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southsideserendipity · 2 years

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Hi ☺️ could you write where reader is Severides roommate/best friend and fellow squad member and she has a nightmare and screams his name in her sleep so he bursts into her room to hold her and calm her down. Just fluffy/protective Sev vibes 💕

Close Call (Kelly Severide x Reader)

Synopsis: You almost lose Kelly on a call one day, and it's all you can think about, so much that you have a night terror.

Warnings: Mentions of loss, swearing, shitty writing. (Let me know if I missed anything!)

Word Count: 1.9k

“If I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes too.”

“You okay?” You jumped out of your thoughts at the sound of Kelly’s voice. Removing your head from the palm of your hands, you turned your head to the side to look at him. “Yeah, I’m good” you said standing up, continuing to grab your belongings from your locker. “You?” you asked him curiously without looking at him, trying to brush off his concern and appear as unbothered as possible.

Things got serious on a call today. Being on squad for the past couple years has most obviously exposed you to some traumatic situations, but they usually didn’t involve one of your co-workers- this co-worker being your lieutenant, roommate, and the man you’ve grown to love. “Sore, but good” he responded.

“For the brush with death you had, I’m surprised you’re in one piece. Thought I was going to have to post a ‘roommate needed!’ flyer around the firehouse” you joked, as you sat down to tie your boots. The only way you knew how to cope with the fact that you almost lost the man you haven’t confessed your love for yet was through horrible ‘comedic’ small talk.

Severide chuckled in response, watching your every move as he waited patiently for you. “Will cleared me at med, I’m good” he assured you. “You told me you were ‘good’ today when you had an entire chimney crushing you. Just another day at the office though, eh?” you stood up and looked up at him with playful, annoyed eyes; this type of exchange was regular for you both. “You got it” he smiled back, putting an arm around you as he guided you out of the locker-room.

The drive back to your shared apartment was quiet. You and Severide were not ones to share your feelings with each other- you were merely friends; roommates; co-workers. You both had your own mental problems but being on squad definitely added to the pre-existing trauma-pile. You shared many similarities with Kelly – familial trauma, not telling anyone anything, being hard-headed – and this made it easier to keep your relationship on a platonic level. Only opposites attract, right?

“What’s going on in that big brain of yours” Severide asked, earning a laugh from you in response. He had one hand on the steering wheel, the other on his gear shift. He looked over at you, scanning your face as if the answer was hidden somewhere on your complexion. “Nothing, Kel. Promise. Just a long day” you shot him a smile, as you once again pretended that you weren’t riddled with anxiety.

Playing repeatedly in your head were the events that had occurred just a few hours prior. You were pacing outside the burning house, resisting the urge to run back in and mentally preparing yourself for the possibility of losing another member of firehouse 51 (and coincidentally, another best friend) in the line of duty. You were attempting to envision a life without Kelly, and you just couldn’t. You had already written him into the rest of your life, he just didn’t know it.

First Hermann and Ritter ran out, then Cruz and Tony- with missing equipment. “Tony, where is your mask?!” the chief asked him in shock. Tony’s hands were on his knees as he attempted to cough out the soot in his lungs. “Kelly… he ran… out of air” he spat out in between. The chief clenched his jaw in anxiety, the expression of severe concerned plastered across his face. Seeing your chief unable to keep his cool always sent you into an internal spiral.

You whipped your entire body and started walking towards him. “Chief, please let me go in there, I don’t weigh as much, and I can help them” you walked towards him and begged; you felt useless. You would loathe yourself for the rest of eternity if you could’ve done something to save Kelly’s life and you didn’t. “I’m not risking another life, Y/L/N” Boden sternly said, with a hint of disappointment knowing there was nothing anyone could do but wait.

Before you were able to plead with him once again, an explosion had occurred, the sound and vibration echoing in your chest and bouncing off every wall inside of you. You wanted to scream in horror, knowing your best-friend’s last moments could very well be taking place in this burning house, but you were unable to produce any sound. Your eyes were locked on the front door in anticipation, and you could barely believe it when you saw Casey and Cruz emerge with him.

Running towards Kelly and engulfing him, you felt like you were dreaming; you thought he was dead. “Fuck, Kel. You scared me” you muttered into his shoulder, relief washing away your anxiety. Kelly had been in many dangerous situations before, but even he thought he wasn’t going to make it this time.

You snapped out of it once you heard his voice. “I can read you like a book. Why don’t you just talk to me?” Says him. “You… read books?” you put a hand up to your mouth for theatrics, asking him with exaggerated sarcasm which caused him to roll his eyes.

“Okay, keep joking around, Y/L/N” he chuckled to himself, knowing you weren’t going to crack anytime soon. He wishes you would just open up to him, but he knew it went both ways. “I think everyone’s going to Molly’s tonight, you want to go?” he asked you as he pulled into his parking spot. “I’ll see how I feel after we order some takeout” you winked, heading upstairs.

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You and Kelly ordered some Chinese food, deciding to sit on the couch and watch the Bear’s game. Leaning your head on his shoulder, you attempted to slurp your noodles, which resulted in soy sauce splattering all over your face. He chuckled, and grabbed a napkin, dabbing the corners of your mouth. “You’re a mess, Y/L/N” he said, staring at you in admiration. “Hey, you knew what you were getting yourself into before we became roommates” you shrugged, watching him walk to the front door.

“I’m gonna head out to Molly’s, you comin’?” he said as he put on his leather jacket. If you were to be tempted with alcohol, the night would end with you in the back of an ambulance (and not ambulance 61). “Nah, I’ll pass. I’m tired” you spoke as honestly as you could get across. You did want to see your 51 family- they always cheered you up. But tonight, you knew you needed some self-care (if you count contemplating your entire existence as a self-care activity).

Kelly nodded his head, signalling that he understood. “Have a good night though, Kel. Be safe” you shot him a smile, and he saluted you on his way out. “Always, Y/N.”

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It was 1:00am, and you were wondering what you did to deserve the tossing and turning you’ve been enduring for the past 2 hours. Perhaps all the melatonin had seeped out of your body being replaced by stress in the form of adrenaline. You kept replaying Kelly’s close call from that afternoon in your mind, a variation of ‘What If’s’ being overthought.

Kelly was your rock. You’d never admit that – especially not to him – but it was true. You were strong, independent, brave, and a plethora of other qualities that make up a badass female firefighter, but even resilient people need to be held sometimes.

By the time you had finally fallen asleep, your brain had decided to concoct a very vicious recall of events in the form of a vivid nightmare. Everything went exactly as it had in real life, except Kelly didn’t survive. He was pulled out by Casey and Cruz, and Capp, Tony, Hermann, and Ritter helped place him on a stretcher.

“Oh my… Kel??? Kelly. Wake up. Please, you have to wake up!” The chief was attempting to hold you back, but you broke out of his grasp in desperation. You vowed to stay right by his side as Brett and Foster went to work, but it was too late. And all you could do was let out an earth-shattering scream. “Kel… Kelly… WAKE UP!!!”

The sound of footsteps sounded into your room. “Hey, hey, Y/N. I’m right here. Hey, you’re okay” he cooed. You jostled awake and couldn’t distinguish reality from your nightmare- there was no way Kelly was right next to you, touching you, holding you; alive and well. “Wh- What? Kel?” You squinted and touched his arm, attempting to verify his liveliness. “It’s me, you had a bad dream. Everything’s okay” he assured.

Using the back of your hand to wipe off the layer of sweat that formed on your forehead, you looked down and realized you drenched the sheets with sweat.

You looked back at him, trying to convince yourself that he’s not just a figment of your imagination, but a real person. The second you saw his eyes glimmer in concern, you began to bawl, holding onto him with all your might. “I know… I know. Let it out. Everything’s okay. You’re safe.” Your head was nestled into his bare chest, and you knew you’d get tears and slobber all over him, but you figured you couldn’t embarrass yourself any more than you already have. His arm was around your shoulder, engulfing your entire body; no one’s ever held you with such fortitude.

After a 5-minute sob session, you reached over to grab a Kleenex from your bedside table. “I’m sorry I woke you up,” you sniffled, avoiding eye contact. The strong fort you put up had been knocked down by your own brain; you felt betrayed. “You don’t have to put on a façade, Y/N. Especially not around me. You don’t always have to be the strong one” he advised. “Kel- I’m” “That’s exactly what I’m talking about, Y/N. You’re not okay” he responded, grabbing your chin with his index finger so you’d look at him. “Let me help you” he nearly begged; he just wanted to see you happy.

Your lip began to quiver, and you felt tears reach the brim of your eyes once again as you quietly said, “I lost you, Kel. It felt so real.” You shuddered in horror, recalling what you just dreamt. He didn’t want to pry too much so he took what you said as a start. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.” You nodded slowly, feeling like a helpless child.

The motion of him rubbing his large, calloused hands up and down your back restored your inner peace, and you felt the safest you had ever felt under his touch. Your eyelids grew heavy, a headache from your crying session already starting to develop. You began to drift off; with his arms around you, you felt like everything was okay, and that all that mattered was the present- you and Kelly together.

He wrapped his arms around you, keeping you in his hold and kissing the top of your head. He muttered an ‘I love you’, but little did he know you heard all 3 words; you were safe here.

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Y'all... it's been too long. I'm truly sorry. School is killing me, and September was going well until I got into a car accident, and I've been playing catch up ever since. Just an extremely stressful time right now, so I'm very sorry- if you're waiting for me to write your request, I appreciate your patience! I really want this to be a fun thing for me rather than a chore, but with school, unfortunately I have 0 time for hobbies. But I am going to try. I hope this imagine was bearable- please comment any feedback/ what you thought! PS this is based on the episode where the chimney falls on Kelly in season 7.

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my-head-is-an-animal · 2 years

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Equipment Testing

Plo Koon x FemReader

Word Count: 1146

Warnings: Adult Content 18+ NSFW

You’d never been to Plo’s home planet before, so you had no idea what to expect. You’d read up as much as you could, but the only thing worrying you was the fact that you needed to wear a mask at all times. The air didn’t have the ability to sustain human life, being made up of mostly Dorin Gas.

Plo had assured you a thousand times that as long as you wore your mask, you would be fine, but there was still something terrifying about the only thing between you and suffocation was the apparatus covering your nose and mouth.

You managed to keep yourself calm enough to meet Plo’s family, they were wonderfully welcoming and fascinating people. You learnt so much about Plo’s kind and all the things they deemed important. The Kel Dor community was incredibly peaceful, quicker to diplomacy rather than anger and valuing wisdom over rash action. They were such a family loving people and it got you wondering about how much Plo missed his home.

‘I always allow myself moments to think on them,’ Plo told you as he guided you around his village. ‘But only moments. My duty to the Order is far too important.’

Plo was relieved to have taken his mask off, indents were visible where the air tight device clung to his face and you felt incredibly sorry that he had to go through such difficulty to simply survive off world. But he never complained, not once.

He could still sense your worry about your own mask, there was no reason to think it would break, but the thought still haunted the back of your mind. The nights on Dorin were freezing, the days were hot, but it didn’t seem to bother the Kel Dor as much as it did you. Luckily Plo was well aware of your anatomical needs.

He closed the door to his room and gestured to the window seat so that you could watch the suns descend. It was beautiful, nothing quite like the bright red sky lighting up every corner of the village. Stunning.

