#kind of neat to have her come to this spot in time - this fight which is to save dauds life - over and over again. its like replaying a

[cordeliawhohung]

When Your Blood Meets Mine - Part 2

Simon "Ghost" Riley x fem!Reader - part twelve of "soft spot"

it's growing.

warnings: talks of past trauma, medical trauma, medical worries

wc: 3.8k

It only got worse.

If it wasn’t the pain, then it was the fatigue, but on most days it was both. Despite the fact you spent most of your days at work doing nothing but sorting through paperwork and typing nonsense on your computer, it wasn’t uncommon for Simon to return home to find you asleep in bed or on the couch. You didn’t bother with any over the counter pain medicine because you knew from word of mouth it wouldn’t help. No amount of ibuprofen or tylenol could rid you of the ache that festered in your side, and you reminded yourself of that fact every day as your fingers poked at the scar tissue and lumps that plagued you. 

You thought of your mom often those days. You thought of her home cooked meals and her soft tone when she spoke to you. But no matter how hard you tried to think of the good days with her shattered smile and broken nails, you were always brought back to that hospital. Beeping machines became the lullaby that accompanied your mothers explanation about everything because even though you were an adult, you really were still just a kid, and you were scared like one, too. So she taught you about how the chemo worked, and how neat her PICC line was, but you remembered thinking it wasn’t neat at all. A port with twisting tubes that invaded her veins and rested close to her beating heart wasn’t neat. The only thing that should have been that close to her heart was you. 

Those memories haunted you both in your dreams and in consciousness. Not even Boo, who you found curling into your side as a purring mess more often than not, could distract you from the fact that something wasn’t right. One night, a dream twisted up a story in which your position had been replaced with your mothers, and yours with her. She took care of you while you were sick, just like a mother should. She coddled you when you couldn’t stop crying from the pain, and smoothed your hair over while you tried to eat. And yet, for some reason, she still died in the end even though she wasn’t the sick one that time around. 

When you woke up, all you could think about was Simon and how you didn’t want to put him through that. How you refused to put him through that. It was a special kind of torture watching someone waste away. There was no gun in the world powerful or precise enough for him to use that would cure you of whatever had gotten you sick. He would not be able to fight his way to a cure. 

“Want me to come with you?”

There he was, in front of your desk, eyes trained on you with a type of soft concern you hadn’t seen from him in years. Anxiety stained your workstation, and its stench had followed you around for the last few days, and you knew he had picked up on it. He always did, but it was especially difficult not to this time around. Over the days leading up to your appointment with your OBGYN, he had pulled your hand away from your scar so many times he had lost count, and you were often so lethargic when you woke up he had to help coax your body out of bed. It wasn’t his first time taking care of you, and it certainly wouldn’t be his last; he just wished it didn’t remind him so much of what you were like after you had gotten shot. 

“No, that’s okay,” you assured him. Your voice was calm, but your leg shook underneath your desk. “It’ll probably be a quick appointment anyway. No need to have you leave base for it.” 

“I don’t care about what anyone on base wants, I care about what you need,” he said, taking care to keep his voice quiet. 

Of course he would say that, because you learned that there was nothing in the world Simon Riley wouldn’t do for you. But really, you didn’t want him there for your appointment. He had seen plenty of you in a clinical setting before, and you weren’t sure if you could stomach him seeing you like that again. Though, something inside of you told you that you might not have a choice soon. 

“Simon,” you said, firmly but kind, “I don’t need you to come with me. I’m fine. I’ll be back in like, two hours.” 

He didn’t believe you, and you knew that. You were always an open book to him, and he often knew more about you than you did yourself half the time. Yet he didn’t challenge you, and instead he straightened up as he got ready to leave. He had a tendency to not stick around too long while the two of you were working, but you knew leaving you this time killed him a little inside. 

“Alright. I’ll see you in a bit, love,” he said in a near whisper. 

You smiled to stop your bottom lip from quivering. “See you in a bit.” 

Despite the fact that you and Simon only ever used the quietest of tones with one another while speaking on base, that didn’t quite save the two of you from prying eyes. While no one in your office ever really cared, or dared, to eavesdrop or pay any attention to the two of you, the same couldn’t be said to anyone who happened to pass by the door. Especially for Arlo Sallow, who was always on the lookout for anything entertaining, private or otherwise. His beady eyes had caught sight of both you and Simon in the office as he passed by on his way to the gym, and while he hadn’t heard a single bit of the conversation between the two of you, that didn’t stop him from talking. 

“Do you think that masked freak wants to fuck Mrs. Riley?” 

Aaron, who had been in the middle of doing lateral raises, nearly dropped his dumbbell at Arlo’s question. Wiping the sweat from his brow, the man looked over to his blunt friend with his mouth slightly open in surprise. 

“You talking about Ghost?” he clarified. 

“Sure,” Arlo replied with a shrug. 

Huffing, Aaron set his dumbbell back on the rack before he placed his hands on his hips, almost like a disappointed mother. He shook his head as his chest heaved with a sigh, and Arlo nearly rolled his eyes at his friends over dramatic reaction. 

“You can’t just say shit like that, mate,” he chastised. “You’re gonna get in trouble one of these days.” 

“Yeah? Think Ghost is gonna reprimand me for speaking my mind?” Arlo jeered as he emphasized the word Ghost as if to make fun of it. “He’s just a big guy in a mask, he doesn’t scare me.” 

“What about Mrs. Riley?” Aaron challenged. “I get you’ve got some sort of imaginary beef with the lieutenant, but she’s obviously married. Keep spouting shit and you’re gonna drag more than just him into this.” 

Shrugging, Arlo tapped his fingers against a few of the dumbbells as if they were drums. “Maybe he should keep that in mind. Doubt I’m the only one who thinks he’s got a thing for her. Poor thing, he’s probably jeopardizing her job.” 

“Whose job is jeopardized?” 

Both men stopped their chatting and turned around to face the sergeant that interrupted their rather unpleasant conversation, John MacTavish. Sweat soaked into the fabric of his shirt near his armpits and chest, and his mohawk was slicked back from the perspiration. Though he looked somewhat relaxed despite his workout, there was a certain glint in his eyes that showed that he heard more than what he let on. 

“Nothing, sir,” Aaron was quick to excuse, “Sallow’s just talking nonsense.” 

“Mrs. Riley,” Arlo said, apparently with little regard for his life. 

Surprised that the man would admit that fact so blatantly, Johnny raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest. “What about her?” 

“Her and Ghost seem awfully close,” he commented, digging his own grave.

Johnny tilted his head to the side in thought as he stared daggers through Arlo Sallow. There were several ways he could go about shutting down whatever was brewing in that bastard's mind, and telling him to shut up wasn’t going to cut it with a man like him. No, he knew his kind well, untamed beasts that often had no shame in tearing others down. So he was left with two options; intimidate him, or get him to respect you. 

Why not do both? 

“Makes sense after everything they’ve been through together,” Johnny said as if it was common knowledge. 

Confused yet curious, both Troopers glanced at one another. Arlo with some morbid curiosity, and Aaron with a blatant ‘I told you so’ look. 

“What do you mean?” Arlo pressed.

With a sigh, Johnny ran a hand over his damp hair, smoothing it down before he scratched at the back of his neck. Though he wasn’t taller than Arlo, he had both men beat on muscle mass and sheer size. He was older, more experienced, and despite the Trooper’s childish confidence, this wasn’t a battle he could win. 

“Mrs. Riley used to work as an intelligence agent. Very tech savvy, was really good at digging up intel that organizations wanted buried,” Johnny said, fabricating a story. “Damn good at her job. A little too good... You boys familiar with Mark Sizov?” 

While Arlo appeared just as bored as usual, Aaron’s eyes widened at the name. “He was a Russian terrorist, right? Some sort of splinter group created after Barkov was killed. He was executed a few months ago, wasn’t he?” 

Johnny answered him with a nod. “His men abducted Ghost during a mission gone wrong. Mrs. Riley was the one who found his location. They came for her after Ghost was rescued.” 

Lying so blatantly was necessary in order to really get Arlo off of your tail, yet it created a tension in the air Johnny didn’t really appreciate. It was as if the man was able to read right through him. Or, perhaps it only felt that way because the man hardly showed any other emotion than boredom or malicious curiosity. 

“They went after a civilian?” Aaron questioned. 

“They’d already killed hundreds by that point,” Johnny explained. 

“Civilians make for better bargaining chips,” Arlo added. 

Johnny looked at him with a glare. “That they do.” 

With a slight tilt of his head, Johnny took a few careful steps towards the men, though his eyes stayed trained on the most troublesome of the two. Arlo attempted to double down as the muscles in his jaw tensed, but he refused to waver. Still, nothing, not even his unfounded confidence, could save him from the fact he was clearly outranked. 

“My point here, Sallow, is that both Mrs. Riley and Ghost went through hell and back together. She’s a strong woman who’s recovered despite the horrors she’s witnessed. If I ever hear you spout bullshit like that ever again, I’ll ensure that you’ll be packing your bags by the end of the night,” Johnny threatened through gritted teeth. “She’s earned her place here. Don’t think that just because you’ve got your name on a badge and a uniform that means the same for you.” 

There were a million insults and vile things that bubbled in the back of Arlo’s throat. Johnny could see the man attempt to hold the bile at bay, but he wasn’t able to mask his glare. He obviously didn’t like being challenged, but he would be damned if your work life was put at risk because someone couldn’t keep their mouth shut. Besides, if he didn’t take the hint, there were plenty of other methods Johnny was more than willing to use in order to get his point across. 

“Understood, sir,” the man finally spoke. 

Once again, Johnny nodded something short and curt as he looked back and forth between the two Troopers. A part of him felt a little pity on Aaron for having made such a shitty friend, as he pegged Arlo as the type to not let relationships of any kind go so easily, but that was a battle for another day. Your image, your comfort, was the most important thing for him to accomplish. He had grown to see you like a sister, and he refused to just stand around idly while someone slandered you over what he could only assume was pathetic jealousy. 

“Good, because we won’t be having this conversation again,” he finished as he turned to leave. “As you were, gentlemen.” 

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

It had been a long while since you last found yourself in your OBGYN’s office. Any sort of clinical setting had always unsettled you ever since the death of your mother. Even in an environment as welcoming as a private clinic, the beeping of machines seemed to follow you, haunting you nearly as bad as her final breaths. Things only got worse after Adakskin had shot you, and it had been quite some time since you had last visited any sort of doctor because of it. The needles, the poking and prodding, the drugs; even the thought of it nearly had you melting down in the middle of the waiting room. But when the clinical assistant called your name, you were brought right back to reality, no matter how unpleasant it was. 

Something was wrong. Something had been wrong, and you were finally about to find out what. 

Everything that came next was something you were prepared for, as you had gone through it loads of times previously. Your height and weight were recorded before you were brought into a private room. A poorly padded examination table was shoved into the corner with the stirrups half folded up, and a gown and blanket laid waiting for you on the corner. Then came the vitals and questions. What is the reason for your visit? Notice anything unusual lately? All of which you answered truthfully. You were scared of dying. You were scared of the lumps that reminded you all too much of what your mother had dealt with. 

The easiest part of that whole appointment was the blood test and urine sample. A quick prick of your finger, and a cup full of piss later, and you were directed to completely undress and change into your gown to wait for the doctor. It was all so stale. The gown was stiff against your skin, and though the blanket smelled fresh, it wasn’t at all warm. It was as if everything good had been sucked out of the world due to your terror. Still, you sat there on the edge of the table, half naked and feeling small. 

Small. You were painfully reminded of the last time you felt such a way. Was it back on the beach in Salthouse? When Bukin had dragged you out there wearing his coat? When he had grabbed you and you had fallen into the sand, wishing Simon had been there to pick you up? Was it on the floor of that basement after Adakskin had beaten you to a pulp? Or maybe in that orchard when Simon had finally been able to hold you after so many months? You hated how your trauma seemed to weave together. The pain of your childhood had burrowed into the trauma of being abducted, and then even that had taken root in your present worries. It all meshed together to hold you tighter than that blanket in your lap could. 

A short knock on the door pulled you out of your thoughts and you glanced up just in time to watch as your doctor and her clinical assistant entered the room. She greeted you with a smile as if she was blissfully unaware of your exposed nature and she approached the side of the table as if ready to get down to business. 

“Hey, how’s it going?” she asked, her voice chipper. 

Silly, you thought. Doctors always asked that question even when they knew the answer.

“It’s going alright,” you responded with a sheepish smile. 

“Good, good,” she replied with a gentle bobbing of her head. “I understand we’re having some tenderness and pain in the breast area?”

Nodding, your hand instinctively reached up to hold the jagged tissue of your left breast. Really, it was more than just that. Between the fatigue and soreness, you had felt like nothing but a zombie for the last few weeks. Hell, you had even stopped wearing bras because the pain was near unbearable. But those questions would come in due time. 

“Why don’t you lay back for me? We’ll do a quick breast exam to check for any abnormalities,” she said as she gestured towards the table. 

Once you were settled as comfortably as you could get on a table as firm as that one, your doctor wasted no time getting to work. With your permission, she moved the cloth of your gown, revealing your bare breasts to the cold air of the examination room. It didn’t take her long for her movements to cease, and though you tried not to look at her while you were exposed the way you were, you knew exactly where her eyes had landed. 

“What happened here?” she asked, fingers ghosting over the ugly, puffy scar that afflicted your side. 

“I was shot,” you answered simply. 

Her silence almost made it seem like she didn’t believe you for a moment, and yet your own silence proved her suspicions wrong. With a tilt of her head, she visually examined your old wound yet didn’t make any effort to put any pressure on the area. The tension in your body alone already made the area feel like it throbbed. 

“Mind if I ask how you managed that?” she prompted. 

“It’s a long story but… we’ll just say it was a work hazard,” you said, bypassing her question. 

All she gave you in response was a hum, which you were grateful for, and then she truly got to work. She instructed you to move your arms over your head which stretched your breast tissue out to make for easier examination and access to your underarms. With the tips of her fingers, she began to poke in gentle circles around your left breast. No matter how light of a touch she used, the sheer achiness was overwhelming, and you found your face screwing tight from the pain. 

“I’m feeling a few small lumps here in line with your scar tissue,” she spoke after a moment. “It’s always difficult to tell through a physical exam, but it feels like fat necrosis.” 

Despite how uncomfortable you were in that moment, a small smile tugged at the corner of your lips. “My husband said the same thing.” 

“Smart man.” 

Your other breast wasn’t as painful, though it was still oddly uncomfortable as checked for any other lumps that could be lying elsewhere. Eventually, her hands left your skin and she instructed you to sit up where you were able to completely cover yourself with the gown once more. 

“Well, there definitely are a few small lumps there,” she concurred. “Your right breast was perfectly fine, no abnormalities, and as for your left the lumps seem to be in a perfect line with your scar tissue. I’m very confident that this is just fat necrosis. It’s very common for these cysts to form oil deposits and even calcify after trauma has been dealt to more fatty areas of the body. However, given your family history, I think it would be a good idea to get a biopsy, just to be safe. Perhaps put your mind at ease a little. We could even perform the biopsy today if you’d like?” 

There was something so relieving about her words that you nearly forgot all about the pain and discomfort that had been harbored in your body. A smile flooded your face as you nodded your head in agreement. 

“Sounds like a plan, I just…” You paused to sigh and you brought a hand to your face to rub at your eyes. “Sorry, the last few weeks have just been so stressful. I’ve just been in so much pain, I’ve been so sore and could hardly stay awake. I feared for the worst.” 

You expected more assurance from her. You wanted her to open her mouth and tell you that it was all normal, that pain was a part of the fat necrosis building in your body, that you were fatigued due to the stress, but she didn’t. Instead, when you pulled your hand away from your face, you were met with something of a somber look. Or maybe it wasn’t somber, was it pity? Whatever it was, it had your stomach dropping, and you could feel the color drain from your face. 

Of course. Nothing in your life had ever been so simple and easy before. 

“Pain and fatigue aren’t typical symptoms for fat necrosis,” she explained, “though I might have the answer to that as well.” 

There it was again. That small feeling. Nothing but a bug on an examination table. Stuck with a body that you seemed to know nothing about. Because if it wasn’t one thing, it was always another, and no matter what you always seemed to be in the dark. 

“We run a few routine tests of all of our patients to check for afflictions that may be the underlying cause of common issues,” she started. “For example, when your finger was pricked earlier for a small blood sample, that was to test for iron deficiencies. And, as you noticed, we test urine for things such as UTIs, sexually transmitted infections, things of that sort.”

Whatever she was trying to say, you wanted her to hurry up and spit it out all ready. Her explanation only prolonged you getting your proper answer, and you could feel your stomach churn with anticipation. But maybe this was her way of preparing you for it. It was never easy hearing unexpected news. Perhaps she did you a favor. 

“When we tested your urine today, it was flagged that you had strong traces of a hormone called hCG in your system,” she finally finished. 

With a dry throat, you looked up at her as your fingers began to pick at your gown. She said that as if you were supposed to know what that meant, and she looked at you expectantly. Instead, you shook your head as your brows drew together. “What’s that mean?” 

“It means you’re pregnant.”

