#Lisa Banes

[yourdailyqueer]

Lisa Banes (deceased)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian

DOB: 9 July 1955  

RIP: 14 June 2021

Ethnicity: White - American

Occupation: Actress

#Lisa Banes #lgbt history #lesbianism #lgbt #lgbtq #female #lesbian #1955 #rip #historical #white #actor

[letterboxd-loggd]

The Hotel New Hampshire (1984) Tony Richardson

March 23rd 2024

#the hotel new hampshire #1984 #tony richardson #rob lowe #jodie foster #nastassja kinski #beau bridges #jennifer dundas #paul mccrane #lisa banes #seth green #wallace shawn #matthew modine #wilford brimley #dorsey wright #anita morris #amanda plummer #joely richardson

[adamwatchesmovies]

Legally Blondes (2009)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

Calling Legally Blondes an insult might sound like an overreaction, but hear me out. This film is cheap, badly acted and poorly written. It attempts to cash-in on the popularity of Legally Blonde while featuring none of the characters we fell in love with. Worst of all, it doesn't even understand the appeal of the series, meaning it had no chance of pleasing its intended audience.

Elle’s twin cousins, Annabelle “Annie” and Isabelle “Izzy” Woods (Camilla and Rebecca Rosso) move to America with their father to study at Pacific Preparatory. Their love of punk and family reputation draws the ire of Headmistress Elsa Higgins (Lisa Banes) while the school bully, Tiffany Donohugh (Brittany Curran), sets out to get them expelled.

This is clearly another script re-worked to be part of the Legally Blonde franchise. The twins are not attending law school, they’re given chihuahuas at the beginning but the dogs play no part in the story and there are no familiar faces to be found. Not even Elle. That’s right. Reese Witherspoon does not make an appearance. References to her character are made and the twins stay in her home while she’s away but if you sit through the end credits hoping to see a cameo, you’ll be disappointed. Instead, you’ll see something I’ve never seen before: the movie’s deleted scenes. They play while the names scroll. I guess director Savage Steve Holland knew no one would bother to check out this disaster’s special features but wanted us to see them nonetheless.

2001's Legally Blonde is not a perfect comedy but it has a lot of appeal. Although she didn’t fit initially, Elle had a good head on her shoulders. She had a few things to learn but ultimately, law school was where she belonged. The same can’t be said for the twins. It’s obvious to everyone watching that Tiffany hates them but every time the conniving brat approaches the sisters to give “helpful advice”, they accept it. Her true colours are first revealed when the girls show up at a party in inappropriate outfits. Sound familiar? I’d say spoiler but if you’ve seen Legally Blonde you saw that one coming. You’ll see everything coming, in fact. Izzy and Annie are introduced with title cards that describe what their character arcs will be. One can’t stand public speaking. The other is terrible at history. How profound.

You’ll be so bored you’ll want to stab yourself in the leg just to stay awake. Legally Blondes does nothing interesting until 2/3 of the way in when the plot FINALLY kicks off. It’s a school trial. Ah, so that’s where the title comes from. Took you long enough. This is where the film could have earned itself some points. At least now there’s a clear thread to follow. There are stakes and in theory, figuring out how our heroines will win the case should be fun. Too bad the screenplay by Chad Gomez Creasey and Dara Resnik Creasey can’t even do that right. The jokes are so terribly executed you won’t understand the punchlines until the movie is a distant memory and certain ideas introduced earlier that should be important turn out to be useless, making you feel like you're wasting your time paying attention.

Legally Blondes has no reason to exist. It won’t please fans of the series, it won’t win over anyone who didn’t like Elle previously. The apathy everyone had for the project is obvious. There are numerous logical gaps, the funny jokes are rarer than four-leaf clovers and there’s little to like. I’d say there’s nothing to like but it does get slightly better as it goes along. Not enough for me to recommend, mind you. Not to anyone. Not ever. (July 31, 2020)

#Legally Blondes #Legally Blonde #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Savage Steve Holland #Chad Gomez Creasey #Dara Resnik Creasey #2009 movies #2009 films #Milly and Becky Rosso #Lisa Banes #Christopher Cousins #Brittany Curran

[itsalwaystomcruise]

#tom cruise #tomcruiseedit #tcruiseedit #Lisa Banes #cocktail #*

[conandaily2022]

Manhattan, New York City's Brian Boyd to be sentenced in 'Gone Girl' actress Lisa Banes' death

Manhattan, New York City’s Brian Boyd to be sentenced in ‘Gone Girl’ actress Lisa Banes’ death

Brian Boyd, 27, of the Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York City pleaded guilty to manslaughter on September 28, 2022. He will be sentenced on November 30, 2022. Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office had sought three to nine years. But after the guilty plea, Boyd is expected to be sentenced to only one to three years in prison. On June 4, 2021, Boyd was caught on camera…

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#Brian Boyd #Gone Girl #Lisa Banes #Manhattan #New York City

[cultfaction]

The Orville Season 3 Ep. 4: Gently Falling Rain

The Orville Season 3 Ep. 4: Gently Falling Rain

The episode opens on the Krill home world where Teleya (Michaela McManus) is back and is making political moves to become Supreme Chancellor. She riles up the crowd with her militant views and her vision of rejecting any Union peace treaties is making her popular on Krill resulting in several political demonstrations. Meanwhile on The Orville, the crew are treating the Krill delegates to a…

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#Adrianne Palicki #Amanda Joy Erickson #Andre Bormanis #Anne Winters #BJ Tanner #Bruce Boxleitner #Isabella Meneses #J. Lee #James Read #Jessica Szohr #Jim Mahoney #Kai Wener #Kyra Santoro #Lisa Banes #Mark Jackson #Michaela McManus #Mike Henry #Penny Johnson Jerald #Peter Macon #Scott Grimes #Seth MacFarlane #Speria Balask #Star Trek #The Orville

[perfettamentechic]

14 giugno … ricordiamo …

14 giugno … ricordiamo … #semprevivineiricordi #nomidaricordare #personaggiimportanti #perfettamentechic

2021: Lisa Banes, Lisa Lou Banes, attrice statunitense nota per oltre 80 ruoli cinematografici e televisivi, nonché per apparizioni teatrali a Broadway e altrove. Nei film, è apparsa in Cocktail (1988), Freedom Writers (2007), Gone Girl (2014) e come Hollis in A Cure for Wellness (2016). Banes viveva a Los Angeles. Era sposata con Kathryn Kranhold. Banes è stata investita da uno scooter morendo…

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#14 giugno #14 giugno morti #Alan Jay Lerner #Alan Reed #Ann Morgan Guilbert #Bernard Miles #Bernardino Emanuelli #David Butler #Dino Emanuelli #Giampiero Becherelli #Irene Delroy #Leila Diniz #Lisa Banes #Lisa Lou Banes #Lydia Biondi #Marcel Mouloudji #Peggy Ashcroft #Richard Jaeckel #Ricordiamo #Robert Middleton #Stanislav Govoruchin #Sushant Singh Rajput #Tony Barlocco #Valeria Abbruzzetti #Valeria Moriconi

[eileenguy]

day 2 of my 2023 summer bash: favourite episode(s) ☆ romance/tragedy ☆ brown eyed girls of spn

L-R: eileen leahy, cassie robinson, anna milton, jo harvelle, ruby 2.0, billie, linda tran, tasha banes, lisa braedan

#mreileensummer #eileen leahy #cassie robinson #anna milton #jo harvelle #ruby 2.0 #billie the reaper #linda tran #tasha banes #lisa braedan #summer bash 23: day 2 #muku.aes

[the-swift-tricker]

characters reading

(id a collection of images from different media of various characters reading books. they include: goliath from gargoyles, lisa swallows and the creature from lisa frankenstein, frodo baggins from the lord of the rings, daria morgendorffer from daria, moomintroll from moomin, matilda wormwood from matilda, bane from dc comics, raven from teen titans, elizabeth bennet from pride and prejudice. end id]

#books #reading #gargoyles #lisa frankenstein #the lord of the rings #lotr #daria #moomin #matilda #bane #batman #raven #teen titans #dc comics #pride and prejudice #swift-tricker's posts

[lisa-is-writing]

so, I decided to go back to translation of my old fics, and revisit my Shadowhunters era. so here's malec one-shot where alec is jealous as fuck and magnus is magnus in any circumstances.

AO3 link

No, Alec is not jealous. He is not the jealous type of guys who control their partner in every aspect of their lives, not even allowing them to look at other people. He just wants to stab this nasty stranger who dare to look at his warlock in the eye. His warlock. His.

And Magnus, of course, pretends to be blind, smiles sweetly at the newcomer, shakes hands and acts as if he’s already mentally not screwed in every possible sex pose.

“Hello, Kirian.”

Alec tries to be polite as he talks about how the Institute works, shows him to his room, and gives him a training schedule. But deep inside, he comes up with hundreds of thousands of ways to torture this insolent.

“And that guy from the hall, who is he?”

Alec is almost choking with anger, but he manages to answer calmly.

“Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn.”

Kirian's eyes are lighted with delight and awe, and Alec really, really wants to add, “He's my boyfriend, fucker”. However, they’re not in the crappy school movie that mundanes love so much, so he folds his hands behind his back and retires to his room, where he screams loudly and drawlingly into the pillow.

***

“Alexander.”

He feels hands on his back, pulling up his T-shirt and making their way to his bare skin. The cool metal of the rings makes him shudder, and light kisses on the lower back awaken in him not-at-all-childish desires.

Something lands on his ass, the back of his neck gets several bites. Alec groans as Magnus strokes his sides and moves his hips slightly.

“You’re so hot when you're jealous,” Magnus purrs and bites his earlobe.

“I'm not jealous.”

“Well, of course.”

It’s obvious that Magnus doesn’t believe a single word, and continues to do his job. Alec rubs his crotch against the sheets, demanding a release, and the warlock immediately gets off him, smiling maliciously.

“That’s not fair,” Alec mutters, and blushes as he rolls onto his back. The black jeans are too tight, and it almost hurts. “You're supposed to be tortured like this.”

“For what?”

“For ogling over him.”

“I didn't ogle over anyone.”

“Yeah, sure. I'm not blind.”

Magnus runs his hand from his chest, down his waist and belly until he grabs Alec's groin and squeezes tightly, to which he groans loudly.

“I don’t need anyone but you.”

“Tell that to that Kilain guy.”

“Kirian.”

Alec gives Magnus a withering look, but he just smiles and kisses him.

“I promise I won't fall for his charms.”

“Are you saying he's prettier than I am?”

Magnus doesn't answer. He smirks, defiantly dismounts from Alec, and silently walks away, leaving him alone with his problem. The shadowhunter unzips his pants with a long sigh, thinking that the damn warlock teases more than he gets the job done. The devil in the flesh.

***

Magnus promised, Magnus… hadn’t done. Again, Alec doesn’t like too much control in a relationship, but now he is ready to chain Magnus to the bed and not let him go anywhere. Bloody seducer.

He and Kirian are in the armoury, and the shadowhunter is delighted with all kinds of weapons. He says that in their Institute, in some shithole of the world, there was no such diversity. Magnus graciously leans his shoulder against the wall and smiles, cheerful and playful.

“Believe me, there are lots of interesting things here.”

Kirian approaches him with careful steps and steals a glance from under his lashes. Magnus doesn't look pleased, but he doesn't repulse either. And when the young hunter comes close and leans in for a kiss, Alec's mind goes flying.

“Darling, there you are.”

He tries to control his voice, which sounds more like a growl of a wild animal, as he walks up to Magnus and wraps his arms around his waist. Kirian looks embarrassed, but not enough for Alec.

“You were looking for me?”

“I need your help with the portal.”

“Of course, Alexander.”

Magnus pulls him by the neck and kisses him quickly but gently. Alec sees the mockery dancing in his eyes, and realizes that he understood everything and decided to play along.

Magnus walks out of the armoury, swaying his hips gently, and Alec promises himself to kill him. One day.

***

Alec is tired. All he needs is a warm bubble bath, a delicious dinner and Magnus in a soft bed. And so he goes home to his boyfriend. But he doesn't expect to see the brat Kirian there.

He holds a cocktail glass in his hand and sits relaxed on the couch while Magnus busies himself elsewhere. Most likely, in the kitchen – sharp curses in another language are heard from there.

Kirian doesn't even look at him, his eyes fixed on the kitchen doorway, where Magnus’ neat figure in colourful clothes flickers from time to time. Alec clears his throat and strides across the room, falling onto the couch across from him. Kirian flinches, showing his fear only for a moment, but then relaxes again.

“Oh, it's just you.”

“Of course,” he snarls venomously, but the other man doesn’t care. Kirian calmly sips his cocktail and hums a song under his breath.

“Alexander.”

Alec feels a kiss on the back of his head before the sound of Magnus's voice reaches him. He turns his head and smiles, meeting an even brighter smile in return.

“Hey, Mags. I wanted to spend the night with you, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course not, sweetheart.”

Alec tries not to look too smug when Magnus gently tells Kirian to leave.

“Sorry, Kirian. You’ll try my signature dish next time.”

Kirian leans down and kisses Magnus on the cheek, to which he gives a polite smile. Alec is on fire from the inside and wants to slam the man's face into the wall.

“See you tomorrow.”

Magnus slams the door as soon as Kirian is out of the apartment, and after a moment he sits next to Alec and puts his hand on his hip.

“I didn’t know you had a signature dish,” the hunter says enviously, and Magnus squints slyly.

“Yes, the restaurant down the street serves excellent pork. We must try it.”

“Then why did you invite this upstart here and not to the restaurant?”

“He jumped into the portal after me.”

Magnus shrugs like it's nothing, but Alec's inside is already boiling hot.

“You mean he didn't even ask permission?”

“He asked,” the magician tries to justify himself and plays with the loops on Alec's jeans. “I just didn’t say an ironclad no. I hinted that I wouldn't be happy about it, but he's so stubborn.”

“I'll kill him,” Alec hisses.

“You’re lying,” Magnus replies, and starts covering the hunter’s neck with kisses.

***

After that incident, Alec became more wary of Kirian. Sometimes he even stalks him a little, but Magnus' behaviour doesn’t speak of cheating. The magician is calm, like the sea in airless weather, never once give reason to doubt his loyalty, and is always in sight.

Kirian, on the other hand, goes out of his way to get at least a tiny fraction of his attention. As soon as Magnus is near, Kirian almost jump out of his pants and rush to him at full speed, sometimes even ignoring the orders of his superiors. Alec doesn't like it, but Magnus treats the young hunter more coolly, but still politely, and that ease his anger at least a bit.

It’s another normal day. Alec is returning from Magnus' loft, where they had lunch together. He walks down the corridor to his room, but near the door to Kirian's room, he hears muttering. The hunter draws a rune on the door, which opens a window invisible to Kirian, and pricks up his ears.

“That Alec doesn't deserve Magnus,” he hears. “He’s so… Rude, uncouth, incapable of tenderness. I could give it all to him. I hope Magnus opens his eyes very soon.”

Alec tries to remain calm, though anger and jealousy are getting the better of him with every second he spends outside the door listening to the monologue. But he can’t be angry because he knows that the man is confused and just trying to win over the person he likes.

Alec deactivates the rune and goes to his room, not even bothering to dwell on what happened. His head is occupied with completely different things.

***

Alec doesn't remember what happened. Everything is like a fog. Here he sees Kirian kissing Magnus, and here he’s already sitting in the office of the head of the Institute, next to this very asshole, whose nose he managed to break.

Aldetree hums something in annoyance over their heads, but Alec doesn't listen. He would punch that bastard again, and would do so if Kirian got closer than a few meters to his warlock.

He leaves the office already more satisfied, and Magnus meets him in the corridor with a cuff and a kiss. Kirian flinches at this and mumbles something about packing.

“Are you leaving somewhere?” Magnus is truly worried.

“Yes, I am being transferred to another Institute.”

“Such a pity.”

“Yeah.”

Kirian retreats as Magnus turns to Alec with a sly grin. He is silent, but the question is read in his eyes.

