#because i knew the main character was supposed to be royalty

[0kayblue]

Blood Trail

Blood Trail

Your most recent mission was to rescue the President's daughter, it was supposed to be a simple rescue mission in and out. Things go from bad to worse quickly once you seek shelter in a barn.

 [PART II] 

Main Character Relations: Leon Kennedy x Reader 

Word Count: 5k (a little over) 

Angst, mentions of violence, knives, hand to hand combat, guns, needles, pills, blood, and previous NSFW affairs

A/N: HELLO ALL!! If you can’t tell by the terrible summary this is set in the re4 setting. I’m biased. I’ll probably be going on a break after this, but enjoy!!! I send my love and hope you are all doing alright. 

Search and rescue, that was the name of the game and you were damn good at it. Even if you were flipped around and upside down, you knew how to find things. It was a skill that most in your field wished they had and spent hours trying to learn. Committing to memory how to identify what tracks belong to either what animal or vehicle. Trying to teach themselves what to look for and when to look for it. 

You shined when it came to tracking people. You could quite possibly find yourself over the moon when you spotted boot prints. You could tell a lot about someone based on their footprints. How someone moves is a very telling thing; how far apart each footprint is, the density of each step conveying the urgency in their stride. They told stories and it was up to the observer to translate them in the best way they knew how. 

It took an understanding of people and a bit of a sixth sense. It’s where rookies and professionals alike messed up, but not you. You weren’t always one hundred percent correct, but you always ended up in the right direction. It gained you respect, rank, and a reputation. 

So, as you sat in the back of a police cruiser studying the way the two police officers interacted with one another you put together a mental file on each of them. They seemed quite laid back and easy going individuals that didn’t take much of anything seriously. Joking and laughing- you had no clue what about- like they weren’t on clock. It was a nice change and caused you to smile lightly; it was nice to bask in a partnership that wasn’t so grounded in solemeness. 

You glanced at Leon who rested against the window, staring rather dramatically out of it lost in thought. You rolled your eyes before nudging him gently, “Hey, pretty boy.” You mumbled audibly enough to not draw attention from the officers in front. 

Leon scoffed at the nickname that you gave him the moment you met him months ago. He had a love-hate relationship with it because he knew it was supposed to knock him down a peg; but it fell from your lips in such a flirtatious way that it sparked a warmth in his stomach. Adjusting subtlety, his eyes locked with yours, “What, Princess?” 

Of course he didn’t let ‘pretty boy’ slide and upon seeing how the staff treated you like royalty- and how you had a number of them eating out of your hand- he bestowed you the title of ‘Princess’. There really wasn’t a thing you could do about it and you were more than willing to accept your karma if it hadn’t bit you so hard in the ass in the bedroom. The way it made you squirm under him only stroked his ego. 

It was only predictably natural for two flirtatious agents to find themselves tangled up in the sack once or twice. Although in the particular case of you two it was becoming a more common thing. The palpable energy between the two of you could start a fire. It was fun and loose with no serious title, the way close relationships between agents were recommended to be. 

“You think we could switch roles with these two? I’ll be the funny one.” 

“You can’t be the funny one, I’m the funny one.” His tone dry with a little smirk to match. 

“Damn, really? You could have fooled me.” Little giggles creeping from your throat as you said it, causing him to chuckle. 

“Why am I always the one who draws the short end of the stick?” One of the officers cuts through the moment with laughter, speaking in English for one of the first times since picking both you and Leon up. 

Your eyes left the ocean of blue as your attention turned back to the officers in front of you, fully focused now that they were ready to talk. His eyes stayed on you though, a flower that he’s been neglecting sunlight continuing to bloom.

———————————————————

This was not how this was supposed to go, it was supposed to be simple. It was supposed to be an in and out type of job; find the target, save the target, and get the hell out of dodge. 

Breathing in as much air as your body allowed your hands found your knees and trailed down your legs, trying to keep them from shaking. You stood turning to Ashley as you did so, “Are you okay?” You asked concerned, approaching her cautiously as a hand found her shoulder. Your hand pressed against her shoulder with a light firmness as you rubbed her shoulder and then her shoulder blade. 

Ashley Graham, the President’s daughter, the target; a sweet young woman whose adult life was starting off more than just rough and bumpy despite the cushy life she has had. 

Her typically chipper and welcoming persona was gone and all that remained was a scared little girl who just wanted to go home. 

Ashley shook slightly as she tried to catch her breath, wanting to lie, but she couldn’t as she shook her head. You just nodded and continued to rub in between her shoulders and give her time. 

She’s been here longer than you have, she’s seen more than you have; and you only hoped that it hadn’t ruined her outlook on life forever. 

“Take a minute. We should be safe where we are, for now at least.” Leon said as he boarded up a makeshift door in the average sized barn you tried to take cover in. 

“You wanna take a seat, dear?” You asked her as you guided her to a sturdy enough looking chair that sat tucked under an even less sturdy looking table. You smoothly guided her to the seat as your hand left her shoulder, “Is there anything I can do to make this easier?” Your eyes locked with hers to convey your genuine concern for her well being. 

Ashley was a victim. She was someone who didn’t deserve this and it wasn’t fair, but unfortunately it was the cards she had been dealt. Regardless of the paycheck you cared for every victim that you tried to save and Ashley was no different. Trying to make her as comfortable as possible was your primary goal. 

As you reached for the aid kit that was firmly strapped to your thigh, you could hear a drained sigh escaping Leon’s lips over the crisp sound of velcro separating. He was your next concern, but you had to focus. Opening the neatly organized pack that had an assortment of different first aid items like ointment, pills, and bandages on one side and on the other side had syringes filled with morphine and sedatives. 

Ashley’s face turned up at the needles, but you just smiled, “Those aren’t for you, unless you are under some severe pain. You aren’t, are you?” You asked, your tone smooth and gentle. 

“No.” She shook her head, “I just have a headache.” 

You pulled out the little bottle labeled tylenol and got her two of the little red tablets, “Can you take pills without water? What about scratches and cuts, anything we need to bandage up?”

“I don’t like to, but I can.” She affirmed as you handed her the pills, you sent her a warm smile. 

“I don’t either.” You admitted, watching her struggle to take the pills. “That should help, if you need more don’t hesitate to ask, okay?” 

She nodded and you put a hand back on her shoulder, “Take a breather, collect yourself, we will step forward when you feel strong enough to continue.” Ashley sniffed, trying to hold back a flood gate of tears you crouched down to force her eyes to connect with yours, “I know this is hard, but I need you to know that you are going to be okay. Leon and I are going to get you out of here, okay? I promise.” Ashley shut her eyes tight as she took in a deep shaky breath. 

She felt guilty at the feet of your unconditional kindness. She felt as if she had doomed you for failure. How could you promise a happy ending without even knowing half of the story? Something was inside her, something beyond her control; a plague coursed through her body that could turn her into something that sent ice through her veins. Made her so unsure of who she ever was. 

“Ashley.” You called for her, causing her to open her eyes. “It’s okay to cry.” She turned away and slowly she started to feel it; she started to cry. “Can I hug you?” 

“No!” She choked out as she flinched away, “N-no…can I have a moment? Please?” She begged as your brows furrowed together in concern. 

It wasn’t unusual for victims to want to be left alone to cry; to hide. But this felt different. Ashley wasn’t one to hide away from people, she was one to ask for help. To seek comfort in those she trusted. Either she didn’t trust you or something bigger was at play. She trusted you; that much you knew or she wouldn’t have taken the pills from you. She may be a little on the naive side, but she most certainly wasn’t stupid. 

You nodded even though your stomach turned, “Okay, I’m going to go check on Leon. I’ll be right over there and-.” 

“I know! Okay, I know.” Ashley snapped at you, causing you to raise an eyebrow. This put you on guard, but you turned your back and went to Leon. Something was wrong and you were counting on your counterpart to fill you in on the details. 

Approaching Leon you studied his features and how he carried himself. It was off and it was odd, usually Leon was well kept regardless of the hell he was going through; but he seemed disheveled. His posture was slacked, but still stressed and he was pale. The bags under his eyes visible from a mile away and a dark shade of purple accompanied them. You leaned against the wall next to him and you could barely pick up on a trace of him regardless of the fact that you were standing right next to him. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” You asked with a playful smirk, being who you always were with him. You’re own way of telling him it was okay. 

“I lost you.” His voice came out like gravel, low and gruff. You barely heard the sentiment, but it was there. If you weren’t working you would’ve pondered on it, even blushed, but you were on the clock. You had learned your lesson the hard way about relationships on the clock. 

“I found you, though.” You tried to send the same amount of sentiment back regardless of the cool composure you maintained, “It’s what I do. I told you, I’d be okay and I was.” 

He wasn’t pleased with your answer. Leon knew you could hold your own, he knew that you would find him; but that still didn’t settle his stomach. This time had to be different.

“Look how far you got without me, though. You got Ashley and we met up, so I’d say we are back on the right track. Although,” you paused and lowered your voice, “Something is off.” Your gaze found Ashley. 

“That gut of yours.” He remarks with a smile. A sight to behold that causes you to relax slightly. “Whatever the hell is going on here goes deeper than we think.” He swallows harshly as he tries to fight a cough from escaping from his chest. A thick substance that he carelessly writes off as mucus lodges itself in his throat. 

“So it appears. I’m worried about Ashley. I don’t know the girl personally, but from what I’ve seen and read, the girl I’m helping isn’t the girl I studied.” 

“Saddler-.”

“Who?” You cut him off, the name rings a bell as some of the people you killed out of defense mumbled it as they fell to become one with the earth below them. 

“Creepy guy, he’s got portraits everywhere.” You nodded and he continued, “Ran into him when I got Ashley out of the church. He said he injected her with a gift. The same gift those brain dead puppets have out there.” He explained, conveniently leaving out the part that he was also given the same gift. That the same plague was bestowed upon him and that slowly he was turning into the things you killed with sympathy. 

He didn’t want you losing focus. 

“Interesting, that changes the game.” You started second guessing your choice in giving Ashley the Tylenol. “A cure?” 

“Not that I know of. I crossed paths with an ex-cop turned lab technician, or whatever, if anyone knows it’s probably him.” Leon said, trying to choke back another cough. 

“Did this mystery guy have a name?” You tread lightly with concern while Leon turned and coughed. 

“Luis Sera.” He managed to get out through the violent coughs that shook through his chest. Your hand found his back and you hit him lightly, encouraging him to cough up whatever was causing him trouble up. He could practically feel your questions with each gentle but firm hit. 

“You okay?” He shook his head as he turned away, covering his mouth with the fingerless gloves. The leather scent of them makes it harder to get a gasp of fresh air. 

Worry started to course through your bloodstream as you started to rub his back as soothingly as you could. “Leon-.” You were cut off as his coughing ceased just as quickly as it appeared. 

As he stood upright and pulled his hand away noting the faint color of red before wiping his hand on his pants. Playing it off by reaching for his gun, hoping to all things holy you didn’t see. 

You didn’t, your eyes stayed trained on his face. Looking for any sign that could slightly convince you it was just a fluke; maybe he was allergic to something in the barn that caused him to have a coughing fit. 

Whatever it was, it was enough to send you into a course of action, “We’ve gotta find Sera.” 

Leon just gave you a nod of approval while you turned to Ashley. He watched you tread lightly with a sense of urgency, that damn gut of yours. He closed his eyes tight as he began to feel dizzy. The walls of the barn started to close in while he just stood there trying to compose himself. Eyes still closed, his heart beat racing, his veins starting to show black under his skin. His head pounding, the room spinning, an unfriendly heat surging from his chest, to his feet, to his hands. His eyes opened, but he was  unable to see a thing; blinded by a deep red that faded to black. The only thing he could make out was a threat. 

“Ashley.” You called lightly trying to keep your concern below the surface, “I hate to break what you’re going through up, but we’ve got to move.” Ashley sniffed, before turning to you. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she looked better. Almost how you would expect her to look after crying if this had never happened to her, if an irreversible trauma hadn’t tainted her. 

“Okay, it’s okay. I’m ready.” She said with convection as she stood to meet you. Her blood ran cold when she saw a gun pointed at you with intent to kill. “Stop! Leon!” She shouted in desperation, signaling for you to duck. 

It was in the nick of time as you ducked, the sound of a bullet ringing through your ears; just barely missing the side of your head. You turned and stood upright quickly as you glared Leon down, “What the fuck was that-!” You damn near screamed at him before assessing the situation. You weren’t looking at the Leon you knew, you were looking at someone you had never seen before. “Ashley, hide.” You demanded, trying to keep your voice from wavering. 

Leon went to shoot again, but in a twist of luck  the gun harshly clicked. He was out of bullets and you needed to take advantage of the moment. Charging towards him you sent a harsh kick to his wrist while he reached for ammo with the other. The successful kick knocked the gun out of his hand, but he countered by grabbing your ankle. He yanked you by your leg closer to him, pulling you from the place you tried to plant yourself. 

You managed to break out of his tight grasp by swinging a punch towards his jaw. You stood on both feet while he turned with a pained hiss. When his gaze met yours a guttural growl escaped through gritted teeth. His chest puffed out, his jaw clenched, and his eyes clouded over. He was ready to fight. 

The sight struck the fear of God in you. It made you hesitate, it made you vulnerable; and he took advantage of it. He punched you damn near square in the face, holding nothing back. The force sent you stumbling backwards and seeing white. You kept yourself from falling by focusing on the white noise that rang through your ears. You couldn’t make that mistake again. 

You coughed trying to get some air as you saw him go for another hit. You blocked it and made a swipe for his legs. Trying to buy yourself time so you could figure out a way to de-escalate the situation. You were no match for Leon as far as hand to hand combat was concerned. You fought from a distance, you shot from a distance; foresight was your way of survival. 

As he fell to his knees you tried to put him into a chokehold, but the moment he found his footing you were off the ground. He flung you forcefully over his shoulders and onto solid ground. Your head pounded as you saw stars and swore that your skeleton was permanently imprinted into the ground. Your lungs struggled for air as he firmly pressed his forearm to your throat, straddling your hips. 

You squirm underneath him, kicking and thrashing, desperately searching for a way out. He grabbed his knife from its sheath on his chest. Tears beaded on your lower lashes as you used every ounce of strength in your body to push his solid forearm from your throat. 

His eye contact never faltered as he lifted his knife into the air; ready to take the final step and end this. 

“No! Don’t hurt her!” Ashley shouted causing him to falter. His grip on you loosening enough for you to move your head up enough to clamp your teeth into his flesh while you harshly thrusted upward to allow you some space to get away from him. You quickly tried to scurry away from him, but his attention quickly returned to you. He reaches for your leg and barely misses. You slip through his fingertips and the only thought on your mind is distance. You need to see this situation from a different perspective, it was your only chance. 