@ghostlythots @archonsabyss @crowbird @beware-my-thorns @koko-1025 @nessaasstuff @escapefromrealitysm @ilovehyperfixating @babygirl-riley @theloneshadow24 @ashableketchup @violet-19999 @ocyeanic-dani @paigetaylor628 @curlygirls-world @gaebestie @datlilwrench @analyseeeesworld @ryisghost @suffering-and-happy-about-it @achelois-is-here @spookyscaryspoon @vampykween @tapioca-milktea1978 @perfectus-in-morte @comeonatmebruh @xxkay15xx @talooolaaloolla @astraluminaaa

#simon riley x reader #ghost x reader #simon ghost riley x reader #soft spot #f!reader

[oscconfessions]

super duper hot take but god. i wish candle was handled better.

i’ve grown out of disliking her outright and now just… kind of yearn for what could’ve been. iii tries it’s best to both be lighthearted and character-driven, but that balance is poorly maintained and ends up with poorly written slop that doesn’t succeed at either, making it boring and downright assassinating characters at times.

i’ll go into a few characters that i think have been turned into shadows of their former selves, had wasted potential, or otherwise just plain didn’t need to be there.

first of these is Yinyang. I am the #1 yinyang fan, i am literally dating a fictive of them in our system (🥜🪶 anon comes out as a system real), but the arc the writers gave them feels a bit… off to me. The whole point was that they have a very sibling-like relationship, no matter if you see them as siblings or not, and they argued a bunch because that’s what siblings do. But in iii, they toned that down to the point of their character being nothing but sappy moments of them accepting eachother and then moving on. There’s barely any arguments or squabbles, which was what made them interesting. People who understand eachother can still have petty fights it came free with your fucking opinions.

Onto one I that I think could’ve had potential, Candle. If you’ve seen me before, chances are you might’ve seen my rant on how much I dislike Candle. She barely has any flaws except for being bad at communication— something that pretty much every ii character has at this point. There’s nothing to make her stand out and she’s very clearly a big favorite of the writers. And because of that favoritism, they don’t really give her any negative spotlight besides the obvious. Her viewing relationships as purely transactional is brushed off and forgiven by the end, with her not really learning anything from it. But there’s actual, genuine potential for her to be good, and that’s what frustrates me the most. If they didn’t focus on everything being lighthearted and gave her a scene on her own, where she thinks to herself and we get to see how she acts when she’s alone, i would consider that a win. Let her have flaws, and let her grieve over past mistakes. I don’t hate her, I just wish she was more.

And onto our final two, we have characters that straight up shouldn’t have been there at all! Starting with Box. I know Box was voted in as a joke— but to be honest it shouldn’t have even been on the poll at all. That’s not a contestant. That’s a gag that got tired and boring after the first few episodes. Someone else could’ve been given that spot— like Pickle or Mic or whoever else was on the poll without getting in. Box is a fundamentally bad character, and should not have been a contestant whatsoever.

Now, for the last one, is something that people may find a bit controversial. Bot should not exist. I like Bot— I really do. I think they’re neat. But they should not be here whatsoever. Bow is dead. She should not have been allowed to be in season 3. Even if it’s not exactly her, it’s still very clearly supposed to look like her. Let Bow rest. Make someone else take the spotlight for once. Have one of the least popular characters sneak onto the boat. Salt and Pepper literally WOULD DO THAT. Why would you have Bow show up AGAIN instead of actually putting in the effort to make your least likable characters learn to be better? Oh, I know why! You don’t actually care about storytelling and you just wanted to dangle the audience’s favorite characters in front of them so that they’d excuse you not working on the thing you’ve been promising for years! LET BOW REST. Actually put in the effort to make people care about characters they used to hate.

Sorry this was long and rant-y, I just. have a lot of gripes with ii it makes me so so angry

-🥜🪶 Anon

.

#confession #/ii #/ii/candle #/ii/yinyang #/ii/box #/ii/bot #/ii/bow #ii neg

[blakeswritingimagines]

Being best friends with Enid Sinclair would include

The two of you are very close almost so that everyone thinks your dating each other, never clearing any of the rumors up but also never actually acting like a couple which makes you both laugh.

Never really get into fights with each other but making sure the other always knows and understands that you’ll fight anyone for each other, Enid made it very clear when you both were still newly friends that she’d fight anyone until her last breath for you.

Helping her touch up her hair which always ends in a mess especially if you also have dyed hair which Enid begs to help with which also ends in a mess and you both covered in dye.

Telling each other everything that goes on in your lives, from school to dating or even gossip that Enid knows and isn’t meant to tell everyone but feels that you don’t count since your her best friend.

Enid tries her best to help with any and all of your problems and since she’s normally carefree you try to help her before and after all her wolf problems.

Regardless of what kind of jokes you like you’ll be hearing tons of dad jokes, puns, knock knock jokes, anything Enid comes up with and thinks is funny you’ll be the first to hear it.

Getting use to all different kinds of touches from Enid much like: Holding hands, Hugging, Her leaning on you, Friendly kisses, Cuddling, Sitting on each other’s laps.

Enid doesn’t have a set love language with her friends since she understands everyone is different, She jumps at the chance to help you or do something for you, Hold you when you need it, Her giving you nothing but kind words and praise you when she thinks you’ve done well, and finding neat little gifts for you that she makes sure is personable.

Going out into town for hang out dates and finding new things to do, Living with each other when your both older and still finding new things to do and so far her favorite is a car cafe.

Once Wednesday starts going to Nevermore as much as she dislikes it she just got two new friends that radiate big dog energy, She lets both you and Enid have the only soft spots in her life while never telling you either a thing about it.

Teasing each other about anything and poking fun at Enid’s and Wednesday’s own friendship that they seem closer which Enid always makes sure you know is not true since she doesn’t want you jealous.

Doing different hobbies and extra curricular activities together then soon enough even making your own club and letting Enid pick the theme and name for it.

Sharing each other’s clothes no matter what you dress like, She loves wearing your clothes and trying something new while feeling giddy when she sees you wearing hers.

Dealing with any jokes that come from wearing Enid’s handmade jewelry but never taking it off and even making her some in return.

Using a buddy system during school functions, Poe cup, The whole hyde thing and just helping each other or keeping the other sane and safe.

Enid makes you help her bake new things even if it comes out ruined because she got overzealous with trying new flavors, Having dance parties in her dorm room no matter how dorky you both look, Blindly painting each other then hanging it up proudly.

Always texting, calling, face timing, writing each other when your both back at home during holidays and such just to keep the other up to date and because you’ve never had to go so long without the other.

Everyone knowing where one of you is the other isn’t too far behind and after a while in your friendship hearing you both before seeing you.

Celebrating everything no matter how big or small is may seem, Your birthday? Enid ordered a bounce house and the whole school, Another year of being friends? You both make a time capsule to come back to in 10 years, Everything is important from now to when your both adults.

Saying i love you when your more comfortable even though Enid has been saying it since she pretty much first met you but everytime is a big deal to her.

#enid x reader #enid sinclair x reader #Enid sinclair headcanons #enid sinclair #wednesday hcs #wednesday headcanons #being best friends would include

[hinasakuino]

“You’re on my mind tonight…”

Nanami x Reader :) the one where Nanami falls in love with the bartender :)

Tags: @justmyownreality

Warnings: 18+ Minors dni :) Fem Embodied reader, dirty talk, oral (Fem receiving) Fingering, unprotected sex (vaginal penetration) aftercare with a pinch of fluff lol

10.3k of self indulgent Nanami Fantasy…you’re welcome :)

Nanami checked the time, it was almost one in the morning, the bar was clearing out, only the regulars such as himself lingered. It didn’t close till 3am but Nanami was determined tonight, he hadn’t seen you at all but something kept him glued to his spot, made him order another Bourbon Neat, and wait.

Ten minutes go by, he checks his phone, and pulls out his card to close out his tab. The bartender smiles when she sees the black card, she takes it and swipes it quickly, walking back with the receipts and a pen for him to sign.

“She doesn’t work until next Tuesday, her schedule is really weird but I know who you’re looking for,” The bartender says with a wink, she smiles at him, warm and friendly, Nanami chuckles back politely.

“It seems as if I’ve been found out,” He says with a shy smile. He looks away and chuckles lightly, slightly embarrassed that he’s been caught.

“Yeah well, pretty sure she likes you too, or the tips could be the tips you give her,” Nanami squints to read her name tag, he scribbles out his signature and then opens his wallet, placing two hundred dollar bills on the tray and sliding it to her.

“Thank you Nobara, you make a mean Bourbon,” He tosses the last of the drink back and stands, fixing the jacket of his suit, he hears her laughing and muttering about the tip and chuckles on his way out.

Nanami Kento was smitten, head over heels in love? Lust? He wasn’t sure but ever since he started coming to the Star Metro after late nights at the office, and was met with your bubbly personality and comforting smile, he knew he had to have you. What was supposed to be a one time visit turned into an almost obsession for Nanami, normally he can admit when he finds someone attractive and move on but he was drawn to you, almost as if you cast a spell and reeled him in because no matter what he always found himself thinking about something funny you’d say in passing the night before or if your hair was styled differently, what your scent of the night was, he sighs to himself just picturing the vanilla floating by as you tended to the patrons, you always made sure whatever he ordered was out first whether it’s food from the kitchen, or a drink you always took care of him, which is why he started taking care of you.

The first time he tipped over $100 had purely been an accident but after seeing the smile spread across your face & overhearing that you’d finally pay rent on time after being just under $100 short, he soon upped the ante, $100 turned into $200 turned into $300 until he found himself signing off on $500 every other night. He shakes his head as he heads back to his condo, thoughts of you still on his mind.

He knows he could’ve easily asked for some kind of contact information from Nobara but he wasn’t entirely sure she’d have given it to you, so he soaks in a hot bath, staring up at the ceiling praying that the time from now to next Tuesday speeds up.

*****

Nanami hadn’t been back to the Star Metro since that Thursday. It’s was now the start of a new week and after completing a grueling project, Satoru suggested he and the other coworkers come out to celebrate, Nanami normally would be excited but the place they ended up settling on was his sacred bar, Utahime had suggested it since they walk pass it damn near everyday whether they were leaving the office or going to it, Nanami tried to fight tooth and nail for them to pick a different place, but majority ruled and he found himself dreadingthe days end. It’s not that he didn’t want to see you, but he knew Satoru and Suguru were always placing bets on how many numbers they could get in one night and then that turned to seeing if they could pick up what they deemed the hottest chick at the bar, unfortunately you fell into the category and he wasn’t willing to share his special gem. So he sat and listened to the three of his coworkers bicker about whatever subject they moved onto, he drank his coffee and stepped out of the breakroom and headed to his office, he had work to do.

By lunch Nanami had called just to make sure you weren’t on schedule tonight, the same bartender from last time, Nobara assured him that she would be working all day and that you weren’t scheduled to work until tomorrow. After the phone call he sighs, that’s the reassurance he needed but why did he still have a bad feeling about this?

*****

Your phone buzzed once, then twice, and then a third time. You groaned as your hands searched for the device blindly in bed, frowning when you hadn’t reached the thing yet, you flipped the covers off of you angrily and a thump hit the wall notifying you that your phone was actually closer than you thought.

Your phone buzzed again, this time a phone call.

“Oh my god Nobara do you have any idea what time it is?” You complained while yawning, you sank back on the bed wrapping the covers around you, falling sideways, you blinked slowly, andyawned once more, your eyes began to close as you listened to her speak.

“First of all, it’s 12:45pm, secondly Mr.Tall dark and handsome just called looking for you!” That got your attention. You shot up in bed and looked at the phone in shock.

“You’re kidding,” You say, already picturing the man in his crisp suit, his blonde locks were never out of place and he always wore an emotionless expression, save for the times you’re there and he has to look away or duck his head to hide the blush and small smiles after you’ve cracked a joke or he’s listened into some of you and Yuuji’s banter.

“No, he called asked if you were working and I told him no cause I’m working all day and then he said him and some friends are stopping by after work, I don’t know if he was relieved or sad but if you want to see your boo, I suggest you get dolled up and bring your ass here during shift change. I’ll even stay and do most of the work while you flirt with him.”

“I don’t flirt with him!” You protested, but the flutter in your heart said otherwise. You stood putting the phone on speaker and going to look for something to wear for work.

“Well I don’t know he sounded kind of relieved when I told him you weren’t coming in, think he’s got a hot date?” Nobara asks, you freeze and glare at the phone.

“Nobara why would you say that, that makes me not want to come in,” You pout as your hand lingers on a pair of black shorts.

“I don’t know, sorry! It’s just odd he was looking for you last week and then called looking for you but whatever, I’ll text you if I see him, don’t worry about coming in,”

“I’m literally halfway dressed. I'll be there, don't worry,” You smile as you change into your shirt, it’s black and has the Star Metro logo on the back with your name on the front right side of the shirt.

“Okay well I’ll see you when you get here! Byeeeee!” Nobara cheers.

You hang up the phone and sigh as you slip into the black shorts, then you find a pair of matching socks and some tennis shoes.

Tall, dark and handsome, Mr.Nanami Kento. You sigh as you think of all the times he’s complimented you, always reserved and composed while you fumbled and stuttered out a reply. He showed up at the metro a few months ago. He was the reason you could still afford your apartment.

Still part of you doubted why the man took interest in you, you sat down in front of the vanity and took your bonnet off, getting ready to tame your curls.

Nobara’s call leaves you frustrated yet excited. You had told her and Yuuji that you didn’t want tall, dark and handsome but they insisted you needed him.

You roll your eyes just thinking about them so involved with your love life. It’s not that you didn’t enjoy seeing or even speaking with Mr.Business man, but you wouldn’t be lying if you said he intimidated you. The tips were one thing but calling to see if you were there? Whew you let out a sigh and finished off your hair, a simple bun, and moved on to your makeup.

After triple checking you looked pretty, you picked out one of your favorite scents, a simple floral smell, and you were soon out of the door, and on your way to work.

*****

Nanami tapped anxiously away on his keyboard as he finished up the last of the emails for the day, he tried to convince Utahime to leave him behind for this outing but somehow she guessed that he’d just leave and go straight home anyways, so she sat chatting with his assistant outside of his door while he pretended to do last minute revising and edits on documents that will get signed tomorrow. He’s closing out his tabs and turning off his computer when Satoru bursts into his office, Cheshire grin spread across his face.

“Oh NANAMIN! A little birdie told me you didn’t want to hang out with us,” He frowns and sits directly on the deck, knocking one of the trinkets over.

“Mr.Nanami sir, I tried to stop him but he just walked in, I’m so sorry,” Nanami waves his assistant away, she looks relieved and closes the door on her way out.

“Is it because Suguru is coming along? He does seem to attract a flock of women, but who care about that, tonight we shall focus on each other, think of this as a team building exercise, minus the exercise….and I guess the team building,” He looks confused as he speaks but continues , “That made sense in my head but hearing it out loud sounds kinda funny, anyway, I promise tonight will be fun, Suguru just slammed his door in my face but I’m sure he’s in agreement, this will give us all time to hang out.” Satoru says, a smug smile on his face. Nanami pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.

“First of all, I wasn’t trying to leave you guys, I had some stuff to take care of but I guess I’ll just do that tomorrow, I just didn’t want to go to a bar that was so close to our office, it makes me think of all the work I could be doing,” He lies, not nothing to meet Satoru’s eyes.

He sees right through the lie and smiles, crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk.

“Utahime said she’s seen you leave that bar at like 1am, there’s gotta be something there worth your while if you stayed that late. If not something, someone, and I won’t let you ruin it by working yourself to death, so hurry up so we can go!” And with that, Satoru turned on his heel, opening the door and walking out to his office.

Nanami exhaled, and ran a hand through his locks, he still wasn’t sure he trusted Satoru let alone Suguru. He knows you’re not going to be there and yet here he was packing up his office, a big ball of worry rolling through him.

*****

Although it was a Monday, the bar was still packed for happy hour, you had just finished clearing a space at the bar, you wiped the remaining cleaner and placed the products under the bar sink before turning to Nobara.

“It’s a good thing you called me, can you imagine doing this all on your own?” You called out to her. She was making a drink but looked down at you and smiled.

“C’mon we’ve seen worse, remember when those rugby players broke out in a fight?” she asked.

You roll your eyes at the memory but laugh while nodding. It had been terrible damage to the bar and they lost a lot of stools that day.

You stood up, groaning from squatting so long and walked over to help her finish making the remaining drinks.

You heard the door open and the familiar chime of the bell, without looking up you shouted a greeting to the new group entering the bar.

“Welcome to The Star! Place your orders before we run out!” The group you just served cheered loudly as Nobara placed the last drink down and she high fived you.

“You’re so awesome!” She cries, and then hugs you.

“Oh my god get it together, we have work to do,” You tease but hug her back. Yuuji places an order of wings and cheese fries through the kitchen’s opening and calls out the order number to you.

“Here I’ll go serve this, you start on that group’s order,” Nobara says, she slips behind you and you grab the notepad and pen, going to the end of the bar.

*****

“Good evening, welcome welcome, what drinks can I get for you tonight?” Your voice has Nanami snapping his head up, he tries to hide the recognition in his face because he knows Satoru is looking at him.

“Oh hey,” You say casually to him, a warm smile on your face. “Bourbon as usual?” You ask, already writing it down.

“Uh actually we’re going to partake in today’s special with the highballs , buy two get two free,” Satoru interrupts before Nanami can speak. He watches you frown, and scratch off the bourbon order.

“All together or separate tab?” You ask, Satoru pulls out the company card and slides it to you.

“One tab, I’ll hand this over now, I tend to forget to pay, I don’t want to get stuck washing dishes again,” Satoru jokes, he succeeds in making you smile and Nanami can’t help feeling just a tad irritated but ignores the conversation.

“Any food tonight?” You ask again in his direction, he nods his head no, not trusting himself to speak just yet.

“What would you suggest?” Satoru’s voice is velvet warm and inviting, fortunately for Nanami, you don’t react the way Satoru expects, you pull out a menu and lean over the counter on your tiptoes to circle your recommendations. Nanami decides to check you out, noting the floral scent flirting over and invading his senses. Your hair is in a styled bun save for some curls that’s slipped at the nape of your neck, the uniform shirt hugged your curves up top, tied at your waist to reveal a hint of your skin, the black shorts you wore should be illegal for making your ass look so good,he groans internally. To be frank, you looked fine as fuck. He looks to the alcohol bottles lining the wall as he tunes back into the conversation.