But still you worried. Every breath you inhaled from your mask, worried you that it might not last.

‘Perhaps you need a distraction.’ Plo suggested, his fingers gliding up your leg. ‘You seem anxious to breathe normally, I believe I know how we may reinforce your faith in your mask.’

‘Oh really?’ You raised your eyebrow, interested to know where exactly he was going with that statement.

‘I confess another reason I brought you here.’ Plo moved closer to you making you warm up immediately. His pale, marble like eyes took in your body and his breathing had gone shallow. You knew exactly what was on his mind.

‘You know that I won’t be able to use my mouth.’ You smiled, tilting your head.

‘I am aware.’ Without the barrier of his anti-ox mask, Plo was able to show his facial expressions more clearly and it looked like a blessed relief for him. ‘Lie down for me.’

He rarely had to ask you twice for anything. Plo made you feel more than you ever thought you could feel, it made you put a trust in him like no other.

You moved away from the window and lay back on his warm, soft bed. Plo brought the blind down and tapped the lamp so that soft, yellow light illuminated the room. He stood at the edge, moving himself between your knees and smiled down at you.

Plo was slow and co-ordinated, removing your clothes, letting his hands drift over the skin, encouraging you to relax, to simply feel and to not feel as if you owed anything in return. He worshipped every part of your body, delicately and gently, soon bringing his mouth into the equation, again flooding your sense with warm desire.

His soft tendrils that were normally hidden, began sweeping over the skin, eliciting sounds of pleasure from your chest.

Plo needed to be careful, he’d told you that sometimes the way Kel Dor’s make love could be overstimulating at best. He’d wanted to do this for some time, but with his anatomy not allowing for it beyond Dorin and the added obstacle of your much more fragile human physiology, nothing about your relationship had been easy or rushed.

Plo slowed down once again, knowing he needed to get this right, but sooner than he expected, your body was writhing for more. You wanted more than he was giving. Plo listened to your body, sitting on the edge of your mind, checking you were okay at all times.

‘Relax.’ He breathed, his tendrils sending hot rushes straight to your core as he descended down your stomach. Your hands grasped the sheets of the bed as he continued down your body, pushing your legs apart and allowing you one last moment before letting his tendrils drift over your core.

Plo slowed for his own sake as much as yours, the one thing he’d always wanted was to taste you, to make you come using his mouth and tendrils; he wasn’t about to rush the opportunity. Your legs were already quaking with the power he had over you, electric bolts of heat were shooting through your body, making you pant and moan his name.

You felt his ridged tongue slide through your folds and heard his groan into you. How had you never even thought of this? Every time you and Plo were together, it was you going down on him and for the most part, you enjoyed it, the only downside was his size made your jaw hurt far too quickly.

This was something else altogether.

Plo’s technique seemed to be the louder you responded the more he was attracted to repeating the action. He was in full control of your body in a way that had you forgetting everything that wasn’t him, until finally you were there, coming undone against his mouth.

You began to breathe a little steadier than before, your body taking in everything Plo had made you feel, the sensitive tingling in your limbs, the fog in your brain and the quiet bliss that followed.

You managed to open your eyes to see Plo smiling above you. It was only when you breathed out a laugh, that you felt your body flaring with aches from where he’d brought you to the very heights of known pleasure.

‘Wow.’ You breathed.

‘Indeed.’

You noticed how out of breath Plo was as well, hovering above you.

‘I think it’s safe to say, your mask will be fine.’ He said, with a coy smile, one you’d never seen before. But he was right, you chuckled, realising all your worries about your mask were now settled. If it could stand up to that kind of need, it would be fine for the rest of your time on Dorin.

If you liked this, please consider supporting me ☕ thanks for reading!

#plo koon x reader #I am a slave to the plo anons #plo koon #master plo koon #Plo koon fic

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lilac-gold · 1 year

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I find it so interesting that Sunny's parents are nowhere to be found in Headspace. The only glimpse of them is the photo in Sweetheart's Castle after it's given to Omori by the Keeper, but Mari's a pretty large character in Headspace and it's her who Sunny killed. Logically, she would be the face he tried to forget about most- or go the other way and remember everything admirable about her as a result of his guilt, which he does. Sunny glorifies her in his memories, denying her death and his guilt, but he blocks out any recollections of his mom and dad. Maybe it them seemingly splitting after Mari's death, Sunny's family falling apart even more, multiplied his guilt but it began to manifest itself in the only was he knew how to. He forgot the bad, and refuses to think about his parents in his dream world.

What I find equally intriguing is that it's Hero and Mari who take up the roles instead. Mari offers Omori & co. a place to rest and recover, somewhere to eat food, get better and ask for advice. She acts in a parental manner to the younger kids, and while this could just be her older sibling instinct showing, she does seem to fit into the role of Omori, Aubrey, Basil and Kel's mother. Likewise, Hero offers warm meals and looks after them, healing them and getting them out of sticky situations. He's protective and mature, older than the rest of them and taking them on as his responsibility.

Also, he makes dad jokes and acts like an old grandpa sometimes. The foe facts journal adds so much more fun traits to the HS gang that we otherwise don't get to see

Idk if this has been theorised before, but it's also possible that Sunny's father appears in HS through Daddy Longlegs. The hat/ hat rack and 'daddy' part would indicate so, and it's interesting that a shadowy, faceless, tall figure holding a light and wearing a hat helps Omori get closer to Black Space & the truth. If Sunny hasn't seen him in years and is potentially mad at him about the divorce, he might have blocked out his father's face, only recalling someone guiding and tall with a hat on their head lol. DLL looks like a shadow- like a hole that needs to be filled, a missing space. Like how Sunny's dad is missing from his home

I'll probably have more thoughts on this tomorrow, but for now, I need to get some rest! I hope you enjoyed reading this far- thank you for taking the time to do so! I always love hearing people's thoughts on my little analyses if you wish to share them <3

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kaaaaaaarf · 8 months

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20 asks for fic writers

Thank you for tagging me, @fruityindividual, @lynxindisguise, @butcherbacterium & @spindrifters <333

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

56,757

3. What fandoms do you write for?

HP Marauders.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Killing Time (unwillingly mine) aka murder husbands

Now I'm Spreading Your Legs (with mine in between) aka the original hatefuck

soft like silk chiffon aka silk slip Remus

back when we were dinosaurs aka museum

Rolling In The Deep aka divorced sopping wet wolfstar

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, of course!! I love getting comments, they sustain me. I need them to live.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending

Oh, hmm. I try to give all my fics a somewhat happy ending. I guess my blood is singing with your voice, which is my Midsommar au...I think you can guess how that ends.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I think that museum will probably win this once it's finished, but for now I would say I Knew Your Love Before I Knew Your Name and You Grew Tall (I Stayed The Same).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

So far no. I have received some weird feedback before, but nothing hateful.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

hahaha Listen. When I started writing fic I was like "I will never write smut, it's too hard to do it right." and then the first fic I published was my original hatefuck fic. 🤷 In fact, I think I'm best known for my Hatefuck Extended Universe series.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have not, I don't really think it's for me.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of. Like Lynx said, I think there are a lot of themes and motifs that float around the fandom so inevitably you're going to find something that is similar to yours. I have had people reach out and ask if they can write something inspired by my fic or like, with a similar theme (murder husbands) and I really appreciated the asking.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet! I don't know how I feel about it...there's no way for me to ensure that they have kept the story the same, ya know? I guess it would be a case by case basis.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

B, Kels and I started a sort of Miami Vice AU, but it sort of fell to the side. It was fun to collaborate, but we collaborate on every fic we write anyways, so.

In general, I don't think I'm the right person to co-write with because my muse is so fickle and comes and goes. I wouldn't want to let anyone down.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Wolfstar at the moment! I will always be an everlark shipper though.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I have had a wolfstar girldads au sitting in my notes app forever and I would love to write it, but the muse never sticks around for long. I also have a soulmate au that I started but will likely never finish. I think my take is unique, but I've just never been able to figure out how I could make it work.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Oh, I guess I have a really good grasp on the characters I'm trying to write, and I think I'm also good at humour. Also if you need a flowery metaphor, I'm your girl.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

World building. I'm just incredibly lazy and not that imaginative. I also have terrible grammar. I use em-dashes to hide that fact that I have no idea how to correctly use a semi-colon.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I mean I would do it, but only if I had a friend who could proof-read for me. The last thing I want to do is write something in another language that takes a native speaker out of the fic entirely.

The title of my fic In ár gCroíthe go deo is Irish, but it's also a song title from Fontaines DC so I didn't have to worry about that so much.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

This one! Marauders. I've only been writing since April.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

The ones I'm most proud of are The Killing Time (unwillingly mine) and back when we were dinosaurs.

no pressure tagging: @kaleidoscopexsighs, @grimjobs, @vajazzly, @crushofdoves, @greenvlvetcouch, @sommerregenjuniluft, @cancerravenclaw, @facewithoutheart, @sheisraging , @achilleslikespeas, @hihimissamericanbi, @colgatebluemintygel and @thefairylights

#about me #my fics

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bendingwind · 5 months

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20 asks for writers

I wasn't tagged I just like talking about myself 😌

how many works do you have on Ao3? 158

what's your total Ao3 word count? 429,818

what fandoms do you write for? Just, so many. I think there's over 25. Top 5 by number of fics are Doctor Who, The Witcher, The Avengers, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Bleach

what are your top five fics by kudos? - The Orphan Boy (Avengers) (sigh) - Reputations (Protector of the Small) (legit what, when did this happen) - Dreaming (Avengers) - Adventures In Social Media (Avengers) - Shapeshifting and Shenanigans (Avengers)

do you respond to comments? Sometimes! I generally respond pretty regularly to comments on new fics I've written and I try to respond to long comments regardless of when they're left.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Okay. Ironically, given how much I love angst, I hate angsty endings. It has to be i've got a feeling (this was meant to be) (Avengers) which isn't properly an ending, because this is my only unfinished work on AO3. It was intended to continue and have them meet when they were older and fall properly in love then.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I tend to skew towards happy endings except when I write dark endings, but maybe (don't pay no mind to) the demons they fill you with fear (Avengers) just for the sheer sense of hope?

Do you get hate on fics? I got some flames when I was younger for a variety of reasons, most often when I wrote material that I wasn't really old enough to handle respectfully or correctly yet and people got (rightfully if rudely) angry. The end of 2023 had a weird rash of people nitpicking minor canon details with me though.

Do you write smut? Yes.

Do you write crossovers? I was about to say no but I literally linked a Pacific Rim/Avengers crossover earlier so. I suppose I do.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know?

Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, someone translated Adventures in Social Media into chinese, and I think one other story though I'm a loose ends trying to think of what it was.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! Die on Every Hill (Dragon Age: Inquisition). It was a delightful experience.

What’s your all time favourite ship? Look this depends on everything from what i ate for dinner to the phase of the moon. I am a multi-shipper and i will die a multi-shipper.

What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I've gone over these I think twice recently so skip. (But it's the 10 BILLION WORDS ABOUT KEL RIP)

What are your writing strengths? I think I'm good at characterization and at, idk, mimicking author voice? So that the tone feels like the original material, where appropriate.

What are your writing weaknesses? I really, really struggle to write if I'm not ✨inspired✨ in the sense that I... simply do not write if I'm not inspired. I'm trying to do better about that this year.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I usually try to write it in the original language or the anglicized version of the original language and build up the appropriate context around it so that it's clear what the character is saying. Otherwise, italics.