Quickly getting to your feet you finally reach for your gun. Despite the way your body shakes you hold the gun firmly, “Don’t make me do this, I don’t want to do this.” You plead, nearly falling to your knees, “Please.”

Leon just grunted as he stood upright, he was hesitant as he stared at you. You didn’t make a single movement thinking that he may have been blinded. Your voice reaches him, causing him to see glances of you between the vision of a monster. He was fighting a monster, he only saw a monster. It was trying to take Ashley, it was trying to take you. It was real, wasn’t it?

“Leon? Can you hear me? Can you see me?” You call out in a whimper you can’t hide. Lowering the gun you took a cautious step forward and then another seeing as he didn’t move. Ashley held her breath looking for anything to help her defend herself if this went south. 

“H-He’s got the virus…h-he can’t see a thing…” Her voice low as she slowly began to talk with a stutter full of fear, “I-I know, because I-I have it too…”

You couldn’t help but to wince, this whole thing was sideways in the worst way. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. You could feel your heartbeat in your head as you whispered, “I know, I know.” 

Leon stumbled backwards in confusion as time and his senses meld together as he threw a punch at nothing.

 He sees a large heavy set man, his head replaced with a red wet pulsating organ; long sharp appendages sprouting from his spine and wriggling with malintent. The man goes to attack, but Leon dodges slicing a appendage off with his knife in the process. 

Watching him fight nothing made your heart break. You didn’t know what to do, you didn’t know how to help. He was suffering and all you could do was watch. It made you sick and you had to change that. You had to help him. 

“You’ve had these outbursts? How long do they last?”

“They feel like hours…” She admitted, truthfully she had no idea. It was like a nightmare you couldn’t wake up from. 

“Okay,” you start trying not to lose your temper, “how do you get out of them?”

“I-I don’t know…I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, you’re okay. We’ll figure this out.” Your brain moves a hundred miles a minute as you try to connect the dots. You examine the room looking for an exit, running seeming like the only option. The only out was blocked though and boarded up by Leon only minutes before. 

Another way, there had to be another way. 

Your eyes find the table and your pack on the table. A lightbulb went off as you moved towards it slowly; careful to not alert Leon and keep him in the battle he was currently fighting. Quietly and carefully you pulled out a syringe filled with Amobarbital, a sedative that would send him to the ground. 

You tried not to shake as you started to explain your thought process to Ashley, “I’m going to corner and sedate him. If something goes wrong you need to hide until he comes to, okay? Careful though, don’t make any sudden movements, just stay as still as you can. If he leaves, do not follow.” 

Ashley nodded, finding a disregarded dumpster. She slowly moved towards it and climbed into it.

Her movements were gentle enough to not cause too much of a ruckus as you approached Leon from behind. As she reached for the lid, her palms sweaty and her hands shaking, she tried to pull it down. Crouching in the dumpster she almost made it until she slipped, letting go of the lid. A loud bang caused Leon to stop what he was doing and turned in the direction of the dumpster. Quick and powerful strides being made in her direction were quickly stopped when you started talking. Your tone is firm and demands attention. 

“Flesh and bone. That’s all you are, flesh and bone.” 

Leon turned sharply in your direction, cloudy eyes with the intent to kill. He charged at you with his knife pointing directly at your face. You dodged and he stumbled, but was quick to recover. 

“You remember that? That depressing conversation we had the night before we got here?” He went to throw a punch but you roughly kicked him in the chest sending him backwards. 

“What about the time you were so scared that you hurt me in training and you spent the rest of the night searching for my pulse?” You grunted planting your feet and punched him. You were pissed because this man was not the man that you had grown lovingly accustomed to. The man you had started to fall for. 

All Leon saw was a woman with a bloody knife who spewed memories from her throat. How could she have known that? There is no way she could have known that, but he fought regardless. With a broad stroke he knocked the side of her face with his own blade. 

You wouldn’t have noticed he hit you, if it wasn’t for the sting of your own blood rolling down your cheek. 

You successfully knocked the knife out of his hand as your other hand threw another punch to his jaw. You let out a small breath of shock before going to jab the syringe into his neck, but he caught your hand. He roughly pushed you backwards and against the wall. Your spine suffers as you let out a harsh wince of pain. 

“Fuck, Leon!” You try not to wail as his hand lets go of your fist and goes for your throat. Your free hand finds his wrist as his grip tightens. 

“How do you know that?” He barked the question with such intensity that it caused you to cower against him. “Where is she? What did you do?” 

“L-Leon…” You dryly strangle out, “Me. Look at me…” 

That woman’s voice turned to yours and slowly her features started to become yours. His grip around your throat loosening, starting to become unsure of what was reality. 

“Please…” you begged as you started learning to breathe again, “I know- I know it’s hazy.” You regained your grip on the syringe while the hand still attached to his wrist pushed forward. Your fingers find his index and middle finger and you pull them to your pulse, pressing firmly down so he could find it. So he could feel the pleading beats, identify the blood that coursed through your veins. 

You were pure and untampered and he started to see clearly. Glassy doe eyes peering into his eyes while his calloused fingertips felt the smoothness of your flesh. Your breath hitching in your throat as you saw particles of him returning. 

“(Y-Y/N)?” He stutters out, like a whimper still unsure, but questioning. You nodded and for a moment you thought you saw a light at the end of the tunnel. You were ready to fall to your knees and beg for forgiveness. 

But you always paid the price. The sound of wood breaking as a body slammed through the boarded up doorway. A tall, dark, greasy man stumbling through trying to catch his breath caused Leon’s grip on you to tighten. 

The oxygen leaves you quicker than it took you to breathe in. 

“Am I interrupting?” The man asked, causing Leon to lose his focus and you took advantage of the moment to stab the syringe harshly into his throat. Your thumb harshly pushing down on the plunger as you injected the sedative into his bloodstream. He let go of you, causing you to fall to your knees as harsh coughs rake through your chest. 

Leon sways slightly as he pulls the empty syringe from his neck. He blinks, the barn becoming clear to him now. Falling to his knees he looks at you, the utter terror on your face makes his blood run cold. Your wide eyes,  blood trailing from your cheek and down your neck, and the way your body trembles is the last thing he sees before he goes unconscious.

It takes a minute, but you crawl over to him and pull him into your lap. You find his pulse and he seems stable as you let out a shaky breath that you’ve been holding. You curl around him, tears pouring down your face as you try to keep yourself under control. The nightmare was over and you have never felt as sick as you did now. 

“Miss?” The man calls for you and you fist Leon’s shirt holding his body to yours before glaring daggers at the man.  

“Luis Sera?” You ask him, your voice low as it wryly escapes from dry lips. He saw all he needed to see to know that you were with Leon. 

“Sí.” He confirmed. 

“I need a cure.” 

———————————————————

Leon bumped shoulders with some agents, but he couldn’t care less as he ran down the hall and down the stairs. He was on his own mission and if he took a single moment you could be gone. His heart raced as he took the stairs to the final level of the building and out the side door. His eyes scan the dimly lit parking lot for your frame and he finds it against your car. He sees you reach for the door handle and he calls for you, “Hey!”

You are startled slightly, but you turn to look at him. You send him a warm smile and a little wave as he jogs to your side. Normally he’d send you warm regards back, but he was upset. 

“Slow your roll there, pretty boy. You’ve seen the way these people drive through this parking lot. Without a care in the world, granted I’m not one to talk.” You joke, your tone is light and airy. Your relaxed posture is a clear juxtaposition of his own.

“You’re transferring?” Your brows knitted together as your once small smile turned to a frown. 

“They told you, huh?” 

“They did.” His heart broke, having no choice but to believe it now that you confirmed it. 

“I was going to tell you over drinks this weekend.” You defend yourself with a shrug. 

“They also told me that you left out the barn incident in your debriefing.” An uncomfortable silence fell over the both of you as he looked at your bandaged cheek. He shut his eyes in pain, having trouble coming to terms with the fact that he could’ve killed someone he cared so deeply for. It was only a moment of relief though until the image of you so frightened of him appeared behind his eyelids. You were so scared, you were so scared of him. He shook it off with a deep breath as he opened his eyes, “If you’re leaving because of that, because of what I did, I swear to you that I will never work with you on a mission again.” 

Your eyes softened and you wanted to reach for him, but couldn’t. “Lee, no, that has nothing to do with the transfer. I trust you with my life.” 

It took everything in him to not wince at your words. How could you say that? How could you possibly mean that? After everything, you still genuinely trusted him. 

“Then why-?” 

“Because I felt like it was something they didn’t need to know the details of, so I wrote it off. Got in trouble for it, but they connected the dots from yours and Ashley’s reports. It’s all they needed.” 

“I…” He started, he had so much he wanted to say. He didn’t know where to start, he didn’t know how to handle this. “I don’t understand.” You just smile at him. His heart melted, but couldn’t bring himself to return your smile. 

“I don’t either.” You reassure him, “They’ve got a couple loose ends to tie up and they want me to finish the job, so I took the position. It’s only supposed to be temporary or did you even let them get that far before running out here?” 

He didn’t, he just left. Which he shouldn’t have, but hindsight was something he was still working on. A short laugh escaped him before admitting it to you, “No.”

You giggled as your hand went to cover your growing smile. You both soaked up this sense of normalcy for a minute, basking in the glow of each other. 

“You are something else, Kennedy.” 

“In a good or bad way?” His tone was flirtatious as he relaxed slightly. 

“A bit of both, just how I like it.” You gaze at him through half lidded eyes. He wanted to touch you, he wanted to pull you to his chest and kiss you so deeply that he would still linger on your lips as you drove home. 

He didn’t, as a fear of your rejection crept up his neck. He hasn’t laid a finger on you since you both had gotten back, not wanting to trigger your fight or flight reflexes. It was a miracle that you didn’t start running the opposite direction when you saw him. He’d let you come to him, he refused to force himself upon you. No matter how badly he needed to feel you. 

“When do you leave?” 

“Next week.” It hurt to finally confront, “Why? You want to throw me a going away party in the break room?” You joked, trying to cover up the pain in your voice. 

“Absolutely.” He said with a smile and you just rolled your eyes. 

“I’ll pass, but if you want to go out for drinks?” You ask, raising a brow. 

“Wouldn’t want it any other way.” He chuckled, his brain beginning to stumble over the word temporary. “How long is temporary, by the way?” 

“Hey, we have to have something to discuss over drinks.” You didn’t want to break it to him now that temporary meant almost two years. Your lips form a tight smile that didn’t fool him, but he understood. 

“Right.” An awkwardness starts to clog his throat, “You also didn’t mention Ada in your reports either.” 

You sighed, refusing to look at him as your stomach turned into an empty pit, “I’m afraid that’s another topic I’ll have to save until I have some alcohol in my system.” His brows knitted together and he sighed. Every conversation starter leads him to a dead end. Every excuse to spend more time with you coming up short. 

“I understand.” He didn’t, but he was willing to be patient. He owed you more than just his patience. 

“Listen, I’ve gotta get going. I’m meeting an old friend for dinner and breaking the transfer news to them as well. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” You go to open your car door and he just watches you run from him. Unable to move or speak as he prepares himself to wallow in the depression of your absence. 

“Tomorrow, Princess.” Your heart flutters at the nickname as you crack a smile. You get into the car and start the engine. You roll your window down and take a final look at him, your chest blossoming despite everything. 

“You still have stuff to do so don’t start something you can’t finish.” He smiles as you put the car in reverse and back out of your parking spot. “Goodnight, dear.” You shout from your window before rolling your window up and driving away from him. Leaving him in an empty parking lot while he waved you away. Leon let out a heavy sigh as his hands found their way into his pockets. 

His thoughts ran wild as he tried to think of a way to fix this.  

#Hayley writes a bit #romance #angst #writing romance #writing #leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy x y/n #hayley writes a bit #leon kennedy #resident evil #enjoy #resident evil x reader #resident evil fanfic #fanfiction #resident evil imagines #resident evil fanfiction #hope you are doing well #Have a good day and good night #Please stay hydrated #Please take good care of yourselves #Love you all #Also if you wanna listen to the song that kids sparked this #Listen to the summoning by sleep token #I’m in love

[leoleolovesdc]

I kinda wish hazbin hotel would acknowledge how different the experiences of the main cast are and how that may have shaped their different opinion on their current situation and the hotel as a whole. Angel is a sinner, he had a life once and now is just out there in hell doing his thing, alastor was also a human once but by becoming an overlord his life is necessarily completely different from angel’s, same thing with husk who used to be a overlord but is now trapped in a soul deal with an “old friend”. And thats only talking abt the sinners, bc when you remember that charlie is the literal princess of hell, never had to experience the human world and vaggie is an exorcist angel that killed demons for a living until the last three years of her life it gets even more divergent.

Angel may not faith or even care about the hotel because he had a life before this, he had his chance, he wasted it, he died and now is only there playing along with charlie — the girl who never had a life outside of this place, who sees it as a home rather than a purgatory — to run away from his boss because even after death he still manages to have a terrible life. In this vision this is just eternal punishment after all, it makes sense that it sucks. It’s supposed to.

Vaggie probably doesnt believe (or at least took a goddamn long while to) in the hotel due to her upbringing as an angel, she may love charlie but she was created with the knowledge that sinners are the scum of the scum and deserve to live as such. Maybe that’s why she treats everyone so poorly, maybe her vision of sinners as a former exorcist still haunts her every action even if she claims to have gotten over it.

And finally charlie, as i mentioned in angel’s section, never knew anything except hell. She was born and raised there as royalty, of course she wants to save her land and her people, but that’s rough when most of her people dont see this as their land, this is hell, why should they care to save it?

This is all such interesting character povs and idk if i felt like it was explored enough. Ik hazbin is not a psychological show but it would have been fire to see how all those characters have different stories and opinions on the story they are building now.

#hazbin hotel #charlie morningstar #angel dust #vaggie #husk #hazbin hotel husk #alastor #character analysis #txt post #textpost #analysis

[stormgardenscurse]

h ghe hheh,,, for the drabble/headcanon event,,, you are the villain of an otome game and you either die tragic deaths or suffer fates even worse in all the routes. you reincarnate one day with this knowledge and decide to change your destiny, whilst doing so you accidentally catch the interest of ace and deuce, two of the romanceable character, an they try to win your affection instead of the main heroine's

Event is still open for submissions here!

General things:

Since I do love my otome villainess manhwas, I’ll be basing this AU in a typical royalty setting!

You’ve played this game before, so you vaguely know the plot - but things are very different because you got isekaied before the canon game’s start point.

As such, the only logical thing to do is prepare for what will come next year, right? When your fate will truly be thrown into the hands of the storyline, and you’ll have to try your best to not end up dead.