“Mr. Nanami here is in love with the club sandwich, well honestly any of the sandwiches, except the roast beef, he chewed Mr. Fushiguro out for that one night, it was kind of funny to watch. Ummm other than that, though I’d recommend the wings one hundred percent especially if you’re drinking highballs tonight,” You finish with a laugh, Nanami can feel your eyes on him but he doesn’t look your way.

He does look at his friends, not even surprised that their eyes are shocked and on him. Aside from work and the occasional after work dinner and drinks Nanami’s kept his life private, he doesn’t know when he stopped hanging out with his friends, he supposes it was sometime after college when job offers started coming in. He sighs and rolls his eyes at them, ignoring their inquisitive eyes. Satoru looks away first and starts debating with Suguru the food they’d get.

In the end, Utahime orders wings, Nanami sticks with the club sandwich and Suguru and Satoru share a basket of fries.

*****

You sigh as you reach in the cooler for the four chilled glasses, Nobara comes back and takes two from you and starts making the highballs. They weren’t your favorite things to make but with the special every other Monday, you found it easier to make.

You begin stirring both cups after they’ve been filled with whiskey, counting to thirteen in your head, then you take the spoon out, tossing it into the sink next to you, You and Nobara work in sync because she tosses hers at the same time, and a couple of people at the bar start to cheer. You add the final ice cube and top it off with soda water, you stir both drinks once more and you and Nobara walk over to give the drinks to Nanami’s group.

“How much to play the pool tables?” The guy with the white hair speaks, you smile politely as you hand off the drinks, thankful that Nobara is there to answer, you turn on your toes and head to the back to deliver Nanami’s order straight to Megumi.

You frown when you slip past the door, something was definitely off about him tonight. You couldn’t place your finger on it but he was definitely being weird. You round the corner to the fryers so deep in thought that you almost miss Megumi sitting with a towel thrown over his shoulder, his hair net holds back most of his hair which had grown quite a bit since he’s started working here. He already looks annoyed when he sees the ticket in your hand.

“How many times do I have to tell you, there is no priority on food,” He groans when you’re standing in front of him.

“Please? It’s not even a big order besides, it’s for Mr-.”

“Nanami yeah yeah whatever,” Megumi snatches the ticket from you and stands and you smile victoriously, but thank him. Megumi knows Nanami tips well and sometimes you share those tips with the cooks because they’re the ones doing most of the work anyway.

“This guy fucking starving? Why does he want wings and fries? He gets fries with the club sandwich,” Megumi complains as he begins getting the baskets for the order ready. You take Megumi’s spot on the bucket he was sitting on.

“He’s with some friends, they all look like they just came from work or something,” You comment, picking at your nails. “And Nanami is weird. He usually talks but he was kind of rude. Do you think if I ask him if something is wrong he’d give an honest answer?” You ask.

Megumi doesn’t reply, he goes back to the fryer and pulls up a fresh batch of fries, dumping them in multiple baskets before starting up a new batch. Instead he pauses and stares you down before speaking.

“You can’t be back here if you’re not wearing a hairnet,” he says after a while, you roll your eyes and stand going to get a hairnet from the box on the wall.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He asked, annoyance laced in his words.

“Getting a hair net duh,” You say as if it’s the most obvious thing. Megumi puts a medium silver bowl down on the counter and looks at you.

“What?” You ask as you slip the hairnet on.

“Why are you back here, you know Yuuji wants you out front,” Megumi says. You roll your eyes and put a hand on your hip.

“You mean you want me out front? I can’t watch you make food all of a sudden?” You ask, plopping back down on the bucket. He frowns at you. You sigh and roll your eyes but stand up anyway.

“Fine, don’t know why you’re in such a pissy mood,” You snatch the hairnet off and throw it away.

“Don’t get mad at me, I don’t know what you want me to say about your will they or won’t they situation, it’s kind of annoying I finally get a break and you hand deliver these tickets expecting me to listen to your love life problems. You’ve got the wrong person,” He says. You ignore him, you forget how rude Megumi is when he actually has to do work.

“Whatever, let me know when the food is ready,” you say and then you’re stomping back to the front and almost run into Yuuji who is balancing food in one hand while trying to push them through the window.

“Hey,” he smiles at you, you smile and wave to him and watch as he presses the bell, Nobara on the other side of the bar gets the food and passes them out.

“What’s wrong with you tonight?” He asks. You shrug as you step closer to him.

“Guess who’s here tonight?” You say laughing as Yuuji’s expression lights up, “Nanami is here? Sweet, I should talk to him about investing in the business more, we’re getting so popular now that we have to stay closed on certain days just to make sure everyone is rested.” You nod along as Yuuji speaks with excitement.

It was true, ever since Yuuji took over his grandpa’s bar, things have been really hectic. He mentioned it to Nanami one night who then suggested making The Star Metro a business chain but Yuuji loved the family business aspect and felt that not everything could be duplicated. He was starting to reconsider, especially seeing how full his bar was on a Monday evening.

“Man if you branch out I might have to quit,” You joke, as always Yuuji’s eyes widen and he frowns.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry, is it the pay? I can up the pay I promise,” You laugh and shake your head no.

“I’m only teasing, you know I’d never leave, this is kind of like my home plus your grandpa would be rolling in his grave if I went to work somewhere else,” Yuuji nods in agreement.

You had been working at The Star Metro for about 8 years now, starting under Mr.Itadori’s management and now Yuuji’s who took over shortly after turning 19 when his grandfather passed away. Mr.Fushiguro was already working when you started him and two other cooks, but they walked out after catching wind of Yuuji’s age so Megumi joined his father in work. It never really mattered to you, tips were good and you got paid but things were hard for Yuuji after the mass walk out. He hired Nobara, a classmate of his and she’s been with the crew for almost two years now. Other employees came and went but you didn’t mind helping Yuuji out with things you observed his grandfather doing, he was also constantly seeking you out to take the assistant manager position but you couldn’t bring yourself to do that, it felt like robbing Yuuji of what was left of his grandpa, so you stayed as a bartender to help manage things sort of from the distance.

“Thank god the old man hired you, I swear I’d be lost without you, Thank you for coming tonight! Even if it was to flirt on the clock, I’m sure Nobara appreciates all the help,” Yuuji teases.

“I’m not flirting with anyone!” You defend, you’re about to say something else but Megumi comes to you with a smirk on his face, food in hand.

“You’re definitely here to flirt,” He says and then turns around after placing the food on the counter.

“See even Megumi knows and you know he minds his business,” Yuuji laughs. You flip him off as you go to the door to bring the food out, he laughs and blows a kiss you roll your eyes again.

On the opposite side of the door, Nobara clears a bunch of empty cups. It's nearing the end of the rush, people are dancing while some play pool.

“Order of wings, basket of fries and a club sandwich,” You smile as you place each item in front of the group.

“Thanks love,” The guy with black hair says, your hand slips and you tense as your knuckles knock against his, you try not to pull back quickly, you glance at Nanami to see if he’s seen the accidental touching but he’s looking down already busying himself with his sandwich.

“We’ll be by the pool tables,” The guy with the white hair says. Nobara follows after the group with a set of billiards, explaining house rules and what they could get kicked out for. Your eyes then land on Nanami, a smirk on your face, you lean against the bar and smile.

“You don’t want to join your friends?” You ask. He stills and slowly makes eye contact with you, the tips of his ears are pink and he shakes his head no.

“Bad day at work?” You ask, trying to engage in some kind of conversation, but he doesn’t reply right away. Your smile drops and you stomp off to the opposite side of the bar, greeting the new couple that sits down.

For the rest of the night, you work on autopilot, your thoughts are full of Nanami and his coldness? No, you shake your head because he’s not being mean, just very weird. You wonder if your make up is too much or if your hair is styled incorrectly because you can’t seem to keep his attention tonight, your eyes drift to him and his friends, he moved to the pool tables after eating, they ordered another round of highballs and were now laughing and talking as they played pool.

The bar area was cleared after one of the longest rushes, it was finally over, Megumi shouted last call for food, Nobara made the announcement on the speaker. You walked to the back hoping he’d saved some wings for you. He did, he has music in his ears but he nods to you as he does his dishes, an apologetic look on his face after snapping at you earlier. You sit in the back for a while eating wings and browsing social media, Yuuji walks by face deep in the folder he’s flipping through a packet when he sees you.

“Oh, is Nanami still here? I wanted to go over some ideas if I were to do a second location,” Yuuji says.

“He’s playing pool with his friends,” You roll your eyes and lock your phone as you speak, you cover your food and stomp off towards Megumi. Yuuji frowns, not used to seeing you in a bad mood but leaves out the door, grabbing a notepad before going to search for the man for some much needed advice.

*****

Nanami spots pink hair weaving through dancing couples, he watches as Yuuji Itadori almost steps on a couple’s feet back to back. He tries to hold in his laughter watching Yuuji apologize but the couple’s reaction makes him chuckle.

“Well well well look what the cat dragged in,” Yuuji says when he’s in front of him. They shake hands, Yuuji always pats him on the back and they break apart.

“Still looking to shake up business?” Nanami asks with a fond smile on his face. Yuuji nods. He’s got a notepad, and pulls a pen from behind his ear, ready to take any notes Nanami has for him, unfortunately Nanami is far too incoherent to spout any piece of business advice for the young bar owner.

“If you’ve come to get some pointers from my perspective Yuuji I do apologize but the whiskey is definitely taking over tonight, can I do you for anything else?” Nanami asks.

“Oh okay that’s fine. I know you’re here to relax but I was hoping I could give you something to look over, I know we talked about not making this a chain bar but a second location would be great, and I have the perfect person in mind that could run it, if your company is okay with taking me on,” He slides a Manila folder with doodles to him.

“I can look over these tonight and email you tomorrow,” Nanami suggests but Yuuji shakes his head.

“No way, you should enjoy your night with your friends, you just finished closing a deal right?” Nanami raises his eyebrows in shock, surprised that Yuuji remembered he hadn’t spoken to the kid since the closing of the project started a month ago.

“Yeah, we bought a cafe out, and the remodels start soon. If you know anyone who can give a hand with construction that would be great, we’re having a hard time getting some construction companies onboard, they don’t like the contracts for some reason,” Nanami says, he frowns.

“Oh I’ll ask y/n, her brother is in construction, his business cards are by the register,” Yuuji says, looking back to the bar. Without thinking, Nanami does the same, he watches as you talk to the customer you’re making a drink for, you smile and throw your head back laughing, holding your hand up. Nanami mentally kicks himself because he’s instantly upset when he realizes the guy could be flirting with you.

“She likes you, you know?” He looks at Yuuji and then sighs.

“So I’ve heard,” He mumbles. Yuuji looks at him with a smile on his face.

“So why haven’t you both done anything about it? I mean everyone knows you come here for her, we’re just lucky that you’re nice to us,” He jokes, Nanami looks at you and watches as you continue talking to the guy, while making his drink.

“If things are meant to be, things will just flow naturally,” He says simply. Yuuji makes a face.

“I’m sorry, maybe it’s because we grew up differently but if someone told me the girl I was into liked me back, I’d be in there like swimwear,” He slides off the seat and stands now.

Nanami makes a face and sips his drink.

“Please don’t ever say that again,” He mutters. Satoru and Suguru walk over now, Satoru laughing because it seems poor Utahime has sunk the eight ball just as the game started for the third time in a row.

“Who’s your friend Nanamin?” Satoru asks, he reaches across them to grab his drink.

“The owner of Star Metro, Mr.Yuuji Itadori,” Nanami held his hand out as if showing him off.

“Please? Him the owner? He’s just a kid,” Suguru laughs, Yuuji frowns but shakes both of their hands.

“Well actually I’m 23, but yeah I’ve been managing since my grandpa passed away,” He says. Satoru nods understandably, Suguru looks bored with the conversation.

“Well you’re doing a damn fine job of managing this place, we walk past it everyday going to work, had I known the atmosphere was so refreshing I would’ve been in here. Maybe some neon lights or something vibrant at the entrance. Anyway we noticed Nanamin seems quite familiar with the place as well,” Satoru comments. Nanami groans because he knows where he’s trying to lead this conversation, he doesn’t expect Yuuji to catch on though.

“Oh yeah, he’s only here when y/n works, although rumor has it he was here last week on a shift y/n swapped with Nobara. Unfortunately I didn’t work so I can’t confirm this sighting,” Yuuji jokes.

“Oh man, this kid is funny, I love him,” Satoru says, he turns to Suguru “I guess I was correct so you owe me twenty dollars,” and then to Utahime, “And you as well, c’mon cough it up,” He holds his hand out in a hurrying motions.

“God you guys are taking bets on my love life?” He groans and looks to the ceiling.

“That’s funny, because Nobara bet that you’d get y/n’s number by the end of the week, and I said you’d get it by the end of today but I guess I’m wrong and will lose out on $50,” Yuuji says, it’s bait and Nanami knows it but he pretends he doesn’t hear him, too busy staring at the ceiling fans on the ceiling.

“Wow $50, c’mon Nanami, now you have to let him win,” Utahime chimes in. He looks down and narrows his eyes at her.

“Please don’t entertain them,” He pleads but she’s already chanting with Satoru, Suguru and Yuuji.

“You’re gonna get her number, you’re gonna get her number,” They chant. He rolls his eyes and ignores them. He stands up and they all gasp, and stop chanting.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” He chants, and stands up laughing at their disappointment.

“Aww booo,” Utahime says, she pushes his arm.

“Guess you’re losing out on fifty bucks kid,” Suguru laughs, Yuuji sucks his teeth.

“Maybe don’t bet on people’s lives,” He laughs and starts making his way to the bathroom.

“Make sure you wash your hands,” Satoru quips. Nanami ignores him.

He contemplates just going up to you at the bar but sees that you're busying yourself with the cleaning dishes that have piled up. You smile at him as he passes and he smiles back, hoping he actually has the courage to pull this off.

*****

You watch as Yuuji continues to talk to Nanami’s friends, the boy even cracked open a beer, Nobara went on break, Megumi had closed the kitchen down, and clocked out, teasing you as he left. You saw Nanami disappear to the bathroom a couple of minutes ago, you were hoping he’d stop at the bar for a chat but he hadn’t come back yet, you were more than disappointed at the lack of conversations between you two.

So, when he comes back and rounds the corner, you call out to him, surprised when he stops and takes a seat at the bar.

“Hey stranger, you’re pretty quiet tonight,” You say with a teasing smile.

He looks back at his friends and Yuuji, they’re all staring at you two, you laugh.

“Sorry, I just didn’t want to mess this up, my friends are idiots sometimes and I didn’t want them to talk to you,” He admits, apologizing.

“Oh please, as if they could hold my attention. Who’s the guy with the white hair?” You ask laughing. Nanami’s lips quickly turn into a half smile.

“That’s Gojo Satoru, idiot friend number one, we went to junior high together and by some stroke of bad luck he ended up being my roommate in college, the guy next to him is Suguru Geto, not really my friend but he’s Gojo’s friend and then there Utahime Lori, Angel voice of reason but tonight she’s turned into a demon,” He laughs and you join, your eyes flicker to them, putting their names to face.

“So why aren’t you with your friends now?” You question, eyes flicking back to him, you don’t miss the way his eyes lingers on you.

“Because I was being bullied, Yuuji ran his mouth and told them I only came here for you, which is partly true but again you and Nobara make a mean Bourbon so how could I stay away?” He smiles when he succeeds in making you blush, for the first time, you’re speechless.

“Well thank you, you can thank Tokyo’s brutal bartending courses as well as Mr.Itadori’s very strict training,” You bow and he claps, making you giggle.

“Now here’s the embarrassing part,” He mutters, you frown and notice his face has gone a slight shade of red, he fumbles with his phone in his hand turning it over and over in his hands.

“Do you want my number?” You ask and he looks shocked that you’re the one to suggest it but he nods his head and unlocks his phone and slides it over. From across the room, you can hear Yuuji and Satoru shouting and cheering Nanami on, you shake your head at their idiocy and type your digits in quickly.

“C-call or text anytime,” You stumble over your words and mentally slap your forehead . Why did you always get like this around him? He smiles at you, one that makes your heart do a flip, and makes you weak in the knees at the same time, the man was too beautiful, like he was sculpted by the gods himself.

“I guess I should return to my friends, enjoy the rest of your night beautiful,” He says with a wink, he stands and walks over to his friends. You’re so busy staring at them clowning him that you don’t even notice the three hundred dollar bills placed on the counter in front of you until Nobara gets back from break.

*****

The end of the shift came, Nobara left early having been here all day, you didn’t want her to close so you offered to stay, ignoring her protest and declarations to help stay and clean. Once you gave her a mean stink eye she retreated with her hands in the air, silently thanking you as she clocked out. You could see that the girl was tired if she’d done anything else she’d probably fall asleep doing the task.

Closing is easy for you thankfully, the bar cleared by 2am, Yuuji counted down your register as you finished mopping, and you were making your way home in no time.

When you get to your apartment, you go straight to the shoe box in your closet and put your tips in their assorted compartments. You still didn’t feel completely comfortable spending the tips Nanami gave you, so you’d store it for rainy day funds. You dread the thought of counting how much you’ve accumulated so far. As if on cue, your phone vibrates. You frown because it’s 3:30 in the morning and no sane person would be up at this hour. You pull out your phone to read the text.

Nanami K. : Have you made it home yet?

You smile as you read the message, and quickly type out a reply.

Y/N: Just walked through the door actually…also why are you up?

Your phone vibrates almost immediately.