First fandom you wrote for? Arguably Narnia, in that my fourth grade standardized test essay was basically Narnia meets the horror genre fanfiction, as seen by a nine-year-old. The first I ever posted was Harry Potter, Ron/Hermione. I still have it. It is... so incredibly bad. I believe I was about ten at the time I wrote it.

Favourite fic you’ve written? all my possessions for a moment of time (Dragon Age: Origins)

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acacia-may · 10 months

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Am I Ready For Love? Or Maybe Just A Best Friend (HERO-Centric OMORI fanfiction)

Description: While playing "Mom Friend" to his college buddies' shenanigans, Hero is shocked to learn that he is widely considered the "Prince" of their campus. Though flattered, he doesn't feel he deserves the praise, especially seeing as his heart still missed the best friend and childhood love he had lost far too soon. He would always miss her and simply couldn't imagine being with anyone else...but that didn't mean he wasn't lonely. Even self-imposed loneliness wasn't free from sadness. When an unexpected conversation drudges up bittersweet memories for him, however, Hero begins to wonder if he doesn't have to be nearly as lonely anymore. He might not be ready for love, but a best friend didn't sound too bad...

Relationships: Hero & Brandi [Intimidating Girl] Friendship, Hero & Original Characters Friendship, Past Romantic Hero/Mari, Romantic Brandi/OC, Could be Hero/OC if you really wanted to see it/imagine it happening after the slowest of slow burns, but this is more about their platonic friendship and is very heavy on the past Hero/Mari angst. Mentioned Hero & Kel and Brandi & Bebe's sibling relationships and Bebe/Mikhael.

Characters: Hero (POV Character), Brandi [Intimidating Girl], Original Characters, Mari's Memory, Mentioned Kel, Bebe (Short Haired Girl/Fountain Girl) & Mikhael (The Maverick).

Genre: Hero-Centric Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Slice of Life, College Life, Lost Love, Developing Friendship, Developing Relationship, Greiving, Catharsis, Heart-To-Heart Chats, Hopeful Ending, Post-Good Ending, Hero Needs A Hug, Hero Deserves To Be Happy

Word Count: 7,779

Rating: T for some heavy themes and thematic elements (i.e. grief & healing from grief and trauma. Implied/Referenced Canonical Character Death & Implied/Referenced Mental Health Issues including depression & suicide. Mentions of Underage Drinking & Partying) Some language.

Warnings: Major Spoilers for OMORI! Heavy themes and thematic elements (i.e. grief & healing from grief and trauma. Implied/Referenced Canonical Character Death & Implied/Referenced Mental Health Issues including depression & suicide. Mentions of Underage Drinking & Partying). Some Language.

Link to original post on AO3. Please do not repost to another website. All other interaction (likes, reblogs ect.) appreciated!

A/N: This story (including it's title) was heavily inspired by the song "Turning Out" by AJR (which is just a shot to the heart when thinking of poor Hero 🥺❤️ Highly recommend), and this "Hero's Life After Mari" Universe was co-created by @randomsprinkles. Full story text below the cut.

Thank you so much for reading and cheers to good & happy things for Hero in the future! 💕

“You know, sometimes I think Kel is fine, but then yesterday he called to tell me he ate a whole can of spray cheese”—Hero sighed and shook his head—"nothing with it just the spray cheese…” He shrugged his shoulders, and Brandi laughed. Swapping stories about their siblings was one of their favorite activities—especially at these wilder college parties where they tended to gravitate towards each other in want of a familiar face and company that wasn’t completely wasted. Even though Faraway Town was small, and he had known Brandi nearly his entire life, they hadn’t really become friends until college and the hours they spent together reminiscing about home or making each other laugh with stories about Bebe’s hopeless lovesickness or Kel’s well-meaning but often silly antics. It was a relief to have a friend and a familiar face around, and Hero could never quite tell her how much that meant to him.

“Well, that’s nothing. Bebe is still lovesick over that moron who wears that ridiculous wig and calls himself ‘The Maverick,’” huffed Brandi. “How many times do you think he’s seen Top Gun? I’m guessing at least fifty, possibly a hundred.” As Hero stifled a chuckle, Brandi rolled her eyes as she leaned her elbows on the kitchen counter and poured herself another glass of something, Hero wasn’t entirely sure what and he didn’t ask. He had learned it was better not to.

“Well…his family does run the best bakery in Faraway Town, and—” Hero stopped. He was going to mention how Aubrey had been good friends with Mikhael for quite a while, but then he realized she probably had even less positive things to say about him than Brandi did.

“I guess, but that’s just his family, and even if they’re great, he’s just…”—she paused as if searching for the right word—“a bozo. I just can’t believe she’d throw away her future for some guy like that. She says she wants to go to pastry school now so she can work in the bakery. She doesn’t even bake! You just wait until Kel starts dating,” she warned with a heavy sigh. “He’ll be driving you up the wall.”

With a shrug of his shoulders, Hero chuckled. Truthfully, he was a little surprised that hadn’t happened yet, but Kel didn’t seem particularly interested in a romantic relationship right now, which Hero could respect. He certainly felt the same way himself, though for different reasons, but he quickly pushed those thoughts away and buried them, changing the subject. “Speaking of dating, how are things going with you and C.J.?”

Brandi’s mouth twitched into a slight smile. “Checking up on your handiwork, matchmaker?” she teased dryly.

Hero’s face felt a bit flushed. That hadn’t been his intention, but he fidgeted. “Are you upset that I set you up?”

“You didn’t set us up. You just…talked him up to me until I finally agreed to go out with him, there’s a difference,” Brandi insisted, and Hero chuckled. He supposed that was true. C.J. was one of Hero’s friends from his fraternity, and he had had the most obvious yet sincere interest in Brandi ever since they were paired up for a legal research course project. Hero had thought they had a lot in common—spirited personalities, strong sense of justice, same Pre-Law major and aspirations to become attorneys someday, and, though he usually tried to stay out of his friends’ business especially their love lives, C.J. had begged him to put in a good word for him so she wouldn’t see him as just another dumb, partying frat boy.

Hero couldn’t blame Brandi for her trepidation around fraternity guys. They didn’t have the best reputation, and if Hero was being honest, he likely would have tried to avoid them himself if he hadn’t been forcibly dragged…er…recruited into a fraternity last pledge term. He would say it was a long story, but it really wasn’t. They needed someone to cook and to clean around their garbage heap of a frat house—a “Mama,” as they quickly deemed him—and Hero was too polite and conflict-avoidant to refuse when Kyle, a sports medicine major in his organic chemistry class, practically begged him to pledge for his frat. His harrowing tale of how they had eaten practically nothing but instant ramen every day for the past year was really the final straw. Now he cooked not only for the fraternity but also for all their guests when they had parties since keeping everyone fed and hydrated with water when they were binge drinking resulted in less vomiting on the carpet and less passing out on the living room rug or in the yard.

That was what he was doing now, after all, making sandwiches on the stove, handing out glasses of water, and keeping an eye on the dwindling bottles of booze. He handed Brandi the grilled cheese he had been making for her with a smile, and Brandi hummed. “Thank you. And thank you for setting me up too, I guess. It’s nice not to be hit on all the time anymore. It was getting pretty annoying.” She laughed, playing with the red glow stick bracelet on her wrist, and Hero chuckled in spite of himself before she quickly added, “I’m really just teasing. C.J.’s a great guy, and we are very happy, so I really do owe you one.”

Hero smiled and shrugged his shoulders. He was glad to help, and it was honestly really nice having Brandi around more often. She cleaned up after herself at least.

“If you ever want me to return the favor, just let me know. I know a ton of girls who would kill to go out with you.”—she laughed as Hero blushed—“I’m pretty sure you’re like the prince of our campus.”

Hero’s face burned. He was sure it must be bright red by now. It wasn’t the first time he had heard that, and it probably wouldn’t be the last, but he never could take a good compliment, even a joking one. “I’m sure that’s not…” he mumbled, but his voice trailed off as he grew suddenly interested in the spatula in his hands. He shook his head and ignored the heat in his cheeks as he changed directions. “Thank you…that’s very flattering, but um…I’m just…I’m not…It’s…” He began to trip over his words, unsure of what exactly he wanted to say, but Brandi thankfully cut him off with a tilt of her head and a knowing, sympathetic smile.

“It’s complicated?” She finished for him, pointing at the yellow glow stick on his wrist. He always picked ‘It’s Complicated’ yellow for these kinds of traffic light parties. It was just the easiest—saved him from the awkwardness of being flirted with and having to turn people down while also not lying that he was in a relationship already.

Hero nodded, and Brandi patted his hand with a soft, bittersweet expression and a knowing smile. She leaned closer to him so no one would hear her whisper, “Your heart’s still with her, isn’t it?”

Something panged in that all too familiar ache in Hero’s chest. He supposed that was one way of putting it. It wasn’t something he ever really talked about, but he supposed it was no secret that he had not had a relationship with anyone since Mari. The truth was, even if he had wanted one—even if he could move on from her, he didn’t think it would be fair—not to Mari’s memory or to whoever he could be with. He had already had a beautiful love story and, even though it was cut short, he felt that to even wish for anything more would be greedy and ungrateful for the time that he and Mari did have together. That said, doubt occasionally set in that that was a bit of an unreasonable notion all things considered—he had been only fifteen when she had passed and had his whole life ahead of him. In the deepest corners of his mind, he knew she would probably want him to move on and be happy again, but at the same time even if he could someday be ready to open up his heart again, he worried that he would never be able to give that other person the love she deserved. He would never be able to say that she was the one and only love of his life and would never be able to tell her that he had never felt this way about anyone. He would always miss Mari, and, now, the only heart he had to give had already been broken and painfully pieced back together. It was so busted and bruised that, if he was being perfectly honest, he had trouble believing that anyone would even want it.

“Hero…”

“It’s okay,” he cut her off with a slight, reassuring smile, and Brandi smiled back. “I’m okay.”

Brandi nodded. “I understand,” she said with a sigh before taking a sip of her drink. “But if you ever change your mind…if you’re ever ready…you know where to find me, and I know where to find a ton of girls who would definitely be interested.” She winked at him, and he playfully rolled his eyes though he scratched the back of his neck when he felt an arm drape around his shoulders.

“What’s going on?” exclaimed Kyle, his voice already starting to slur from too much liquor.

“Brandi’s trying to set me up,” sighed Hero in a dry, somewhat joking way.

Kyle burst into raucous laughter. “Good luck with that. We’ve been trying too—since I’m pretty sure there’s not a girl on this campus who wouldn’t date our very own ‘Prince Charming,’ here, but he’s practicing to be a monk or something.”

“Well, you know, Kyle, it is possible not to have a relationship—it won’t kill you,” bantered Brandi with a frown.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny.” Kyle stuck his tongue out at her. “I know you think I’m a serial optometrist.”

“Monogamist,” corrected Brandi, as Hero covered his mouth with his hand and tried not to laugh. “How drunk are you?”

Kyle hummed, kind of teetering in place. “I dunno.” He turned to Hero. “Mama, how drunk am I?”

Hero sighed, reaching to pour Kyle what was clearly a much needed glass of water. “Here,” he said, avoiding the question. “Drink this. You’ll feel better.”

