until it is completely black. – kuroo/oc

wc: 6.5k

You were vaguely aware of the concept of soulmates at six years old. The words appeared on your wrist just as you were done with your latest drawing – a picture of your parents, you, and your younger sisters. It freaked you out to no end, and you cried a little when you realized you couldn't scrub the marks away. When your mom found you, you could barely blubber out why you were crying so you ended up just showing her your wrist. She stared at you with wide eyes before she let out a soft laugh, which made you temporarily stop crying to stare at her with tears still threatening to spill from your eyes. Seeing your distress, she kissed your wrist and hugged you.

"It's okay, baby. It's nothing to worry about," she whispered softly. "Those are the words that your soulmate will say to you when you fall in love with them," she paused. "It's still faint now, but one day, when you really fall in love with them, it will turn black, just like mama's."

As she said that, she showed you her wrist, onyx black words inked onto her wrist. You stared at her wrist first and traced over the words on there before you stared at her with confusion in your childish eyes. You didn't get it, but you sucked up the snot that was about to drip and wiped the unshed tears leftover in your eyes before you nodded at her since she told you it was okay. She laughed lightly again before patting your head lovingly. She continued to explain that it was something like a permanent best friend, someone who knew you and loved you.

"So, like you and daddy and Maika and Haruna?" You listed off the members of your family on your small hands and tilted your head, not understanding it.

"Something like that," your mom nodded, "But it's a little different. It's a bond that only you and your soulmate will have. You will always feel at home with them."

Your mom could tell you still didn't understand it, so she just added that it might be too complicated to understand now, but that was okay since you were still young. One day though, you will meet someone just for you. You nodded again because although you didn't know what she meant, you were excited to have another best friend in your life one day.

That night, as you laid in bed, you traced the words tattooed on your wrist as you dreamed of laughter in sunlit rooms with your parents, playful teasing between your sisters and you, and dirty socks and skinned knees on playgrounds with your friends.

~✩~✩~✩~

You were eighteen when you first met Kuroo Tetsurou. Your little sister invited you to her school's volleyball game, which you thought was rather strange since she usually didn't go out to these events, but you accepted nonetheless because you thought she looked rather nervous. She was usually bold and confident and rather independent, so you were always happy that she could lean on you if she ever needed support.

Even though your university was a few stations over, you arrived a little earlier than planned. You have never been to Nekoma before since you chose to attend a high school that was further away from your house. Since it was a good half hour earlier than planned, your little sister wasn't here yet, and you were honestly a little lost. Although you just graduated a few months ago, you felt a little out of place, wearing what you wore to class – casual clothes and thick bracelets to cover your tattoo – looking for a gym. You took a glance at your phone to see if she texted you where she was, but she hadn't sent anything else since her last update.

You huffed silently as you circled back into the same spot you were in earlier. You cursed the gods for giving you a bad sense of direction – you couldn't help it, okay? – because this always happened. Luckily, as if someone heard your silent prayers, a high schooler in a red Nekoma uniform called out to you. His bright red jersey with the number 1 on it should have been easily the first thing that drew your eye, but his messy, untamed black hair and his half-grin half-smirk smile caught your eye and somehow eased all your tensions and worries.

He asked you if you were lost, and you told him hopelessly. At that, you heard his unique sounding laugh – it almost sounds like a hyena you thought to yourself- and you couldn’t help but laugh too. When you told him you were here for the volleyball game, his eyes lit up, and you found that you rather liked his animated gray eyes despite how scheming he looked at first.

"Thank you for finding me," you mumbled and bowed gracefully as he led you to the gym.

He paused as you said those words, stopping in place. When you looked back at him, you saw that he was twisting his black wristband with shock and the slightest dust of pink on his face.

"Sorry about that. I'm happy to help," he finally flashed his unique smile again. "Hope you're here to cheer for us?"

He made you laugh effortlessly. "Of course."

Only when he disappeared in the gym lockers did you realize you didn't catch his name.

~✩~✩~✩~

Your sister arrived shortly after; her dyed hair caught your eye rather quickly. She hastily made her way next to you, mumbling quick excuse me’s and sorry’s along the way, and as she reached you, you realized that she looked absolutely starstruck by the players arriving on the court.

"Hey." You tapped her shoulder, which caused her to jump a little. You laughed as she mumbled a quick hi, filled you in on the basics of volleyball, and went back to focusing on the game, eyes trailing after a certain player. You giggled a little at the sight and thought that she was incredibly cute. Following her example, you also began focusing on the game below, taking note that the game was starting.

You were always more of an indoor person, so you never went to a volleyball game. You remembered mandatory games for physical education classes, but even then, you only did what you had to do to pass the class. Despite not knowing much about volleyball, seeing these boys try so hard to keep the ball in the air, to keep the game going, to have the tenacity and drive to win, leaving you in awe. After Nekoma scored another point, the other team called a time out. During this time, you noticed that the same boy in jersey number 1 said something to his team and it immediately lifted the tired team's spirits. You briefly wondered if he was the captain. When you heard his hyena laugh, it left an impression on you as you began to laugh – it was so contagious.

"Nee-chan," your sister began as she looked at you, "Why are you laughing like a weirdo?"

"Shh," you shushed her with your finger, "Don't worry about it. Go back to watching the game."

She didn't need to be told twice as the time out ended and the game started back in action. After the time out, the other team was steadier, but it was still too late for them to catch up to Nekoma. The player with the 1 jersey blocked a ball, and as the ball bounced back to the other side of the court, the judge shouted out the match point. At that, the gym went wild with cheers – the audience rose and clapped as the team looked to each other and bowed to the audience before lining up for handshakes. Your eyes mindless trail over all the players, and to your surprise, you ended up staring into familiar gray eyes. For a moment, it felt like the world stilled and you couldn’t breathe. Only when your sister called for you, you awoke from your trance and flashed him a smile. You saw his smile and a small wave from the corner of your eye before you directed your attention to your little sister. You still didn't really get volleyball, but you can understand why your little sister looked so starstruck after seeing these players' resilience and skill and the joy on their faces.

You were about to leave when your little sister grabbed onto the sleeve of your top with one hand. She held her phone on one hand, screen still on a conversation with someone, and blurted, "Nee-chan, wait! I'll introduce you! Stay with me!" She looked at you with almost pleading eyes.

You were a little cautious because you didn't want to be in the middle of yet another set up by your little sister. You raised an eyebrow at her before she pouted, looking a lot more nervous than the usual playful teasing she had in her eye when she tried to set you up. "Please?"

"Okay, lover girl," you laughed, "Only because you asked so nicely."