“It’s good to be on good terms with the authorities,” Alec shrugs and heads to his room. He feels Magnus’ eyes on his ass and smirks to himself. This is how it should be. No random Shadowhunters around his Magnus.

“Alexander.” Alec turns around. “Date, tonight, at my place.”

Magnus winks and disappears into the portal, leaving a satisfied Alec in the hall. He feels that something special is waiting for him tonight. No wonder he, in the end, burned with jealousy all these days. He needs praise for this wonderful performance that he played for one single person.

#malec #shadowhunters #malec fanfic #my fanfiction #magnus bane #alec lightwood #alec x magnus #jealousy #writing #lisa is writing #translation

[soulless-bleach]

Perhaps Lisa Yadomaru and number 11? 👁

This color palette is so pretty with her omg

#bleach #bleach fanart #bleach brave souls #lisa yadomaru #vizards #I love her so much #I need to draw her more but glasses are the bane of my existence

[theother-victoria]

all stars must die one day

SYNOPSIS: it’s always been him- stupidly perfect and handsome Alhaitham who you saw as the bane of your academic achievements. Three years later and now so much has changed. He misses you. He misses your endless bickering and meaningless fights. Why did you change so much? It’s a mystery he makes up his mind to resolve.

CHARACTERS: Alhaitham, gossip circle consisting of Kaveh, Tighnari, and Lisa + the rest of the Sumeru cast

TAGS: heavy angst w/fluff, academic burnout, burnt-out gifted kid, mild profanity, gn reader, reader is briefly mentioned to be shorter than Alhaitham, toxic family dynamics, 15.7k+ word count

NOTES: college decisions and my experiences from the past two years really compelled me to write this. If you’re going through burnout, know that you’re not alone and that you can do this.

this took me almost half a year to finish wtf

NEXT | LAST

There’s a comet that crosses Sumeru’s skies only once in a lifetime. 

Alhaitham had heard some Rtawahsit students discussing it the other day. They were practically buzzing with excitement over the news of its reappearance.

“Isn’t this the perfect opportunity?”

“How lucky are we to be able to witness it?”

“Even our professors are excited about it!”

Alhaitham couldn’t care less. The phenomena of celestial events, while dazzling, are easily explained by science. It’s not like they were anything special either. At their heart, they’re composed of ordinary materials- rock, dust, water, and ice, plus other chemicals. 

He puts it out of his mind until he’s rudely awoken one night by loud noises outside the window. A flash of annoyance runs through him as he gets up and looks out to glare at the crowd of students passing through. A glance at their berets tells him they’re Rtawahsit students. They’re trying their best to be quiet, but when it’s practically an entire Darshan on the move, that becomes a difficult task. 

It seems as if he’s not the only one that was woken up. Other familiar faces are peeking through cracked-open windows. Lisa, Cyno, and Tighnari all yawn while watching the crowd of students pass by before looking at each other and following them. Kaveh, who has just woken up from his spot across the room, gives Alhaitham one last look before leaving.

Alhaitham closes the window and flops back onto his bed. He covers his ears with his pillow and closes his eyes, attempting to fall back asleep. He never cared for what other people thought or did, so why should he blindly follow the crowd? He wasn’t even curious anyway.

But for some strange reason, he can’t seem to fall asleep. He tosses and turns, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration, before finally getting up to put his restless mind at ease. 

It’s easy to figure out where everyone has gone. All he has to do is follow the sounds of chatter. It leads him to the top of the Divine Tree the city is built upon. There, Rtawahsit students are busy setting up their telescopes while others have pen and paper at their disposal for note-taking. Professors guide said students while those from other Darshans watch on in curiosity and gaze at the sky in anticipation. 

Tighnari and the others beckon him over. He squeezes himself into the secluded corner they claimed for themselves, poking Kaveh with his limbs intentionally in the process. To his surprise, you’re there too. You lean against Lisa’s arm and shoot him a little glare that lacks any real hate before turning back to the sky, glaring at him when he decides to sit in front of you and block your view. 

“Look!” shouts a student. “It’s started!”

Almost immediately, everybody goes silent. Only the sounds of birds and wildlife can be heard, along with the quiet breathing of everyone searching wildly for it.

(He’s acutely aware of the warm puffs of air that tickle the back of his neck when you exhale. It shouldn’t be this distracting, but it is. Is this your way of getting back at him?)

There’s an excited gasp from a girl with her telescope. She wildly gestures toward the sky and Alhaitham sees a bright speck of light out of the corner of his eye. Several smaller meteors zip through the sky, but everybody’s attention is on the largest one. It outshines all the other stars in the sky as it speeds by, heating up into a white-hot glow and leaving a glittering trail of blue stardust behind. It is a star not of this world, speeding onward toward its destination- toward something greater. 

“Look,” he hears Lisa whisper. He briefly tears his attention from the sky to see her lean toward you. “Make a wish.”

Alhaitham sees you close your eyes for a moment before opening them again. What did you just wish for?

It’s gone in just a few minutes, heading toward the horizon until not even a pinprick of its light can be seen anymore. The sky is now dark again. With the main event over, most people begin getting up to return to their rooms. His eyes linger on your form, now walking away. Lisa’s voice from earlier repeats in his head.

“Make a wish.”

It’s a childish belief not rooted in reason- he knows that. But for just a second, he closes his eyes and makes a wish. 

He met you at the start of his first year. 

It’s too loud here. I want to go home already.

From his seat in the back of the room, he watches as spots gradually fill up as the start time draws nearer. Much to his delight, everybody leaves his spot in the back of the classroom alone, instead opting to sit toward the front. 

That is until someone sits down in the row in front of him. He looks up from the pages of his book, slightly annoyed. Curses, now he couldn’t be by himself anymore. But they leave him alone and keep to themselves as the professor walks in and introduces himself and the class, so he tolerates it. 

There’s a light tap on his desk. He looks up to see you watching him expectantly. He’s able to get his first good look at you now. Your Akademiya uniform is a little too big on you and the sleeves drape over your hands. Your green hat sits lopsidedly on your head and you have the air of a starry-eyed and enthusiastic first-year student. 

“Yes?” 

“The professor told us to introduce ourselves to those around us,” you explain. “I’m (Name).”

“Alhaitham. Pleased to meet you.”

You nod in response and turn back around. Your professor is explaining the course and handing the syllabus out, but your mind wanders toward the guy sitting behind you whom you’ve just met. 

He’s cute, you think to yourself. In like, a little kid or puppy kind of way. He’s still a little short and scrawny- wait, how old is he anyway? Don’t tell me he’s one of those child prodigies that got in at a super young age… Or maybe he’s just a late bloomer, who knows? 

A few weeks later, the results of your first test roll around. The 98 scribbled and circled in red ink at the top of the paper makes you nod in satisfaction. It’s indicative of a good start, but when you take a look at the board in front of the class, you see someone has gotten a perfect score. 

And it turns out the culprit himself sits right behind you. 

You glare at the 100% in red ink at the top of his page as if it has personally offended you. As if to further insult you, there was a small “good job!” written in the margins by the professor that you didn’t have on your paper. 

“A 98? Good, but not perfect. Perhaps you should have studied more,” he nonchalantly remarks after seeing yours. Your eye twitches in irritation.

Oh, it is so on. 

From that day onward, you swore to yourself that you would beat Alhaitham, no matter what it took. Even if it meant sleepless nights spent hunched over your notes and textbooks, they were all a price you were willing to pay to prove that you were the undisputed best. 

Soon after, you don’t see Alhaitham in class anymore. His seat behind you is left unoccupied and you hear rumors that he opted for self-study instead- whatever that was. Despite that, he still gets top marks in everything, only serving to annoy you and spur you onward. 

However, you still see him at the library, and frequently at that. It’s somewhat surprising, considering that the Akasha Terminal has the same function and is more convenient. As a result, the library is mostly empty save for the few students that are there to study materials that aren’t entered into the Akasha’s database. You’re there because you prefer the quiet, focused environment of the library to your dorm, which despite the Akademiya and its students' almost religious devotion to academics, can get a little too rowdy for your liking at times. Plus, you prefer the feeling of a physical book in your hands over its digitized counterpart in the Akasha. It makes it easier to take notes and learn that way. 

Recently, you’ve found a spot in the library that you’ve taken a liking to. It’s located in the back and obscured by bookshelves, giving you some much-needed privacy while you study and it’s located by a window, allowing for ample natural light.

But apparently, someone else has already claimed it, unbeknownst to you. 

“This is my spot.”

You don’t even look up from your book. The voice alone was a dead giveaway as to who was speaking. 

“And? I didn’t see your name on it.”

Alhaitham sits at the seat across from you, purposefully spreading his books and other materials across the desk to push yours off to the side. A satisfied smirk twitches at the corners of his lips when he sees your eyes narrow in irritation. 

“Are you here just to bother me?”

“If I wanted to bother you, I’d find other ways to do it.” 

You huff in annoyance and turn the page. He watches you over the top of his book with intrigue as you alternate between reading and taking notes. 

“... Will you quit staring at me like that? It’s distracting.”

“Oh? So you’re admitting that I’m a distraction?”

“You-!”

A sharp hiss to be quiet from a librarian passing by silences you both temporarily. You glare at him accusingly, which he merely brushes off.

There’s a reluctant compromise that arises between you after that. Every day after class, you would meet at the same spot in the library to study. You would sit across from each other and work independently from each other until it was time to go, where you’d then say your goodbyes before heading your separate ways. Rinse and repeat and that was what your average day looked like. 

“So, what’s up with that thing between you and (Name)?”

You pause from your studying after overhearing that line and look up. Across the clearing are Alhaitham and a blond-haired man. Kaveh, if you recall his name correctly. 

“I don’t know what you’re trying to imply,” replies Alhaitham. 

“Is there some sort of competition between you two? Whenever I see you guys, you’re basically at each other’s throats over test scores and stuff.”

“There is no such competition. That would be a pointless waste of my time and energy.” 

The urge to throw your book at his head across the clearing is strong, but you’ll settle for Kaveh giving him a doubtful expression.

“You say that and yet you’ve been putting more work into your studies than ever.” 

“That’s none of your business.” 

But for all your efforts, you can’t seem to catch up to him. He was always one step- or rather, one point- ahead of you. He’d always be there, subtly rubbing his achievements right in your face even though the difference is practically negligible at least half of the time. 

It gets to the point where you begin to rant about your troubles to Lisa. 

“Can you believe this guy? It makes me wonder if he’s a sadist of some sort that gets a kick out of annoying me.” 

You’re sitting outside in one of the many gazebos around the Akademiya. Despite studying under a different Darshan, you quickly became friends with her.

She laughs lightly at your words.

“To me, it sounds like your poor heart is troubled! Shall doctor Lisa perform a checkup on you?”

You swat her hand away.

“Don’t play with me like that. And you’re not even an Amurta student!”

You hear footsteps coming down the pathway and speak of the devil, the topic of your conversation is walking toward you, his book in hand as always. You watch him out of the corner of your eye. He meets your gaze and holds it for several long, agonizing seconds before looking forward again and disappearing out of sight. You shudder and look away, Lisa chuckling lightly at your actions.

“Asshole,” you grumble. “What’s his problem? And did you see how cold his eyes were? Makes me wonder if the rumors of him having a heart of ice are true…” 

Lisa hesitates at that. 

“I’m afraid that’s where you’re wrong, (Name).”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

She purses her lips and looks off to the side. 

“It’s hard to explain, even for me. But you’ll see and come to understand in due time how acutely aware he is of the emotions of those around him, especially those he is close to.”

You think you understand the meaning of her words a few weeks later when the results of a particularly rough test greet you.

75%

Damn it, you think before roughly shoving the papers into your bag, away from the prying eyes of your classmates. I can’t falter here now. I still have so much more to do.

“I can tutor you if you’d like. I don’t offer this to just anyone, so I’d advise you to consider it,” Alhaitham says in the library later that day. You know that most people would kill for this opportunity and you weren’t blinded by jealousy to the point where you couldn’t see the benefit of his offer. 

But your pride prevents you from accepting it.

“Thanks, but I’m fine. I’d rather do this myself.” 

Another time, Alhaitham has to get up at a time when he should be asleep. Earlier that day, he had left a book of his behind and forgotten about it until now, leaving him to search the now-dark and empty halls of the Akademiya for where it might be. 

He happens to pass by the House of Daena on the way and sees a solitary lamp lit in the back corner where he usually frequents. Out of sheer curiosity, he steps inside to see there’s a familiar figure hunched over the desk, clearly fast asleep with piles upon piles of books and notes stacked around them. 

Alhaitham gazes down at you with his ever-impassive eyes, silently wondering what to do next. A cold gust of air blows through the library and he shivers slightly. He looks down at your exposed arms, then at his jacket, before taking it off and draping it over your form. Catching a cold would serve you no good and you’d most likely return it to him later tomorrow. 

Before he leaves, his curiosity gets the better of him and he takes a quick peek at your notes. 

His eyes widen ever so slightly. Much of the material scattered around your desk was far ahead of what you were and needed to be learning. Did you borrow these books and notes from upperclassmen? The handwriting is a mix of yours and someone else’s… He doesn’t see the point in you doing so- it’s all just unnecessary work, in his opinion. Either way, it’s none of his business and you can do as you please, but Alhaitham can’t help but wonder if you were doing all of this just to stay ahead- to keep up or even surpass him.

He leaves and you wake up soon after to something warm and soft covering your shoulders. It’s a standard Akademiya-issued jacket for the fall and winter terms. It’s way too big on you and the sleeves completely cover your hands. Curiously, you pull it tighter around your form. It smells nice- like old books and coffee- and you suddenly realize who it belongs to. Your face suddenly flushes and it’s not from the warmth of the jacket.

Alhaitham-!

The next day, Alhaitham arrives at his usual spot in the library. You’re sitting across from him as usual and interestingly refuse to make eye contact with him.

Sumeru’s climate has always been temperate, but the days are getting longer and warmer now. You’ve finally shed your winter uniform for your spring one and with the end of the year rapidly approaching comes major tests. The library is the most packed it's ever been with students everywhere cramming last-minute. It’s rare to find an empty table now, but thankfully your spot in the back with Alhaitham is still left unoccupied. If not, Alhaitham’s cold glare is more than enough to scare them away. 

For one of your classes, it’s a project instead of a test. You have the option to choose the type of project, but for some stupid reason, your professor was still assigning partners instead of being able to choose.

“And (Name), let’s see… hmm, I’ll pair you up with Alhaitham. How does that sound?”

Your blood runs cold and you hear your classmates snicker around you. You want to scream at the prospect of it. Sumeru would sooner freeze over before the two of you cooperate and he knows it. You catch him staring at you out of the corner of your eye, daring you to say no. 

You swallow your pride and nod. The tips of your ears burn and at that moment, you wish the ground would open up and swallow you whole. 

“... That sounds fine.”

How humiliating.

Later that day in the library, he’s even more infuriating than normal, if that’s even possible. His face betrays nothing but you can hear the smugness dripping from his voice and mannerisms. His arms crossed in front of his chest, the way he would subtly look down on you with that know-it-all gaze… it all made you want to punch his (handsome) face. 

“Don’t fall behind now,” he says once you’ve finally settled on a project.

“Let’s see if you can even keep up with me.” 

Your project is relatively straightforward but involves a lot of cooperation between you two. As you work, it becomes an all-too-common sight to see you arguing everywhere you go, much to the irritation of others.

“I’m telling you, this character has to be symbolic of rebirth! Why else would we see it so concentrated in scripts that were dated toward the end of that civilization?”

“You seem to be forgetting that this has also been seen elsewhere. Besides, there are reasons to believe that it means something else.”

“What, did it get lost in translation? If you think you’re so smart, then go ahead and enlighten me.” 

You glare at him as he sips his coffee (with milk and two sugars, you note. Just the way he likes it). 

“God, can they just kiss already?” grumbles Kaveh from where he sits across the room. Lisa and Tighnari sitting at the same table nodded in agreement.

“Meeting up to work outside of class is normal, but over lunch? Sounds like a date to me,” complains Tighnari while not-so-subtly eyeing the way you animatedly bicker with him. 