Kyle nodded and gulped down the water. Hero must have refilled his glass at least twice more, before Kyle leaned his elbows on the counter and asked for a BLT which Hero promptly went to work making. “Thanks. Look, I love my relationships. I just don’t want my friends missing out, you know? And hell, if I was that popular, I’d probably be taking full advantage of it—most guys would. Mama here is an actual saint.”

Hero’s face flushed red, but before he could begin to protest, Brandi interjected with a huffy, “I’m sure you would Kyle” conveniently ignoring his comments about Hero’s supposed sainthood. Her brow furrowed—her eyes narrowing at the green glow stick bracelet on Kyle’s wrist. “I see you’re on the market again. What happened to Tiffany?”

“Eh, didn’t work out,” shrugged Kyle. “We were too different.”

“Realized you didn’t have anything in common besides your love of sucking face?” quipped Brandi sarcastically. Kyle rolled his eyes.

“No,” he insisted, but then sighed. “Alright…sort of…but there were more problems than that.” He sighed. “You know…never mind. I didn’t come over here to talk about Tiffany.” He waved his hand dismissively before his face lit up like a little kid on Christmas. “I wanted to tell you guys, there’s this whole group of girls hanging out in the living room, and they think I look like Nick Carter.”

“How drunk are they?” scoffed Brandi.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, I’ve always thought I looked like him. You think so, don’t you, Hero?”

Hero tilted his head. He supposed he could kind of see it. They had similarly shaped noses, heart-shaped faces, pale skin, light eyes, and blonde hair; however, the trait they had most in common was that curtain bangs haircut, and Hero was fairly certain Kyle had purposely styled his hair that way just to look like he could be in a boy band. Even so, he shrugged and said, “Yeah. You’re practically the sixth Backstreet Boy.”

“See,” he turned to Brandi with a triumphant huff, almost like the satisfied taunt a young boy might give his little sister. Hero chuckled lightly to himself. It reminded him a bit of Kel.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Brandi insisted. “Hero would say anything just to be nice.”

Hero’s face flushed. He hoped he wouldn’t get pulled back into this argument, but luckily Kyle didn’t seem to hear her, instead insisting, “And here I was going to say I think you look like Celine Dion, but now that you’ve been so rude to me, I don’t think I’ll say anything.”

“I don’t look like Celine Dion, Kyle.” Brandi shook her head before taking a sip of her drink.

“Aw, I think you kinda look like Celine Dion, babe,” C.J. interjected draping an arm around his girlfriend.

“Thanks, but I really don’t…” Brandi sighed, but C.J. cut her off.

“And I always thought I kinda look like Usher but with glasses.”

“Not you too…” she teased though there was a certain affection in her eyes and a twitch in the corners of her mouth. “What is it with guys comparing themselves to celebrities? I honestly thought that was just a girl thing.”

C.J. pouted playfully. “What? You don’t think I look like Usher?”

Once again, Hero could kind of see the similarities—oval shaped faces, wide cheekbones, warm eyes, dark skin, and bright, beaming smiles. They looked about as much alike as Kyle and Nick Carter though he wasn’t sure that was saying much, especially coming from him. Brandi, it seemed, was unconvinced.

“I think you look like C.J.” she said quirking an eyebrow at him.

“I’m not sure I know that celebrity,” he teased wrapping his arms around her neck. “Is he handsome?”

Brandi stifled a chuckle but playfully, pretended to ponder the question before finally meeting his gaze. “Yes.”

C.J.’s face lit up into that beaming, 100-watt smile as he looked into her eyes. Hero recognized that look, like Brandi was the only one in the room and they were lost in their own little corner of the world. She ruffled her hand through his tight curls, and he leaned in and kissed her.

“Get a room you two,” teased Kyle sticking his tongue out at them. With a flick of his finger, C.J. promptly told Kyle exactly what he thought of his comments before he cupped Brandi’s face in his hands.

With a bantering shake of his head, Kyle stared down at his green glow stick bracelet like it was watch. Hero turned away abruptly, his face feeling warm as if he had intruded on what should be a very private moment.

Truthfully, despite the awkwardness he currently felt at their extremely public display of affection, he really was happy for them—for all of his friends who wanted relationships and had found them. If he was being honest with himself, however, it did bring up some complicated feelings for him sometimes—made him feel lonely. It was a self-imposed loneliness, but that didn’t mean it was always free from sadness. He glanced down at the yellow glow stick on his wrist. The truth was it wasn’t all that complicated. Even after all these years, he still missed Mari, and he knew he would always miss her. It wouldn’t be fair to pursue anyone else while he felt this way—to put his new love in a situation where she’d feel like a second choice or a last resort, so he contented himself with being alone, probably forever. A bittersweet smile tugged at his mouth. Maybe he’d get a cat… he thought before turning his focus to making Kyle’s sandwich.

As he added the finishing touches to Kyle’s BLT, Brandi finally disentangled herself from her boyfriend. “We’re making Kyle and Hero uncomfortable,” she said, but C.J. shrugged, draping an arm around her shoulders.

“Eh, they’re just jealous.” He stuck out his tongue at Kyle, who stuck his tongue out back. Hero sighed. It was very juvenile, but he still chuckled in spite of himself.

“Hey! I’m glad I’m not tied down,” Kyle insisted with a dismissive wave of his hand as he took a bite out of the sandwich Hero gave him.

Brandi frowned. “Tell me, Kyle. Have you ever had a relationship with a woman that lasted more than two weeks?”

“Yes!” He nodded emphatically. “With Zuzu.” He paused then called as loudly as he could out onto the patio. “Hey, Zuzu! Come tell these morons how long we’ve been friends.”

A redheaded girl in an oversized sweater whipped around with a somewhat affectionate if bantering roll of her green eyes. “Too long,” she quipped, wrinkling her lightly freckled nose at them, as she walked through the sliding door back into the kitchen.

“You wound me, Zuzu,” Kyle gasped in teasing melodrama, clutching his chest. “What were you doing outside anyway? Aren’t you usually glued to Mama at these things?”

“Because he’s the only sober person here,” she teased, but she smiled at him. Hero’s face flushed. It was true that Zuzu, or Zoey as she was called by everyone who wasn’t Kyle, was generally his ‘partner in crime’ at all parties hosted by his fraternity or her sorority—spending the night helping him in the kitchen or passing out cups of water to the groups of plastered college students mingling around the house, and often helping with cleanup and dishes afterwards. Truthfully, he enjoyed her company and the conversations they had—talking and laughing for hours while making food, cleaning up or doing dishes together. Though he always felt guilty about putting a guest to work at his party, she always insisted she had a much better time spending the evening with a friend than she would have getting drunk and partying. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He felt the same way.

“Like you haven’t had a thing to drink,” retorted Kyle, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and staring down into her cup. Zoey merely blinked at him.

“I haven’t. I have a thermodynamics exam on Monday and need to study tomorrow.” She always blamed her aversion to drinking on her difficult civil engineering major, but Hero knew she just didn’t care for drunk partying. Now that Hero was thinking about it, Zoey blamed a lot of things on her difficult civil engineering major—not least of all the red glow stick on her wrist despite being contentedly single. “Married to school,” she always joked, and Hero often joked the same thing.

“But that’s tomorrow,” Kyle whined.“You and Mama are both such old people.” He stuck his tongue out at them, but Zoey just shrugged with a lopsided smile.

“Old people have more fun. You’ll understand someday, Kyle.”

Hero stifled a chuckle behind his hand, before turning his attention back to the stove.

“Brandi and C.J., back me up here,” Kyle sighed, but when he turned around he realized they had gone, probably to continue their PDA somewhere a little more private, if Hero had to guess, but he didn’t really want to think about it. Kyle huffed. “Whatever. Be boring old grandparents together, I don’t care. You’re the ones missing out.” He grabbed his cup, a beer, and the rest of his sandwich, leaving them in the kitchen alone.

“Don’t mind Kyle,” said Zoey with a shake of her head. “He can be such a moron sometimes, but he’s a nice guy, even if he acts like a kid especially when he’s drunk…But I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that.”

A slight smile tugged at Hero’s mouth. He had been roommates with Kyle for over a year now, and he could definitely attest to that.

“We’ve already hit ‘Touchy-Feely Drunk Kyle’”—Zoey tilted her head at him—“How hungover do you think he’ll be tomorrow?”

Hero quickly stifled a breathy chuckle, but he sighed. “I don’t know. He always thinks he can drink a lot more than he can handle.”

Zoey’s mouth twitched into a dry smile. “I bet you’re an expert on nursing hangovers now. It’s a shame that can’t go on your med school application.”

Hero laughed but immediately felt guilty for it.

“Give him one of those sports drinks with breakfast tomorrow—it’ll help. I keep a ton of them in our fridge back at the sorority house for when the girls go out partying or bar hopping.”

“You really are the mom, huh?” Hero replied dryly, and though Zoey smiled, she raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’re one to talk.”

Hero shrugged. He supposed she had a point and not just because she was currently holding his “World’s Best Mama” mug with a dry yet triumphant smile.

“Well,” sighed Zoey gathering up some more of the dirty dishes scattered around the kitchen. “Since you’ll probably be pretty busy playing nurse tomorrow, we should probably get started on the clean-up tonight.” She looked around the room with narrowed green eyes. “It looks like a tornado stormed through here.”

With a weary sigh, Hero rubbed his forehead. Unfortunately, she was right. Given the sorry state of the kitchen alone, to say that the party had trashed their place would be a bit of an understatement. It would probably take hours to clean everything up—to say nothing of the several hours of cleaning Hero had already done to prepare for the party in the first place. Hero supposed he could do most of the deep cleaning in the morning when some of his fraternity brothers might be awake to help out, if they weren’t too hungover that is, but, truthfully, he wouldn’t mind cleaning up on his own—after all, he did most of the cleaning around here anyway.

With a sigh, Hero conceded that Zoey was probably right and he might as well start cleaning now. He reached out to take the mug and the rest of the dishes from Zoey and turned on the sink to begin to rinse them out. Hero shook his head. If he had a nickel for every minute he spent doing dishes in this house…

He felt a nudge on his elbow as Zoey joined him, rinsing off some of the plates she had gathered from the table.

“You really don’t have to do that,” he insisted.

“And leave you to clean everything up by yourself?” She paused but not long enough for him to even begin to protest. “I’ve been there—it’s no fun at all.”

“We got our dishwasher fixed,” Hero sighed with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

“Then this won’t take that long,” she continued. “All we’ll have to do is rinse them off.” She pointed a sponge at him with a certain determination in her green eyes that said this sorry excuse for an argument was over, and Hero knew she was right.

No matter how guilty he may have felt about putting a guest and a friend to work cleaning up his house, he was compliant and conflict avoidant by nature and had no stamina for arguing. She had insisted she wanted to help, and goodness knows he could use an extra set of hands. He would ultimately concede and even though she would insist it was unnecessary, later this week, he’d send her a thank you card with a plate of her favorite cookies or some flowers—or a more thoughtful gift if he could think of one. The last time she had helped him clean up after a party, he had bought her a set of Papa Chip coasters since, while they were doing dishes for hours by hand on account of the then broken dishwasher, they had somehow started talking about how they had both loved Papa Chip back when they were kids.

“And you don’t have to send me any coasters this time,” she teased, and Hero’s cheeks felt suddenly warm, wondering if she could somehow read his mind. “Not that they’re not great,” she added hurriedly. “You’re very thoughtful, but you really don’t have to do that.”

