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supercorpkid · 3 years

Text

There’s a first time for everything.

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader

Word count: 2890.

“How exactly did this happen?” Jamie looks at the F in your test and you roll your eyes to the sight of it. This is bad. This is really bad.

“I didn’t have time to study. But it’s ok, I’ll study for the next one.” You say, agreeing with your head to make Jamie and Maya’s worried expression ease up a little.

“Babe, you should’ve told me you needed to study. We could have had a study session or something.” They’re still worried. You look at Jamie raising one eyebrow, so she knows there’s more to the story. It takes her a few seconds, but she seems to finally realize your life is more complicated than stupid French tests.

“Oh, it’s a one-time thing.” Jamie says dismissing it with her hand. “It’s good, now you know what the rest of us feel when we don’t go so well.”

“Yeah. It’s great.” You joke with a smile, and that seems to be what’s necessary to make Maya less worried.

“We’ll study together for the next one.” She says and you agree.

It’s just when her mom picks her up from school, that you can tell Jamie what was really going on with you.

“Ok, so what really happened?” Jamie asks and you breathe deep before starting.

“Ok, it all started the night before when Kara put her head inside my bedroom to ask me:

“Hey kid. What are you up to?”

I looked up from the books I was organizing on my table to start studying. And since I thought it was something fast, I answered. “Nothing.” While obviously ignoring the books in front of me.

Then she went on like “Well. There is a big commotion downtown, a bunch of aliens got together to destroy some things and the whole place is a mess.” And I just shook my head agreeing because I thought she just went to tell me why she was leaving. But, like, she kept going and she asked me: “Do you want to come with me? I figured we could use some help.”

I was beaming in excitement ‘cause you know it’s kind of hard for Kara to just admit she needs help, so I thought there was probably a hell of a mess there. Which means she really did need my help, right? So, I was like “Wait! Really?”

She smiled too. “Sure! Go put on your-” But I used my super speed to change and I was in front of her all suited up in a blink of an eye. “Suit.”

“Let’s do it!” I ran out of the bedroom feeling like I could fly away just by being invited to it. You know it’s all I ever wanted. Kara seeing me as a person who could back her up during trial times. I was almost out of the house when I heard Lena’s voice from the living room and I came back to kiss her goodnight. So, she was like:

“Where are you guys heading to?”

And Kara said, check this out:

“I need back-up for this fight.”

I mean, she literally said the words I was so eager to hear and my smile just grew wider.

“I’m back-up!” I said, beaming in excitement.

But, well, you know my mom. She immediately went like:

“It’s school night.” She looked at momma. “She needs a good night of sleep.” Like I wasn’t even there to speak for myself! But lucky for me Kara said:

“Don’t worry, love. She’ll help me stop the aliens and bring them to the DEO, and I’ll do the clean up part.” Kara assured mom, who let out a sigh, like she does whenever she knows she is defeated.

“Are you sure you want to go?” She asked, putting her hand on my shoulder. And honestly, I don’t know what she was expecting. Did she think I was going to say no? Anyways, I obviously answered:

“Oh my God, yes! Don’t worry mom, I can handle it.”

Then she was like: “Ok, then. Don’t take too long.” She kissed my cheek, and then Kara’s mouth. “Be careful. Both of you.”

Then I looked at momma, still smiling, and she smiled back super excited. I just couldn’t believe I was going out to have adventures with Supergirl! I always thought I would have to sneak out with Superboy to have them, but then like, momma invited me to it!

So anyways, I tagged along to fight some hellgrammites that were causing trouble downtown. And like, dude, Aunt Alex gave me an earpiece for communication and Rao it felt so good to be a part of the team!

And she would talk to me through it. Jamie, I swear it’s as fun as you can think. So, aunt Alex was like:

“Superkid, be careful with the spikes. They’re strong enough to penetrate metal, it could harm you.”

And Kara was like:

“They also possess superhuman strength.”

And I was like:

“Okay, guys. I know hellgrammites, just chill.”

But like, aunt Alex went on:

“If you can’t win, try using their own spike against them as a last resource, Superkid.” And I was like ‘ok’, And then I hit one so hard he was thrown to a post light, and it bent, and made the light flicker. It was so funny, but I obviously couldn’t say that, so instead I said:

“Sorry. I’ll fix that!” And I flew to him, looking at the spike on his hand. Then I made my voice sound stronger and said: “You can come willingly or I can make you.”

“Pff.” It was his answer. What a dumbass, right? So, I had to keep using my strong voice.

“Got it. I’ll make you.” And then I punched his face a few times until he was unable to recover, and put him in cuffs. And I was so happy I yelled: “Got one!”

I looked at Supergirl, who had already caught the other three. She gave me thumbs up and a smile. Well. At least I kinda helped, right?

“Bring him to containment at the DEO.” I heard Alex’s voice through the comm, and picked up his floppy body and made my way towards Supergirl.

I asked if she was ready and she agreed with her head. So, I picked one other guy up, throwing each one over my shoulders, and I flew into the DEO with Supergirl, putting all four of them in a cell.

Aunt Alex was looking proud of me, which is incredible. You know the feeling! And she went like. “Great work, kiddo!”

“Thanks! That was fun, it was like playing video-game!” I said making them laugh. But then Supergirl went:

“Ok, time to go home. I’ll go clean up the mess they made, and I’ll meet you back there in a bit.” And she was ready to fly away when I held her hand.

“I can help. Still early.” I said pointing at my watch, but I lied ‘cause it was already late. Supergirl narrowed her eyes at me, and I knew she was going to say no, so I said: “At least let me unbend the post light.”

So she went:

“Ok. Let’s go.” Supergirl flew and I flew behind her.

In the end, I ended up helping her clean up everything, and we had to sneak in home so Lena didn’t see what time we made it back home.

And then, when I laid in bed, I was feeling exhausted, but I was so tired that it was really hard for me to fall asleep, so I missed my first wake-up call with Kara knocking at my door, and when Lena woke me up a while later, I was so tired it was hard to focus. But I could never tell her that, ‘cause she would be pissed since she was right in the first place. So, I rolled out of bed and came to school.

The problem was that it takes a lot of effort to shut off my super hearing and pay attention to the test, and I wasn’t able to do that while feeling so tired, hence my F.”

“Well, at least you had a good time supering yesterday.” Jamie says after you finish your story and you agree with your head catching your breath.

“It was awesome! Even your mom looked impressed.” You lean over a pillar and look at her. “Except Lena will be so mad that I got a bad grade, because I was supering.”

“Oh, come on. You can’t do everything. Save National City and get a good grade the very next day.” She said and you think about it. No, you can’t do everything, but you’re supposed to. Besides, school is more important than saving National City since Supergirl could have done it all by herself, clearly.

But Lena doesn’t need to know, does she? It’s not lying if she doesn’t ask you about it, so there’s no reason you will run to tell her about it, right? Right. It’s fine. You’re fine.

But you’re not fine.

“Hey, babygirl!” Lena says when she walks in home later that day, your soul almost leaves your body. You jump so high in your chair; she furrows her brows at that. “What are you doing?”

“Having a heart attack!” You put your hand on your chest, and you feel your heart beating fast.

“You shouldn’t get scared so easily. You have super hearing.” She points out and you think about it for a second. She is right, you shouldn’t.

“I was distracted.” You defend yourself, and Lena comes closer to kiss your head. She looks at the books in front of you.

“Ooh, français. Très bien!” She jokes.

“Mhm, yeah.” You smile through the pain you’re feeling to just blurt it out right there. It’s very hard not to say anything. You hate keeping secrets from your moms. “How’s-How was work?”

“Oh, you know Fridays and meetings. They don’t usually go well together.” Lena says that grabbing a bottle of wine and a glass. “But at least we have family night today, right?”

“Right.” You smile and she excuses herself for a shower (glass of wine in hand), while you finish studying.

Kara gets home a while later with dinner in both hands, but she still manages to push your books out of the way so she can put them on the table. She ended up dropping all of your books on the floor, and you smile at her.

“Sorry, little one.” She bends out to help you with it, and you hear a loud gasp.

“What?” You ask surprised, and you look at what she’s pointing at. “Oh no. Oh no.”

“You got an F?” She yells in pure shock, and your eyes widen at the sound of that.

“Shhh! Will you keep it down, please?” You lower your glasses to make sure Lena is still in the bedroom and can’t hear you. Lucky for you that’s the case.

“An F!” Kara’s still shocked. She picks up your tests and reads it. “You were aware it was a French test, right?”

“Um, yes?”

“Because I’m pretty sure this is English, this is a math equation? And would you look at that! You wrote stuff in kryptonese! I’m not sure she could understand that.” She keeps looking at it, making you blush in embarrassment until you pull it out of her hands.

“I was… distracted.” You say, putting it inside of your book, and looking back at her. “Please, don’t tell mom.”

“Kid-”

“Please, mommy.” You try with your sweetest voice. “I’ll study harder for the next one and I’ll get an A, just please. Please. For me?”

“Don’t.” Kara looks at your pouting face and you can see she’s very inclined on hiding this with you. But she blinks twice looking away. “No, that won’t work. The pouting, and the ‘please for me’ bit. You know we don’t do lies in this house.”

“That’s not fair!” You cross your arms, upset. “Last week mom asked you if you ate all the chicken parm and you said no.”

“Are you serious?”

“You broke three glasses when you closed that cupboard a little too strong yesterday, and you told her nothing was broken.”

“Nothing important was broken.”

“Momma!” You pout again. “It’s not fair.” You hear Lena opening the bedroom door and making her way to where both of you are, and you raise an inquisitive eyebrow at Kara.

“Hey honey.” Lena says making her way behind the counter for another glass of wine. She looks at both of you having a stare down on the other side.

“One of us is going to tell her and she would rather if it was you.” Kara whispers close to your face, and you know Lena can’t hear her. You frown, and can’t believe Kara would do that. You can’t believe she won’t have your back about this.

“What’s-” Lena clears her throat, calling your attention back to her. “What’s going on?”

“Oh. Hi, love.” Kara makes her way to the other side of the counter and kisses Lena’s mouth. “Your daughter has got something important to tell you. I’ll go shower so we can have dinner and watch a movie.”

Kara leaves the kitchen and Lena raises her eyebrows at you, encouraging you to start. You don’t. You just look at her, and the book where your test lays inside. And you think about a lie. But you know you won’t lie, so it makes no sense for you to think of one in the first place. So, you get your test out of the book, and you come closer, holding on to it like it’s suddenly going to make it turn into an A instead.

“I, um, have something to tell you.” You sit on the other side of the counter, and she looks at the paper you’re clinging to so desperately. She does her eyebrow raise, and your heart feels like it’s going to stop with the thought of disappointing and upsetting her. Your mouth feels dry, your palms feel sweaty. It’s a whole ‘is this what a heart attack feels like?’ situation, before you can get your words out. “I didn’t do so well on a test.”

“Ok.” It’s what Lena says. She raises her hand at you, and you wince when you realize she will look at it. “Can I see it?” She pushes, once she realizes you’re still clinging to it, like holding onto a wrecked life-boat.

“Can’t you just take my word for it?” It’s your last desperate self-preserving act. Lena shows you her hand again, and you know that’s a clear ‘no’. “Ok.” You breathe out, handing her the paper. She takes it and looks at it, with furrowed eyebrows.

“Didn’t do well.” As in she’s saying that’s a very light way to put what she’s looking at.

“I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time, I promise!” You blurt out. “Please, don’t make me stop supering. Please. I swear it was a one-time thing. This won’t happen ever again.”

Lena puts the test down, goes around the counter and stops in front of you, while you still rumble your apologies. She doesn’t say a word which is very distressing. You wish she would just yell and ground you, just do something, instead of radio silent like right now.

“Ok.” She finally lets out. Ok? What does ok mean? “You’ll do better next time.” And then she hugs you. You take a few seconds to wire your brain and acknowledge what’s happening, before wrapping your arms around her, and letting out a breath you’ve been holding the entire time.

“So, you’re not mad?” You ask, still in shock. Lena gives you a chuckle and whispers softly in your ear.

“I’m not mad.” She tries to move away, but you hold her tightly.

“Still hugging, still hugging.” You say, earning another chuckle from her, and she doesn’t move away. “So, I can still go supering with momma?”

“You can still go supering.” She whispers again.

“And I’m not grounded?” You ask again, and you feel Lena moving to kiss your cheek. You smile, very happy.

“And you’re very much grounded.” She whispers, and finally lets go of you, with a bop on your nose. “But nice try.” Lena gets her wine glass and looks at you with a soft expression. “Can I just ask you a favor?”

“Anything.” You’re so happy she’s not mad, and that you can still go supering, whatever she says, you’ll do.

“That physics formula it’s exactly what I was needing for an experiment. May I steal it?” She smiles, making you smile back.

“Really? Wow, it’s almost like I wrote that for you.” And you have, in fact, because you were listening to her during your entire test. And you feel like she somehow knows that because the English part is the explanation she was giving about the experiment, then you wrote the formula she was trying to come up with, and the kryptonese part actually says ‘I love you, mom’. So, you figured she must have put two and two together and she possibly knows.

“Oh, and babygirl?” Lena adds, looking at you from her wine glass. “Khap ukiem rrip, inah*.”

Yeah. She knows.

Notes:

*Khap ukiem rrip, inah = I love you, daughter*

#kara x lena #supergirl #kara danvers #lena luthor #supercorp #supercorpfamily #kara x reader #supercorp daughter #supercorp fanfic #lena x reader #reader insert

120 notes · View notes

falloutjay · 3 years

Note

Christophe x childhood friend reader x Kenny, Christophe, Gregory and reader have been friends since gradeschool. Reader was a very emotional person who cared about everyone. She was very sweet yet still helped the boys assassinating people. Reader had always had an obvious crush on Christophe but she never seems get to an direct answer and it really starts to bum her out. So she starts trying to stop showing her feelings to him. It worries people because she starts being more quieter than her normal self. When asked, all she can say ' I just realized that there's something I could never have' and nothing else. It's until reader's parents (who are bakers) get a job opportunity in a town named South Park. It's a very awkward goodbye (with Christophe, it's sad af with Gregory) and she leaves.

As if a switch was pulled, reader goes back to being a sweet and emotional girl (much to her parents delight/relief). We makes lot of new friends and gets a new crush too, Kenny McCormick. She's shy around him at first, much to her friends: Bebe, Wendy, and Nicole's confusion. She confides in them and tells her past troubles with love. They comfort her and tell that it's sure to be different. So reader lightens up around Kenny and they begin a beautiful relationship.

Yet we hit a rough patch when Kenny's womanizing way Catches up with him (Kelly, Tammy, etc) so we naturally get defensive (not to how we were with Christophe but still pretty strained). But worry not, reader (and her friends) win their class a trip to London (they sold 7,777 cookies!!!). Reader is nervous but doesn't stress to hard, it's not like Christophe is still leaving there right? Well after settling into their hotel, Reader and Gregory run into each other and have a heartfelt reunion then reader reunites with Christophe and it's really awkward. So Gregory and Christophe decide to join them on their trip, but something wrong. Christophe seems a lot more open with reader, which confuses reader and Kenny, having connected the dots, tries keeping reader for himself. And poor reader's in a blushy confusing emotional spiral.

I had such a blast writing this. Writing Christophe is mad fun.

Btw, I implied that the events of the movie never happened here, so Wendy and the others never met Gregory or Christophe.

Kenny and Christophe are also pretty mean girls basically but I loved it so much, I couldn't help myself. ^^

(EXCUSE MY BAD FRENCH; IT HAS BEEN YEARS SINCE MY LAST FRENCH LESSONS AND I WAS PRETTY BAD AT IT)

Warnings: Kenny and Christophe are a little OOC I think, swearing, French, Bad French.

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Christophe x Childhood friend!Reader x Kenny

You hummed as you waited for your best friends in the whole wide world. You had prepared a nice little lunch with self-made sandwiches, lemonade, and brownies.

Your excitement went through the roof, once you heard the door to your secret hideout open. Gregory was the first to come in. “Ah, Y/N, what a lovely surprise!” He said gleamingly and admired the beautifully set table. He put down his backpack and as he did so, your longtime crush strolled in. Cigarette in mouth, dirty all over him and an annoyed expression painted on his face, Christophe.

“Hey, how was the job?” You asked sweetly, as Gregory sat down, and Christophe did so too after a short hesitation. “It went well unti-” “Until zat fucking dumb kid made the wrong zound and made me mess up the whole time plan. Why does no one know what a dying giraffe sounds like?” He ranted, hands moving around hastily, while you and Gregory chuckled. “It’s not funny!” The dark-haired protested while he lit his cigarette. You just smiled.

Despite Christophe’s mean demeanor, you had a huge soft spot for him. “Hey, Christophe?” You asked, demanding his attention, which he gave you, while also taking a bite of a sandwich. “Would you maybe like to hang out sometime?” Gregory pretended to not exist and focused on the suddenly very interesting drink in his hand. He knew you liked their friend. But he also knew Christophe better than anyone else. And the blond knew this couldn’t end well.

“Ah, excuse moi, mais…I just don’t have the time currently.” You nodded, trying your best to not show how disappointed you were. It pained Gregory to see you like this. He loved you like a sister and seeing how Christophe was constantly breaking your little heart made him sad.

To his demise, you only grew quieter with time. When Gregory pressed you on the matter, asking what’s wrong, all you managed to mumble was: “I guess… I just realized that there's something I could never have”. It made him worry. You were such a sweet girl but recently you had become a husk of yourself and today was no different.

They had just come back from another job but this time you didn’t even greet them, just passed the folders in which you listed the new jobs they could take. “Here. I am afraid I have some bad news though.” You mumbled as you pressed the papers in their hands. Gregory looked at you with worry on his face. “What’s wrong, dear?” He asked and noticed how close you were to crying.

“My parents got a really good job over in Colorado. We will move next week.” You mumbled. Gregory threw the papers across the room, before storming to hug you. You held him close, feeling sad, that you would never again drink tea with your favorite English gentleman, and that deeply saddened you.

Your eyes wandered over to Christophe, who looked somewhat sad but made no move to express this. “I can't believe it. You’re THE most important part of this organization and you will be gone by next week?! Who is gonna help me with all the papers?” Gregory held you so close, you almost had trouble breathing.

“I gotta go early today since I have to start packing. I will miss you two so much.” You said, not being able to stop the tears from flowing down your cheeks. “Yeah, sure, take your time. If you need any help, you know you can always count on me.” Gregory said, finally letting go of you. You nodded and walked up to Christophe.

“I guess that’s it huh?” You muttered. “Oui. You will be a great loss to zis organization.” Awkwardly you nodded. Was this really everything he had to say? You didn’t see Gregory in the background, wildly gesticulating for him to say more. The dark-haired raised an eyebrow until he finally got what his partner tried to say.

“We will miss you.” He thought this was a perfectly fine answer, but didn’t catch how much that hurt you. “Yeah, me you too.” You said and walked towards the exit. “See you guys!” You called out before you vanished.

“Great job making her feel like shit.” “What waz I supposed to say?”

“My God, Y/N, you have been here for over half a year now! Just tell him already!” Bebe commented and you blushed profusely. “N-no! He doesn’t even like me that much!” You protested, your cheeks colored in a deep red. “There is no point in denying sweetheart. You both are head over heels for each other. Trust me, Stan told me how much Kenny talks about you.” Wendy reassured you. She pointed with her fork over to the table the boys were seated on and sure enough, the blond boy you were talking about was looking over, waving even when he spotted you looking at him. You shyly waved back, before hiding in your sweater.

“Okay, Y/N, what the fuck happened when you lived in England? I can’t imagine you always behave like this around someone you like.” Nicole looked sternly at you, and you let out a deep sigh. “Well, fine, yeah, there was a guy before Kenny that I liked.”

The girls all pushed their food trays to the side, to stick their heads closer together. “In England, I was close friends with two guys.” “Ohh, a three-way?” “Bebe!” Wendy hissed before they let you continue. “They are assassins and I helped them with everything behind the scenes, like contacting clients, paperwork, and all that. Gregory was my best friend, and the other guy is a French, god-hating, foul-mouthed idiot named Christophe. And I really had a thing for him, but he was always super cold and just not that interested in me.” You rambled and the girls listened attentively. “Okay, okay, Y/N, hear me out on this one…” Bebe began, and you looked at her. “Have you maybe thought about the fact that that Christophe guy was just an idiot? You’re great and Kenny sooo has a thing for you. Just go for it!” Nicole and Wendy nodded. “Yeah, you gotta make new experiences, real experiences.” Nicole agreed and Wendy gave it a thumbs up.

Before they could talk any further, you felt a tap on your shoulder and turned around. Kenny stood there, smiling warmly. “Hey, Y/n, I just wanted to ask if you maybe wanna go to the mall with me on Saturday and maybe get a smoothie or something?” You felt your face heat up and heard the girls squeal quietly. You nodded. “Yeah, that would great!” You answered and he shot you a flashy smile. “Great. I’ll come to pick you up, yeah?” You nodded excitingly and he walked back to the boy’s table. “Ahh, you got a date!” Nicole beamed and so did the other two. A big smile was glued to your face, and you only managed to nod. “We will so come over on Friday and get you ready! Girls’ night!” Bebe planed and you happily agreed.

Being with Kenny was great. He was loving, always looked out for you, loved listening to you, and yet, you hated his guts just now. You wanted to strangle those stupid sluts that constantly clung to his side like their life depended on it. Yeah, you knew Tammy and he had history, as did Kelly, but did he really have to talk to them that much? Didn’t he see how much you hated it? “Hey, babe!” He whispered into your ear, and you moved away. “Hey, Kenny.” You said coldly. You waited for Mister Garrison to finally let you in the hotel. You and the girls managed to win the school competition for a trip to London, by selling 7,777 packages of cookies, totally legally, by the way, nothing to see here, so now your class was in London and after you sat with the girls in the bus Kenny had sneaked up to you. You were kind of nervous, fearing that you could maybe run into…him… but there was no chance he still lives here, right? Right?

You didn’t know why, but since Kenny had started to talk to his bitches, as you called them, again you distanced yourself from him. You were afraid of being hurt again, so distancing yourself was an automatic reaction.

Once you got settled in your room, the girls proposed discovering the town, since you guys had no events for the day. You happily greed and once in the corridor, you spotted Stans gang down the hall. Wendy asked them to join, much to your demise. You wanted girl time, not being secretly annoyed with Kenny time.

You, Wendy, Bebe, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny wandered the streets, taking in the new scenery. “It’s pretty nice here, isn’t it?” Wendy asked as she put the sweets she bought in her bag. “Yeah!” You agreed and sipped on the tea you ordered.

You guys had sat down at a café to just watch the bussing streets and enjoy some British tea. Kyle was talking to Stan about Cartman, and what prank they’d play on him tonight. Kenny was chatting with Bebe and Wendy about Tammy and Kelly, much to your demise and you just looked around. Your eyes wandered and you watched the other patrons when you stopped at a familiar seeming one. Your mouth was agape, there’s no way your eyes weren’t tricking you right now?!

The in leather gloved hands, the orange button-up shirt, that thick golden hair… A book rested in his left hand, while the other held the tea with an extended pinky. It was him. Gregory. He must have noticed you staring as he looked up and recognized you as well. A big smile appeared on his face, and he quickly put the book in his leather messenger bag. You got up, ignoring the questions from the others, while you ran into Gregory’s extended arms.

“Y/N my dear! I would have never guessed to see you again!” Gregory proclaimed, spinning you around. Neither of you cared that everyone was watching. “I’m so happy to see you. It has been ages!” You mumbled, still hugging your long-lost friend tightly. You only lost contact because you lost your phone during the move, so you had no way of contacting them. Before you two could talk, Kenny appeared by your side.

“Hey, babe, who is this guy?” He asked and as you turned around you saw the questioning looks of everyone. “Oh sorry. Guys, this is my old friend Gregory, we have been friends since we were little. Gregory, these are my friends from America, Wendy, Bebe, Kyle, Stan, and my boyfriend Kenny.”

Gregory properly introduced himself and moved to sit with you guys. He talked with your new friends, and you immediately saw how Wendy and Bebe hung to his lips. You understood that. Gregory was a really good-looking young man by now. You chuckled when you spotted how jealous Stan became with each passing second. Soon Gregory’s phone rang, and he excused himself to take the call.

“Oh my god! That’s the Gregory, you told us about, Y/N? Why did you hide that he’s a British snack!” Bebe exclaimed and you chuckled. Soon Gregory sat back down and that devious smile on his lips made you wonder.

“Ze Mole is coming.” He just said, knowing you wanted to question his smile. You felt the blood in your veins freeze for a second.