“Hey, isn’t this Alhaitham’s treat as well?” asks Kaveh. Tighnari’s ears twitch and perk up at his question. He glances at the both of you- Alhaitham just paused to ask if you’d like a refill of your tea, and you said yes- before groaning.

“It sure looks like it…”

Lisa decides to take matters into her own hands.

“Are you two arguing or flirting?” she asks in a loud voice.

“Arguing!” you retort. Alhaitham merely rolls his eyes and steals one of your samosas while you aren’t looking. 

“I saw that! Give it back!”

“Too late.” 

Two months, lots of bickering, and lots of coffee later, you present the culmination of your work to the class. For all the headaches and lost sleep you had to endure, your efforts are handsomely rewarded with a perfect score and rare compliments from your professor. And for that alone, it was well worth everything you went through. 

“Good job. It was a rewarding experience working with you. I daresay that our arguments aside, we make for a decent team.” 

You look up to see Alhaitham.

“Oh? A rare compliment from the stoic and sharp-tongued man himself?”

“Don’t make me retract my words.”

“Ouch, how cold of you.” 

When you return to your dorm later that night, there’s a note addressed to you from Lisa.

I overheard one of your professors talking about you and Alhaitham with someone else today- Professor Behnam, I think that was his name? I’m fairly sure this was after you guys presented because they mentioned that briefly. I wrote this down in a hurry as they were speaking, but here’s what he said:

They complement each other perfectly. While they both have unmatched erudition and wit, one has the creativity and uninhibited ambition the other tends to lack. However, he is more pragmatic and logical. Despite their differences, they make for a perfect team.

They will surely be among some of the best scholars the Akademiya has seen in a long time.

You end your first year tied for the top of the class with him.

“I’m home!”

“Welcome home, (Name)! How were your last few weeks at the Akademiya?”

Your parents’ home is as warm and welcoming as always. The house has been freshly cleaned and is practically shining. They take your bags and usher you into the kitchen, where your favorite dishes are sitting on the kitchen table, freshly cooked for dinner with steam still rising from them.

“It’s been fine,” you say. “Stressful, but also enjoyable. I like my classes and I get along with my classmates and professors.” 

“How are your grades? Have they been finalized yet?”

You nod and beam them with pride.

“Ended the year at the top of the class.”

Your parents’ eyes widen and they clap excitedly.

“That’s our child!”

“As brilliant and talented as always!”

“Good, keep going! Remember to study for money!”

“I will!”

Your mother leans in close and clasps your hand in hers. “After these four years, you should continue your education and become a sage! Maybe even work your way up and become the next Grand Sage!”

You balk at the prospect of it.

“A-A sage? Mom, there are tons of talented people in the Akademiya- that’s where the best of the best go to study! The chances that I’ll make it to that point are slim!”

Your father clicks his tongue and shakes his head. 

“Nonsense!” he exclaims. “You ended this year at the top of your class, you know. Besides, you inherited the intelligence of both your parents- I’d imagine that this would be a doable task for you. Also, imagine how amazing it would be if you were to become a sage! You’d be the first one in the family! Wouldn’t that be such an achievement for us?”

“That’s not even true! There was someone else who tied with me for the top of the class as well and if I’m being honest, he has a better shot at it than me!”

Your mom’s eyes sharpen and you instantly regret saying that. 

“He? So… a guy, huh?”

You mentally brace yourself for a barrage of questions.

“What’s his name? What’s he like? How smart is he? Is he good enough for you? Does he have-”

“Dear, stop it,” your father says. “Look, you’re overwhelming them.”

You sigh and shake your head. “For starters, his name is Alhaitham-”

“Alhaitham? I’ve heard that name somewhere before… wait, I remember now!” exclaims your father. “His grandmother was a Ksharewar scholar. His mother was a renowned Vahumana scholar and his father was a mentor in Haravatat.”

“Was?” you ask. Your father bites his lip and looks away.

“... His grandmother passed away a few years ago and from what I heard, so did his parents when he was young.” 

“Oh.” 

The kitchen is silent for a few moments before your father breaks it.

“Wait, (Name), why do you look so surprised? I thought you knew this already, considering he’s your rival and everything! I thought you would at least know something about him.”

“Dad, that’s exactly the point- we’re rivals and I don’t want to know anything about him! All that matters is beating him at his own game and that’s that. Besides, he never tells me anything about his personal life, so why should I do the same?”

“They’re right, you know.”

Your father merely rolls his eyes at your mother’s remark. 

“You know the rules, don’t get too close to him now,” your mother warns. “You have to do whatever it takes to be the best, whatever? That’s what you promised us.”

You roll your eyes. “Yes, mom, I know. I’ll do my best to become a sage.”

Your parents lean in to hold you close, your mother giving you a soft kiss on the forehead.

“That’s our child. Make us proud, ok?”

“I will!”

After a lovely three months of summer vacation (and not being forced to see Alhaitham every day save for the rare occasions where you’d run into him in public- you’d immediately turn the other way and act as if nothing happened), you head back to the Akademiya for your second year. Like last year, you share many of your classes with the bane of your existence, although things are… less tense than they were before. The underlying spark of competition is still there, but not as prominent as before.

Alhaitham is pleasantly surprised at how you’ve mellowed out over the summer. Something in your eyes has hardened and the way your mouth is set is different now. You’ve lost some of the baby fat in your cheeks (shame, he enjoyed poking and prodding at them, much to your annoyance) and you’ve grown a bit taller as well. He’s grown taller as well and to your irritation, he’s gaining on you. He’s put on some muscle as well and according to Kaveh, who you befriended over the summer, he’s started learning the art of the sword.

(“What for?” you had asked back then. He had merely shrugged.

“Too much free time on his hands, I guess. I thought he was training to be a mercenary at first.”

“I just can’t imagine him with a sword. In my mind, I see him toppling over from the weight of it.”

“Same here.”)

On the first day back, you merely greet him with a nod and you’re less opposed to working with him than before- although you can’t seem to break the habit of making a sarcastic jab at him now and then.

As the year progresses though, Alhaitham notices a change in you- namely, your test scores. He catches a glimpse of them sticking out of your folder at the library.

85%. 75%. 83%. 79%. They’re not as good as they were last year but they aren’t a concern for Alhaitham. As far as he knows, you’re still doing good overall and your classes are getting harder. It’s only reasonable and he hasn’t observed any noticeable or drastic changes in your personality, so it doesn’t warrant any concern. 

That is, in his eyes. The same can’t be said for you though.

You didn't realize how much time you had spent studying until the library was closed one day. Sitting at your cramped desk with your roommate you barely know nowhere in sight, you’re suddenly aware of how quiet it is. Normally, you’d hear at least something- people arguing down the hall and music playing, among others. But today, it was eerily silent. 

From the back of your mind, you recall news of a party that was supposed to be happening around this time. Lisa extended an invitation to you but you turned it down, claiming that you had to study. It was a bullshit excuse, now that you think about it. 

(Lisa had looked at you knowingly when you said that, but not in a good way. Worry was present in her eyes, resigned to the fact that she couldn’t do anything.

“Alright,” she had said. “Just… don’t head down the path I think you’re on.”)

Your pen freezes mid-stroke as a horrifying thought crosses your mind. You now finally understand the true meaning of her words. 

Have I… been making the right decisions? How much have I missed out on? 

Your books and the allure of good grades tempt you, but you force yourself to evaluate your life so far. You have some of the highest marks in the entire class but you realize you have almost no experience or connections, and that was what really mattered.

All of the studying in the world can’t compare to pulling a few strings, after all.  

Not long after the year starts, Alhaitham notices that you’ve started going out more. You’re spending less of your time at the library during weekends and instead spending time with friends in the city. 

(“You actually have a life outside of the Akademiya. I’m surprised.”

“I should be the one telling you that.”)

 “Come on, (Name), come join us at the tavern tonight! We booked the place and everyone is going to be there! You’re missing out if you don’t, just saying…”

The familiar voice belonging to a certain blond makes you look up. You huff a sigh and set your notes down to glare at Kaveh, who has been pestering you to go to a party at Lambad’s Tavern tonight. You’re about to tell him you’re not interested when you stop just short of saying so.

Will I regret saying no?

“(Name), you’re young right now! Take some risks and live life a little, otherwise, you’ll have nothing to look back fondly on once you’re all old and wrinkly! That old dusty rock-of-a-friend Alhaitham would say the same thing, you know… although, maybe he’d phrase it differently.”

Kaveh’s right, you realize. I can make up a test. I can always study later. But I’m only young for a little while. I can’t make up for lost time. 

“Just curious- what’s in it for me?”

“Oh, the usual. Free food, entertainment, a break from these stupid books, alcohol- oh, and you might get to see a rare drunk Alhaitham there! Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

“No need to venture into that territory. You already had me at the free food part. So, what time?”

Later that evening at the tavern, you realize Kaveh wasn’t kidding when he said everyone was going to be there- he really did mean everyone the moment you step inside. Lisa is the center of attention with wide-eyed students gawking at her alcohol tolerance- seriously, how is she not drunk yet?- while Tighnari stands in the corner with his ears folded over and eyes squeezed shut. Cyno’s glare is more than enough to scare anyone away as he leads the fox hybrid upstairs toward a quieter spot. 

There’s enough alcohol being passed around to knock a Sumpter Beast unconscious. You only have a few drinks, not wanting to be hungover on a weekday. At one point, a familiar voice drifts its way over to you.

“(Name), over here!”

It’s Kaveh, and… Alhaitham next to him is drunk from the looks of it? His face is flushed and he stumbles as he walks with Kaveh being the only thing stopping him from faceplanting onto the floor. 

“I thought Alhaitham could handle his alcohol?” you ask as you sling one of his arms around your shoulder and make your way out the tavern. 

“He does, but he tried a new type of alcohol tonight that was stronger than he expected. Fire-something… it’s from Snezhnaya, if that explains anything.”

You glance at his heavily flushed face again and sigh.

“Yeah, that explains everything.”

After lugging Alhaitham across Sumeru City and up the many steps leading to the Akademiya, you’re prepared to say goodnight to Kaveh and head back to your dorm when you feel something latch onto your shirt. It’s Alhaitham and even in his drunken stupor, he’s surprisingly strong.  

“Wait.”

“What is it?” you ask after a moment of hesitation. His answer is instant.

“Don’t go,” he slurs out. 

He’s drunk, you remind yourself. Don’t take anything he says at face value.

But even so, you spot the opportunity to tease him. 

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Because… you’re one of my only friends.”

You go quiet at that. Nothing could have prepared you for that response. Every witty remark and sarcastic jab you had prepared on the tip of your tongue fizzled out instantly. Even Kaveh, who has no shortage of words when it comes to Alhaitham, falls silent. 

In the year or so that you’ve known Alhaitham for, he’s never been one to get close with people, instead preferring to keep them at arm’s length. Most likely, it’s the alcohol inhibiting his filter, but you can’t ignore the little flutter in your stomach at his words. 

“I guess you are one to me as well, Haitham. I-”

“Say that again.”

His sudden demand makes you pause. Despite his drunken state, there’s a fire in his eyes that briefly makes you question whether he’s sober.

“... I guess you are one-”

He stops you. “No. Not that. Repeat what you said at the very end of it.”

“Haitham?”

“Call me that again.”

“Haitham.”

“Again.”

A smile creeps onto your face now that you’ve finally caught on. How cute. 

“Haitham.”

“Again.”

And secretly inside, you’re happy. Happy that someone considers you a friend for the first time. You no longer feel dehumanized from idolization or isolated from everyone else and you realize it’s what you’ve been secretly wishing for this whole time. 

“Goodnight, Haitham.”

It’s now a common occurrence between you two to drag each other to activities on the weekends. One day, it’s Alhaitham camping out with you late at night to go stargazing. (“(Name), this is boring.” “You can go home if you want. I won’t stop you.” “Hmph.”) Another day, it’s him inviting you to the various coffee shops throughout the city and sampling their beverages. (“The shop we went to last week does a pour-over better.” “You think so too?”)

Another time, you’re heading back to the Akademiya after a day of shopping and playing Genius Invocation (he lost miserably several times in a row to you, much to his embarrassment). It’s been overcast the whole day and the air has been humid but you nervously brushed off the weather’s warning signs.

Something wet lands on your cheek. You blink and look up, then at the ground where raindrops are rapidly dotting the surface. You meet Alhaitham’s gaze, the rising panic in your eyes apparently visible because he pulls you toward the souvenir shop, where you both seek shelter against the escalating downpour. Sheets of rain crash against the ground and the sides of buildings and the gusts of wind make the trees sway violently. 

(You both, like idiots, forgot to bring your umbrellas. In the middle of Sumeru’s rainy season.) 

You can barely see past your two feet but you can make out something moving nearby, and it’s getting closer. Small, gray, and most definitely sopping wet, it’s… a cat?

The small creature pauses and runs as fast as it can toward you. You take your hat off and scoop it up, where it meows pitifully and sneezes. A quick check tells you that the cat is a girl. 

“(Name), what-”

“Look, Haitham,” you whisper as you shrug your jacket off and dry the cat. “Poor baby must have gotten stranded and lost in the rain. She came running to us for help.”

The cat shakes off the last of the rain clinging to her fur and now you can see that she resembles Alhaitham quite a bit with her gray fur and green eyes. You wonder if she has his attitude as well… 

“I wonder if she’s someone’s pet cat that ran away.” 

“She’s probably one of the city’s many strays. I don’t see a collar on her.”

“She’s well-fed for one…” you grumble, noting her plump belly. “So, can we keep her?”

“(Name), you know animals, unless they’re service animals, are not allowed in Akademiya dorms.”

“That hasn’t stopped people though. Someone on my floor snuck their pet cat into the dorms and it’s an open secret among all of us.”

“But still-”

And then you hit him with puppy eyes. The edges of your mouth quiver and turn down, while your eyes soften and go wide. 

“Please?”

His resolve crumbles instantly.

“Fine. But you’re keeping it.”

You sheepishly smile. “About that…”

What now?

“My roommate is a blabbermouth and a stickler for the rules. If I kept her, she would be gone and back on the streets before noon tomorrow.”

“Are you suggesting that I take care of her?”

“Are you against it?”

“Taking care of an animal is a big responsibility, (Name). One that requires time and-”

“I can help you take care of her. With the two of us looking after her, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being optimistic or oversimplifying the problem here.” 

You roll your eyes and Alhaitham looks off to the side.

“I’ll have to ask Kaveh-”

“Kaveh would be over the moon at the prospect of you bringing home a cat. You know how much he loves animals. This cat will be in good hands under his and our care.” 

Looks like he now has no other choice but to say yes. He heaves a deep sigh and looks back up at you.

“Fine. I’ll keep her in my room.” 

Your face lights up.

“But first, we need to give her a name.” 

You scrunch your brows and think for a moment.

“How about Thamina?”

“Thamina,” he repeats. “Meaning valuable or priceless. It fits well.” 

You become a frequent visitor to Kaveh and Alhaitham’s dorm after that. It gets to the point where Alhaitham gives you his copy of the spare key so you could come and go as you please (to which Kaveh gives him a knowing look that he pointedly ignores for his own sake). At first, you primarily visited to take care of Thamina, but at some point, you began visiting primarily for him. 

Study sessions slowly move from the House of Daena to his room, with him at his desk and you sitting on his bed. Thamina bears witness to the heated debates shared between you two in the late hours of the night and the quiet moments of studying. Alhaitham is there to keep her company throughout the day, but she patiently waits for you after a long day of classes. She watches as you two steal each other’s belongings and food (occasionally joining in if she smelled fish in the box you brought home from a late-night dinner). When there is a disagreement between you two, she’s there to help you reconcile in the form of demanding affection and cuddles. 

But when she and Kaveh are fast asleep, only you two are privy to the heavy conversations that happen once and are never brought up again. 

“Tell me more about your family, Haitham.” 

He freezes, then casts a suspicious glance at you over his shoulder.

“Where is this question coming from? And why?”

You shrug.

“I just wanted to know more about the people that raised you to become the person you are today.”