Hero’s face flushed red—he never could take a compliment—but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I know, but I felt bad and…”

“Well don’t,” she interrupted. “We’re friends, and I don’t mind helping you out. Besides, a bunch of my sorority sisters were giving me dirty looks for about a week until I lied and told everyone they were from Jared. I don’t know if they really bought it or just got over it.”

Hero’s brow furrowed. He supposed those coaters could be a gift someone’s younger brother would get for them—after all, Kel had gotten him a Papa Chip cookbook “just because,” once—but he wasn’t sure why Zoey had felt the need to lie to the other girls in the sorority house. “I’m sorry if I upset the other girls or made them angry with you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Zoey shrugged it off with a dismissive wave of her hand. “They’re just jealous that we’re actually friends.” She sighed. “I’ve tried to tell them that you’re actually pretty friendly and nice, so they could be friends with you too if they started treating you like an actual person instead of some kind of ‘Campus Prince.’”—she shook her head—“But I don’t think it’s been working.”

Hero blushed. Though he found it very flattering, he still couldn’t wrap his head around how he could have possibly become some sort of ‘Prince’ of their campus in the minds of so many girls.

“You should tell them I’m kind of a dork…” Hero sighed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

“I tried that too,” she bantered. “But they didn’t believe me.”

Hero laughed, but his smile quickly faded. “I’m sorry. I’ll stop sending you things.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she repeated, a little more forcefully. “They need to get over themselves. I’m honestly kind of sick of the Hero fan club that goes on in our house.”

Hero’s face felt suddenly warm, and he resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. “Fan club?” he choked.

“Yes. You, Mr. Prince, are always the hot topic of conversation,” she teased with a lopsided smile. “If you asked practically anyone, they’d say you are probably the perfect man—even my sister who has this awful obsession with bad boys thinks so, which is really saying a lot.” She paused, and Hero stifled a chuckle. Zoey’s twin sister, Lorraine, was a sweet and bubbly girl despite her terrible taste in boyfriends, a topic often bemoaned by both Zoey and Kyle. A slight tint of pink flushed in his cheeks, he supposed it really was quite the compliment coming from her. “And it doesn’t help that you’re so mysterious.”

“I don’t think I’m mysterious,” Hero chuckled sheepishly, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck.

“I know, you’re not,” Zoey cut him off with a reassuring smile. “And I’ve tried to explain that to them multiple times, but they don’t really listen to me since they’re convinced I’m trying to steal you away.”

A blush filled his cheeks, and he turned away from her abruptly. “What?”

“You know, the idea of men and women just being friends, is a little beyond them, I think,” she quipped. “It’s ridiculous, but can you blame them? I mean in their minds you’re a real life ‘Prince Charming,’ and even though you’re interested in women and could have pretty much any girl in the universe you wanted, you’re really, really single.” She chuckled, as Hero buried his face in his hands. He could almost picture that bright, cheeky grin on her face, though he wouldn’t—no, couldn’t turn to look at her again. “You’ve got to be hung up on somebody, otherwise why haven’t you chosen from the hoards of adoring women who would kill to be with you?”

Hero’s face grew hot. He was sure it must be bright red by now. “Zoey…”

“It’s a big topic of conversation is all I’m saying.”

Finally, Hero managed to pull his hands away from his face, if only because his eyes were beginning to burn from the soapy dishwater. “Can you please tell them that I’m very flattered,” he stumbled, still blushing furiously. “But I’m just so busy with school that I’m just not…really looking for a relationship right now?”

Zoey shrugged. “Tried and failed, but I’d be happy to tell them again. Don’t expect them to believe me though. At this point, everybody’s making up their own theories.”

“Theories?” Hero choked.

“You know you have your normal ones like you’re too busy for a relationship or you had a bad relationship in the past and just aren’t ready to put yourself back out there again. Then there are the ones that you actually already have a relationship, but you’re very private about it so no one has ever seen or heard of her. There are a couple of wild ones in this category like she’s a celebrity so you have to keep it a secret so the press doesn’t find out and you end up in a tabloid.” She winked at him. “Just like in a movie.”

“You are making this up.”

Zoey shook her head. “No, I swear I’ve heard that one, and that’s not even the craziest one. I’ve also heard a rumor that you’ve been promised in an arranged marriage since birth so that you can take over as the CEO of a toaster strudel empire. And, of course, my personal favorite: that you have an eccentric billionaire uncle who wants you to inherit his vast fortune but only on the condition that you remain a reclusive bachelor just like him.”

Hero laughed in spite of himself. “That’s—none of those are true…” He cleared his throat. “Except the first one about me being too busy.”

“I know, and that’s what I always say. Everybody keeps coming to me and asking about it like I have some secret, inside knowledge or something, but I have a theory just like everybody else,” she joked waving her hand dismissively.

“You have a theory?”

Zoey stopped but shrugged. “I mean…not one that I just sit around and think about, but you can only be asked the same question so many times before you start thinking…” Her voice trailed. “It’s not one I ever tell anyone,” she insisted. “If anyone asks me, I always tell them exactly what you just said, which is that you’re flattered but too focused on school and your future to worry about a relationship right now.”

“Then what’s your theory?” he asked half-jokingly, half-actually-interested.

“You really want to know?”

Hero put down the plate he was scrubbing and shrugged. “Kind of.”

Zoey paused, and when she sighed, Hero fidgeted. “But you don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to,” he hurriedly added.

“No, I…” She stopped though there was the slightest tint of rose in her pale cheeks. “But it’s just a theory. I don’t want to offend you or…”

Hero’s brow furrowed. Offend him? What in the world could she possibly be thinking? His breath caught in his throat. She couldn’t…know…could she?

“I won’t be offended,” he reassured her quietly, but his heart was beginning to pound. “Do you…not believe me? Because it really is true. I’m very busy with school and—”

“No. It’s…it’s not like that,” she cut him off with a sigh as she placed her sponge on the counter. “I really do think that you are very busy with school—studying for your classes and the MCAT and all of that. You just don’t have the time or energy for a relationship right now, but…I don’t think that means you don’t want one.” Zoey paused, her voice growing quiet, and she met his eyes. “I think you do want a relationship—otherwise you wouldn’t be so lonely.”

Hero inhaled sharply—his breath getting caught in his chest. Biting his lip, he looked away from her, staring down at his trembling hands. He wanted to hide—curl in on himself—maybe figure out a way to laugh it off like Kel or Kyle might be able to do, but he was frozen, shocked. Of all the things she could have possibly…? No, that wasn’t the question. The real question gnawing at him was had it really been so obvious?

“Hero?” He could hear the concern in her voice, but he wouldn’t—couldn’t look at her. “Listen, I can just…stop there…”

“Is there more?” The question slipped out before he could stop it.

Zoey sighed. “Yes, but I feel bad. I can…”

“Go on,” Hero squeaked, barely managing a nod.

Zoey sighed again, and Hero wasn’t sure if she was even going to continue until she finally said, “But…the thing is…you don’t just want a relationship with just anyone. You—you want a relationship with someone you can never be with. And even though you know your love is doomed…”—she paused—“you gave your heart to her a long time ago and you can’t even imagine being with anyone else.”

Something ached in Hero’s chest. Somehow he knew that was what she was going to say, but he had to hear it for himself. He wished he could sink into the floor, could hide from her, from his memories, from himself again. And yet…there was a part of him that didn’t want to.

“Wow…” he barely managed, after a long, heavy silence.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“No,” he quietly interjected, his voice hitching. “That was…pretty spot on actually…”

“Oh Hero…” Zoey sighed. “I’m sorry…I…”

“Don’t be.” He fiddled with the sponge in his hands, and after a few intense scrubs at a particularly stubborn stain, he finally added as nonchalantly as he could manage. “I asked, and you were right…”

“I didn’t want to be right about this.”

Hero bit down hard on his lip as something burned behind his eyes. Scratching the nape of his neck, he let out a breathy, self-deprecating chuckle. “I guess I had just hoped that it wasn’t so obvious that I was so sad and pathetic...”

“I don’t think you’re pathetic.”

Truthfully, he hadn’t realized that he had even said those words aloud until she had spoken them back to him.

“And I don’t think it’s obvious—except to your close friends maybe?” She paused, sighing and placing a gentle hand on his arm. “She must have been special and very important to you. I think it’s sweet that you’re still devoted to her and there isn’t anything wrong with that, unless, you know, she’s married or something, in which case…”—she began to quip breathily, probably in an attempt to make him smile again—“but I don’t think you’re the type…”

Hero’s mouth twitched in the corners, but the ghost of his smile faded as he shook his head. “No, she…uh…” The words caught in the back of his throat. “She passed away.”

“Oh Hero, I’m so sorry.” Zoey wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. He took a deep shaky breath, staring up at the ceiling ignoring that prickling feeling in his eyes. When she pulled away from him, he somehow managed the slightest twitch in the corners of his mouth.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago…” He wasn’t sure if his weak reassurances were for her or for himself. “I should probably be over it by now.”

As he couldn’t bear to look at her, he could only imagine what her face looked like right now. He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about it. “I’m—I’m sorry,” he spluttered. “I’m sorry for making you sad. I—”

“No,” Zoey cut him off. “You didn’t make me sad. Hero…if you want to talk about it, you can tell me. I’m your friend—I care about you.” She paused, and Hero bit his lip. He could feel her gentle hand running comfortingly across his shoulders. “You’re not going to hurt me. I can take it.”

Hero finally breathed—a long deep exhale of the breath he had been holding for far too long. She had no idea how reassuring those words were. Still…try as he might, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her. He opened his mouth, but the words got garbled in the back of his throat.

“Take your time,” she whispered.

After several deep breaths he finally choked out, “Her name was Mari.” His voice hitched, then the words began to tumble out of his mouth. “She lived next door for as long as I can remember, and I…I always thought she was just the most amazing person. She was smart and funny and very talented—she was wonderful at arts and crafts and gardening and a really gifted pianist. We even used to play together sometimes, and she was so kind and very generous—she was always going out of her way to help someone and make them happy. And when she smiled”—his voice cracked—”You would have thought the sun shined brighter.”

He paused, sniffled. “I think I loved her before I even knew what that was…And I couldn’t believe it when she felt the same way about me.” As a bittersweet smile tugged at his lips, his eyes grew misty. “We were high school sweethearts, until she died.” He swallowed hard—that familiar, hollow pang in his chest ached.

“We were 15. It’s kind of a long story but…at the time, we didn’t know how she died. We thought—I thought—she had ended her own life”—he inhaled sharply, shakily, unable to stop the words even if he wanted to—“It was probably the darkest time of my life. I was a wreck, and I blamed myself. I…I didn’t even know she was depressed. I thought if I had just talked to her—had just held her tighter, just loved her more—better then maybe she…” He stopped. Blinking back the tears in his eyes, he sniffled and cleared his throat. “But it was an accident. There were…witnesses…we found out later. She—she had a bad knee, you see, and…and she fell down the stairs…landed wrong and…” He stopped abruptly. “You—You’d think learning that would make the guilt go away but it…”

Hero swallowed hard, but he managed a shaky sigh. “But…But with time…eventually I just…threw myself into school and work and extra-curriculars. My parents had always wanted me to be a doctor, and all I could see was years of school, years of residency, long hours of studying and clinicals and work and I thought I could just bury myself in it—stay so busy that I wouldn’t feel it anymore, but it doesn’t ever really go away.”