“He is still here?” You asked and Gregory nodded. “Why wouldn’t he? We kept the organization running. And there is always a spot for you if you ever want to come back.” The blond spotted the longing in your eyes at an instant. Kenny watched it happening quietly, carefully watching you. Soon enough, a certain someone arrived, pulling another chair to your table, and sitting on it backward, so that he was leaning on the backrest.

Your heart was beating like you had just run a marathon as you inspected every detail about him. His dark messy hair was roughly still the same and his trademark cigarette his only accessory. The tight-fitting dark green shirt fit him perfectly you thought and the tactical belt around his torso was still there. He also still wore fingerless gloves. The two really didn’t change much, apart from becoming older.

“Well, Christophe, these are Y/Ns friends from America.” Gregory introduced them and the dark-haired male lazily gifted him a wave. Wendy and Bebe noticed how you were obviously checking him out and laughed.

“I see you got a thing for baddies.” Bebe whispered into your ear, and you wanted to protest, but got interrupted by Stan.

“Well, I like this sort of reunion, but don’t wanna want to continue or sightseeing?” Gregory smiled warmly, as he offered to play tour guide for you. Your friends happily agreed to his proposition, feeling glad to have a real British tour guide. So, you guys paid for your orders and started walking.

To your surprise, instead of walking up front with Gregory, Christophe walked next to you, eyeing you curiously. “It’s nice to ze you again, mon chéri.” He said you felt your face heat up. Did he seriously just call you that? Did he actually say he’s happy to see you again?

“Well, it has been a while, hasn’t it?” You mumbled and Christophe had a pleasant smile resting on his face. That was a new thing, you thought. While Christophe walked next to you on your right, Kenny was on your left and eyeing the French with jealous eyes. He was an expert at reading people and he spotted Christophe’s attraction to HIS girlfriend miles go and he wasn’t blind to your body language either. You two had history. That much was clear.

Gregory led the group down to a nice spot near the riverbanks of the Thames where the girls took pictures together. Kyle and Gregory switched taking the group photos, while Kenny stood next to Christophe, both looking at the others.

Everyone felt the obvious tension between the two. “Don’t even think about, frog eater.” Kenny said, which made Christophe chuckle.

“Ahh, you Américains are so funny. You think everything belongs to you, when in reality she was already mine, once I sat down at ze table.” Christophe took the last puff of his cigarette, before stomping on it on the ground. Kenny averted his gaze and looked at his newfound rival.

“Yours?” He questioned but didn’t Christoph didn’t reward him with an answer. He only chuckled and put a new unlit cigarette in his mouth.

“Écoutez-Vous. You sound so funny.” The girl the two were fighting about returned with Bebe and Wendy and they all obviously felt the tension between the two.

“Ken, come over. Group pics!” Kyle called out to him and somewhat annoyed, Kenny jogged over. So you and your two friends were left with the French man.

“I just wanted to say, you look formidable, ma briquette.” Wendy and Bebe quietly squealed, as Christoph took your hand to press a kiss on your knuckles. You blushed a deep red. What had happened to him? He never behaved like that, but you couldn’t deny how he made your knees weak.

“Hey, Hey, Hey!” Kenny called out and quickly came stomping back. “I just told you to back off.” Kenny said. “Ah sorry, my English is pretty bad, I must have misunderstood.” Christophe shrugged. Kenny wrapped his arms around you and held you close.

“I’ll fuck you up if you don’t keep yourself in check.” Kenny spat and you broke free of his forced hug. “Ken, what the hell?” You questioned his sudden aggression, but you were quickly shoved away by Christophe, who now got all up in Kenny’s face.

“Oh, zen pray to whatever hate-filled God you believe in, and I hope for you he’z real because nothing will be as real as your fucked up face once I am done.” “Oh, I don’t believe in Gods. Not when I already know what hell looks like and so will you when I get started.”There was no point in denying that you, Wendy, and Bebe were super interested in this showdown. It was interesting to see two guys who were obviously fighting over you get so riled up.

Bebe leaned over and whispered: “Damn Y/N, you really got the hot guys fighting over you.” You had a faint pink tone on your cheeks. The two guys you liked were ready to basically kill each other over you. It was kind of flattering. Stan and Kyle tried getting the two to calm down, but to no avail, as they just kept going with their petty insults.

Gregory walked up next to you, leaning down to talk. “You are the only one who can get them to stop, you know that right?” He questioned.

“Yeah. But you must admit, this is kinda entertaining.” He laughed and nodded. “You’re right.” “Give me a minute Gregory. I never had someone fight for me.” You whispered with a hot face, watching as Kyle and Stan tried to pull the two away from each other.

Your heart was confused, seeing Christophe again and how he now behaved towards you awakened feelings you thought weren’t there anymore, but you also loved how Kenny was ready to fight for you. How could anyone not find this super interesting?

#south park x reader #christophe x reader

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hiswhiteknight · 3 years

Text

Unbelievably Outlandish– Part 10

Summary: Before starting down a new crossroads, the Reader goes onto an adventure of literary traveling. Suddenly tossed into an unbelievable story that has swept the world, The Outlander Series itself. How will a twenty first century woman survive?

Note: I own no characters, except reader, clearly this is based off the lovely book series Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and tv show. This follows more the tv show, but it’s far from accurate. I’m going to try to get better with using less proper English, but who knows maybe I’ll get into Scottish slang.

Pairing: Jamie Fraser x Female Reader

Words: 1400

Warning: Angst, playfulness, cursing, slow start, obvious fighting and violence, mention of suicide

*I’ll be honest, this chapter is more of a fuller, substance chapter. If you wanted to be added to the tag list, please send me a message or chat. Thank you for everyone’s patience!

The hunt still left you plenty in your thoughts. It should be on helping in whatever way you can, but you kept thinking on your role here and how you clearly will never belong, no matter how to try to be kind and open to the culture, no matter how much you push away your own values and morals for these people. It will never matter. Rupert yelled your name, catching your attention. A man got hurt and you help mend what you can before instructing Rupert to bring him back to the village. Another scream, a different type of scream caused you to be pulled from you own thoughts of now and into the times of wartime. You charge to the scream, you found a man losing blood quickly, and a shot pulled you from your thoughts. The boar that did this must have been shot, “Mistress Y/L/N, am I going to die?”

All the pressure and anger you felt subsided, “Hold of Geordie, let me look at you,” several clansmen surrounded you. Dougal showed up to hold Geordie as you tried to patch up his leg. Dougal and him were exchanging words when you saw the wounds to his abdomen. Dougal made eye contact with you and you knew he knew what you were saying. You pulled off the tourniquet, and grabbed his hand, “Geordie, the pain is going to be go soon, but while we wait, I have a bet with Angus.” Geordie looked at you the way many men have looked at you before in the Marine. You had to bring him peace in the time of his panic, “I bet Angus that the colonies had more beautiful sites than Scotland. Tell me about your home, what’s it like?”

Georgie perked up as he told you about his home and you gripped his hand with all your might and continue to stroke his hair to help sooth him. And soon he was gone, you quickly got up and made your way to your horse. Before you knew what you were doing, you made your way to the castle. You needed some busy work, like stitching up the leg of the man who was also attacked by the boar. Afterwards, you walked outside to see the men playing field hockey, which you played for a few years in high school. This was far more barbaric, and you could see Dougal taking his rage out on Jamie. He could cope in anger, but if you did this, you would be gutted.

You wondered who would win in a fight and you had no doubt Jamie would win. When you saw Dougal on the ground, a young girl from one of your lessons tugged on your arm, “Well hello Molly dear, you enjoying the gathering?” There is no reason to take your rage on children, they didn’t do anything wrong. Honestly, teaching them defense things and survival tactics was the most time you felt at peace, well except when you were with – never mind that thought.

“Aye mistress, very much,” you smile down at her, “I heard about your ill-wish and I know who made it. They did not know it was intended for you when they gave it to the girl.”

Guilt hit your chest again, someone was scared you were going to hurt them for being an accomplice. You were letting the harshness of one person hurt your relationship with the majority, “You know who put it under my bed?”

“Aye mistress,” she whispered, “You wouldn’t be telling my mother, would you? She wouldn’t be wanting me to get into others business.”

You bent down to her level, “Tell you what,” you pull out your coin bag with most of the money you made for yourself while staying here – your escape money, “I’ll tell your mother you helped me collect supplies for the gathering, which is why I paid you all this. And you tell me who put it under my bed?”

“Mistress, I don’t need your money. Girls aren’t allowed to learn the things you are teaching. You don’t deserve any ill-wishes. You’re lovely,” you smile up at her.

You pass her the bag, “You’ve earned it dear, I keep my word. Give me the name and the money is yours.”

“Laoghaire,” she whispered. You shot up, looking around completely shocked.

“Alrighty lass,” you pat her on the shoulder, “If you don’t mind, I have business to take care of.”

“Be careful, please,” she urged after you.

You had a hyper focus again, you intended to kick her ass, like you reported. And you found her socializing where most of the clan put up tent for the gathering. You passed Murtagh and Jamie, taking off your sling bag off and your dagger from your waistband and handed it to one of them, “Murtagh, could you mind this for me?”

“I’m not your errand boy, lass, and where you going that you won’t need this,” he questioned.

“You’re a pretty face, Murtagh, you ask too many questions,” you sass to him, looking at your target. Jamie and him stopped leaning on a post, both putting their drinks down. They could clearly tell you mean business. “Hey, Laoghaire, you two faced, toxic bitch, I got your gift earlier and I would like show you my appreciation.”

She had the audacity to give you a glare, before she realized she was in real danger. She started to step backwards, and the crowd started to grow around you as you moved closer to the girl, “Leave me alone, wench.”

“Oh, you do have words now that you can use. I thought you might be too stupid to speak up and say something since you chose to instead use this voodoo bullshit to get at me. You want to bring me pain lady, let’s go at it,” you finally were within three feet of her. Before you could make a grab at her, she ran in another direction.

You were about to put your running skills to work, when Murtagh gripped your arm, “Come on lass, you made your point let’s get you back to the surgery.”

“You know what, I’m a little busy right now. But I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a few, we can have some tea to cleanse our spirit, la de da and all,” you keep her in your eye sights. You were about to start your chase when you were tossed over a shoulder. Murtagh was carrying you back as you banged on his back. You were mad in this moment because you gave your dagger away to this meathead or he would have suffered from a few, no lethal jabs. He dropped you in the surgery room, “Damn it, Murtagh what the hell is wrong with you?”

“With me, you were about to put a big target on your back. You’re a guest here lass, they don’t take too kindly to guests attacking one of their kin,” he leaned against the counter.

You started to cry, and you usually do not cry, “Does it mean nothing I didn’t start it? Her action deserves a consequence. I watch all men here fight over nothing and here I am fighting against an injustice and my life is at danger. Do I not matter to anyone where? Should I just go to the tallest tower and jump?”

“Don’t be so dramatic, an ill wish is nothing,” he urged to you. He didn’t seem too phased by the fact you were crying, though he did soften his voice to show sympathy, “I know you don’t believe any of nonsense. You are a smart woman.” You started to toss things about the surgery, organizing all the stuff you brought out for the hunt. Murtagh walked over to you and stopped you by gripping the top of both your arms, “Y/N, you matter more than you know. Stop this behavior, you’ll get accustomed.”

“Murtagh, why do I always have to be the one to change? What do I have to do to feel like I belong here, how long will it take for people to believe I’m not an outsider?”

He took a deep breath again, “I know it doesn’t seem it now and I don’t know how, but you do belong here. It’ll come in time. Until then, stop picking fights.”

“Yes father,” you rolled your eyes, “Where is Jamie, I assume he has my bags and things?”

“Aye, right now he is taken care of Laoghaire, so you needed be worrying about her anymore,” he said, making his way to the stairs.

“Unless he has killed her and hid the body, I’ll keep to worry about her and her no good deeds, thank you,” you shouted at him. “And make sure Jamie brings back my things sooner rather than later.”

And before Jamie could drop off your things, Dougal Mackenzie came down to share you would be journeying out to collect rent from the clan who wasn’t able to make it.

PART 11

Taglist: @doctorwhatwhenandwhere @damnedandbroken @blushingpogue @blancastans @slytherinambitious @kinky-asher @lovesanimals @bilesxbilinskixlahey

#Outlander #outlander fanfiction #outlander imagine #Jamie Fraser #jamie fraser imagines #jamie fraser x reader #jamie fraser imagine #jamie frazier x reader

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maliciouslycreative · 3 years

Text

How I played damage control to an anti in a small anime fandom and may have led to her ultimate downfall

I know I had a really nice write up of this at one point but oh well. I’ll spill more of the tea in this one because honestly the tea was so hot.

There are a few things that I have to give context to first. Gaia online was like THE mega forum of the 2000s, you made a little avatar and through posting and doing other activities on the forum you made money to buy clothes for your avatar. There were forums for everything but the fannish portions were really what drew in most of the people. The anime I was into was Beyblade. It was a shonen anime about fighting with tops that were possessed by the spirits of magical creatures. The story was honestly pretty average but the characters were fantastic and the fandom is to this day still one of my favourites. The series had a primarily male cast and didn’t even have a female lead until the second season. This led to the fanfic for the English fandom being about 70% canon/OC, 10 % canon m/f, and 20% slash. The most popular character in the English fandom was by far Kai Hiwatari, the loner badboy of the team.

Also before we get started I would like to add that one of my best friends was neck deep in this and the two of us were more or less fandom married. This is the same friend that I fake dated, had feelings for, and she nearly got me into kpop in 2011 so like if you haven’t read that story please read it too because it will give you a good idea of how stupid I am and how much of a fanfic I have truly lived.

To set the stage I was 16, soon to be 17 when I joined the fandom and it was 2004. In September of that year I wrote a humour longfic that became an absolute smash hit and I found myself somehow fandom famous. It was around this time that I joined Gaia online. I made my little avatar and immediately went looking for the beyblade thread so that I could make new friends. I found the main thread, made my little introduction and at the end of it mentioned that I was a slash writer but I supported all ships. This is where I met C. She had declared herself the authority on Beyblade in these parts and I had just committed the crime of mentioning slash which was very obviously not canon and we did not discuss in this thread because we only discussed canon things. I was like well that’s a bit severe but like sure whatever I just want to hang out and have fun.

Oh boy did I have no idea what I was in for.

C was a year older than me and unfortunately that made her older than the majority of the fans at the time. Her favourite character was Kai, and she was not shy about talking about this fact. She stanned Kai above all other characters, and often at their expense. She was also a fanfic writer of a popular canon/OC series. Actually, she was so full of herself that she didn’t even call herself a fanfic writer, no her stories were in fact novels and were apparently very good. I never read them. But more on that later.

Eventually the slash fans got tired of her being rude to us in the general thread so we made a Beyblade slash thread. There was a core of like 8 or so of us and we honestly had sooo much fun. When C would be too unbearable in the main thread the people from there used to come over to our thread and we’d chat with them about non slash stuff because we were honestly all multishippers and just wanted to have fun. We’d get comments like “wow, I’ve had more pleasant canon het ship discussions in the slash thread than the regular thread”. We never worried about C coming over and getting upset about comments like this because she refused to be associated with anything related with slash lmao.

I tried my best to keep the peace between C, myself, and the rest of the fandom because ultimately I hate being in fandom drama. I just want everyone to have a good time. I’m a people pleaser. Unfortunately my newfound fame put me in the awkward position of being the most fandom popular person in our small community aside from C. Virtually every fan that read fanfics that came into our thread knew one of us or the other by reputation and C HATED this. Especially because people would come in to the thread, recognise me and go “oh my goodness I love your fanfics!” and I’d be super sweet with them and it’d lead into “I can’t believe how nice you are, I love you” which would lead to us crying at each other. This was not the kind of fan interaction that C got, no her fans were more kind that were there to praise her and worship her like a deity that had blessed them with some gift. Rarely did they tell her how kind she was.

Back in the mid 2000s there were really commonly those commercials (usually by Christian organisations) asking people to sponsor say children in Africa or to help build schools or provide drinking water. You all probably know the ones; know the language that they used in those commercials. My fandom wife, who I suppose I shall call wifey because yes we were THAT couple back then, once said that C described her fics like those people described donating money to save the lives of Children in Africa. So we used to joke that her fics were so good they’d save lives in Africa. Looking back at it all, she almost had a very fundamentalist Christian approach to bringing people into her fanfics. She of course tried to get all the slash people into reading it. None of us read canon/oc fic mostly due to our poor treatment at the hands of their fans and creators. Getting fed up I one day told her that if she would read any one of my fanfics that I would read the entirety of her novels. Yes, I was willing to commit to read a couple 100k of canon/oc fanfic that I’d never touch normally if she would even read one of my 1k 1 shots. Heck, I had a fic even that shipped 2 minor characters so she didn’t even have to sully herself reading about one of the main characters. It was honestly a good deal in her favour. I kept this up until the day we all left the fandom. Sometimes I do wonder if her fics were even ¼ as good as she claimed, but I will never know because she refused to read my fics.

She wasn’t all bad and a tyrant all the time. As long as people kept the conversations on track and didn’t come in to the thread saying things like “KAI IS SO HOT ND T3H BEST N I AM GUN 2 MARRY HIM” she stayed mostly civil. It was always hilarious watching InuYahsa or Naruto fans try to come in and bad mouth Beyblade because they’d unleash the dragon and C was great at chasing off undesirables in the thread.

The real apex of goings on though on Gaia was the guild drama. So guilds were like exclusive themed mini forums within Gaia. Anyone could buy one and run it however they want, as long as it still adhered to Gaia’s ToS. C of course was the owner of the only Beyblade guild. The fandom wasn’t really big enough to support 2 guilds so we just kind of let it go. Technically she allowed people to post slash fanfics but like everything had to be explicitly tagged and there was absolutely no slash RP. Wifey and I controlled a handful of minor characters together in the forum RP and definitely used to try to push the boundaries a little bit. Some ambiguous flirting here, a stray comment there. It was such a fragile balance though because C was heavy on the ban button. The active portion of the guild was just people that were in the cult of C and worshipped her writing.

Understandably the other slash fans and myself were getting disheartened by this. So we pooled our funds together and decided that we’d open a second guild that though it was run by slash fans we would welcome anyone into our ranks. We just wanted to have a fun place for everyone to hang out, and to hopefully run a few events out of. In hindsight, we should have seen what would happen. When we opened the guild, with me as the guild leader, it was like somebody blew up the whole dam protecting the delicate ecosystem we had cultivated. Every single person in the Gaia fandom that was not a zealous follower of C applied to be in our guild and left her guild. We of course figured that we’d attract some of the gen population but we did not expect to accidentally poach all of it. All of the moderators were getting messages from people thanking us for giving them a place where they could say whatever they wanted without fear of getting their faces ripped off or banned.

C lost her shit. She was so mad that we went behind her back to ruin her guild. We literally had to show her posts in the very public slash thread that we had been planning this in public and that it was not to ruin her life. We just wanted a place where we could freely post slash. The two of us had some spicy comments back and forth and then she dropped an absolute bombshell on me. Since Gaia’s mail system is terrible I unfortunately no longer have exactly what she said but it was something along the lines of “Ok, you win. I’m going to close my guild.”. Us slash fans had never been doing this to win anything. We had never been competing. We just wanted a safe space to be ourselves.

C never joined our guild. The fandom slowly faded out within the next year anyway. We weren’t getting new content so naturally people just drifted into other fandoms. C kept up with the main Beyblade thread for a lot longer than most of us but eventually that eventually faded into obscurity too.

I learned a lot about fandom bullies from those days. But honestly the thing that stuck with me the most out of everything was that if you provide a positive safe space for people they will flock to it. It may seem like there are so many hostile people out there, but there really aren't. They're the minority but they just make sure that their voice is the loudest. The best way is to ignore them and just do your own thing. The bullies just want attention and if you don’t give it to them and prove to them that their opinion doesn’t matter to you then they’ll move in and find something else to yell at.

#malicious musings #stacey's adventures in fandom drama #lol #honestly it was such a fucking wild time #if i think of any other specific instances of drama i'll add them #god i wish i had screenshots of some of what went on #but sadly going through archived gaia posts is easier said than done

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gucciwins · 3 years

Text

The Hunt

Luna has won the Halloween Hunt two years in a row and she is going for a third with Harry as her partner, the problem well they don’t really get along.

Word count: 10,761

A/N: Luna, I hope you love her like I do. She was a joy to write. I’m very excited to share so please come and share your thoughts with me. It really means the world to me. Thank you to Gianna (@hunflowers) for hosting this wonderful Halloween challenge. I hope you enjoy. (prompt: you’ve got to be kidding me).

Halloween.

The one holiday that Luna is excited to take part in with her friends, finding even the tackiest of activities fun and a joy to do. Luna and Caleb went to the pumpkin patch last weekend and spent the day drinking cider and eating cinnamon donuts. The pumpkin carving was a whole other story that ended with one smashed pumpkin and a grumpy Caleb.

Luna has spent every Halloween with Caleb for as long as she can remember. From first becoming best friends when Luna and her family moved in next door to Caleb at the age of six to now, age twenty-one going on four years of living together. Much to their parents' disappointment, sparks never did fly for them. Not that Luna ever thought there would be; Caleb just didn't do it for her no matter how handsome he was.

This Halloween, just like previous ones, they were going as a pair. Their first Halloween at age six, they went as Power Rangers, Luna the yellow and Caleb the blue. It was their most memorable one and has the picture hanging in their living room for reminiscing purposes. Last year Caleb decided on Ghostbusters, and they killed it. Being university students means low money in their bank account, so they went thrift shopping a lot that year.

Halloween 2020, it is her turn to pick. Luna decided they would be going as Princess Buttercup and Westley from The Princess Bride.

A true classic that will forever live on, yes, it may be a romantical pairing, but Luna has begged for this for years, and now is their time to shine. She pulled extra shifts at the tattoo parlor she works at as receptionist to get authentic costumes—the red dress of dreams.

It's Saturday night, there is a Blue moon, and it's Halloween.

It is time for their third annual Halloween Hunt, where her group of friends pair up and set off to find clues to win the grand prize of a crown, some cash, and bragging rights for a whole year. Luna has won it the last two years with Caleb on her side, and she is ready to do it again.

Luna stares at herself in the mirror. The gown is elegant and rich with details. The long red, billowy sleeves with a fathered cuff. A high neckline and falls into a loose, pleated skirt. The dress is tied off at the waist with a gold pattern belt. And to top it all off, the beaded crown on her brown curls. The color of her hair the only inaccuracy of the costume. The crown shines more she feels with her darker hair than the original Buttercup.

Her makeup is minimal, only having used mascara for her long eyelashes she likes having curled. It makes her brown eyes that much nicer to gaze at.

She grabs her wallet and keys that she will be leaving with Caleb as his look was blessed with pockets, and she does not want to stick anything down her bra for the entire night. She takes the stairs two floors down as they meet at Mitch and Oliver's apartment, who happen to live in the same complex.

To start the hunt, the host will let everyone get into partners before dispersing the first clue, and the first couple to make it to the final location at midnight will be crowned the winners.

They really are in for a fun night.

___

Walking in, she sees the apartment somewhat decorated, not much, purple string lights hanging over the large tv they have. Small orange pumpkins scattered around the room. The excessive amount of fake spider web in every corner of the house. Mitch has always said, why to decorate if you're going to be the one cleaning it up. Oliver did not think the same way; she imagines his room looks like the inside of Spirit Halloween.

Mitch greets her with a drink. It's water. He smiles at her costume before wandering off. She sips the cold water, never one to drink on such an important night. Also, she's wary about drinking growing up; her dad made her start driving at the age of fifteen because he liked drinking when they went over to her uncle's house on the weekends. He wasn't an alcoholic, but he did drink too often, and instead of putting her and her brother at risk, he taught her to drive. This is why now, she will instead be the designated driver than the one having the drinks. Tonight, she needs a clear head to win.

Luna moves past the kitchen, eyes searching for Caleb in his black outfit and mask, but she stops dead in her tracks once she meets his gaze.

It's a shock.

Caleb is dressed in slim black pants, a white dress shirt, a messy done blue tie, an unbuttoned black blazer, and completing his look is the signature beige blazer. He looks incredible, but not at all how he was supposed to. He winces when he sees the expression on her face.

She’s upset. He didn't even warn her. Not a single text or call.

There has never been a reason to break tradition, but here they are doing just that.

"They asked me to host," Caleb says as he steps toward her. Luna manages a nod. She changes her direction and goes across the room to sit alone on the windowsill, leading to a small flower patio. Caleb looks like he wants to head over, but she knows her well enough; it's best to leave her alone.