She introduced you to the team shortly afterward. To be honest, you didn’t really even know your sister was interested in volleyball or were on such friendly terms with the volleyball team. However, when you saw their interactions, it warmed your heart to know that your sister was surrounded by people who loved her. She reckoned that they should call you two by your first names because it would just get too confusing if they addressed both of you by your last name here. That gave various reactions amongst the team members: some stuttered and stumbled saying your names, some had no trouble at all. When you caught your sister’s face heating up after the one whom she introduced as Kozume Kenma mumbled her name hesitantly, you began to understand why she wanted you here. As the players began leaving one by one, it ended up with the four of you: your sister, you, Kozume Kenma, and your savior in red, Kuroo Tetsurou.

Picking up on the fact that your sister liked Kenma, you were trying to figure out ways to let them have a little bit more time to themselves. It seemed like Kuroo had the same idea as you because as you excused yourself from the group, he mentioned that he will walk you to the station as it was late. You swore you saw your little sister's fingers fumbling the edge of her top, and you laughed lightly at how flustered and cute she was being. You gave a small wave with a smile on your face before made your way out with Kuroo by your side.

You guys didn't get to talk much since it was a group conversation contributed by everyone. However, based on your observations and few interactions, it was unsurprising that conversation with Kuroo was easy. He was charming and observant, easily filling in conversation when you didn't, and even the quiet in between conversations felt comfortable, like you've known each other for years.

Within your short conversations, you found out that he was a year younger and unexpectedly wanted to study chemistry in university. He was indeed the captain of his team and he loved his teammates as much as he loved the sport. You learned that despite his cat-like eyes, he loved dogs, and his hair was like that because it was his natural bedhead. You learned that all the walls you thought you built up felt absolutely paper-thin as your heart began to flutter in a way it hadn't for years, and your wrist pulsed so intensely in ways that it had never before. You quickly pushed that thought down as you reach the train station. When you thanked him and bid him goodbye, he casually waved and let out a half-grin half-smirk smile, and you thought that was unquestionably adorable. He waited until you were out of sight before he left to make sure you got on the train safely, and as you sat down on the train, you began tracing the words on your wrist.

For the first time in a long time, you noticed that the words were darker, and suddenly, your heart stopped, and you bit your lips as your heart started to ache.

~✩~✩~✩~

Black hair and gray eyes never really left your mind, but you tried not to think of Kuroo Tetsurou too much after that night because you didn't think you would meet him again. It was all in vain though because you found that you thought of him a lot whenever you saw red, and somehow, that happened to be your new favorite color. As you wrapped your red scarf around your neck during the end of winter, you bumped into someone in the chemistry building on campus when you were rushing to your next class.

"Whoah, easy there," he grabbed onto your arm before you fell, "Are you alright?"

It took you a few seconds to stabilize yourself before you nodded. "Thank you."

Just as you looked up, your eyes met his gray ones, and your surprise mirrored his as your mouth dropped a little. You didn't know if your face felt hot because of the chilling wind or the man in front of you.

"Kuroo-san," you said airily, "What are you doing here?"

"Hey," he nodded and smiled. "I'm checking out this campus. I got accepted into the chemistry program here. I didn't think I would run into you."

"Congratulations!" You exclaimed, "I didn't think I'd run into you either. I'm sorry, by the way, for literally running into you."

He laughed before brushing it off, and you laughed alongside him because his laughter was so contagious, and it was just so simple being with him. It was like you two fell into a comfortable pattern even though you've only had one conversation months ago.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have class in a few minutes," you began as the laughter died down. "How long will you be on campus? I'll treat you to lunch! As a congratulation."

"There's no need for that," he declined gently, "But I will be here for another hour or so, I think. I have a meeting and a tour with the chemistry professor scheduled soon. Let's meet for lunch?"

"Sure," you agreed happily.

"Here, put your number in, and I'll text you?" he handed you his phone.

"Kuroo-san," you began as you typed in your number. "You're so smooth." You laughed as you handed his phone back to him and left for class.

You didn't see the smile on his face nor the longing look in his eyes as they followed your retreating figure.

~✩~✩~✩~

With that, Kuroo and you began texting quite often. Often, you found yourself with your phone nearby at any moment, awaiting responses from him. He was an absolute dork and loved lame chemistry puns and silly memes, and he made you laugh like no others. He was sassy in a way, and sometimes he was just so easy to sass back. When you were talking with him, it felt like your heart was a little lighter from the endless cycle of failed experiments, lab reports, and vicious exams.

Once he started classes, you two began studying together quite often. Since you two had the same major and he was taking classes you already took, you gave him pointers on the key points and what the professors like the test on. While he hadn't taken your classes yet, sometimes he could reinterpret the concepts and notes you struggled with although he didn't quite understand the topic itself. It was so helpful that studying together quite often became more often than not, and late-night coffee runs and post-exam meals became a tradition. At one point during midterms week, you were quite sure you were at his apartment more than you were at yours, and Kuroo became Tetsurou before he became just Tetsu.

With all this time you spent with each other, you learned more and more about Kuroo. He was undoubtedly charismatic, and he loved to tease you and your poor sense of direction and inability to function before 10 am despite you signing up for 8 am classes. He was perceptive and keen on your emotions: he knew to suggest for a walk around campus to clear your mind when you were too stressed, he knew to send you lame chemistry memes and bring you food when you felt down about doing poorly on an exam, he knew to just hold you and let you cry when you felt hopeless about your future. Likewise, you cooked him meals for when his exam schedule was chaotic and he forgot to eat, you waited for him after exams to celebrate regardless of how he did, you lent him your lap when he was too tired to make it to bed. You were sure that you had one – or two, or three, who was keeping count anyway – of his hoodies from nights when you forgot to bring a jacket or were too cold after partying together.

Sometimes you do realize the two of you might be blurring boundaries a little during late nights when you talk to each other about your childhoods and fears, your dreams and aspirations, your favorite people and close friends. The lines were blurred when your hands brush and you would catch his eyes staring at your lips, and sometimes he'd hold your hand when your hands were cold, and you would wear his hoodies because they were comfortable and smelled like him. The lines blurred when he unknowingly leaving parts of him – pens, chemistry books, a volleyball, clothes – at your apartment, and you had a set of accumulated mismatched utensils and a toothbrush at his and even his roommate became a sort of friend of yours. Everything with Kuroo was just so straightforward and fun because he just understood you, and it terrified you to no end because of how simple it was, and you could just be you.

You tried to not think of this too much because you were scared that it was all in your head. You knew you were falling in love with Kuroo, and a part of you knew he felt the same. But you were hurt by love before, and you didn't want to be burned twice. You knew he wasn't your ex, but you didn't know yourself. It was like your head knew Kuroo was bad, bad news, but your heart just kept going forward, craving to be his presence, to be with him. With each night, you realized that your tattoo grew darker and darker.

You asked Kuroo if he believed in soulmates one day while you two were watching a movie at your apartment during a chill night in between exams. It was some sappy rom-com your roommate suggested before she left for the night, and you two decided it would be a good laugh since it looked so cheesy.

He looked straight into your eyes, his gray ones blazing and passionate, like he was looking through your pretenses and directly into your soul, before he whispered, "I do."