Nanami K. : Can I call you?

Your heartbeat quickens as you read the text, you don’t even get a chance to reply because soon your screen shows that he’s already calling you.

“Hi?” You answer with a huge smile on your face.

“Hi? How was the rest of your shift?” He asks, his voice sounds heavenly, raspy with sleep

“Work was work, after your bunch left the couples started coming in, then we closed like normal,” You stood up and found a pair of leggings and a sweater to change into. You put the phone on speaker and begin changing.

“I apologize again, for being standoffish, I really didn’t want Satoru to get caught up in trying to steal you away from me,” He says it with a sigh and you smile.

“Well I already told you, he couldn’t get me if he tried, I have eyes for this one guy already,” You sit in your bed and hold the phone on your chest, you’re positive Nanami could hear the thumping of your heart through the phone.

“What a lucky fella,” He murmurs and you laugh softly. It goes quiet until you ask him what he’s doing up, then he chuckles shyly.

“Truthfully I set an alarm to wake up so I could text you, Yuuji let me know that you were closing,” He explains and you nod your head even though he can’t see, a smile on your face.

“That’s so sweet, I’m sorry to disturb your sleep. Do you have to work early? Do you want me to hang up?” You ask worriedly, you can hear the smile in his voice when he speaks.

“Do you know what I really want?” His voice drops an octave or two, and you sit up in bed, eyes wide as his deep voice comes over the speakerphone.

“What is it that you want?” you whisper, holding in a breath.

“I want you to come over, if you’re comfortable and up for it, you definitely don’t have to,”You can picture a sly smile on his face.

“What’s your address?” You ask. He falls silent but a vibration signals a text, he dropped his location, you check it, a 15 minute walk from your apartment.

“I’ll be there in 15,” You say, already pulling on socks and shoes. You grab your purse you’d flung on the bed and look for your keys.

“Do you want to stay on the phone or should I hang up?” You ask as you lock your front door.

“We can hang up, it’ll give me time to prepare talking to you outside of your workplace,” You laugh at the nervousness of his tone but mentally agree.

“I’ll call you when I’m outside,” You both say your goodbyes and you begin the short walk to his place.

The walk is cool, the warm air now turned cooler, making it an easy stroll. You try not to think of Nanami and what he might be wearing, or what he might do to you while you’re over. You shake your head and your cheeks heat as your mind drifts south, you scold yourself for not making it clear that this was just a friendly visit and things of that nature would not be going on tonight. Still your mind drifts to his hands and how much bigger they are compared to you, you imagine what they’d feel like holding onto your waist, your neck. You wonder if he’d be rough or sweet. You wouldn’t mind either of the treatments. You wonder if he’s a selfish lover, you doubt it considering how much he tips on the regular and a smile dotes your face when you remember his attempts at flirting tonight, voice sweet and kind, literal music to your ears. You decide he’s not a selfish lover, and practically skip the rest of the walk to his place.

Nanami must be keeping watch because you’re able to get in easily, greeting the receptionist in the lobby and head to the elevators and punch the 3rd floor before fixing your hair in the mirrored elevator.

You don’t expect him to be outside the elevator doors, you let out a squeak and then press your hand to your heart, laughing as he holds you steady.

“Sorry, I was in the zone and didn’t even see you standing there,” You say, relaxing in his touch.

“It’s okay, I was literally texting you that I’d be outside the elevators but then you were already on your way up,” He laughs and lets go of your shoulders, one of his hands slides down your arm, and he pulls you to follow after him. He’s wearing black sweatpants with a faded graphic tee shirt. He’s wearing socks and slides and guides you to the end of the hall, unlocking the door. How does he look so damn good even in casual wear. When you step inside, you’re instantly met with the scent of food and look at him suspiciously.

“I kind of made breakfast, I didn’t know if you were hungry or not,” He says sheepishly. You smile and follow in after him, kicking off your shoes and placing them on the shoe rack like he did. Your eyes are wide as you scan your surroundings.

The whole downstairs area is an open floor plan, so the kitchen meshes with the dining room but it’s still big enough that he has a tv with a complete entertainment system set up, he has a tv show pauses on screen, you sit cris crossed and take the remote he offers you.

“You can watch whatever,” He smiles and you look away still not believing that you actually came to his place. Your eyes dart from the trinkets on his bookshelf to the art that hangs on the wall.

He returns shortly with two bottles of water offering you one, and then a plate with scrambled eggs and toast. You smile at the simplicity of the meal but accept it, graciously.

You both talk back and forth while the show you picked out plays in the background, you’ve finished the meal amazed that you even had an appetite and twist open the cap of the water, you take a sip, accidentally spilling some on the side of your lip, you’re quick to wipe the excess water away, you blush as you realized Nanami’s lingering look to your lips.

“So how old are you?” Nanami asked casually.

“I’m 26,” You reply, taking another sip of the water.. His eyes widened. And you frown, sort of offended by his rudeness.

“Oh god don’t tell me you’re one of those pervy old men who fuck girls just because of their age,” you say with an eye roll, when he doesn’t immediately answer, you start to gather your phone and purse looking around for your shoes but he stops you.

“No, sorry you just look younger is all, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be weird about it,” He says sheepishly. You sigh and throw your things back down.

“Fine, you got me this time,” You mumble and watch as his worried expression melts away from his face when you sit back on the couch.

He bursts into laughter, you do the same, falling forward and then you both fall quiet until you start thinking about the tip he left you today.

“Can I ask about the tips now? Or are we saving that conversation for the morning?” You ask, turning to face him completely. He smiles, one that seems to stretch from ear to ear.

“Saving the conversation for the morning implies that you’re willing to stay the night,” He counters with a smirk.

“I wouldn’t mind spending the night, I mean we’ve known each other for a couple of months after all,” You smile, Nobara’s words of him being a serial come to mind and you can’t help laughing. “I’m sorry, Nobara thinks you’re a serial killer or like a hit man, you know because of the tips? I assured her you so honest work but if I were wrong and to die in your hands I wouldn’t complain,”

He stares in shock at your statement, but it makes you laugh even more.

“You truly are something , I can assure you I’m not a murder and I have no desire to chop you up in tiny pieces,” He jokes. You smile meeting his eyes, they’re warm and sweet but you can see the change when he catches you biting your plump bottom lip.

“So tell me Nana-” He cuts you off.

“I told you, call me Kento,” He says with a smile on his face. You feel your face heat up and ignore the bundle of nerves that’s taken root in your stomach.

“So tell me Ken, what do you want?” You ask in a breathless whisper. Nanami closes his eyes at the use of his first name. You smile at succeeding in making him feel just as nervous as you were.

“I don’t think you’d like to hear what I’d have to say,” He says, his voice is low and hot, making you clench your legs unconsciously and you think it’s the way that he looks from your lips to your eyes, a small smirk tugging at his lips that has you practically pulling him to meet your lips.

This kiss is hot and needy, you try to pour the words you couldn’t say into the kiss, hoping he understands just how bad you wanted him. He seems to get a pretty good idea when he scoops you up to straddle his lap, his hands go to the base of your neck and he kisses you , slipping his tongue past the seam of your lips, letting him taste you. You try to hold back the moans, but soon find you’re unable to when Kento’s hands begin to roam your body, he runs them up your sides and stops to squeeze your hips, you buck and he grinds upwards into your acting core, holding you to his hard cock.

“Mmmh wait,wait, I just need to get some air,” You squeak, inhaling quickly through your nose, he doesn’t stop kissing you, his lips kiss down your neck, open mouth and hot, it has you shivering as you feed into the pleasure he gave you. He slips off the sweater and is met with the purple and black lacy bra you wore. He makes a noise of appreciation and uses both hands to grab a handful of your breast, your head falls back and you push your chest forward to meet his greedy hands.

“Mmm Fuck,” You whisper when he kisses across your collar bone, he flattens his tongue and licks a stripe up your neck, he stops and buries his head in the crook of your neck, inhaling deeply.

“Fuck you smell so damn good, you drive me insane, I hope you know that,” He groans as you rock your hips down onto his erection. Your eyes widen at his confession. You didn’t know you drove him insane, if anything he was the one who drove you insane. He kisses your neck still, now suckling small love bites to your neck, you moan breathily, as his hands work expertly to take your bra off, you pull at the hem of his shirt, he breaks away from your neck and lets you toss the shirt aside.

You moan when he presses the both of you together, your chest squishing against his hard muscle, you bite your lip at this, and keep eye contact with him as he lowers his mouth to suck a hardened nipple into his mouth, you gasp and close your eyes, you were basically putty in his hands at this point.

“You’re so pretty when you moan like that,” He comments after letting go of the perky bud, he blows cool air on it and watches as you writhe in his arms.

“Ken pleaseee,” You whine, tired of his teasing, he smiles knowingly, but doesn’t rush, you let out a noise of frustration.

“Not to worry beautiful, we have nothing but time,” He stands carefully, you wrap your arms around his waist instinctively.

“Okay, now you’re just showing off,” You gasp when you reach the second floor, you don’t even have time to look around because Nanami is throwing you on the bed, getting you lost in the sea of bedding.

“Think we can lose these?” He asks, his fingers play with the band of your leggings, you nod quickly, aiding him in removing both clothing items.

Nanami doesn’t know where to look, having already had his fill with your breast downstairs, he lets his fingers tease you, grazing over your hips as he turns you over to face him, your body reacts to his touches immediately seeking out the warmth of his hands, he grabs your ass, squeezing your cheeks in appreciation, his hands then go to your thighs, scooping them up and pulling you so that you’re at the edge of the bed.

He drags his nails down your thighs, a chuckle escapes his mouth when you whimper from the pain but you don’t shy away, your legs open wider giving him access to your glistening pussy below. He kneads the flesh of your thighs and gets level with your cunt, you can feel his breath just ghosting over it.

“You have the prettiest pussy baby,” He murmurs, you can’t bring yourself to meet his eyes, everything feels so good you feel like you’re going to explode.

He gives you what you want, pressing a wet kiss to your already wet cunt, his tongue finds your clit easily, he kisses it, and brings the lower half of you closer to his face. You throw your head back and moan loudly when he begins to lick his tongue warm and wet into your folds, you feel yourself clenching around emptiness and sigh in relief when he licks into your hole.

“Feels so good baby,” You moan, he makes a noise of agreement and lets a hand wander up to your breast, he pinches your nipple hard the stinging pain combats with the pleasure he’s giving you, you feel yourself getting closer, he must sense this because soon he’s introducing a finger into your wet clutch, it slips in easily and you cry out, your body lurching upward. He holds onto your waist, holding you firm to the pleasure.

“Oh Ken fuck I’m going to cum,” You moan long and drawn out, letting him practically devour you. He laps at your clit rapidly, his fingers pump in time, and then you’re cumming, holding his head in place as you grind your pussy against his tongue and fingers. When it becomes too much, you push him away weakly but he doesn’t stop, he kisses your gushing pussy, pressing sloppy kisses across your abdomen and up to your chest he stops once again at your chest showing love to your nipples, his tongue is so warm as it glides over the sensitive peaks, you twitch underneath him, as you try to focus on coming down from your euphoria.

He kisses your neck again, and then your lips, letting you savour the taste of yourself on his tongue, when he presses his front to your messy cunt you whine, his dick is achingly hard and you want to feel him inside you.

You attempt to pull his waistband of his sweatpants down but he stops you, still kissing you with fervor, he tangles his hand in your hair and lets the other creep up your neck squeezing it lightly. You moan and look at him, a wicked smile on your face as you pull his hand away from your neck, you take his thumb and suck it teasingly, he watches you eyes lidded low, and a groan escapes his mouth.

“Kento, I want you to fuck me,” You say, your voice is sweet dripping with innocence but you’re far from innocent, he knows it by the way you press his body into you with the heels of your feet. He closes his eyes and pulls his hand away from your sinful mouth.

He groans and gives you a look of disappointment and sighs.

“We can’t,” He says, and you immediately begin to protest, “I don’t have condoms,” He says and you stop to frown. A sly smile is soon on your face, he’s moving from over you but your legs still wrapped around his waist stops him.

“Y/n we can’t,” He whispers, though he so badly wants to.

“Okay so what if you put in just the tip?” You ask, biting your bottom lip teasingly. He looks at you with widened eyes and chuckles.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” He says simply, his hands begin to remove your legs and you start to whine, knowing your actions are completely immature especially when you start whining when he lays next to you on his side.

“Pleaseee Ken?” You practically beg, his hands snake down your body to your pussy, even though you just came, you feel yourself throb at the thought of him inside you. His fingers glide over your clit and you jump in anticipation.

“Just the tip?” He asks you and you nod your head quickly.

“Just the tip,” You confirm, he sighs and slides the sweat pants down kicking them off the bed. His dick flops against his stomach, the tip flushed angry and red, with drips of pre cum already coating the head. You look up to meet his eyes, brown and full of lust, he wraps a hand loosely around his cock pumping slowly in time with the circles on your clit.

“Please,” You gasp breathlessly, he nods and sits back on the heels of his feet and spreads your legs wide. He gets a pillow and fit it underneath your ass.

“Play with your clit baby,” He tells you and you nod, your hand goes to your pussy, you roll and squeeze the sensitive bud making your body jerk upward he laughs at your impatience.

“Slowly,” He commands in a shuddering breath, you pout but do as you’re told and watch as he works his hand faster on his own cock, you think he’s just going to jerk off over you but you’re surprised when he actually slaps his dick against your pussy.

“That feels so good,” You moan, closing your eyes. He does it again, slapping the head of his cock against your pussy, it’s torture for the both of you but you swear Nanami is determined to make you cum just like this.

You grip his arm out in warning that you’re going to cum again but he goes faster, replacing his cock with his fingers you shout in ecstasy as you finish for the second time of the night, just from his teasing.

“Look at this messy pussy baby,” He says in a mocking tone, you let out a sharp gasp when you feel him lining himself up with your entrance.

“Just the tip,” He tells you with a smirk on his face, you moan as he presses just the tip of his dick in. It’s damn near heaven on earth when you feel him, but true to his word, he only sticks to the tip, making you whine in frustration.

“Kennnn,” You whine, your body still jolting with the aftershocks from your second orgasm, his hand pumps the rest of his length that’s not in your pussy.

“Yes beautiful?” He asks, thrusting in a little bit more than the tip.

“Oooh fuck,” You moan, letting him pleasure himself with your cunt. He pulls out and rubs his dick on your clit once more before dipping the tip back in. It’s so tortuous you feel like screaming aloud, he’s got a hold of one of your legs, and is taken by surprise when you push him with your other leg making him sink further into your walls.

“You’re such a brat,” He bites out, but you smile, encouraging him to bottom out until he’s balls deep in you. Nanami tries not to relish in the silky warmth of your walls but fails especially when he feels like your pussy has been molded specifically for his cock. He pulls all the way out and slams back in, a string of curses mixed with his name leaves your lips, and soon he’s fucking you with a steady rhythm rendering you speechless. You gasp and grip at the bed sheets below, each thrust seems deeper than the last.

“You keep squeezing me like that and I’m going to cum,” He warns, you can only whimper in response as his hips continue slamming into yours, you’re already so close to a third orgasm, you can’t help but squeeze around him at each thrust.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. You’re such a naughty girl, only asking for the tip but taking my cock like a whore,” His words hit straight to your core, you shake your head, your eyes squeezing tight at his words.

“You’re going to cum on my cock right baby?” He asks and you whine at his words, already feeling the start of your orgasm.

“Yes baby look at how your cunt cries for me, whimpering and pulling me back in, such a pretty pussy, fuck you’re going to make me cum,” He huffs. Your fingers find their way to your clit, fortunately for you, Nanami slaps your hand away and uses his own to bring you to a third orgasm. He applies just enough pressure to your clit that you’re soon writhing beneath him, mewling and grasping at his shoulders, your nails rake down his back and he groans as he feels the start of his own orgasm.

“Fuck baby I’m gonna cum,” He says, when he feels your walls quivering around him, he groans as he pulls out and jerks his cock once and then twice and then he’s spilling on you, hot spurts of cum landing on your stomach. He takes in a shaky breath and grabs the sweatpants, wiping your stomach clear of his cum, then he pulls the pillow from underneath you, and tosses it to the side, you still have your eyes closed, attempting to control your breathing and heart rate as you let Kento move you higher in the bed.

“Where’s your bathroom?” You ask, your voice is hoarse, and you clear your throat coughing, Nanami points to a door that’s left ajar in the corner of the room and you walk on shaky legs to hurry and pee.

You stare at yourself in the mirror trying to assess the hickeys but you can’t bring yourself to look without blushing. You wash your hands quickly and exit the bathroom, suddenly very aware of your nakedness.

When you leave the bathroom, Kento is making it up the stairs with a cool bottle of water in tow. You sit quickly covering yourself with the sheet, he chuckles at your shyness but collapses on the bed next to you and hands you the water.

“Are you okay?” He asks, you nod and accept the water gulping it down greedily, “Hey slow down,” He says and you freeze but do as you’re told, you hold the bottle out to him but he declines and puts the cap on the bottle.

“You sure you’re okay?” He asks again and you nod too embarrassed to meet his eyes.

“Sorry, I’m just processing the wonderful and amazing pleasure you just put me through,” You joke, he pulls you down with him, you immediately cuddle into his side.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” He says, kissing the top of your head, you hum in agreement.

You both talk for a good bit until you’re both yawning and the rising sun paints the walls of his room different hues of pinks and oranges.

“I guess we should get some sleep,” He mumbles after your third yawn. Your eyes are already sliding closed, his arm around your waist tightens and you fall asleep with a dreamy smile on your face, already anticipating waking up with Kento.