As Luna gets lost in thought, she doesn't acknowledge that everyone else has slowly arrived, the chatter getting louder. She also is oblivious to the lingering eyes on her. If she had looked up, she would have met Harry's concerned gaze.

"Hello friends, thank you for gathering with us here on this day of spooks and horror." Caleb stands on the study coffee table to get everyone's attention on him. "This year, you may not pick your partner. No, there will be random draws."

"Let's hope this makes Luna lose this year," Oliver shouts, getting lots of cheers in response.

Luna rolls her eyes at the banter but lets a smile overtake her face because she knows no matter who her partner may end up being, she will be a winner.

Caleb announces how only five of them will pick a name and how it has been decided it will be Mitch, Daniel, Charlotte, Abby, and Luna, who will draw a name.

She is third to pick a slip, not opening it up until the last two receive theirs. She doesn't focus on the others as they begin to search for their partners because Caleb is shuffling over to her looking sheepish.

He pulls her in and wraps his arms around her, giving her a big squeeze. Long and hard enough to leave her out of breath. A sloppy kiss on her cheeks, she is quick to wipe away on his coat, not at all wanting to dirty her dress, at least not yet.

Those hazel eyes are hard to stay mad at, and he knows it. Luna can count all the fights they've had on one hand.

"Whatever, you owe me." She bumps his shoulder.

He nods, quick to agree. "Name your price."

Luna opens up the folded slip of paper.

Harry

"A new partner." She whispers, not looking up, hoping if she stares long enough, the name will change.

Caleb leans in and smirks at the name. "That I can't do. You know the rules."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "There were no rules until today."

Caleb laughs. "Everyone partner up if you haven't already."

Mitch is already chatting with Oliver, and she knows they will give her a run for her money. These two get on so well, but their weakness is that when Mitch gets a lead, he forgets to address it to his partner most of the time, leaving them separated and lost.

Justine is with Abby, and honestly, she has no worry over them. Abby is a hard person to partner up with, always wanting to lead even when she has no clue what is going on.

Calvin is with Daniel, and honestly, she knows they are not competition. Calvin told her the clues confused him.

Mason and Charlotte, she was hoping to partner with Charlotte. That being her closest friend right behind Caleb. She's a music major, meaning their time together is always a joy. Luna singing a random song and Char telling her random facts she knows about the said song. Luna is not sure how good Charlotte and Mason get on, but only time will tell.

As she sees everyone paired up, she scans the room for Harry. She doesn't spot him, but she does see Pirate Roberts, better known as Westley, her other half. He's wearing a black shirt that has a lace-up front with a matching pair of pants. The mask and headscarf add a touch of mystery, while the sash and gloves put the finishing touch to the look. As much as she hates to admit it, he looks good.

"You've got to be kidding me." She says, looking him up and down in disgust.

Harry scoffs, now standing in front of her. "Guess that means I'm stuck with you."

"Yeah, you can lose the mask now."

"No, I don't think so. Makes my eyes pop." He bats his eyelashes at her.

She ignores him, moving on to an important question. "Who were you supposed to dress with?"

"Charlotte." His stupidly, charming English accent responds. "She asked me last week, then told me she was doing Ghostbusters with Mason. Her costume is done too nicely to be done last minute."

This is a setup.

She knows because Charlotte helped her alter the dress's length so that it didn't drag on the floor as she walked, and in return, Luna helped sew Venkman on her suit.

The only question is, why would they want her matching with Harry if they don't get on well at all, not even a little bit. Every interaction leaves with one of them storming off, not to brag, but it seems to always be Harry.

"Well, at least you were warned. Caleb didn't even tell me." She shares. "Had me walk in to see him dressed as an angel."

"Castiel, right?" Harry says, a bit uncertain.

Luna nods, surprised he knows, thinking this might be their one connection to break the ice. "He posted on his story who he was dressed as." She spoke too soon.

"You're saying you don't know Supernatural."

"No, sorry." He says, not sounding apologetic.

Luna shoots him a fake smile before looking away. "He can't be my partner; it's a disrespect to my morals."

Her only response is laughter. She wasn't joking.

"You know the rules, baby," Charlotte says, arms around Mason's waist. Luna narrows her eyes at that, mentally reminding herself to check in with Char about that.

How had she won two years without knowing any rules?

"Well, I'll still kick all your asses with Dobby on my team." When meeting Harry's eyes again, she smirks, his face shocked, not sure if she was insulting him.

"Right, do not mess up our chances of winning." Her voice was deep and threatening. At least she hoped that's how it sounded.

"I would never" Harry looks down at her with a smirk on his pink lips. "But I need motivation, so what's in it for me."

Instead of responding with half of the money because that much was obvious, what else would he want? She looks him in the eyes. "I'll kiss you if we win," Luna tells him sarcastically, and before Harry has a chance to respond, Caleb is walking over, handing them their first clue of seven.

Head to the place no one ever cleans

Harry scratches his head. "That's confusing."

"It's the bathroom. Specifically, the toilet." She hands the clue for Harry to put away, making her way there.

"You sure?"

Luna doesn't bother replying, pushing first to the bathroom, wanting to get a move on. It's going to be a long night if he keeps questioning her.

Harry opens the door and jumps back, he's startled at the sight in front of him, but Luna nudges him aside to take a look and is left impressed.

There is fake blood on the mirror, "You're next" written sloppily. What startled Harry was the body bag in the tub, bloody transparent curtains hanged to make it seem like a messy murder.

"There's not a body, right?" A slight tremble in his voice.

"Of course not. No one is a fan of jump scares her." She eyes his face. "Especially you."

Luna picks up the skull sitting on top of the toilet tank, and taped underneath is the second clue.

"That was too easy," Harry tells her, already heading out of the apartment, not waiting for her to read the clue knowing this one will lead them outside.

You may sit, you may stand, you may push, but one must never jump.

"Who even made these?" Harry scoffs. "It's awful."

She chuckles, agreeing because they do stink. "Caleb. The host has to do them all for each group. Talk with owners of shops and all. It's a long process." Luna explains to Harry as she reads the clue once more. "I'm surprised I never noticed how busy he was the entire month."

"It's what happens when you're self-absorbed." He mutters.

"Ouch." She feigns hurt, hands over her heart.

Harry rolls his eyes, not wanting to deal with her any longer than he has to. He has no clue what that clue is pointing to. He looks over at Luna, who has gone quiet.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Harry exclaims.

"Where is the headscarf? You're messing up the look." She pouts, and Harry would never admit it, at least to her, but she looks adorable.

"I took it off. It messes up my hair."

Luna stares at his hair. "Looks as messy as always.'

He gasps. "It looks fantastic, trying this new serum to make it shine."

"Sorry to break it to you, but I don't think it is working." She scrunches up her face in disgust.

"Well, your shoes don't match." He yells.

She looks down at her Molly metallic leather platform boots that give her five-four self extra height. "My boots are badass. Buttercup still kicks ass in these." She twirls and begins walking away from him.

"Luna, for fuck sake, where are you going." Harry rushes after her.

"We've got a hunt to win."

For someone of her stature, she sure has a fast pace. It seems as if she never slows down, effortlessly moving around pedestrians. All while Harry mumbles apologies as he trips over a person's shoe.

"The clue." He clears his voice. "How'd you crack it."

"Easy after a few reads. It's the swings at the local park."

Harry nods. "That doesn't explain how you knew."

"Caleb uses things in his life, and if you know him well enough, you can crack it. He's an open book, one talk with him and you'll know his grandparents' name and phone number. He loves sharing everything." Harry motions for her to continue, all while keeping her fast pace, leaving him a little wounded. "As kids, our parents' one rule at the park was that we could never jump off the swings all because one time Caleb and I were going so high I jumped and almost flew past the sand pile and landed on the concrete. No one broke a bone, but we could have."

"You and Caleb must have given your parents a hard time."

"Not really, we were angels."

"Hard to believe."

She kisses her two fingers before placing it over her heart. "Scout's honor."

"You were in the girl's scout."

"Well, aren't you nosy Miss Rosy." She rolls her eyes. "The town didn't have the girl's scout, so when Caleb joined, I made a presentation for Ulysses. He was the man in charge, and I impressed him. He accepted, and no one questioned me."

"Impressive," Harrys tells her, genuinely meaning it.

"Now shut up, Styles. You have too much information, might have to go kill you or something if these things get out."

"And here I thought we were becoming friends."

"Nope, let's keep it that way."

Harry shuts up, letting the chatter of late-night stragglers fill in the silence. Luna is stopped by a girl their age looking for directions to a party. She is happy to help, giving the girl extra detail to make sure she doesn't get lost. She goes as far as giving the girl her phone number to know she made it there safely.

Luna is an enigma.

"I thought you hated all humans, but I see I was wrong."

Harry is such a jerk that she doesn't bother responding. No, she does something much better. She stops walking, sticking her foot out, knowing how oblivious Harry is. He trips, almost falling to his face, but to some miracle, he manages to right himself without a scratch.

He adjusts his mask, brushing off the dirt he acquired at the bottom of his pants. "Well, that was mean.

"I thought it was rather kind, knock you off your pedestal." She grins at him, walking away again.

Harry mutters something under his breath, making sure she isn't able to hear him.

Luna decides to bring back the conversation of what started their night, his costume. "Why are you even Westley? You don't have the blonde hair for it."

Harry scoffs. "Says the girl with the brown locks of hair."

"The wig was itchy, besides my natural hair is pretty." Her hair is excellent, and she knows it. It's mid-waist, and she does hair therapy to keep it healthy. After Caleb's sister-in-law introduced her to natural hair products, a significant improvement. It added a shine she never had before. She is always paid lots of compliments on her hair. It's enchanting.

Harry looks at her before staying quiet. He kicks a rock as he walks. "Blondes are overrated."

Luna ducks her head, letting her hair frame a curtain around her face wanting to hide the blush he managed to get out of her.

Finally, reaching the park entrance, the swings a distance away. They stop, neither of them making a move follow the path.

"You could just stay here, and I'll text you when I'm done," Luna tells him.

Harry is quick to rebut, "I'm smart, I can help."

"I didn't say you aren't smart. It's just I know you don't like me, so why spend the time with me?"

That's far from the truth, Harry thinks to himself but doesn't deny it. "Together, we're winning this together." He gives her no room for argument walking to the swings.

Luna nods to herself; she's going to be okay. Maybe the night will start to get better.

Harry is opening up the clue as she approaches, and he holds it out further, allowing her to read it.

You walk by me, never give me a second glance. Now tonight, I dare you to give me a chance.

"That doesn't sound great," Harry confesses.

"You alright, with a bit of darkness?"

Harry nods his head, yes, but he has no idea what's coming next.

___

Standing in front of the house, Luna feels a chill run up her spine. It's not like she's never seen this house because she had. She grew up in the town and walked past the lonely house that wasted away day by day as she made her way to school.

"This place is creepy," Harry mumbles, standing next to her.

The grass is brown and unkempt; dried leaves scatter the path to the home's stairs, a crunch under their feet as they approach. She walks slow, counting her steps, and at unlucky thirteen, they reach the first broken step. The wood looked as if someone took a hammer to it, having random holes done. The windows are filled with spider webs and dust, no way to look in. The door was red and had scratches. As if someone small had clawed to be let in.

"Sure you want to go in, Luna." Harry looks at the door in fright. "You can admit you got the wrong location. You can't always be right."

"Look, Styles, I know I'm right."

Harry begins to sweep around to make sure no one is watching them break into an old abandoned house. She leans against the rotting wood, there's a chance she might fall through, but she's always up for the risk. In doing so, she shuts her eyes for a second, and a memory pops in her head; it causes her to let out a chuckle, startling Harry. He whips around to shout at her, but the smile on Luna's face makes him stop. He's never been privileged to a smile so intimate.

Before Harry can even ask her what's got her smiling, she is already talking.

"Caleb and I had our first kiss on these steps." Luna's eyes shift down as if the memory begins to play in front of her."

"With each other?" Harry asks, wanting confirmation.

"Yes, Caleb swore he was in love with me in the sixth grade, and I told him he was insane. The feelings were not mutual." She assures, wanting to get her point across. "We were walking home from school one day, and I, as the brains of the duo, told him we had to check out the house. I swore we had our own Boo Radley after reading To Kill A Mockingbird. He was going on and on about how he swore his love for me." She turned to look at Harry. "I looked at him, put my hands on his shoulders, and put my lips to his. He stood there shocked, and once I pulled back, he grinned." Luna deepens her voice. "So, I don't love you like that."

Harry chuckles, enjoying the story. She's not even sure why she began to tell him. "I was like yeah, you idiot, I see you as a brother. My mom could not stop laughing when I told her. My dad not so much." She stood up straight, took three steps to the door, grabbed the rusted doorknob, and it twisted open. There was a loud creak as she pushed.

"In we go, Farm Boy."

Harry shakes his head, mutters "As you wish." He hopes she missed that.

He steps in; first, his eyes quickly sweeping around the house, a doorway to a living room, another leading to what he assumes would be the dining room, and right in front of them a spiral staircase leading to the second floor where they might venture to if they don't find the clue in the main rooms.

"Right, together," Harry tells her.

"Awe, don't be scared, Styles. I'll protect you." She reaches out to pink his cheek.

He swats her hand away. "You'll be the one needing it."

"Don't count on you being my savior then?"

"Not ever, Buttercup."

They walk the first floor and find nothing. It's quite dull, nothing that stands out of place. Nothing haunting, really. A bit of a disappointment. They approach the stair and see footprints. This must be the correct way. She lets Harry lead. Once at the top, they see footprints are leading left and right. Harry nods left, so she assumes he means she has to go right.

It was not what he meant.

As Luna makes her way to the door at the end of the hall, she turns to see Harry entering the first room. She should turn back and go with him. She thinks about it for a second and decides it's best not and continues on.

Luna enters the boy's room. There is a race car bed, with white drawers full of stickers on either side. Everything is dusty, can feel the twitch in her nose. She approaches the bed when a paper catches her eyes on the corner of the dresser filled with different kinds of dinosaurs. It is their clue. It reads

If you wish to find me, you must go to the place where the choice of sweets is never-ending.

Luna smiles gratefully to have found it. She'll figure it out with Harry, she decides. The quicker she is out of the house, the better. As she folds the clue, she hears the door slam shut. It makes Luna jump.

She approaches the door and twists the knob, but nothing happens. Luna keeps pulling and nothing; she's slowly but surely beginning to freaking out.

Maybe Harry was playing a joke on her. That had to be it.

"If you think this is a good prank, you're wrong." She yells, eager to hear his deep laugh before opening the door. But instead, she is met with silence.

"Styles, open the door." Her voice firm, anger slowly taking over." Still nothing. "Haha, you've had your laugh; let me out."

The panic is beginning to set. Harry didn't lock her in; he's on the other side of the house.

"Harry?" She whimpers.

Meanwhile, Harry, no clue in hand, stands at the top of the stairs staring at a mirror frowning at himself. He looked for Luna, but it's as if she disappeared. He has come to the conclusion that she has finally left him.

Luna, not sure what else to do, begins to scream his name. The tears streaming down her face in panic. She just wants out. That's all she wants.

She pounds on the door, her throat hurting from the loud screams she's let out. The tears making it hard to keep on going; with one final knock, she lets herself slide to the floor.

Harry was about to descend the stairs when he hears a pounding on a door. It gives him chills; as much as it frightens him to go check it out, he has a gut feeling he has to. He goes right, the original way Luna went, and makes his way to the closed door. He takes a deep breath before turning the knob.

Nothing happens.

He takes a step back before pushing all his weight into the door, causing it to fly open. Harry scans the room quickly but sees nothing until he looks down and sees Luna hugging her knees.

Harry is quick to react. He's on his knees in front of her. "Luna, love, it's me, Harry. You're okay."

She slowly lifts her head. "Harry." She croaks.

"Yes, it's me."

The tears begin once more. "The door was jammed. I was calling for you." She throws her arms around him wanting to be close, needing comfort even if he may not want to give it.

"Thought you left me once you got the clue." He confesses as he runs his hand through her hair, he might have always wanted to do it, but not like this, never like this.

"I'm not that mean, am I?" She looks up at him through her long thick eyelashes. A tear runs down her cheek.

He brings his hand up and gently wipes it away. "No, you're sweet and sassy and perfectly you. Not mean. Ya, hear me."

Luna nods.

"Let's get out of here, okay. We need to figure out the clue now. Can't do it without your brains." He smiles at her dimples on display.

Luna smiles, he helps her out, and they walk out, Harry guiding her with a firm hand on her waist.

Once outside, the cold autumn wind hits them, and it's like Luna can finally breathe again. Harry guides them all the way to the sidewalk, where she hands him the clue.

If you wish to find me, you must go to the place where the choice of sweets is never-ending.

"Sweets? There's a candy store, right?" Harry isn't sure, remembering seeing one.

"It's named Annie's Sweets. Two streets from the library."

"Well, lead the way, Buttercup." Harry links their hands together and begins walking forward is surprisingly the right direction. Luna stares down at their intertwined fingers, and it feels nice.

Maybe, she's just a little touch starved.

Luna is quiet, trying to think of anything but that moment she had in that house. She's going to give Caleb a lot of shit for that one.

As they walk, Luna notices their hands are still together before pulling away. "Sorry."

Harry shrugs. "Don't mind."

Luna frowns and looks straight ahead as they walk; he's confusing. Why is Harry acting sweet? A little too sweet. She intertwines her hands together in the front wanting the feeling of his hand in hers to disappear.

"Are you going to tell the others about my crying? I get it if you do. Good story to get a laugh at me." She mumbles the last words.

Harry grabs her arm, stopping her. She slowly raises her head to meet his eyes through the eye mask. His green eyes soft but filled with an emotion, she can't place. "I would never, what happened was not a laughing matter, this, all this tonight will stay between us, you good with that."

Luna nods.

Harry clicks his tongue. "Verbal response."

Her brown eyes go wide. "Yes, I'm good with that."

Luna can't hide her surprise, and she knows Harry can see that. He's never acted so kind to her. It's a bit weird, but it beats the back and forth remarks. She's also sick of this façade of disliking him. It's exhausting now that she thinks about it. The banter is fun, but it always ends when it gets taken too far.

"Harry, I know you hate me for some reason," She clears her throat before continuing. "But it's exhausting all the arguing. I'm great at it, but we've been at it for the two years we've known each other. You can keep hating me and not talking to me. I'm used to people not liking me. You won't be any different. We can co-exist in the same group."

Harry scoffs, "You still don't get it."

She frowns. Get what? "You never gave us the chance to be friends. I'm giving you the chance to cut all ties while staying in the friend group." It's the most straightforward plan. It's honestly perfect.

"Luna, stop."

She continues on. "Harry, seriously, you make me miserable, and I make-" He turns around, causing her to almost crash into him.

"I like you." Luna knows the surprise is written all over her face. Harry's face is serious, no dimples insight and all his emerald eyes tell her is that he is full of frustration. "I like how beautiful and kind you are. How you don't let anyone walk over you and how you always manage to be the smartest person in any room."

"Oh."

Harry likes her. Her. He likes her, and this was his way of interacting with her. He said she's smart, but honestly, nothing is making sense. She's confused; how does she feel? How long has he felt like this? Has it been since they were first introduced?

Harry stands there staring at her, trying to see her give him any reaction, but all he gets is a blank stare. He clicks his tongue. "Alright." He turns on his heel and begins walking again.

Luna stares at him, walking away before shaking herself out of her thoughts and hurrying after him.

___

It's silent.

The quietest it's been all night, and she doesn't like it, but she's also not ready to address the bomb he dropped on her.

At the start of the night, Luna believed he hated her. That he had hated her for the longest time only to find out he actually liked her. There is no way she'll bring it up, at least not yet.

She cuts the tension in the way she knows best.

"You could have at least grown the stache." He looks over at her, confused, not sure about what she just said or how she is brushing aside what he said. "The mustache adds to the character, and well, you don't have it."

Harry gasps. "I like my smooth face." She lets out the breath she was holding, thankful he went along.

"Is that your way of saying you can't grow facial hair?"

"I can."

She shrugs and nods. "Sure, Jan."

Harry is about to go off on her, but Luna runs ahead to the candy store entrance, walking in and letting the door shut behind her.

He walks in after seeing that the store closes in twenty minutes; he finds Luna chatting with the cashier. He recognizes her as a girl he had in his intro to Psychology. She dropped out eight weeks in. He remembers because he lent her notes once and she had left coffee stains on them. As he reads on her name tag, the girl- Amy- was kind enough to pay him five dollars. Both girls don't acknowledge him, more into the conversation of Luna's costume and how pretty she looks in a crown. If Harry didn't know any better, he'd think Amy was flirting with her. Harry smirks but doesn't say anything waving at the girl before filling himself a bag of candy; he deserves it after all.

"Amy was telling me Caleb came in a few days ago. Asked her on a date and they'll be going out next week. She thinks he's a proper cutie. Did you know her?" Luna tells him as she grabs the small tweezers to get a few sour gummy worms.

"Had her for a class first year, but she dropped out." Harry is focused on getting a few cherry sours in his bag.

"Psychology. She was going through a rough time when she did it. Not that she ever needed the course. She's a theatre major now."

"How do you know her?" He really is curious now, as she talks about her with familiarity.

She drops a few Swedish Fish in the bag, sneaking one in her mouth, chewing it before moving along to add Tim Tams; he's never known for a candy store to have those. Then again, he's never been in this one. "She's my cousin. A year younger than us."

"Why hadn't Caleb met her then if you've been friends for so long?"

"God, you're a curious one, aren't you." She closes her bag and follows Harry as he fills his. He's going for Red Vines, nice and easy to snack on; Luna likes those only for movie nights for some bizarre reason she doesn't know. "I'm a protector of hearts. Amy is the sweetest person you'll ever meet, a real-life princess. Amy has been the sunshine in my life since she was born. I know Caleb, and he's going to fall in love with her, mark my words. I think they are a perfect match, but I also know not to meddle, which is why I wanted them to meet on their own."

Harry smiles down at her. "Didn't know you could be so sweet, Buttercup."

"Only to very few people."

Luna places her bag on the scale, but her eyes go wide as she meets Amy's across the counter, realizing she doesn't have any money on her. Before she can even think about asking Harry, Amy saves the day. "Both your bags are covered. He knew whoever got this clue would most likely be buying, so he took care of it, more than enough actually."

Luna rolls her head to look at Harry. "He's too kind."

"What did the clue say?" Amy asks curiously.

Harry and Luna's eyes go wide simultaneously. "Shit." He whispers before whipping out the slip of paper that led them there. "It says If you wish to find me, you must go to the place where the choice of sweets is never-ending."

"The Pucker Powder!" Luna shouts, rushing over to the middle of the store where the machine of different flavors of powdered candy stands. There the clue is, under watermelon, Caleb's favorite. "I got it, Westley."

Harry makes his way over to her waiting for her to read it, but Luna gestures for Amy to come listen as well, and she happily skips over. That's when Harry notices her costume; she's dressed in relaxed fitted jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and a faded brown leather jacket with leather boots. A charm hanging from her neck. "What are you dressed as?" He's confused.

"Dean Winchester." She answers cheerfully.

Luna feels Harry turn to look at her waiting for an explanation. "She's paired up with Caleb, He's Castiel, and she's Dean and together they are ‘Destiel’. A long-loved ship in the fandom of Supernatural.

He smiles. "You look great."

"Don't worry, Ames, the reason we aren't friends, is that he doesn't watch."

"It's not for everyone, Luna," Amy tells her before nudging her to read the clue.

You swim to the bottom to find the other side but never come back up.

"Sound like the lake," Harry suggests. “Only source of water here.”

Luna nods, agreeing with him, as they head to the door. She stops, suddenly remembering something. "Do you need us to walk you home? You know how I feel about anyone walking out alone, especially tonight."

Amy blushes, looking down. "Caleb offered to walk me home, you know it's close by, and it's still a while until midnight."

"Say no more, sweets." Luna leaves and follows behind Harry, as he now leads the way.

___

It's a half-mile away, not too far but enough to have them silent for a while as they set a steady pace.

Harry quite likes conversing with Luna and decides to ask her a question that's been on his mind since he saw her back at the apartment.

"Why this costume, why Buttercup?"

Luna runs her hands down the front of the material, feeling the softness against her hands. "It was my favorite growing up. Still is, honestly. It's a nice story that gives you a bit of everything, romance, friendship, and adventure. Each character was on an adventure, and it brought them all together. Also, because I'd read it to Caleb during lunch breaks, we didn't feel like playing with others. I'd read because he had dyslexia and he grew a distaste for reading." Luna smiles fondly, thinking back to those simpler times.