You felt so bare and vulnerable under his fierce eyes, and you couldn't face his intensity, so you pulled your knees up into your chest before you buried your face in them. You hesitated before you shared your next thought, "I fell in love once, you know."

Your heart felt so heavy as you said that. It happened so long ago, and you would think five years was a long time to get over someone. While you do think you were over your ex, the wounds he left scarred and carved an everlasting dent on you. Kuroo tensed a little from your statement but didn't say anything otherwise, but you caught his eyes never leaving your form from the corner of your eyes as he reached out to pat your head gently. He was waiting for you to continue.

"I was fourteen, and we had a total meet cute moment where I bumped into him around the corner and he caught me on my first day of school."

At that, he let out a small laugh, "Yeah, you do tend to bump into people."

"Shut up! I'm trying to tell my tragic backstory here!" You untucked your head from your knees to look at him and pouted, but you felt a little less smothered by your memories now.

"He was everything I could have ever asked for. He was cute and smart, and he had big dreams, and I wanted to be right there, next to him, when he made his dreams come true. Maybe I was just young and insecure, but I changed my whole lifestyle to cater to his. He was older than me and he was popular, so I did everything I could to impress him. I changed my hairstyle, learned how to wear makeup, got my cartilage pierced – twice! – to stand out. I would drop everything if he asked me to hang out. It felt like I was on top of the world."

You fell silent because you wanted to cry but nothing came out. You were a lot older now, and the pain dulled with time. However, the heartache never completely went away, and you wanted to fall apart. Seeing your distress, Kuroo pulled you from your ball form and into his lap, one hand on the small of your back to hold you, the other stroking your hair gently.

"You don't have to tell me, you know?" he whispered in your hair. "It's okay."

You only shook your head against his chest. "I became so captivated with him that I only knew me when I was with him, and I didn't know who I was before or without him. I built myself around him. I changed into his ideals, I fitted myself into his life without him trying to fit in mine, I became who he thought I was. But the tattoo never changed colors, and I waited and waited and waited for him to say those words, but he never did. When those illusions shattered, it was all over."

Kuroo only continued to stroke your hair gently, and you found the sound of his heartbeat rather reassuring. It kept you grounded as you trekked through your memories.

"I think I lost a part of me trying to love him," you finally managed to breathe out after collecting your thoughts.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to show the best parts of yourself to the person you love," Kuroo said as he shifted to rest his chin on top of your head and held you with both of arms.

"I don't know who I am," you whispered, sounding as broken and helpless as you felt. You were always open with Kuroo because he was someone you had absolute trust in. Being with him came so serene and warm, but you never felt as defenseless and raw when you told him your feelings. While you shared with Kuroo your childhood fears, it was never as deep as your number one insecurity. You hadn't opened up about how lost you felt without your ex in a long time, and honestly, you felt like you had no personality other than what you want the recipient to perceive. Your heart was aching, but something was soothing about Kuroo's embrace that kept you here, at this moment, instead of inside your head.

"But I know you," he declared confidently like it was the most natural thing in the world. "I know you hate mornings and can't get through the day without espresso even though you would much prefer tea. I know you grind your teeth when you're about to fall asleep even though you have no recollection of this every morning. I know you are super picky about your ramen portions because you get upset when your meat-to-noodle ratio gets off. I know you love the stars even though you hate going outside because you hate bugs, and you'd much rather be lounging around in my hoodies because they’re comfortable. I know you sometimes stutter and skip your words when you get excited about chemistry, but your eyes shine so bright and your dimples show when you laugh. These are just some things about you. I can tell you more if you're interested," he teased as he moved to look into your eyes.

Your eyes widened. The words you never thought you would hear ignited a fire in your heart and set ablaze on your wrist like you never felt before as you listened to him talk about you with so much love in his voice. Your heart, dejected and fearful, began to beat apace, pulsing quickly as your wrist continued to burn. You felt like your whole being was on fire, and you looked up from his chest to his eyes, searching and searching. You only found that there was nothing but the truth in his eyes, and your body felt electrified – time had stopped, and you could hear, feel your heartbeat pounding rapidly. Then, you tore your eyes away from his, slowly took off your bracelet, only to find the words tattooed on your wrist completely blacked.

His eyes followed your movement, and when he saw your wrist, he let out a shaky, "Oh!" Once he seemed to collect himself more, he reached for your wrist and kissed it.

"Looks like it's a match," he breathed out faintly as he took off his wristband, 'thank you for finding me' tattooed on his wrist, bold and black.

You stared at his tattoo, at him, and then averted your eyes as a feeble attempt to run away from the conversation. The tears you didn't know you were holding fell freely because you were so scared, so confused, so happy. You were a complete mess of emotions because he was everything you never thought you wanted. He was your rock, your best friend, your support in the past year, and you were not supposed to fall in love.

He recognized your change in emotions and gently slid his hands into yours. "Please don't run from me."

You stared around your apartment, hyper-focused on the long-forgotten movie in the background, scared to look at him because you felt so exposed. You didn't want him to know how you felt about him because when you were on a high, you can only fall from here. Being with him was your high, and while you were sure you could live without him, it was going to be a new low. Love was scary because it can break so easily. You were so scared.

"Look at me."

You looked up at him. He was always goofy and dorky, constantly teasing, and he always made you feel better about your worries because he always listened and fought your demons with you. But here he was, looking so seriously into your eyes, baring his soul and looking as vulnerable as you felt.

"I'm sorry," you began, not really knowing why you were apologizing in the first place. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" he questioned, hands never leaving yours and eyes never straying away.

"I just – " you paused, "I don't know."

"Do you love me?" he asked quietly. His voice soft, genuine, and almost inaudible, as if he was also scared to hear the answer. You felt afraid again.

"I'm sorry," you apologized again between sobs.

"Please answer the question," he pressed on softly before he took one hand off yours to wipe your tears.

"I do," you admitted after seconds of silence, "I do, Tetsu. I love you so much that it scares me because love breaks so easily."

You hiccuped and paused, trying to think of the words.

"It's okay to not think about it too hard, you dummy. Just tell me what you're thinking," he prompted, words kind and gentle, as he gently brushed his thumb over the space between your thumb and pointer finger.

"Okay," you promised, "I can try."

You breathed in and looked away from him, "I'm sorry because I love you. I know I can be overbearing. Love is scary because look, I'm like baring all my soul out to you right now. What if I lost you? What if you don't want to be around me anymore? What if you only think you knew me but the real me is just a disappointment? I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared. I just – "

"I love you," he stopped you in the middle of your ramble.

You gaped at him because you can't believe your ears. You were unsure if you imagined that in your head as part of your ramble, and what if he was just saying that. Your brain was going into overdrive because you cannot think of why he would love you. Your eyes trailed away from his again because his stare was so intense and vivid, and you started to ramble again.