“... My grandmother raised me,” he says after a moment of hesitation. “I admittedly don’t know much about my parents- only that my mother was a renowned Vahumana scholar and my father was a mentor in Haravatat. They both died in an accident, thus leaving me under my grandmother’s care.”

You make yourself comfortable on his bed and nod, urging him to continue. 

“My grandmother was a Kshahrewar scholar. By the time I was born, she had already retired. As such, she had a lot of free time. We did a lot of things together.”

He pauses to recount his fading memories of her. 

“She liked to bake. Her desserts were on the sweeter side, but I have the recipes. I can tweak them so they’re less sweet for you.”

“I’d like that very much.”

“She liked to cook as well. I’d often wake up to the smell of food in the kitchen and she’d be there at the stove. She’d make my favorites and always save most of it or the best parts for me. Unlike with baking, she never used any recipes for her cooking. I’ve tried to imitate her dishes, but it’s never exactly the same as I remember.”

Haitham’s bed is comfy, you note. You pull the covers over yourself, feeling your eyelids grow heavier. 

“Were you a chubby child who was spoiled by grandma?” you tease.

“Yes,” he admits. 

You giggle. “I wish I could have seen you as a kid, chubby cheeks and all.” 

There are baby photos his grandma kept that he now has, but he’ll never tell you that. 

“Like you, she was more of a tea person than a coffee person. She liked hers sweetened while I liked mine more plain. She never knew where she left her reading glasses and she’d always ask me to find them. When I was younger, she’d read a bedtime story to me every night. If there was nothing we were doing, I’d spend the whole day on her lap as she read the books of my choosing aloud to me. One of the last things she told me was that I was so similar to my father, both in nature and appearance. And more than anything else, she was kind.”

“You miss her, don’t you?”

“Yes. I miss her a lot.”

“Your grandma sounds like an amazing person,” you sleepily mumble. “I would have liked to meet her.”

The last thing you hear before finally drifting off is Alhaitham’s whispered response.

“She would have liked to meet you too.”

And the next night, the conversation is equally as heavy.

“Hey, Haitham.”

“What is it?” he whispers back.

“Do you think that.. I don’t know, that I’m not quite who I used to be?”

Alhaitham sets his pen down.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Do you think I’ve changed in more ways than one?”

“Well, you’re less annoying now.”

You give him a well-deserved jab on the bicep with the end of your pen. Much to your annoyance, he doesn’t even flinch and continues. 

“The way I see it, change is inevitable. We all fight and run from it, but it eventually catches up with us. It is neither good nor bad. Rather, it’s what you make of it. But to answer your question, yes. You’ve matured more mentally. You’ve realized there’s more to life now. You’re learning how to live life on your own terms now, aren’t you?’

Your silence tells him everything he needs to know. 

“Tell me, Haitham. What do you wish for?”

Alhaitham is a simple man with few desires. If all his basic needs and simple wants of books and time to himself are met, then he is content. But your question has him thinking. Is there anything else he wants in his life? 

And it turns out the answer is yes. 

“Regardless of how things turn out in the future, I’d like to be able to continue talking to you like this. That’s my wish.”

Kaveh stirs in his sleep. Thamina rolls over and makes biscuits on your lap. A small smile creeps onto your face. You turn away and resume your work. He does the same.

It’s a mundane scene- two Akademiya students pulling another all-nighter to complete their work. And yet… 

Yes, this is what I want, Alhaitham thinks to himself. Everything I could ever want means nothing if you aren’t here. 

The spring semester comes around and with that comes the finals grind. You’ve thrown yourself into your studies in a last-minute attempt to save, in your opinion, your failing grades since you aren’t at the top of your class anymore. (Alhaitham thinks you’re insane- you’re still in the top five.) As if to rub it in your face, you get a letter from your family one day.

We heard that you’re no longer at the top of your class. What happened? 

Your eyes and mind glazed over the rest of the letter until the end.

Study harder. You can end it the same way you did last year if you would spend more time on it. Don’t get distracted now. 

A rare instance of frustration flashes through you and before you know it, you’ve ripped up the letter and tossed it in the trash. 

Who told them that anyway? 

“Lisa… graduated early?”

The news comes to you over dinner one day when you ask where Lisa is upon realizing she’s not there. You’ve just finished all your finals and you want nothing more than to relax and catch up on some sleep, but news regarding your best friend makes you temporarily forget about those plans. 

Cyno nods. “It’s a whole thing now. They’re saying she’s the best student the Akademiya has had in the past 200 years. Once in a generation is what they’re calling her now.”

You bite your lip and look away. A weak “tell her I said congratulations” is all you can get out as envy begins festering deep within you. You’re ashamed of yourself- she’s your best friend, for Archon’s sake, you should be feeling excited for her- but you just can’t.

Why couldn’t it have been me instead? 

You end your second year third in the class, with Alhaitham at the top.

“Welcome home, (Name).”

The house is a little chilly when you step inside. Dinner has already been prepared- it’s sitting on the table- but it looks like it was made some time ago. Your father ushers you into the kitchen, where your mother waits expectantly, her lips stretched into a thin smile when she sees you. 

There are the usual dinnertime conversations- how has your day been? Fine, yours? Same old, same old- but they feel stiffer than usual. It doesn’t flow and you find yourself internally wincing at the heavy silence between you.

“So.”

You pause and look up at your mother, who has finally broken the awkward silence surrounding the kitchen table.

“We heard you… didn’t do so well at the Akademiya this year.” 

You freeze and internally brace yourself for what is to come.

“Only third this year? (Name), you were first last year, how come you couldn’t place first again? That’s not so hard, is it? You just have to put some effort in, stop being so lazy, and you’ll do fine! Besides, it’s only your second year, what could be so difficult about it? We know you’re smart and that you could’ve easily been first again. You’re just getting complacent, that’s all! Do you really want that Alhaitham to beat you at your own game? How humiliating would that be for us? Think of the embarrassment we, your poor mother and father, would face from others in the Akademiya- our golden child (Name), who was once someone people aspired to be, but now nothing but a disappointment!”

“Your mother’s right, (Name),” says your father. “We have high expectations for you, or should I say, had.” 

Their disappointment cuts deep into your soul, yet something quietly snaps inside you. You glare at them one more time before slipping away.

“I’m not hungry anymore. I’ve lost my appetite.”

You go to your childhood room and lock the door behind you. Your parents’ voices- most definitely talking about you- drift up the stairs and you do your best to tune them out. As if to mock you, hanging on the wall across from you are all the awards you won at academic competitions throughout your life. Trophies, ribbons, certificates, and medals line every bit of space available, all of them with your name and a first-place title proudly engraved onto them.

Now that you think about it, were you really happy with being the best? Your younger self would laugh and say “of course!”, but why exactly? 

And then the realization hits you. You personally felt nothing being the best at everything. The title, the fake smiles, and the forced compliments from others- they couldn’t mean less to you.

You were only happy because your parents were happy. Were you ever happy with yourself- with who you were as a person? You don’t know.

Stars live for an incredibly long time, but they too must die out one day. Their reserves of hydrogen gas will inevitably run out and they will either go out with a bang or a fizzle depending on their size. Larger stars go out in a blaze of glory, expanding up to several times their size before exploding and bathing the universe in the remains of their supernova for eons to come, while smaller ones condense from the gravity pushing inward and shrink down into a cold white dwarf, destined to drift across the universe alone for the rest of time. That is your fate, yet you do not know it yet. The last of your fuel has finally been spent, and the end is nigh. Whether you will go out with a bang or fade into obscurity is something only time will tell. 

You’ve had enough of the stifling atmosphere in the house.

It’s only been a few days since summer vacation began and you’re already at your wit’s end. The heavy silence hanging in the air and their passive-aggressive comments toward you make you want to tear your hair out. Or run away. Maybe both. 

There are still lots of days left before you start class again. Surely there’s something you can do until then…

And then it hits you: traveling throughout Sumeru! You were born and raised in the city, but you’ve rarely ventured outside of its borders. This could be a good chance to expand your horizons and gain experience!

So without further ado, you pack your bags, plan a route, and begin your adventures. Most of the time, you’d leave at dawn before your parents woke up and return late at night after they’d fallen asleep. Sometimes, you wouldn’t return for days, instead choosing to camp outside or stay at a friend’s house for a while. From what you’ve heard through your neighbors and friends, your parents don’t seem to care what you’re doing either. Some of your friends even say that they look happier now that you’re out of the house. The notion stings, but you don’t dwell on it for too long.

There’s a strange sense of peace you feel throughout your travels that’s foreign to you. Whether it’s camping out underneath the stars or scaling a rocky cliffside, you’ve never felt more attuned to yourself than now. You gradually discover more about yourself that you otherwise would have never known. You like stargazing even more after seeing the expanse of the night sky and all its stars for the first time without the light pollution of the city. You like to swim, as demonstrated when you dove headfirst into a river for the first time and felt the cool waters wash over your skin. You’re decently skilled with a bow and arrow after Tighnari gives you some lessons and his old bow to keep yourself safe on your travels.

Most importantly, you discover how to find happiness by yourself. After being told your whole life what you could and couldn’t do, being able to take control of your life was a liberating feeling. 

You end up seeing Alhaitham quite a bit during this time. Strangely enough, he was always one of the first people you’d see returning back to Sumeru City. He’d always give you a subtle nod when he noticed you staring at him before leaving. Sometimes, he’d even be there to wish you a safe trip- no, not sometimes- almost all of the time. It’s basically a given that he’ll be there to see you off at this point. How he hears about it every time, you have no idea but you aren’t complaining. 

“Leaving early as always, I see. Where to this time, (Name)?”

You pause from checking your supplies to see Alhaitham standing behind you.

“I’m heading down to Gandharva Ville to spend some time in the rainforest. But you’re up this early just to wish me a safe trip? I didn’t take you for a morning person.”

“I’m not. But someone should see you off each time, and if your parents won’t do it, then I will.”

“Y-You… how did you know?”

“Know what?” he asks while stepping around to help you with your bag. “All I know is that I’ve never seen them send you off or welcome you back.”

“So be it then,” you grumble. “It’s not as if I care.”

So he doesn’t know about our strained relationship yet, you muse to yourself. That’s surprising, considering how big mother and father’s social circle is… 

“You’re all set now. Best you head off before it gets too hot.”

“I will. You take care as well.”

He watches you leave through the city gates until you’re no longer in sight. A rare expression of longing crosses his face then and only after lingering for a few more moments (with his eyes trained on where you once were) does he leave. 

He was lying when he pretended to be unaware of your family situation. When you’re hailed as one of the best scholars in recent times in a land that has a borderline fanatical dedication to academics, everything pertaining to you will be scrutinized and monitored. Your sudden decision to leave Sumeru for extended periods of time, and the way your parents refused to talk about you or changed the topic whenever you came up… it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. 

For your sake, Alhaitham hopes you would return later rather than sooner so you wouldn’t have to hear what was being said about you. 

“You seem to have gotten good at this,” he remarks over coffee and desserts when you return several weeks later. Alhaitham notices you’ve put on some muscle. There are some new scars and the bow slung on your back is an unfamiliar sight as well. “You would be a perfect candidate for the Adventurer’s Guild.” 

You laugh. “Nah, it’s not for me. As much as I enjoy traveling, I don’t think I could earn my living through it, plus I won’t be able to keep it up once I’m all old and wrinkly.”

“Tell me about your adventures though. Where did you go?”

Your eyes light up and you begin rambling excitedly about your travels. You go into great detail about your time spent in the Avidya Forest and your spontaneous decision to travel to Liyue, which catches him off-guard.

“Liyue?” he repeats when you mention it. “So that’s why you were gone for several weeks instead of days. I’ve never been there before. Tell me, what was it like?”

Your smile grows even bigger and your eyes may as well have been stars from how brightly they were shining.

“Oh, you should’ve seen the architecture- actually, wait, I should be telling Kaveh this- but it was so pretty! The food was super good too and a friend I made shared some of her recipes with me. I have a feeling that you’ll like them so I can teach you some other time! Ooh, and you can’t miss the scenery for the world! Personally, my favorite was…”

You’re so caught up in reliving and telling your adventures that you fail to miss the fond look in his eyes and the rare hint of a smile that stretches across his face. 

You’re halfway through recounting your way back home through the Chasm when you happen to glance at the clock and the realization begins to set in.

“I have to get going now,” you explain as you hurriedly gather your belongings. “I’m meeting up with some other friends in a bit. But thanks for the coffee and sweets. Hopefully, I’ll see you around again sometime soon?”

The chime above the door jingles as you rush outside and Alhaitham is left alone with his thoughts. With a deep sigh, he takes a look out the window and decides to address the thoughts about you that have been on his mind lately. 

You’re annoying, there’s no doubt about that. You love to push his buttons and purposefully irritate him. You’re an overachiever and you care too much about what other people think. For the longest time, your whole personality consisted of your academic accomplishments and nothing else. You’re a people pleaser and you long for acceptance and praise from others- two things he thinks are utterly useless coming from other people. The moment someone questions your abilities, regardless of who it is, you begin to second-guess yourself and waver. Ridiculous, in his opinion. You know your worth and skills better than anyone else, so why are you letting their baseless accusations affect you? You’re easily affected by rumors and your self-worth is determined by what others think of you. 

But you have a warm and welcoming demeanor that’s rare in the cutthroat halls of the Akademiya that draws others to you like a moth to a flame. You enjoy traveling and you have a major soft spot for animals, especially cats. Whenever you’re in the city, you always stop to pet all the strays roaming around, no matter how long it takes. You enjoy sweets- not the overly cloying kind, but the ones that have a touch of sweetness to the point where you can just taste it. Your favorite dessert is the Padisarah Pudding sold in the Grand Bazaar and he’s stopped by so often that the vendor knows his name, face, and order by now. You’re more of a tea person than a coffee person, but he has your coffee order memorized just in case (iced, with two sugars, a splash of milk, and rosewater) and he’s the one that has been mysteriously supplying your favorite tea whenever it’s running low. He notices you like to ramble about things you’re passionate about (and he willingly- gladly- listens too). 

And he’s come to realize that maybe you’re not as insufferable as he thought you were. You have a brilliant mind and you’re one of the few that isn’t put off by his blunt nature. You don’t just tolerate him- you appreciate him, flaws and everything. 

You’ve always been envious of him- he’s known that ever since he met you. Because of him, you have strived to prove yourself as better in all aspects. A stupid rivalry is what it started off as with your pride getting the best of both of you. But throughout these three years, you’ve only brought out the best in each other.

At this point, he doesn’t feel complete without you. 

He’s well aware of the question hanging over people’s minds whenever they see the both of you together. You are the sun, the golden child of your parents who are renowned within the Akademiya and held to the highest level of scrutiny. Their judging gazes, eyes that fixate on every move of yours, comments whispered behind your back- you take them all in stride. Meanwhile, Alhaitham’s presence is glossed over when you’re there. To many, he is just another Akademiya student that they will see in passing and forget about immediately. In that aspect, he is the moon that hides from others. Those who were acquainted with his parents or his late grandmother may recognize him and speak with him, but he mostly goes unnoticed and ignored. 

But free from the prying eyes of others, Alhaitham is able to sleep peacefully at night. Your fitful sleep, on the other hand, is plagued with dreams of what-ifs and the looming fear of disappointment from others. You’ve always succeeded, not because you craved success, but because you feared failure and how others would react.

The rising moon admires the sun because of the boundless love they receive from others. On the other hand, the setting sun is envious of the moon for his sweetest dreams that they can only long for.

You enter your third year with a sense of apprehension that wasn’t there before. Your high hopes for yourself are still there, but they’ve been dashed considerably. But despite your lack of ambition now and your experiences from last year, you still (attempt to) throw yourself into your studies, knowing that this year is where the challenge begins. Your first two years were just warmups, or nothing, according to your parents. 

Your first few weeks go well, but before you know it, you find yourself lost and overwhelmed by the material.

I… don’t understand any of this. But how could this be? I’ve spent so much time. 

Your test scores don’t reflect your efforts either.

45%. 50%. 63% 67%. 55%. 38%.

“Damn it!”