"I watched the movie for the first time last year."

"Did you like it?" Her voice was full of curiosity.

"Loved it." He tells her.

She smiles, his answer filling her with joy. "Favorite part?"

He hums, thinking it over for a second. "When she pushes him down the hill and finds out he's actually Westley."

"Because he yells as you wish, rolling down." She grabs his arm in excitement, finishing the scene for him.

Luna realizes what she's doing, and quickly let's go, muttering a small apology. "You're a romantic, Farm Boy."

"Not the first person who's told me."

The walk to Orchid Lake continues in silence. A comfortable one, each one lost in their own head. Luna keeps playing one moment in her head, the moment Harry confessed his fondness of her, but it doesn't make sense. She replays every one of their interactions, and there is not one moment that stands out to her that proves he likes her. Harry introduced himself the first time but never once pursued a friendship or anything more. Luna is so lost in thought she doesn't realize they've arrived as she bumps into Harry's back as he stopped at the entrance.

She walks ahead, and instead of walking to the trail in front of them, she goes right and takes a seat on the bench, it's a bit wet due to the mist filling the air, but she doesn't mind.

"Uh, it's this way." Harry points, wanting to get a move on.

Luna makes no moves to stand. She runs a hand down her face before letting it drop to her lap. "How is it that you hate, and you like me?" The question slips out before she can stop herself.

Harry sighs, knowing the conversation is happening now. "Don't hate you." Harry is now standing in front of her, mask in his hand, wanting her to really look at him. "But, you hate me."

Luna shakes her head, no. She's never hated anyone, she might have disliked Harry at one point, but honestly, they might have just misjudged each other. Harry gives her a look, one that tells her to be honest.

"Okay, I didn't like you, but can you blame me?"

"No, I understand completely." Luna stares at him, her eyes now locked with his.

Harry lets out a deep breath. "I think you're an amazing person. You're kind and smart. Always volunteering to help others. You help set up study sessions for everyone." Luna keeps her eyes on him, not giving him a single expression. "Was mad you didn't treat me that way when we first met." He confesses.

She nods, letting it sink it. "I've always included you, never not invited you."

"I mean, you didn't try to get to know me."

"Harry, I did when we first met." Luna is sure of this.

"No, I would remember." He exclaims.

"I'm not that memorable to you, it seems." She rolls her eyes. "Let me paint the picture for you. We are all hanging out in Mitch's apartment when you arrive a little later than the rest of us. A girl is hanging off your arm, not an inch of space between you. Kiersten, does that name ring a bell, Styles?" Luna knows it does. It's his ex, the only one she knows of. "She was rude to me the first time we met, when we were introduced to each other. You stood there and let her do that. Insulted me, and I was fuming. Mitch said you were a kind person and to give you a chance but letting someone treat someone else badly right in front of you, I wasn't so sure."

Harry stays silent, letting her go on. "The second time we met, she made fun of Charlotte's outfit, and you just sat there. Char cried in the bathroom and then headed home for the night. From then on, I was neutral with you, not giving you anything to move forward on. The last straw was when it was Friday movie night in my apartment, and she tells you it's lame seeing movies together and that the apartment was trashy. You stood there, nodding along, and as soon as I saw you alone for a second, I let you know we wouldn't be friends because you were different than I expected.” Luna tries to calm her breathing, no point in losing control over the past. She's let it go, well, some of it.

"She was bad. I broke up with her that night."

"That's not the point. Even in doing that, you didn't apologize, but you did already decide on how you were going to keep treating me."

Harry has no right answer because he was wrong. He messed up. "I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry, and I'm sorry my apology is so late, but you do deserve it. No one should ever put up with someone else's crap, Luna."

"Thank you, I appreciate that."

"Honestly, I feel terrible. I think I did it because you didn't treat me like the others and-" Harry stops.

"Yet you never questioned why. You just acted, and well, I reacted."

Harry sighs, upset that they could have been friends by now, heck even something more maybe.

"Wait, Harry."

"Yes, Luna."

"What was your' and'?" She stands up, not sure what it could be.

"Uh, I was going to have a conversation with you to see why you never talked to me and had worked up the courage to also ask you on a date, but I heard you were dating Calvin, so I sort of got jealous and well, yeah."

"We went on one date." She emphasizes. "No sparks. Who even told you?"

"Abby."

"Makes sense; she was jealous that Calvin asked me out. Seeing as he never once flirted with her. We're civil, but deep down, she doesn't like me." Luna isn't sure what went wrong with that friendship.

They both let out deep breaths, thankful to have everything out in the open now, nothing hidden. A step forward.

"I'm not that person," Harry tells her, needing her to know.

She smiles at him. "I know. You proved that today."

"I hope I haven't offended you with my remarks." His smile was sheepish.

"You haven't."

"Luna," Harry chastises.

"Okay, you have, but we can move past because it turns out you're actually really nice." She lowers her voice to a whisper. "And cause you like me."

Harry blushes, his cheeks now a rosy red and not from the cold weather. "I plead the fifth."

"Harry," She teases.

"Lips sealed."

"Doesn't work if you confessed earlier." She reminds him.

Harry chooses to ignore her. Letting her words fall silent on him. "I know we have to get going, but can I do one thing before we do."

Luna nods, not sure what he wants to do. Harry takes a step forward until he is standing right in front of her. He pulls her in for a hug, his arms around her waist. She slowly raises her hands, being as gentle as she can about it. Their height difference makes her smile; her head reaches just under his chin. She hated it before, but now, in his arms, it's actually quite lovely. He's warm and not as firm as she thought he would be; it's like she's hugging a big teddy bear.

Harry leans back, looking down at her, a shy smile on her face. His eyes flicker to her lips and back to her eyes, leaning in for a moment before stepping back. He clears his throat. "To the lake, Buttercup."

___

There's no fear as she walks to the bridge where the clue should be. It's dark, not much light guiding them besides the moon. Harry wanted to turn on his flashlight, but Luna knows it's best not to disturb their eyes with such a harsh light.

Luna knows this path like the back of her hand. She comes here every morning, sometimes before sunrise, either for a run or walk but in the summertime, she'll even go in for a swim. The lake is well cared for by the community. There is just one house in the back of the property, and the old couple living there love the visitors. They teamed up with the university to set up students to be tour guides, and it's an excellent part-time job. There's a lot of good here.

She's sure the clue is on the bridge because one time, Caleb got Luna so mad that she shoved him in. She can't even remember why she was angry, but Caleb surely does. She would bet her life on it.

It's a wooden bridge, a bit old as it creaks under each step taken. It's low, as it sits on the side of the lake, four feet deep at most. She takes a lookout at the lake, the water showing a beautiful reflection of the bright full moon above their heads.

Luna picks the paper taking a step closer to Harry so that they can read it together.

"I was the embodiment of every writer's worst fear: A cliche."

"That's a book quote." Luna recognizes it, but not a single book comes to mind. "Let's head to the bookstore. It's fifteen minutes from here, but we can make it in ten."

Harry lets her lead. They know time is counting down, not once having stopped to look at the time. Harry feels they might be falling behind with all the stops in between the clues, but he knows better than voice out his worries.

"Do you recognize the quote?" Luna asks Harry to hand it over to him."

Harry reads it over twice. "No."

"I know it, but I can't figure out where. I've read one too many books." She crosses her arms across her chest in frustration.

"Maybe it's one that you've read to him," Harry suggests.

Luna looks up at him as if he just hung up all the stars in her name. "You're right. He set this all up."

It's one she begged him not to make her read, but he gave her an offer she couldn't resist.

Luna picks up her pace; she's close to running but stops herself from doing so.

"Wait up, it isn't going to run away." Harry huffs out. He thought he was in shape, but tonight has proved him wrong. It could also very well be the boots.

"Farm Boy, put those legs to work!" She shouts, not at all looking back at him. She didn't have time for that.

"I'm tired," Harry groans. "We've walked a lot.”

"Please, we'll get something to eat after we win." She throws him a smile over her shoulder, and Harry happily returns it.

"Deal." Luna is surprised at how quick he was to recover now next to her. She would have thought he was okay if it weren't for the deep breaths he was taking. "It can be our first date."

Luna falters in her step. She recovers just as quickly, hoping Harry did not notice. It seems like he didn't. "Great joke, get serious." It's weird; she's feeling butterflies in her stomach at the prospect of what could be with Harry, a date. It doesn't sound so bad, but it's not her focus.

Luna misses Harry frowning. He was serious, but he also understands they just came to a truce of sorts less than an hour ago.

Walking into Read to Dream, the first thing Luna does is scan the clock. There are forty-five minutes until midnight. That is plenty of time to reach the last destination after retrieving the final clue.

The bookstore is a family-owned place. Mrs. Bennet, the owner, will be sure to pass it down to one of her grandchildren. Seeing as her children didn't take an interest, but dear Clara has. Clara is Mason's younger sister. She recently turned seventeen, meaning she's now allowed to close shop independently, seeing as her grandmother lives right above.

The bookstore is what everyone likes to call an organized mess. There are many books on shelves in their respected genre and ordered alphabetically. Still, there are also books on chairs that no one ever seems to touch, the books on top of the bookcases that don't fit, and the books in the back that are stacked in rows in a rainbow color because they don't have a specific genre. Luna spent many summer days here, this was her first job at fifteen, wanting to have more liberty and Mrs. Bennet was kind enough to hire her on. From time to time, she comes in to have tea with her or even volunteer her time around. It's one of her happiest places.

"Hello, tootsie!" Luna bounces over to Clara going around the counter to give her a hug.

"Lunes, it's great to see you. You look gorgeous. Red is definitely your color." Clara gushes.

"Thank you, I'd love to chat more, but I'm on the hunt for a book." Luna turns to scan the store as if it would stand out to her.

Clara nods. "That I can help with.”

"Gone Girl"

"Three aisles down, second row."

Luna quickly thanks her, and Harry follows after her. Harry's stuck on the fact that she seems to know everyone they encounter. He's never seen a person as social and kind as her.

"You read Gone Girl aloud to him." Harry finally processes the information that was given a few minutes prior.

"He paid me to." Luna defends.

"How much?"

"In lunch for an entire semester." Luna finds the book and begins to flip through it knowing it must be stuck in there.

"Fair."

"Got it!" Luna cheers. She pulls it out and hands it to Harry. He opens it, and that's when her eyes catch sight of the second piece of paper. This one is pale yellow, meaning it's not a clue and specifically for her. Luna slips it under her sleeve, careful not to have it fall out.

Evil lurks at midnight. I invite you to join me when they begin to rise.

The cemetery. A chilling place to end the night, but a perfect place to be crowned winners.

"It's a twenty-minute walk from here," Luna informs Harry, putting the book away and heading to the front.

"I've never been to the cemetery." Harry decides to tell her.

"It's not as creepy looking as you would think."

"Don't believe you," He mutters.

They say goodbye to Clara and begin the walk to the final spot of the night.

"Ready to win?" She smiles up at Harry, buzzing with adrenaline, knowing how close they are.

"Yeah, I am."

As much as Luna wants to run to the cemetery, she wants to enjoy the last alone time she will have with Harry. She knows they are going to be friends after this. She lets herself fall behind a few steps and pulls out the slip of paper. She unfolds it, and it reads, "You can thank me by making me the man of honor." She blushes, but Caleb might be right, and she honestly hopes he might be. Luna can deny how she feels all she wants, but tonight proved something there, something he saw long before she did.

Something that had been hiding there for quite some time.

This could very well be the night that changed it all, the story they tell their grandchildren. That stops her letting out a gasp loud enough to grab Harry's attention. A few hours ago, she couldn't stand him and now is thinking about a future with him, and all Luna wants to know is how she let these feelings grow without really noticing.

"You alright, Luna?" Harry looks concerned.

No future talk, not now, at least. First, they will win, and then they both can go from there.

"Luna, love. Times ticking." Harry teases.

Luna starts forward once more, not having noticed how close they actually are from the entrance. She passes Harry and is now running. "Pick up the pace, Farm Boy." She's gaining lots of distance from him.

"You can't beat me, Buttercup," Harry says, beginning to catch up, now right behind her.

Luna lets out a loud laugh causing her to slow down. "We're on the same team, Westley."

Harry laughs, pulling ahead, but grabbing her arm, making her run even faster. They turn the corner, and that's when she sees Caleb's car and knows the entrance is right ahead where he has to be waiting.

Caleb is leaning against the rusted golden fence. Evergreen Cemetery, the name on the arch staring down at them. Caleb raises his head, looking away from his phone as he hears footsteps hitting the pavement.

"Inconceivable!" Caleb shouts as Harry and Luna stand in front of him, out of breath but smiling. "You have arrived with ten minutes to spare, but I hate to inform you-" Luna's smile drops, and Harry can only frown, a profound bit of sadness forming in his stomach.

Caleb bends over, laughing. He wishes he could have recorded that. "I'm only playing. Of course, you won."

Luna punches his shoulder. "Jerk."

"Hey, be nice," Caleb backs away, his hands up in defense. "Winners aren't mean."

"They are if it's to their best friend." Harry laughs, knowing Caleb deserves the well-given punch he received.

"Honestly, I wasn't too sure you'd win, considering you two aren't- or weren't the best of buddies." Caleb nods his head to their connected pinkies. Harry blushes but makes no move to pull away. Luna tries, but Harry tightens his hold, and well who is she to fight him.

"Look who's here," Caleb says, looking over their shoulder.

It's Mitch and Ollie rushing over, a frown on both their faces as Luna and Harry step to the side so Caleb can adequately thank them for being the first losers.

Mitch scoffs, a smirk forming on his face. "No surprise, they won. Harry would do anything to see Luna smile."

Harry's cheek goes red, but Luna carries on her conversation with Caleb feigning as if she didn't hear a word Mitch said.

As time clicks closer to midnight, the teams begin to trickle in. Daniel and Calvin come in with five minutes to spare. Mason and Charlotte right on their heels, and at 11:59, barely making it on time are Justine and Abby. There were many mixed emotions as they found out Luna and Harry were the winners. A few eye rolls (Abby) and lots of cheers.

Caleb has quieted everyone down, as it is now time to crown the winners, and Luna is buzzing with excitement. She might not have won with Caleb by her side, but Harry was just as great as Caleb, if not better.

"I am proud to crown Luna and Harry, the winners of the Halloween Scavenger Hunt 2020," Caleb yells, having everyone break out into collective cheers. Luna blows kisses to her group of friends, a large smile on her face.

Charlotte steps forwards and places a jeweled crown on her head. Luna thanks her softly and watches as she does the same to Harry. He bends down so that Charlotte doesn't need to reach up to place it on him. He has a broad smile on his face, he glances at Luna, causing her to go a deep red, but all he does is give her a cheeky wink. Caleb hands over two yellow envelopes, Winner, written on the front, and in each is the $250 prize money.

It's $500 total, but it's split because of groups. She's not sure who decided everyone put in $50 to get a nice prize out of it instead of just bragging rights, but Luna was thankful for whoever did.

"Speech, please," Caleb says, backing away to stand with the others.

Harry nods at her asking if she'd like to go first, but she shakes her head no. He clears his throat and puts on a charming smile, always quick to dazzle a crowd. "This year, I was not expecting to partner up with the best at the game, but I am glad she drew out my name. Luck was honestly on my side." He turns his head to find Luna already staring at him. "I can happily say that I'd do it all over again with Luna by my side." Shoots her a smile before locking eyes with their friends. "As now reigning three-time champion, I'm proud to have been at her side. Her brains and my looks won us this hunt." He fakes a hair flip causing Luna and Caleb to let out a giggle simultaneously. She nudges him gently, shaking her head at his antics.

Harry smiles at her waiting for her to now start hers. She blushes under his intense gaze wishing he'd direct it elsewhere.

Luna knows they are waiting for her to share, but she's stuck in a trance staring into Harry's emerald eyes. She thinks back to the evening's start in Mitch's living room and the promise she made to Harry if they won.

Without thinking twice, she steps close to Harry, closing the small distance between them. Luna brings up her right hand to gently cradle his cheek and as for permission. He gives her the slightest nod, and in the next second, her lips are on his. Harry reacts quickly, wrapping his arms around her waist, needing her close, not all believing it's actually happening.

Harry's lips are soft, his mouth tasting like cherry from the gummies they bought earlier in the night. The butterflies in her stomach are going crazy, trying to find an escape. Harry lets out a small moan. That's when she knows it's time to pull away. Luna rests her hands on his chest, feeling how fast his heart is reacting to the kiss.

Luna turns to face her friends, not caring how they were all witnesses to their first kiss. "I told Harry if we won that I'd kiss him, and well, I'm not one to go back on my word."

Caleb cheers and starts to clap, not at all trying to hide his excitement. Everyone else joins in the hollers, only getting louder, causing Luna to drop her head to rest on Harry's chest as she takes in her friend's excitement, knowing the teasing will soon be next. Harry has not removed his hands from her waist, liking how close she is. Luna doesn't mind it either. It feels quite nice.

"Alright, let's head to the diner where we'll buy the winner's food." Caleb begins ushering everyone to the cars. He got Amy's help bringing over Mitch and Charlotte's car which is how they will be leaving, finally the end to all the walking.

Luna and Harry are still wrapped in each other's arms, not at all ready to move. Caleb is waiting for them at the small cobblestone entrance.

"We'll meet you there." Luna knows they have no transportation, the diner being close to their apartment that is a good two miles away.

Caleb nods, stepping closer to toss his keys to her. She catches them with ease. "I'll be riding with Mitch."

They watch the two cars drive away before turning her attention back to Harry.

"What a night."

She nods in agreement, happy that the hunting is over and can now relax.

"Favorite part?" Harry asks.

She thinks it over for a second before responding, "The haunted house."

"Really." Her answer really surprises Harry, and he doesn't try to hide it.

Luna shrugs. "Think that's what broke the tension between us; otherwise, we'd still be bickering." Getting locked in a room was not fun, but Harry coming to look for her and help her showed her a side she hadn't seen before. It was worth it, but would most definitely not do it again. "And yours?"

He leans down to whisper in her ear. "When you kissed me."

Luna nods, "That was a nice moment, huh."

"Care to do it again?"

"Only," Luna pauses before leaning close to Harry. She feels his breath against hers, mixing together. "If you would agree to dress up with me next year."

"Done deal." Harry answers. His lips are on hers once more. Harry has a hand on her cheek, deepening the kiss, not ever wanting to pull away. "We could be Noah and Allie from The Notebook."

Luna breaks the kiss. "Gross, please take that back."

"What's wrong? It's my favorite movie."

"Why?" Luna asks in disgust. "Allie cheats on her fiancé. Sure, they have true love, but cheating should never be condoned, especially in a love story. Sure the book showed their growth and maturity, but you're not talking about the book. I shall not do it, not ever."

"Guess you just won our first fight, Buttercup." Harry smiles.

"First? We've had over five hundred!" Luna tells him. "Now, kiss me again because I won."

"If we're kissing after each fight, then I owe you over five hundred." Luna shuts Harry up by connecting their lips. She knows kissing Harry will never get old, neither will these pointless arguments that will be forgotten seconds later.

"Enough of giving these dead people a show. Let's go eat."

"As you wish."

Luna gasps, pressing her right hand against her heart dramatically. "Are you saying you love me?" She clears her throat, scrunching up her face in apology. "This might be a little awkward then." She points between them both.

Harry stops walking, throwing his head back, letting out a loud groan of frustration. "You're a pain in my ass."

Luna giggles. "Would you want it any other way?"

Harry grins, looking down at her soft brown eyes. "No." He responds honestly.

Pinkies linked together, bumping into each other randomly to see who stumbles the most, Luna and Harry walk out of the cemetery forever thankful for this Halloween night.

I love you!

Thank you for reading, come chat the hunt with me

#harry styles #hunflowershalloweenchallenge #harry styles x ofc #harry styles fic #harry styles story #harry x luna #harry x original character #halloween fic #harry styles imahine #harry styles x oc #harry styles writing #harry styles angst #harry styles fluff #harry styles fanfiction #enemies to lovers #harry styles fanfic

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beewolfwrites · 3 years

Text

And When I am Formulated, Sprawling on a Pin - Chapter Thirteen: By a Thread

I know how much some of you love the original games, so I hope you enjoyed this one too :)

If you’re new here, hello - this is a Chishiya x OC/reader fic. You can find the full fanfic, including this chapter on AO3 here.

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Like always, the hotel lobby was crammed with people. I kept my head low as I moved quietly through the crowds, hoping to avoid the gaze of the militants dotted around. The last thing I wanted was to draw the attention of Niragi and his troupe. When I finally took my slip of paper, I went to stand by a corner before opening it.

Group four.

‘Looks like we’re together.’ An arm wrapped around my shoulder and Kuina appeared beside me. ‘It must be luck.’

‘I don’t know about that,’ I said. ‘We could end up with a Hearts game.’ Unconsciously, my eyes roamed the lobby for any sign of white.

‘Yeah, we could. But there’s only a one in four chance of that.’ She leaned in close, and I could practically hear the grin in her voice. ‘Speaking of hearts, he’s not in our group.’

I tensed, causing Kuina to giggle. She must’ve noticed me looking for him, but she’d gotten the wrong idea completely.

‘It’s not what you think,’ I told her, embarrassed. ‘He left some things in my room, kind of like a peace offering. I just wanted to thank him… and maybe apologise for being a brat and refusing to speak to him.’

I hid beneath my hood as Kuina began to slowly steer me through the crowded room. There were several of Niragi’s thugs standing around in their groups, but I hadn’t seen Niragi himself yet.

‘You can thank him after we win our game,’ Kuina said as we walked outside. Then in a low mutter, she added, ‘you werebeing a brat though.’

‘Hey, that’s not fair,’ I laughed. ‘He was in the wrong too, you know.’

Although I held onto moments like this, there was no covering up the anxiety I felt deep inside. It was an unfamiliar worry, one that had appeared only recently, having crept up on me when I was least expecting it. And Chishiya was at its core. I was wavering between wishing he were in our group, and the relief that he wasn’t. I was glad that he was somewhere else, just in case we actually did run into a Hearts game. But at the same time, I wanted him by my side just to know that he was okay, that he was alive. And the uncertainty would drive me mad.

But overlying all of this, I was terrified of the fact that I felt this way at all.

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There were only five of us in our group, so the car ride was more comfortable this time. Behind the wheel was an intense woman in her thirties who kept chewing at her lip. In stark contrast, a young woman with long hair tied in a pale pink scrunchie was sitting in the front passenger seat. She was biting her nails nervously, the clipped sound overwhelming in the quiet car. The final member of our group was a teenage boy. He seemed calm as he stared out the window, but the way he kept playing with the hem of his t-shirt betrayed his fear.

Kuina and I didn’t talk much, but there was comfort in our quietness. It was never said aloud, but we were both worried about what lay ahead. Even though I trusted in Kuina’s strength, and she probably trusted in my intelligence, there were some games designed to ensure only one person survived.

The car took us further into the city’s outskirts, and I began to wonder whether our driver actually knew where she was going. A glance into the front revealed that she had a piece of paper with directions resting on the dashboard.

Eventually, the car pulled up outside a set of gateposts leading into to a suburban park. I mentally groaned at the sight.

Not another park.

Unlike Shinjuku Gyoen, this was smaller, with trees lining the edges and flat fields designed for football games. As I got out of the car, I could see the usual white sign pasted to a brick gatepost.

GAME – こちらです.

I spared a glance at Kuina, but her eyes were set ahead, and her jaw was tight with determination.

I wish I had her confidence.

There was no bleep as the five of us walked through the gateposts. That could only mean the park itself wasn’t the game arena.

But it soon became clear what was.

In the centre of the fields, a large circus tent – a big top – glowed red from within like a giant pinstripe cloud. Spotlights illuminated the space outside, staining the grass with splotches of primary colours. But there was something jarring about this circus, something subtly off. There was no music. There was total, deadening silence as we approached the tent entrance.

‘Do you think this is it?’ the woman with the pink scrunchie asked, biting her fingernail.

Our driver scoffed, pursing her lips. ‘What else would it be?’ Then she headed inside, followed by Pink Scrunchie and the teenage boy.

Kuina smiled reassuringly at me. ‘Let’s go.’

With a nod, I ducked into the tent, Kuina following close behind.

Inside, it was immense. The entrance led out onto a walkway between tall rows upon rows of empty seats. The tent ceiling stretched high above us like a shining red and white toothpaste sky. In the middle, on either side of the circus ring were two tall platforms, the space in the middle blocked from view by a strong steel fence.

Kuina and I found the others stood at the bottom of one of the tall platforms, where a pile of phones was set out on a white table. We both took a phone and held it to our faces.