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

A couple of things to note, I was kind of focusing on world building/ dialogue because I was slowly losing the motivation for writing my fanfics but I swear this was like a total revive and I can’t wait to finish up some chapters! I hope you all enjoy, feedback is much appreciated, still can’t believe I wrote 10.3k words lmfaoo Nanami Kento still has me in a chokehold ngl!

Also pls ignore any typos/spelling/grammar mistakes, it’s 3am rn AND I had to chop this one shot from 15k to the lovely 10.3k 😅

#nanami kento x y/n #nanami kento x you #nanami kento x reader #nanami kento #nanami kento smut #nanami kento jjk #jjk nanami #nanami kento oneshot #nanami kento imagines #kento nanami

[coral-island-player]

ranking the dateable characters + my opinions + characters I wish were romanceable

Hi, keep in mind this is all just my opinions and you don't have to agree with it! I thought this might be fun to write. There are some spoilers ahead. Sorry for my bad English - it's not my first language. Feel free to write what you think in the comments. Very long post under the cut.

28. Ben. Don't get me wrong, he's great, and the only reason he's last is because I'm ranking them based on how much I would want to date them. He's a great friend and a cool guy. I just think he's not attractive to me, and I don't think he would like living at my farm, being vegan and all. Like, I think he enjoys his current lifestyle and doesn't want to change it. He's cool, though :) I like his story arc.

27. Mark. Now, I know he's the most popular bachelor but I just dislike him. He's mean to you from the start, used to be a bully (claims he's changed, but when you join b.o.s. he's just the same to you), and doesn't really change his demeanor to you. I get the appeal of the "mean to everyone but you"/"bad boy"/"tough on the outside, sweet on the outside" but it's just not for me. Yeah it's sweet how he likes animals but it's not enough for me. Besides, he's supposed to be a monster hunter, yet claims he doesn't go into the caverns?? Then what does he do?? He claims to be tough but when it comes down to it, the player character is stronger and actually fights monsters regularly. And is a nice person while doing so...

26. Scott. That's a character that is really cool in theory. A guy passionate about artifacts, who works with you on the museum? Super cool. But I just don't like him. He flirts with a lot of characters, which isn't something I look for in a partner, he's irresponsible, I just don't like that. Besides, he claims that he sometimes donates to the museum. What do you donate, huh Scott? Last time I checked, all the things at the museum are from me. He spends one day a week at the cavern, yet never brings anything back. Probably because he only goes to levels 1 and 2. Seriously? Look I'm not a hater but come on.

25. Semeru. Now I don't know a lot about the guy, so he might move up. But so far, he seems similar to Mark - rude and beloved by the fans. Except at least he has a valid reason to distrust the player character. He doesn't have to be an douche about it though... He might get better with time though, and in that case I think he might move several spots. But so far, I really don't like him.

24. Pablo. Again, not a fan of guys who flirt with basically everyone. I like him more than Scott, because at least he doesn't take credit for my hard work. And he's really nice to talk to. He'd be higher on the list if it wasn't for something that can be revealed through rare dialogue. I won't spoil what it is, but it made me dislike him quite a bit. Besides, he's way more recognised than his brother, which sucks.

23. Luke. He's kind of arrogant. He looks down on the player, because he's rich, or at least that's the vibe I got from him. It's neat that he wants to be successful outside of his parents' achievements, and that he has a dog, but that's not enough. I especially don't like how in one cutscene, he basically tells you to clean up his shop because his dad is coming, and not that I have a problem with him asking me for help, but the way he does that. Yeahh, nope. He has a cute dog, though.

22. Yuri. Again, I know she's popular. And I have nothing against her, really. She's really cool, just I don't find anything about her interesting enough to want to date her. Besides, she has a dialogue when she says she doesn't want commitment, and I don't want to make her do something she doesn't want to, you know? Same as with Ben, better as a friend. Her story made me tear up a little

21. Chaem. Again, she's mean. Though I don't see it as the same like Mark and Semeru, she seems more blunt and honest, and doesn't insult you or anything. Like, I don't think her intention is to be mean, she's just honest about when she doesn't want to talk. She's also a bit arrogant but honestly I don't mind that. Still, she's not a character I want to date that much.

20. Zarah. She's ok. I like how she's adventurous. I don't like how she's kinda rude in one of her events, though, even if she does apologise. Besides, she's allergic to cats and doesn't like them. I really like cats. I don't think that would work out well. She's cool, though. Not much I have to say about her, really.

19. Theo. Honestly, I'm just neutral about him. He's ok. I respect him for being so good at fishing, it's really hard, and playing music is always really cool. I haven't finished his story arc, but it's really sad so far. I like how friendly and positive he is.

18. Kenny. He's just Ken(ny). In all seriousness, he's ok. I like how he's sweet and says really wise things. I originally liked him more, but I like other characters more. I don't think he'd be happy on the farm, being vegan and my character making huge money from eggs and milk. I might do a save when I make a character named Barbie and romance him.

17. Leah. She's mean. Honestly, she's only this high because she reminds me if Haley from Stardew Valley. But unlike Haley, she doesn't have as clear of a redemption arc. I still think she's ok, even pretty good. I like her style, all her outfits are really nice, which is something not all characters can say. Her story is good

16. Raj. Now we're getting to characters that I might romance. I think I will make 28 saves, but these are characters I have more of a positive opinion on. So, Raj is really cool. I like their coffee shop, and their style. I enjoy conversations with them, it's clear they are very passionate about their job which is always good to see! Also, I really appreciate that they're a non-binary character, I don't often see non binary characters in games, especially as romance options. That doesn't influence my opinion on Raj, but I wanted to mention that.

15. Noah. He's a really sweet guy. I really really like him. He's caring, gentle, kind, I can tell he's very good at taking care of others. I like some other characters better, but Noah is great as well. Not much I have to say about him, to be honest.

14. Charles. Unpopular opinion but he's great. I have no idea why so many people hate on him. Sure, he might not be very attractive (though that's subjective. I think he's pretty good looking, compared to some other characters), but he's sweet and friendly. He cares about people, I just like him.

13. Aaliyah. Also very underrated. I see people don't really talk about her, and sometimes outright say she's bland, but I think she's great. I noticed she compliments the player a lot, which is sweet. She's also hardworking and ambitious, which are some great traits to have. I like that about her. So, you can't really say she has no personality. While it is kind of obvious she was added later on, she's still great.

12. Wakuu. Now we get to my favourites (yeah I have 12 favourites. Don't blame me, there are just so many awesome characters!). Wakuu is popular but this time I can agree with the general opinion. I like his story and I think it's great how smart he is. He's just really sweet when you get to know him. I honestly don't have much to say, because for the most of me playing he couldn't speak to me, and now that he can I rarely see him, but when I do, it's great.

11. Rafael. Again, the general opinion is something I agree with here. Rafael is a huge sweetheart and I adore him. He's just so sweet and kind to his friends. I feel really bad for him for always being in his brother's shadow - seriously, the way their parents are is messed up :( Like they misspelled his name (how do you even do that?! wtf), they forgot his birthday and then sent Pablo's favourite gift, joked that he's adopted... At least us fans can appreciate him. Also I just wanted to say it's super cute how he's a great uncle to Valentina (and dare I say, raises her more than Antonio - I never see him with her but I often see her with Rafael).

10. Suki. She's so amazing and I love her personality. She'd be much higher if it wasn't for her heart events - the player is barely involved in them, plus there's Antonio's events that can trigger when she's with you that I won't spoil, but it's weird in that case. Yeah... I still think she's great - she's a very confident and strong, yet kind person.

9. Surya. My favourite guy in the game. I think he's adorable, how he's so passionate about science and the environment. Especially since it's something that the player also likes. I think he's an amazing partner.

8. Millie. I love books, just like her, so that's one thing. And I think she's incredibly sweet and smart. And I love her nicknames! They're so sweet and funny.

7. Macy. She was hard to rank - before I actually started playing, I thought she was the one I'd like the most. However, I find her storyline a bit lacking in substance, and 90% of what she talks about is the sunlight. I get it, but I want to know more about her. She's really cute, though.

6. Nina. She's a character we meet a bit later, and at first I didn't like her that much, but she's grown on me. She's a great character and I really like her. Kind of similar to Luke but doesn't look down on anyone.

5. Princess Miranjani. I can't wait for the update when I can find out more about her and romance her! She's really great, I love how she stood up in the player's defense and she's just as curious about humans as I am about merfolk. I think romancing her would be really great.

4. Denali. It was veery close there with Miranjani, but I think I like Denali a bit more so far - maybe because Miranjani seems more interested in the fact that you are a human than who you are? I still adore them both, and I really like how Denali stands up for the player to Semeru.

3. Lily. She's amazing. I like when she talks about bonsai - I always thought they were really cool. I think it's so sweet how she's a bit shy and introverted but gets closer to the player.

2. Alice. I romanced her on one of my save files and I have no regrets. She's very sweet and adorable, I also like how she's interested in the supernatural things (I wish I could tell her all about the giants, merfolk and the godess. Well, I wish I could tell that to many characters but especially Alice). I like her story arc. She says many sweet things when dating and married. Though she did say recently "I feel like we're driven apart" for some reason? Even though I give her plenty of gifts. I don't know. Anyone knows what that might be about? I'm not playing on the save rn (I got some more saves planned, I have this challenge where I make characters and focus on one skill, this one being farming), but I'd appreciate if someone told me what I'm doing wrong

Eva. She's literally so sweet and kind and pretty, and she's my favourite love interest in the game. I'm aiming to romance her in one of my current saves. I don't really have one precise reason why she's my favourite. I just think she's great.

Bonus: characters I wish were romanceable (maybe in a future dlc?)

• Karen. Look... I can fix her (or she could make me worse). All I'm saying is this could be a great enemies to lovers arc. Or we could be on her side from the start

• Raina. I just think she deserves a better life than working at Pufferfish. I know she's a good person.

• Derek. I mean, why make such an attractive character if he's not going to be romanceable?

•I think the above 3 could be a part of DLC or a big update where you can join Pufferfish (kinda like Joja route in sdv). Perhaps in between the event where you talk to Mayor Connor and the event at the museum (and the diving event, and the dream) you get approached by Karen who asks you to join them and thrive (sorry) and you have the choice to agree and thus not get any of the museum, giants and merfolk events (instead of the merfolk being romanceable you have these 3 Pufferfish workers being romanceable), maybe you get some benefits but also the game guilt trips you, the town stays polluted and maybe even gets worse, and the townsfolk often complain, and it's made clear that you picked the morally wrong choice and you miss out on some of the game features, but you get some benefits too, but are they really worth it? I just think that currently I don't feel like the player saving the town feels like they are a good person, because there was no choice. If there was a choice, it'd feel more good to pick the good path, you know?

• Agung. Please.

#coral island #coral island spoilers #Coral island romance #Coral island love #coral island eva #Coral island alice #Coral island lily

[exiledelle]

its vengeance au PAPYRUS time (LINKED POST HAS UTY MERCILESS SPOILERS)

i was originally planning on having more sprite edits n stuff for this but unfortunately i think too many of my thoughts would be too hard for me to sprite, at least not currently, but. since i dont want to be spending months on this:

like i mentioned in the original post, after clovers slaughter of a decent part of the underground, and progress toward breaking the barrier being shot back to square one as a result, the royal guard essentially goes into a panic, putting out a mass recruitment.

much to the relatively-newly-crowned empress, undynes, dismay, this includes papyrus. wouldnt be a good look for her to turn down such an enthusiastic volunteer, especially not when the guard is in desparation.

but shes still biased, and doesnt want to see him hurt, so she manages to position him as a royal watchman instead of a guard. instead of capturing a human, his job is just to keep watch, help anyone who needs help in the forest, and if he manages to spot a human, all he needs to do is report the sighting to the rest of the guard. pretty simple and fitting job for him, and hes still very enthusiastic about it!! plus he gets a neat ranger uniform, so win-win (the design stuck)

once frisk escapes the ruins though, and clover chases after, papyrus notices somethings not right before hes able to send his report. theres TWO whole humans, which would surely make undyne and the guard happy, maybe send him up a couple ranks too, but...

his job is also to HELP people. and clearly, frisk needs help. so in a conflict of interest, papyrus opts to help frisk find safety deeper into the woods, and only reports clover, to try and keep them at bay

realizing way too late the kind of threat they are, and that theyre too far gone for his usual approach of trying to talk them down like he does in undertale. he'll attack clover, but only when they have him and/or his friends cornered and its absolutely necessary. papyrus IS tough, so he can at least stall them, but he also knows his best chance is to find an opening to flee (he still has to protect frisk, after all), and that a prolonged encounter isnt really in his favor

unfortunately, being a watchman, as well as undyne being busy with empress duties, means he doesnt have as much time for his usual Spaghetti Training, so he falls back to rations of dinosaur egg oatmeal (calling them rations makes it sound cooler to him), which he gladly shares with anyone

...he gets a little overexcited though. its fine, this is normal for him, dont worry. also, the oatmeal survives this.

also in case youre wondering about sans: hes....actually pretty much the same, all things considered. hes happy papyrus got into the guard, tags along to his outposts, pulls his usual pranks, that kind of stuff. this isnt a sans au (and i dont really want it to be), so theres like. not a lot of emphasis on him, and theres not really going to be. he'll still like. timestop to drag papyrus and frisk out of danger given that hes there, cuz he does want to help protect them both, but hes not going to go all out on clover, at least not right away, and not without backup or a plan.

(also i say timestop and not teleport just because thats my own interpretation of the grillbys scene, and him having attacks start and end in seemingly random spots during his fight, i dont think its definitively canon or anything, but i still lean more toward timestop than simple teleportation)

WITH undyne busy though, papyrus is assigned a different captain to answer and report to.

someone... ...nyafarious... within the guard.

she will come later though. once i can make a sprite or two, and have more details ironed out. (should probably also start making a masterpost for this au at some point)

#undertale yellow #undertale yellow spoilers #undertale #undertale au #papyrus #vengeance au #ellesprites

[autoplaysdigimon]

thinking about that one video (Pokémon Fan Plays A Digimon Game And Hated It) about that girl who somehow beat Dawn without learning how to dedigivolve or scan new Digimon. She beat the game with an Apollomon, a MetalSeadramon, a Megidramon, and no idea what was happening or how to play at all

Jaiden Animations! I LOVE her videos! I saw someone posting to an ace blog I follow going "DID YOU SEE JAIDEN IS ONE OF US" like. minutes after she posted that coming out video so I've been watching hers ever since haha.

Anyway, yeah! I saw that video and it was SPOT ON in like almost every way, like in the background there were people mourning ReArise and all (I was like "THAT'S ME") but I did wince a little at the top screen island being empty... girl no

But, like, if someone came up to me and asked "Hey, I hear you like Digimon, I'm looking to get into it, which game should I start with?" I... don't know what I would say. Probably ask what kind of genre they liked, since they cover such a wide range. But yeah,

Digimon World 1 is a game I'd suggest to someone if I could guide them through it directly because it's so weird and difficult (in the same way that a petulant child can be difficult)

DW2 I think I played in a really weird and roundabout way anyway so I don't know if I'd rec that but it's not really bad per se

DW3 my complaints are EXACTLY what she brought up (no fast travel and LOTS of backtracking)

DW4 I haven't actually played all that much so all I can say is "idk it seems okay"

Rumble Arena 1 and 2 are pretty good if you like fighting games and they've got some cool mechanics but there's not much substance to them

Digimon World DS, Dawn and Dusk are pretty neat but they can be pretty finicky to deal with (and I share her pain at the absolute maze nature of the damn maps) but by god the sprite work is gorgeous

Cyber Sleuth is WHERE IT'S AT so I guess I'd suggest that one? I figured out that the continuous missions from the board are random and not essential several weeks into it so idk maybe don't do that over and over? I haven't played Hacker's Memory yet but I'm gonna!

Battle Spirit = no

Digimon Racing = I would play this game if you paid me for it but otherwise I ALREADY DID MY TIME.

Obviously Digimon World Re:Digitize and Next 0rder have the same gameplay problems as Digimon World 1, mayyyybe I'd suggest Next 0rder for the perfect blend of weird and interesting gameplay and modern gameplay experience? If it's not your thing to play, it's not your thing, tbh. (It very much is MY thing, though haha)

I think I posted a comment on the video when I watched it, but I guess my suggestion for which game to play first is... don't? Watch the anime first?? idk man it's better to go in for the love of the creatures bc I will probably suffer through a terrible game if they gove me a Veemon to make up for it but if you don't have that sort of attachment then it's hard to make it feel worth it!!

ALSO ALSO.

I saw which Digimon was used as the wild encounter, and.

Leave him alone :(

#also I started playing Pokemon Colosseum again literally a day before she uploaded the XD video so #idk we might be the same person shh #lol I wish

[naivesilver]

RIGHT. hello again. I am once again in your inbox :) how about 'would you stop with the worry - flurry?' or 'i care cause it’s not fair!' or 'oh , sweetie , what’s wrong?' from the EAH ask for Cedar? 🥰

HI I AM VERY LATE but. You know. Gretel duty called AHSKDGASKHDKGNADSC thank you, I hope you'll be able to forgive me 💗💗💗 also, I did try to come up with some ACTUAL EAH content, but the urge was too strong, so have a little Uncle Wick and Baby Cedar snippet again LMAO

Ever After High Quote Starters

"Oh, sweetie, what’s wrong?"

People made of wood can't cry, so Cedar really isn't crying, no siree.

What she is doing, instead, is kicking the underside of her bed with her foot, so the thumping noise will drown the yelling coming from downstairs. She hasn't been very successful thus far - her father and grandfather are louder even than the obnoxious clacking of wood against wood, and keep getting worse as they go - but Cedar is determined to continue, if only for lack of anything better to do; she can't get tired, and she's scared of what might happen if she leaves the room, so kicking it is, for now.