Ace

No matter what world you were in, having money is one of the essentials if you plan to escape from the academy you’ll be enrolled in 1 year from now, where the game story starts to take place. You’ll need to pay for transport after all, and loose lips can only be sealed with an adequate amount of gold coins…

As the story’s villain, you do indeed have a wealthy noble background, however just relying on that won’t get you very far if you planned to survive on your own after running away. Thus the first thing you try to do is start connections within the merchant circle, and potentially expand to commissioning mercenaries.

Perhaps you could find one that’s skilled enough to be a hired bodyguard? That’d certainly be helpful in case one of the love interests tried to attack you to protect the protagonist… (Many things are up in the air at this point, so it can’t hurt to be flexible).

You’re exiting a tavern after a meeting when you bump into Ace - literally, as he pickpockets your pouch and walks away. If it wasn’t for the important magic trinket inside of it, you might not even have reached for said pouch to check if it was there and connected the dots, breaking into a chase after the thief.

You didn’t recognise Ace as himself at first (you didn’t manage to finish playing his route, though your friends loved to gush over him), and was surprised to find that he was the one that stole your belongings.

Suffice to say, by surprising Ace (calling out his brother’s name), you managed to tackle him to the ground and demand your items back.

Seeing as he didn’t just teleport away (a signature move he used to save the player once), you deduced that Ace hasn’t had his magic training yet, and seemed to be living as a thief before being found by his master? He was dressed well though, so you believed there might be more to the story than meets the eye.

What would your friends have called this… ah, a secret route? Or was it a DLC? Anyways, you supposed that finding out more about Ace wouldn’t hurt your survival prospects, thus you threw your pouch of coins back to him after you retrieved the most important item inside.

You’d frequent the city after all. If Ace is as curious as you remembered, you’d be meeting him many more times after this even without a contract or deal.

He’s surely wondering how you knew his brother of all people, and will only grow curiouser when his brother tells him he’s never heard of anyone like you~

Deuce

Honestly speaking, Deuce was one of your comfort faves when you played the game. So when you see sign-ups open for a knight apprenticeship that you recognised the name of, you’re quick to write your name onto the form with bated breath.

All you knew is that Deuce trained here under the same master. You weren’t sure if he was still here though since the storyline is only a year away - he might’ve graduated already and was preparing for the academy’s entrance exam.

You later learn that Deuce is your senior as you spot him during a training drill, and he surprises you by flashing you a friendly smile. When you’re practicing alone (modern muscles were not meant to train like this), he walks over and you think you can hear your heartbeat in your ears, only for the anticipation to shatter as he offers you a drink. 

Right. He doesn’t know who you are, and you’re in the villain’s body of all people - Deuce probably just wanted to say hi because he’s just that nice, not because you caught his eye or anything.

(You actually did catch his attention; you’re a member of higher nobility, but despite how you could easily afford private mentors you chose to train here instead. Deuce gives you the benefit of the doubt and assumes you’re hard-working, since why else would you be running drills even after your session ended?)

He sees a bit of himself in you (the desire to improve quickly), but advises you to not push yourself too hard since he’s hurt himself before by overworking his body. Yet when Deuce invites you to have lunch together with his friends something irks you at the back of your mind. Despite your better judgment, you let it slip from your mouth:

You ask him if he’s here out of pity, since it’s evident that your peers have been avoiding you in light of your gaps in status. It comes out coldly and causes surprise to flicker through Deuce’s eyes, but he’s quick to smile and shake his head instead.

That might’ve been the case a moment ago, but your words are catching his interest; you seem to have something else lingering on your mind despite standing before him, and Deuce somehow feels inclined to offer his company to you.

Strange, it’s as if he was talking to someone he met a long time ago… Must be his imagination, right?

Additional thoughts/comments are at the end of my tags, if you're curious!

Commissions are also open for September if anyone's interested in AU type things like these 👉👈 (might take 2-3 weeks to write though, depending on wordcount and how busy I am!)

#ace trappola x reader #ace trappola x you #twst ace x reader #deuce spade x reader #deuce spade x yuu #twst deuce x reader #twisted wonderland imagines #twst headcanons #twst x reader #twst reader insert #twst writing #twst scenarios #storm writings #okay so time to ramble #reader trying to appear like a villain to deuce at first because they!! think he’s being too careless approaching them like this #And their relationship with ace um… isn’t too friendly at first (allies at best) #but it gets better i swear #There’s trust and bonding despite how you’re sus for knowing stuff you shouldn’t #It’s great! Manhwa AUs are so fun

[dezz111]

Do Or Do Not, There is No Fighting Disney

((For context, I wrote this for class and decided to share it here.)

Ron DeSantis, take your L and do it well.

The LGBTQ+ community has been parked pretty with our bucket of caramel popcorn and Mickey Mouse pretzels. Because one does not simply go against Disney lawyers and expect to win. It is as simple as do not or do not. There is no try. And by the Magic Kingdom, did DeSantis try?

Pardon my glee, but this is up there with Trump being indicted and Stacy Plasket throwing back papers on national television. (Count your blessings, Elon. You were supposed to be on my chopping block this week.) Now I can understand if I’ve lost you like DeSantis did. But give me a second to give you all the details of the royal smackdown presented by the House of Mouse.

Now, as some of you may know, Florida has become something a…. What’s the word? Joke. And a terrible one at that. With a “man” like DeSantis in charge, the state has become the subject of more memes and episodes of The Daily Show than any other. The increasing bans on anything that will hurt a Karen’s feelings or call out a Ken on his bullshit are slowly lowering the state’s IQ. No one wants little Timmy to feel bad about history or come home asking his parents the hard questions, so it's easier to make sure he won't ask them in the first place. Because guilty consciences usually fight the hardest. And heaven forbid the people in charge of serving the people follow the proclamations of the good book that they so claim to follow and wield as a weapon of self-righteousness. For why would they love their neighbor who has no bearing or effect on their personal lives when they could just as easily let their blind hate lead them by the nose? Because heaven forbid that a rainbow, a symbol of peace, love, and acceptance be used for just that. Let’s simply ban it altogether.

Let’s make sure no one can say, Gay!

Heh. No. While I normally don't support multi-billion dollar corporations, I will gladly give Disney my vote when they inevitably run for President. Because Disney most definitely said, Gay.  Especially with the main character of their hit show, The Owl House, being openly bisexual with a lesbian girlfriend. Let’s not forget the married gay couple and the non-binary representation in the show. The company simply told Florida that they will stay in their self-governed lane and say, Gay. 

DeSantis took offense to this and decided to make Disney his new campaign promise. Because nothing screams competency and a desire to serve your eg- I mean the people like squaring up with the House of Mouse. Especially when you're pulling books like Maus off the shelves because you don't want to acknowledge your own hypocrisy. Now, I would like to point out that this was the moment when most of TikTok knew that he fucked up. Because everyone and their blind cat know that Disney lawyers are paid too much to lose. Ronny Boy thought he had one when he was able to take away Disney’s self-governing status and turned Reedy Creek over to his specially selected board (Swisher). The plan was to basically gain all the money and royalties they felt entitled to and make bank off of Disney. That is not what happened. 

Instead, Disney pulled out the biggest UNO reverse and slammed several draw four cards with an additional wild draw four card.

The board, and by extension Florida, has inherited Disney’s billion-dollar debt. Not only that, but the board has zero control over any of the entertainment mogul's intellectual property and has no right to make any changes to its parks until “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, King of England living as of the date of this Declaration.” (Cho). This means until the last of the British monarchy dies out, Florida cannot touch any of the characters of influence that DeSantis oh so desperately tried to put his fingers on without the most cutthroat lawyers known to mankind coming for his neck. Disney tied its fate to actual royalty in a power move that will be taught in law schools for decades to come. 

In the end, DeSantis fucked around and found out. And Disney said, “You’re welcome”.

Works Cited

Cho, W. (2023, March 30). Florida gov. Ron DeSantis' board outmaneuvered in wrangling 

over Disney Special District Control. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-desantis-

board-special-district-control-1235363643/

Gay, R. (2023, April 2). The Audacious Roundup. The Audacious Roundup - by Roxane 

Gay. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://audacity.substack.com/p/the-audacious-roundup

-469?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Gregg, A., Rozsa, L., & Pietsch, B. (2023, March 31). Disney quietly dodged DeSantis's 

Oversight Board, appointees realize. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/03/30/desantis-disney-world-board-loophole/

Swisher, S. (2023, March 31). DeSantis' Reedy Creek Board says Disney stripped its 

power. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.orlandosentinel.com/

news/os-ne-disney-new-reedy-creek-board-powerless-20230329-qalagcs4wjfe3iwkpzjsz2v4qm-story.html 

#disney #ron deathsantis #Political L

[ljf613]

OwlCrate Unboxed (01/24)

I just got my first @owlcrate box, and honestly, I wasn't really sure what to expect, or if this was really worth it-- I rarely spend more than $10 on a book, so the full charge of just one of these boxes (including shipping) definitely had me thinking twice. And what if, after all that, I didn't even like the book?

But one of the reasons I was willing to take a risk on this one was because the theme was clearly tailor-made for me specifically.

"Enchated to Meet You"? Regency-esque romance with magic and royalty? That soft, vintage aesthetic that I adore? Yes, please.

And I was not disappointed. While I still haven't read the book, so I can't say if I'll like it or not, what I can tell you is that before I even got particularly deep into the box, I already knew that the price I'd paid was more than worth it even without the book.

(To avoid spoilers, product images and reviews beneath the cut.)

First up, this canvas tote bag:

The design is based on a book called Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber. (It's on my to-read list, I'm just waiting for my hold to come in!) It's got a sweet, elfish woodland vibe going on-- I half-expect to see a tiny winged fairy peeking out from behind one of those toadstools. This bag is also has great functionality. I am always in need of a sturdy cloth bag to carry my books, and I am positive this is one I'll be getting a lot of use out of. The material is thick and durable, and it's wide and deep enough to easily hold at least half a dozen books without any stress. An all-around cute and useful item!

Next up, a reusable cleaning cloth:

The design is based on a book called Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. (I'd never heard of this book before, but it looks intriguing, so I suppose I'll add it to the list.) It's kind of generic, but I do like the colors. And it does look like the kind of thing that would be perfect for dusting my desk and bookshelves. It's probably my least favorite item in the box, but I don't hate it.

Moving on to the metal bookmark:

The design is inspired by Emily Wilde's Encylopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. (I just read it a few weeks ago, and the sequel is currently sitting on top of my dresser waithing for me to read it.) It's supposed to be Shadow, the dog belonging to the stories main character. However, my first thought upon seeing a large black dog in a forest, standing on a pile of skulls, was of Ruth from The Ancient Magus' Bride-- who just-so-happens to be one of my favorite characters ever. I hope no one minds if I continue to see it that way. (No hate to Shadow-- he's a good boy!) It's a very whimsical design and I like it a lot!

And now the coloring kit:

I definitely wasn't expecting this from a subscription book box, but I am absolutely not complaining. (I've been thinking I wanted to sit down with some colored pencils and coloring pages one of these days.) The quote on the left is from Pride & Prejudice (my beloved), the top-most is from Bridgerton (read the books and liked them well enough but have zero interest in watching the show), and the one on the right is from Outlander (I think that's a show based on some books, maybe I'll look into it one of these days). The quotes are lovely, I like the simple yet elegant floral designs, and I love the soft pastel color palette (and will absolutely be holding onto those pencils).

The last item (aside from the book) is the enamel pin:

The characters shown here are Sophie and Howl (+ Calcifer!) from Howl's Moving Castle (the book, not the movie, though I love them both!). I love enamel pins and happen to have a decent-sized collection, but I don't think I've ever seen a sliding design like this. This design is absolutely enchanting, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from this pin collection in future boxes. I included the envelope it came in because I think it's really cute, and it gives me some serious Violet Evergarden vibes. (The design on the backer card is also pretty! It's really evident that a lot of thought and care was put into every aspect of every item in this box.)

And, of course, there's the book:

This is A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft. I'm not going to take pictures of every single customization in this one, but suffice it to say that it looks really pretty and I'm hoping the story inside lives up to everything else in here.

All in all, I'm really happy with this box, and glad that I got it.

#owlcrate #enchanted to meet you #thoughts #product review #subscription box #i think i'm going to skip february's box because i just don't vibe with the 'treacherous love' aesthetic #but i'll do another review of whatever my next one is if y'all want #all queued up

[nokalatte]

To my fellow merms, with love

'But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.' 

With these somewhat somber words begins the live-action film The Little Mermaid. A much more tragic tone set for a film that originally swam colorfully and vibrantly into our hearts 34 years ago.  Within the first few minutes of the film opening -- it was clear this new take on the forbidden love story between man and mermaid would not disappoint.

I was born the year the original Disney animated film came out and I suppose that’s why so many grown women my age are convinced we are mermaids ourselves. The film is a part of the fabric of my life and as my partner says, it’s basically my religion. For that reason, I went into the theatre cautiously optimistic and I believe that’s why I left absolutely elated. 

I’ve always loved that the film begins above the water, before diving deep down to the ocean floor. While some criticize the film for it’s lack of lighting under the sea, I found it simply to be true of real life. A big reason humans like myself are called to the sea is the desire to be a part of what lurks beneath the surface; where fish have supernatural neon lights to navigate the darkness. Like Prince Eric, I am curious to discover the unknown, just as Ariel desires to go where she is forbidden. 

Ever since the first trailer came out, most of us knew Halle Bailey’s performance would move us. But her angelic voice and wide eyes filled with longing from scene to scene captured me in a way I didn’t expect. As she finished Part of Your World, I found tears streaming down my cheeks. I turned to my cousin (a fellow ‘89 baby) to find that she too was crying. We then immediately started laughing at ourselves. How could we be so emotional at a song we’ve heard thousands of times? Was it overwhelming nostalgia? The realization we could see ourselves in this character? The magic of Disney?? Call it what you want -- the fact remains we were overwhelmed with emotion. And I fully agreed with my cousin when she declared, “the rest of the movie could be crap and I wouldn’t care.  Because that was beautiful”. 

I’m pleased to say the rest of the film was NOT crap. Far from it. Though it’s about an hour longer than the original, nearly every new scene and piece of dialogue seemed to move the story forward and deepen the connection between our two main characters. 

While I could have done without Prince Eric’s solo ballad, to me, Jonah Hauer-King embodied the role perfectly. It’s as if Disney knew they were making this film as much for the adult women as they were for the young kids. The handsome, strong sailor who wants to do away with the boundaries between royalty and deck hands instantly had me hooked.  Through added dialogue between Eric and Grimsby, I could easily see what Ariel saw in him. 