‘FACE REGISTRATION IN PROCESS.

PLEASE WAIT FOR THE GAME TO COMMENCE.’

Now that I was at the base of the first platform, it seemed insanely tall. And if the rope ladder attached to the side was any indicator, we were going to be expected to climb to the top.

The teenage boy was looking anxiously at the steel fence obscuring the middle of the circus ring. ‘What do you think’s in there?’

Probably acid, or something equally deadly.

Our driver dismissed it with a shrug. ‘Guess we’ll just have to find out.’

‘REGISTRATION CLOSED. THE GAME WILL NOW COMMENCE.’

As always, I listened closely. I could only hope it wasn’t a Spades game. My arm was still wrapped in bandages, and while it was certainly healing well, I didn’t want to set it back yet again.

‘GAME – TIGHTROPE

DIFFICULTY – FOUR OF CLUBS

TIME LIMIT – 20 MINUTES.’

A tightrope?

I craned my neck, squinting up at the space above. Sure enough, a metal wire glinted, taut between the two platforms. It was so thin that I hadn’t even noticed it until now.

‘RULES –

PLAYERS MUST CROSS THE TIGHTROPE AND REACH THE OTHER SIDE.

ONCE ON THE PLATFORM, PLAYERS CANNOT LEAVE IT WITHOUT CROSSING THE TIGHTROPE.

THE GAME WILL COMMENCE IN TWO MINUTES.’

Clutching the phone, I felt some relief. It was a Clubs game, the best out of the lot. It meant there was likely a chance we could all survive.

‘So, what do we do?’ Pink Scrunchie asked, eying the rope ladder leading to the top. ‘Do we climb up?’

The driver huffed. ‘Do whatever you want—’

‘No,’ I interjected. The timing… it was just like the Tag game. ‘Not just yet. There’s a reason we’ve been given two minutes before the game starts. There must be something around here to help us cross it.’

Everyone looked at me, confused, before I realised I’d spoken in English. Luckily, Kuina came to my aid and translated as best she could.

The driver raised a brow. ‘And why would they bother doing that? The game-makers don’t exactly want to help us.’

I thought back to the Eight of Hearts, the teenage girl, the businessman’s body, his vest glowing yellow. ‘Because there’s always a solution, otherwise it’s not a game.’

Kuina adjusted her quit-smoking aide and nodded at me. Leaving the others at the base of the platform, we both jogged around the tent, checking between the seats and behind curtains to find anything that might help us. If this was a circus, that meant there had to be equipment. At first, it seemed like we were the only ones searching, until the teenage boy called out from the backstage area.

‘Hey, there’s some stuff over here!’

Running over, we ducked beneath some curtains into a backstage area before we found the boy, the driver and Pink Scrunchie all stood looking at a large storage unit filled with circus tools. Some of it, like the tricycles and spinning plates, was useless to us, but there had to be something in here.

‘GAME START.’

‘The hell?’ Kuina grumbled. ‘How has it already been two minutes?’

I began scrabbling through the pile, brushing aside a set of juggling clubs. ‘皆んな、何かを取る.’ Everyone, take something.

Truth be told, there wasn’t much that was useful, and some of it couldn’t be carried up a rope ladder. But in the end, I chose a set of vibrant purple aerial silks. Beside me, Kuina was holding a bungee cord, the teenage boy had a large hoop, Pink Scrunchie had taken a diabolo, and the driver was gripping a long pole.

‘Let’s go,’ she said, leading us back to the performance hall and the ring.

One by one, we each climbed the rope ladder leading up to the top of the platform. I put my phone between my teeth and draped the aerial silks over my shoulder before following Kuina up to the top, and once I finally clambered over the edge and stood up, the ladder dropped away.

Now, it was just us and the tightrope.

‘Guys…’

It was the teenage boy. He was peering over the edge into the center of ring below, the space obscured by the fence. I took a step forward and looked down. It was a pit, the edges raised before dipping again. It was brimming with murky brown-green water, like a neglected algal pond, except it was much, much more than that. Raised brown bumps poked through the surface like tiny islands, occasionally sliding and shifting as ripples tore through our reflections.

Crocodiles.

‘15 MINUTES REMAINING.’

‘There’s no time to waste standing around,’ the driver said. She pointed at Pink Scrunchie. ‘You were first up here, so you should go first.’

Pink Scrunchie flinched, her fingers tightening around the diabolo. I felt myself growing more and more irritated with the driver. From the moment we arrived she had been completely unhelpful, trying to boss everyone around when she had no idea what she was doing. It was really starting to tick me off, and from the looks of it, I wasn’t the only one. I opened my mouth to object, but Kuina beat me to it.

‘Oi! You don’t have any right to decide who goes first,’ she snapped. ‘If anyone goes first it should be you.’

Although meant well, it wasn’t a good idea to pick a fight now.

Really not helpful, Kuina.

‘Look,’ I began, but Pink Scrunchie cut me off.

‘It’s okay,’ she said nervously. ‘I’ll go first. I’ll do it.’

I wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to, but for some reason I couldn’t. One of us would have to go eventually anyway. Guilt stirred within me as she approached the edge of the platform, and even though I would never admit it, I was glad that I didn’t have to go first.

She crouched down and wrapped the strings around the diabolo, pulling it firmly so that the hourglass shape remained slotted around the wire as she pulled on the strings. I heard her take a deep breath as she put one foot on the tightrope.

The crocodiles stirred below.

Pulling the strings tight, she stepped fully onto the wire. Her body swayed, and she yanked harder on the diabolo, using its shape and the tension of the strings to balance herself.

As I watched, it became obvious that it wasn’t going to work. The diabolo couldn’t move unless she walked backwards and pulled it. But it was too late, it was much too late because when she took another step, the diabolo slipped.

As did her balance.

There was a shriek and a zip of metal as her body teetered off the edge. She hit the water with a loud clap, and the tent revibrated with her screams as the crocodiles sprung, slithering over each other until the screams stopped.

I closed my eyes, only to see the bodies of the two men from the Rummy game… the old woman crying as the collar ticked down… the businessman’s starched white collar. I opened them again.

‘That was your fault.’ The teenage boy was visibly scared, his hands shaking. However, his eyes were filled with pure anger and they were focused purely on the driver.

‘Maybe,’ the driver said. ‘But one of us had to go first.’

Kuina rounded up on her. ‘One of us has to go next, too, and it’s going to be you.’

‘Don’t,’ I muttered to Kuina. ‘そんな価値はない.’ It’s not worth it.

She looked at me with sadness and fury. ‘Why not? She practically killed that girl.’

I couldn’t deny this, and part of me did want the driver to go next just so she could experience the same thing that she had put the other girl through. But arguing like this would only get us all killed.

‘TEN MINUTES REMAINING.’

‘Actually, you know what,’ the driver said, ‘I’m not going to waste my time arguing with you. I will go next.’

The three of us stood back as the driver took off her shoes and stood up straight. She turned the pole horizontally and adjusted it between her hands until the weight was evenly distributed on both sides.

A balancing pole.

I almost wished I had thought of it, but then again, I didn’t trust my balance. Not with my life.

The driver stepped out onto the tightrope. She moved steadily, taking time to feel and test the wire beneath her feet. To my surprise, she was doing well, and she was now nearing the middle of the wire – the part where it was just ever so slightly more flexible. For a split second, I was rooting for her. I wanted her to succeed so we could all try it.

Then she took another step, and perhaps the rotation of her foot was slightly off, or maybe she hadn’t taken into account the flexibility in the middle.

Either way, the result was the same. Her body tilted, and the driver was whipped away, plunging into the pit below.

There was a rush of water and hisses as the crocodiles feasted.

I gulped, unable to bring myself to look down. ‘Kuina, what do we do?’

Her jaw clenched around the quit-smoking aide. ‘I’m not sure. Give me a minute.’

‘I’m not sure we have one,’ the teenage boy said, holding out his phone.

Only seven minutes left.

I glanced between the apparatus that we had left. A hoop… aerial silks… and a bungee cord.

Think, think, think…

My mind ran back over the rules. There might have been a clue somewhere in the wording. We had to cross the tightrope, and we were allowed equipment – that meant… it meant….

‘We don’t have to walk across it,’ I said.

Kuina blinked. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean we don’t have to walk across it. The rules just said we had to cross it. We could slide instead. If we tie ourselves to the wire for security, we could slide to the other side. Or maybe we could even crawl upside down, if that makes sense?’

Kuina mulled this over. ‘I get you. There’s a name for that, it’s called a monkey crawl.’

I stared at our collective equipment, before bending down over the edge to test the tension of the wire. It was thin, but with its metal casing, it was strong enough to hold us up. I gestured bungee cord. ‘You could tie yourself to it with that. I’ve got my silks.’

The teenage boy let out a sob. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve only got a hoop. I’m an idiot, I didn’t think.’

Kuina put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Don’t cry,’ she said. ‘Here, you can use the bungee cord.’ Turning to me, she nodded at the silks in my hand. ‘Can you rip that in half?’

‘Of course.’ I got to work, using my teeth and hands to tear at the elasticated silks until the fabric ripped in two. ‘Who’s going first?’

Kuina stepped forward and took the quit-smoking aid out of her mouth, throwing it away. ‘I’ll do it.’

I gave her the split piece of silk. She placed her phone between her teeth and got to the floor, dangling her legs off the edge of the platform. I wanted to tell her to be careful, but hesitated. A distraction could cost her life.

Gently easing herself down, she steadied herself with one hand as she leaned forward. Then with the other, she slid the silk around her torso and tied it in a messy knot. It was loose enough that she could still move freely, but if she let go, it would hold her weight long enough for her to grab the wire again.

She swung her body around until she was hanging upside down, suspended by her ankles and hands. And with a wink in my direction, she began crawling across the wire.

She was fast. Faster than I’d ever be. But it worked, and before I knew it, she had reached the other side. I watched as she untied herself and climbed onto the other platform.

‘FIVE MINUTES REMAINING.’

I looked at the teenage boy in silent question.

‘You go first,’ he said. ‘I’m still a little nervous.’

I nodded, trying to smile reassuringly. ‘Okay.’

Following Kuina’s lead, I placed my phone in my mouth and slid onto the wire, using one hand to tie a knot around the wire and my torso. Adrenaline shot through me as I swung upside down. And wrapping my fingers and ankles around the wire, I crawled.

Just breathe and focus on the ceiling.

When the wire became slightly lax beneath my fingers, I knew that I was halfway there. Below me, I heard a splash and a hiss. My hands stilled. I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I turned my head, looking down to the pit.

It was a mistake. It was a huge mistake. The water was red, their teeth were red. There was a stained red scrunchie floating on the surface.

I felt sick.

‘Stop staring and get the hell over here!’ Kuina’s voice sounded from the other side.

I snapped my head back, blinking away the image of the pit.

‘Don’t you want to thank Chishiya?’

I do. The taser and the note flashed through my mind. I really do.

Taking a deep breath, I crawled fast, faster than I thought I ever could. That was, until my head hit the platform on the other side.

‘Idiot,’ Kuina said, helping me upright. I untied myself from the wire and scrabbled onto the platform with shaking limbs. I did it. I was safe.

‘TWO MINUTES REMAINING.’

But he wasn’t.

Back on the other side, the teenage boy was doing the same thing as Kuina and I. His hands quivered as he struggled to tie the bungee cord around himself. Eventually he managed to use the hooks on the end to haphazardly secure it in place.

Then he began to crawl, just like we did, except slower. Because his legs and hands were trembling, he was having a hard time hooking his ankles over the wire.

‘You can do it!’ Kuina shouted. ‘You’re almost halfway!’

He slowly approached the middle. Tears slipped down his cheeks, dripping to the pit below.

‘ONE MINUTE REMAINING.’

The boy gasped and hooked a leg around the wire, just as his bungee cord came loose. He cried out, fists clenching white around the wire as he relied solely on his hands and ankles to support his weight.

The bungee cord hit the water with a snarl and a snap of teeth.

‘大丈夫,’ I called out. ‘遠くないよ.’ It’s okay, you’re not far.

He’s not listening, I thought, as I watched his face contort in fear. He’s too terrified.

‘30 SECONDS REMAINING.’

It was the wake-up call he needed, and that little chime shocked him into action as he continued clambering along the tightrope. His movements were even slower now that he didn’t have the bungee cord to support him, and he was crying harder. The sound echoed through the tent, causing the crocodiles to hiss.

‘20 SECONDS REMAINING.’

My fingers clenched and unclenched. He was almost there; he was almost safe. I held my breath. I didn’t want to see any more people die like this.

‘You’re going to be fine,’ Kuina called out. ‘You’re so close now.’

‘TEN SECONDS REMAINING.’

He was close, nearly enough to touch. I reached out a hand and Kuina did the same.

‘FIVE…’

He’s not going to make it.

My fingers brushed his t-shirt.

‘FOUR…’

We both grasped his shirt, trying to pull him upright over the wire.

‘THREE...’

He gritted his teeth, his lip dribbling with blood from where he’d bit it.

‘TWO...’

He dragged himself up, hands splayed on the edge of the platform. I pulled.

‘ONE...’

The wire fell away from the platform. There was a yelp as his fingers slipped off the edge. For the tiniest second his eyes met mine, innocent and wide with realisation.

‘NO!’

I grabbed his outstretched hand, feeling the weight of him pull me forward. Behind me, Kuina shouted my name. Her arms came to wrap around my waist, anchoring me to the platform.

The boy grasped my hand with both of his, and I pulled. I pulled as hard as I could, even as my shoulder felt like it was being yanked from its socket and the skin of my palms burned with the friction.

Kuina’s arms were like weights, dragging me back and giving me the leverage I needed to tug the boy up to the edge. He released one hand from mine and gripped the platform. Then Kuina extended hers, and together, we hauled him up to safety. We collapsed onto our backs, panting with the exertion.

‘GAME CLEAR – CONGRATULATIONS!’

#alice in borderland #aib #chishiya #chishiya shuntaro #chishiya x oc #chishiya x reader #chishiya alice in borderland

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silverbyuls · 3 years

Photo

( lee hyeri, cis female, muse i ) oh snap! is that SHIN EUNBYUL they work over at high volume where some of the other employees have labeled them as THE AVERAGE JOE. that’s probably because they can be a bit ( optimistic. ) but also pretty ( dishonest. ) they’re TWENTY TWO and they’ve been living in woodstock for TWENTY TWO YEARS. it must be their shift because i totally hear THE CRANBERRIES blasting from the record store. ( a little tikes piggy bank tucked under the bed, clothing label sticking out from the back, snap clips with varnish peeling off, jelly shoes with the strap taped together, leaving lisa frank stickers along record crates ) @volumeupdates

BIO

the luke hemsworth of the family but middle child

goes by byul

tried to go by ‘e.b.’ but her mum went berserk because she’d reduced her name to two letters for the ease of her yt friends and her brother bullied her for being e.t’s ugly sister so now she tries to go by silver star (her name translated into english) but it doesn’t quite stick

claims that her older sister and younger brother stole all her beauty, brain cells and height

family invested everything into older sister so she could go to college in new york: savings, loans, moved to smaller house which is even further from the town centre

brother requires all attention as he has high hopes of getting into college on a baseball scholarship and she lowkey can’t wait until he’s far away from woodstock

her grades have always been average so no one expects her to leave – her parents talk about how nice it is that she’ll be with them forever but she knows that’s because they want her to take care of them when they’re old … which she would! if they didn’t live in woodstock

she tells them she’s going to move to california, but they think she’s as serious about that as she is about wanting to go to college, or becoming supermodel of the world, or an olympic swimmer, when she has average grades, of average height, and can’t even swim

if her life was a movie, she’d have fallen asleep in the first ten minutes – it has always been so boring and uneventful, so she lives up in her head with her fake scenarios to keep things interesting – most of the time, they’re taken straight from a book or magazine

sometimes these thoughts spill over into reality because she can’t fathom the idea of people realising she’s as plain as she is, and her little white lies give her a bit of sparkle to stand out (in her opinion)

but she will get to california!

she even has a plan:

she’s been working at freddy’s diner since she was fifteen, escaping to high volume whenever she can, a place where she can pop her headphones on during her breaks and pretend she’s getting ogled at on venice beach, but she’s terrible at saving so seven years later she’s still grinding

once she graduates high school, she has enough time for a second job and she’d dropped enough hints in front of jerry for him to kindly offer her a job. after all, she spends as much time in high volume as she does at freddy’s so there’s not much of a difference once she becomes an employee -- still floating around the place, sipping on her coke can, either people watching or people chasing -- except now she has access to the register

after a big argument with her parents, she ended up moving out into a place in the middle of town. that was never part of the plan because saving was easier when she lived at home. she’ll say things got really bad but really, she was just getting closer to her target and she wanted a valid reason to put it off for a bit longer

she was only supposed to do it once – stealing from the cash register. it was just right there, no one was around, and she thought it was going to be her last shift because jerry was angry at her for being late again (granted, he hadn’t actually been mad, but it was one of those days when everything felt personal)

besides, she’d overheard a group of girls she’d idolised in school talk about how they stole some underwear and they made it sound so cool

she felt like everyone could hear her heart thumping against her chest as she walked out of the store but the day after, no one said anything about it, no one even noticed, and she wasn’t fired. so she did it again, and again, and again, and eventually she didn’t even bat an eyelid

the extra money was supposed to help her reach her goal faster but, again, she’s terrible at saving and her parents are so hardworking, she can’t help but feel guilty and buy nice things for them every once in a while and when they ask where she got the money from, she lies and says jerry gave her a bonus for being a good employee

on the other hand, if they’ve had an argument, or they’ve forgotten about her again, she’ll have a full on les-mis-i-dreamed-a-dream episode then splurge out on a cute jacket because it’s hers and it’s new! rather than worn out hand-me-downs from her sister or brother!

started her own side hustle called the separation agency – inspired after a customer at high volume asked her to help him break up with his boyfriend. so she’s the messenger for people who have things to say but don’t have the balls to say it to someone’s face themselves. usually they’re horrible messages, like break ups. she’s had like three customers and tries to promote her side hustle whilst on her shift at high volume

she thinks her “business” could actually thrive in a bigger city which is just another reason why she needs to get out of woodstock – it’s holding her back!

anyway, jerry’s missing, which is perfect for her because she gets to come in late and not get told off, and maybe steal a little more than she usually does

PERSONALITY:

when she’s around people, she seems like an extrovert: bubbly, talkative, dramatic ... which uses up a lot of her energy and her social battery is weak, so needs her own space often, and likes doing nothing by herself so sometimes she’ll lie to get out of plans or bail last minute

she has big dreams, and talks about all her big plans, but has leaving anxiety which is why she’s shit at saving and makes up excuses as to why she can’t leave just yet

has main character syndrome -- likes to live her life as a romcom, most of her lies revolve around her love life because she wants to be seen as desirable, but also will overanalyse everything

sensitive, passionate, immature, sympathetic, fickle, clumsy, dramatic, caring, head in clouds

will pretend to knows things to fit in like ~hipster~ bands or anything really, depends on the crowd

could gladly spend all day talking to customers at work then the next day she’ll prefer to day dream in the storage room

rides a bike to and from work and almost everywhere else too -- the only one out of her siblings who had to bike to school because small car and siblings took up all the space -- she’s had the same bike since high school

loves spice girls but feels like she’ll be judged so keeps quiet and plays it when she’s closing

honestly could hate you one day and have a crush on you the next but you wouldn’t even know it -- a vicious cycle

collects stickers and leaves them everywhere and on everyone - often passive aggressive through them, basically uses them like emojis

will try to order food and get others to pay for it - especially kfc, never gets to eat the drumsticks at home so will honestly cry if people steal the drumsticks from her

buys lottery tickets and scratch cards because she has a 50/50 chance of winning

WANTED CONNECTIONS: (current connections)

start up: stolen str8 from a kdrama that ruined my life hehe her parents set her up with a pen pal to keep her busy out of guilt because they’re so busy with her siblings and work and obviously she romanticises it !!! her parents would’ve asked to lie a little bit, just so she’d be writing to someone she’d easily obsess over -- love island vc: someone who ticks all the boxes

xoxo gossip girl: someone who loves a good gossip sesh -- they probably send 👀 at each other across the store when things feel a bit tense, which is code for ‘meet me in the storage room’ so they can chat away for the rest of their shift

lunch stealer: she makes her own lunch every day and is extremely protective over it but one day it went missing and she knows it was them (maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t) so now they are her sworn enemy

sister’s/brother’s friend: therefore an automatic enemy

shut up: someone who just tells her to shut up because she chats so much shit and she’s insane - just sandra x dina vibes from superstore (x)

carpool karaoke: she hates cycling in when it’s raining, so either she’s trying to get them to be her designated driver or has already succeeded and is annoying about it

crush #1: someone she has a crush on (more of an infatuation) and they’re not interested in her in the slightest but in her head they’re giving her mixed signals and she has made up a fake boyfriend to try to make them jealous

crush #2: someone she thinks has a crush on her. either because they’re nice or tease her or just mean, it doesn’t matter, she’s insane so she’ll interpret it however she wants

ex: they never broke up, or even dated, but she thinks something almost happened between them and she thinks she cut things off by giving them space

separation agency: someone who once used the agency either out of the kindness of their heart or for a different reason entirely and now she won’t stop pestering them to try and get them to use it again

no thots just vibes: i just like this gifset tbh (x) and we can brainstorm !

#volumeintro #*releases into the wild*

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commentaryvorg · 3 years

Text

Digimon Savers Commentary Episode 3 - The Genius Who Returned Home, Tohma! Crush Meramon!

In this episode, we’re introduced to Tohma, whose return to the Japanese branch of DATS immediately sparks a hostile rivalry between him and Masaru. Meanwhile, Masaru’s first mission as a DATS member presents him with the tricky conundrum of figuring out how to punch fire.

We open with Masaru and Agumon stuffing their faces at the Daimon family breakfast table.

Sayuri: “My, my. Masaru never usually gets up before the afternoon on a Sunday. This must be thanks to Agu-chan!”

Masaru habitually sleeping in on non-school days is deeply relatable.

But more importantly, it’s lovely that him meeting Agumon has changed that! Though Masaru might have got something out of fighting random street punks before, it seems that it wasn’t quite exciting enough to him to get him out of bed early for it. It was probably more just that he’d wander around town bored and pick fights with anyone who seemed up for it out of a lack of anything better to do.

But now that he and Agumon have got all these Digimon to fight, Masaru’s got a real reason to wake up as soon as possible to go do that! Meeting Agumon has genuinely made him a whole lot happier with his life.

Also it is adorable how Sayuri and Chika have already taken to calling Agumon “Agu-chan”. It’s a cute sign that they see him as exactly the dorky kid that he is rather than as some weird monster, and also that they see him as one of the family, which is absolutely what he is now.

Can we please appreciate Chika’s done-ness here. I love her.

Masaru: “What the hell, Mom! Serve me before Agumon!”

Sayuri: “I never said you wouldn’t have your share. Just wait for a bit. After all, Agu-chan’s still a child.”

Again with the just treating Agumon like the big kid that he is. Sayuri is so good.

We are also introduced to the glorious treasure that is Sayuri’s fried eggs! Agumon has certainly discovered how great they are.

(Technically, these are tamagoyaki, a Japanese miniature rolled omelette thing. But the subs go with fried eggs, which is close enough and rolls off the tongue quicker in English.)

Masaru: “Gimme that!”

Agumon: “I won’t hand over the last of Sayuri’s fried eggs, not even to you!”

Oh, won’t you, Agumon? Not ever?

(This is another line to keep in mind for a lot later.)

Chika: “What a child…”

As Masaru wrestles Agumon in an attempt to literally get the fried egg back from out of his mouth, Chika observes that she’s somehow the most mature of the three Daimon kids. (Yes, I said three, what of it.)

Meanwhile, Tohma is… having a gratuitous shower scene. Uhhh, sure. Apparently this totally needed to be his introduction. …Look, at least I appreciate that the fanservice is being equal-opportunity in terms of gender. (For now.)

He also has a butler, and is living in a pretty big but mostly quiet and empty mansion. This sequence is about showing the huge contrast between Masaru and Tohma’s home lives, but I do not know why the writers thought a shower scene was necessary for that.

(Tohma mentioned at the end of last episode that this country is his mom’s homeland, but he sure doesn’t appear to be staying with his mom right now, does he.)

Agumon attempts to fit himself into the basket of a bike which I can only imagine is Chika’s, because I don’t think Masaru’s bike would be pink. Agumon doesn’t seem to realise this. Chika doesn’t seem to want to tell him. He is such a ridiculous dork.