Besides, she feels kind of safe, laying on the floor under the bed, as though she were being kept in a neat little box. There'll be some dust flakes clinging to her hair when she crawls out, maybe, but it's not like she gets allergies, and no one will think to look for her there, not until they've calmed down a bit.

Or at least, that's what she thought. The creaking of the door opening makes her freeze, her leg dropping as the two men's row gets louder for a moment before it's shut out again - Cedar would hold her breath if she had any, but as it is, she can only wait, wide-eyed, as a pair of legs approach the bed heavily and kneel down to check underneath.

That's when Uncle Wick's thin, long face pops into view, smiling broadly at her. "Hello, pretty girl. Mind if I join you?"

"No." It's the truth. Of course it's the truth. Cedar is always happy to see Uncle Wick. It's just that she wishes it were Dad instead, because it would mean that the fight is over and she can leave her hiding spot for good.

Still, Grandfather says she shouldn't look a gifted Pegasus in the mouth, so she simply watches as her father's best friend lays on his back and wriggles to fir next to her - he's fairy tall, Uncle Wick, which means his long legs are probably poking out from under the bed in a very silly way, but Cedar isn't really in the mood for laughing, right now. She reprises her kicking, instead, eyes fixed stubbornly on the bed-frame.

A hand comes up to rub at her head, mussing her curly hair. "What's wrong, sweetpea? They shout at you too?"

"No. They just said I should go to my room." Which is much, much worse, in her opinion. "But they're talking 'bout Raven. Raven is my friend. Why can't I listen too?"

"I don't know, kiddo. They told me to get out too." Uncle Wick sighs heavily, his voice growing wistful.

"Look, they're gonna tire themselves out at some point, okay? That's how it always goes. No clue what old Milton told them, but they can't be mad at him forever."

The problem is, Cedar isn't so sure they're mad at Headmaster Grimm and not, say, each other. She wasn't allowed to hear much of what they were saying, but she caught enough to worry - Raven's name came up, and her mother's, and something Grandfather had done, and then off she was, pressing her hands against her ears in an useless attempt to ignore them all.

She's supposed to go to this headmaster's school with Raven when she's older, so she can follow her destiny and become a real girl. Are they going to quarrel so loudly, too, when it's time? Is that why she was sent away, so they don't start fighting too soon? It doesn't make sense.

And what does the Evil Queen have to do with it, anyway? She's dead. Cedar and Raven were supposed to be playing in the workshop while their fathers talked about what would happen after, but they got distracted enough, what with all those somber, whispering adults. "Nothing bad's happened to Raven, right?"

"Course not, Cedar. She's doing just fine. Bet you can go visit her during the weekend, if you ask your dad."

That's something, at least. And yet, the relief is short-lived, for a moment later Pinocchio's voice raises even louder and angrier, so different from his customary soft tones. "Listen, I don't know what Grimm asked you to do, but don't tell me it's something good, because I won't hexing believe you, Father-"

Cedar shifts her position subtly, curling around the man's arm with an ear pressed against the sleeve of his jacket. "Can you tell me a story, Uncle Wick?"

"Sure." Uncle Wick sounds like he's smiling. Cedar is grateful for it, even though he must only be doing it to be brave, to keep her calm and distracted - maybe his voice will succeed where her foot failed, droning on and on until she can't hear anything else anymore. "Once upon a time, there was a very clever wooden girl-"

Cedar finds herself smiling back a bit, despite herself. She appreciates the effort, she really does, even if he's being silly. "That's not right. You always say the same thing."

"Yeah, 'cause all the stories I like to tell are true. Anyway, where was I- Once upon a time, there was a beautiful wooden girl, and she was the cleverest girl in all the realm..."

#lizardthelizard #ask meme #ever after high #eah #pinocchio #cedar wood #lampwickcore #fanfic #do you ever think about the fact that only about 4 people knew that raven's mom was alive? #and that one of them was the grandfather of one of her bffas????? who couldn't tell his granddaughter #bc she was CURSED TO SPILL SECRETS???? #anyway I have great love for my rebel girls and their parents. they all deserved better smh

[ferni-mothofprophecy]

Ginger

Chapter 1

Ao3 Link

They had trekked through rain soaked forests, up impossibly green mountains and now they were starting the final leg of their journey, across a frozen plateau that lay at the height of the tallest mountain of this island.

Michael bit his lip and glanced at Gertrude.

“What is it we’re doing again?”

She gave him a look which he knew to mean ‘stop asking questions and just do what I want you to do’.

She answered anyway, “There’s a great evil here and you are going to help me fight it.”

Michael didn’t like the expression on her face. It was too cold, like the icy landscape around him. He shivered.

“An evil?” He asked her, face crinkling into a frown, “What do you mean?”

She didn’t reply.

They walked further across the snow and ice that covered the ground. A sound like static rose in volume and seemed to drape over him as he and Gertrude walked closer and closer to whatever they were going to.

“What kind of evil is this?” Michael tried again.

No reply. It sounded like something from the statements but the statements were just stories and people believing in things that weren’t there, like him with Ryan. He startled. He hadn’t thought about Ryan in years. That was the original reason he had joined the institute! How could he have forgotten? He turned to Gertrude again. The expression on her face had turned even darker. She knew what was going on and she didn’t want to tell him.

They rounded a corner and what looked like a yellow painted door came into sight. Expect there shouldn’t have been a door there.

There was nothing the other side of it, but wispy strings of colour seemed to emanate from it.

Gertrude passed what looked like a map to Michael. Except instead of neat lines showing clear directions it was a mess of squiggly lines.

“Open the door and follow the map once you’re inside,” Gertrude said.

“Anything else I need to know?” Michael said, somewhat acidly.

“No, I think that’s all.”

Gertrude smiled, and it was the smile more than anything else that did it.

“Are you not going to give me any information about anything at all before I enter some kind of supernatural thing I didn’t even know existed and end up who knows where?” Michael asked, raising his voice.

“That’s all you need to know,” Gertrude said, “Now be a dear and hurry up, we’re short on time.”

“Am I expected to return?” Michael asked, his voice quiet.

“If all goes well, yes,” Gertrude said, and Michael knew she was lying. He was tired of being lied to. He hadn’t even known that the supernatural existed, heck he was still not sure if it did now, but he did know that what Gertrude wanted him to do would not have a good outcome for him. He wracked his brain, trying to think of anything he had encountered that would relate to this scenario. Was there anything? He tried to think of anything, anything that had happened to him or in the archives that couldn’t be explained away but there were just blank spots in his mind.

There was nothing.

If he had been afraid before, he was truly terrified now, but he took the map from Gertrude, brushing a spider off it as he did so. A spider. A flash of memory brushed his mind, gone as quickly as it had come. A vague snatch of Emma saying something. Michael had never liked Emma.

Michael started walking towards the door. As a reached out a hand to touch it, he felt the static intensify even further and he jerked back.

What was he doing? Was he really going to blindly trust Gertrude and walk into what could quite possibly be his demise?

He spun around.

“Why?” He hissed, “Why have I never encountered anything supernatural before. I’ve been working for the institute since I was fresh out of university and I’ve been on a work trip with you at least once a year.”

He scrunched his face up, why could he not remember what had happened on those trips. What was wrong with him?

“This isn’t the time for an existential crisis, Michael,” Gertrude snapped, evidently losing her patience, “The world isn’t going to die because some foolish boy decided to have a breakdown rather than saving it.”

“No,” Michael said, and he meant it, “I’m not doing anything until you tell me what’s going on.”

Gertrude sighed, “I didn’t want to have to do it this way.”

She took out a book from inside her coat. A pattern of interlocking webs decorated the cover, which had no title. She opened a page and scribbled a sentence then handed it to Michael.

“Go into the door?” He read aloud, “I’m not going to be more willing if you write-”

He was cut off by his legs taking a jerky step towards the door. He guessed this answered his question on whether the supernatural was real or not.

The panic set in a couple of seconds later. Michael started to struggle. He would not be controlled anymore. If he understood the situation correctly, he had been manipulated and lied to for so so long.

He wouldn’t tolerate it any longer.

He handed the map back to Gertrude, noticing a spider on his arm as he did so.

“Go find someone else to sacrifice to this cursed door but I’m done.”

She was looking at the spider, not him. She muttered something he couldn’t quite catch but it definitely contained the words ‘damn web’.

“I happen to quite like spiders,” Michael said, more to spite Gertrude than anything else, “They’re quite cute in some ways.”

“The world will end if you don’t walk inside that door right this minute,” She spat.

Michael suddenly froze. He had forgotten, hadn’t he just been walking against his will to the door just a few moments ago? What had broken that?

He looked around and his gaze met the spider, now perched on his shoulder. It was a soft brown colour with a light fuzz covering it’s body. Michael lifted it onto his finger, watching with interest as Gertrude tensed as he did so.

“Scared, Archivist?” Where had that come from? Gertrude seemed suitably intimidated so he just kept going.

“Go back to your archives and stop with your games. You have no power over me anymore.”

Gertrude’s face was pale and Michael felt a touch of regret. Had he overdone it? He reminded himself that he had been about to be sacrificed to some door thing.

“Leave,” he said, and something flashed through him at that last command. Gertrude turned immediately and left, her steps showing the same jerky motions that had compelled him towards the door not five minutes before.

Michael glanced down at the spider that still clung to his finger.

“We did it, little guy. We out-manoeuvred her!”

He had no idea how he had done it or what had happened though.

Michael guessed he should get going as well, maybe he could sneak onto the ship that he guessed would be taking Gertrude back. There was also the matter of if the world was actually going to end because he hadn’t stepped inside the door. He doubted it, and he certainly wasn’t going to enter the door to check.

He turned tail and started back across the ice, placing his little spider on his shoulder so it could watch the proceedings. He was growing quite fond of it.

****

He managed to get onto the ship without anyone realising. It was odd, really. Several people had found him tucked away in a small storage room deep in the ship but after telling them to go away and keep quiet, all of them had done exactly that. He hadn’t seen Gertrude, which was a relief.

He guessed he should get some sleep, though the adrenaline still buzzed through him.

He placed his spider on the floor and it scuttled away into a corner and started spinning a web. It was quite adorable, Michael decided.

“You need a name!” He whispered to it.

It chittered slightly in response, a clicking sound that probably should have been inaudible but Michael could hear just fine. He didn’t dwell on the implications of that particular fact.

“How about,” he pondered the matter, “cinnamon?”

The chitter that sounded didn’t seem satisfied so Michael tried again.

“Ginger?” He whispered, (he was still hiding after all), “That’s one of my favourite teas, though you have to add more honey than you add to most teas because its too spicy.”

The spider gave him a judging look, or he got that impression.

“Do you like the name though?” Michael asked it cheerfully.

A chitter of confirmation came in response and Michael grinned.

“Okay Ginger, keep watch, I’m going to go to sleep now.”

He yawned and settled down. It would be a few days before they reached the mainland.

The spider waited until he was asleep then started to spin.

****

Michael woke up the next morning, yawned and stretched before remembering where he was. He looked around and startled. The room was entirely covered with webs: they were draped around the ceiling, covering the walls; the door was completely blocked off. Ginger was squatting in the middle of the door.

“Aww, were you protecting me from being found,” Michael cooed at Ginger happily. He knew he should have found this unnerving but he just couldn’t bring himself to see anything horrifying about this. Ginger had stopped him being discovered. He reached over and softly stroked the spider’s body. It chittered happily at him.

Michael considered whether to leave the storage room but decided against it. He didn’t want to risk alerting Gertrude to his presence, as far as she knew he was still on the island.

He had no way of telling how much time had passed whilst he was in here but it was a long while until they would reach the mainland, so he didn’t think it was worth checking it yet. It was pretty light in the room he was in so it must be in the daytime though.

He froze.

There was no window and the door was blocked off with opaque spider web. How could there be light in here.

He swept his gaze over the room, searching for a light source, but there was nothing. The light distribution was perfectly even over the room as well.

“Have I suddenly developed the ability to see in the dark?” Michael asked Ginger jokingly.

The spider made a soft clicking noise in reply.

Michael settled back down against a pile of rope, wishing there was something to do. He stared up at the spider webs weaving intricate patterns across the roof of the small storage room.

It would be a long wait.

****

Michael had lost track of time but he theorised it was around two days since he had entered the ship. The light level never seemed to change (which Michael was thankful for, as being stuck in the dark would be truly terrifying) but he had slept twice and spent what felt like many, many hours tracing his eyes across the webs lining the room. And talking to Ginger, who had stayed on the closed off door as if to guard Michael from whatever lay outside. No one else had attempted to enter the room, so Ginger must be doing something right.

He got up and stretched. He didn’t feel particularly hungry, which was odd considering he hadn’t eaten anything the entire time he had been here, but that wasn’t the most pressing of his problems.

The main one, he guessed, would be trying to get off the ship unnoticed. He could wait until everyone had already departed and then sneak off, which seemed like the best bet. Perhaps even more of a problem was what to do after that. The ship would dock in the far north of Russia, which was such a great distance from England. He also didn’t have any money on him, which severely limited his options. He also wasn’t sure how many people would allow pet spiders (he was not leaving Ginger behind), particularly when they were as large as his was.

“Some people just don’t appreciate spiders,” he sighed to Ginger.

Ginger gave its little spider noises as it usually did. Michael had gotten pretty good at telling what Ginger meant when it talked. It was definitely agreeing with him at this moment.

“I’m looking forward to seeing Elias when we get back home,” Michael smiled.

“Yes, yes, I know he hates me now,” he said at Ginger’s disapproving chitter, “but I think it’s mainly just stress from the job. Being head of the institute must be a struggle.”

Granted, it had been over a decade since Elias had taken over the position and that should have been enough time to get used to it but it was probably a job that one couldn’t just get used to.

“Do you think Elias knows about the supernatural?” Michael asked Ginger, “I mean someone should’ve given him a crash course at least since he’s in the position he is now.”

He could probably do with a crash course himself. Now that he had realised that it both probably existed and had for some time, he was honestly intrigued more than anything. Sure, there was a lump of anger in his chest that refused to move but he had never the type to hold a grudge.

“So far I’ve encounter the door, the weird control book and whatever took Ryan,” he shuddered at the last one as he listed it.

“And whatever I did to Gertrude,” he tapped a finger against his lips, “Not sure quite how I did that.”

He laughed, only a little hysterically.

“Maybe knowledge of the supernatural automatically grants you cool powers,” he mused.

Ginger gave him another judging look.

“Hey I just think it would be cool,” Michael said defensively.

He lapsed into silence after that. Would it be a good idea to venture outside? Probably. He made his way towards the webbed off door.

“Could you let me out?” Michael gestured at Ginger sitting in the middle of the door.

Ginger chittered and climbed onto his outstretched arm. The webs in the door retracted, leaving him a way through. That wasn’t the most normal thing but was practically mundane compared the rest of the past few days so Michael payed in the mind. He doubted anything spidery would hurt him anyway.

The lower deck of the ship appeared empty but Michael made sure to keep his steps quiet just in case.

Ginger chirruped comfortingly in his ear as he went, which gave him much more confidence than he would have felt otherwise.

As he climbed the ladder that led to the main deck, he heard raised voices coming from one end.

“I’m telling you again Peter, he was with The Web!” The sound of Gertrude’s voice made Michael flinch.

“And I’m telling you again, that seems extremely unlikely,” a man’s voice, evidently Peter’s, spoke, “I didn’t see him much on the way over here but even I could tell he doesn’t have the right temperament for manipulating.”

“The Spider is sneaky,” Gertrude said.

Michael turned to Ginger.

“Are they talking about you?” He whispered.

Ginger seemed to disagree.

“I still don’t think he’s one of them,” Peter persisted, “Are you sure he didn’t end up using the Leitner against you in some way?”

The book was a Leitner? That explained a lot. Michael wracked his brains, trying to remember what he knew about Leitners. He remembered reading a few statements about them, but no specific instance came to his mind. If the malicious books were real however, whatever Gertrude had done to him with the book could have very well been possible.

With a start, he realised they were talking about him.

“I mean, I am with a spider,” he muttered under his breath, gently stroking Ginger across its back.

He snuck closer to the direction the voices were coming from, wanting to hear more of the conversation.

Gertrude and the ship captain were standing at the stern of the boat. Gertrude appeared angry. Good, Michael thought angrily. The ship captain, Peter, however, looked perfectly relaxed as he leant against the railing.

“You left him on Sannikov Land,” Peter said to Gertrude, “So he’s probably either going to die or he’s already dead. Whether he’s affiliated with The Web or not won’t change that.”

Gertrude nodded, and her face was like steel. She did not care, Michael realised. She had heard that he would be dead, and she did not care. She hadn’t hesitated to sacrifice him to that door and she hadn’t hesitated to leave him there either. He bit his lip. Ouch. That hurt a lot more than it should have done.

He was interrupted from any ruminations he might have had by Gertrude turning away from Peter and walking in his direction.

Michael looked around but saw no place to hide so he pressed himself against the stack of bags he had been hiding behind.

“Don’t notice me, don’t notice me,” he chanted under his breath.

Gertrude neared him, then walked straight past with not so much as a glance in his direction. Michael breathed a huge sigh of relief. She must have been too lost in thought to notice him.

Michael turned and scampered up to the prow of the ship, hoping to be able to see something that would show him where he was. Luckily, the coastline was visible, a line of faint green in the distance.

He heaved a sigh of relief, then grinned. He was excited to finally be off this boat.

He took another moment to drink in the fresh air, then carefully headed back down to his storage closest. He sighed. Back in the closest for him.

Laughing slightly at the irony, he flicked his finger at the webbing dangling either side of the door, oddly not being surprised when it knitted itself back together.