"Wait did you understand what I said? What if you started to lose interest in me? I'm just me and – "

"I love you," he repeated, more firm this time, gently tugging your hand to get you to look at him.

"But I – "

"I love you," he said for the third time, unyielding in his voice. You were so startled that when he nudged you to look at him again, you did. His eyes showed no hesitation, and you were an absolute mess.

"But what if I'm not enough?" you managed to choke out. "What if I'm not the one you're looking for? Wait, am I even making sense?"

"You are," he countered your worries, "Because I know you."

Your eyes widened as he said the words tattooed on your wrist again, and your world stopped. It felt like all the years of soul searching and heartache were disappearing. It felt like you found the part of you that you lost before. It felt like you can breathe again. You gasped as the tattoo on your wrist pulse rapidly once again alongside your thumping heart.

You couldn't believe this was happening to you. You spent so long being lost and now it felt like someone was calling you back home. You felt like you remembered what it was like to feel starstruck and soft, to feel okay to see the stars in his eyes. Your eyes trailed from your tattoo to his and finally to his eyes, and when you saw his dorky half-grin half-smirk smile, you smiled despite looking like a teary mess.

"Thank you for finding me," you whispered weakly and shyly, almost scared that this dream would shatter if you broke it.

"That's the second time you said it," he laughed loudly, his tattoo out opened for you to see.

You nodded slowly and a smile broke out before your laughter joined his. As you calm down from your laugh, you felt him staring at you.

"Can I kiss you?" he blurted, cheeks dusted with a slight pink, looking absolutely in love.

At that moment, you didn’t know why or how you doubted yourself – your worth, who you were, as a woman – when he looked at you like this, like you were the only one he saw in this world. "Okay," you whispered lightly before you leaned in.

He closed the distance between, and your mundane days of black and white burst into color and turned the grayed-out skies into a world of stars. It was like your soul finally found another who gave you comfort and peace while simultaneously setting your heart on fire and giving you starry night skies. He was your end and your beginning, and it felt like you were finally home.

~✩~✩~✩~

“How long have you been in love with me?” you questioned one day, laying on the ground with your hands folded on top of your stomach, eyes averted from your laptop. Your microbiology lab report final was due in a few days, and you were tired of looking at the data you’ve collected and the research books after the 25 pages you’ve already typed. So here you were, questioning your existence on this earth because school really sucked.

The sound of Kuroo's pen stopped, and your eyes trailed from looking at the wall of fairy lights and Polaroid pictures to him. He pursed his lips a little, balancing his pen on top, and leaned back into the couch. You stared at him as he sat in silence, lost in his thoughts, and your heart fluttered because he was just so stupidly handsome. If he wasn’t so absorbed in his thoughts, you had no doubt he would tease you for staring.

“I don’t know,” he answered finally, “My tattoo darkened when you came to our volleyball game in my third year of high school, and before I knew it, it just became pitch black.”

“Huh,” you thought out loud, “That far back?”

He grinned, “Yeah. I thought you looked like a mess when you kept walking around in circles. If you weren’t so cute, I would have reported you to the police.”

You gasped loudly and dramatically, “You watched me suffer for that long?! You suck!”

“Hey, I came to help in the end, didn’t I?” he countered without any bite in his voice, pouting a little.

“Yeah,” you smiled at the memory, “My hero in red. Thank you for finding me.”

At that, he got up from the couch and pulled you into his lap before nuzzling in your hair, “I’ll always find you, princess. Always.”

~✩~✩~✩~

You were already half asleep in bed when you felt the sheets rustle. You both had class early tomorrow morning, but you figured you can try to stay up as Kuroo finished his shower after coming home late from intramural volleyball practice.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" he whispered, not wanting to wake you from your sleep.

"No," you mumbled half-lies, "Was waiting for you." You lifted the large blanket with one hand, signaling for him to get in.

He settled into the empty spot, and you threw the blanket over him as an attempt to tuck him in. "Don't lie to me, you dummy," he laughed, "I know you."

That phrase set your heart on fire every time because it felt so powerful, and it made you feel so whole.

You smiled lazily and looked for his hand under the sheets. He grabbed your searching hand and laced your fingers together. Your sleepy smile brightened, turning into a cheesing grin, and you tugged him closer to give him a quick kiss. "Welcome home."

"I'm home."

And those words never felt so right.

~✩~✩~✩~ 

You rubbed your groggy eyes as the sunlight shone through the blinds. You automatically reached beside you, patting the empty space where Kuroo normally laid. You puffed your cheeks in a pout before you saw it was almost noon on your phone.

On cue, the sound of sizzles and the scent of breakfast drifted through the door. Begrudgingly, you got up, wore Kuroo's discarded shirt by the bed, and headed into the kitchen to find him with only his stupidly sexy gray sweatpants and your cat apron on, grilling some salted mackerel pike.

You heard him softly hum the opening of the science anime you two were watching, and as you do every other day, felt so lucky that he was here, and he was yours. He was so beautiful, and in normal everyday moments like this, you felt so at peace, at home with him. Before you knew it, you walked up and wrapped your arms around him.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he greeted lovingly. “I started on brunch.”

“Good morning,” you mumbled in response before planting soft kisses on his bare back. “It smells great. But we’re going to turn into mackerel pike with all the mackerel pikes we’ve been eating lately.”

He laughed before he teased, "If you don't stop kissing me, mackerel pike won't be the only thing I'm eating.”

Even though you've been together for years now, he still made your heart flutter like he did the very first day. You smiled before grinning deviously and tiptoed to plant another kiss on his neck. “Maybe that's the point.” You paused before you pulled him down a little and spoke quietly in his ear as if to let him in on a secret, "I'm not wearing underwear."

You ran toward your shared bedroom laughing as you heard the clinking of the thrown spatula and discarded apron, the clicking of the now-off stovetop, and his footsteps as he ran after you. His long strides caught up to you in no time, and he easily scooped you up and carried you bridal style the rest of the way to the bedroom.

"That was naughty, princess," he whispered seductively in your ear. You felt his hot breath on your skin, and you were glad he was carrying you because he always could make you weak.

"Sorry baby," you wrapped your arms around his neck, eyes big and pleading, pretending to look innocent because you know it turned him on without fail to ruin that feign innocence.

"You don't even have to ask twice," he said as he slipped his hand under the oversized shirt you were wearing.

You kissed him fiercely while you repositioned yourself to wrap your legs around his waist, your hands in his hair. With your shirt now discarded somewhere in the bedroom and your back against the walls, preparation for brunch was long forgotten.

As he continued to tease you relentlessly between heated kisses, your stomach rumbled.

He stared at you, you stared at him, and you both blinked before bursting into laughter.

"Babe, was that your stomach?" he asked through his laughter.

"Yeah, pancakes and hash browns sound really good right now, to be honest," you answered truthfully, a little embarrassed but not ashamed. You were never ashamed of who you were around him.