The new song Ariel sings in her head as she’s suddenly among humans was a perfect addition to the story. It describes all the emotions running through her body; all the anxious excitement someone would feel when they finally make it where they longed to be. 

By far though, the best addition to the film is the discovery of Prince Eric’s whoseits and whatsits galore. The parallel between Ariel’s cave of collections from humans and Eric’s trove of treasures from under the sea was exactly what the animated version lacks: a deep soul connection between the two lovers. Ursula never stood a chance ;) 

Speaking of -- Melissa McCarthy does a fantastic job as our villain... but the actress playing human Ursula aka Vanessa -- Jessica Alexander knocks it OUT OF THE PARK! She’s only in the film for such a short time but she makes quite the splash. As the spell begins to unravel, her desperation and anger fully takes hold and I was actually a little scared!!

Though we don’t get the big wedding boat rainbow and sendoff in this version, we do get a much more independent Ariel. She’s the one who figures out how to teach the prince her name. She’s the one who ultimately takes down the villain and just like in the original, she’s the one who convinces her father that not all humans are bad. Breaking barriers for sea creatures and humans just as Halle has broken a barrier by being our first Ariel of color. 

I thought I would be much more upset by changes and the omission of lyrics in the classic songs like Kiss the Girl and Poor Unfortunate Souls; but to be honest, I barely even noticed them. I’m almost embarrassed to have questioned decisions made by the one and only Alan Menken. I can honestly say In Alan, I trust! 

And also -- in Grimsby I trust!! I’ll leave you with this new quote from Eric’s confidant that truly struck a chord in me. A motto I will likely continue to recall when I find myself struggling with a decision in matters of the heart:

“Don’t be held back by what you think should be. Think of only what is”

#thelittlemermaid #littlemermaid #littlemermaidliveaction #merms #mermaids #disneyliveaction #disneylittlemermaid #ariel #princeeric

[writerfae]

Hello 👉🏼👈🏼

I have two requests.

I would like a villain dump please and thank you. What are these babes motives?

I liked the German songs and the one about depression was really good. Decided it fits Lao, my oc. The others were super cool too, and I am very interested in what lyrics you associate with your characters.

Anyway. Those are my two thoughts with worldbuilding. And I hope you feel better!!

Hello! And thank you ☺️

Ohh yesss let’s talk about villains!

Though technically I have a whole villain group, if we are being honest there’s more or less two main villains. Morena and the Alderking. And Cameron, if you wanna count him, but he’s not really on a level with these two.

So let’s focus on the first two right now. One is a direct villain, causing the trouble but the other is an indirect one, a bad influence if you will. But the thing is, none of those two were really bad people. They were both corrupted.

Rook, the Alderking, was originally a good and committed husband, brother and king. But he was proud and overambitious. He wanted an ideal world, but as we all know everyone has a different picture of an ideal world in mind, so of course his ideas weren’t always approved of by his siblings.

In all his ambition to form the world like he thought it should be, he brought great changes to his kingdom (some good, some bad) but his own kingdom didn’t seem to be enough. With his siblings refusing to accept some of his ideas, he grew slightly unsatisfied with his life.

He just wanted to help them, to create a better world for them all, so why wouldn’t they understand? (Nevermind that he thought this can only be achieved if he takes over their reign / helps them with it because what’s so bad about this right? Win-win)

Of course The Shadow (the dark ancient force) saw its chance to jump on this unsatisfied king immediately and under its bad influence, the good intentions he started out with turned into greed. And that’s how he became the villain. Good intentions turned sour.

*

Morena, too, was always ambitious. Her goal wasn’t a better world though, it was a better life for herself. As youngest of four daughters of a man whose family used to be quite estimated but lost that status, her chances for that weren’t really that great.

They weren’t exactly a poor family, they had just enough for a comfortable life - and wine for her father to drown his sorrows in it. But for Morena, her life made her unhappy still.

So she got out. Worked hard to get a good education, to become a court lady, to befriend the queen, to catch the interest of a high lord. And then she got it, her better life. And for a while, it seemed to be enough.

But she grew restless again, as if she wasn’t done yet. And then she found out that her descendant was the Alderking. That her family is supposed to be royalty but was unjustly robbed of it.

And from then on she knew why she was so restless all the time. She set a new goal: to give her family back what they had lost, a life as royal family. And with the influence of her descendant whispering promises into her ear, she set up her plan to bring back the Alderking, for the family’s honor.

You see, the two are pretty similar. Both thought they were wronged by the world. Both wanted to fight for a good cause (a good world, a good life for your family - what we all dream of) but their selfishness and some dark forces got in the way.

I’m glad to hear you liked the songs! And you could even apply one to your oc? That’s so cool!

I gotta put this part under a cut, or this will be too long ^^

Now to the lyrics! I also added my fave lyrics of those songs as a bonus, haha.

Okay so I add a picture of each lyric (fave on the left, oc one on the right, click to see the whole thing xD) and loosely translate them for those who need it. Hope that’s not too confusing ^^

Tanz für mich - Provinz

Line that really speaks to me: “Who loves freedom loves loneliness”

Line that fits an oc: “And baby look after you, it’s way too easy. Don’t get into me, baby, or you might break.”

actually this doesn’t fit any canon oc but it does fit Talon and Aiden from the au I have for them that was sparked entirely by this song

it fits Talon telling Aiden that he’ll only end up breaking his heart to which Aiden responds that he can’t break what’s already shattered but oh well let’s not talk about this

Das Mädchen und der Tod - Oonagh

Line that really speaks to me: “Look at me and go ahead, my friend, I’ve lived long on this earth. Look at me and take me up with you, my friend. And so the girl goes with death.”

Line that fits an oc: “And as weak as her heart was beating, as strong was her courage to face life”

this is quite literally Aiden because he, too, was born with a weak heart but his will to life was so unyielding he survived even when no one thought he could

Mauern - LOTTE

Line that really speaks to me: “I stay with you. Because I know behind this loneliness, there’s someone I’ve loved since day one.”

Line that fits an oc: “You are trapped inside your skin, have build thousands of walls. It’s a labyrinth only you know. Every way leads in but not one out.”

this is Talon and his repressed feelings also the very first bit (trapped inside your own skin) is quite literally what happens to the Alderking so technically…

Sommer, Sonne, Depression - Madeline Juno

Line that really speaks to me: “It’s finally season to feel even more out of place then usual.”

Line that fits an oc: “The irony of being sad on the beach. You see the sun, I see the sunburn.”

again, sort of Talon. But also Maya when her anxiety hits

And finally there’d be Augen sind rot by Provinz, but since it has no fitting of lines and my fave lines are like… all of them I offer you a different song of theirs I recommended someone:

Neonlicht - Provinz (aka my fave German song)

Line that really speaks to me: “With all these lights and all these lights I can’t see the stars anymore.” (also later on: “With all this noise, how am I supposed to hear?)

Line that fits an oc: “With an open mouth I hang on your lips. Start believing all the nonsense, all of the nonsense.”

that’s definitely Morena. She started to believe what the ghost of the Alderking whispered to her, believe he was the only one who could help her

Oh that was lord of fun! I’m sorry it got so long but I hope you’ll like it. Thanks for your ask! :)

#writer speaks #writeblr #wip: the knights of the alder #writing #my writing

[luminecho]

Lucina Fire Emblem?

or idk if you have any fire emblem blorbos

if not just pretend this is a different blorbo name talk about what you want to :D

(Send me a character or multiple and I’ll give you a handful of songs I associate with them and why)

I've only JUST started playing Awakening for myself lol so I still don't know a whooole lot about very many of the characters and their personalities/stories aside from the main plot of the game itself but!!!!! I HAVE SOOO MANY LUCINA SONGS LOL and I have a few songs for some other characters / general Awakening stuff that I can drop as well <3

under the cut!

I've given a few songs for Lucina before, so you can gooo here for the explanations on Pompeii, Heirloom, and Bright & Early. But here's another!!

Daughter by Sleeping At Last is,,, I associate it with a lot of characters but the thought of this being a song that Lucina's parents sing to her when she's born makes me sooo soft. And the mentions of royalty and "this is your kingdom / this is your crown / this is your story" just make it perfect

If only you knew The sunlight shines a little brighter The weight of the world’s a little lighter The stars lean in a little closer All because of you I want to see You lift your chin a little higher Open your eyes a little wider Speak your mind a little louder 'Cause you are royalty

Welly Boots by The Amazing Devil. want a song to REALLY fuck you up? Welly Boots is literally about the loss of a parent but written from the perspective of the parent and it's hhhhooouuuggghhhh. I associate this song with a lot of characters as well but. The energy of it really matches Lucina. I feel like the whole song is her dealing with losing her parents as well as going back in time, seeing them again, and then almost losing them again

You'll say "I've been so scared You left me here behind, do you not care? How the fuck am I supposed to carry on without you here?" Just when you're about to give up every hope you have, you turn around Perched by the stairs, someone's gone and left behind A brand new pair of scarlet welly boots

Aaaand here's some songs for other characters as a bonus :3

From the Mouth of an Injured Head by Radical Face. amnesia song? amnesia song. Handing this to Robin and Morgan.

In my dreams I can hear a voice A call, a withering echo And it sings, it sings all-knowing words But ones I can't understand Here it goes again...

And I know that I miss you But I don't even know your name

In Our Bedroom After The War by Stars is one I associate with Fire Emblem in general because something about the healing and moving on after a war is,,, yeah.... yeah

We won, or we think we did When you went away, you were just a kid And if you lost it all, and you lost it Well, we'll still be there when your war is over Lift your head and look out the window Stay that way for the rest of the day and watch the time go Listen, the birds sing Listen, the bells ring All the living are dead, and the dead are all living The war is over and we are beginning

#answered echoes #anonymous #fire emblem #<- maintagging only for friends' blacklist purposes cause i dont have a personalized FE tag lol

[squipy-shippy]

Why do you stay?

A morgen x barb drabble

A/N: squipy it is 2 am and you just started simping over this character why are you already writing... uh pretty emo troll go brr anyways I can't write but I am gay soo yeah. Ugh I will be honest idk how to write barb so I'm so sorry if this is so out of character. Also this is before they started dating there in that were just friends stage.

Morgen was lying on Barb's bed she had oddly enough become friends with the stubborn rock troll despite their musical differences. One was a rebellious chaotic Rockstar who fought for what she believed was right and the other was a soft-spoken spoken gentle Broadway troll one who was too scared to speak out even if she knew she was being mistreated. Morgen the mint-colored troll was currently helping Barb write a new song when they had first met barb somehow convinced her to play one of her original songs and she was surprisingly good.

As the two tossed around ideas and spoke barb suddenly perked up her spiky red hair swaying as she did so "morgen can I ask you something" she asked with a smirk.

Morgen gave a simple nod before her eyes looking away as Barb asked what was supposed to be a simple question "Why are you so shy someone as talented as you and I should be royalty I mean I'm already but you you got something special so why don't you show it" she asked.

Morgen shuffled in the red guitar blanket she had been cuddling with while here she was hesitant to speak would Barb tease her or perhaps do the same as....she shook those thoughts away no she could trust Barb she was gentle with her and caring and cute and ho-she quickly shook that thought away blushing pink before speaking "well back home it's safer for me to stay in the shadows....our ruler well we call them our director is kinda biased it's always the same trolls for the main cast and if anyone where to challenge the director or there favorites" she stopped looking down and taking a breath before counting "as we say back home let's just say you won't be put on the cast list" she said with a sigh.

As Barb heard this she couldn't help but feel anger grow in her causing her to punch a wall making morgen flinch slightly "Sorry it's just UGH your culture is supposed to be for everyone there to enjoy that's like me only allowing 5 rock trolls to rock out what are the rest supposed to do!!!!" She said before taking a breath to try to calm down.

Morgen tried to interject saying it was fine but before she could barb grabbed her by the shoulders bringing them face to face their eyes meeting their noses touching "I want you to know this you deserve a chance to be in a spotlight and I'm going to give it to you oh ima" as she spoke morgen stopped her with a small chuckle "it's fine....I mean it's not but...I don't need it because even in the small roles I get as long as I can make someone smile, laugh or even just leave an impression on them" she placed a had on barbs shoulder before continuing "then I know I've done something right"

#self ship #selfshipping #self shipping #selfship #selfship writing #no one asked for this #but oh well

[witheringvoice]

So... I've been writing... I think i have five I'm "consistently" writing on right now... three I tend to touch and add onto... and two I'm actually focused on. Don't get me wrong, I probably have other stories in the works (I know I do :')...), but I want to focus on the ones I have ideas for and, well the ones I'm most passionate about. BUT I CAN'T DO THAT.... When I start another one. I blame finally watching Jujutsu Kaisen, it gave me an idea for a writing prompt I have in my writing prompt book and...It's all gonna go downhill from here lol.

I'm kidding, BUT COME ON! I can't- this sucks.

How about I talk about some of the stories I've written (some fan fiction, some aren't fanfiction but I use people/characters for character bases because I don't struggle with anything BUT visualizing and creating characters... To make the process faster- yeah-), only one has been completed sadly.

Let me start with the ones I'm working on at the moment, of course, starting with the one I'm most passionate about.