You slam your fist onto your desk table as the results of another failed test greet you. You had spent so much time preparing for this one, only for your efforts to be rewarded with a slap to the face. 

You can’t keep going like this. You need help, and desperately at that, but you can’t bring yourself to ask for it. 

You’re smarter than everyone else, you don’t need help, a familiar voice comes into your mind. You’re the pride and joy of our family because of your grades. Don’t let us down now. 

You look out the window, the heat still simmering in your stomach.

“What a load of bullshit.” 

“... I saw your test scores earlier today.” 

You glare at Alhaitham with poison in your gaze that was never there until now. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he feels strangely uneasy, like his body is warning him to stop. 

“And? Here to mock me for it?”

“No. On the contrary, I want to offer you my help.” 

Oh, the humiliation. Look at how far you’ve fallen. 

“Forget it,” you snap. “I don’t need your help.”

You get up and leave, slamming the doors shut behind you. It echoes through the House of Daena and the other students there turn to stare at Alhaitham in silent shock. He’s stunned too. Although you can have quite the sharp tongue at times, you’ve never lashed out at him like that before. 

A few weeks later, the results of another test are announced. Alhaitham’s name sits at the top like it always has. His name is on everyone’s tongue as they jealously grumble over the results once again. His eyes examine the list, searching for one name in particular, until he finds yours at the bottom of it.

He pauses, then turns around in time to see you storming out. He doesn’t miss the looks your classmates give you- mocking, ridiculing, scornful, and disgusted sneers that relish in your downfall. The jealous grumbles about him now turn into titters and sneering whispers with your name now being trampled upon by those that used to extol your virtues. It’s all noise and it grates his ears until he can’t stand it anymore.

“What a waste of time.”

The noise stops and everyone turns to look at him. 

“You all have the energy to complain about your own scores while making a laughing stock of someone else. It’d be better spent on improving your own scores- unless you’re just that incompetent?”

Later that night as you’re studying, you get a message from your parents through your Akasha. It’s the first time you’ve gotten anything from them all year. After hesitating, you open the message.

It’s short and simple but your heart sinks and your temper flares after reading it. You rip your Akasha Terminal off and toss it to the side. 

Don’t come home this year. 

“I need your help. I’m asking for a friend.”

Alhaitham looks over his book at you. It’s the first time he’s seen you all week and to be frank, you look awful. Your hair is a mess, your uniform is wrinkled, and your skin looks dry and dull.

“Do I know them? If not, then I won’t help.”

You roll your eyes and throw your hands up exasperatedly.  “Ok fine, yes, you know them.”

“Well, why won’t they just ask me themselves? Why trouble you?”

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter right now. Just answer the damn question.”

He leans back and knowingly looks at you. 

“They’re going through a tough time right now,” you explain, choosing each of your words carefully. “They aren’t doing good in their classes and they’re trying to get back on track, but they don’t know how to.”

“... This is for you, isn’t it?”

Damn, he saw right through you. Were you that obvious?

Alhaitham goes back to reading his book. “I can’t say I would be of any use here. After all, I’ve never been in that position nor would I let myself get there.” 

You feel your temper flare once more. You clench your jaw and try to reign in your anger before speaking to him. 

“Well, duh. You’re also not helping either.”

“Really? I think it’s a perfectly reasonable answer.”

“Put yourself in my shoes for once, would you?”

He sets his book down and looks at you.

“You asked me for my advice and I told you what I would do in that situation. I don’t understand why you’re getting upset.”

“That’s because it’s not the answer I’m looking for!”

“That’s on you for expecting others to somehow know what you want without telling them.”

“You-!”

You groan and run your hands through your hair.  Is it just you or is he being more insufferable today? Can’t he read the room for once? 

He continues. “If you wanted someone to only tell you what you wanted to hear, a mirror would be a better audience.”

“Alhaitham, all I’m asking from you is a little empathy. Is that so hard to have?”

“And is it so hard for you to stop throwing a hissy fit just because I didn’t tell you what you wanted to hear?”

His words are all spite and knives meant to hurt. They lack the usual lighthearted tone he has with you. You feel it coming- the barbed words that are poised to strike and cut deep, but it doesn’t help when he begins speaking again. 

 “You asked for my help and I gave you advice. You’re not in a position to be complaining here.” 

“Yeah, well, your ‘advice’ isn’t what most people would consider as help.”

He scoffs and looks away before looking at you once more- like he’s looking down on you, you realize. There’s something akin to disgust and impatience in his gaze that makes you freeze despite all your sharp words earlier. 

“How irrational could you be? You reject everyone’s help even though you need it and you don’t listen to anybody’s suggestions. You’re too caught up in the conception that you’re always right and everyone else is always wrong. You’re childish, (Name), that’s what you are. You’re like a child still naive and ignorant, content with playing with their toys and games and ignoring reality. You’re not cut out for the Akademiya. You never were.”

He laughs and now you realize just how much it hurts when it’s directed toward you. 

“And you’re telling me that my ego is overinflated. No wonder you’re failing everything. Archons, (Name), you’re utterly hopeless. What did I ever see in you?”

The silence that fills the space afterward is enough to make Alhaitham immediately regret his words. You angrily glare at him and Alhaitham’s heart sinks when he recognizes the emotion present in your eyes.

Utter hate.

“... For all these years, I've heard so many rumors about you but chose to brush them off,” you begin. “I was so stupid! I should have listened to them! They say you’re cold and heartless and only now do I realize that they were right. They say you’re not human from how cruel you are- archons, dammit! Look at me!”

The sudden demand makes Alhaitham nervously glance toward you after avoiding your gaze this entire time. You sniff and wipe away the few tears that managed to spill over. Losing your composure in front of him, the perfect and poised genius, was already humiliating enough, but you hold his gaze long enough to let him see. Let him witness the results of his own actions and the prospect of losing someone he cared about (all over again).

“You’re an absolutely horrible person, Alhaitham. I hope you remember this.”

Alhaitham. It’s the first time you’ve used his full name ever since you befriended him and the implications of it sting. 

He reaches out toward you. “Wait-”

You slap his hand away. 

“No, we’re done here. I thought you could at least understand, but you’re just as uncaring and self-centered as everyone else here. And I once thought that you were better than anyone else here, but only now do I realize how stupid I was."

You laugh sardonically one last time.

“My parents were right. They would have been so much happier if you were their child.”

Alhaitham doesn’t see you again for several weeks after that. It’s as if you’re purposefully avoiding him and it gets to a point where he’s beginning to get concerned about your health and safety. 

Currently, he’s meeting with Tighnari. Out of everyone, the fox hybrid had the highest chance of knowing with his keen sense of hearing.

“I’m concerned about (Name).”

Tighnari’s ears twitch in response. 

“They aren’t the same person anymore. You’ve seen it too.”

The fox hybrid sadly nods. “They’ve been consumed by rage and self-hate. I see it in their eyes and the way they lash out. They’re angry at themselves and at everyone around them and it’s completely understandable considering the situation and the response of those they trusted most. Still, it’s not healthy if they continue like this. Speaking of which, were they always this temperamental?”

Alhaitham shakes his head. “No. To be clear, they’ve always had a sharp tongue but it was always lighthearted. They only started getting truly angry this year.”

“Lashing out or displaying signs of anger is often a common symptom of burnout. I’m fairly confident that’s what (Name) has. Specifically, academic burnout. But I’m sure you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Alhaitham uncomfortably avoids Tighnari’s prying eyes. 

Tighnari’s eyes narrow. “Look, (Name) is a great friend to me as well, but why are you telling me about this? You’re in their Darshan so shouldn’t you know more?”

“I haven’t heard anything about them either. I got concerned after they didn’t show up at the library for a week. From what I’ve heard, they haven’t been showing up to class either for the past few weeks, which is strange for them. I’m asking around- maybe I’ll find something out that way.”

Tighnari shakes his head. “Sadly, I don’t know why either. If it helps, some people have said they haven’t even seen them. Not just at the library or at class but in general. It’s almost as if they’ve just… disappeared.”

There’s a moment of silence that passes between them. Tighnari stares at Alhaitham curiously and he rests his chin on his hands.

Alhaitham doesn’t have a good feeling about this…

“Speaking of which, does the fight from earlier have anything to do with this?”

“You knew?”

“Please. When two of my closest friends get into an argument as big as that, I’m bound to find out eventually. So, did it have anything to do with this?”

“... Yes,” he admits. “I feel guilty and I want to apologize to them.” 

“Well, better late than never,” grumbles Tighnari under his breath. The stink eye he sends his way doesn’t go unnoticed by Alhaitham. 

“Why do you care for them so much?”

The question comes out of nowhere and leaves him reeling. 

“I suppose it’s… because I consider them a friend?”

Archons, that answer sounds even more pathetic out loud than it did in his head and Tighnari knows it. 

Tighnari heaves a long sigh that makes Alhaitham pause.

“You absolute lummox!” he snaps. “I always knew you were somewhat emotionally constipated but I didn’t think you’d be this dense…”

He suddenly stands up and stares the ashen-haired male in the eye, his tone softer this time. 

“You’re in love with them, Alhaitham. That’s what you’ve been feeling lately.”

Alhaitham immediately scoffs. “No, that can’t possibly be-”

“You, who hates sharing what you consider yours, share your notes with them.”

“It’s a win-win situation for both of us. We’re in the same Darshan and we’ll be able to learn better from each other.”

“But them, specifically, when there are countless others that would kill for the chance to learn from you?”

“They can figure the material out themselves. Plus, I stand to gain no benefit from what they have to offer.”

“What, so only (Name) can keep up with you?”

“Precisely.” 

Tighnari sees the opening Alhaitham has created and takes advantage of it.

“Are you sure that you’re still rivals? Even though (Name) is…”

“Of course. It’s been like that since day one.”

“Huh, that’s interesting. Because from what I know, academic rivals don’t go out to lunch together. They don’t go stargazing even though a certain someone finds it mind-numbingly boring. They don’t sneak out past curfew and break Akademiya rules on a daily basis, and they certainly don’t spend hefty chunks of Mora to make the other happy.” 

Tighnari has Alhaitham backed into a corner and he knows it. 

“Kaveh knows as well.”

“And?”

“And you still let yourself get roped into his schemes to make them happy. Look, I know this isn’t a good time to bring him up considering…”

He gestures at the empty space, a silent indication of Kaveh and Alhaitham’s broken friendship. 

“But there’s no denying that Kaveh did and still does care about you. Why else would he be willing to put in so much time and effort to make them happy? Because in addition to being their friend, he knows that when they’re happy, you are as well. And if that doesn’t mean something, then, I don’t know what else does.”

“We’re just friends,” he argues once again. Tighnari glares at him.

“You’re an idiot to think it doesn’t go deeper than that. You also saw them off every single time during the summer.”

“That’s what friends do. Besides, their parents should have-”

“Uh-huh. Go on, keep lying to yourself like that. Do I have to hit you over the head with a brick in order for you to realize your own feelings? You’re sounding like a broken record here.” 

“I-”

“There’s no use in denying or lying to us, Alhaitham. We’re your friends, after all. But the one who’s going to have to decide what to do next is you.”

He gets up and gives Alhaitham a pat on the shoulder. Before leaving, he looks at him one last time.

“It’s going to hurt even more when you lose them for good. You’ll only wish you could have done something sooner. But I think you already know that by now, right, Alhaitham?”

“Do you know where (Name) is?”

It’s a rare occasion today- Alhaitham actually showed up for class. But it wasn’t to listen to whatever the professor had to say- no, it was to ask your classmates where you went. He’s been trying every day to find you, but only to no avail. 

He’s gained some valuable information, however. Your roommate moved out a while ago, leaving you the sole occupant of your dorm room. He also managed to find your dorm room number after asking some of your “friends”, who after relentless prying, reluctantly opened up. 

“I can’t say for sure, but I heard they’re in the hospital. They somehow ended up there over the weekend.” 

“The hospital?” he repeats. “Do you know why?”

“No idea. Sorry.”

He shows up at the Birmarstan after the class ends, fully expecting to see you. He gives the nurse his name and a few minutes later, she returns with an apologetic smile. 

“Sorry, but the patient is not accepting visitors at this time.”

A slight pause. Barely perceptible.

“I see.”

You look at the window to see Alhaitham’s retreating form. The nurse enters your room a few minutes later and crosses her arms.

“He’s the first person who’s asked to visit you ever since you came in. I’m surprised- I thought you’d get more. Most people usually do.”

You pull the covers over your head and roll over. Such is the way of life in the Akademiya. Friendships were formed out of convenience as a way to climb up the ladder later in life. As soon as you were no longer useful or fell from grace like you did, others were quick to abandon you without a second thought. 

So why did Alhaitham visit then? To you, your relationship (as enemies? Friends? Or even…) was built solely on how you could assist each other, and nothing more. By your prior logic, there is no logical reason why he should visit you.

Unless… 

“Is there any reason why you didn’t want to see him in particular?”

Even if your hypothesis proved to be true, it doesn’t excuse or undo the hurt he caused.

“He’s the last person I want to see right now.”

A few days after being discharged from Birmarstan, there’s a knock from the door that wakes you up from your sleep. Still disoriented, you look up and roll over, opting to ignore it and go back to sleep.

The knocking continues. You cover your ear with a pillow and squeeze your eyes shut even more.

“I know you’re there, (Name). Several people told me so.”

Shit, it’s the last person you want to see right now. Your mood sours instantly and now you’re fully awake. 

“What do you want?” you snap. 

“I just want to talk.”

It doesn’t seem like he’ll be going away anytime soon, so you get up, kicking the trash that litters the floor to the side, and carefully cracking open the door. He looks down to see you. You pull the sleeves of your shirt down as he does so. 

“Can I come in?”

You look behind at the mess that is your dorm.

“... It’s not exactly clean right now.”

“That doesn’t matter to me.”

You flick the lights on and hide the worst of the trash underneath your bed. He follows you, his gaze traveling around the room. He notices the side with the unoccupied bed is considerably cleaner (that must have been your roommate’s before they moved out, he reasons) and your desk looks like it hasn’t been used in a while. He takes a seat at it and examines the table. Your Akasha Terminal is lying in the corner and collecting dust. Your textbook is open to a section that was taught a while ago and it looks like you just started taking notes. 

(Although, the frustrated scribbles that occupy most of the page have him concerned. Additionally, certain parts of the paper are wrinkled, as if they have dried after getting wet. The shape and spot where they are concentrated in is another cause for concern as well. Were you… crying?)

You pull the covers over your form and glare at him. 

“Well? What did you want to tell me?”

“I’m sorry.”

You pause, then shake your head.

“That alone won’t be enough.”

“I know. And that’s why-”

He gulps, his voice shaking toward the end. It’s just a simple apology, so why is he so nervous?

(But deep down he knows the real answer: this is his last chance to ask you for forgiveness before losing you for good. And it was the thought of losing you, the one that had managed to worm their way into his heart and appreciate him that scared him the most.) 

“I’m sorry. I really am. I shouldn’t have said those things back then. I should have been more understanding of your struggles and, like you said, had some more empathy. I realize that I am far from an ideal friend in many people’s eyes and if you feel the same, I will not hold that against you.”

His chest tightens and he subconsciously looks away.

“I’m aware of how people see me- valuing logic above all with a mind fueled by equations and facts over feelings. A genius with no regard or need for others. But I’m still human. I feel regret and remorse the same way as anyone else. I know when I’ve messed up and when I need to apologize. Now is one of those times, more than ever.” 

You turn around and open the blinds, letting the light flood the room before sitting back down, watching him carefully. 

“I don’t want to forgive you. Do you have any idea how long your words lingered for?”

The words sting Alhaitham. Your voice shakes and you feel the familiar burning sensation in your eyes. 

“But I know you. I know your bluntness and sharp tongue. You often say hurtful things but don’t mean them. You’re stubborn and slow when it comes to apologizing, even if the guilt eats away at you. You don’t wear your heart on your sleeve and you’re not one to dish out praises, leading others to believe that you’re cold and unsympathetic.”

You suddenly lean in, staring into the eyes that had kept you awake at night for so long. His eyes widen slightly and you smile faintly to yourself. 