"That does sound good," he agreed, "Well, I guess it's time to make some pancakes and hash browns then." He pulled his hands away and set you down with a teasing glint in his eyes.

You whined in frustration as his warmth left you, and not willing to stop, you pulled back him to you and nibbled on his ear before purring, "Daddy, you can fill me up first."

After, you found yourselves making pancakes and hash browns - with grilled salted mackerel pike that Kuroo was cooking before your interruption – for brunch. As you watched him eat, you caught a glimpse of his onyx black tattoo. Your eyes flickered to your wrist, tattoo matching in color with his, and you smiled fondly. He seemed to notice your smile, and although you were fairly sure he had no idea what you were smiling at, he smiled too.

Honestly, if this wasn't happiness, you don't know what is.

~✩~✩~✩~

you taught me a secret language I can’t speak with anyone else.

~✩~✩~✩~

tags: @hoekaashi

#kuroo tetsurou #kuroo tetsurou x oc #kuroo tetsurou x reader #kuroo tetsurou x you #haikyuu!! #haikyuu x oc #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #hq!! #kuroo x oc #kuroo x you #kuroo x reader #kuroo tetsuro x oc #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsuro x you #sometimes i write things #head empty kuroo tetsurou only #no beta we die like daichi #also lowkey inspired by tswifts folklore album #text

[jaskiers-sweetkiss]

Sunset Swerve - Part 10

Pairing: Luke x OC

Word Count: 5.3K

Warnings: some swearing, i actually think that’s it for this part?

A/N: Okay here’s part 10, or as I’ve been calling it: Part 9 2: Electric Boogaloo. This is a very special edition of Sunset Swerve in which you get to read from Luke’s POV! This is covering the same time frame as part 9 but Luke’s pov provides some different scenes and new insight that’s kinda significant so I would really recommend not skipping it lol. I wanna shoutout @meangirlsx for being my sounding board and giving me loads of help on these two parts! As always, send me a message/drop a comment if you want to be tagged and let me know what you think!

Part 9  Masterlist

___

The week started off great for Luke. He was coming off the high from their performance at the open mic time and the relief that Julie didn’t have to quit the band. The latter fact also absolved him from his guilt of having suggested that Julie sneak out in the first place.

He found himself spending a lot of time with Jordan in the following days between talking about the book he’d started (she had been right, Annabeth was really cool though he maintained that she was stuck-up) and writing music. Their relationship had become much more civil following his birthday, though the fighting didn’t stop. Luke was starting to wonder if Jordan could survive without regularly making snarky or sarcastic comments. Still, the newfound closeness had been… nice. Luke wasn’t entirely sure how to categorize it, especially alongside the feelings he was certain he had for Julie.

As he sat across from Jordan, close enough that their knees were touching as they worked through some rhythms on a new song, Luke found that he wasn’t certain of anything. Jordan felt like a magnet- he realized belatedly that she always had- constantly pulling him closer and closer no matter how much either of them tried to pull away. He was starting to wonder if learning metaphors at book club was really a good thing.

“Hey Luke, can I ask you about something?” Julie pipped up from the entryway of the garage, pulling him away from his thoughts and Jordan.

“Sure, what’s up?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow quizzically.

“Oh, um, actually can we talk outside?” She asked and he furrowed his brow but nodded, setting down his guitar and jogging over to where she stood by the doors.

“This is gonna sound weird but can I ask why Jordan was with you at your house the other day?” Julie asked unsurely once they were outside and Luke froze, not expecting the question.

“How’d you…?” He trailed off, peering at the girl suspiciously. He hadn’t told anyone that he made frequent visits to his house, though he suspected the guys knew and Jordan had figured it out on his birthday.

“Alex and Reggie took me…” Julie said, tucking her hair behind her ear embarrassedly. “After I called you selfish and said you didn’t care about anyone but yourself…”

“That’s ironic coming from you, Miss Boundaries,” he scoffed irritatedly, brows furrowed in anger and Julie sighed.

“I’m really sorry Luke, it was wrong.”

“But now you wanna snoop even more,” he frowned, raising his brows as if to say ‘seriously?’

Julie opened her mouth to defend herself but Luke cut her off with a sigh before answering her question.

“If you must know, Jordan and I have spent every birthday together since we were five, I guess she figured I could use the comfort and familiarity.” He shrugged, trying to downplay how much the gesture had meant to him. It’s been really difficult, grieving his loss of his parents while they grieved him even twenty-five years later. At least when he was a runaway there was still always the possibility of reconciliation. Now there never would be.

“That’s really thoughtful,” Julie said, “But it doesn’t make sense. You guys hate each other, what happened?”

“Oh, we always have,” he smirked to himself, remembering that first day they met. He’d found a massive spider in the yard and thought it would be funny to put it in her hair, obviously, she hadn’t felt the same and the rest was history. “But our parents really wanted us to be friends so… birthday parties.”

“That explains a lot, actually,” Julie nodded thoughtfully and now it was Luke’s turn to be confused, tilting his head in a silent request for the girl to explain. “You guys have these moments where you like, exude this closeness that totally doesn’t fit the nature of your relationship. It makes sense now, knowing how long you’ve known each other.”

“I mean, there was a point where we were basically the closest thing to family each other had,” Luke shrugged, thinking about those last five months in the studio. “Guess we forgot about that when we died.”

They’d grow inexplicably close in those months that they’d lived together. It was an unspoken closeness, neither of them dared to acknowledge it but Luke saw it often in the little things. They’d stopped calling each other names when it was just them in the garage and sometimes when he was stuck on a new song he was writing she’d shout out suggestions from across the room. It was like they’d called an unconscious truce in their grief but when they came back as ghosts that all disappeared, the two immediately back at each others’ throats.

When Luke returned to the studio after his conversation with Julie it had sort of felt like the same thing had happened again. He’d thought he was finally making headway with Jordan, that they’d finally started back on the path to friendship after his birthday, or maybe even something more, and while things hadn’t totally changed, they felt different somehow.

She’d stopped hanging out with him in her free time. Instead, she spent the time holed up in the corners of the studio with her notebook or sitting behind the piano or her guitar, playing or strumming as she hummed softly. Luke wanted to help her out or tell her she sounded beautiful but he couldn’t help but notice how secretive she was being. They’d been working on songs together recently but this one she seemed determined to keep to herself.

When he entered the studio one afternoon to find her notebook on the couch, completely unguarded he couldn’t help himself. He blamed his overwhelming curiosity for why he picked it up despite knowing first-hand how sacred a song journal was.

When he found the partially written song at the back of the notebook he sucked in a breath, chest filling with hope at the lyrics on the page. It wasn’t much, only one verse and a chorus and what looked like half a pre-chorus but he couldn’t help but wonder if it was about him.

[Verse ?]

Bored of games why do you still play?

Back and forth, it’s always the same

You’re player one, I’m player two, who is she, player who?

Roll the dice and make your way

Pre-chorus

I know I’m hard but that’s part of it

You could leave but you are still here

and I’ve nowhere to go but ???