Under The Oak Tree (UTOT for short, for future reference):

So I was inspired by Butterfly Reign by SilentTeyz on ao3, to write a royalty and fantasy type of story, if that makes sense. It's not meant to be a fanfiction itself, but since I can't quite come up with my own characters very well (hence why a lot of my stories never get further than five or so pages...), I did use DSMP character bases, which probably doesn't make the story feel unique and more fanfiction-esque, but in my eyes, it's not. It's just the most efficient way to write my story. There's nothing wrong with writing fanfiction of course, I just have a history of being bullied for anything I enjoy doing soooo- yeah. Alright, the two main places are obviously, Esempi and Cinder Kingdom. Cinder, is a misnomer, I think I used that word right? Because Cinder Kingdom is basically a version of the Antarctic Empire. Anyways, my plots are very complicated, and I love adding a random twist that affects everything A LOT, and that will cause a lot of drama/angst/chaos, or it's a twist ending that someone might cry over because it ends up being angsty to some point or something, ya know? That's the way I write, which is funny because most of the time I hate sad endings. Anyway! So basically, the main character's mother, is what this plot is kinda- I'm bad at descriptions let me get into it. So long before mc was born, her name is Arabella Rose, so, long before Lady Arabella was born, her mother Lady Annabeth of the prestigious Hallow Halls was supposed to marry the Duke of Esempi Kingdom. Hallow Halls, was a prestigious place run by the Hallow family line, and it was a place in the palace. That family is one of the oldest of the ancestors of the lands, all of them, not just Esempi, have a lot of knowledge, magic, and languages, that have been lost to time. They are sorcerers, they are enchanters, they, however, are human. Their abilities are some of the strongest, and their knowledge is some of both the most dangerous, and most sought out. Their refuge was in Esempi, but when Lady Annabeth was eighteen, she was to be married to the Duke of Esempi. She refused and had to run away, fleeing to Cinder Kingdom. Why? Because that Duke, is a tyrant, he get's what he wants and if not, he destroys it himself. His glowing eyes, are not to be messed with. So she ran, and the tragedy of Hallow Halls, everyone in Esempi knew, was caused by the Duke, but no one could prove it, so it was assumed that no one survived, everyone died. That is not the case, however, because "Ann Rose" became the wife of Isaac Roth aka the most renowned blacksmith of Cinder Kingdom. He let her seek refuge with him, and they fell in love. Arabella Roth was born, and only the queen of Esempi and the queen of Cinder knew what truly happened to Lady Annabeth. Ann fell sick, and she died when Arabella was young, leaving her to tend to the blacksmith with her father, because she wanted nothing else, but to be the next biggest blacksmith, but not just of Cinder, but of all the land. She didn't care that she was a woman, and it would likely be looked down upon, she wanted to use the knowledge, that only she knew now, to the highest extent. Sadly for her, she had to flee Cinder like her mother fled Esempi because the Duke tracked her and her father down, through the means of magic. In hopes of not causing a war, since her father was under the protection of the king of Cinder, she fled to Esempi, where she found a massive oak tree in the forest, a very old one, with a big burrow residing under it. She decided to seek refuge there, and with the help of a scholar she befriended in the capital of Esempi, found a lovely home. Anyone who meets Arabella, tends to care for her. There's something about her, most want to protect her and shield her from the world, they can see the innocence, yet not ignorance she holds in her eyes. They see the pain, but she doesn't need protecting. And oh my god I'm so excited to write this story. The main story, aka, solving the Duke issue, won't be the main priority for most of the story, because she stumbles into a lot...LIMIT FUCK

#thoughts #random #original story

[critgoblin]

there’s been a lot of great dialogue about dorian’s trust me, imogen, and the choices he made in that scene given the context of his upbringing and the role he was expected to play as a prince. it’s all spot-on: dorian took control of the situation because that was all he knew how to do--the team was a mess, there was no clear plan or direction, and they were seconds away from getting caught. someone had to step in and force the plan forward, and dorian saw himself as the only person in a position to do that. he’s got the mindset of authority, he’s probably had a lot of experience and exposure to what someone of his status is supposed to do when things start to go wrong--there was no other choice he was going to make. 

but i want to add an element to this that really just touches on how brilliant dorian is as a character, and how brilliant robbie has been playing him. in order to do that though, we have to take a slight detour into the weeds of game mechanics. specifically, i want to talk a little bit about dorian’s class and how it shapes both the ways robbie plays him, and dorian’s role within the group.

bards are a versatile class. they have a wide variety of spells accessible to them with enormous potential both in and out of conflict. they’re pretty good at just about everything, and they are built to support and round out their party. those of you familiar with campaign one know that scanlan was a bard played more or less to his fullest extent--although he rarely got the HDYWTDT, he was an integral part of their strategy every battle simply because he could do so many things and because he was hyper-aware of what everyone else was doing. 

the thing about bards though, is that they are a support class. bards aren’t power-hitters like fighters (whose primary purpose is to inflict as much damage and to take as many hits as they can) and they aren’t glass cannons like sorcerers or rogues (who spend just as much time dealing damage as they do getting the fuck out of the way of it). bards aren’t meant to be the front-liners or the heroes or the battle masters, they aren’t meant to deal the killing blow. between their buffs and their heals and their insane catalogue of spells, bards are built to set up plays for other characters. they are supposed to create opportunities by warping the circumstances of the battle to their party’s advantage. the perfect example of this is in the battle with kevdak in the first campaign, when scanlan manages to decrease the damage of a blow, paralyze the opponent, and inspire a teammate within a turn and a half, thus unleashing a torrent of attacks (with advantage) from his teammates.

dorian is not a great bard. he’s faithful and he’s loyal and he’s done some cool shit, don’t get me wrong. but he’s not a very good bard. he is waaaaaay too willing to get in the way of major attacks, he panics in battle, and he tries too hard to do damage. this is not to say that robbie isn’t doing a good job--he is making dorian a bad bard on purpose. because dorian is trained to be a bad bard. he’s not trained to be a support character. he’s not trained to bide his time on the sidelines for the perfect opening. he’s not trained to set up the killing strike for orym or ashton or imogen. he’s trained to be a prince. he’s literally been trained his entire life to be the main character. he’s trained to do what royalty do, which is to save the day by killing the monster. 

which sucks, because that’s not what dorian’s good at, and it’s not even what dorian wants to be doing. 

the insane thing about dorian, the thing that makes me want to take robbie and shake him because he’s a fucking genius, is that dorian WANTS to be a really good bard. not because he’s a coward, not because he wants to keep himself out of the line of fire, but because he is motivated and driven by his friends. dorian doesn’t want the glory of winning the battle--he wants to keep his friends alive. he wants to be support, he wants to be their aid. he wants to be the solid ground beneath their feet keeping them steady. 

but his training is getting in the way. brontë isn’t supposed to choose the support play. brontë is supposed to be the arthurian knight. brontë is supposed to pull the sword out of the stone and be the new dawn’s light. brontë is supposed to take control of a terrible situation and fix it through brute force. 

do you see what i’m getting at, here? dorian’s been struggling with the dichotomy between identity and class this entire campaign. he’s been struggling to be the hero since ExU. and then his friends literally tell him to go for it. be brontë, they tell him. be our leader, they say as they throw him into the fire with six seconds to save the day. given everything, there was no other choice dorian could make. he shut imogen out not just because that’s what he’s been taught to do, but because that’s what his friends asked him to do. they told him to be brontë, and being brontë means throwing his duties as a bard - buffing, healing, support - out the window. no creating opportunities for others, he did what a good leader does: saw his chance and took it. 

#just thought the extra layer of game mechanics gives his choice even more validity #not because he made the right choice #but specifically because he made the wrong one #because that's what they ASKED from him #tell me this string of selves ends in light #otis talks cr meta #campaign three #cr meta #dorian storm #critical role

[twilightau]

We could have been, but we weren't; P.JS

main characters; prince!jay x undercover!reader

side character(s); crown prince!sunoo (mentioned)

genre; angst, fluff if you squint, romance, royalty au, strangers-to-friends-to-??

warnings; attempted murder, weapons

word count; 1.9k

summary;  in which you wish you had met him in another reality.

network; @kflixnet

author’s note; part two of The Dancing Princes​. let me know what you think~

song recommendations; the playlist

Prince Park Jongseong was quite the topic for daily rumors all across Decelia. He was written to be the topic of everyone’s favorite stories; handsome, tall, well-built, and a prince.

Unlike many of his friends and acquaintances, prince Jongseong, lovingly named Jay for his relaxed demeanor, was not ambitious for the crown. He wanted to live life first and worry about serious business later. He knew there was no room for mistakes once he became king, so why not make those mistakes now?

One of those mistakes was being a bit too much of a smooth talker. Although he had never made direct advances to any women, his way of speech style was gravely misunderstood, and the rumors of prince Park being a ladies’ man fired upright the following day.

That was one of the few times Jay received a good scolding from the queen, and he promised to be careful. And if eloquence was one of his defining traits, determinism is another. Ever since that event, Jay does not speak to any women aside from the queen.

You were the private tutor the queen requested for Jay since he had to resit his last year of high school. At first, you and Jay clashed a bit because of your differences; Jay was assertive to have you replaced by a male, and you were claiming him to be overreacting.

Let us say, the first few weeks, every corner you turned, you would see a mop of blond hair at the opposite end flashing by.

It made your job incredibly difficult. After all, you were supposed to get closer with the prince. Moreover, it frustrated you how the free-spirited, fearless prince seemed to have a phobia for women.

Fortunately, you are also a determined person.

One day you managed to catch the prince after a childish chase, cornering him in one of the many hallways while catching your breath.

“Your majesty, I understand your reluctance when interacting with women, but must you run at the sight of me?” you speak with frustration, unaware of close you are to the prince. Jay gulps at the proximity, not having been so close to a person in a long time. He tries to recollect his calm facade and walk away, but you slam your hand against the wall next to him, effectively stopping the startled prince.

“Miss Elise, please let me leave.” he addresses you with your fake name, which indicates he does know you are supposed to tutor him. He sports a distressed expression you could almost call cute if you weren’t so upset for having to run a mile or two.

“No. You have been ignoring me and your duty to graduate this year, your majesty.” Jay stops looking around the moment he accidentally looks into your eyes. It is the first time the two of you have proper eye contact, and he realizes how pretty your eyes are.

“Not a talker? That is fine. Just come to the study chamber tomorrow after breakfast; I beg you. I have to do my job properly, or I might get fired.” you play your pity card and internally smirk when you notice his guilty eyes. He still hasn’t said a word, but you see him nod his head ever so slightly, and a bright smile covers your face.

“Excellent, see you tomorrow, your majesty!” your over-enthusiasm wasn’t part of the act, but it sure makes Jay look forward to tomorrow the tiniest bit.

That following morning was awkward, to state the least; Jay still refused to speak to you, making you look up from the literature every single time to read his facial expressions. It almost convinced you that he might not be able to, but you knew how well the prince spoke just a few weeks ago when he spoke to the public.

It made it incredibly hard for you to get closer to the prince, let alone gather personal information.

Until one day, you arrived a little late to your tutor session with some freshly baked honey-filled pastries from town. Jay’s curious eyes silently stare at the pies the entirety of the session, making you smile a bit at your second breakthrough; he has a sweet tooth.

You decided walking to town every morning would not be so bad when he muttered a soft ‘thank you whenever you offered him one. The slight sparkle in his eyes whenever he tries new pastries might be a reason as well, but you convince yourself that it was majorly to earn his trust.

The process was slow, but indeed, you were taking down Jay’s walls. He started to make small comments on things you told him and sometimes even cracked a smile whenever you praised him for understanding a subject quickly. Sometimes, you let yourself slip and believe that you could build a genuine friendship with the prince, but every fortnight, the report in your hands proves that the two of you could never be.

The more you got to know Park Jay, the more you wished he would push you away like he did at first.

You wish he did not sneak looks at you when you pretend to do something else; you wish he would not accept every delicacy you offered; you wish he did not talk and joke with you like you are dear to him.

You wish you had failed this mission before it began. Hoping the progress will suddenly halt and your boss would send someone else to do the job, allowing you to protect him secretly. But wishes are precious because they only get fulfilled once in a while, and they decide not to fulfill yours.

Jay invites you to Kim Sunoo’s coronation on one of your afternoons strolls to the bakery. You try to wave off his invitation by stating you are too much of a commoner to be allowed in, but the stubborn prince keeps pushing you to come, and you are left with no choice.

That is how you found yourself in front of the doors leading to the ballroom in your gown. It was something far too expensive for you to wear, but Jay insisted he wanted to make it a special moment for you, and it pained you whenever you thought of his excitement.

Today was the day you had to end it all, and the dilemma in your head was killing you.

You try to merge with the crowd, talking with the daughter of the bakery owner you frequent. She was in charge of the banquet tonight, apparently recommended by Jay to the Kims. You smile at her rambles about the process of preparing for the coronation banquet but feel a presence right behind you that stops the two of you mid-conversation.

“You came.” His surprise was evident, and so was the happiness in his tone. You force yourself to turn around and plaster your well-trained fake smile on your face. “Of course, your majesty.” Jay leads you to the dance floor, effortlessly avoiding the other dancing pairs until you reach an empty spot.

You wait for Jay to speak up, but he only stares at you while the two of you waltz through the songs.

“Not a talker tonight, your majesty?” you tease him, noticing the rosy hue covering his cheeks at your words.

“I was just admiring the beauty in front of me, miss Elise.” the words make you flustered for a second, but reality regains its reins on your mind the moment your fake name leaves his mouth. It makes you feel sick.

“Your academic performance is improving, and you aren’t afraid to charm a woman anymore? I see you are aiming for that perfect prince charming title now, aren’t you?” Jay laughs at your words, loud enough for a few heads to turn your direction, but both of you can’t care less.

“I am only trying because I met someone I’m willing to settle with.” his reckless comment takes you by great surprise, and you accidentally step on his foot. You profusely apologize while Jay continues to laugh way too hard.

And the night continued like that, one song turned into three, and one dance session turned into five. It didn’t matter to both of you that there were places to be. Your presence in each other’s arms is worth more than any amount of treasures.

As love blossoms, your feet start to hurt. You bend down to rest your feet but stop your motion. You felt the presence of the little dagger strapped high against your thigh.

Oh. Right.

This was not your fairy tale. But, this was the story that will leave you heartbroken for the remains of your lifeline.

“You must be tired, my lady. Let me lead you to a more private place”, his arms finding their way around you in a natural way as if he had practiced the movement thousands of times.

The two of you walk in silence, the ballroom music fading into the background as your footsteps grow louder.

End it, now or never. The thought makes your vision blur with tears.

“Do your feet hurt that much, my lady?” Jay asks, worry evident in his mesmerizing voice. He stops you next to the fountain, moving up his hands to caress your cheeks.

“What is wrong? My lady, you must not scare me.” his brows furrow while he slips the shoes off your feet, checking how severe the blisters are. Your heart is only tearing further at the sight in front of you. I will never deserve this man.

“Your majesty, I am sorry. The perfection you wish for is far from who I am. I am a traitor.” your words leave your lips weakly, and your facade crumbles. I am ready to be truthful. “I am a traitor.”

“Do not speak of such ridiculous matters, my lady” he chuckles nervously, trying to act as if you didn’t just confess your crime to him. As if the two of you still had a chance. As if a relationship built on lies had a future.

You shake your head as you hold unto the dagger hidden in your sleeve. “Please, just walk away.”

“I love you, y/n,” he suddenly says, and you finally look him in the eyes, only to find the world’s saddest stars glistening in them. Don’t.

“You knew who I was, and you still let yourself fall for me?” you ask in disbelief. How could you be such a fool, Jongseong?

“Because it was you. I am not afraid to love you even if I might end up dead,” the prince states firmly, his hands going back to the place where they belong: around you. He pulls you into a hug as he lays his head on top of your head. You feel his tears on your skin and close your eyes to reminisce about all your time together. I’m sorry, I am not brave enough for you.

“But I am.” you croak, pushing the dagger to pierce through his clothing and skin, right into his chest. But I will always love you.

“It’s okay, y/n,” he says with his kindest smile, and you can’t bear to watch him fall, turning around to run away like you always have done.

Jay’s smile saddens, but he holds unto it. First, knowing his guard will soon search for him. And most importantly, knowing how much you love him, too.