Meanwhile, Tohma gets seen off in the morning by the mansion’s staff bowing goodbye to him, and then is driven around in a limo.

Masaru’s “transportation”, on the other hand, is running down the street while giving Agumon a piggy back. Apparently this is so that Agumon can stay still and pretend to be a really big stuffed toy, but he’s kind of ruining that by talking and waving his arms around to cheer his aniki on.

(Of course, the most obvious way to not have Agumon raise suspicion would be to keep him in his Digivice, but it seems they’ve already agreed offscreen that that’s not an option because Agumon doesn’t like it in there. Yoshino and Satsuma would probably have some words to say to them about that, but hey, they’re not here, so Masaru’s gonna let his follower stay outside and be happier.)

Masaru: “Uh… what do I press again? This? No…”

Masaru, that DATS earpiece only has like two buttons on it, it can’t be that hard to figure out.

Yoshino: “We have a Digimon signal.”

Masaru: “Where?!”

Yoshino: “Area C-7. Can you get there directly?”

Masaru: “Yeah! Leave it to us!”

Not pictured: Masaru wondering where the heck “C-7” is and why he impulsively said he could definitely get there when it could be on the other side of the city for all he knows.

(Okay, that’s probably not actually what happens. Somehow we are supposed to believe that Masaru – Masaru – memorised all these location codes that DATS uses remarkably quickly. I imagine he knows the city quite well, but these codes for the areas are presumably a DATS-only thing that civilians wouldn’t be familiar with.)

Street punk #1: “So boring…”

Street punk #2: “Nothing’s going on at all…”

PetitMeramon: “Nothing at all!”

This is the first time we’ve seen a rampaging Digimon speak… but it doesn’t necessarily seem to be expressing its own thoughts. Rather, it’s just parroting these bored dudes. The PetitMeramon goes on to float down the street and set things on fire, which certainly makes it so that something interesting’s finally going on. It almost seems as if this is happening because these dudes were bored and wanted some kind of excitement, even if they weren’t necessarily wishing for this.

This is almost immediately followed by Masaru and Agumon showing up, which… the timing of that doesn’t exactly work out for the PetitMeramon to have only just appeared, assuming this is the Digimon signal Yoshino told him about while he was still in his own neighbourhood. But I’m still very sure that the writers want us to feel like these dudes’ boredom is related to the PetitMeramon being here, and honestly, showing us that is more important than getting meaningless details like the timing of things exactly right, so I don’t actually care.

Masaru: “Let’s fight!”

PetitMeramon: “Fight…”

Again, still not really speaking for itself, just parroting. Though this time it’s parroting a different person, so maybe what we can take from this is that there were some other bored people who originally brought it here and now it’s just parroting and acting on the thoughts of whoever happens to be nearby. (It’s true that we didn’t actually hear the sound of a Digital Gate opening just now.)

Unfortunately for our pair of dorks, a living fireball like PetitMeramon is immune to Agumon’s fire attacks and not solid enough for Masaru to punch. And without punching it, Masaru can’t get his Digisoul, so he can’t evolve Agumon either. This is the absolute worst possible enemy for them to try and fight.

Naturally, they just chase it further down the street anyway, giving absolutely no care to the random dudes who just watched a giant lizard and a living fireball duke it out. Despite being a DATS member now, Masaru is still really not here for all of the calculated government secrecy stuff.

Luckily, Tohma arrives on the scene in his limo and cleans up these loose ends Masaru left using a memory-wipe flashy thing. And, to be fair, I wouldn’t be surprised if Satsuma just didn’t even give one of those to Masaru in the first place. I’m not sure I’d trust him not to accidentally point it the wrong way when using it or something, given that he could barely figure out the two buttons on his earpiece. Masaru and technology do not mix.

(…Though I have to wonder why Gaomon then emerges from the limo and isn’t inside his Digivice. Sure, the flashy thing knocked out those dudes so they’re not a problem right now, but do you really not expect to run into any more people as you chase down the target? …But of course, the only real reason Gaomon is out right now is so that we can get a brief glimpse of him as a stinger before the opening.)

Okay! Okay!

I can jump over any limits!

Feel that excitement passionately!

Some more gung-ho opening lyrics! These feel appropriate here, as the idea of Masaru’s burning passionate excitement is going to be a bit of a thing in this episode, as is the idea that he brashly considers himself to have no limits whatsoever.

At DATS HQ, Masaru is grumpy about not being able to win.

Yoshino: “Well, I didn’t think it would go easily for you from the start.”

Honestly, having seen how easily Masaru handled the fights in the first two episodes, I would have expected things to go easily for him, at least in terms of fighting. It only didn’t because this specific enemy happens to be immune to all of his usual tactics. The more logistical side of things, such as the secrecy and the memory wiping stuff, I can see Masaru needing a while to get used to (though, spoiler, he’s, uh, never really going to become any good at that at all), but not the fighting.

Tohma shows up with the PetitMeramon’s Digiegg, presenting it to Yoshino and not even acknowledging Masaru’s presence.

Miki and Megumi, the two young women who work the tech side of things at HQ, begin fawning over him, which is, uh, a liiittle questionable when he’s fourteen and they’re… it’s never made clear exactly how old, but definitely at least adults. Thankfully, this mostly goes away and stops being much of a thing after this episode.

There is also Gaomon! He is a good dog. Though right now he’s being as dismissive as his master and ignoring Agumon when Agumon tries to ask who he is.

Masaru: “You bastard! You took away my prey!”

It’s so Masaru to be mad about this. That PetitMeramon was his opponent first, and now he can’t even settle the fight himself because this guy came in and defeated it before he could!

Tohma barely looks at him, and…

Masaru: “What, gonna fight?”

…of course Masaru is ready to start a fight over this, because this is how he’s used to settling disputes.

But actually Tohma was just turning to walk towards Satsuma, still pretty much entirely ignoring Masaru’s presence.

Tohma: “I’ve looked through the written reports, and it seems rather peculiar that there are a large number of Digimon detected in this country lately.”

[…]

Satsuma: “Is the frequency not as high in EU?”

Tohma: “No. It must be because it has a larger area.”

I do not understand what Tohma is trying to get at with that last part. Since Europe is bigger than just Japan, surely that means they’d expect more Digimon incidents in it, not less.

That weird part aside, though, it is a relevant point that Japan in particular has been seeing more Digimon incidents than anywhere else. There’s a reason for this.

Masaru is fed up with Tohma acting like he doesn’t exist and walks up to cough pointedly behind him. It’s actually rather unlike Masaru to be passive-aggressive and indirect like this, but it does amuse me.

Satsuma: “Oh, let me introduce you. This is…”

[Tohma barely even glances at Masaru; Masaru gets angry]

Masaru: “Hey! I don’t care if you’re called Tohma or Tonma… but around here, I’m your senpai! I’ve only been here for three days, but make sure to call me ‘Daimon-san’ or ‘Daimon-senpai’!”

Not that it takes much for Masaru to go back to his usual direct approach to things. Tohma just waltzing in here, easily defeating the opponent that Masaru was struggling against, getting immediate respect from everyone else in the room and barely even acknowledging Masaru as worthy of looking at makes Masaru feel inferior, which riles him up and gets him flailing to assert some kind of superiority in a really transparent way.

See, Masaru wouldn’t usually care all that much about people showing the appropriate politeness when referring to him, but when it’s this jerk who’s making him feel like this, damn right he’s going to insist that the three days more he’s been here is totally enough to count as making him a senpai. (A senpai means someone senior within the same group; it’s a Japanese concept that doesn’t quite have a direct English equivalent, hence the subs leaving it as-is and just giving us a translators’ note explaining it.)

Calling him “Tonma” – which another translators’ note informs us is a word for an idiot, so basically Masaru’s just insulting him in a very juvenile way – is, of course, not exactly the best way to establish himself as a mature and senior senpai.

Satsuma and Yoshino point out that actually Tohma is Masaru’s senpai, because he used to work here until he took a six-month trip to work at a DATS branch in Europe, which he’s just returned from.

Masaru: “B-But no matter how you look at it, he’s the same age as I am…”

Establishing Tohma’s age as being also fourteen. (Though technically Masaru wouldn’t necessarily know his exact age and is just saying he seems similarly aged, but whatever, Tohma is fourteen as well, let’s go with it. Their rivalry has a much more fun dynamic if they really are exactly the same age rather than one having a year or two of seniority over the other.)

They also go on to add that Tohma is a genius who already has a degree (and even more than that, as we’ll later learn). And, okay, while on paper Tohma’s genius achievements are probably wildly unrealistic for anyone to have managed at the age of fourteen no matter how clever they are, it doesn’t really bother me. In practice, the genius thing isn’t here to make Tohma magically unrealistically special; it’s here to make him interesting and a great foil for Masaru. Tohma is a very well-written character whom I really like, almost as much as Masaru, and I’m looking forward to getting to talk about him a lot here.

On top of this, the Norstein family is Austrian nobility, so Tohma’s practically a prince as well. (Again, there’s very much a point to this that’s relevant to his character and not just for the sake of making him special). And they add that Gaomon is the most accomplished battler they have among the Digimon at DATS (not that there’s that many for him to compete with there).

Satsuma: “Be sure to get along with each other, as you are colleagues.”

Yep, Masaru’s sure to have no problems getting along with this person whom you just lengthily explained is way more awesome than he is despite being the same age as him.

Masaru certainly doesn’t seem too happy about this.

Tohma: “I think it will be futile to do so, Captain Satsuma. There is not a chance that this person could benefit DATS.”

Masaru: “What d’you mean?!”

[Tohma only barely glances at Masaru before turning back to the Captain]

Tohma: “People like him should be dismissed at once.”

…Though, it turns out, Tohma is also equally unwilling to even attempt to play nice. All this barely even glancing at Masaru and talking about him rather than to him is kind of a dick move. Really, Masaru and Tohma are being equally as rude to each other here, albeit in completely different ways.

Masaru: “Say that to my face! Look into a person’s eyes when they’re talking!”

And I love that this in particular is what gets to Masaru the most. He’s always so straightforward, and being that way is important to him. He can’t stand people beating around the bush and being vague about their intentions rather than just coming out and saying what they really mean directly to the person involved.

To be fair to Tohma, he does actually listen and look Masaru straight in the eye this time.

Tohma: “You and your partner are not suited for DATS.”

Yoshino: “Tohma!”

I like Yoshino protesting here. Even she thinks this is going a bit far.

And it is a bit far, really – sure, Tohma caught a glimpse of Masaru and Agumon’s rather unfortunate fight against the PetitMeramon earlier, but that’s hardly enough evidence to decide that they have absolutely nothing to offer. This says less about Masaru and Agumon and more about Tohma himself: he’s something of a perfectionist, and he doesn’t like the idea of working with anyone who doesn’t match up to his very high standards.

(College degree as a teenager? Member of Austrian nobility? Yeah, we can already guess where some of that might come from.)

Masaru, being Masaru, has had enough and just tries to punch Tohma – but he blocks it easily.

Tohma: “Really, now. You want to face me with that level of power? How incredibly pathetic.”

Masaru: “What do you mean, ‘that level’? How strong does that make you, then?!”

This is the first person Masaru’s met in probably a really long time who’s said anything to the effect that he’s not strong enough, who’s implied that there’s some other, higher level of strength that Masaru just doesn’t have yet. He’s not used to thinking of his strength in those terms, and feeling inferior. Isn’t he supposed to be the number one street fighter in Japan? How can there be any kind of greater strength he doesn’t have?

Tohma: “Do I have to answer that?”

Masaru: “Yeah! Go on, show me! Let’s see the truth behind all that bragging!”

Of course Tohma has to answer that and actually prove himself! Masaru is all about actions rather than words; if someone’s claiming they’re stronger than him, there’s no way he’s going to just accept that until he tests it out for himself.

It turns out Tohma is indeed perfectly willing to put his money where his mouth is, because we cut to what’s presumably a gym somewhere in the DATS HQ, in which there is a boxing ring. I might call this awkwardly convenient, but no, actually, since Tohma used to work here (and he’s into boxing, as we’re about to see), it makes a lot of sense that he might have asked to have one installed for himself to use recreationally in between missions.

Yoshino: “Hey! Put on your headgear!”

Masaru: “I don’t need it! Besides, he’s not wearing any!”

Masaru and Tohma are both being reckless idiots here, pointlessly endangering themselves because of their pride. They’re both telling themselves “I don’t need to protect myself to win against him”, and they’re certainly not going to be the only one to wear headgear while the other doesn’t and end up looking like they’re only winning because they have an unfair advantage, or like they’re wearing it because they’re worried.

It is notable that Yoshino is only trying to encourage Masaru to wear the headgear. Apparently she’s already expecting Tohma to have the upper hand here? Ouch.

As you’d expect, the first few moves of the fight are Masaru throwing wild punches at Tohma while he easily dodges them all.

Tohma: “You put all your faith in power without using any strategy or tactics.”

Which pretty much sums up the entire Masaru-Tohma contrast going on here: reckless power versus careful strategy.

Tohma: “Why did you join DATS?”

Masaru: “Huh?! It was so I could win, obviously!”

Tohma: “Against who?”

Masaru: “Against strong guys!”

Look at how Masaru doesn’t even think to specify who he wants to win against at first, because the exact opponent he’s fighting isn’t the point. He just wants to challenge himself and prove to himself how strong he is by winning those challenges, and fighting Digimon happens to be the best way for him to do that right now.

Also look at how Masaru has completely stopped caring about the part where the other reason he joined was so that Agumon wouldn’t be taken from him. That genuinely does not matter to him any more, now that he’s here anyway because he wants to be.

(So it’s actually kind of a bit much that Tohma is insisting Masaru should be dismissed from DATS – because that would mean he’d lose not only this job, but also Agumon.)

Tohma finally stops just dodging and counters with a blow to Masaru’s stomach – the first punch that’s actually landed for either of them – giving him a sense of the high ground as he says these next words.

Tohma: “What a boring story. DATS has an important mission. Every member has an obligation and a responsibility to carry that out.”

It’s very appropriate that Tohma would be so disdainful of Masaru being here for entirely personal reasons, while he feels like this whole thing is supposed to be about a sense of duty for a greater purpose. That noble Norstein family heritage is showing just a little bit.

Obviously, DATS’s general mission of covering up Digimon incidents is indeed important, but so long as he helps them do that anyway, what does it actually matter if that’s not the reason Masaru’s here?

Masaru: “Shut up! Stop acting all elite!”

Masaru still does not like Tohma constantly acting like he’s better than him, like he’s just this perfect superhuman who doesn’t even have any personal desires of his own other than to do as he’s supposed to.

Tohma: (He’s beyond help.)

Geez, Tohma, that is going a bit far. Again, he’s just writing Masaru off entirely because he doesn’t fit Tohma’s idea of how things should be, rather than trying to understand his different view on things.

(But of course, Masaru is not really being any better about trying to understand Tohma’s perspective and is currently similarly writing him off as an elitist jerk who needs to be taken down a peg.)

Tohma follows this thought up by punching Masaru right in the face, implying he’s been going easy until now and has finally started getting serious, expecting this single blow to end this. Which it does, because Masaru is knocked to the ground and doesn’t manage to rise for Yoshino’s count of ten, making Tohma the winner of this boxing match.

(please appreciate this look on Masaru’s face as he realises that Tohma has arguably beaten him, that maybe he really is inferior)

…But of course Masaru’s not just gonna stand for that. As Tohma is about to leave the ring, Masaru finally manages to get to his feet anyway.

Masaru: “Wait right there… You really are… spouting a lot…”

Tohma: “The match is over.”

Masaru: “Match? What we’re having is a serious fight! It’s not a game!”

He doesn’t care about anything so pointlessly official as a match or a countdown to determine the winner. Settling their differences and proving who’s strongest goes way beyond those silly arbitrary restrictions!

With these words, Masaru manages to punch Tohma just as hard in the face… albeit only because Tohma was turned away and not quite ready to defend himself. Still, as far as Masaru would see it, in terms of his usual kind of fights, that’s on him! If he turned away from an opponent who’s still able and willing to fight him, that’s just letting his guard down!

Masaru: “A fight doesn’t end until one side admits defeat!”

That’s the only rule Masaru needs for his street fights. So long as the combatants are still willing to fight each other, anything goes!

In fairness to Tohma, he doesn’t even complain about Masaru catching him off guard and seems quite willing to accept these new “terms” for the fight, because they jump right back into beating each other up.

We cut to later in the main control room.

Masaru: “Damn it… That bastard…”

Yoshino: “You should be happy it was a draw!”

Who’s betting it was Yoshino’s decision that it was a draw. I can’t imagine either Masaru or Tohma being willing to even admit to that much. After a while of them trading blows and obviously being quite evenly matched to the point that this could end up going on forever, Yoshino probably stepped in and insisted they call it off as a draw before they seriously hurt each other.

Yoshino: “Tohma’s beaten Olympic champions in the past.”

…Yeah, so also on top of everything else, Tohma is a supremely talented boxer. But I don’t mind, because something like that is necessary for him to be able to equal Japan’s number one street fighter in a fistfight. And his fighting style being the precise and controlled sport of boxing rather than anything-goes street brawls once again serves to contrast their approaches. Tohma’s boxing talent is just another part of making him Masaru’s equal and opposite. These two are such good foils for each other.

Masaru: “Well, I’ve taken out the leader of the third Minato high school!”

That is totally an equivalent thing here, right. He’s successfully beaten tough guys, too, the context doesn’t matter. Masaru was expecting to win and not just draw, damn it!

Yoshino: “Really, the only things worthy of a gold medal around here are your pride and your competitive attitude.”

I love her snark. She’s not wrong. (Though really, Tohma’s pride would be giving Masaru just as much competition for that medal.)

I also love how pouty Masaru is.

It’s interesting how Yoshino’s putting band-aids on Masaru’s bruises, yet Tohma then walks into the room (still barely acknowledging Masaru) with an equally bruised face, and Yoshino’s not trying to tend to him. It’s like how she was only trying to get Masaru to wear the headgear earlier and not Tohma.

At this point, I doubt this is so much about thinking Masaru is weaker and more in need of this than Tohma, since she just watched them match each other in a fight. So maybe it’s more that Yoshino finds Masaru more approachable than Tohma. For all his reckless stubbornness, Masaru’s basically still a regular person, while Tohma’s from a whole other world to her. Perhaps she simply feels more comfortable directing this mom-friend behaviour at Masaru rather than Tohma, despite having known Tohma for longer.

The Digimon-signal alarm blares and Masaru instantly shifts to this excited grin. What a dork.

It’s more PetitMeramon. A lot of them. Turns out that if even the tiniest flame from their body is left behind, it can develop into a new PetitMeramon. Hearing this prompts Masaru to recall his earlier unsuccessful attempts to punch it, which only succeeded in sending little embers from its body flying everywhere.

Masaru: (This is my fault…)

It’s admirable of Masaru to immediately acknowledge this rather than stubbornly try and make excuses to himself and pretend he totally didn’t mess anything up at all. But it is notable that he’s not saying that out loud. Which is probably because Tohma’s in the room, and he doesn’t want to give Tohma even more ammo to keep claiming that he’s a liability here.

Kudamon: “It’s up to you, Tohma, Gaomon.”

Masaru: “Wait! Those fireballs are ours to beat!”

Masaru insists this partly because he’s still frustrated that he didn’t get to finish the fight himself earlier, but almost certainly also because he feels responsible for this. This is his mess, and he wants to at least make up for it by being the one to fix things.

Tohma: “Are you 100% certain you can secure these Digimon?”

Masaru: “Damn right! We’ll pull it off somehow using our spirits!”

Such certainty. Masaru is definitely the kind of person to optimistically throw himself into things without being sure what the outcome will be. Usually, it might be reasonable to bank on that, but against this particular enemy which Masaru and Agumon currently have no way of even damaging… probably not.

Satsuma: “This time, Tohma and Gaomon are best for the job.”

Satsuma realises this, too, of course. I like how he’s specifying that this is only because Tohma and Gaomon are more suited for this particular job, which is extremely true, and not that they’re better overall, which Masaru would not respond well to.

Satsuma: “Yoshino. You and Lalamon will go to support Tohma.”

Which is to say, Yoshino will drive the car, because Tohma isn’t old enough to do that. (Lalamon won’t really be doing anything at all.) Tohma came to the earlier fight from his limo, but it seems that was only because he was being driven to DATS HQ and happened across the Digimon on the way. Limousines are not the usual DATS-approved method of transportation to Digimon incidents, funnily enough.

Masaru, having been ordered to stay behind and just watch them, is left feeling frustrated and inadequate.

(It’s really only because you can’t punch fire, Masaru!)

Gaomon fighting alone against the swarm of PetitMeramon achieves basically nothing, so Tohma very quickly switches from “Plan A” to “Plan A-2” and evolves him. (I like how it’s not “Plan B” and is totally just an alternate version of the first plan. It’s definitely not that trying to fight a swarm of several Child-level Digimon with a single Child-level was ever a bad plan and really he should have evolved Gaomon from the start.)

It’s a neat detail that Tohma clicks his fingers to summon his Digisoul. Yoshino does kind of a similar thing, not clicking her fingers but instead making a very particular emphatic motion with her hand. It’s like they need some sort of psychological trigger to get it to work – which then also makes it slightly less ridiculous that Masaru needs to outright punch a Digimon to get his to show up. It’s just a stronger kind of psychological trigger, is all! And Tohma and Yoshino have been doing this for a long time. Maybe it usually takes a lot of practice to be able to get one’s Digisoul to show up on command, and the reason why Masaru’s has this extra condition to trigger it is actually because he’s new at this.

I want to take this moment to inform everyone that Gaogamon is a very good fuzzy doggy. He’s one of my favourite Digimon designs.

As an Adult-level, Gaogamon is exponentially stronger than these Child-level PetitMeramon and can easily take down the entire swarm of them in a single attack. Digimon evolution levels, everybody. This isn’t even Gaogamon being especially impressive; this is just how it was always going to turn out.

Tohma: “3 minutes, 47 seconds. We shortened it by another minute.”

Okay, so, some of Tohma’s genius traits can come across as a little bit silly in practice, such as this idea here that he and Gaomon have been timing themselves in their fights against rogue Digimon and constantly bringing that time down. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that each opponent they fight is different, so really it should be completely unreasonable to act like their times for each fight are at all comparable and that completing one fight faster than another means anything. (Plus, this is a thing that’s never going to come up again.)

Still, I do appreciate the narrative purpose of this bit – to show that Tohma is always pushing to improve himself and be better, despite being so incredibly hypercompetent at everything he does already. A lot like Masaru is always striving to challenge himself and get stronger despite already feeling like the strongest fighter in Japan! They are really not so different in a lot of ways.

Also, note how Tohma is getting to fight here, but it’s not the climactic fight of the episode. Just like I talked about for Yoshino in the previous episode: even though this is his introduction, this is not actually Tohma’s episode. It’s still Masaru’s. Tohma gets to have this fight and win it not for his own sake (the whole thing is so effortless that it’s not at all an interesting narrative from his point of view), but rather for the sake of Masaru’s conflict in this episode, because seeing how good Tohma is at this contributes to Masaru’s feelings of inferiority.

Agumon: “Wow…”

Having watched Tohma and Gaomon’s performance from HQ, even Agumon can’t help but be impressed. But then he catches himself and looks guiltily at Masaru, realising he’s just making him feel worse. Aww.

It is interesting to note how, despite all the similarities between him and Masaru, Agumon himself doesn’t seem nearly as bothered by being outclassed by Gaomon in the same way. After all, he’s still a kid who knows he’s got a lot to learn from his aniki; Agumon has never tried to present himself as the best person around at fighting like Masaru does.

Kudamon: “Understand now? This is the difference in ability between you and Tohma.”

Kudamon is apparently quite happy to imply that Masaru is significantly inferior to Tohma. Satsuma, though, doesn’t say anything to agree. I get the sense that Kudamon was a lot less on board with bringing Masaru into DATS, even though he ultimately accepted Satsuma’s decision to do so.

Masaru rushes out of the control room in frustration, with Agumon following.

Kudamon: “Aren’t you going to stop him?”

Satsuma: “Leave him alone.”

I like that Satsuma gets that this is something Masaru needs to figure out on his own, and that trying to talk to him directly about this is probably only going to make him feel worse.

(It’s this kind of approach of Satsuma’s that makes me think that him being so indirect about recruiting Masaru was on purpose out of him wanting Masaru to make the decision for himself.)

Masaru runs out of the DATS building through a tunnel that I’m pretty sure incidentally happens to be the same one we saw Agumon escaping through at the very beginning of the first episode.

Agumon: “Aniki… Why are you angry?”

Masaru: “Shut up!”