His mind whirled as he tried to work it out for himself. It screamed jealousy to him. She’d started writing after he’d had his conversation with Julie, so it wasn’t an unreasonable guess that he was “you” and Julie was “she.” She was jealous of him and Julie. But was it platonic? Was it more than that?

He was pretty sure he’d lost his damn mind in the hurricane of questions racing through his brain. It was the only explanation for the pure stupidity of what he did next.

“Moss, what’s this?” He asked when she found him with her notebook. Then he started to read off the chorus,

“I’m selfish, I’m selfish, I’m selfish

when it comes to you.

I can’t help it, can’t help it

crazy things that I do.”

“Give it back,” she snapped, cheeks flushing in what he later recognized as a mix of embarrassment and anger but at the time his brain ignored entirely, too caught up in an unthought-out attempt to confront her feelings.

“When I need you I come back to you.

I’m selfish, I’m selfish

when it comes to you.”

“I’m serious, Patterson. You don’t see me poking around in your notebook,” Jordan argued, grabbing hold of the notebook but not pulling it out of his hands.

“You don’t see me leaving my notebook lying around.” His body and his mouth were moving on autopilot but without a GPS as he responded cheekily, letting go of the notebook. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his rational brain was screaming at him to shut up but he just kept talking. “Who’s it about?”

“None of your business.”

Though his brain was on a self-destructive warpath, he couldn’t help but notice how adorable Jordan looked hugging the notebook to her chest protectively. Though, the adorableness factor was negated slightly by the death glare in her eyes.

“I think it’s about me,” he announced smugly, leaning back against the couch haughtily as if daring her to contradict him.

What the hell are you doing, man?

“I think you’re a dumbass,” she spat, and just like that she was gone, poofing away.

He leaned forward, putting his head in his hands with a groan as he realized what he did.

For the next day and a half, he could feel how the atmosphere between them had grown frigid. He’d tried to apologize a few times but every time he got close she would poof away, clearly not wanting to hear from him. What interactions they did have in those couple days were short and snide, laced with venom and insults. The behavior didn’t seem out of the ordinary to the rest of the group, but to Luke, it felt like he’d just stepped from the warm beach into ice-cold water and it was all his fault.

Luke was on the brink of losing his mind again when he went out on a limb that night. He, Alex, and Reggie were about to go out exploring like they did most nights after all the lifers went to sleep and he really wasn’t keen on leaving Jordan in the studio to stew in her anger.

“C’mon, Moss, we’re going exploring!” he called up to the loft. Deciding he’d given her enough space, it was time for ambush mode.

“And why would I want to go anywhere with you?” She called back venomously, not even deigning to come to the railing of the loft or poof down to speak to him face-to-face.

He sighed, clenching his eyes shut briefly before exhaling heavily and speaking.

“Look, I’m sorry, alright?” He called back, wishing he wasn’t doing this in front of Reggie and Alex. “I shouldn’t have gone through your notebook, it was a dick move.”

Luke was surprised at how quickly she forgave him, poofing down only moments after he apologized. He stared at her surprise, his body more relaxed now that she was spending time with them again. He hoped Alex and Reggie weren’t watching him, afraid they might somehow see the pure relief and adoration that he felt for her. Maybe he was being dramatic, but he swore he stopped breathing when she finally turned to look at her. He was totally screwed.

___

The next morning was quiet, though it felt like everything had gone back to normal. Jordan was sprawled across the couch which Luke had stopped trying to claim possession over, it was his couch but at this point, it might as well have been hers. Alex was sitting across from him making a friendship bracelet that he secretly hoped was for him but thought might’ve been for Willie, and Luke was reading his book. Things were really starting to pick up in the characters’ quest and he was apparently so invested that he barely recognized Reggie’s arrival until he heard the word “gig.”

Just like that he was on his feet along with Jordan and Alex, quest entirely forgotten as they all started blurting out questions.

“Where?”

“When?’

“How?”

Reggie excitedly explained how they were having a garage party at the house so that their band could perform and Ray and some of his colleagues would record them professionally for the band’s YouTube. Then Reggie patiently explained what a YouTube was and Luke briefly wondered when he’d learned more about modern technology than the rest of them. He supposed Julie did give him that iPod.

“We’re gonna record a music video? Like on MTV?” He exclaimed excitedly after Reggie had explained.

“Yes, dude! And Julie says if we get enough views we could go big!”

Luke gaped at his three bandmates, trying to come up with a vocalization for the thoughts flying through his head. All of a sudden there was a lot at stake for this event, the whole world would be able to see their performance. It had to be perfect. They needed to practice, hell they needed to pick a song.

He needed to talk to Julie.

When he reappeared in the school hallway he realized he probably should’ve told the group where he was going but it was too late now.

“What’re you doing here?” Julie asked him after getting over the initial shock of his sudden appearance.

“We need to talk about what song we’re gonna play tonight,” Luke said excitedly, grinning at the girl. “I was thinking Great?”

Julie held up a finger to signal she needed a moment before pulling out her phone.

“Wait seriously? You’re just gonna take a call while we’re talking? That’s so rude!”

Julie rolled her eyes at his dramatics before explaining, “Otherwise people might think I’m talking to myself.”

“Right, nice, okay,” Luke nodded, impressed by her quick thinking.

It was strange to be back in a high school hallway after so long, chatting with a cute girl by the lockers. The thought immediately brought the image of Jordan. Wow, he was really screwed.

“But yeah, I think Great is a… great choice,” Julie answered his question and he nodded, satisfied with the choice.

“Alright, sweet! Well, that was pretty much all I wanted to talk to you about so…”

“Oh! Okay,” Julie said, surprised.

“Actually wait- I wanted to talk to you about Jordan,” He started. He knew he and Julie had something between them but with these rising feelings about Jordan he’d been experiencing he didn’t want to lead her on. “Look, I, uh, I don’t really know how to say this but-“

“You have a crush on Jordan!” Julie gasped, effectively cutting him off.

His cheeks turned red and he scratched the back of his neck embarrassedly.

“Yeah- I mean, I don’t know but…”

“But you don’t want to hurt me,” Julie finished and Luke raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Wow, you are really perceptive Molina,” he said and she smiled.

“You don’t have to worry about me-“

“Sorry, my Patterson Idiocy Meter was going off,” Jordan explained as she suddenly appeared beside him, effectively putting an end to his conversation with Julie. “It lets me know when he’s doing something especially stupid.”

Luke rolled his eyes at the comment, sticking his tongue out petulantly at the girl and Julie gave him a knowing smile.

“Anyway,” Luke said dramatically, rerouting the conversation and turning back to Julie. “I was thinking, you should just ditch school today and come rehearse with us.”

He probably should’ve anticipated both girls’ protests but he still found himself trying to rationalize what he knew was a bad idea.

“Right, you were at school first, and now you’re leaving to go rehearse.”