“But I like to think that I’ve gotten to know you a bit. You show that you care with your actions, not your words, but that takes time- time that most people aren’t willing to give because of their first impression of you. You take the time to learn about the people you care about and prefer acts of service to words of affirmation and physical touch as your love language. You show that you care in a way of your own.

“So yes. I forgive you.”

Alhaitham finds himself sighing with relief. Yet a question still lingers in the back of his mind.

“Why?”

And there it is again, for the first time in a long time. Your smile. It’s a little stiff and awkward, as if you haven’t smiled in a long time, but it’s undoubtedly yours. 

“The same reason. I missed you too.” 

And now begins the uncomfortable process of recovery. 

“How long were you gone for?”

“... Longer than I’d like to admit. Catching up is going to be a difficult task, isn’t it?”

“I won’t sugarcoat it; you’ve missed a lot.” Alhaitham flips through your books and notes from prior years. “However, you have a strong foundation from your earlier years. That should help you. But first, let me ask you a few questions so I can outline a study plan for you.”

You raise your eyebrows at his statement.

“You’re taking this quite seriously, aren’t you?”

“Naturally,” he replies. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Knowing you, you’re not the kind of person to go out of your way for others,” you grumble. “So going to such lengths just for me…” 

“You discredit me if you think that I would do that. But why do you think you felt burnt-out in the first place?”

You look out the window and think for a bit.

“... I think it’s because of my own pride. Had I asked for help earlier on, I have a feeling I wouldn’t be in this position, or things would be better, at least,” you admit. 

“But it’s more than that, isn’t it?”

You sigh and hold your hands out in defeat. “You surely know more than you’re letting on. But I think it’s also because I never learned how to study.”

Alhaitham pauses at that. “Really?”

There’s no mockery or derision in his question- just curiosity. 

“People goaded me on as a gifted child and I was expected to somehow know how to do everything perfectly the first time, you know? It’s just how things were.”

“Well, that’s something we can fix for sure.”

Your first few days back are the worst. Whispers and stares follow you wherever you go and your professors, who once showered you with praises, look at you strangely or even ignore you. 

“Don’t mind them,” he says when he notices you sulking in the library later that day. “You and I both know that’s just the way the Akademiya is. We’ll see who gets the last laugh.” 

Much to the envy of your classmates, he also personally tutors you in all your classes. He accompanies you to all your classes (even the ones he isn’t taking) and sits in on them, whispering and writing little notes of clarification and elaboration. 

Bit by bit, you see your scores slowly improve. Alhaitham teaches you an array of study techniques, many of which have been personally vetted by him.

“Try each of them out,” he says. “Different techniques work for different people. There is something out there that works for you.”

He’s able to bear witness to the fruits of your labor one day when he hears your excited footsteps running toward him.

“Haitham, look!”

You practically shove several papers into his face. “I got a perfect score on the latest exam! And guess what? I tied with you, meaning that I also placed first!”

A rare smile, solely reserved for your eyes, creeps onto his face. 

“Good job. Your score is well-deserved after all the hard work you’ve been putting in.”

He sees it now. Slowly but surely, you’re regaining bits and pieces of your old self. You’ll never be exactly who you once were, but that’s ok. You’ll pick the broken yet salvageable parts up and put them together to create something new yet still distinctly you.

He only looks forward to seeing what you’ll become in the future. 

You’ve finally graduated.

It’s a joyous occasion today, filled with speeches, hugs, and promises to keep in touch. Families and friends crowd outside the Akademiya to congratulate their loved ones. The diploma in your hands and the cords around your shoulders are a sign of your achievements and your persistence despite all the roadblocks you faced along the way. 

Your heart feels simultaneously burdened and relieved. You had graduated squarely in the middle of the class. You knew it was something to be proud of, yet that part of your former self that you could never suppress couldn’t help but feel disappointed. 

Not that it really bothered you anyway. When you walked across the stage to the smattering of applause accompanying your name, you had immediately locked eyes with Alhaitham in the crowd. He was clapping, but what caught your attention the most was the smile he sent your way. It wasn’t one of his once in a blue moon microscopic ones.

No. It was one where you could see a sliver of his teeth and where the edges of his eyes crinkled from it, the sight of which sent your heart ablaze. There was pride in his gaze and in that moment, you felt as if everything had been worth it- even if it wasn’t the outcome you expected. 

And when he walked across the stage, you were the one to clap for him the loudest. 

You push your way through the heavy crowds, searching for one person in particular. He’s not anywhere in the crowd, so you head down the walkway and there you see him. He’s waiting for you with a large bouquet of flowers in his arms.

“Took you long enough,” he remarks. Alhaitham holds out the flowers to you and you accept them gratefully. 

“Oh, you remembered my favorite flowers!” you exclaim as you examine the bouquet. “I have something for you as well.”

You hand him an envelope and he eyes it curiously when a voice interrupts you. 

“(Name).”

You hear an awkward cough behind you and you turn to see your parents. They stand there awkwardly, fidgeting with their hastily-purchased bouquet of flowers that pales in comparison to what Alhaitham got you. 

(You don’t even like the kind of flowers your parents got for you and you’ve told them that before…) 

“Congratulations on gradu-”

“Oh, you must be Alhaitham!”

Your mother’s sudden remark takes all of you by surprise. She rushes forward and eagerly shakes his hand.

“I’ve heard so much about you! You just graduated and you’ve already made a name for yourself in Sumeru as a genius! How incredible is that? Ah, if only my child here could learn from you, but they’ve already graduated, so it’s a little too late for that now…”

You bite your lip and look away. The action doesn’t go unnoticed by Alhaitham. He retracts his hand. 

“It was nice to meet you. We’ll be taking our leave now.”

“We’ll?” 

Alhaitham ignores them in favor of holding your hand and leading you away.

“I think a celebration is in order. The owner of the stall that sells your favorite Padisarah Pudding is offering us free dessert today.” 

The heaviness that was hanging over you just a moment ago is now gone.

“Free desserts? I’m in!”

“Then it’s settled.” 

Later that night, Alhaitham remembers the letter you gave him earlier and pulls it out. He glances at the clock. There’s still time before he has to leave and meet up with you.

Dear Alhaitham,

Thank you for being by my side throughout these four years when no one else was. I owe my entire academic career to you. Perhaps even my entire life. I don’t know if I’d be writing this letter if it weren’t for you. 

When I saw you on the first day, I wondered what you were doing here. You were short, scrawny, and shy back then. I thought you were one of those child prodigies. Who knew you’d turn out to be the buff man skilled with the sword that I know today… 

Honestly, I didn’t think that you would help me. You were the envy of our class, unlike me. I wouldn’t be surprised and I wouldn’t blame you if all that praise got to your head. I guess I didn’t know you well enough back then, though, because you defied all of my expectations. Not only did you not care for status or fame, you also took time out of your own day (which I know you hate doing) for me. 

You really are an enigma, Haitham. You’re a person with several layers and hidden secrets like an intricately-designed mechanism. But I think that’s one of the reasons that drew me to you. Everyone has their own secrets and burdens. By slowly learning more about each other, you learn more about yourself. 

You and I, we are inseparable now. Earlier today, I had someone come up to me and ask where you were. They were surprised that you weren’t next to me like always. At first glance, we seem more different than similar, especially with our contrasting personalities. But take a closer look and they’ll see that we share more in common than in differences. Opposites attract, but similarities bind. 

Like those dusty old philosophers and figures that we had to learn about in class, we are parallels of each other. You are simultaneously my biggest critic and supporter. My biggest rival and confidant. My biggest headache and source of comfort. 

But most importantly, you are my biggest friend. 

Remember that one night where I asked you what you wished for? You had said that you wanted to keep talking to me regardless of how things turned out in the future. I didn’t really have a response at the time, but now I finally do.

My wish is selfish. I wish for you to stay the way you are. A little arrogant, blunt, curious, and caring in your own way. Because I can’t imagine a future without you in it now. 

With all my love,

(Name)

The house is too quiet for Alhaitham’s liking. He appreciates silence when working and Kaveh’s incessant noise from working on projects at midnight is downright irritating, but there is a time and place for everything.

Now is not that time. Thamina is sleeping on the cushion next to him. Kaveh is out in a meeting with a client (for once) and you’re-

“I’m home!”

Speak of the devil, there you are. Thamina’s eyes open and she jumps off the cushion to greet you with a loud meow and a head rub against your legs. Alhaitham takes his headphones off and sets his book down before getting up to greet you after a long journey back from Mondstadt. You’re tired, your uniform is wrinkled, and your Kamera has been hastily shoved back into its case, but Alhaitham has never been more grateful to see you. 

“Missed me?”

“You’ve been gone for too long,” he grumbles before pulling you into a tight hug and burying his face into the crook of your neck.

“Love, it was only for a month!”

“My point still stands.”

You scrunch your face up and eventually manage to wiggle your way out of his grasp. It’s been a few years since you’ve graduated. Alhaitham has dutifully taken on the responsibilities of the Akademiya’s Scribe while you now work as a reporter for a newspaper company. You love the job because it puts your Haravatat degree to good use and you get paid to travel, although you don’t like the part of being away from Alhaitham for extended periods of time.

“Are you still up for dinner and dessert even though it’s getting late?”

“At my favorite place?”

“Our favorite place,” he corrects.

“Oh, you like it now as well? Did some of my tastes rub off onto you?”

“The pudding runs I went on for you did that a long time ago.”

Comets are ephemeral in nature. Some of them are only seen once and then gone, lost in time and never to be seen again. But occasionally, in a twist of fate, they can be rediscovered although it may take hundreds or even thousands of years for them to return.

That comet he had wished upon several years ago had finally returned to him.

#favoniuslibrary #astronetwrk #genshin impact x reader #alhaitham x reader #genshin fanfic #genshin x reader #genshin imagines #genshin impact x you #genshin impact x gender neutral reader #alhaitham x you #alhaitham x y/n #alhaitham x gender neutral reader #victoria.writes

[bruciemilf]

Bruce's relationship with his male Rogues vs his female Rogues is. So interesting to me.

Because you have his Rogues like the Joker, who he has actual conflicts with—Bane, Scarecrow, Penguin, Two-Face, Black Mask. All the men have honest beef with him. Death traps, elaborate evil schemes, bombs (oh my God the BOMBS), murder attempts.

But the women? They're friends with him. All his female Rogues see him as an awkward annoyance at worst (Ivy), and boyfriend material at best (Selina). Harley's square in the middle as "weird little brother." They toe the line of chaotic and lean so dangerously close to vigilante so often that Bruce just. Lets them be. Gives perfunctory attempts to catch them, but most times it ends with them just talking.

I'm 95% sure they know he's Bruce Wayne but don't say anything out of courtesy.

Batman strikes fear in the hearts of men and only men, and I think that's honestly iconic of him

GOD YESSSSSS LIKE - It'd be redundant to add something to this; Like painting over Mona Lisa but I'll do my best because this is actually one of my favourite topics.

I feel like I could word this a lot better, but I just feel like men dehumanise eachother to a concerning amount. Not Bruce, - if anything, he's on some saint shit by trying to rehabilitate these guys. But it's more of a " I can fix him" dynamic that you just won't see with the sirens

It's like - I don't have evidence of this, it's more of a " call it like I see it" headcanon, but Bruce? Most definetly was bullied by guys before.

I can't really go into details, but Bruce has " guy who could hang with the girls and girls only in high school" energy.

It's kinda telling that he has a relatively positive relationship with women and inspires a sense of safety with them that I've seen no other male hero achieve, but he ALWAYS has beef with men. Truly an awkward women's ally icon

More so? I can honestly see Bruce and the sirens as that non-toxic middle aged friend group that went through hell and back together and their paths always merge into eachother

Like? Give me Bruce trying to stop them from a heist. He's tired and Selina can see it, eyes sharp, designed to see detail. " Wait. Have you been crying?"

Harley drops her hammer with a gasp. " Oh my God, have you?"

Bruce's arms drop limp at his side and he takes a very deep breath. " I fought with Harvey last night and he brought up my parents. "

" No."

" He didn't."

" Are you kidding me? Oh, he's SUCH an asshole," Pamela somehow always has a wine bottle ready and Selina's in charge to bring the glasses, because at least one of them will need to rant about male rogues. " Tell us everything, hon."

" It's just, - GOD, is it too much to ask? One thing, - one goddam thing I ask of him in two decades, don't bring up my dead parents when I punch you in the face! But no. "

" Let's key his car."

" I'm going to his parent's grave to steal their jewlery and I'll wear them next time we fight. "

" Oh my God, could you imagine what face he'd make?"

" Which one?"

#bruce wayne #batman #dc #dc comics #harley quinn #poison ivy #pamela isley #selina kyle #catwoman #gotham sirens #text #bruce for the guy who protects drunk girls at college parties and walks his female co workers/employees home and gives them cool weapons

[perfectsunlight]

01 ⸺ MASTER MANIPULATOR

warnings: mildly suggestive, manipulation, anger issues, trust issues, toxic behavior, insecurity within a relationship, controlling relationship, lisa and y/n are js horrible for each other basically...

word count: 5.1k

part of the series: LOGICAL

​​when two people are like fire and gasoline, it's best to keep them apart. but logic never applied to y/n and lisa's relationship.

if y/n was fire, lisa was gasoline. 

their relationship was a constant battle of intense emotions, a dangerous dance between fiery passion and explosive reactions. when they clashed, things got ugly very quickly.

yet, amid the chaos, there was an undeniable magnetism that kept pulling them back together. 

their love was a dangerous addiction, and both of the girls had been hooked.

lisa manobal was both the bane of y/n kim’s existence, and the love of her life. because loving lisa meant loving contradiction, she was a puzzle of contrasting pieces.

one moment she could be the most loving and sincere person, and then the next turn incredibly cold and angry. there were many nights where the girl spent hours in screaming contests with her girlfriend, only to end up falling asleep on her chest afterwards.

at this point in the relationship, y/n knew better than to distinguish the two as different people. 

she understood that the girl she loved encompassed both the best and worst aspects of her life. and lisa would say the same things about y/n, as well.

“were you arguing with y/n last night?”

the blonde asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as lisa threw her practice shirt over her head. she mentally cursed coach kim for making monday conditioning practice at 5 in the morning. the superstar sighed at the mention of her girlfriend’s name, already feeling the irritation brewing in her once again.

“yeah. i was.”

jeon somi knew better than anyone that the two lovers were always arguing. she had even come home to the apartment to witness lisa and her girlfriend involved in a heated argument. it usually ended either one of two ways. 

and both of those ways left her with no sleep. however this time the point guard wasn’t at the dorm this time, which made it worse. 

“you two aren’t good for each other, you know.” somi mumbled, pointing a chopstick at her friend. the basketball star turned her head and scoffed at the center. “yeah? and does aeri know about you kissing chaeyoung? because i can easily let her know.”

lisa's sharp retort hung in the air, and the taller girl physically recoiled, her eyes widening in surprise and fear. the threat was clear, and the tension in the room escalated. it was early, the sun still asleep and the sky still dark. 

but even in the darkened room, somi could see the intensity swirling in her roommate's eyes.

somi's lips pressed into a thin line, her fingers nervously tracing the rim of her coffee cup. she had touched a nerve, and it was evident in the way the other girl’s jaw clenched and her shoulders stiffened. 

the mention of her infidelity was still a sensitive subject for her, even if it happened well over a month ago.

“you don't have to bring aeri into this,” somi said, her voice barely above a whisper, attempting to maintain her composure despite the storm brewing in her chest. “we're talking about you and y/n, and how i can’t sleep because you’re arguing over the phone at midnight.”

ygu’s most venomous let out a sarcastic chuckle, taking a sip of her water before pulling the team’s jacket on. “then sleep at aeri’s. you should know by now that i’m not breaking up with her.” she said flatly, checking her hair in the hallway mirror. “besides,”

lisa met somi's eyes in the mirror, her own gaze challenging. “i don't need a lecture from someone who cheated on their girlfriend. i would never cheat on y/n,” she retorted, her voice laced with dragged out vowels and pointed shade. she swung her bag over her shoulder before walking towards the front door.