The wound hurts a lot. But he will survive it perfectly fine, and he understands your actions speak louder than your words. Live a good life for me, please.

#enhypen scenarios #enhypen au #enhypen imagines #enhypen jay #kflixnet #enhypen #park jongseong #park jay #jay au #jongseong au #jay imagines #jay scenarios

[takalzuoom]

“𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫”

word count : 1.1 k

“What do you mean- I’m not your partner anymore”

“You know exactly what I mean Y/N. You’re not my partner anymore. you know what-“ you interrupted his excuse.

“Kisaki.” You snapped. Voice sharp as heads flicked over to your tall form.

“She will never look at you! Why can’t you understand that? She’s already been with him for two years!! give it up!” You begged, hands shooting out to grip his shoulders as your eyes pleaded with him.

You were panting. The pounds of makeup dripping down the side of your neck and into the crevices of your dress. The gel that held your hair in place stayed stone cold like you gaze.

He stayed quiet. Fists and jaw clenched as his eyes pierced your soul. Deep down he knew you were right. Of course he did, with the way they danced you’d think Takemichi hadn’t just started 2 years ago. But he did. And because of his big puppy dog eyes,sense of justice and determination; he was of course, the main character.

And like every main character he had an ensemble of characters to pick and choose from to help him.

Like Draken and Emma, who were hand picked by Eros, the god of sexuality to dance Latin.

Or Hakkai and Yuzuha who’ve been doing the quickstep since before they could walk.

Hell, even Koko and Akane. The picture perfect partners that did the foxtrot as graceful as a swan helped him out.

But why him? He’s a nobody! Nothing special!

And why Hina?

What made her so great?

It’s not fair.

It’s never fair.

All the work. All the blood, sweat and tears you’ve poured into this godforsaken sport and for what? Some novice to come and shoot your dreams down like a bird!?

I hate them. I hate the stupid ass heroes and their will to do everything! Why does it always work?

Why do they always get what they want even though I want it more? I trained longer! I have more skills!

So what did i do wrong to deserve this?

You were the black swan.

The villain.

And everyone knew with their cautious glances and hurried retreats. A part of you liked it.

The envious looks from followers, longing eyes following your form from leaders who only dreamed of dancing with you. To be you.

You were perfection.

A purebred who graced the halls with your presence as a single glimpse from you sent a person into overdrive with the amount of passion that seeped from your eyes.

Some say you cursed by Athena. Others say your first steps was the waltz. but they all agreed on one thing- that you were a stone cold dancer who demanded respect and attention on the floor.

The ideal.

The expection to the reality.

And that made you the bad guys the protagonists had to overcome to become the champions of the grand prix. Or whatever it is they wanted.

The two sides betting something foolish as their competitive levels spiked and all cards were on the table.

But compared to Hina and Takemichi, you were ironfisted royalty. Tyrannical even as with each step you thundered through the halls, hypnotizingthe masses as you danced.

The facade never fading as you were silent. Only talking to Kisaki when you deemed fit. You were a still a team nonetheless.

But Hina and Takemichi, they were the ones who had humble beginnings. The kind, selfless peasants who gave their last bread to a mother child on the streets. Gave smiles and a warm bed to anyone who needed one. They were people who never judged a book by it’s cover nor author…

You were supposed to be worlds apart- you were the best.

The champions of them all. Foxtrot, quickstep, tango, rumba. Hell, even the jive looked like a baby could do it when you both competed.

You were gods.

Hand crafted with the softest of touches from the perfect combination of water and clay, crafted by master clay makers and sculptuedbeith the softest of touches.

That fantasy shattering like snow on a silent winter day once you two started dancing.

His moves nothing but brutal as his dangerous lead whipped you around the floor elegantly. A trail of black and white feathers follow in your suit as the spotlight shown on only you. The whole nation. No. The world at your disposal as you took first place robotically.

You made kids eyes shimmer with awe and adults pride deflate as you danced the hurried steps of Latin. Or the graceful gliding of the Viennese waltz.

You were it.

But of course, as every story goes, your 5 year streak was broken. By a bunch of amateurs.

And what did they bet? It slipping your mind as your partners hand tightened around yours when you stepped onto the dance floor.

What was it…

Oh yeah! Your partnership with Kisaki!

And hey! Maybe this was a part of another one of his master plans to get Hina to finally dance with him. Even after she switched to her brother years ago. He was gonna dump you and go after a partnered couple because his obsession with her was never ceasing.

‘Oh I have to be a better lead for Hina.

Oh Hina would never do that.

Hina wouldn’t wear that, wear this instead’

It was always Hina.

Hina Hina Hina.

Well I don’t know about you. But i’m personally sick of Hina

“Actually. No Kisaki.”

You separated, propping a hand on your hip as your dress swayed angrily.

“No?’ He questioned with a raised brow.

“Yeah, no. ‘Cause you wanna know what Kisaki? I’m so tried of Hina this Hina that Hina this Hina Hina Hina.”

You mocked, free hand mimicking him as you stepped towards him dangerously.

“If you want Hina so badly, then just marry her!” You yelled, tears pricking your eyes as you quickly looked up to keep them at bay.

Your heart in a drumming competition with your head and ears as you could only hear yourself talk.

“I quit!”

You whipped away. Black and silver latin dress flipping him off when you snatched the second place trophy from the quivering judge.

“Find yourself a new partner!” You screamed.

The saunter of your hips and the click of your heels attracted the eyes of all.

It was silent.

The echoing throughout the hall was deafening as everyone looked. The long, heavy drag of death’s claws ripping down the spines of everyone in your way as you focused straight dead straight on the dressing room. Parting the crowd like Moses as they waited with bated breaths.

You didn't even see a camera flick as you stormed away. Like fireworks, they flashed across your face as the photographers stood to the side. The grumbling of curses is enough to give them a hint that you're not one to be trifled with.

The slam of the door brought them all to reality as they eerily began talking. Whispering through their teeth and batted eyes at the tyrannical downfall.

The air lifted as their hearts soared for just a millisecond

Hope ran through their blood and opportunity through their brains

They all thought the same thing.

𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧

master list

might just re-do this cause it’s not how i wanted it to come out :(

#kai…🌊 #takalzuoom #mikey tokyo revengers #mikey x reader #manjiro x y/n #emma sano #mikey sano #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers headcanons #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers chifuyu #chifuyu hcs #chifuyu x reader #baji keisuke #chifuyu matsuno #baji x reader #draken #draken x reader #izana #izana kurokawa #izana x reader #hakkai x reader #mitsuya headcanons #mitsuya x reader #anime x reader #kokonomi #inui seishu #inui x reader #takemichi hanagaki

[throughtheinterstices]

for the one who does not wear his heart on his sleeves (feat. oikawa tooru's onee-san)

❝ oikawa tooru does not wear his heart on his sleeves. oikawa toura, his older sister, knows this well. ❞

characters. oikawa toura, tooru’s onee-san; oikawa t. x fem!reader

genre. drama, comedy, slight romance

word count. 4.8k words

warnings. themes of teenage pregnancy

a/n. i wanted to delve a bit into tooru's character and thought, "who else would let us get to know him better than his older sister?" reblogs are appreciated. and as always, i’d be happy to hear your thoughts.

HAIKYUU MASTERLIST • AO3

及川 Oikawa reaching the river

Oikawa Tooru was not one to wear his heart on his sleeves. This didn’t stop girls from clinging on to them, however.

Oikawa Toura contemplated on this every time her younger brother got himself a girlfriend.

She figured that his handsome looks, good grades, athletic talent, and irresistible charm make up for it. (Not that she would ever admit it to her younger brother. Even then, Tooru wouldn’t be able to get all the credit. The Oikawa genes were impeccably attractive, so they all possessed the same assets anyway.)

The girls started to flock him when he was really young. Tooru was a cute and energetic kid. He was always running around with a volleyball that he loved to toss and a unique boyish charm that made him beguiling.

It was no wonder that his first grade classmate in elementary always lent Tooru her princess stickers-filled pencils whenever he “forgot” to bring his own, that Tooru weighed surprisingly heavier one time in elementary school because he always had extra to eat during meal times (courtesy of his third grade seatmate), that Tooru went home blushing one time during pre-school because a cute girl kissed him on the cheek. Toura, herself, was amused by his early puppy-love kind of escapades.

But as leaves changed color and as the siblings experienced more that life had to offer, Oikawa Toura found herself concerned about her brother. Tooru, as a kid, was a fluffy cinnamon roll that everyone wanted to devour. As a teenager, he was something else. He was growing well into the magnetic Oikawa looks, with the towering height, the playful grins, the captivating russet eyes. Partner it with his fastidious methods of fixing up, he was practically teenage royalty.

But as all teenagers were, it was easy for all the attention to get into his head. So Toura took it upon herself to keep him on his toes and to give him a few slaps back to reality.

-

“Ouch!” Tooru recoiled from his sister’s hand. “What was that for?”

“Stop acting like a superstar!” Toura hissed, her eyes molding into the famous Oikawa glare that she inherited from her mother. She sneaked a glance toward the flock of girls they passed by a second earlier. “You’re not only embarrassing me, you’re also embarrassing yourself!”

Tooru raised his hands in defense. “I was just waving! Is it so bad to be polite?”

“Being courteous and narcissistic are two different things!”

“Me? Narcissistic?” Tooru put a palm to his heart.

“Yeah! I’ve heard a few things about you lately!” Toura accused.

“Ya!” Tooru fished for his phone. “When did Iwa-chan become so talkative?”

Toura swiped his phone away in a flash. “You think Iwa’s the only one who notices your obnoxiousness? A lot of different people come to me just to put you in your place! Do them a favor and turn it down a bit, huh?”

Tooru huffed in disbelief. “You? Just who would do that? Everyone’s scared of you!”

Murder. That was what Toura was going to do. “What did you just say?”

-

Toura most often gave her brother tough love. It really couldn’t be avoided with a sibling as exasperating as Tooru. It was what his thick head needed. At first, the elder sister was frustrated whenever her brother would brush her off, would be so defensive, would grumble blatantly to the side, and sometimes would even run away at the very sight of his “nagging” sister.

Later on, these younger brother tendencies would put a knowing smile on Toura’s face. Toura thought that she would be forever pulling Tooru by the ear, yapping at him to “be nice” to his juniors or to “treat that girl well.” Apparently, forever was a bit too much. She realized this once during a phone call with her brother’s best friend.

-

“Iwa!” Toura called into her phone, as she exited her the room of her son, who was finishing his homework.

“Hai, onee-san!” the person on the other line coughed.

“How are you?” she chirped, entering the kitchen. “I heard you’re one of the main players for the team this year! Congratulations!”

Talking to Tooru’s friends was one of the joys of her life. When they first met her, she might have gone overboard with the fierce act and left them terrified. Through the years, they slowly got over it but she was still her mother’s daughter who inherited her temper. Tooru’s friends became witnesses to her losing it a couple of times so she couldn’t really blame them for being careful around her. Toura used their wariness to have fun once in a while.

“Ah, thank you very much,” Iwaizumi answered, brief and respectful.

Toura grinned, whipping out some strawberries from the fridge. “Iwa! You’re so polite, unlike some people I know!”

Iwaizumi hurried to reply. “Don’t worry, onee-san, Oikawa’s on his way home.”

Such loyal friends, Tooru. “Hmm? I didn’t ask for him.”

“But you were going to… right?” Iwaizumi’s hesitation was too adorable.

“Yes, sorry to bother you all the time, Iwa.” Toura tried to keep her tone sweet. “Let me just ask, is there a particular reason as to why this onee-san has to make excuses for her little brother’s lateness?”

If he was bullying the first years again…

“He’s helping the first years with their serves,” Iwaizumi said. “Sometimes with their spikes too.”

Huh. “Really?”

“Hai.”

“And how’s that been going so far?” Toura asked.

“Hmm… I can’t say really…” Iwaizumi said. “A few days of practice won’t really show much results but somehow the first years don’t seem too lost. Though sometimes they do seem irked by Oikawa’s stupid perso—”

The other line went silent.

Toura laughed. How cute.

“It’s okay, Iwa! I have firsthand experience with that stupid personality of his. Totally understandable.”

She could hear his breath of relief.

“Okaa-san!” Takeru’s voice echoed from the hall.

“I have to go, Iwa. I’ll cover for him but tell him he has to wash the dishes for two weeks.”

Toura hung up, shaking her head at the thought of her (not so) agitating brother.

-

Though Tooru put up a prickly front, deep down inside, Toura knew her brother always listened to the important things she said. With this, Toura was relieved. At the same time, she was concerned. Rivers looked shallow from those who viewed it from afar. A closer look would let people’s eyes see the depth of its waters. What Toura worried about was that people only saw her brother for the things that were skin deep. Worse, that they only loved him for these things.

Tooru was more than those. If only people looked a little closer and deeper.

冬麗 Toura winter, beautiful

Oikawa Tooru was not one to wear his heart on his sleeves. Oikawa Toura felt she was partly to blame.

-

She was eighteen, just about to enter college. It was the spring of life. New beginnings. New opportunities. Adversities would come her way. That was inevitable. She expected them to come like light rainfall, showering her days with just enough raindrops to make every color vibrant and with just enough trouble for her to appreciate the good and to grow steadily as she went. She was an Oikawa, adept with the woes of the water. She would conquer it just like she did all the other times, with the cutting russet eyes of her father and the fiery disposition of her mother.

At least, she was supposed to.

Spring was the season of new life. She was prepared for all of the changes that were coming, all except for the birth of the new life growing inside of her. Toura was eighteen when she found out she was pregnant with Takeru. Tooru was nine.

The light drizzle she was anticipating was nothing compared to the storms that came.

The strongest downpour surged one night in the kitchen of the Oikawa household. Lights all around the house were dimmed. Windows were shut. Doors were locked. Tooru was tucked impatiently to bed earlier than usual.

All throughout the night until the wee hours of the morning, the usual sanctuary of home-cooked meals and family banter became a cold court of trial. Eyes were bloodshot: Toura’s from crying, her mother’s from exhaustion, her father’s from anger. Hands were shaking: Toura’s from hopelessness, her mother’s from pity, her father’s from disappointment.

Toura had never seen her parents the way they were that night. Her mother was normally the raging one, with all the scathing beration and the matching fiery gaze. That time, it was her father, her typically sarcastic laid back father, who was blazing with fury.

By the early morning, all backs were slumped. All voices were hoarse.

As Toura crawled her way back into her room, she heard the hurried shutting of a door.

Tooru was awake.

At that time, Toura didn’t have the energy to dwell on it. She just dragged herself to bed and hoped to forget, even just for a while.