He threw himself down onto the pile of rope and spent the next few hours refining his plans of escape and waiting impatiently as the land grew closer and closer.

#tma #ferni.scribbles #michael shelley #tma michael #tma fic #web!michael #I have finally written the web!michael fic #:DDDD

[heckinconfusedparade]

Part 1: Knuckles Goes Treasure Hunting

Knuckles wakes up. Today is the perfect day! Clear weather, nice temperature, yes!

He takes his treasure hunting hat off his nightstand and stands up and does a few big stretches. He’s been waiting for a weekend with 0 plans.

Knuckles joins the others upstairs for breakfast. Sonic raises an eyebrow “what’s with the hat?” “It is my treasure hunting hat.” Knuckles responds, slurping some nice warm coffee. “I think it’s cool!” Says Tails coming to sit next to him with his and Knuckles’ plate. Tom smiles at his son “snazzy hat, Indiana Jones.” “I do not know who that is, but I accept the compliment.

“Knux, are you going treasure hunting?” Maddie asks, finally sitting down, “yes. It is the perfect day to look for treasure. I have been waiting. I can sense that this will be a worthwhile journey.” Knuckles is quickly eating. Tails swallows what’s in his mouth “do ya need a metal detector? You can borrow mine!” “Thank you fox, that is very kind. But unfortunately I will have to decline your offer. I cannot hold something and dig without it slowing me down. I need maximum palm space. I can also simply sense when I get close, which is why I am always successful.” Knuckles finishes his breakfast and goes to put his shoes on.

“Be back for dinner, ok?” Maddie shouts. Knuckles shouts back “of course mother!” And he’s off.

He goes to the corner of the yard. He begins his hole and drills down. He senses something coming from the West, so he tunnels in that direction. It is there he finds his first treasure! Cleaning it off, he has found an old bottle cap. Neat! He puts it in his little pouch and carry’s on.

He digs deeper, following every signal he can. He acquires a bottle, an old coin dating back to 100 years ago. That’s a long time! He wonders if this coin is worth anything now..

At some point he picks up something strong. After a bit more digging, he falls into a cave. He picks himself up and looks around. He gathers some crystals and jewels while continuing down the cave.

Then he spots something.. less of a good sign. A skeleton. He feels himself tense a little, wondering if that person died getting trapped or something attacked them. He makes note of the location and continues forward. It gets colder. He begins hearing whispers.. whispers about turning around, and legends of old. He reaches an open room. In the middle stop a pile of sand is an open treasure chest full of jewels, jewelry, gold,… and a single golden dabloon. This is the strong signal he got. Just by looking at it he can tell it’s very very old, but in remarkable shape.

Knuckles hears a noise behind him and whips around. Then he hears something above him… a pair of glowing blue eyes stare back at him. “Hello? Who are you?” Knuckles points to the figure hanging from the ceiling. The figure drops down to the floor. She is a bat taller than he, dressed in a mixture of stealth clothes and flash. “What are you doin with those jewels, big shot~?” She speaks, stepping closer to him, triggering him to back away “I do not wish to fight you. Are you also a treasure hunter?” Knuckles stands in front of the chest. The bat chuckles darkly “something like that. Now, how about you share your findings with lil ol me, big guy?” she gets in position, expecting a fight. Knuckles blinks “well. I don’t need this jewelry. You can take some. If you made it here, you must be experienced in the art of looking for jewels, and I admire that.” Knuckles shows her the jewelry. The bat gasps and rushes over to it, gathering plenty “well aren’t you just the kindest soul~? Hello gorgeous!” She cuddles a Diamond necklace. The bat returns to Knuckles’ side and places a smooch on his cheek “thank you, stranger!” And flies off. Knuckles is frozen in place trying to process what just happened.

He checks what was left behind and finds a bracelet he thinks Maddie would like, and puts it in his bag with everything else. He decides to keep exploring the cave, and he does so until Knuckles senses something else. He gets the same feeling he did when he was near the master emerald.. but he hears some robotic movement.

Knuckles creeps around the corner of the cave, and peers to take a peak. He spots a robot that is definitely Robotniks. It appears to be searching for something. Another Badnik approaches it “Nothing over here.” “We must keep looking.”

The robots turn to face Knuckles who now stands in full sight, fists balled up “what are you looking for?” He says slowly. The robots prepare for battle. They do not respond, but they begin fire. Knuckles dodges the lasers, hiding behind boulders

He climbs up the wall of the cave onto the ceiling and drills downward into one of the robots, destroying it. The other robot tries to grab him, but he grabs the arm and swings around, landing one big punch into its eye socket. He throws the robot at the other one, causing them to explode. The explosion caused the cave to start rumbling “that’s my signal to leave.” Knuckles says to himself when he spots something glowing out of the corner of his eye. It’s a red emerald. He quickly stuffs it into his bag before tunnelling out of the cave.

He returns to the surface and shakes off the dirt. Knuckles reaches back into the bag and pulls out the emerald. This is it. This is what caused him to feel that way. Could this be one of the Chaos Emeralds? Here on Earth?

Knuckles remembers when Sonic turned back to normal from his Super Sonic form, some bright objects shot out of him and scattered across the sky. This confirms there are more of them, and that if all of them are brought together, they will nearly equal the power the master emerald holds.

He carefully places the emerald back in the bag. If his memory serves him correctly, there are more out there. Six more to be exact.. he will keep an eye out for the rest of them

He returns home just as Tom is setting the table for dinner. Tom pats his head “welcome back, buddy! Did you have fun?” “Yes, I did.” Tails comes running, and wraps his arms and tails around his brother in an embrace “hi!! I missed you!!” “I missed you too, Tails.”

Sonic emerges from where Tails came from. Knuckles smirks at him “did you miss me too, hedgehog?“ Sonic shakes his head “nope.” Tails speaks up “he did!” Knuckles laughs and gives the giggling fox a noogie. Sonic, offended by his baby brothers betrayal, decides he is going to be a good boy and join the table setting.

Maddie comes out of the kitchen and hugs her treasure hunter “looks like you found a bunch of stuff!” “I did. I will tell you all about my journey over dinner.”

Knuckles turns to his brothers “Sonic, Tails, there is something I would first like to discuss with you.” He leads them down into his room in the basement. He pulls out the emerald and places it on the floor in the middle of them.

Sonic gasps “woah.. what is that? It’s like.. a smaller master emerald?” he reaches to try and touch it, but Knuckles moves his hand away “it is a Chaos emerald. When you broke the Master Emerald, they must have materialized and been absorbed by you. When you changed back from your Super form, the emeralds shot up and scattered away in different directions. There are seven.. and we now have one.”

Tails thinks for a moment, then speaks “…so if we have all seven, we can use the power of the master emerald.. without the master emerald?” “Yes. But a single Chaos Emerald is still very powerful on its own.” “I’ll run some tests on it.. I’ll try to make a radar so the others will be easy to find. We cannot let anyone get these emeralds.”

The three brothers share an unbreakable promise fist bump.

They return to the dinner table, and Knuckles begins to tell his tale, from the coin, to the cave, to the whispers, to the chest, to the bat lady. Sonic and Tails look at eachother, then to Knuckles and go “ooooooo~!” When he mentions the bat. “What?” Knuckles asks, putting down his fork. Sonic laughs “you said she kissed you on the cheek, eh~?” Tails makes kissy faces to further the teasing. Knuckles blushes and rolls his eyes “it was merely an act of gratitude and nothing more. I don’t even know her, or her name.” Then he eats his feelings, while his brothers continue to tease him. Tom laughs while Maddie makes the two stop teasing their brother.

Then Knuckles explains his fight with the Badniks.

“..how? Why are Robotniks robots still active? Were they like Unit?” Tom asks. Unit has gone off to pursue poetry, they occasionally come back to visit Tails and Sonic to read poems.

Knuckles shakes his head “these robots appeared to follow strict programming. They had a task.”

Tails hums “maybe it’s possible that they were already given the task before we fought? Or..” his face drops “or someone else has access to Eggmans database.”

Sonic feels some blood leave his face “..or Eggman is still out there. And he knows about the Chaos Emeralds.”

It’s pretty silent for the rest of dinner.

Tom and Maddie discuss what to do while the boys head out to the shed.

It’s time for science stuff.

#do y’all want a part 2? #sonic the hedgehog #sonic the hedghog movie #sonic 2 #knuckles the echidna #movie knuckles #knuckles #knuckles wachowski #tails the fox #movie tails #miles tails prower #tails wachowski #sonic #movie sonic #sonic wachowski #tom wachowski #maddie wachowski #rouge the bat

[miloscat]

[Review] Toren (PS4)

A flawed but interesting Ico-like.

Swordtales was an indie studio in Brazil, staffed by many first-timers in commercial game development (or at least their Mobygames profiles mostly don't have any other games on file to their names). They seem to have gone defunct, another casualty of the cutthroat video games industry. But before they dissolved, they managed to put out a short Ico-like adventure which, while rough around the edges, has some neat ideas and imagery.

The story of Toren is hard to explain... it's conveyed piecemeal and out of order, via digressions and abstractions. But you eventually glean that human hubris built a tower that challenged the heavens—sound familiar?—to which the Sun (yes, that Sun) took great umbrage, and now the flow of time has stopped. To avert catastrophe and restore the natural order, a girl was granted the hopes of humanity to ascend the tower and something something the moon, and there's a dragon, plus a legendary warrior is involved somehow...

The real central idea of the game is that Moonchild is locked in a cycle of rebirth: aging, dying, and coming back as a baby born from blood, repeatedly fighting the dragon but never victorious. She starts in the prologue a grizzled warrior, before coming back a toddler. As you progress you will age from child to youth to adult, her character design getting cool flourishes each time (check out Pedro Jatobá's ArtStation for a better look at these than the game itself offers). It's like Jaleco's arcade game Momoko 120% but instead of a gun you have a sword.

The idea of resurrection is used in a clever way a couple of times, where the dragon petrifies Moonchild's body, then you respawn but your previous stone form remains, letting you progress somehow. I wish this had been explored further as it's an excellent idea that's just underutilised. Otherwise progression is via little puzzle sections where you have to approach the dragon past its buffeting winds and magic shockwaves, or you're ascending the tower by growing a tree, lighting braziers, or other interactions. Small enemy blobs with teeth sometimes get in your way but they're not a serious hindrance.

You also sometimes go into dream sequences, and Moonchild's inner world opens things up for some more surreal imagery. It doesn't get too wild but it's a nice change of pace, and usually involves a new kind of puzzle where you draw patterns with salt. None of the puzzles are very taxing at all, in fact the whole game is quite gentle but that can be a nice thing. Some of these dream zones (and a couple of unlockable bits of gear) are missable, so maybe check a guide... or play the whole game twice, like I did! With the themes of reincarnation and cyclical time, it seemed appropriate and I got a better grasp of the whole thing that way. It's short enough that I in fact wasn't completely satisfied until having done a second run.

I really must address some rough spots here. The first thing you'll notice is the game's look, which resembles a very early PS3 game with its shoddy textures and performance, coupled with a sort of blurry wobble effect to the lighting, especially in the dreams. The technical shortcomings do a disservice to the art design, so it ends up not totally delivering on its promise, and it is promising! The play control and animations are also stiff and awkward, so on top of unchallenging puzzles and simplistic platforming the gameplay is just not as special as it should have been.

It's unfortunate that the strengths of the concept were let down by these other factors. But hey, it's short and cheap so it's easy to take a punt on it... although I don't know where your money would go, what with the developer defunct and the publisher also defunct after being acquired by Tinybuild then jerked around, leading to a legal battle. Video games, am I right? Anyway, the strengths are still there in some form and manage to shine through at times... there's something there, and I'm glad I got to see it.

#toren #swordtales #review #ps4 #indie

[crapmagak]

Engage Drip Marketing: Timerra and Solm

Whelp, it’s-a-time for the last major box art character to appear (not counting Sombron), Timerra, as well as an intro to Solm itself. Seems we’re rounding out the countries first before further intros, which I’m down for.

So, Solm… 

Solm is a country in southeast Elyos, ruled by the freedom-loving queen Sfoglia as a neutral nation.

Solm by far has been one of the nations I’ve been the most interested in. Mostly just because of how little we saw of it until a couple weeks ago. Here, though, it seems to play double duty as our token neutral mid act shake up country, and our token desert country. And considering all the vibes every royal but Lumera has been putting down, and how neutral countries usually operate in Fire Emblem… If queen Sfoglia isn’t gonna be an antagonist at some point, some noble probably will be. Speaking of which, from Fogato’s website bios, it’s also revealed the royal line of Solm is matrilineal, which is neat. 

Sadly, though, I am kind of worried about something when it comes to Solm. Earlier this year, the country of Sumeru came in Genshin Impact, and swiftly grew infamous for its colorism issues. With the italian food name gimmick of this country, we currently know six Solmnian characters; Timerra, Fogato, Bonet, Pandoro, Seadall, and Merrin. And, well… four of them are the ambiguous maybe white, maybe east asian skin tone of anime. Like, I’m a white American dude, I’m not the best person to articulate the problems here. Still, they are kind of eyebrow raising. Hopefully this isn’t the case, but I’m ready to be disappointed again.

And without further adieu… Timerra herself. Fire in artwork…

Timerra is the first princess of the Kingdom of Solm, and Fogato's sister. Perhaps because she was raised in the freedom-loving Solm, she has an innocent and positive personality.

Then portrait…

While Timerra has been educated to become the next queen, she has been allowed to roam freely, so she can get along with just about anyone.

Then cutscene…

Timerra loves having everyone sit around bonfires. She loves singing, and it seems sometimes she comes up with songs on the spot...

Timerra: "Hmm, there we go! Time to happily wait for this meat to grill! Ahem... Now then, First Princess of Solm, Timerra, is going to sing!"

So, quite a bit going on with her. The design is cute, and the colors work really well together, even if the balls are rather silly. Still, her outfit itself is kind of an orientalist stereotype. Not as fetishistically horny as it could be, but not great either. Like, with the specific portions of skin shown off, the clothes around her waist and legs, and the ornaments on her wrists and ankles, they all bring to mind a stereotypical belly dancer, and that’s not even her class as it turns out. Sadly, these depictions are par for the course in fantasy media depicting any country inspired by MENA regions. I don’t even think she should be in something from a historically accurate documentary, or show no skin at all. Timerra is clearly a free spirit girl who employs an acrobatic fighting style, so her design should communicate that. Just… maybe not something evocative of a fictitious outfit made up by Europeans to fetishize women from a region of the world they were colonizing. This is a problem that's so much bigger than one game though, so I’ll try not to harp on it too much, and just leave it at disappointed but not surprised.

As for the character herself, Timerra seems alright. Your typical cute genki girl, here to round out the cast of generically nice avatar Alear, generically nice prince Alfred, cool and stoic prince Diamante, and cool and sexy princess Ivy. It’d be cool if Timerra’s freedom and roaming around gave her a more ground perspective compared to the other royals. Sadly I won’t hold my breath. This is Fire Emblem, after all, the little people don’t really matter in this franchise.

Also, I’m curious if she actually is gonna break out into song near the end of that cutscene. Vocal themes have become a huge part of nintendo games all over, and every mainline FE game since Fates has had one. Perhaps Timerra may end up singing the opening and or ending theme for the game.

And now for the crit clip…

Timerra's starting class is Sentinel. Elegantly wielding a lance, they use quick movements to make enemies' heads spin.

Curiously, her class name is Vigilante in japanese, but was changed to sentinel as seen in english trailers. Not sure why. Maybe it’s like a translation thing, like how the devs for Metroid thought bounty hunter just meant “cool guy who goes on adventures”? Don’t really know enough about the language to know for sure, though.

There are some rather interesting details to look over. The map itself seems to be the castle of Solm itself, overrun with Elusian soldiers. And that's not even the strangest part. We can see on the mini map that Timerra is alone in the middle of the map, while the rest of the army is away at the bottom. I’d ask if this is the chapter Timerra is recruited, but she’s currently level 19, a mere level away from promoting. Perhaps for story reasons she’s been separating.

I’m also curious because we haven’t seen Timerra with any characters that could be her retainers, same as Ivy. It’d be odd if these characters didn’t have them while the other royals clearly do. Perhaps we’ll see them later.

#fire emblem #fire emblem engage #Timerra #Solm

[slightly-nerdy-rambles]

Robstar Week Day 1: Synchrony (Prompt: Flight)

It’s that time of year again: time for Robstar Week! It’s been a little while since I’ve written anything Teen Titans related, for reasons I’ve already discussed in a previous post, so it was really nice to have this event get me back into the swing of things. That said, I think my other writing projects distracted me enough this year that it led to most of my entries being shorter than usual. That’s okay, though. I’ve found over the past few years that these “prompt” oneshots can come out to pretty much any length, depending on whether you’re working on a little snapshot of time or more of a “full” story, and it was kind of neat to focus more on the former! I still like how these fics came out, and I hope all of you do too.

Anyway, for day one, I pretty quickly decided to play with some tag-team flying during a Titan mission. I am a total sucker for some Robstar tag-team flying, lol.

Synchrony

“Robin!”

Robin was falling, which in the grand scheme of things was not an altogether uncommon occurrence.

Robin was falling from a great height and with no control over his descent — his grapple line had been cut mid-swing — an occurrence which was both somewhat uncommon and significantly more worrying.

And Starfire had spotted him immediately and was already halfway to him, a staple of these unfortunate occurrences and one he was infinitely grateful for.

In another moment, she had caught him in a graceful swoop that bled off the excess energy of the fall and smoothly shifted his momentum forward. He needed only a second, clutched bridal-style in her arms, to catch his breath and reorient himself.