He sniffled and wiped his eyes again with a shaky chuckle. “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but I…I’m usually pretty okay. It’s been so many years now, and it doesn’t hurt like it used to. But…but sometimes I’ll see a wave of dark hair or hear a name that sounds like hers or someone playing a waltz on a piano or our song on the radio and”—his voice hitched—“I just don’t know if I’m ever really going to be over it.”

He swallowed hard. “And you’re right. I can’t even imagine being with anyone else. It wouldn’t be fair—to her, to that person, I mean. What if—I couldn’t love her as much? And you know, I think maybe we all get that ‘once in a lifetime’ love in our lives and I’ve already had mine. It would be greedy to even want anything else. But…but mostly I think it’s just that I wanted to be with her forever, and”—there was a hitch in his voice as tears began to pool in his eyes again—“even now, all these years later, I guess I…I just still don’t know what forever looks like without her.”

A tear finally struggled free from his eye and splashed down his cheek, followed by another, then another. Hero frantically swiped at them, but they wouldn’t stop. Zoey’s arms wrapped around his shoulders again, and she pulled him close.

He wasn’t sure how long she held him. How long he listened to the sound of her steady breathing, felt her hand gently tangling in the hair at the base of his neck. How long it was until she whispered, “I wish you had gotten your forever…”

It wasn’t until he felt the tremble of her shoulders, heard the way her voice had hitched over her words that he realized she was also crying.

He pulled away from her and finally looked in her green eyes—warm and teary. Hero swallowed hard. He had never learned what to say to someone who was crying for him. “Please don’t cry.”

“Sorry,” she said with the twitch of a bittersweet smile. “I’m not sure I can do that.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,” he began to ramble. “I just—I…I really should be over it and I just completely dumped all of that on you and I was so…”—he struggled to find the words—“weepy and melodramatic and needy and…”

“No,” she gently cut him off. “You were real. Don’t apologize for that.” She wiped her eyes, and her expression softened. “Hero, what happened was so awful, and the idea of you having to go through something like that, it just—” She stopped. “That’s why I cried. You didn’t hurt me. I told you I can take it, and I’m okay.” She sighed. “And you know for what it’s worth, I think the whole idea of ‘getting over it’ is bullshit. There are some things in our lives that we’ll just never get over. We can get past them, but they’re still going to be there—we just have to learn to build a new life around them, so don’t beat yourself up. You’re still entitled to feel sad. Heck, you’d be entitled to never leave your room again after something like that, but here you are, out living your life, so give yourself a break, okay?” She nodded at him with a slight, reassuring smile before she patted his hand. “And for goodness sakes, stop worrying about me of all people. You don’t have to be the hero all the time. I know it’s your name, but…you don’t have to take it too literally.”

A light chuckle reverberated in his chest, and a smile twitched in the corners of his mouth. Before he could say anything, however, Kyle burst through the patio door.

“Woah…what’s goin’ on?” He stopped abruptly, and his expression softened. “Are you okay?”

Flushing, Hero swallowed hard nodding and sniffling as he frantically wiped at his eyes. He had completely forgotten himself and couldn’t believe he had just shared what was arguably his biggest, deepest secret in the middle of a house party.

Zoey thankfully jumped to his rescue with a remarkably believable, “We were doing dishes, and poor Hero got some dish soap in his eyes. We’ve been trying to rinse them out, but they got all watery.”

Though it took a few moments, Kyle eventually nodded in understanding. “Oh. That sucks, man,” he said patting him on the back. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Hero managed a slight smile but shook his head. “No, Kyle. Thanks, but it’s okay. I’m fine.”

Kyle nodded again, but Hero saw him glance over at Zoey as if waiting for additional reassurance or instructions. When she nodded at him, Kyle sighed. “Alright, well if you need anything let me know, okay?”

Hero nodded at him then handed him a glass of water. Kyle took it with a smile then walked off towards the living room. When he was gone, Hero sniffled again and turned back to Zoey, sheepish and embarrassed.

“Zoey, I’m sor—” he began to apologize again, but she cut him off.

“No. None of that, Henry,” she insisted with a pointed emphasis on his real name. He could tell she was trying her best not to smile as she said it, probably strange and unnatural for her, if Hero had to guess. It was strange and unnatural for him too. No one ever called him that, ever. He had, of course, told her that she could if she wanted, but she never had—not until now that is. Hero’s eyes widened. Strangely enough, he felt a smile tugging at his mouth and the light flutter of a chuckle reverberating in his chest listening to her say it.

“I’m serious. I’m going to keep calling you that until you stop that,” she insisted. “Stop being a ‘Hero’—stop worrying about everybody else for just a second. It won’t kill you to be a little selfish for once…and it’ll honestly make the rest of us look better,” she quipped with a slight smile, clearly trying to brighten his mood.

It worked. His mouth twitched into a small smile as he replied dryly, “I’m sorry. I’ll try…”

“Good,” she said, but her expression softened as she reached out her hand to him. “But really…how are you? What do you need? What makes you happy when you feel like this?”

Hero shrugged his shoulders. If he was being honest, he didn’t know—even after all these years, he didn’t know, but… just having someone there, having someone listen to him…he already felt better. His face softened, and he felt something warm spreading through his chest as he met her kind eyes.

“Maybe a hero sandwich?” he shrugged his shoulders with a gentle smile, and her face brightened.

She gently nudged him in the arm before playfully taking his spatula. “Great,” she said. “I’ll make you one.”

#hero needs a hug #poor hero 🥺 I only want good things for him #hero deserves to be happy #really inspired to write this after my will Hero find love again poll #warms my heart to know that so many people want good things for Hero #male-female friendship for the win!!#my fanfiction #thanks for reading #major spoilers for omori #reposted to my side blog

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sproutmole-supremacy · 2 years

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Hi! Tell me your favorite character(s) and your favorite moment(s)??? Any fun headcanons? (Totally can separate this ask into several reblogs and tag me)

@ksenya-and-the-artistic-cucumber - Hi there!!! Dbdjdbdjdbjd I wanna start with that I love your art SO MUCH it’s actually so gorgeous!!! I was so amazed that you liked my art style when yours is so immaculate!!!

I would say my favourite characters are definitely Mari, Basil and Kel in no particular order!

As an older sister I can really understand her as a character and the ongoing theme of how much she loves Sunny (and her musical motif is pretty much my favourite in the entire game, from Dear Little Brother to both versions of By Your Side)

Basil is my precious little skrunkly plant boy and I loved him pretty much the second I saw him being adorable in Headspace. He’s such a well developed character and has so many different facets to his character and AHDIDBFIDJDIDJSW I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

Kel is my favourite again because I relate to him being the “happy friend” and also because I KNOW that this boi has a hell of a lot going on underneath his smiley exterior and he needs!!!! To be told!!!! It’s okay to be sad!!!!!

The moment when By Your aside plays for the first time (I think after fighting a boss??) will live rent free in my memory forever for how much it affected me. I have to say I also adore the “I fucking love air conditioning” and going through Basils photo album too. Mari and Hero being #Couple Goals is super adorable too!!!!)

In terms of headcanons:

- I love @winters-sketches gnc Kel, I think he’d be very into being sparkly, it just fits!!! (Which reminds me I should really draw Kel in a ponytail at one point, it’s just such a great concept)

- Basil and Kel go together SO well as a couple it’s insane

- Like both of them probably spend hours talking about their interests

- Basil goes to Kels basketball games

- Kel goes hiking and flower picking with Basil

- Even though Sunny literally has the word “sun” in it I feel like Basil would 100% call Kel “sunshine” cos of his personality

- Kel and Hero need to have a big discussion about what Hero said to him that one night - even though Kel’s forgiven Hero it’s apparent that there’s a lot going on under the surface there

Abxidbdidjdicjksd this turned out super super super long have a bonus Kel from something I’m drawing at the moment

#I’m so sorry if I started rambling #I’m mid Hyperfixation and the dopamine is coursing through me #omori #omori kel #sprout talks #sprout draws

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kelsndh · 4 months

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*sits next to her, talking quietly* we’re dating.. just in secret. cos gemma would lose her mind and kels is terrified to hurt her, she loves her so much

anne: *she sighs and nods* i’m sorry honey. your sister would be upset but i think eventually she’d be okay. but don’t tell her until you’re both ready. i’ll be here if you need, yea? *she rubs your back* i’m very happy for you, you deserve so much love *she kisses your temple*

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raiiny-bay · 2 years

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TEETH

#b and a #sorry for lack of sims posting #nano is all-consuming #it's been nice writing every day tbh #& as much as i love kel & co #they're pretty much all i've written for the last ~8 years #so it's nice to take a break from the teenage angst & growing pains #not that writing about grief & loss is really any less mentally taxing #it's actually probably *more* mentally taxing if i'm being honest #but it's allowing me to write in a style i normally don't write in so it's kind of fun #also i just really enjoy this cast of characters. specifically: artie sky & harley #they feel very complex & real. multifaceted. is that the word? maybe. idk

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rolliwine · 2 years

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Dancing with the stars finale

#DANCING WITH THE STARS FINALE PRO#

Fans can catch the Dancing with the Stars finale Monday, (Nov. They landed in the bottom two and were eliminated from the competition.Īlaina will now head into the finale, where she’ll compete for the Season 28 DWTS Mirrorball trophy against Bachelorette star Hannah Brown, Comedian Kel Mitchell, and Fifth Harmony’s Ally Brook.

#DANCING WITH THE STARS FINALE PRO#

Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek and his pro partner Emma Slater weren’t so lucky. Luckily for Alaina and Savchenko, they received enough votes to keep them from entering the bottom two. Before the mirrorball is handed out, Alek Skarlatos and Lindsay Arnold, Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough, Carlos PenaVega and Witney Carson, and Nick Carter and Sharna Burgess have one last night of competitive dancing, fighting to win the judges’ and America’s votes to be crowned this season's Dancing with the Stars. It was simply elegant.”Īfter hearing from the judges, Alaina and Savchenko made their way backstage to DWTS co-host Erin Andrews, where they received their second score of the night – a 27/30.Īs usual, the end of the show resulted in the elimination of one couple. It's finale time After weeks of competitive dancing, the final four couples advance to the Finals of Dancing with the Stars Season 21 this MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23 87c on ABC. You look terrific!” Goodman said after the performance. I like those elements of a Slow Waltz that you put in, as well as the Viennese Waltz. She and Savchenko turned out an impressive Viennese Waltz to Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind.” Alaina, who wore a flowy, pink gown for the dance, dedicated the couple’s beautiful routine to her parents, who she said sacrificed so much for her throughout her life. Well done!”įor the second dance of the evening, Alaina stayed true to her roots. “I asked you to give me more shaping, and I saw that throughout the dance. I love to see that.” Goodman applauded of the dance. “It had a lovely mix of expression and aggression. On the floor, they incorporated plenty of twists and turns into their theatrical routine, which earned them a higher than average score of 27/30 from the judging panel. Before the routine, Alaina and Savchenko received some advice from judge Len Goodman, who told them he’d be looking for strong shaping and traditional choreography.Īlaina and Savchenko didn’t disappoint. The first half of the two-hour episode saw challengers taking part in the “Redemption Round” – a round that gave each contestant an opportunity to improve on their lowest scoring dance-style of the season.įirst up was country contender Lauren Alaina, who performed a Paso Doble set to Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” alongside pro partner Gleb Savchenko. 18) to deliver two dances as part of the grueling semi-finals of the latest season of Dancing with the Stars. Lauren Alaina, Gleb Savchenko Photo by ABC/Eric McCandless Lauren Alaina, Gleb Savchenko Photo by ABC/Eric McCandlessįive couples hit the ballroom floor on Monday night (Nov.