“Stop trying to persuade her to do bad things!” Jordan chastised him, smacking his shoulder lightly.

“I really can’t. Plus I promised Nick I’d be his dance partner…” Julie explained, and Luke noticed Jordan wiggling her eyebrows at the mention of the name. He was clearly missing something.

“…and he’s heading this way,” Julie finished, pretending to hang up the phone in favor of talking to the blond-haired boy who just walked up.

“Well don’t you look sharp!” Julie’s reaction to his teasing told him all he needed to know about her feelings and the boy was not being sly about his at all. “Uh-oh, I think somebody’s got a crush on Julie!”

He couldn’t help it. It’s the designated role of all close friends to make fun of each other for their crushes. He knew by the way Julie had reacted when he’d told her about his (well, tried to tell her) that she was never going to let him hear the end of it. So, he dove right into it, mimicking Nick’s motions and facial expressions all with a playful glint in his eyes.

“Oh he is just too cute,” he teased when the blond lifer finally walked away.

“Boundaries,” Julie reminded him with a roll of her eyes. “I’ll see you after school.”

She began walking away towards her class but Luke wasn’t ready to end the conversation.

“Fine! I guess we’ll just have to carry you tonight, just like we always do!” He called down the hallway and he could see Julie shake her head slightly in exasperation. “I know you’re smiling, Molina!”

“Shut up, Luke,” Jordan rolled her eyes, smacking his chest lightly and he sent her a cheeky grin. “Good luck Julie! You’ll do great!” She called after the girl and Luke awed internally at the support.

“Yeah! Kill it on the dance floor!” He joined in, shuffling smoothly across the floor as he yelled.

“Dork,” he heard Jordan mutter and he snapped towards her, feigning upset despite how pleased he was at the attention he was getting.

“C’mon, we’ve gotta get rehearsing,” he spoke, brushing off the dramatics but she waved him off.

“I’ll be right there.”

He frowned, wanting her to come with him but he poofed away anyway, landing back in the garage between Reggie and Alex.

They immediately got to work, Luke walking them through Great. He felt bad doing it without Jordan since it was really her and Julie’s song more than anything, but he really wanted them to sound as best as they could. It was her song and they needed to do it justice.

They’d only just gotten through the basic structure and Jordan’s plans for the song, which she’d scribbled into the margins of his notebook pages while they worked on it together, when they were interrupted by a face in the window.

“Again? What’s all that about?” Reggie asked when Willie’s face disappeared from view, the boy clearly knowing he’d been caught.

Luke shrugged in response, just as lost as the rest but Alex stood, seemingly determined to get answers this time as he poofed out.

Despite their typical itch to snoop, the two boys gave Willie and Alex their privacy, instead moving over to their respective instruments to tune and warm up while they waited.

Luke could tell something was off when Alex returned but the blond-haired ghost had gone straight for his drumset, insisting that they start rehearsing. So, Luke didn’t push it, until about halfway through the song Alex got a little too into his drums, no longer playing along.

“Alex are you alright?” He asked sincerely once he’d stopped playing.

“Yeah... yeah, why?” Alex asked, trying to brush it off but Luke and Reggie had already connected the dots.

Alex only ever played like that when he was upset and since he was in a good mood before Willie showed up, it wasn’t difficult to figure out.

“I know it’s tough man. People say you never forget your first ghost.” Reggie spike sympathetically, “but... I’m sure there will be others.”

“Yeah, thanks Reg,” Alex nodded and Luke stepped forward, clutching his guitar strap as if to brace himself. He wasn’t very good at expressing things outside of music.

“Yeah, and Alex, you’re a great drummer and a great guy, okay?” He said, leaning onto the drumset slightly as he spoke. “I wouldn’t let all that stuff get in between you and what you love.”

Alex nodded and Luke finally noticed Jordan’s presence in the studio. He’d started to take steps in her direction to ask when she’d gotten there when Reggie spoke up again.

“I don’t know, sometimes a little fire onstage can make things better,” he said suggestively and Luke froze in the center of the band setup. “Like you and Julie.”

His head immediately snapped towards Jordan, trying to gauge her reaction to the statement. He was already certain she thought there was something between him and Julie, she’d written a whole song out of jealousy after all, but he needed her to know that wasn’t true.

“Uh, what... what is that supposed to mean?” Luke asked, trying to play innocent and hoping Reggie would get the hint and back off.

“C’mon, everyone can see the way you look at her when you sing,” Reggie chuckled, clearly not understanding. “You guys ooze chemistry.”

“Please never say ooze again,” Alex said to Reggie before turning to Luke, “But you have to agree he’s right.”

“No, no.” Luke denied vehemently, chancing another nervous glance at Jordan only to find she had become suddenly very interested in her shoes. “I have chemistry with everyone I sing with.”

It felt like a reasonable excuse to him, and it wasn’t exactly wrong. He did have chemistry when he sang with people, but it wasn’t because of the person, it was because of the music. Still, Reggie and Alex gave him looks of disbelief and he huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Seriously, watch,” he said, taking a determined step towards Jordan. Sure he was trying to prove a point to the guys, but maybe he could prove something else to himself and Jordan.

Still, before he could even take another step she stopped him.

“You’d better take that step back,” she demanded, not even looking up from the floor and his heart sank.  

He shook it off with a sigh, still determined to prove his point to the guys. So he turned on his heel, confidently stepping towards Reggie as he began to sing.

“I believe, I believe that we’re just one dream away from who we’re meant to be.” When he got close enough, he slipped his hand around the back of the bassist‘s neck, pulling their faces even closer together. “That we’re standing on the edge of… great.”

He winked at the boy when he finished and stepped back, watching with a smirk as Reggie gulped. Mission accomplished.

“Wow,” Alex remarked, “I see chemistry.”

“Yeah, that was pretty hot,” Reggie admitted, voice cracking as he spoke.

Riding on the high of his success, Luke took it one step further, kissing two of his fingers before placing them on Reggie’s lips. When he heard a giggle from behind him he whirled around to grin at Jordan, elated that he could turn her mood around. She rolled her eyes in response but he didn’t care. He was starting to think maybe they were a sign of endearment from her with how much she did it.  

“Girls, amiright?” Reggie croaked out and Luke chuckled.

“Yeah,” he agreed and Alex quickly chimed in.

“No,” the drummer said definitively with a light chuckle.

Jordan barked out a laugh at that, poofing over to the drummer to give him a high five before poofing back to the front of the band setup. Luke shook his head at that, ducking his head to hide his smile as he slipped his guitar strap back across his body.

Practice went smoothly after that, though Jordan and Reggie insisted on messing around until Julie got there. He felt kinda lonely with Jordan now hanging out on Reggie’s side of the setup but it was worth it to see her smile and hear her laughter. He didn’t even have the heart to tell them to take this practice seriously since they had a performance tonight. When the hell did he become so whipped for a girl he wasn’t even sure liked him back?