“now hurry up. i don’t want to be late because of you.”

“you look exhausted. did you even sleep?”

“yeri unnie, i don’t want to do this right now.” y/n said flatly, tightening her laces as she spoke. the locker room was empty, save it be for the two cousins. yeri took a seat next to her, staring at her with a pointed gaze. 

silence followed from the younger girl as she tried to just ignore her cousin’s questioning. she was too tired to deal with this, especially since they had conditioning in a few minutes. 

yeri leaned back against the concrete wall, letting out an audible exhale before speaking once more. 

“it was lisa again, wasn’t it?”

y/n's fingers faltered for just a half second, but it was enough for the eldest to notice it. it was all the confirmation she needed.

"what was it this time?" yeri asked, lazily draping an arm over her cousin.

y/n shot yeri a sharp glance, her patience wearing thin. “unnie, seriously, not now,” she snapped, her tone laced with irritation. she resumed tying her laces, trying to focus on the task at hand rather than the conversation she didn't want to have.

she removed her arm from y/n's shoulder but fixed her with an unyielding stare. “you can't keep avoiding it, y/n. this has been going on for months, and you're clearly not okay.”

rolling her eyes, y/n huffed out a frustrated breath. “do you think i enjoy this? do you think i like going to bed every night with a knot in my stomach, wondering if we're going to wake up still together?” she scoffed and glanced at the older girl for a brief moment, “and what do you want me to do? wave a magic wand and fix everything? i'm tired, okay? so, please, spare me the interrogation right now.”

yeri didn’t have time to come up with a response before her aunt and coach walked into the locker room. “yerim, your socks are inside out.” coach taeyeon pointed out as she threw away the last bit of her apple in the nearby trash can. 

“aw man, again?”

y/n shook off the rest of her drowsiness as she rose from the bench and moved towards the door, but not before her mother stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. the young girl turned to look up, watching as coach taeyeon’s eyes scanned her face briefly. “you didn’t sleep last night.” she observed out loud, raising an eyebrow at her daughter. the brunette forced a tired smile, attempting to brush off her mother's concern. “i was just studying late, it's nothing,” she replied with a small nod.

as if on cue, the muffled voices of jeon somi and the last girl y/n wanted to see were heard from down the hall. 

kim taeyeon's gaze remained sharp as she narrowed her eyes slightly. “stop waiting until the night before to study. i need you at your best on the court. we have a game next week.”

y/n quickly nodded before moving past her mother, not being able to deal with standing in the same room as her girlfriend at the moment. it was bad enough that they had argued the night before, but there was also no point in talking to lisa when she was most likely still irritated.

“on the baseline.” coach irene called out, her voice echoing off the walls of ygu’s gymnasium.

the command pulled y/n from her thoughts, and she quickly jogged towards the baseline, her mind shifting gears from personal issues to the grueling conditioning ahead. coach irene bae, a no-nonsense woman with a reputation for pushing her players to their limits, scanned the team with a stern expression.

“good morning, vipers.” coach kim called out. “good morning, coach.” was the team’s reply, the crisp echo of the unified response filled the gymnasium, setting the tone for the intense training session that lay ahead. “i’d like to start off by stating the obvious,” coach taeyeon walked slowly with her arms behind her back, scanning each of her players one by one.

“you’ve gotten lazy.” 

the gymnasium fell into a heavy silence as coach taeyeon's words hung in the air. every pair of eyes, including y/n's, were fixated on their coach. the atmosphere was thick with anticipation; the vipers were used to tough love, but there was something different in coach taeyeon's voice this time, a mix of disappointment and determination. 

“we were the champions last year, but that doesn't mean we can rest,” coach kim continued, her gaze unwavering. “complacency has no place in this team. if you're not giving your all, you're giving nothing.”

coach irene, standing beside the head coach, added her voice to the conversation. “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. see to it that our team has none.”

“it’s 5 in the morning. if she starts with suicides, i’m hanging myself in her office.” yena muttered next to her. y/n bit back a small laugh at her roommate’s comment, looking down quickly at her shoes to make sure irene wouldn’t see her laughing.

“alright, ladies, you know the drill. let's start with suicides. and i want to see speed!” coach irene barked, shaking the drowsiness from the other players. 

the whistle blew, and the players exploded into motion. the rhythmic pounding of sneakers against the gym floor resonated in the air, blending with the sounds of heavy breathing and the occasional encouraging shout from a teammate. y/n focused on her breathing, on the steady beat of her heart, allowing the repetitive motion to clear her mind.

y/n's muscles protested with each stride, but she pushed through the pain, knowing that stopping wasn’t an option. despite the sounds from the pounding of her feet and the thumping of her heart, y/n could only focus on the pair of eyes locking with hers with every touch on the line.

seulgi and lisa were captains, meaning they always stood next to each other towards the front of the line. with every downward touch to the line, y/n could see lisa clearly. 

in the midst of exhaustion, y/n's mind wandered back to their conversation in the locker room. the challenges with lisa, the late-night arguments, and the strain it put on their relationship – all of it seemed distant. they both knew better than to bring their issues to the court. 

here, they were not lovers. they were just teammates.

eventually, the suicides ended. yuqi was standing with her arms over her head, yeri was hunched over, yujin and somi were both leaning against each other, and both hanni and rei were laying down on their backs. 

“if i get arthritis at 30 i’m blaming coach bae.” yena muttered under her breath as she took a seat on the floor next to y/n. the other girl snickered, catching the attention of both of their coaches. 

“y/n, yena. you two still have energy, clearly. down, plank for 5.”

yena groaned, y/n sighing in defeat as the two got into position. the only sound was the faint shuffling of sneakers as the rest of the team recovered from the suicides. y/n shot a quick glance at her roommate, who was already grimacing. the strain of the exercise was evident on both their faces, but y/n was determined not to let her arms give out before the countdown ended.

the five minutes felt like 5 hours, but eventually the suffering came to an end. “y/n, up.”

“what about me?!” yena called out, looking up at coach irene with an incredulous look. irene raised an eyebrow at yena's comment, her lips twitching in a half-smile. 

“what was that about you hanging yourself in my office?” 

yena groaned dramatically but didn't argue further, knowing when it was best to relent. 

y/n staggered to her feet, her arms and legs feeling like jelly after the intense workout. she moved to the nearby bench, wiping the sweat from her brow with the front of her sleeve. from behind, the point guard felt a familiar hand on the back of her wrist. 

she didn't need to turn around to know it was lisa. 

the point guard felt a water bottle slip into her hand without another word, and just like that lisa’s touch was gone.

y/n took a long swig from the water bottle, feeling the cool liquid replenishing her parched throat. the taste was familiar; it was lisa's preferred brand. even though there were no words exchanged, the simple gesture spoke volumes. it was a testament to their unspoken understanding, that sometimes they didn't always need words.

sometimes y/n thinks lisa is better at that fact.

conditioning continued on for another hour, and needless to say everyone was on the verge of either throwing up or passing out. especially yena, who was perhaps on her 5th punishment plank of the practice.

once the players retired to the locker room for showers, y/n took a seat next to her cousin once again. yeri slung an arm around the younger girl.

y/n leaned into yeri's comforting embrace, feeling the soreness in her muscles gradually ebbing away. the locker room was alive with a symphony of laughter, groans, and the hiss of water hitting the floor as the players showered off the day's intensity.

“can you believe she’s planking again?” y/n said, her voice a mix of exhaustion and triumph. yeri chuckled, her arm tightening around her cousin. “she’ll get us in trouble if she mouths off in a game.”  

the point guard nodded in agreement, a small smile playing on her lips. yena’s rebellious spirit was both endearing and worrisome. while it added a touch of humor to their intense training sessions, it was also a trait that could potentially lead to trouble during crucial moments in a game.

she glanced at the way seulgi and irene were talking in a corner of the locker room. there was rumor that the senior captain and assistant coach had something going on between them for some time now, but y/n would never ask her mother about it.

“do you think they’re dating? or just hooking up?” yeri whispered, eyeing the two in the corner as well. y/n leaned in closer to yeri, her voice barely above a whisper. the rumors about seulgi and coach irene had been circulating for a while, and the mystery surrounding their relationship had piqued the curiosity of the entire team. “i have no idea,” y/n admitted, her gaze fixed on the pair. “they're both incredibly private about their personal lives.”

the older girl nodded as she stood, yawning as she stretched her arms. “are you spending the night with yuqi and i again?” she asked. y/n hummed for a moment before answering. “i’ll let you know. we haven’t talked since last night…” 

yeri gave her a knowing look, but decided on not saying anything. y/n waved her cousin goodbye before making her way to one of the open showers. almost all of the team was gone by now, or about to leave. thankfully, this meant y/n could shower a bit longer without interruptions.

the warm water hit across her skin, as the steam curled around her, y/n closed her eyes, allowing herself a moment of respite. the shower had always been her sanctuary, a place where she could let go of the world, if only for a little while. 

even after, the young girl was lost in her thoughts. she placed her clothes inside the team backpack before she felt a familiar set of hands around her waist.

y/n leaned back slightly, allowing lisa to wrap her arms around her, her grip gentle yet reassuring. “rough day,” lisa murmured, her voice soft against her girlfriend’s ear. y/n nodded, appreciating the comfort the basketball star brought. 

“yeah, but we made it through.”

lisa pressed a small kiss to the back of y/n's head, inhaling the scent of the shampoo on her head. “we always do,” she mumbled.

“i’m still mad at you.” the shorter girl muttered, back still pressed against her lover. lisa let out a soft sigh, her fingers gently tracing patterns on y/n's waist. “i don't see why you're so upset, babe. she's just a friend.” 

y/n pulled away slightly, turning to face lisa with a serious expression. “i still don’t like how you’re always talking to her. you tell her everything too.”

a small scoff escaped the taller girl’s lips, “am i not allowed to tell my friends about my life? or my problems?”

y/n's frustration simmered beneath the surface. “it's not about you sharing your life, lisa. it's about the way you're sharing it with her. it feels...intimate. and you already know how i feel about her.”

the star rolled her eyes before quickly being replaced by a defensive edge. “she's just a friend, y/n. you're blowing this out of proportion.”

y/n's jaw clenched, her patience wearing thin. “it's not just about her. it's about us. i need to know that i can trust you, completely.”

lisa sighed, running a hand over her face as she let go of her girlfriend’s waist completely. she took a glance towards the office, making sure neither coach irene or coach taeyeon were still around at the moment. the athlete turned around to face her girlfriend once again.

“trust? you know i trust you. but you're always so suspicious. i can't talk to anyone without you assuming the worst.”

y/n shook her head, her voice determined. “it's not suspicion, it's concern. i've seen the way she acts around you. i've seen the way you respond to her messages.”

lisa's eyes narrowed, her tone sharpening. “so now you're monitoring my messages? that's a breach of my privacy.”

“so what?” y/n snapped, pointing a finger at her girlfriend. “i have every right.”

ygu’s most venomous scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. “right? you don't get to invade my privacy and then claim you're right. that's not how this is going to work.”

y/n's face contorted with anger, her fists clenching at her sides. “you're the one who's making this relationship impossible. i can't trust you, lisa. you've broken my trust over and over again. i tell you that i don’t like it when you do something, then you promise me you’ll stop, and then i catch you still doing it!”

lisa's eyes flashed with irritation. “oh, don't play the victim here. you're not innocent in this, y/n. your jealousy and constant need for control are suffocating.”

the room seemed to vibrate with their mutual resentment, toxic energy swirling between them. y/n's voice rose, laced with frustration and hurt. “i'm not suffocating you. i just want a relationship built on trust and respect. is that too much to ask?”

“trust and respect? you don't even trust me to have a conversation with someone without assuming the worst. that's not trust, that's paranoia.” the taller girl shot a piercing gaze to the point guard.

y/n's face flushed with anger, her voice sharp. “i'm not paranoid, stop making it sound like i’m batshit crazy. i'm just tired of your lies and secrets. if you can't be honest with me, then maybe we shouldn't be together.”

lisa's eyes turned icy, her voice cutting like a knife. “oh, you’re not going anywhere.”

“what do you mean, i'm not going anywhere?” y/n asked, her voice quivering despite her attempts to sound strong.

the taller girl’s lips curled into a small smile, a cruel glint in her eyes. “you think you can just walk away? after all we've been through? you're mine, y/n. you don't get to leave.”

the point guard rolled her eyes and swung her backpack over her shoulders. “i’m tired of talking to you.” she huffed, moving to walk out of the locker room.

the shooting guard’s smile faded, replaced by a growing anger. she swiftly moved to block y/n's path, her tall frame imposing and intimidating. “we're not finished here.”

y/n glared at lisa, her anger simmering just beneath the surface. “yes. we are.” she spat as she pushed past her girlfriend, ignoring the way the locker sounded when it collided with the taller girl’s fist. that was definitely going to leave a new dent.

“you’re up late.”

y/n looked up from her desk to see yena leaning in the doorway. the point guard gave her a half smile, “couldn’t sleep. i’m just journaling now.” she shifted in her chair to face her roommate better. “did you get back from yuri’s?”

yena nodded, her eyes scanning the appearance of her closest friend. “yeah, just got back. she made some weird concoction, but it surprisingly tasted good. also,” she leaned closer and chuckled softly. “you’re wearing my sweater?”

y/n glanced down at the oversized sweater she had draped over her shoulders. “oh, yeah,” she said, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. “i hope you don't mind. it was on my bed and i got cold. plus, i need to wash all my stuff.” 

yena waved off her concern, a playful glint in her eyes. “nah, you’re good. besides, i have like ten more of those in my closet, so feel free to borrow them whenever you want.” 

she perched on the edge of y/n's desk, her expression turning more serious. “but seriously, what's going on, y/n? you've seemed really off lately.” y/n hesitated for a moment before deciding to confide in her friend.

“you already know what i’m going to say.” she chuckled as she closed her journal and slid it back into its place on her shelf.

yena's expression turned into a knowing frown, her eyes filled with concern. “do you want to talk about it? or do you want to do something to take your mind off of it?”

“hm,” she rubbed the back of her own neck before giving her a small smile. “i think i’d like a distraction.”

“a legal one or–”

“yes, a legal one, choi yena.”

the other athlete chuckled, her laughter carrying a hint of mischief. “hey, i just had to make sure! wouldn't want to accidentally involve you in any late-night heists or anything.” she winked playfully, her lighthearted demeanor bringing a small smile to y/n's lips. 

“you would drag me into something like that,” y/n replied, the tension in her shoulders easing ever so slightly. “can we bring yuqi with us?”

yena grinned mischievously. “oh, absolutely. with yuqi's height, we'll be unstoppable.”

“...you better be implying something legal. we have a game soon.” y/n threw a pen at her roommate as she stood up.

“who said coaches have to know?” she called out over her shoulder, grabbing the keys to her car from the counter. y/n glanced up from putting her shoes on, furrowing her brows with a chuckle. “yena…are you forgetting who my mom is?”

“damn. you’re right.”

“where are you?”

y/n looked up into the sky, ignoring the way her face was freezing from the winter air. she watched her breath dance as she exhaled through her nose before replying. “with yena and yuqi. why?”

“i miss you. come over.”

the point guard looked over at her friends in the distance, watching as they ate their fries on the curb. y/n had told them her mother called, excusing herself from them for a moment.

of course, she was lying about who had called. and she was sure they knew that too.

“i’m still mad at you, lisa.” she whispered just loud enough for her girlfriend to hear.

“i know. but just come over. please.” 

there was a light pause, and y/n could feel the refusal on the tip of her tongue. until lisa spoke the next words that changed her mind.

“we don’t have to talk.”

y/n couldn’t remember what bullshit excuse she gave yena and yuqi. she couldn’t remember how long it took her to get from her dorm to lisa’s. it was all just morphed into one blur.

but one thing was for sure. she’d always remember the familiar burn on her skin whenever her girlfriend touched her.