#Dancing with the stars finale

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sunnysviolin · 3 years

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i love those horror games HCs!! the horror games stuff with kel and sunny immediately reminded me of this post for some reason: https://world-heritage-posts.tumblr.com/post/643779217586290688/birdcageheart-shingojira-x-whut-deh-fuhk

Happy birthday to sunshine boy I'm actually going to write headcanons again? Who tf is this bitch? LMAO Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth y'all welcome to Kel's birthday bash

Okay so I was watching this, and instantly I got it in my head of like omg the boys absolutely game together. So in my 'the game takes place in the mid 2010's' headcanon world, that's how Kel and Sunny keep in touch after Sunny moves away and the summer ends.

Sunny still comes to visit all the time obviously, but when he's there they're all hanging out together mostly because he can only come so often. It's rare that Kel and Sunny ever just get time to themselves. Kel misses it just being the two of them, and so this is how they get that.

Sunny and Kel get together to rinse through pretty much every horror co-op game they can. They play for hours and hours, and then when their mothers force them to go to bed, they stay up talking about them. It's not every day, but it's at least once or twice a week.

After graduation, they move in together in a ratty little apartment. they share a shitty futon and they barely have any furniture, but they have a really good TV and state of the art set for gaming. Aubrey is so annoyed and rolls her eyes at their priorities, and Hero gently admonishes them for not actually buying a proper bed and spending the extra money on a new video game, but the boys are too happy with it to actually listen to her and Hero's nagging

The only kind of game they don't play is stuff about family ghosts. Normally Kel either gets a low down of everything that happens in a game before they play, or he spoilers it for himself. Sunny appreciates it so much, because he knows how much Kel hates spoilers.

#omori sunny #omori kel #happy birthday kel #suntan #a little bit #omori suntan #video game boys #omori hero #omori aubrey #they're the mom friends #Hero is ultimate mom frien #and Aubrey is mom friend in training #omori #omori headcanons #sunny and kel are rat e-boys prove me wrong

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mercy-burning · 3 years

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A Strange Request

Part of Mercy’s 1k Celebration: A collection of Spencer Reid x Reader requests to celebrate 1,000 followers.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader Summary: Reader gets a rather strange request from Derek’s girlfriend Category: FLUFF, with discussion of sex, so still 18+ probably, just to be safe Warnings: discussions/topics of sex, one paragraph of blink and you’ll miss it female-receiving oral sex Word Count: 2k

Full Request: “...a fluff about reader is friend with Derek’s girlfriend, and she ask her if spencer (s/2 - s/3) can teach him where the clitoris is because reader had already told her that spencer is very good in bed... Baby Spencer Teaching Derek How To Make A Woman Cum is so funny to me” —anonymous

MASTERLIST | 1K MASTERLIST

NOTE: Just came here to say, first of all, thank you all so much for reading and enjoying my content, it means the world to me. I love you guys 🥰 Also, this request??? I was dying thinking about it, and I laughed pretty much the whole time I wrote it, so I hope you like it as much as I do!

I will be posting the rest of the requests I get throughout the month of March, so you have until February 28th to send one in if you’d like to! More information on that can be found HERE

It wasn't really normal for Y/N and Kelley to talk about their sex lives. They'd brought it up in conversation a few times, but it was never a regular thing.

So when Kelley came over to Y/N's apartment Friday night after a cryptic text stating that she needed to talk to her about something 'weird but important,' she had no idea that her weekend was about to get very... informative.

"Is everything alright?" she asked Kelley, handing her a glass of wine. The two of them sat on the couch and Kelley shrugged.

"I mean... Yes, everything's fine, but...I have a sort of, uh... weird request."

"Yeah, you mentioned that," Y/N chuckled, bringing the glass of wine to her lips. "What's up?"

"Well, basically... I can't orgasm."

Y/N almost spit the wine out of her mouth. Thankfully she was able to get it down, though not without choking slightly. "Huh?"

"Well, okay, I can orgasm it's just that... I can't when I'm with Derek. And at first I thought maybe it was me, but I tried on my own and I can do it just fine. It's just that when Derek and I are together, he can't... make me cum. "

"Well, I... Okay. I'm not... What do you want me to d—oh!"

"Oh! Y/N, no, I didn't mean that I wanted you to... No, um... Sorry, that's not what I meant. Look, I know you've said before that Spencer is really good in bed, and I was wondering if you could maybe ask him to talk to Derek about it, like... give him some pointers or something."

Y/N really didn't know what to say. But she tried really hard to say something that wasn't an incoherent mumble of surprise. "Wow, uh... I mean, I... Yeah, I can ask him, but why don't you just talk to Derek about it? He's a good guy, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to hear you out if you just communicate with him..."

Kelley sighed, setting her wine down. "I know, but... Well, it's just that every time I try to talk to him about it, I chicken out, and I know you said Spencer knows what he's doing, so I figured I'd ask you..."

She could tell that Kelley was embarrassed, so Y/N reached out to hold her hand. "Hey, Kel, it's okay. You know I'm happy to help. And I'll talk to Spencer about it, but I really think you should try talking to Derek yourself, too, okay?"

She nodded, a small smile adorning her face. "Okay."

***

Repeating this conversation with Spencer was going to be... well, weird, as Kelley had put it. It really was a strange request, but Y/N was more than willing to help out a friend in need, especially if it meant said friend was going to get laid like she deserved.

She just had to figure out how to bring it up. The best way was probably to just sit down and talk about it, but she didn't want to spring it on him at random.

So, she used decided that maybe some... inspiration would be good.

She studied her boyfriend as he went down on her that night, paying attention to how his fingers felt as the pushed and curled themselves into her, how his tongue explored her like a paintbrush exploring a canvas with beautiful precision.

And when it was all over, she laid beside him and stroked his hair, smiling. "You're so good at that," she mused. The praise put a smile on his face, as it always did. But he became suspicious when she took it too far, adding, "Seriously, you should teach men how to properly please a woman."

"Y/N?" Spencer asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You're trying to get at something, what is it?"

"Well, uh... this is probably going to sound really weird, but you have to hear me out, okay?"

"O—kay?"

Y/N sighed, a small shake of her head following. "Well, I talked to Kelley yesterday, because she had something she wanted to talk to me about, and, uh... she said that... Oh, wow, this is so fucking weird—ShewantedtoknowifyoucouldteachDerekhowtomakehercumbecausehe'sreallybadatit."

She blinked, and Spencer blinked back at her, the two of them laying together in silence for a good ten to fifteen seconds.

And then he started to laugh.

"W—What? Is that too weird? Because I told Kelley she should just try talking to him, but she really wanted me to ask you because I'd mentioned how good you are, and she just figured since you two worked together and that we're all friends that you wouldn't have a problem telling him about everything, an—"

Spencer reached out to brush the back of his hand across her cheek. "Hey, slow down, okay? Look. The idea that I have to teach Derek Morgan of all people how to make a woman cum is just... It's funny to me, and surely you understand why... And besides, how would I even bring that up? It's not like I can just walk up to him and be like Hey, Morgan, your girlfriend thinks you suck in bed and she wants me to show you how to do it right."

Y/N blinked up at him again, and he blinked back, the both of them starting to realize how that sounded.

"Yeah, maybe don't lead with that," she said, patting his arm. "Look, you guys talk about your sex lives sometimes, right? I mean, you're both guys in relationships, I'm sure it's come up at some point."

"No, Y/N, not really," he said, clearly exasperated and most decidedly not thrilled about the idea of talking sex with his co-workers.

Still, she sighed. "Spence, please? I told Kelley I'd talk to you about it, and she's really desperate here. Besides, it would be rude to let Derek Morgan of all people go around thinking he's great at sex when he's really not, don't you think?"

Spencer really seemed to think about that for a moment, before huffing a laugh. "Actually that sounds pretty funny to me."

Y/N slapped his arm. "I'm serious! At least do it for Kelley's sake... The poor girl deserves to feel good, right?"

"If I do it, can we end this conversation?" he gave in, clearly not in the mood to talk about their friends' sex life.

"Wait really? You'll do it?"

Spencer sighed. "Yes, I'll do it. It's most likely going to be more awkward than this conversation, but I'll do it."

With a laugh and a quick kiss to the lips, Y/N pulled him closer and said, "I love you, you know."

***

He hoped he wouldn't have to do much talking at all. Which is why he brought a bag of books on female anatomy and pleasure. He tried for the entire train ride to work to figure out the best way to even bring it all up, but when he actually stepped into the bullpen, he almost froze up with nerves.

He spotted Derek from across the room and in a split second decided that it would be best to just rip the band-aid off.

So, he briskly made his way over to his friend and set the bag of books in front of him on the desk. "I want to preface this by saying it wasn't my idea. Kelley and Y/N were talking about some stuff, and they asked me to talk to you, so I'm just going to give it to you straight. These are for you."

"Whoa, kid, slow down. What did they want you to tell me?"

Spencer looked around nervously before taking a deep breath. "Well, um... Y/N and I were talking last night, and she said that Kelley had this weird request for her, and, um... I guess she wanted Y/N to ask me to talk to you about... um... how to have better sex?"

He said the last part very quietly and immediately looked down at his feet. When he looked back at Morgan, he almost looked like he'd been petrified, actually frozen in time with the blankest expression ever seen.

"What?" he asked just as blankly.

"Please don't make me say it again," Spencer signed.

"Reid, I don't know what you mean."

"Look, I know this is really weird, trust me, I know, but I, uh... I wrote out some detailed notes for you, and there are also some books in that bag, so it should help."

Derek looked down at the bag and then back to Spencer, still puzzled. "I... You're not serious... This is some kinda prank, isn't it?"

"I swear it's not, just... Look, after sex, has Kelley ever stayed in the bathroom for like ten minutes or longer?"

"Excuse me?"

"Just answer my question!" Spencer whispered harshly, still looking around to make sure no one would hear.

"Reid, I'm not— Oh... Oh... No..." The journey that Derek's face took almost Spencer feel kind of bad for him, though he'd be lying if a large part of him didn't find this whole thing absolutely hilarious.

"But like I said, I have things to help you," Spencer rushed out. "It's not... Look, maybe it would be better if you just talked to Kelley about it... In the end it's all really about you two, and if you don't have communication coinciding with your sex life then chances are it's not... very good."

"Kelley wanted you to talk to me... That's what she said?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so. Y/N told me that she said she couldn't... you know, finish when she was with you and she wanted me to talk to you about it."

"Why?" It was obvious that Derek was having a hard time believing all of this, even after having the epiphany.

"I don't know, I guess Y/N told Kelley at one point that I was good at it? Look, it's not a big deal, just... read the stuff I gave you, and it should help, and then we never have to talk about this ever again, okay?"

Still grappling with everything he'd just learned, Morgan muttered out an, "O—kay?"