-

As much as her parents tried to act ordinarily, Tooru was an intelligent kid. He heard the raised voices at midnight when they thought he was asleep. He heard his sister’s muffled cries as she crawled her way back into her room. He noticed her carefully hidden swollen eyes in the morning. He saw through everyone’s strained smiles the weeks that followed.

Keeping true to his family name, as the river followed the path the soil has carved for it, he followed the flow that his family had created. He never questioned the changes that happened within their home and their family. Yet, he never remained idle either.

-

The season was spring. However, it had never been more winter for Oikawa Toura. The sun was still high and shining down on the secluded playground near the Oikawa household; even so, Toura had never been so cold. She was donning her favorite sweater and held tightly toward her father’s coat (for comfort or for warmth, she was not sure) but it was to no avail.

Toura was seated on a park bench, with a child blooming inside her womb and the father sitting beside her.

The “father.”

Among the excellent genes of the Oikawas were some not-so-pleasant ones, such as sarcasm or hot tempers (this comes from the mother’s side though). Stupidity was not one of them. Oikawa Toura could take a hint. Hints, to be more accurate.

After dropping the bomb on her boyfriend, after having a long crying session with him, after listening to all his promises of “we’re going to figure this out,” after seeing him off as he shipped himself to Tokyo and she stayed in Miyagi, after weeks of pruned text messages, and after complete utter silence in the end, Oikawa Toura knew that he did not want to be a “father.”

Toura sighed. “Just get to the point.”

She did not even turn to know that he had whirled around to face her. That was how much she knew him. Loved him.

Hell.

“I—can’t.” The crack in his voice broke her. Or maybe it was the meaning of his words. Or maybe, she had been long broken, way back from the moment he first chose to leave.

Well, this time, I’m the one leaving.

“Okay,” Toura whispered. It was the most difficult thing to do, to pull herself up and walk away from him.

“Wait—”

Toura halted. She almost turned back and buried herself in his arms.

If not for the whirling volleyball, the sound of the collision, and the groan.

She did pivot her head a bit, just enough to see her boyf—ex-boyfriend crumpled on the floor, his hands clutching at some very painful goods.

Before she could do anything, her hand was tugged by a familiar grasp and towed away from the scene.

Right there, Oikawa Tooru, with one arm clutching a volleyball tucked and the other on her sister, was walking briskly, a resolute look on his face.

Toura did not exactly know the right response. She had always been a slave to her emotions. She knew, because she was going to become a mother soon, she had to let this go, but to hell with it, there was still time.

“Hey,” she found herself saying. “Nice kill.”

Tooru swiveled in surprise. Just as quickly, irritation morphed in his features. “I was aiming for his head actually.”

“Well then, actually aim for what you hit next time.”

After a long while, Oikawa Toura found herself grinning.

-

At eighteen, Oikawa Toura had to face the consequences of her actions. She had to endure their relatives’ disappointment and mocking. She had to put up with the whispers around their town. Sendai’s golden girl was ruined. The girls who used to want to befriend her disappeared. The guys who ogled at her never looked at her again.

Spring, summer, and autumn all felt like winter to Toura. How symbolic. She finally lived up to her name.

Oikawa Toura. River. Winter.

What exactly happened to the river during winter? It went cold. Sometimes, it even froze. That was how she survived it all. Oikawa Toura chose to harden herself to everyone’s frigidity, to life’s cold harsh truth.

Tooru was aware of it all. At nine years old, he learned that if he showed vulnerability, he wouldn’t leave the battlefield intact. Especially in their world. If he showed his heart to the wrong people, he was bound to get hurt.

So at nine, Oikawa Tooru buried his heart deep within himself and only allowed a few people in.

徹 Tooru to go through, committing to one thing to the end

Oikawa Tooru was not one to wear his heart on his sleeves. His love was rare.

When it came to love, Tooru was one who used his head. He only gave his love to the people and the things that he knew would be worth it. This was why he revealed his heart only to a few chosen.

To his family: his nonchalant father, his fierce mother, his headstrong sister, his cute nephew.

To his close friends: his reliable Iwa-chan, his bright Makki, his good-natured Mattsun.

And of course, to volleyball.

However, even with all the preventive measures her younger brother had taken, Oikawa Toura knew that it could not protect him from heartbreak.

-

“I’m going to bed. Already ate.”

Toura watched as Tooru climbed the stairs with heavy feet, sagged shoulders, and defeated eyes.

She gave an inquiring look to their mother. “He got benched today. In their game with Shiratorizawa.”

“Oh,” Toura replied.

She heard her son’s light footsteps running towards the stairs. “Toowu! Toowu! Let’s pway!”

She caught Takeru before he managed to reach the second floor and shushed him. “Tooru-ojisan isn’t feeling well today, Takeru.”

Toura watched her son pout. She mussed his hair and said, “You can play with him tomorrow. Hopefully, he’ll be better by then.”

-

Toura was frantically scrolling through different contacts on her phone when Tooru came in and announced, “I’ll take Takeru to his volleyball lessons.”

His older sister stared at him, dumbfounded.

“On Monday, right?” Tooru said, rummaging through the fridge.

Toura was confused. “I thought your girlfriend was going to introduce you to her parents on Monday.”

“Nah,” Tooru answered, his fingers shifting back and forth from the banana milk to strawberry milk.

“What do you mean ‘nah?’ I thought you really liked this girl?” Toura said.

“Apparently, I liked volleyball more and she grew tired,” Tooru replied, finally getting his hands on the banana milk.

Toura scoffed. “Well, I never even liked her in the first place.”

“I know.” Tooru drilled his straw through his drink. “Don’t worry about Takeru, nee-san. I’ll take care of him.”

Tooru moved to leave the room. Toura called him back. “Oi. You okay?”

Her younger brother paused for half a second—half a second too long—before turning back. He waved his hand as if to disregard the entire thing. “Of course. Onee-san, I’m Oikawa Tooru.”

Toura rolled her eyes at her grinning brother. It was when Tooru left that his older sister felt more unsettled.

-

He was Oikawa Tooru. He tried to show everybody that he just brushed off his worries. He had inherited their father’s devil-may-care façade and his tendency to mask his problems by joking about them. But when he’s alone, Toura knew that Tooru took everything hard.

Toura wished she could spare her brother the pain because she knew how cruel life was. She knew she could not.

Oikawa Tooru was not one to wear his heart on his sleeves. Then you came along.

Out of all the girls Tooru had had, you were different. First of all, you weren’t even his girlfriend. You were just a friend. Someone who lashed out on him for punching a vending machine and later on, found your way into his inner circle.

Safe to say, Oikawa Toura was quite alarmed, skeptical, and just a little bit curious.

-

“So you mean to say that you really didn’t know who he was?” Toura asked you. The two of you were sitting beside the makeshift court on the backyard of the Oikawa household, watching Tooru and his friends play volleyball with Takeru.

You buried your head into your hands. “He told you?”

“Psh.” Matsukawa appeared in front of you. “Mr. I’m-Better-Than-Everyone-Here? Of course not!”

“I told her!” Hanamaki said, taking a swig of the tea you and Toura bought.

Toura held her palm up for a high five. Hanamaki eagerly returned it.

“Ya! My own friends! How could you?” Tooru barked, hurling a volleyball towards them.

Iwaizumi easily dodged it, choosing carefully among the pastries laid out. “How could we not?”

“Aww, was wittle Toowu’s pwide hurt?” Toura teased.

Tooru made a face and turned to his nephew.

“Look Takeru, this is not something you should copy from your mother!”

Toura retaliated, hugging her son close to her. “Takeru, unlike your oji-san, you should stay humble, okay?”

Takeru, used to her mother and uncle’s banter, wiggled free of his mother’s grasp, ignored the two of them, and dug into the pastries you bought.

Toura tried not to be hurt by her son’s actions and diverted her attention to you instead.

Resting her cheek against her palm, she asked, “How did the two of you actually, well, talk to each other then? I mean, YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHO HE WAS.” She added the emphasis just to irk her brother.

Effective. He was staring daggers at her.

Lifting your face from your hands, you answered, “Well, he was out punching vending machines by the gym—"

Toura wheeled towards Tooru’s direction. “You punched a vending machine?”

“I was having a bad day,” Tooru muttered, suddenly preoccupied with snacks.

Briefly, his gaze shifted to you. You looked back at him with sympathetic understanding.

Hmm…

-

Mornings were hectic in the Oikawa household. Everyone had somewhere they needed to be. Movement filled the house and a string of “ittekimassu” followed. On this particular Monday, the two siblings were the last to go.

As they were putting on their shoes, Toura was intrigued by the two bento boxes Tooru had packed.

“How hungry are you?” Toura remarked.

“The other one’s for the smart girl of the group,” Tooru said, standing up and fixing his hair in front of the mirror. “She’s too engrossed in her books that sometimes, she forgets to eat.”

Clicking her heels in place, Toura asked, “Just who is she to you, Tooru?”

Tooru’s hands froze. “What kind of question is that?”

Toura gave him a pointed look.

“She’s my best friend!”

“I thought Iwa was your best friend.”

“He is!” Tooru exclaimed. “This is different!”

“I’ll say!” Toura turned her back to him. “Ittekimasu!”

“Ya! Onee-san!”

-

Toura rushed into the halls of her former alma mater. Her steps quickened as she caught sight of the infirmary.

“How’s my brother?” Toura nearly shoved her face into the school nurse’s. “Will he still be able to play?”

This was Tooru’s second knee injury. It would excruciatingly break his heart if his volleyball dreams ended here.

“I can’t say,” the nurse said, breaking the news softly. “He needs to see a doctor first.”

Toura’s breath hitched. “Where is he?”

“In the other room.” The nurse pointed to the door of the adjoining room.

Toura nodded. She turned the knob slowly and quietly, just in case Tooru was asleep.

He wasn’t. Toura heard his muffled sobs before she saw your figure tightly holding on to her younger brother. His shoulders were shaking. It seemed like you were the only thing keeping him together.

“This is the one thing I’m good at!” Tooru cried. “Hard work! And even in this, I failed!”

“Shhh,” you say. “It’s not a failure. It’s a setback.”

“Yeah, right.” He pulled back from your embrace. “What if… What if this is the end for me? What if all those years of proving I’m worth something, of chasing after Ushiwaka, of outrunning Kageyama… What if it all just ends here?”

Toura remained before the door. She waited to hear what you would say. Personally, she didn’t know how to respond. How does one answer to that?

“Then let it end here,” you said. Toura gasped.

Tooru’s eyes bulged.

“Chasing Ushiwaka, beating Kageyama… Let that all end here. Why did you choose to play volleyball?”

Something dawned in Tooru. “I… love to play volleyball… Always have…”

“That’s right. You love volleyball. It sharpens your senses. It makes you feel alive. I’ve seen it. This is why you play volleyball.” Your voice was as unwavering as you gaze.

You softened. “It’s not going to end here, Tooru. No matter what happens, even if it takes millions of therapy sessions, I know and you know that you’re not going to let it end here.”

Toura carefully closed the door, not wanting to intrude in their intimate discussion. Before she did, she saw the change in her younger brother’s previously defeated expression. It was now hopeful.

She did not know what would happen next. Perhaps, hope was what he needed most. Toura felt most grateful for your presence in that moment.

-

The crowd screamed as one of Tooru’s serves reached Shiratorizawa’s side of the court unreceived. First set won by Aoba Jousai!

Toura joined them with her own set of cheers. “That’s my baby brother right there!”

Takeru pretended as if he wasn’t related to her. You erupted in laughter beside her.

Toura faced you, flashing you a broad smile.

“I think he heard you!” you shout, pointing to the scowl on Tooru’s face, evident even from the stands.

Toura stuck her tongue out at her brother. It was obvious where he got that from.

To add fuel to the fire, Toura gestured to his jersey and tilted her head towards you, as if to say, “So you gave her your jersey, huh?”

Tooru reddened and avoided his gaze, running uncharacteristically towards his teammates.

Toura smirked. Best friend my ass.

“I told him his hard work would pay off,” she heard you whisper. “He sells himself so short sometimes.”

Toura watched as you mumble things to yourself, touched by your affection towards her brother.

-

Out of all the girls that Tooru had had, you saw him for who he was, not for who he was trying to let everyone see. You weren’t starry-eyed for him. You didn’t let him off the hook from all of his pettiness and faults. Somehow, you inspired him to rise above his inferiorities and become better. Remarkably, you were able to let him break down all the barriers that he put up.

It was safe to say that out of all the girls that Tooru had had, you were the one his older sister liked best.

Oikawa Tooru was not one to wear his heart on his sleeves. Because he knew that love was pain.

“Tadaima,” Tooru called softly.

It was the night before his flight to Argentina. A few minutes ago, the Oikawa household was a boisterous place, filled with Oikawa relatives and Tooru’s teammates and friends. The clamor earlier was the opposite of the silence that echoed as Tooru slipped in.

“I’m here,” Toura called from the backyard.

“What are you doing here?” Tooru asked, taking a seat beside his onee-san.

Toura puckered her lips. “I was waiting for my favorite baby brother.”

“I’m your only brother,” Tooru pointed out. “And will you please stop it with the ‘baby?’ I’m an adult now! I’m even going to Argentina tomorrow.”

“I know.” Toura sighed. “Can’t you be my baby brother a bit longer? It feels like you’re running further and further away.”

Tooru was torn between repulsion and affection. “Who are you and what have you done to my monster onee-san?”

That earned him a smack.

“Just tell me you’re going to miss me,” Tooru said, rubbing the spot that his onee-san hit.

“Tch.” Toura rolled her eyes and diverted her gaze toward the makeshift court the two of them had built back when they were younger. How time flew. Now, he was off to play in bigger courts.

“So…” Toura started.

“So?” Tooru asked.

“I’m guessing, you’re still friends?”

“Hmm?”

“With the girl you walked home earlier, your best friend, the love of your life.” Toura raised her hands in exaggeration.

Tooru had a solemn look on his face. “I’m eighteen, onee-san. I don’t even know what love is.”

Right then and there, she caught a glimpse of the nine year-old fear that had been plaguing his heart. Toura always thought that people can only inherit things from their parents. Apparently, they can inherit things from their siblings too. Just like hand-me-down clothes worn out through time, Tooru had witnessed his elder sister’s experiences and acquired her pain.

Because of this, she knew he was mistaken. He knew too much about love. That love wasn’t just stolen kisses, first dates, holding hands, and smiles. It was pain too. It was the fear of not being enough, of being left behind.

It was true that love was anguish. But after nine years, Toura was able open her eyes to different aspects of love. She found it in her son’s laughter greeting her after a tiresome day. In her father’s jokes during tense moments. In her mother’s complaints about anything and everything. In her brother’s steadfastness especially when she needed it.

She saw it in the way Tooru looked at you.