[Masaru trips in his running and falls to the ground]

Masaru: “Damn it…”

I enjoy how Masaru tripping over serves to illustrate how his unthinking recklessness doesn’t always end well.

Agumon: “Well, I think Tohma and Gaomon are nasty guys too, but…”

Aww, Agumon, trying to show that he’s still on his aniki’s side. And, yeah, he agrees that Tohma and Gaomon have been kind of dicks to them so far, but… (but still, he doesn’t get why Aniki is this upset about it.)

Masaru looks at Agumon with this bitter look for a moment, almost like he’s tempted to agree and just keep sniping at Tohma… but then he drops it.

Masaru: “No… It’s myself that I’m mad at, not them.”

Of course that’s been what this is really about. This is the first time in a long time that Masaru’s been given any sense that he’s not good enough at something he really wants to do. This isn’t about Tohma; Tohma’s presence just brought this out of him.

And hey, big props to Masaru for being willing to admit this! He couldn’t quite do so at HQ in front of everyone, and especially not in front of Tohma himself, but at least he’s willing to do so here in front of Agumon. A weaker person could easily have kept insisting that, no, this totally is all about that arrogant jerk Tohma, and avoided the necessary self-reflection, but Masaru is generally pretty good at being emotionally honest about things, even when it stings.

He also happens to pull the band-aid off his face at this moment, which I enjoy – needing his wounds patched up is a sign of weakness that he doesn’t like having.

Masaru: “Damn it! What am I doing? Really… what the hell am I doing?”

You’re doing your best, Masaru! Just like you’ve always, always been doing!

I really like how Masaru can’t actually properly articulate what the problem is. He knows there’s something wrong, something that’s frustrating him about himself, but he can’t put it into words. It doesn’t seem like he’s properly consciously aware of why he’s so into his whole fighting thing, and why he wanted to “fight stronger opponents” through joining DATS, so he can’t quite grasp why feeling like he’s not good enough at this bothers him so much.

Also, my compliments to the animators, and to Masaru’s VA. He looks and sounds like he’s on the brink of tears here, and it is good.

Masaru reaches the end of the tunnel… and who should he run into but the old man who gave him his Digivice, who’s sitting there cooking a fish like nothing is more natural.

Old man: “It’s hard lighting up a fire… The sparks go out easily whenever the wind gets a little too strong.”

Masaru: “Well, obviously!”

Old man: “But… once I get a larger flame going, it burns strongly no matter how much the wind blows. Fire is an interesting thing, isn’t it?”

What we learned about the old man last episode is that he finds Masaru interesting and likes randomly showing up whenever Masaru is acting in a way that he considers to be interesting. Apparently, he got wind somehow of the fact that Masaru has been having these doubts, and so he showed up to just… observe, and express his observations in metaphor form. He’s comparing Masaru to the fire, saying that right now his “sparks” aren’t quite strong enough to keep going when something challenges them – but that soon enough, if he just keeps growing more, he’ll become so strong that nothing will be able to stand in his way.

That said, I highly, highly doubt that the old man expects Masaru to actually learn anything from this metaphor – I’m sure he must know well enough to expect anything and everything metaphorical to go right over Masaru’s head. This isn’t actually an attempt to give Masaru advice. This guy just likes being a mysterious old man who makes abstract metaphors about people he finds interesting, that’s all. Sooner or later, Masaru’s flame is going to burn so brightly that nothing at all can blow it out, and won’t that be fascinating to watch?

(I agree, old man. It will. That’s why I’m here, too.)

[Masaru stares intently at the fire the old man has managed to light]

Masaru: “This is…”

And naturally, Masaru, who wouldn’t understand a metaphor if it punched him in the face, completely failed to pick up on what the old man was getting at. Instead, what this metaphor also coincidentally (or maybe not so coincidentally?) happened to be was some pretty useful advice on how to deal with the very literal, practical problem he’s been having today.

Before he can think on that further, Masaru hears a conversation over his earpiece. There’s more PetitMeramon signals, in a place where gas tanks are – not a great place for living fireballs to be flying around – and Yoshino and Tohma are 10 minutes away in their car.

Masaru: “Leave it to me!”

Yoshino: “Huh? What are you saying?”

Tohma: “You can’t do it!”

Masaru: “Shut up! I can get there in 3 minutes!”

The perfect opportunity for Masaru to get the chance to prove himself! Under other circumstances, it’d be arguably better for Masaru to stay back and leave this to Tohma again. Having shown some self-reflection on things, even Masaru himself would probably be willing to accept that and relent. But in an emergency like this, when he’s the closest one to it? Damn it, he has to at least try.

Since the “there” in question was only described as being “Area B-42”, what we have to conclude from this is that somehow Masaru has magically memorised all those location codes already. He doesn’t seem to be making this up to save face; he’s looking at an area off in the distance that he’d probably reasonably be able to sprint to in that time.

(Well, either that or he just assumed based on knowing that this is the only remotely nearby area with gas tanks. Maybe it’s that.)

Satsuma: “I won’t approve of this!”

Masaru: “Whatever, just watch! I’ll get ‘em this time!”

This isn’t Masaru arrogantly trying to show off and refusing to acknowledge that he’s unsuited for this. This is Masaru genuinely caring about trying to prevent the crisis if he can – and this time, he does have at least some idea of how to go about doing so.

Masaru makes it to the gas tanks, where there are indeed three PetitMeramon floating around.

Masaru: “Agumon! Use Baby Burner!”

I’m… not sure how Masaru knew that Agumon even has an attack called Baby Burner, since he’s never used it before. I would say he could have had some kind of offscreen fight as a DATS member already in the three days he’s been here, but Yoshino’s response to his failure earlier suggested that today was indeed his first proper DATS mission.

Agumon: “My attacks don’t work on them!”

Masaru: “You heard me, do it!”

Agumon: “Okay…”

Agumon is such a loyal follower! He doesn’t understand why this is a good idea – in fact, it seems like a thoroughly bad one – but he trusts his aniki’s judgement and does it anyway, even as it only seems to make the PetitMeramon stronger and Masaru keeps ordering more.

After enough fire, the three PetitMeramon grow strong enough to fuse together and evolve into Meramon. (Hey, at least this one’s a non-partnered evolution that makes sense to be happening right now.)

Agumon: “It evolved! What now, Aniki?”

[Masaru grins]

Masaru: “This is perfect!”

I love Masaru’s cocky taunting face here. He knows he’s got this, and he’s so ready to just have a good old fight again, like always.

Masaru: “Fire sparks easily go out whenever the wind blows on them. But… Once they burst into flame…!”

[Masaru leaps to punch the Meramon quite solidly in the face and lands with his Digisoul flaring]

Masaru: “They won’t be extinguished so easily!”

This was what he got out of the old man’s words. Not metaphorical advice about his emotional struggles, of course not – instead, just very literal advice on how to punch fire. He couldn’t punch the PetitMeramon because they were small enough that the wind of his punches just blew the flames out before he could connect. But if he makes the fire bigger and stronger? Then it’s no problem!

And you know what this is? This is Masaru using strategy. It’s a strategy that he needed someone else to nudge him towards – he’s still not really the kind of person to come up with something like this on his own – and it’s also a much more straightforward, reckless, Masaru-style strategy than someone cautious like Tohma would ever dare to use. But hey. It worked.

(Also, please appreciate this ridiculous shot of the DATS car skidding sideways as it dramatically arrives on the scene. That is not how cars work, but okay. …In fact, surely it’s been less than seven minutes that Masaru’s been here; I guess Yoshino floored it to get here as fast as she could, hence the dramatic skidding? She drives like a badass.)

Tohma: “He got it to evolve on purpose… by making the fire stronger…”

See, even Tohma appreciates what the strategy was, even if he’s kind of gobsmacked at it being something so reckless.

And then, as usual, GeoGreymon wins the fight in a single attack. But again, I don’t really mind. The interesting part was getting to this point in the first place.

The Meramon disintegrates into three eggs, appropriate for the three PetitMeramon it came from – but it kinda raises some questions that this single Adult-level Digimon was effectively three individual Digimon in one. It also raises some questions that PetitMeramon was able to multiply itself just by its embers setting stuff on fire, and each of those multiplied offshoots also had its own individual egg. Is this just a particularly unique method of Digimon reproduction? I am definitely not supposed to be thinking about it this much.

Masaru: “How’s that? I was able to take out the PetitMeramon, too!”

Having shown that he can do just as good of a job as Tohma after all, Masaru has bounced right back from his self-doubt and is feeling good about himself again. This kid doesn’t stay down for long.

Tohma: “Don’t let this go to your head. You were just lucky this time.”

It really was not luck. Masaru used an actual strategy that he had good reason to believe would work. Tohma himself even just about acknowledged this during the fight… but not now, now that Masaru is properly listening to him and he’d have to acknowledge that to Masaru.

(A bit like how Masaru only acknowledged his own sense of inadequacy when Tohma wasn’t around.)

Masaru: “It’s just like I told you. The ones who don’t give up until the end win the fight!”

Masaru claims this is like he told Tohma, but is it really about him? After all, Masaru himself was the one who had almost given up for a moment. It’s more like he’s saying this to remind himself that he shouldn’t have done that and should have just believed he could do it all along. (Like the old man said, he just needs to let his sparks grow into a bigger, unstoppable flame!)

We cut right from the location of the fight back to DATS HQ, while the argument amusingly continues as if there was no timeskip at all. They were probably arguing like this all the way back in the car, too. (Poor Yoshino.)

Tohma: “Don’t be absurd. You don’t come up with any strategy or tactics. Do you think using force all the time will let you win at everything?”

He literally did come up with a strategy, though, Tohma! Maybe a strategy that relied on force, maybe not the kind of careful, cautious strategy that you’d use, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t count as a strategy!

Masaru: “Hah, sounds like a sore loser to me.”

Yeah, I think Masaru’s spot on with this one. Tohma refusing to acknowledge Masaru’s approach in that fight as a legitimate if risky strategy really does seem like he’s just being a sore loser.

(Though I like how Masaru himself isn’t even trying to argue that it was strategic of him. Clearly that’s not something that he sees as being worth bragging about.)

Tohma: “What did you say?”

Masaru: “Wanna make somethin’ of it? I’ll knock you out with one hit to the face this time!”

Oh my god, Masaru. Look at this competitive dork. Now that he’s got his confidence back and feels like he is just as good or better than Tohma after all, he’s ready to have a rematch in the ring and certain that this totally means he’ll win this time!

Satsuma shuts them both up with his, quoth Yoshino, “thunderous demon roar” – apparently a regular thing of his – and declares that Masaru and Tohma will be working together as a team from now on. Naturally, they are both Not Happy about this.

Yoshino: “This is the worst…”

Neither is Yoshino. This is a catchphrase of hers, which is sometimes used when things are going badly in a crisis, but is just as often used simply to express her sheer exasperation at the people around her. I love her role as the Only Sane Man among these two ridiculous over-the-top dorks she’s wound up working with.

Overall thoughts

I like this episode a lot! It’s a great introduction to Tohma, specifically in the context of him serving as a foil to Masaru.

There will be a lot more things about Tohma’s own issues and situation (like I said, there’s a reason for all the genius stuff, I promise) that we’ll eventually get into, but that’ll be a gradual process, because Tohma is not the sort of person to talk about his personal problems to anyone else. For now, since Masaru is the single main character of this series and we therefore see a lot of things through his perspective, it’s appropriate that Tohma is introduced in terms of how he differs from Masaru (as well as a few hints at their similarities).

Then, because of this, we get spend a lot of the episode on Masaru feeling outclassed and how he deals with that, and it’s delightful and subtle and I love it. The first two episodes were setting up the deal with Masaru encountering Agumon and joining DATS, but now that we’ve settled into a little more of a status quo, it’s the perfect time to start digging into Masaru’s character and have things begin to challenge his conception of his own strength. There will be more of this, and I’m looking very much forward to covering those episodes in particular.

This won’t really ever come up again, but it’s incidentally neat to see Masaru struggling with an enemy he can’t punch, and eventually coming up with a strategy by interpreting the old man’s metaphor about his issues literally, because of course he does.

I also just love the old man being there making metaphors about Masaru’s issues simply because he felt like it and finds Masaru interesting. He serves as a nice little narrative device to help draw the audience’s attention to when things are going on with Masaru, as we’ll see in a few more episodes in this arc. I can’t help but appreciate that about the old man, because it’s also basically what I’m doing with this commentary.

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[Dub comparison]

#digimon #digimon savers #masaru daimon #tohma h norstein #the digivice old man

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sugar-petals · 4 years

Note

Can u introduce yuzuru to us the caro way?👀

so you want to know about the one and only. ♡😌

yuzuru hanyū (25) of sendai, japan: the most beautiful ice prince with a heart of gold.

….an artist clearly not of this world, he’s been sent to us from another realm. 19 world records, two olympics won, dubbed the greatest figure skater of all time. and the most precious bean on top of that.

but let’s start from the beginning, shall we ♥︎

so, want to spot yuzu on the ice? use this checklist. slender silhouette, an even slimmer waist, feather-like outfits (he sketches those himself; the fandom lovingly calls him swanyu), soft blushy face. he has great androgyny.

outside of performances, you see him either with a deer’s gaze or the brightest, biggest eye smile. also, he’s usually found sitting with his wife:

which is the ice 😄 these two are together forever. you can discern yuzu from a mile away by how he treats his working ground.

there is a purity to him. you’d not guess that this is one of the most ardent athletes if you didn’t see what’s around his neck after competitions. the guy’s cuteness is as compelling as his skating technique.

look for it: yuzu’s face is super suave and rosy up close, even after his most energetic performances. some men are handsome, others pretty, he is both.

even acoustically, he’s hard to miss. applause is all around, and he’s highly expressive. if you see a crying young man getting the high score, that’s yuzuru hanyu. you’ve not seen more beautiful happy tears.

and score reactions, anyway:

so, aye loves, the rumors are true. a cutie-pie off the ice, animated, a real unabashed meme — yuzu is easy-going, talkative. cheery, cheeky, one of a kind. his facial expressions are a league of their own.

if you thought this is the sort of guy who watches cat videos, you are correct 😄

yuz-uwu hanyu, everybody:

his undoubtedly feline behaviour is often unexpected, it stands out with its adorableness, too. a sweetheart par excellence.

and, how else could it be: vice versa, the big beast on the rink. he’s cutesy, dorky, very well-spoken in daily life, but when it comes to skating, his seriousness escalates. you blink once and suddenly hanyu is a bedazzling, strutting lion :’D his performances stun with confident elegance.

he becomes full of ardor, drama, and focus. you’d never suspect so much fire burns in him. a showman and ambition icon, hands down.

his skating is dynamic, perfected, and emotional. if you want to see art and the extra mile, tune in when hanyu competes.

the downside is; more light, more shadow. it leaves him crawling on the ice afterwards. yuzu performs so hard, it’s worrying.

he delivers it all. you won’t believe it:

this guy is an asthmatic.

the symptoms aren’t as bad as they used to be, but there are still regular attacks. he said that he’ll never take it as an excuse and often recalls how he started skating because of it. he’s a badass, extremely inspiring. yuzuru defies all limits, including gravity. his jumps have legendary status.

off the rink, you guessed it: he turns into a wholly different person.

it all dissolves completely when he’s dorking around again.

don’t let it deceive you, he’s the no other option than first place type. he could not be any more decorated with titles, he achieved the grand slam in all competitions as of 2020. and still, king of sportsmanship hanyu is respectful and smiley towards all colleagues and never lets anyone feel left out. especially when it comes to his juniors (e.g. yuma kagiyama, 16, below) which says a lot about him.

he bows in every direction before an audience, too. lower than a 90° angle, even. this is more polite than any existing formality in japan.

talk about audience: i introduced fellow japanese skater shoma uno last week, who’s more uncomfortable with social contact and aggression. yuzu, extrovert he is: the exact opposite. he withers away with no people and competition. he’s befriended rivals, had crises over not having someone who could challenge him. when a competitor retires, he’s the one crying in their arms (e.g. with team mate and bff javier fernandez from spain below).

beside his competitive spirit and princely wow factor, hanyu is popular for his winnie pooh tissue box that he caresses, squeezes, and carries everywhere. he loves good luck charms & rituals, pooh is the most important one.

fans throw pooh plushies on the ice after his performances because of it. since it’s gotten so intense, yuzu recently started cleaning them up himself on top of the flower girls for the upcoming skater who could get delayed otherwise. (more about what happens with the piles of plushies later.)

so, the burning question is.

what made yuzuru hanyu emerge so outstanding an entertainer? how does someone causing so much uproar become like that? it’s not just what kind of appearance he was given, although he really looks his part to a T. you don’t have to be an insider to see it right away.

like literally to a fault. and you can tell the way his blades sound on the ice is different. it’s soft even if he does the most hardcore quadruple jumps. i think it’s because his drive to do this is a higher one, hanyu has an altered relationship with the ice. where his devotion comes from has a more severe reason so, massive trigger warning.

this is no exaggeration: yuzuru is considered a hero to the japanese. a survivor of the earthquake 2011, he narrowly escaped the collapsing rink in his hometown on that very day. he’s often talked about how the ice shattered underneath his feet and it was the moment that defined his life forever. he could have been dead by the age of 16. his motivation has been set ever since. this man is compelled by something bigger, that’s why you hear it and you feel it. he wants to skate not just for himself but others and seize every day.

youtube

much of his copious charity work — that’s where all the pooh plushies go — went to mend the consequences of the tsunami ever since, he’s looked upon as a great hope in japan. the minister gave him the people’s honor award in 2018.

now you know why yuzuru has such a fanbase and treats the ice as sacred, you see it in every gesture. his manners are without a single flaw, he helps staff repair the ice after performances.

you might think it’s odd, but he honors the ground. he’s invested in the integrity of it. that’s why he’s the best skater. it’s gratitude and the will to live fully.

he hates to fall on the ice, he hates to damage it. alongside his feathery weight, that’s why the sound he makes while gliding along is so tender.

i think that’s also why hanyu’s signature element is the ina bauer. it doesn’t rely on brutal force, instead this element slides across the rink like a swan. yeah, oh my god.

it’s his most well-known dramatic move. the way he surrenders into it.

hanyu’s back arch and perfect split allow him to do elements no other male skaters can. his biellmann spin, for instance. i know, it’s ridiculous.

and those are just two elements of dozens and dozens. hanyu is a kinetic wizard. i highly rec this record-breaking delivery of his olympic program. in front of his home crowd! he’s just… mind-boggling. i live for his smiles here.

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exceptional skater, exceptional mentor: it’s time we look at another puzzle piece that made yuzu the way he is. the masterful brian orser is hanyu’s beloved coach. missing gold by just one mistake at the olympics 1988, brian is now committed to give others what he couldn’t have— successfully so.

orser took the ice prince to gold twice, this hasn’t happened in 66 years. brian is the nicest and most supportive pooh carrier and yuzu’s utmost rock. hanyu’s talent rests safely in these hands.

he gets strict about punctuality lmao! but other than that, his guidance is gentle. canadian he is, brian’s courteousness mixes well with yuzu’s politeness. their bond is strong. as. hell.

brian picked up yuzu from rock bottom several times. most fateful being hanyu’s accident with a fellow skater during competition warm-ups nov 2014. they collided at a high speed, it was unspeakably nasty. yuzu got knocked out for half a minute and had grave breathing problems but still decided to skate on with what later turned out as an almost-concussion. brian was the most worried ice dad in the world that day.

yuzu cried and crouched and bled like mad and my heart has been broken ever since. i hope he never suffers like that again. promise me you don’t search up the video, it’s a harrowing watch like a stab to the chest. sadly enough, hanyu’s body has still been a notorious wreck, esp. ankle issues regularly give him a hard time 😔

it hurts like a bitch with every jump landing but he takes meds and still manages to win, god knows how. sometimes even with crutches on the podium. at his worst, he’s still the best, it’s a tragedy.

he’s been recovering, or always is, but he pushes himself through injuries. his ambition and perfectionism are boundless. the cause is more important to him than his well-being. this is not an easy guy to stan once you see how he sacrifices and self-destructs. so, it’s good someone protects him.

mostly from himself because nobody has profoundly surpassed hanyu. he has let himself no choice than to contest himself. not even health, only age can stop yuzu. i think that brian understands this ‘curse of a genius’ effect. his mere presence can make hanyu say these rare words:

his two other coaches contribute to that. tracy wilson (left) has proven to understand his playful side the best while ghislain briand (right) helps yuzuru deal with his fears. so you got 3 people taking care of the golden boy. brian once said: “he is very sheltered” and you can see it’s true.

yuzu eased into learning english and communicates well with his coaches. like with everything, he studies hard and often forces himself to speak during interviews to practice. his skills are astounding. his speaking voice is also very soothing, very amicably low and high alike. yuzu is highly intelligent. he always says something eloquent and interesting.

now, privately, hanyu is very much like you’d expect someone so devoted to skating would be like. he doesn’t go out, has no social media, can’t eat nor sleep very well. no cameras allowed during practice. it figures he is attached to winnie pooh, think about it. in the cartoon, pooh is someone who sleeps, eats, and engages with friends plenty.

these are the things hanyu can’t do, doesn’t have time/energy/incentive for. he is barred from balance in life but can at least admire this little carefree plushie for it. especially because pooh represents eating lots while yuzuru doesn’t have a good relationship with food (he says it doesn’t go well with jumps etc.), hanyu lives vicariously through him.

what’s more, you have to see how he throws himself onto others and never wants to let go, yuzuru is extremely cuddly.

to the degree that mere social customs can’t meet how much he really needs. so, what else can he resort to, he loves mascots and plushies. it’s how the tale goes in japan generally, tough work ethic, high responsibility, high pressure, so people turn to cute fluffy things.

he always fondles pooh’s head, even pretends he’s come to life so he has someone to snuggle with. i think that his isolated lifestyle doesn’t help. so, he gets his affection at least there, you can see how happy it makes him. and again: he does this all for charity.

that’s why fellow skaters are so important to hanyu. it really brings out his social spirit and comforts him best, it’s so wholesome. i’ve not seen someone react so relieved to being embraced, like he’s not been touched for months. skating this, skating that. at the end of the day, hanyu wants love.

as he once said, what motivates him is to express himself in the first place. hanyu is a romantic. it’s written all over him. it reflects in his music choices, his elegant motion, how he designs his outfits:

… and how thoughtfully he talks about marriage. he has big plans for starting a family and coaching after he retires. i won’t be the only one squeezing lucky charm pooh in my imagination so it turns out well for him. please make this heart of gold heal and see all his wishes come true ♡🐻

#thank you for attending this talk ❄️⛸#i need a moment this was emotional #figure skating #yuzuru hanyu #brian orser #anon #cub mail 🐅#long post #team japan

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nyaheum · 3 years

Text

My yearly list of Eurovision songs after the first impression (I mean, for like, half of them. I heard snippets of some songs.). Judged on music videos, because...if I only listen to the songs on Spotify, my eyes get bored. :’)

(oh, and don’t talk to me about iceland’s placement, I know this might be unpopular)

X. Belarus

Fuck Belarus, all my homies hate Belarus. Not even going to grace them with a rating.

Norway (TIX – Fallen Angel)

...no. :( And it’s not even because Keiino didn’t win, I just wholeheartetly hate this song. And I’m kinda sorry to TIX, because he seems like a cool dude and his stage outfit is absolutely hilarious, but oh my god do I hate this song with an absolute burning passion.

Poland (RAFAL – The Ride)

eye emoji mouth emoji eye emoji – well, this is a non-qualifier if I’ve ever seen one. Can we just...skip this?

Belgium (Hooverphonic – The Wrong Place)

Nap time! This song annoys me. I cannot explain it, but it gives me a headache and my whole body is revolting against this song. I am not kidding. Objectively, I don’t even hate it, but there’s just something about it...that makes me go...hnghgng…

North Macedonia (Vasil – Here I Stand)

eye emoji mouth emoji eye emoji ver. 2 – I am not trying to sound mean, but does North Macedonia do any music that is not dramatic power ballads? I’m serious. (And I don’t like it, sorry. :((...except for the high notes, I like them. When he can hit them live.)

Estonia (Uku Suviste – The Lucky One)

This (the music video)...is soft porn. I am slightly scared of Uku. I don’t know why. But, uh...this is better than last year’s song? Still, it wouldn’t qualify under my watch, whoops.

Georgia (Tornike Kipiani – You)

He stopped yelling angrily at the microphone. :((( Nah, but this isn’t my thing. It’s great that they are doing their own thing, it’s just not really my thing...it also reminds me of a song I know, damn.