"Good talk," Spencer said quickly, turning around and getting out of there as fast as he could.

***

Later that week, Y/N and Spencer were watching a movie on the couch, and things had been... fairly normal considering all that had happened the previous weekend.

A knock sounded at the door, and with neither of them expecting any company, they paused the movie and answered the door together, swinging it open to find Kelley standing in front of them with a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine.

Before either of them could say anything, Kelley handed the flowers to Spencer and the wine to Y/N, a smile on her face. "Sorry for stopping by on short notice, but I just, uh... I wanted to thank you guys for helping me out... You know..."

"Oh!" the couple said at the same time, a bit of heat creeping up on both their cheeks.

"Yeah, it wasn't a problem," Y/N said.

"Really," Spencer reassured.

"Yeah, I know it was, uh... a strange request but it really did wonders, and we talked over everything, so, it's, uh... It's all good now. So, thanks again. I just wanted to bring over some gifts to say thank you."

Even though the whole situation had been rather out of their comfort zones, Y/N told Kelley with earnest, "Happy to help."

She left, and Spencer and Y/N set their gifts on the coffee table.

"What did you tell Derek, exactly?" she asked curiously. "You never did tell me what happened."

"Oh, um... I just gave him some books, and I wrote out some notes for him."

With a smirk and a loving gaze, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. "They must have been some pretty damn good notes if it warranted presents..."

"What can I say, I'm a good note taker," he said, returning her smile.

"Well, I think I'll have to be the judge of that. Show me what you got, smarty pants..."

Let's just say that by the end of the night, Y/N knew Kelley was in good hands.

#mercy 1k celebration #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction

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peppermintbee · 3 years

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OMORI has poor writing (Part 1)

OMORI stans, just block the #omori hate tag now because I’m going to use it to vent my frustrations with this game. If you love this game, I am not going to try to convince you otherwise. I am glad you enjoyed it so much. I am glad it means a lot to you. I’m not here to take that away from you. I honestly wish I felt the same way!

However, if you are like me and finished the game feeling disappointed, underwhelmed, and maybe a little frustrated, then I am here to say you are not alone. OMORI--while having the right set pieces for an interesting game--is a narrative mess.

I’m splitting this into two posts. This first post is about problems with the plot. The second is about problems with the message/moral.

(Note: I use “OMORI” in all-caps for the game title, and “Omori” in title case for the character name.)

Spoilers and criticism below.

Part 1: Plot Writing Lies

There’s a book by Brian McDonald called Invisible Ink which is about how to write a compelling story (you can read this great book online for free here). There’s an explanation of the writing “lie” that I find myself frequently thinking of. A “lie” in this context does not mean something is literally untrue, it means something FEELS untrue, unrealistic, improbable, or unlikely. For example, if a character gets shot in the leg but manages to do parkour, this is a “lie” since it seems unrealistic for that to happen. If a character witnesses their beloved parent’s death and shrugs it off, it’s a “lie” because that reaction seems highly unlikely.

In OMORI, the plot is held together by multiple little lies that--try as I might--I just couldn’t bring myself to believe.

1. Sunny’s friends care about him, and vice versa

A major theme of the game is how friendship can overcome any obstacle. Friendship gets Sunny over his fear of heights, spiders, and water. Friendship is what Sunny remembers before the final boss fight, and allows him to face his guilt and defeat it (and prevent him from committing suicide). With the photobook and dialogue you are reminded over and over and over and over and over again that Sunny’s friends love him unconditionally.

However, I just couldn’t bring myself to believe it. The childhood memories are cute but shallow, boiling down to simply hanging out and eating treats. Plus, Kel and Aubrey fight constantly, with Aubrey even physically hitting Kel when he steps out of line. Hero and Mari behave more like babysitters than true friends to the younger kids.

But at least the other kids interact with each other. Sunny, on the other hand, showed nearly no affection or consideration towards his friends. He floats through the memories like a ghost--he could have been completely absent from all the photos and it would have made little difference. I was ready to accept this as Sunny being an unreliable narrator and not thinking he was a good enough for his friends, but this never contradicted. Instead we are given even more memories where Sunny just silently exists there being “cute.”

[Sunny enriching the lives of his friends by LARPING as a cat.]

Because of the lack of meaningful interactions between them, there was nothing in the game that made me think that these 12-15 year olds would have a strong enough bond that would survive 3-4 years of no contact after finding their friend hanged. In fact, that discovery only drove them farther apart. The only person who I could believe actually had a close bond was Basil, who almost literally filled that trope of being the friend who would help you bury a body (or in this case, help Sunny cover up the accidental manslaughter).

The writing fix for this would be simple: instead of showing us the same boring birthday and beach scenes over again, give the kids memories of overcoming some age-appropriate adversity together: heartbreak over an unrequited crush, anxiety over homework, sports injury, lost dogs, divorced parents, running away from home, bullying, etc. Set a precedent of the friends supporting each other through good times AND bad times. Without such backstory, Sunny’s friendships allegedly giving him the courage to overcome his guilt feels like a lie.

2. Sunny abandoning Basil in the bathroom scene

One of the most confusing moments in the game was Sunny’s negligence when Basil has his first breakdown in his bathroom. This part of the game is player-controlled, which is a strange writing decision because all you can do is click on Basil and various bathroom amenities over and over which completely saps the urgency out of the scene. When you try to leave, Basil begs Sunny to stay, but (due to a lack of player options) Sunny walks out without a word. With no option to talk to him OR get help for him, it makes Sunny seem exceptionally cruel to Basil. In fact, I was starting to wonder if the game was setting up for some sort of twist that Sunny DIDN’T care about his friends, which would fix some of the confusion in point #1. However, as we know, that is not the case. Therefore, Sunny’s negligence/apathy towards Basil’s pain feels like a lie.

The writing fix would be to make it MORE clear that Sunny is intentionally running away from Basil. Make it a cutscene, or, give a false choice such as “Leave Basil? Yes / Yes”. After Sunny leaves, Kel should make some remark about Sunny looking odd, “You look sort of shaken up, is there something you want to tell me?” then hit it home with Sunny shaking his head. This would make it more clear that Sunny is intentionally hiding Basil’s state, as opposed to just being a bad friend. As it stands, it just felt like a writing mistake.

3. Basil and Sunny working together to stage Mari’s death as a suicide

This is the plot hole that I see the most complaints over, but it’s so big I have to address it. Accidentally pushing Mari down the stairs I understand, but the rest is too absurd. Below are some of the “lies” that the writing tries to get away with:

That Sunny and Basil wouldn’t just claim she slipped and fell.

That either boy would even come up with this sick plan.

That they wouldn’t back out of this idea during the multi-step process (carrying her downstairs, outside, getting the jump rope, tying a noose, putting it around her neck, stringing her up, hiding the evidence... This is a series of multiple decisions, not one quick accident like the initial push.)

That it’s not the image of Mari’s death that traumatized Sunny, but the image of what they chose to do to her body that traumatized them. I understand the image of Mari hanging is more dramatic, but they literally did it themselves so why is that more haunting than Sunny killing her?

That Mari’s true cause of death wouldn’t be immediately obvious to the parents, the police, the friends, EVERYONE. (I’ve seen fans try to get rid of this plot hole by hypothesizing that the parents knew and covered it up, but the evidence of this is circumstantial at best. The father saying, “You’re not my son,” is unreliable since it happens in Sunny’s headspace. Divorce is common after the death of a child, and, at the very least, Sunny’s mom doesn’t show any evidence of knowing what happened. The way it is written, only Sunny and Basil know the truth.)

The ridiculousness of this twist is so extreme that it completely broke any immersion I had left. Frankly, the reveal that the happy, loveable Mari committed suicide is a far heavier and more realistic twist than a crazy murder-cover-up story is.

Additionally, it seems like Basil was only written into this scene in order to make Sunny the true victim of what happened. After all, Sunny may have pushed her, but it was Basil who came up with the demented cover up. (This is apparent from just the photos but the datamined Truth Album confirms it.) By having Basil come up with the plan, the game splits the guilt between the two of them to make the kids easier to sympathize with. It’s problematic because if Basil was not in the scene, there would be no way to justify what Sunny did to Mari. So why is what they did easier to accept when they worked together?

Fixing the writing lie: Sunny lies and says that Mari slipped. Remove Basil from the scene, and instead have Sunny confide in Basil which forces Basil to become a co-conspirator and burdens him with the terrible truth.

4. Sunny’s friends forgiving him and Basil for what they did to Mari

Last but not least, the story heavily implies that Hero, Kel, and Aubrey will forgive Basil and Sunny for what they did to Mari. I found this to be almost as unbelievable as the staged-suicide stunt.

It feels like a lie since the group’s friendship is never established as anything beyond shallow hang outs from 3+ years ago (see point #1).

It feels like a lie because this is hot off the heels of Aubrey being so distraught over Mari and the following fall out that in the last three days she 1.) attacked Sunny and Kel with a nail bat TWICE, 2.) Stole Basil’s photobook, and 3.) Shoved Basil in the lake. This trauma is still very fresh for her.

It feels like a lie because the complexity of the staged-suicide is so extreme, one would be hard pressed to forgive ANYONE for doing that, be it friend, foe, parent, sibling, lover, etc.

I’ve seen fans argue that the ending is not about forgiveness, it’s about telling the truth, and I want to believe that. Really. If the ending was about Sunny starting his redemption arc by telling the truth no matter what the consequences are, that would be a meaningful lesson. But the writing does not support that. The ending headspace segments are focused on assuring Sunny that his friends will support/forgive him no matter what. To do this, the game shows us the shallow photobook memories (again) to show how much they allegedly care about each other. Then, when fighting Omori, Sunny remembers these quotes from his friends, which directly correlate to their unconditional support:

KEL: Friends... Friends are supposed to be there for each other.

AUBREY: I hope you can find some peace... or you know... some happiness.

HERO: We made the mistake of leaving each other when we needed each other the most. This time... we’ll stay together.

BASIL: Maybe one day... things can go back to the way they were before.

The really direct evidence that this ending is about getting forgiveness is this quote from Basil in Sunny’s headspace:

[BASIL: “AUBREY, KEL and HERO are good friends. You have to trust that they’ll forgive us.”]

This is one of the last scenes before Sunny tells his friends the truth, proving that obtaining forgiveness from his FRIENDS is in fact the leading motivation for Sunny’s actions.

Fixing this writing lie is easy. Instead, adjust the writing to be about telling the truth, not about how much the friends will still love Sunny. Have headspace Basil say, “Even if they don’t forgive us, Aubrey, Kel, and Hero deserve to know the truth. It’s the only way to make things right... or close to it.”

Conclusion

OMORI is undeniably a cute game with a strong visual identity, and has a premise that could make for a very compelling experience. However, the sloppy plot and weak character writing cause the potential of this game to be squandered. There are other issues as well that I chose not to cover for the sake of time, such as the poor pacing of the dragged out dungeons and the bizarre, unrealistic behavior of characters in the “real” world.

However, there are a few more glaring problems with OMORI that I have to address: In part 2 of my critique, I break down what may be the biggest problem with OMORI’s writing: the message.

[ Link to Part 2: OMORI’s Message is Mishandled and Distasteful ]

#omori #omori hate #omori spoilers #review #words #fun fact i named sunny 'moony' so I had to consciously change all the moons to suns in this essay #suicide cw

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