“I doubt that,” Toura said.

“I doubt a lot of things,” Tooru replied.

“But never anything with her,” his elder sister said softly, looking at him in her periphery.

Tooru shook his head.

“You love her,” she said.

Tooru whispered, defeated. “I do.”

-

The next day brought a sense of déjà vu to Toura. She felt like she’s lived the scene before. A boy was leaving, off to chase his dreams. A girl was being left behind, to make do of what she had.

She had to remind herself that this was different. It was her brother, always keeping true to his name. He would go through everything life had to offer and he would commit to the things that he loved until the end. He was kind in his core, loyal to the ones he loved. He was not the scumbag who couldn’t make up his mind nine years ago.

It was you, the wisest and most understanding person Toura has ever met. You thought of everything carefully and thought of everyone deeply. You were not the naïve girl who acted impulsively and just hoped for the best.

“Just try and forget me, smart girl. I’ll come for you when you least expect it,” Toura heard her brother say.

Toura always felt the need to guard her brother from the world, especially after all the brutality that she has experienced. No matter how hard she tried, this was something she could never accomplish.

When it was time for Tooru to enter his gate, Tooru looked back, just once, just at you. You returned his gaze and offered an exaggerated smile. Tooru laughed.

This was the last image of himself that he left in the minds of those he loved before he left. You made that happen. Toura wished that you were there to make him laugh all the time, even when it was difficult for him.

So before the world shifted again, while you were still within Toura’s reach, she made a silent plea, an older sister’s prayer for her little brother—

“Oikawa Tooru was not one to wear his heart on his sleeves. But he had given you his heart. Please, keep it safe.”

—this is somehow related to my other oikawa fic HERE

HAIKYUU MASTERLIST • AO3 LINK

#haikyuu #oikawa x reader #oikawa tooru #oikawa tooru x fem!reader #oikawa tooru x y/n #oikawa tooru fic #oikawa fic #oikawa tooru x reader #oikawa tooru x you #haikyuu oikawa #oikawa x y/n #oikawa #aoba jousai

[fugamalefica]

Hey! I'm not really big into ships whatsoever when it comes to Harry Potter and rather ignorant of them. I like to indulge in the idea of a homosexual Tom Riddle, just as a bit of a shameless self-insertion, but I still think that's something he'd not even really act on whatsoever besides to manipulate someone. I really don't enjoy the concept of Tom x Harry though. As someone who I know has a distaste for it, would you mind explaining to me what exactly the appeal of it is to others? I feel like it's so out of character for Voldemort to do anything to Harry besides want to murder him. 😆 Thank-you for reading.

You're completely right! Tomarrymort fans insisting their ship is anything more than a crackship they can enjoy (nothing wrong with that) never fails to amuse me. I think Harry being Voldemort's 'horcrux', him being the main character, and people wanting to turn evil hot Tom Riddle 'good' is where that ship's appeal comes from. Harry and Voldemort are also supposed to be each other's foil.

They think their Horcrux connection would somehow connect them emotionally too, and that if Voldemort knew Harry was his Horcrux he would want to protect him. What I don't understand is why, even if that did happen, would 70 years old LV develop a romantic relationship with 19 years old Harry? Perhaps to manipulate him to keep his Horcrux safe? He would still never be able to even like Harry truly because they are as incompatible as two people can be. But I don't think he would risk having his soul in his enemy in the first place. According to Rowling, Harry's scar hurts because he is not a proper Horcrux and whenever Voldemort is close that piece of soul wants to rejoin him, which solves this problem because in that case it would be very easy to get that piece of soul out and then kill Harry.

Second, Voldemort would never want someone like Harry who has all his weaknesses that he wants to shed (being halfblood, being raised by Muggles, looking like his father) but none of his strengths. Harry is quite an average kid: in intelligence, magical ability, talent, willingness to learn. Voldemort acknowledges it several times and says he is nothing special, not even worth recruiting let alone becoming his boyfriend. Harry is very stuck in the concepts of good and evil which prevent him to think outside of the box, something Voldemort would hate. His nagging and moralistic nature would disgust Voldemort.

He is the anti-Bellatrix, who in the books is supposed to be the sole object of his affection. Curious, extremely intelligent, powerful magically, an aristocrat, not afraid of darkness, in fact, attracted to it as he is, an intellectual, basically royalty. She has all his strengths without his weaknesses, as she is Pureblood and an embodiment of his Cause itself.

Bella accepts him as the greatest wizard ever, appreciates the beauty of his darkness and 'justifies' his flaws (those that they really think of as flaws, like his blood status and childhood), which is why I think she was so outraged when Harry so casually mentioned his blood-status, not because she didn't know as people think. Lack of acceptance was what to me mainly made him want to rid himself of his humanity in the first place. And she? She wanted to learn from him, did learn from him. What an absolute honour that would have been for him, especially after Dumbledore's rejection.

Harry, on the other hand, pities him, which is perhaps the worst thing he would ever expect from anyone. That alone would be enough to earn him an Avada Kedavra, the expression of pity and the shame, the disgust, it would bring him, the sheer nakedness of it would pain him immensely. As does Harry's version of sacrificial love, that Voldemort never got, which he wanted to shed to completely dehumanise himself, and he did to an extent, if not for Bellatrix. Him saving her in the Department of Ministry sacrificially seemed to have been a huge blow, otherwise I doubt he would have completely separated himself from her for a while, which she insinuates in HBP. A parallel to what Dumbledore says he does by closing his mind to Harry after he feels his sacrificial love for Sirius while possessing him. It's very unlikely that was just for a prophecy.

#harry potter #voldemort #tom riddle #Tomarry #harrymort #Tomarrymort #bellamort #bellatrix lestrange #Bellatrix Black #analysis #ships #crackship #asks

[kaibutsushidousha]

If the v3 cast were Masters, which Servants would they summon who has the highest compatibility with them ?

Akamatsu and Amakusa

Amami and Nursery Rhyme

Iruma and Caligula

Ouma and Nightingale

Ki-bo and Kotarou

Gonta and Bedivere

Saihara and Arjuna

Shirogane and Gilgamesh (Caster)

Shinguuji and Medusa

Chabashira and Xuanzang

Toujou and Queen of Sheba

Harukawa and Jason

Hoshi and Dantes

Momota and Mandricardo

Yumeno and Nagiko

Angie and Douman

Explanations under the cut in case you're confused, because you probably are.

First off, Twitter people might be wondering why so many choices are different from what I chose for this thread. Obvious consideration for who is normally summonable aside, the main thing I kept in mind here is that compatibility summon comes in two flavors. Pattern A is a hero similar in nature to Master (Sakura and Medusa, Ryuunosuke and Gilles, etc), and Pattern B is the hero the Master needs for the personal struggles of their character arc (Pepe and Ash, Erice and Voyager, Elsa and Arash, Jinako and Karna, etc). Pattern B is always more interesting than Pattern A, so that's what I'm using for all my choices. Now let me go over them one by one.

1. I say things will be different from the thread and immediately break the promise with Akamatsu. Akamatsu relied a lot on Saihara's brain to build her plan, but their relationship was never one of mutual trust because she knew Saihara would agree to her harsher and more definitive methods. The hero Akamatsu needs is someone both competent and like-minded. Someone who shares her earnest will to save everyone and willingness to use more extreme methods for it. Amakusa is the Servant for her.

2. For Amami, I'll go with Nursery Rhyme. Much like Raikou got Nursery in the Heian Singularity's Imperial Grail War as the emotional crutch daughter figure she needed, Amami gets an emotional crutch little sister figure to help him reunite with the twelve he lost. This pair would be interesting because it'd subvert Nursery's usual MO of simply forcing others to reconnect with their inner child. The whole reason why he lost 12 sisters is that his passion for seafaring and exploration distracts him from what he's supposed to do. Her role as the villain of the Santa Nightingale event shows she can be harsh when children are being neglected, so Nursery would be the force pulling Amami back on track, but she'd have to balance that with allowing him to enjoy himself to preserve his childish love for adventure. He'd be a tough and delicate case for our Hero of Children.

3. The hero Iruma needs is... anyone who tolerates her, really. My first thought was Karna, but he's about finding value where no one else does, and Iruma has her share of undeniable value, so I think he isn't the best choice. Their pair would be a watered-down version of Jinako's pair anyways. Fate/ actually quite scarce of Servants defined by being all-tolerant because that's a trait they push more on Fujimaru, but two examples that come to mind are Romulus, the man who loved all of Rome (read: human civilization) in both its sins and achievements; and Caligula, the man who went crazy trying to do the same. Romulus is too OP to help Iruma tone down her ego, so I'll go with Caligula.

4. Ouma is a hard case. He needs someone he can absolutely trust and finding one of those is a huge challenge. The only ones Ouma has expressed full trust to were Gonta, because he was unquestionably good and weak-willed enough to never stray away from Ouma's instruction without asking first; and chapter 5 Momota, who was in circumstances so complicated that he wouldn't dare to throw away the chance Ouma's script offered. Ouma is the kind of paranoid control freak who would intentionally go for a Berserker because even the ones who speak are single-minded in a way that makes them easy to plan around. The alternative would be someone so like-minded in methods and standards that he'd probably hate them but still trust as someone who thinks the same way he would, but only BB fits that bill and she's not normally summonable. With that card off the table, the only options Ouma has left are Berserker he can trust to never kill anyone ever, and the only Zerk valuing life this much is Nightingale. BB's fellow nurse, amusingly enough.

5. Ki-bo would be offended with Alaya if he summoned a robot or homunculus just because he's a robot. And he also wishes for a partner that will treat him as an equal without denying what makes him different as a robot. In short, he needs a human Servant that is used to have normal relationships with robots. But Chen Gong or Red Hare because they're too evil, nor Orion because he's too crude. That leaves us with robot Danzou's human son, Fuuma Kotarou.

6. Gonta's wish is to become a true gentleman his human family can acknowledge, and for that, he needs the example of someone who is both well-mannered and of noble heart. Bedivere is an easy choice.

7. As I mentioned a few times before around 2017~18, I strongly think the best thing about Saihara is his interactions with Hoshi. Saihara is a guy feeling eternally guilty because he made one "good guy" murderer pay for his crime and he tries to make up for it by forcefully validating Hoshi's mass-murdering of the mafia. Then in Fate/, we have Arjuna, an all-around excellent man who adamantly believes himself to be evil because he did one dishonorable thing once. Saihara is the stubborn validating Master Arjuna needs to make him understand that he is not the monster he believes himself to be.

8. The first thing about Shirogane is that she really doesn't like reality, especially when it concerns herself. She can't muster any interest in the boring, plain girl she is or the boring, plain world she lives in, so she makes a hobby and a job out of becoming someone else, a larger-than-life figure in a fictional world. She loves all Danganronpa characters but expresses greater adoration towards Junko and Kamukura, the most unreal the series has produced. Enter Gilgamesh, the Hero King with the comically large ego and literally all Noble Phantasm to satiate Tsumugi's craving for a break from reality. That said, Gilgamesh has the recurring hobby of playing therapist to a Master disconnected from their own self and is the franchise's greatest symbol of the willing departure from the Age of Gods into the Age of Man. As much as he fits her tastes on a surface level, he's the guy who transitioned the flashy world of fantasy she dreams of into the plain world she hates, and he'll use most of his free time to the same on a personal level for her. The Caster version is being specifically picked because Archer has childish beef with modernity, and Caster is intentionally making his arsenal more limited and unimpressive, which is self-demonstrative of the points he wants to make to Shirogane.

9. One of his Free Time Events has him explaining why Medusa is his favorite myth, and I definitely can't claim to know this shit better than him. Deep emotional attachment to a story can net you a compatibility summon, as Kiara is there to show, and Shinguuji gets bonus points from how TM Medusa became a monster out of living her life for her sisters rather than for herself.

10. Cute and righteous female Buddhist mentor figure who does martial arts. What else could Chabashira ask for?

11. Toujou takes self-worth from serving big important people with utmost perfection, so she needs her Servant to be a king or similarly important leader. But she also needs it to be a support Caster so can properly invert the Master-Servant relationship and personally fight the enemy Servant for her king. The only characters in the middle of the Venn diagram of kings and support Casters are Medea and Sheba, and Medea wants nothing do with the royalty life anymore, so Sheba it is.

12. The role of the hero Harukawa needs is already properly fulfilled by Momota in the story, so I'll go with Jason because he shares all of Momota's strenghts and flaws. He's someone who'll force her to be part of a team, relentlessly encourage her break out of her shell, and have a shitty personality she can never fully respect, making the relationship balanced. And things would go even smoother with Jason because his summon comes with Atalante, who is someone Harukawa can easily relate to.

13. Hoshi needs someone who would assure him of his choices and make him comfortably reconnect with his past like he did with Saihara in his Free Time Events. As practically the face of the Avenger Class, Dantes defines himself as an ally and guardian to the ones who were wronged and lashed out in less than virtuous ways, so he's a perfect fit.

14. Momota is too aware of himself as the protagonist of his own story to want a hero. He would instead want a loyal sidekick or a like-minded rival. Voyager is a good sidekick option due to his fit with Momota's wish for greater adventure further beyond, and is a Servant Momota mentions in his Free Time Events, so there's the emotional connectional to his story there. For a rival, a big name adventurer like Drake or Odysseus could work, and so could a wandering warrior like Musashi. But there's one option that fits both roles: Mandricardo. Rica has the adventurer experience necessary to eventually compete with Momota, but also Saihara's level of self-esteem, allow him to start on the sidekick role until Momota pulls him out of it and shapes him into a proper rival.

15. Like with Harukawa, the role of hero Yumeno needs is already fulfilled by Chabashira in canon, so we know what she needs is someone with high energy and a deep understanding of emotions. And Fate/'s biggest connesieur of human emotion is none other than our Kiyohara no Nagiko.

16. Angie is a complicated case because she doesn't react well to being disobeyed. My first idea for someone with a functioning partnership with her is a knight, but knights generally work on the premise that their king is selfless and righteous, which Angie isn't. There are people like Lan Ling, Liangyu, the ninjas, Mori or Okita, who submit their lives to anyone's authority, but for that same reason, they wouldn't help Angie improve. What she really needs is someone good at feigning humility, like Limbo. He wouldn't have good intentions for her Master, but by manipulating situations out of her control without letting her feel like her divine words are being challenged, he can force some level of change on her mindset. It's better than nothing.

#danganronpa v3 #type moon #kaede akamatsu #rantarou amami #miu iruma #kokichi ouma #ki bo #gonta gokuhara #shuuichi saihara #tsumugi shirogane #korekiyo shinguuji #tenko chabashira #kirumi toujou #maki harukawa #ryouma hoshi #kaito momota #himiko yumeno #angie yonaga