Austria (Vincent Bueno - Amen)

He looks like a german youtuber. I don’t know hich one, but he looks like one. I also canot tell if he’s 18 or 38, lol. (For some reason he also reminds me of Alex Albon, which is even weirder.)...oh, uh, the song? Idk, I don’t care for I. It’s fine.

Spain (Blas Cantó – Voy A Querdarme)

Confession: I’m probably the only person who actually doesn’t like the sound of Spanish all that much. Whoops. Apart from that though, I’m not the biggest fan of this song. Can’t really say more about that. Meh.

The Netherlands (Jeangu Macrooy – Birth Of A New Age)

Listen: I really like the tone of this voice. It’s great. I am not a fan of the song. There’s something just very off about the loud percussions (?) in the background that make me go absolutely crazy when listening to this. My sensory-overload-prone ears hate it, and I’m sorry...the part before the last chorus on the other hand I love. The whole song could have sounded like that and I would have loved it. (...and I can’t unhear “You are my broccoli – You know my broccoli!” ;-;)

Azerbaijan (Efendi – Mata Hari) Whenever I see Efendi, my brain still goes “Cleopatrrrrra!”, oof. This song sounds like a song I know. Which...is super unprecice, but I genuinely don’t know which one. I do like that they kept the weird pre-chorus thing from Cleopatra (and reference the song later on), but I must say that I liked Cleopatra more...but it’s a party song, so I think it will be fun on stage!

Romania (ROXEN - Amnesia)

I didn’t like her song last year, I don’t enjoy this all too much and I’m kinda sorry but also...I don’t want to apologize for my taste in music, lmao. I want her hair though. Give me her hair.

Denkmark (Fyr & Flamme – Ove Os Pa Hinanden)

Ring ding ding, native language bonus. This is also way more fun than I thought it would be, hah. VERY retro, but I don’t hate that? :D (this and sweden really aren’t any different in terms of how much I like them)

Portugal (The Black Mama – Love Is On My Side)

I can appreciate this. I just wish it was in Portuguese, honestly. I don’t really know if I like the English for this song. That being said, I don’t know if you can make these very specific tones (you know what I mean) in portuguese without it sounding super off, so…

Ireland (Lesley Roy – Maps)

Okay, you do you Ireland. :D

Israel (Eden Alene – Set Me Free)

This exists. :D

Cyprus (Elena Tsagrinou – El Diablo)

Cyprus came to party, and I can’t be mad at that. I just don’t know why everybody in the YouTube comments loves this SO MUCH that they are sure that it will win if it gets the jury votes. I don’t think it’s as good as Fuego or She Got Me were, but maybe I just have no taste in party music. I don’t party. (Only if you got a 2000s playlist and some iced tea.)

France (Barbara Pravi – Voilà)

FRANCE sending a BALLAD? In MY Eurovision? It’s more likely than you think. It’s good, objectively. Personally, I don’t really care for it all that much and feel like I already know it.

United Kingdom (Embers – James Newman)

A good, modern song? In my british eurovision song? What happened on the Isles over quarantine? Are you guys okay? Did you find yourself? Have you taken your last breath (breath!) and looked at your past results? I’m impressed enough to put this relatively high, wow.

Serbia (Hurricane – LOCO LOCO)

*adore delano voice* party! Oh, and native language bonus...for a party song! I’m...impressed, actually. I cannot decide wheter I prefer this or Hasta La Vista, but I think it’s this one? The flows smoother, if that means literally anything.

Bulgaria (VICTORIA – Growing Up Is Getting Old)

*shrugs* I think a lot of people will like this. And I get that. I think I even understand it...yeah. I didn’t like her song last year either. It’s just personal preference, I think. I just want to have fun during Eurovision, hah.

Finland (Blind Channel – Dark Side)

Finland: FUCK YOU!!! Germany: Fuck you. <3

That’s all I’ll say, we know how the Finnish are, this is not surprising, lmao. (And I’m one of those children that grew up on Rammstein, so I legally cannot dislike this.)

Croatia (Albina - Tick-Tock)

Tick-tock, can you hear me go tick-tock? My heart is like a clock, I'm steady like a rock-...oh wait, wrong tick-tock! Still, really enjoy this song’s chorus – I actually enjoy it so much that it makes up for the utter loss of interest I experience once it’s over, chrm.

Sweden (Tusse – Voices)

I mean...let’s be honest, it’s a generic swedish pop song. It sounds like every other Swedish entry, and I think that bothers me. I know, that sounds kind of...weird, looking at my choices higher up in the list, but...meh. I think this will easily qualify for the Final and place high, and I am totally okay with that. It’s just not...what I wanted, I guess? :D (and i’m sorry but as a german-speaker I cannot get over the name “tusse”) (oh, and tusse seems to be super cool)

Albania (Anxhela Peristeri - Karma)

Oh, we’re going to war in 130 A.D.? Fine, let me just pack my spear and- oh, Albania has already sent a singer? Ah, well, might as well give up and just vibe.

Czech Republic (Benny Cristo - omaga)

This sounds fun. Not a winner or anything, but fun. I’ll probably still be on Twitter when he’s performing, whoops.

Slovenia (Ana Sklic - Amen)

Wait, there’s TWO songs called Amen? And why do I actually kinda like this? Oh well, might as well just accept it. (Her voice though...mhmmhmhm…yes please)

Iceland (Dadi og Gagnamagnid – 10 Years)

We just vibin’. I liked Think About Things more, but I’m very much biased here...because I’ve known that song for a year now. But this is still very good, and very on brand. (And I understand like...half of the lyrics, but I am okay with that.)

Australia (Montaigne - Technicolour)

not australia flexing at all of europe that they can hold big gatherings! D: oh, but I like this way more than last years song. I feel like Montaigne can show her GREAT voice way better in this song. (Even though her outfit and the sound of the song reminds me of the UK song that had...a dude run on the stage. I can’t think of the word for it right now.)

Malta (Destiny – Je Me Casse)

Destiny’s voice is just….wow. This is very different than All My Love, but it’s fun. The topic of the lyrics kinda remind me of Toy, and I like that…..I don’t really like the music video (especially the dancers in the colorful dresses? idk), but I’ll just ignore that.

Germany (I Don’t Feel Hate - Germany)

Confession time: I actually actively enjoy this song. Everybod is shitting on it, but it’s FUN and it has a good message, and Jendrik seems like the nicest dude ever and...it doesn’t deserve all the hate it’s getting? It’s completely self-produced and just fun. Stop being mean. :(

(...also someone on youtube said “pewdiepie” and I can’t unsee that now so fuck you >:((...no, no I don’t feel hate, just rethink your life choices)

Moldova (Natalia Gordienko - SUGAR)

What in the “Eis.de ist in der Kiste” is this music video? And I thought I would absolutely hate this song, but I actually don’t mind it all that much. It’s actually fun. Oh no, I’m splipping, someone catch me, aaaaaahhhhh….(and that poor cake dude. Is this song about cannibalism? Does she want to eat him?)

San Marino (Senhit – Adrenalina)

Catch me hum the chorus of this song at least once a day...but honestly, without any malicious intent: what the actual FUCK san marino? This is so much better than Freaky, and even though I do not believe for one second that this will win, the simple outragiousness of bringing Flo Rida to Eurovision deserves attention. (Bringing someone like Flo Rida to ESC sounds more like Scandinavia/Bulgaria, doesn’t it?)

Russia (Manizha – Russian Woman)

Not gonna lie, I miss Little Big, but at least they are sending something that’s at least as weird. I love that. Russian Rap is cool as fuck anyway, so I’m fully here for this...but I’m glas this song doesn’t have a music video, this just has to be a live performance. (Oh, and another strong woman!)

Ukraine (Go_A – SHUM)

I’m SO glad Go_A are back. But, let me be completely honest: I know why they had to change the lyrics, but I still liked the first version better. BUT I feel like the new one will grow and me and it will climb one or two places, because the Instrumental just slaps SO HARD. (Makes me feel like putting on a Cybergoth outfit and start dancing at a German industrial park, lmao.)

Latvia (Samanta Tina – The Moon Is Rising)

Does this count as my guilty pleasure this year? I loved her song last year, and this sounds similar, so...I like this too. It sounds modern as fuck (well, for Europe, you know) and I can definitely...”vibe” with that. I genuinely really enjoy this, and I don’t know why. (Even though I prefer last years drop.) A lot of “strong, independent women”-songs this year, and I’m not complaining.

Switzerland (Gjon’s Tears – Tout l’Univers)

Just so we’re clear, this and Italy share the exact same spot. I just cannot compare them at all. Gjon’s voice just takes me hostage throughout this whole song and won’t let me go. And everything that isn’t english/is in the countries offical language immediately gets plus points from me. As if this song needed them anyway.

Lithuania (The Roop – Discoteque)

Aaaaaand...dance break! Good, I just love them so much, it’s not even funny anymore. And I’ve been singing this song randomly since it came out. I can’t stop. It has burned itself into my brain. Let’s dis-co-teque right at my home! *waves arms around with no sign of coordination*

(and does anyone else feel like he’s serhat, just with a different alignment? Like, they are both chaotic, but serhat is chaotic neutral and he’s either chaotic good or chaotic bad, it really depends on the way he looks at the camera)

Italy (Maneskin – Zitti E Buoni)

Italy delivers, as they do every year. Not only do I really like this song (it is very much my genre), THIS is an aesthetic I can get behind! Knowing Eurovision, I doubt it will win, but damn if it won’t be super fun! (I am so glad this won Sanremo, hah.)

#eurovision #esc #eurovision song contest #esc 2021 #eurovision 2021 #rotterdam 2021

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alexlabhont · 4 years

Text

I didn’t mean to fall in love with you

Chapter Eight.

Book: Queen B - Choices (Universe)

Pairing: Poppy Min-Sinclair x Trans!Male MC (Beck Hughes)

Genre: Canon re-write (Because I can)

Rating: Anyone can read it, really

Tags: @dopeyouth @theymakemegayer @save-me-the-last-dance @poppysmc (If anyone want to be tagged in, just tell me)

This is me trying to write by and for the Trans community, specially FTM community, meaning, trans guys, but I actually took the liberty to use They/them pronouns for everyone out there who´s interested (Also, the name Beck was the most neutral one I could find, trying to use the cannon Bea Hughes)

If you have any comment, PLEASE BE RESPECTFULL and patient with me. This is also my first english fanfic and english is not my mother language, so... i’m sorry fo the grammar errors

CHAPTERS

Chapter seven

ONE-SHOTS

Just a dance (Zoey x MC)

——————————————————————

When Poppy told that guy to send a pic of her and Farmsville kissing to The T, she wasn't trying anything but to declare a message, to make clear to everyone in Belvoire, especially to that Wonder Warden Wade of theirs, one little thing: Beck was hers now.

But no.

As usual, things with Beck were completely out of her control, whenever Poppy did zig, somehow Beck always managed to do zag. And this time "Zag" were lots of photos where Beck was hanging out, laughing and even hugging Zoey Wade. Sharing classes, walking side by side. Being together.

Students were talking, The T was speculating. That girl’s happy face making fun of her right from inside the photos and that stupid threat of hers didn’t. Leave. Her. Mind! That New Money was winning, and there it was just one person to blame: Beck Hughes.

So when she finally saw them in the hallway, she was decided to tear them down for good, hiding behind her reputation, behind a failed plan, when she knew deep down herself that she was mad for something else… Sometime hurtful…

But it all went down to shit when what she saw a few seconds later was Beck’s back hitting hard against the wall, and that stupid animal grabbing them by the clothes. For a moment, she completely forgot how to breathe, a loud gasp taking all the air in her lungs, and the pain and rage clutched her heart with such a lightning force and speed that Poppy couldn’t understand; all she knew was she couldn't stop looking at the scene, wanting so badly to be in the middle just to kick his balls so hard that they'll stop working forever. The strawberry blonde really tried to end the fight sooner, but that bunch of assholes that Belvoire had as students started to stand around as disgusting moths, hungry for a fight, so the last thing Poppy saw of the attack for a moment were Beck’s smile and then the pain written all over their face.

And that was it.

She could feel her blood boiling, something weird taking over her body. She was familiar to this feeling, the blonde felt it each time Farmsville proved to be a pain in her ass… but this one's was stronger, deeper, and incontrollable. Her nails were eager to meet Carleton's face until nobody could recognize him ever again. But when she finally got there it was Beck who was doing her job, smashing their fists against his face over and over, growling each time. A quick twist.

Naturally, that bastard was expelled latter that day, everyone totally noticed it because… well… she had her ways. And although it was one less problem without him, that didn’t make up for Beck’s rib.

Yes, she literally dragged them to the hospital to get that X-ray, what was that I'm-Tough-I'm-fine shit? Who were them? Rambo? Beck had that stupid frown through all the way, like a spoiled baby, but it didn't matter, because now everyone was sure that Beck didn't have a broken rib. They were fine.

“Told you.”

“I don't fucking care, Hughes. Now hold that tongue of yours, would you?” The silence she asked for only lasted two seconds.

“You know I told you.”

“Oh, my god. What are you, five?” she rolled her eyes quickly. “Why are you so mad about it anyways? Of course I needed to know if you were ok!”

“I told you I was fine!”

“You’re not a fucking doctor!” Neither of them giving a shit about the driver hearing the conversation. “You don't have anything to prove when it comes to your health!”

She said, why it was not basic information? Why was it something so hard to swallow?

“Poppy?” God, this one just won't stop, right?

“What now?” The blonde didn't even bother to look at them, focusing her attention to what was outside the window.

“You’re right.” Wait what? “I shouldn't be upset about it. After all... You were just taking care of me, so… Thank you.”

Poppy will never admit it to anyone… but that weird but honest and beautiful smile she received made her tremble a little~ bit. Just a little bit. It was kind of like seeing them for the very first time, discover them, a fraction of their very own core shown to her…

But anyways

Right after that, just right after all she did, after that fucking day Poppy hadn't heard a word from that bastard.

So all Belvoire may be asking themselves: what was doing the great, the beautiful, the one and only queen Poppy Min-Sinclair walking through the campus with a fruit tree in hands? Obviously not her hands, an employee's hands, but whatever. Same thing.

Well, the answer was simple: Nobody, and that’s nobody…, could ignore her. No one. Poppy can and do ignore people, but be ignored? Hell, no. She hadn't seen Beck in school neither, no text messages, no social media updates, nor shit, so she was going to pay them a visit, giving them something that surely will make them to never forget about her.

So yeah, a fruit tree. That was an acceptable get well gift, right?

Poppy knocked at Beck's place, waiting, of course, for a quick answer… and waiting, and waiting… and waiting.

“Ms. Min-Sinclair…” shyly spoke that man whoever he was. “Can I put the tree down for a second?”

“No.” Maybe if it were any other time the guy could do it, but not today. Today, when she was going to deliver it personally. Today, when she was giving one of the very few gifts meant from her kind spot. Today, when she was getting angrier and angrier because she hated to wait.

She knocked again. Harder this time, but the results were just the same. And that's when something weird started to happen. Yes, she was still angry, but a stitch-like feeling started to grow inside her. She knew for a fact that Beck was in there, the doctor was clear: They needed to rest and there it was no absolutely way Zoey would let them do anything else. So they had to be there.

“Maybe they're taking a nap or something. Nothing weird, right?” She thought while her eyes wandered through the hall, searching for some magic and very hidden way to get inside the dorm. Because maybe… maybe… they weren’t sleeping.

“No. They’re fine! They’re just doing something stupid like playing the ukulele or whatever musicians do.” Her mind chuckled a little, if she could joke about it, then there it was nothing bad going on… But it didn't work quite well. She was starting to feel preoccupied.

“Er… excuse me?” Poppy turned, a deadly, cold, scary glare piercing that poor bastard's self so hard as the blonde knew she was capable of, making him tremble. It would've been funny if it wasn't for the situation.

“You have exactly two seconds to tell me why anything you have to say is relevant or I'll fire you. Starting now.”

“There’s some guy behind that corner watching us for quite a while now.” The employee said, the strawberry blonde followed the man's sight direction, what kind of creep were stalking them? Seriously, fucking weirdo.

To her fortune in at least this case, Poppy recognized that nerdy, greasy hair guy above a pair of glasses and a suspicious look behind them. Ew, Benji What’s-his-name. Well… desperate times call for desperate measures…

“Hey you!” Poppy called him as demanding as only someone like her could be. “Come closer.”

“W-why?” He asked, reserved.

“Because you’re last place and I basically command you. So stop talking and get your pimpled ass over here.” The guy walked towards them, looking hurt, angry maybe, but who cares? It wasn't her fault he was a looser that nobody cared about. Eat or be eaten, there’s people in this world with the potential to be a force of nature, and there it was people like Benji as well. They’re just there to be used. “I need you to open this door for me. ASAP.”

“What?! But that's against the dorm's ru…!”

“Excuse me, do I look like I care?” Poppy was pretty close to lose her patience completely, but she managed to behave a little, after all he was right. If they get caught, most likely the problems would arrive sooner than later. “Just do it and you're free to leave. Nobody’s gonna know.”

“God, they’re gonna know…” he whispered, playing with his own fingers, making then crack. “But let’s make this quick, ok?”

“That is so what I actually asked you to do, you dumbass.”

Benji looked around like if he was about to rob a bank or something, Poppy rolled her eyes at this, tapping her foot to try and give him pressure to do the job in that instant; the only “big move” he did was swiping his master key on the door, then nudged it open with his foot.

“See? It wasn’t that hard, wasn’t it?” Poppy said, not even looking at Benji. “Now disappear before someone see us talking.”

The strawberry blonde didn't even know if Benji did go away or not, she just went straight into Beck's bedroom, opening the door of the first room she saw.

Bingo.

Beck was sitting on their bed, their laptop over their lap; a pair of big, black professional headphones covering their ears and little Fran--- Pepes comfortably sleeping, snugging next to Beck’s feet. When they saw her, their eyes went wide, taking off the headphones completely surprised and confused, a what's going on written all over their face, especially when the employee came along with her gift.

“Poppy? What the…? How the hell did you…?”

“Shht.” She didn't let them finish, chuckled a little of the incredulous expression they had. The reality was that, now that she knew Beck was ok…, she was… weirdly relieved… and pissed, but that's something she could deal with latter. “I want you to place the tree over there… next to the window… perfect! That would be all. You're no longer required.”

The employee left the room almost immediately, the sound of the principal door closing was the only indication that both of them were completely alone.

“Well… are you going to tell me now what are you doing here or not?” Beck spoke.

“I was just passing by and suddenly I wanted to come. Why? Is there a problem?”

“And what's with the tree?”

“It’s a get-well gift from yours truly.” Poppy shooted a playful wink, receiving a flicker of their eyes, disbelieving.

“A tree?”

“It’s a fruit tree.”

“Right…” Beck said, sarcastic painting their voice as they put their headphones around their neck, placing their attention on the screen once again. Like… hello? Poppy was right there!

“I was knocking for a long time out there. Where are your manners? Did you leave them in the farm?” She joked trying to make them mad, while petting Pepes softly, who kept sleeping as if nothing happened right after opening one eye and closing it again.

“No, sorry. I didn’t hear you… How did you get in?”

“I have my ways.”

“Gosh, that’s so messed up…” Beck murmured, their gaze still on the laptop.

“Seriously? That’s it?”

Feeling like a fool, Poppy clenched her teeth. She was waiting for Beck to do something, to look at her again, to ask her to leave, anything! But no, they kept tapping and clicking while biting the insides of their cheeks.

“Jesus, Hughes!” tired, Poppy walked towards them and took drastically their notebook away...

“Hey!”

… and replaced it with herself, sitting over Beck’s lap trying not to hurt their rib. They were warm, pajamas still on, messy hair and even though the bed was made, you could tell they hadn’t gotten up from there in a while.

“Give me that back…” The determination was in their eyes, but Poppy knew better. She knew for a fact they didn’t want her to obey. Their hands around her waist, the whisper in which they were talking and that dork yet attractive smile on their lips were telling otherwise.

“No.” She said. “I came all~ the way here just to see you. The least thing you could do is give your full attention to me.” Poppy demanded.

“I thought you were just passing by.” Beck said, a mocking grin lighting up their face.

“Just shut up already.” She said, causing them to laugh a little.

“Make me.”

Oh… that’s new.

But she was happy to oblige, so she kissed them. A spicy, hot kiss where her lips and her tongue played with theirs, trying to take control, to make them forget about the whole world, their own name, and focus on her taste, her touch on their neck, her fingers caressing their skin, traveling down, discovering Beck’s clavicles… but it was hard, because she wasn’t the only one trying to take over the other one… Beck was doing it so as well, so how could Poppy concentrate if she could feel the warm moves of the tip of their fingers tracing an intense map on her back, that she could almost feel as if it was on her bare skin? How can she prove herself superior when Beck’s slow bites in her mouth, savoring her, burned so good?

“How are you feeling, Tushi-face?” Poppy murmured, ending the moment just before she completely loses control. This was still a plan, and the blonde always had to be the one who they can’t live without. She needed them to be hopelessly devoted to her to make it work, not the other way around. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”

“Nor a little bit.” Beck took a deep breath, regaining their lost air. But there it was: that lamb face. “I was just trying to pick a good song for an audition.”

“Audition? To what?”

“A metal band. You know, some… stuff.” Poppy frowned, why would them wanted to be on a band? Beck had recognition on their own, fans all over Belvoire and, she can surely bet, even New York. Beck didn’t need anyone else, that’s why she had choose him. Because she knew the potential they had alone. Together… they both would be the power couple of the entire school… and, with her guidance, even more than that.

“Why would you do that?” Poppy asked. Beck responded with a shrug.

“I don’t know. Sounds fun. Besides, there is going to be a battle of bands and I want so badly to show them who's the boss...”

That’s when Poppy saw it for the very first time. The spark on their eyes made of ambition, confidence… arrogance.

“I see…”

All this time, she thought Beck was one of those people that just were going with the flow. A diamond in the rough who couldn't see its real potential… But she was wrong all along… There were more on Beck than they show, and she just figured it out a little more. The music was the answer all this time. She should've seen it before.

“Uhm… Ok. Just pick a song that reminds you of me.” Beck cracked a chuckle, letting their mind wandering thought their music repertoire.

“Oh, I think I have one.” They suddenly said with a playful grin on their face. “I’m sour candy … so sweet then I get a little angry, yeah… Sour candy, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…”

“Seriously, Hughes? Blackpink?” They didn't care, they even closed their eyes and kept on singing, dancing their arms in a funny, annoying way.

“I'm super psycho, make you crazy when I turn the lights low… sour candy… yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…”

That was it. Two can play the game just fine.

“Ask me to be nice and then I’ll do it extra mean… tteutbakke pyojeong hanae neon danghwanghagetji...” Poppy sang suddenly, surprising Beck so hard that she couldn’t help but laugh a lot because of their face. “Oh, honey… let me close that for you.” The strawberry blonde used her hand to gentle taking their jaw up. God, how can they be so cute while being dumb?

“You speak Korean?!”

“What kinda question is that? Do you actually know what the Min on Min-Sinclair means?”

“I-I mean, yeah. I just didn't want to assume… what does it mean? That thing you sang?” The blonde raised an eyebrow.

“I thought you knew.” Beck shook his head, that surprised look still into their eyes, but now had a taste of interest and wonder… A chance that she didn't miss. “Well… it actually means this…” Slowly, like a panther hunting her prey, Poppy reach out for Beck's neck, pouring out sweet but dangerous kisses over their skin… Oh, their reactions… Beck sigh, shaking a little, their body was tense, but slowly begun to relax, enjoying the attentions.

Both of their hands started to touch Poppy's body, eager, needy, intensely. Beck's caressed burned more and more over her body to the point where the blonde couldn't take it anymore. She needed them to take her clothes off…

Beck kissed her lips hungrily, tasting her as if they were starving, gripping her hips while doing so. She grinded down on them, stealing a gasp from their lips in between the kisses, driving her mad. Poppy needed to touch them, to feel them, so she put her hands under their shirt, enjoying the burning skin of their actually hard abs… touching careful and slowly up, and up…

“No, Poppy, wait…” Beck suddenly said, nervous and sounding a little scared. Confused as fuck, Poppy moved a little away, shooting them a question-mark-look. What happened? She wanted so badly to ask, but the stupid door opened abruptly, an annoying voice right behind it.

“Beck, I'm home! I got you some soup…”

Zoey was literally in the house. The stupid look on her face when she realized what was happening make Poppy really angry.

“Fuck you, Wade. Don't you see we're in the middle of something?” Something clicked inside the girl, because her astonished expression chance in one second to an indignant one just before slapping the door.

“Shit…”

—-

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