He couldn’t begrudge them their fun, even screwing around Jordan and Reggie were some of the best musicians he knew and it was obvious when Julie got there. They only had an hour of true, focused rehearsal with the whole group yet it sounded amazing. Still, Luke was nervous. If he’d had his way, they would’ve practice until it was perfect but he knew that wasn’t reasonable.

Luke was bummed when Jordan left to get ready in Julie’s room. He figured they needed their “girl time” or whatever but- though he’d never say it out loud- watching Jordan do her makeup had become part of his pre-performance routine and he was a bit fascinated by the whole ordeal. Instead, he spent the time leading up to their performance reading his book or talking with Alex and Reggie.

Luke’s nerves didn’t present themselves outwardly as much as Jordan’s did. It was something he’d noticed back when they’d both started performing. When Jordan got nervous she moved, flicking and shaking her hands, bouncing in place, anything to stop her standing still. Luke, on the other hand, internalized his nerves. He would become uncharacteristically quiet the closer he got. When he first started performing for crowds his hands would tremble, something he’d had to figure out how to counteract pretty quickly because it’s really hard to play the guitar with shaky hands.

Still, pre-performance nerves were when his insecurities popped up the most so when he looked up and saw Jordan, Alex, and Reggie all holding hands in the garage while Julie started the song, he felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. He probably looked like a kicked puppy but he felt like one. His bandmates had left him out of something.

As if reading his thoughts, Jordan reached her hand out to him in a silent invitation to join whatever pre-show ritual they’d started without his knowledge. As soon as he took her hand he understood why they did it: silent solidarity. A small but strong reminder that they were in this together. Then Jordan squeezed his hand lightly, giving him just enough time to squeeze back before they were poofing onstage, well, onto the driveway.

Julie and Jordan were electric in center stage and all five of them were sounding great (no pun intended). Everything was going perfectly until Luke nodded his head at Jordan, silently asking her to come share his mic but she pointedly ignored him. Luke furrowed his brow in confusion as she angled her body away from him as she picked up the next verse.

Maybe it was a mistake, he thought, trying it again as he and Julie joined her vocals.

“Sometimes we gotta lean, lean on someone else to get a little help until we find a way,” they sang together, and Luke frowned slightly. Those lines had always made him think of Jordan, especially after his birthday and it hurt extra that she was ignoring him.

He tried to ignore the stab of jealousy he felt when she moved to the other side of the setup to sing to Alex by focusing on the music and singing with Reggie but it didn’t fully work. He still wanted her attention and he wanted to know why he wasn’t getting it.

His wounded puppy eyes were fully intact when he stepped up beside where Julie crouched on the piano to play his guitar solo. She gave him a sympathetic smile before shrugging lightly, seemingly understanding why he was upset but also unaware as to why he was being shunned. It made him feel a bit better, at least he wasn’t the only one in the dark. As the section came to an end he noticed her eyes flicking out to the crowd and followed them, spotting a familiar blond. He sent her a teasing wink as he hit the last note and she stood fully on the piano in what was a truly epic moment. That girl was a performer through and through.

He slid back to his microphone behind the piano, still hurt but pushing it aside to finish out the performance. Now really wasn’t the time to get lost in speculation and self-pity.

He was surprised when he and the guys returned to invisibility only to see Jordan still out there, singing and playing along with Julie. It was clearly a beautiful and emotional moment for the two and he wondered when they’d planned it. Still, that wasn’t his first question when he finally got time to talk to the ghost girl.

“Hey, so, how come you were ignoring me out there?” He asked her after the lifers had evacuated the driveway.

Reggie and Alex were playing some basketball on the hoop hanging from the garage door while Jordan was perched on the ledge at the end of the driveway, scribbling into her notebook.

“What are you talking about?” She asked, looking up to stare at him in confusion.

“During the performance… I wanted you to come sing with me…” he spoke, leaving pauses in hopes that she’d catch on and put him out of his misery but she never did. “C’mon Moss, I did the head nod and everything!”

“Those were for me?” She exclaimed, looking at him like he’d lost his mind, “I thought you were trying to get Julie!”

He felt the relief wash over him with those words. So it was just a simple misunderstanding.

The relief was short-lived, however, as the four of them were suddenly struck through with another jolt, sending the three guys sprawling to the ground and Jordan doubling over.

“Jesus fuck,” he heard Jordan curse as she clutched her chest and he groaned in agreement, pushing himself off the cement.

“That wasn’t like the other ones,” he said, “It’s getting worse.”

“Why is this happening to us?” Reggie asked, still bent over as he recovered.

“It’s because you guys are in serious trouble,” Willie answered, nervously approaching the four ghosts. “We need to talk.”

They all nodded in agreement, silently moving together before Willie poofed them to Hollywood.

They followed him along the Walk of Fame as he explained all about how Caleb’s stamp was the reason the jolts kept happening. That he’d stamped them to force them to work for him because they were too powerful.

“So, if we don’t join his club, the weird power outage thing continues until there’s no power left at all?” Reggie asked, crossing his arms over his chest nervously.

“Yes,” Willie answered, not meeting any of their eyes.

“What exactly happens when the power goes out?”

“That’s… that’s it. You’re done.”

Luke heard Jordan suck in a breath beside him, freezing in her tracks and the rest of the group slowed to a halt.

“Yeah, what do you mean by ‘we’re done?’” Reggie asked the question none of them wanted to hear the answer to.

“You just… you don’t exist… anymore. Not anywhere.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jordan slap a hand over her mouth as if to cover up a sob. He knew she was thinking about her parents, how she’d never see them again because of this and his blood began to boil.

“So what, we have to give up everything and work for Caleb for eternity?” He spat angrily, “That’s some club you guys got going on.”

He took a step back, reaching down discretely to grab Jordan’s hand, hoping to provide her with any kind of comfort and support.

“But there is another way,” Willie explained, “That’s why I’m here.”

“Another option?” Alex asked skeptically.

“Just please, hear me out.” Willie pleaded, and Luke shared a look with the other guys. “Alright. If you guys could figure out what your unfinished business is, you do it in time, you could cross over and be free from all of this.”

“Okay, so what’s our unfinished business?” Luke asked, squeezing Jordan’s hand reassuringly. He’d figure it out just for her.

“I don’t know,” Willie said. “But since you all died at the same time it could be something you all have to do together.”

Luke’s mind began whirling, trying to figure out what it could be. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he barely registered Willie departing, or Alex and Reggie talking.

“We have to figure out our unfinished business,” he insisted, finally joining in on the conversation.

“Yeah, man, and how are we supposed to do that? Alright?” Alex asked frustratedly. “There was so much we wanted to do.”

The combination of Alex’s words and him noticing the sign in the background brought upon Luke’s epiphany.

“Yeah, but the night we died, there was only one thing we wanted to do together,” he explained, pointing towards the Orpheum sign with his free hand.

Part 11

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