Maybe five seconds after the first snap of the line, Robin and Starfire wordlessly shifted to a trapeze hold. He took advantage of the increased height to get a good look at how the rest of the team was faring. After another half second, he picked out Cyborg and Beast Boy running a tag-team of their own against one of the giant mutant moths currently wreaking havoc downtown. Nearby, a wave of dark energy gave him an idea of where Raven was fighting another of the creatures.

Robin had to hand it to Killer Moth: the guy may have had a ridiculous-sounding gimmick and a penchant for giving into the demands of a certain spoiled daughter who would not be named, but he really knew how to create a monster.

“If these beasts are more innocent creatures forcibly corrupted by Killer Moth, I will be most displeased,” Starfire grumbled above him.

Robin glanced up at her. No prizes for guessing she was thinking of Silkie back home.

“We’ll be as careful as we can,” he reminded her, “and once we’ve subdued them and taken care of the worst mutations, we’ll see what happens.”

Starfire responded with a sharp nod. She knew the drill. She then nodded her head toward the nearest moth — the one that had chomped through Robin’s grapple line.

“Ready?” she asked simply.

Robin shifted his focus to the moth, which had already lost interest in him and started drifting off to attack the nearest building.

“Only if you’re prepared to catch me again,” he said.

Although he couldn’t see it from his position, he could just picture the corner of her mouth twitching into a little smile.

“I will always be prepared to catch you,” she promised him.

Robin smiled back. “And that’s what I’m counting on.”

They needed no more discussion on the topic. As Starfire changed direction to take them straight toward the wayward mutant, he had a moment to reflect on that. It wasn’t just about them catching one another, though they were both excellent at doing so. It was in all the little ways they knew and supported each other, both on and off the field. She’d told him once that he was her k’nonaki, some Tamaranean concept of a mental anchor that could quickly drive and inspire the use of all her emotion-fueled powers. She said he helped her to fly, and the thought of that thrilled him.

And when she sent him in a calculated heave right for the giant moth, he knew that she helped him to fly too — in every sense of the word.

#Teen Titans #Robin #Starfire #robstar #robstarweek #writing #prompt #fanfiction #I am very proud of the title I came up for with this one #whoops talking about k'non and k'nonaki again #those of you who haven't read my other work probably have no idea where that came from #but I like playing with continuity too much not to include it

[sillyboypersonasixconcept]

The actual base concept

So I'll make this all nice and somewhat neat.

CW: Mentions of Suicide and drugs.

General theming:

So, the general theme is one I quite like. It is Vengeance

Each dungeon revolves around people who 'have it coming', people who don't do good things and get their comeuppance from the main cast.

The main visual theme is glitching and like, pixels.

The main color is Purple, but green shows up a fair bit too. It doesn't have a reason other than purple is cool.

The Shadow World:

Ok so this refers to places in persona games like Mementos/The Palaces.

For this, it is 'Hit Spots' (it'll make sense when I explain what the main group does)

So these represent what the person in question kind of.. does. It shows how they have 'polluted' the world in a way. Thus, their Hit Spot Appears.

It'd be a distorted version of the most important place to that person, with ways to show how they appear to others and in the end, themself.

It is accessed through, get this, a video game console like a DS of some sort. Portable Gaming Console is what I'm getting at. It shows many things, but we'll get into it later.

What does the main cast do?:

So, your main guys... they're all fr silly. See, they're all... dududududu

Assassins!

Thus, 'Hit' spots. They go in and they kill the shadow in the hit spot. Which then... drives the person to suicide usually.

The people with shadows that you go kill, are called polluters.

That is thanks to the fact that their influence is polluting the real world as well as people's subconscious.

So, you also go destroy what motivates them to 'continue the pollution' aka continue being horrible people.

So yeah, your main cast are a group of assassins.

Speaking of the main cast!

Confidants/Party Members:

So you've got your concepts, who're the characters? welp, here they are!

MAIN CHARACTER

Mafuyu Okabe Female Arcana: The Fool "A quiet reserved girl. She isn't known for sticking out too much, minus her clearly dyed hair. She stays quiet, and reads a lot. She apparently has a younger sister named 'Kyoko', but some think otherwise." Party Members

Daisuke Osamu Male Arcana: The Star "An optimistic and hopeful soul, Daisuke is really determined to make a change. Despite every time he tries, he fails miserably. He's currently working on leading a protest against this theater. He's very much.. naive."

Marlene Benninghoff Female Arcana: The Hanged Man "A foreign exchange student from Germany, she can't really communicate that well. She still is a good friend despite the language barrier. She's able to see things in such a new perspective, which is helpful for seeing the deeper meaning sometimes."

Kaoru Tanaka Female Arcana: The Sun "A loud and cheerful girl, Kaoru is.. real popular with guys. Even with her refusal to wear school uniform and strange harajuku fashion sense. She's got an opinion, and by god will you hear her."

Takumi Tarō Male Arcana: The Tower "A semi-known dancer, Takumi is a really full of himself guy at first glance. He simply doesn't want people to think of him as a pushover, because deep down that's what he is. He fears authority and wants to be the leader most of the time. He has a fear of water, nobody quite knows why."

Kanade Tenma Female Arcana: Judgement "A poor unfortunate soul, Kanade is usually fine! If you exclude her narcolepsy. She hates any warm drink and any long story, and she'll let you know if she feels like she may need to be taken somewhere to be safe if she falls asleep. Kanade loves money, on the other hand, so she takes tons and tons of odd jobs to keep a decent amount of money on her at any given time."

Mai Mayumi Female Arcana: The Moon "A girl with a passion for music, Mai is dedicated to becoming the best pianist of the modern day. She used to have a bad tendency of fighting, but she grew out of that. Now she has the eyepatch to prove that she was real rough and tumble back in her glory. She'd rather be in a concert hall than doing anything else though."

Mint / Kyoko Feminine Arcana: The Chariot -MASCOT CHARACTER- "Mint is a strange falcon-like thing.. with a real loud shrill voice to add onto that, though in the real world.. she is different. She becomes a girl named 'Kyoko', and she pretty much just lives life out, pretending to be Mafuyu (MC)'s sister."

Saki Otori Female Arcana: Strength "Saki, despite her name seeming quite upbeat and happy, is a dark and melancholy person. She doesn't have a lot of interests, nobody really gets through to her. She has a love for the supernatural, though. She started a club for those who also enjoy the supernatural, but so far she's the only member of this club. Saki is easier to talk to once you get the ball rolling with a friendship with her. She always carries this book, which nobody but her knows the contents of."

OTHER CONFIDANTS

Kazuyuki Kouki Male Arcana: Justice "Currently, Kouki works as a detective. He's caring for Mafuyu and Kyoko as of now too, though he is rarely home. He's working on a case involving strange increases in suicides and murders, and he just.. needs to be at work a majority of the time."

Masaki Ichiro Male Arcana: The Lovers "A matchmaker at Takarano Highschool, Masaki is known for his tendency to accidentally break up relationships. He doesn't let this get him down though, he will succeed one day! ... Someday."

Yuuto Yota Male Arcana: The Magician "A guy with such a strong interest in blacksmithing that he has begun making model weapons. He loves seeing how he can make new models out of scraps and junk."

Kanata Asahi Unspecified Arcana: Death "Kanata hates loud noises, people, metal things clinging on each other and the feeling of chalk. Though, they find comfort in being around Mafuyu and Kyoko. They'll often go out of their way to see them, because they love the company of the two sisters."

Chiaki Yu Female Arcana: The Hierophant "Chiaki spends most of her time investigating paranormal activity within Nara. With a camera at her side and nothing really stopping her, she just goes around late at night taking photos."

PEOPLE WITH DUNGEONS

Aki Akiyama Female Polluter 1, spreader of violence "A theatre owner, known for her disregard of employees, to her they’re playthings. Not people. She launders money, commits fraud, abuses her employees, kills those who quit or stand in her way, etc. This influences her higher up workers to do the same. Eventually leading to her hit spot manifesting as her theatre. Her motivator is money and her shadow is killed after being bribed by one of the Assassins."

Chikako Nishimura Female Polluter 2, spreader of seduction "An extremely greedy actor/streamer. She lives in a large house with 5 other streamers, and she's done horrible things to the other streamers in the house. She promotes the businesses of other Polluters and actively condones their actions. Her motivator is another streamer who left the house, and her shadow is killed once they remind her of how they are gone and she is left crying and vulnerable."

Yuka Kishikawa Male Polluter 3, Spreader of misery "Yuka is a powerful drug dealer. Mainly selling weed. He will often encourage staying with him and doing drugs rather than going to work or seeing family, so that when time comes for paying for the drugs, you will not have the money. So, he kills you. He leaves the families of these people in despair and misery. His motivator is bloodshed, so his shadow is killed when they offer him a way to have as many victims without needing to deal drugs as he wants."

Osamu Asuka Male Polluter 4, Spreader of Falsehood "Osamu is a renowned chess grandmaster, except.. well.. he cheats. He'll often have his opponent's strategies fed to a bot which plays a simulated match. he then uses the bots moves to win, and he has never been questioned. He is praised and thus more idolize him. His motivator is his ego, and his shadow is killed thanks to losing in a chess game within his hit spot, leaving him open to be sniped."

Okara Muto Male Polluter 5, Spreader of injustice. "Okara works as a judge, he lets people get away with awful crimes and locks them away for a long time for petty crimes. He lets murderers and mobsters off the hook all the time thanks to how often he is bribed. He loves being the justice, and being able to do as he pleases. His motivator is power, and his shadow is killed by poison gas filling his hit spot."

Kurou Ueda Female Polluter 6, spreader of destruction "Kurou is politician, who has her opponents assassinated before they cam do anything. She has been in power for years, and simply lets all the horrible things slide. Her motivator is order, and her shadow is killed when her wine is poisoned."

KAMI / THE CLEANSER No Gender THE CLEANSE SHALL BEGIN "The Cleanser is what is threatening the world as we know it, thanks to the polluters. It sees the world as dirty, and unless it is proven wrong, it will wipe out all life on earth and cleanse it."

EXTRA THINGS OF NOTE

Each party member will get their own post that covers them in general.

In game, you would be able to romance any non-family member or non-adult confidant. Regardless of gender.

The story will be revealed later.

#persona 6 #persona 6 concept #persona series #persona oc #aw fuck #sigh #big oof #oof #well shit #i hate it here #sorry if this is cringe #sorry if this is bad #sorry if this is too much

[madokamagicasecrets]

Do you still have faith in the fourth meguca movie?

I honestly have a lot of mixed feelings about the idea of the 4th movie, in a lot of different directions.

On one hand, do I have faith the movie will exist? Yes and no, I think the reasons its been put on hold are perfectly valid and frankly if after a decade Anno finally put out 3+1, I think that Orubuchi focusing for a while on other anime isn't necessarily a sign that it'll never come out. They very clearly want this thing to happen and idk as there's some kind of production problems in the way or anything, but honestly it might just be taking a while. I mean, think about how long it took for Mob season 3 to come out after 2, even how long it took after the official production announcement. Maybe they're keeping quiet cause there isn't much to say, or maybe it's still in production hell. I'm generally hopeful tho.

The other part of this is, am I hopeful this movie will be what I want to be? And that kinda gets into a messy spot because I have to ask, what is this movie likely to be about, what do I want it to be about, and do my feelings align with Madoka Magica as a whole? We already know that Walpurgisnacht is in the title and that the big witch made some small appearances in the 4th film announcement, so we can presume it'll be involved in the plot somehow. My concern about this plot point is that I feel like Walpy doesn't need to be in the plot? Like sure, Walpurgisnacht is an interesting and mysterious plot device in the original show, this ominous force that's alluded to multiple times before we see it properly, something so destructive that it took many time loops of layered potential and even Madoka becoming Godlike and succumbing into despair and becoming an even more powerful witch to beat in previous timelines. But I feel like all Walpurgisnacht represents is that, a plot device. We can dig into how it was formed all we want, but Walpurgisnacht is only really a villain as much as a natural disaster in a thriller movie is. I don't think it needs to be personified because Homura and Madoka are the central focus of the character dynamics, especially now that Homura is a demon. Homura may resemble Walpurgisnacht as Homulilly, something very intentional, but I've never really subscribed to the theory that she becomes Walpy because I think the parallel more serves to represent Homura's mindset, which is super practical. Being a magical girl is a duty, not a blessingz so she has a schoolgirl uniform on. Witches are nothing but obstacles, so her concept of a witch is the biggest and most dangerous one she knows of. In many ways her becoming a witch is the first time I think she considers what the monsters she's been fighting really feel, which is a fascinating character shift for her and a neat insight onto what witches are thinking. But although Walpurgisnacht and Homulilly's missions do have parallels, I feel like they're distinct enough to be separated.

We also have to ask, what do I want to see and does it align with what's likely? Personally I think the ideal movie 4 for Madoka is something that takes a lot from the latter half of End of Evangelion, and perhaps 25 and 26 as well. I think there's plenty of reason for there to be extensive sequences of Madoka and Homura talking things out and covering how they feel about each other, why, and what to do next. In a lot of ways I feel like it would be a really cathartic ending to their story, them finally being able to just have a heart to heart after all the things in the plot that have kept them distant. I think another good reference point would be @pinkthread 's old ask blog, something that imo really takes hold of the more melancholic and raw parts of the story I would love to see more of. I have ideas in my head of Madoka and Homura talking in abstract space, maybe represented by old areas in the anime. Madoka has burns and scars from the imagery in Rebellion. Perhaps they duel on a field of white flowers, and blood that's shed turns them into spider lilies. It's the emptiness and melancholy that I want to see from Madoka. Something like a dream. But I don't know if that's what's going to come out of it, or even if it's what should come out of it. Madoka plays with some similar themes to Eva, and even some similar executions, but they're pretty distinct. I don't know if my interpretation is in line with what is or should happen in the 4th film. Maybe it'll be more punchy and full of action, with heavy moments and deaths like in the original. Who knows. I can't help but feel like I'm on to something tonally, though, even if my vision isn't going to be realized.

So to sum things up, I have a lot of mixed feelings but I'm generally cautiously hopeful the movie 4 will be made at least sometime and that it'll deliver on some of the things I'm hoping for.

[dezemberzwolf]

Ff14 for 3 and 5, and zenos with 6 and 8

fandom ask meme!! ask me.... memes >:3

thamk u ilu....

3. which scene I would like to erase from the universe and why.

it technically was erased from the universe via retcon but every time someone mentions to me about the original moenbryda minion desc. that implied urianger was creepy towards her it makes me want to bite the writer again. also yknow what?? the lancer quest where foulques dies. my boy deserves to live so many other random ass shitty npcs get to live. like ok foulques was a dick but like he was a dick because every he knows decided to be racist at him and he HAD a POINT. like maybe some people deserved a stabbing. and yet 'known canon rapist npc ungust' gets to live? im sure theres 800 other things ill think of later bc its not as if the game is free of weird narrative choices, but ill be real. most of the time theres something where im like "this shouldnt Exist" i just vaporize and rewrite it in my mind LMAO. hear me out about werlyt

5. the scene from it that lives in my head rent free.

everything urianger has ever said in his entire life and also 90% of shadowbringers. its really good. for no particular character reason i think a whole lot about when you and the scions go to storm eulmore and u walk in on vauthry and ryne immediately screams 'no, make him stop' bc hes eating a pile of meol and i know. i know. in my heart. that if it wasnt gonna be too heavy gore and a bunch of graphics, the story intended that to be read as him ripping into and eating that lion sin eater that always sat in that exact spot. i know in my heart they ran in on him mid transformation eating a lion raw with his hands. i know this. shadowbringers is normal and fine for everyone involved.

also yknow in endwalker after [6.0 SPOILERS BEGIN] meteion reveals thancred is dead, urianger speaks and she immediately turns to him and goes 'youre full of loathing and dont even know why you still exist here'. that fucks me up every day. do you know how much has to happen for urianger, whose entire motivations this entire time is that he loves people so so much, to Actively Loathe you. to Hate a scared child. and he hates her because she killed thancred. and he doesnt know why its never him who gets to be the one sacrificed. im fine thats fine [END 6.0 SPOILERS]

6. the scene that I think shows just how awesome they really are.

The final fight with him here he speaks to the wol "not as a hero, but as an adventurer", and asks if your journey was a blessing or a curse. I like zenos because he is very much an exact foil for Laurel and that scene just shows that. hes aware of how close they are, and he cares.. he wants to know if someone 'like him', as the wol is, ever actually had a chance to live a life that could be enjoyable. he's trying to connect this entire time the only way he can understand you... i get if people dislike zenos. tbh im like, zenos agnostic outside of the context of him and the wol LOL but. i think at the end hes able to show that he really truly did connect with the wol. he managed to make a bond and some kind of understanding.

at least, with a wol like laurel.... with my other WoLs its like "YOU DONT GET SHIT GO AWAY!!!!!!" poor zenos. anyways him calling you an adventurer instead of a hero at the very end is neat. he cares about you he wants to understand very badly. he loves laurel hes her princess ok in this zenoswol laurel essay i will,

8. a headcanon I have about this character.

theres so much horny zenos fanart and i respect this i understand where it comes from but im also like. this man does not practically know what sex is and cannot flirt. he has only the hunt. if he fucks he does it almost by accident and it started as a fistfight or he has to be instructed into it. he has never seen pussy before. the wols gotta give him a diagram bc he understands concept but not execution. hes got other priorities.

also in In From The Cold when he possesses the wol the actual first thing he does is fall flat on his face because the center of gravity is way too different and hes not used to walking. and laurel specifically is lightly digitigrade and trekking around the snow in stiletto heels zenos gets into her body stand dramatically and then immediately eats shit because what the fuck how are you standing up like this.

#buzzings #im holding you in my arms