“somi’s sleeping at aeri’s tonight,” lisa whispered into her girlfriend’s ear as she pulled the point guard into her lap.

y/n felt her heart race as lisa's warm breath brushed against her ear. the familiar scent of her girlfriend's perfume mingled with the subtle aroma of the room, creating an intoxicating atmosphere. despite her earlier resolve, y/n found herself succumbing to the magnetic pull between them.

the basketball star's arms wrapped around y/n, pulling her closer until there was no space left between them. it was as if the two came to a silent agreement, ignoring the troubles and complications that clouded their relationship at that moment.

“we have a scrimmage tomorrow.” the brunette whispered back as a small warning, already feeling lisa’s hands trailing up her back.

her hands moved in a slow, deliberate manner, tracing patterns on y/n's back as she leaned in, her lips barely brushing against her girlfriend's earlobe. 

“i know,” she murmured, her voice low and husky, sending shivers down y/n's spine. “but we have tonight.”

y/n closed her eyes, succumbing to the sensations that coursed through her body. it was a dangerous game they played, skirting the edges of their relationship's complexities, yet in that moment, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

the room seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of them entwined in a dance of longing and desire. for a brief moment, y/n allowed herself to forget about the arguments, the suspicions, and the doubts. all that mattered was the here and now, and the way y/n knew that this version of her girlfriend wasn’t the one punching lockers.

as lisa's lips found her neck, y/n let out a soft sigh, her fingers tangling in her girlfriend's hair. it was a temporary escape, and they both knew it. but neither of them cared. 

“let me kiss you,” lisa whispered, hands resting on the back of y/n’s bra. she could feel the way her girlfriend’s fingers caressed the clasp. “i’ll be gentle…”

the logical part of her brain screamed at her to stop, to resist the pull of lisa's lips and the promises whispered in the quiet of the night. but the ache in her heart, the need for connection and reassurance, drowned out the voices of caution.

y/n needed this kind of reassurance. that no matter what happened between them, she would always be the one in her girlfriend’s bed at the end of the day.

she nodded, a barely perceptible movement, granting permission for lisa to bridge the distance between them. the basketball star's lips met y/n's with a tenderness that belied the storm within both of them. 

lisa's hands cradled y/n's face gently, as if she held something infinitely precious. her kisses were soft and feather-light, tracing a path along y/n's lips. she’d spent countless nights with the young point guard like this.

every part of y/n was memorized by lisa. just like every part of lisa was memorized by y/n.

y/n slipped a finger on the waistband of her girlfriend’s sweatpants, not moving further, but just resting there. “we have a scrimmage tomorrow,” lisa whispered, reciting y/n’s own protest from earlier. 

“shut up.” y/n mumbled, her touch traveling further as her fingers traced the contours of lisa's abdomen, mapping the familiar terrain of her girlfriend's body. lisa smirked, her lips curving into a playful smile. 

lisa moved one of her hands away from her lover’s back and instead intertwined their fingers. the smaller girl glanced at her girlfriend’s knuckles with a small pout, seeing the small bruises forming around from lisa’s burst of anger earlier.

she was reminded of the reason for their heated argument of the past two days. y/n narrowed her eyes slightly, pushing lisa onto her back as she straddled her waist by shifting her position.

“do you think im pretty?” y/n whispered, looking into the eyes of the girl she had loved for the past two years. she could feel the jealousy creeping up in her chest. she hated the way she argued with her girlfriend. she hated how insecure she felt in her own relationship.

and she hated park chaeyoung for being the reason why.

lisa’s hand unclasped the back of y/n’s bra, watching it fall from underneath her shirt as she answered.

“you’re very pretty, princess.”

feeling the weight of her own insecurity, y/n leaned down, capturing lisa's lips in a hungry kiss. it was a desperate attempt to drown out the doubts that plagued her, a way to seek solace in the tangible affection between them. lisa responded eagerly, her hands sliding up y/n's back, pulling her closer, their bodies molding together in the familiar dance of desire.

but despite the intensity of their kiss, a shadow of doubt still lingered in y/n's heart. she broke the kiss, her breaths uneven, her eyes searching lisa's face for reassurance while the girl’s hands slipped into her shorts.

“promise me, lisa,” she pleaded, her voice wavering. she didn’t know if it was from her own worries, or from the way lisa was touching her. “promise me that there's nothing between you and chaeyoung.”

lalisa’s expression softened with understanding, her free hand gently tracing the contours of y/n's face. “kim y/n, you're the only one i want,” she said, her voice filled with sincerity. 

“there's nothing between chaeyoung and me, i promise.” she added, already sliding the point guard’s underwear to the side. y/n's heart wavered, torn between her lingering doubts and the intoxicating desire lisa stirred within her. 

she was desperate to believe in her girlfriend, to drown out the uncertainties that clouded her mind. 

and the fiery passion in lisa's eyes, and the way she touched her, were persuasive arguments that spoke louder than words.

“i love you,” the basketball star muttered against y/n’s lips, already making her fingers at home in the only part of her girlfriend that no one else could ever have. immediately, y/n replied with a soft moan, attaching her lips to lisa’s in a shallow kiss. it was a reminder to lisa, that it was only in moments like this where her girlfriend truly felt reassured.

even if she knew that they’d be yelling at each other again by the end of the week, she didn’t care. y/n kim was hers, and she always would be.

“i love you too.”

TAGLIST ⸺ ✭ @silantryoo @rosiehrs @niniwhiskers @cwpiqwon @jisooftme @1luvkarina @scarfac3 @santasbitch @lisas-earlobe @wallfl9wer @aerihiltonn @unforgivenangel

OPEN!! comment below the masterlist to be added.

#smau #kpop smau #blackpink #blackpink smau #lisa x reader #lisa manobal #blackpink x reader #lisa manobal x reader #kpop angst #wlw #angst #blackpink angst #original work #logical #perfectsunlight

[answer2jeff]

from velcro to bunny ears — carmen berzatto.

warnings : mentions of emotional neglect ?? distant relationship from siblings. not an x reader.

a/n: i wrote this in 20 minutes please excuse me if there are any typos..

I have a feeling Carmen always had trouble with the milestones other kids his aged reached.

Mental math, riding a bike—it all came to him much slower than he was ever comfortably able to admit. Kind, but not smart. Polite, but not friendly. Creative, but not handsome. Imaginative, but not funny.

He's been this way for as long as he can remember, occasional dabbles in art and his passion for culinary being the only part of himself he could be sure would be seen as the best of the best, even if he didn't truly believe he was quite at the epitome of perfection.

Shoelaces.

Fuck, were those the bane of his existence at just 7 years old. Stupid Velcro that made a tearing sound that was similar to a bloodcurdling scream.

He'd been wearing shoes with Velcro strips, or short laces that purposefully looked tucked and didn't require tying, since he could walk.

Jesus. Carmen never even learned how to tie them. Asking anyone, even his mother, was simply too much to ask. Instead, he would insist that Velcro shoes were okay, and he wasn't too old for them.

Until Uncle Jimmy came to visit during the summer of 1998.

Mikey, barely 16, was out with friends for the weekend, possibly getting drunk on beaches and rolling joints on the roofs of parking garages. And 11 year old Natalie was celebrating her classmate, Ashley's, 12th birthday. Rollerblade hockey was the new craze. Why wait for mucky fishponds and vast lakes to solidify and freeze over in the dead of winter when you could just go across the street and bust your ass on the concrete instead?

It wasn't necessarily Carmen's idea. Cicero, being the overbearing babysitter he'd become due to Donna's negligence, couldn't handle seeing his poor little nephew cooped up in the tiny upstairs bedroom riddled with hand drawn artworks plastered on his walls. It wasn't right. Summer was for bruises and scabs that would be forgotten about with the booming sound of fireworks and taste of sugary popsicles dripping down your arms.

"Why don't you go hang out with the kids across the street, Bear?" Cicero asked him. Carmen picked his little head up from his sketch book and looked out the view of his window.

He only shrugged.

"They're playin' rollerblade hockey. Your brother Mikey fuckin' loved that, y'know? When he was your age, I mean. Give it a shot, eh? Might be nice kids."

The Raymondville's. Carmen didn't know much about that family. He didn't know they were nice, or played rollerblade hockey like his older, therefore much cooler, big brother. All he knew was that they were also older, therefore much cooler than him too.

That's all that mattered anyway. But he had this tendency to follow in his brothers footsteps. With Jimmy's rare visits and Donna's unpredictable and equally scarce moments of wanting to be an actual tender and caring mother, Mikey was the closest thing to a reliable adult he ever had. Natalie was too busy spending every moment she could out of the house until she'd come crawling back to Mom, who would only scold her for ever wanting to leave in the first place, to notice how perfectly Carmen blended into the wallpaper.

A happy house.

Rollerblade hockey sounds fine.

After a dig through the attic and rummaging through a box of old sports equipment—low and behold lied the skates. Black and turquoise. Mikey's favorite colors. The 4 wheelers were a little intimidating, but Carmen faintly remembered spending a week with Aunt Lisa and learning how to at least stroll down the sidewalk of his cousins neighborhood.

"Go on," Cicero gave a gentle push to Carmen's small and trembling shoulders, leaning back on the front porch to carefully watch his nephew try and be an active member of society from a distance. His little blonde curls blew in the evening wind, the humidity from earlier in the day still weighing them down. His hands shook vigorously which were tightly gripping a pair of Mikey's old rollerskates.

A jumble of "hi's, my name is," and "can i play's," fell out of his quiet mouth. They were met with nods from the 5 boys, easily ages 9-12, the oldest being 13. But this was only after shared glances and shrugs of discomfort were shown. The Raymondville's had never seen this fragile little kid in their lives: short and skinny. But they knew the Berzatto's. They knew cool Mikey and pretty Natalie—but not average Carmen. A breath of relief washed over Carmy, and he sat down on the fluffy and bright green grass to remove his white lace-less sneakers and shoved his feet into the slightly too big skates.

The straps snapped down easily. But those damned laces, thick and white with little black stitching, taunted him. He swallowed.

Carmen simply tucked them in, his stomach queasy at the feeling of the plastic aglet's poking his feet.

He stumbled a bit, but he secured himself as he remembered to bend his knees just a bit. It wasn't all too different from skating on the ice in mid-January. Except now it was mid-June, and every wheel could easily catch itself in the bumps and cracks of the old streets of the neighborhood that hadn't been patched in years. But alas, the laces came loose, and one had caught right in the metal bolt of the wheel and zipped right around it, knocking little Carmy off his feet and onto his bum.

Tears immediately pricked at his waterlogged eyes when he looked around just to see everyone had already started the 5th game of the day without him.

Uncle Jimmy simply sighed and beckoned his hand toward himself, shaking his head in pity rather than surprise. Carmen's shoulders shook with silent sobs as he held his skates in one skinny arm and his sneakers in the other. He couldn't even wipe the snot that pooled from his nose or the consistent tears that streamed down his cheeks and soaked his t-shirt.

"Jesus," Cicero swore under his breath, leaning forward "Nobody ever teach you how to tie your shoes, Carm?" he raised a brow, carefully taking his nephews Velcro shoes and setting them down on the porch beside him. At 7 years old, with a one sibling being 12 and the other being nearly 16, one would expect he could tie his own shoes. He couldn't tell which question was greater: how he hadn't learned through observation, or why he never just asked?

"N—no," Carmen hiccuped, wiping his eyes and taking a seat down beside his uncle. He carefully watched as Cicero went through step by step instructions of the 'bunny ear' method. The little boy was mesmerized by the simplicity of the loop Cicero wrapped around his thumb, pulling it into a tight and secure bow in such quick timing. He never forgot after that day.

Sometimes he still mumbles "wrap around the coop, push through the loop," as he ties the laces of his white Nike Cortez sneakers before going on his 3rd soul searching and ultimate sensory seeking 15 minute walk of the week.

"Bunny ears," Uncle Jimmy said to Carmy.

And 'bunny ears' he did.

tags : @lemmejustpulloutmylightsaber @sexyyounglatinoboy @febris-amatoria

#carmen berzatto #carmen berzatto blurb #i need to see more posts like this #just talking about carmen #and his childhood #carmen berzatto headcanons #the bear #cicero the bear #uncle jimmy the bear #natalie berzatto #mikey berzatto #ugh this blurb is so cute #but sad

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

After a brutal preliminary round, we have reached the tournament proper. Round 1 will consist of 64 matchups, with 1 through 32 in Week 1 and 33 through 64 in Week 2, and those groups will continue to alternate through the rounds until we reach the Finals, which will consist of both the final matchup for first place and a matchup between the two losers of the semifinals for third place.

This tournament has concluded, and the winners can be found here.

Links to a google sheet with the original submissions and a google doc with all propaganda for all submissions with content warnings can be found here.

If you have any trigger warnings you want me to include (you can check against what is already being tagged here), please submit them here.

And if you want to create a prediction for the whole tournament, you can create and submit it here because why not, right? Let's see who gets it right! Go here, scroll down, and click the green button saying "Create a Prediction"!

NOTE: You can use a phony email address when they ask for one.

Now, for some convenient links to the matchups!

The matchups were as follows:

ROUND 7 - FINALS AND 3RD PLACE

WEEK 12

127.) Bumble (Warrior Cats) vs Cordelia Chase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series) 128.) Asuna (Sword Art Online) vs Misa Amane (Death Note)

ROUND 6 - SEMIFINALS

WEEK 11

125.) Bumble (Warrior Cats) vs Asuna (Sword Art Online) 126.) Cordelia Chase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series) vs Misa Amane (Death Note)

ROUND 5

WEEK 10

123.) Katherina Minola (The Taming of the Shrew) vs Cordelia Chase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series) 124.) Misa Amane (Death Note) vs Abbie Mills (Sleepy Hollow)

WEEK 9

121.) Bumble (Warrior Cats) vs Alex DeWitt (DC Comics) 122.) Asuna (Sword Art Online) vs Sakura Haruno (Naruto)

ROUND 4

WEEK 8

117.) Katherina Minola (The Taming of the Shrew) vs Talia al Ghul (DC Comics) 118.) Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones) vs Cordelia Chase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series) 119.) Misa Amane (Death Note) vs Casca (Berserk) 120.) Elektra Natchios (Marvel Comics) vs Abbie Mills (Sleepy Hollow)

WEEK 7

113.) Starfire (DC Comics) vs Bumble (Warrior Cats) 114.) Alex DeWitt (DC Comics) vs Leafpool (Warrior Cats) 115.) Kamala Khan (Marvel Comics) vs Asuna (Sword Art Online) 116.) Sakura Haruno (Naruto) vs Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones)

ROUND 3

WEEK 6

105.) Katherina Minola (The Taming of the Shrew) vs Orihime Inoue (Bleach) 106.) Talia al Ghul (DC Comics) vs Athena Cykes (Ace Attorney) 107.) Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones) vs Mary Winchester (Supernatural) 108.) Natasha Romanoff (MCU) vs Cordelia Chase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series) 109.) Misa Amane (Death Note) vs Madison Paige (Heavy Rain) 110.) Casca (Berserk) vs Hélène Kuragina (War and Peace) 111.) Elektra Natchios (Marvel Comics) vs Susan Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia) 112.) Mikaela Banes (Transformers) vs Abbie Mills (Sleepy Hollow)

WEEK 5

97.) Starfire (DC Comics) vs Marwa (What We Do in the Shadows (TV Series)) 98.) Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball) vs Bumble (Warrior Cats) 99.) Alex DeWitt (DC Comics) vs Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Miraculous Ladybug) 100.) Leafpool (Warrior Cats) vs Lisa Cuddy (House MD) 101.) Kamala Khan (Marvel Comics) vs Stephanie (EverymanHYBRID) 102.) Malty S Melromarc (Rising of the Shield Hero) vs Asuna (Sword Art Online) 103.) Sakura Haruno (Naruto) vs Pussy Galore (Goldfinger) 104.) Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones) vs Flora Reinhold (Professor Layton)

ROUND 2

WEEK 4

81.) Kendra Young (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series) vs Katherina Minola (The Taming of the Shrew) 82.) Naomi Misora (Death Note) vs Orihime Inoue (Bleach) 83.) Talia al Ghul (DC Comics) vs Grelle Sutcliff (Black Butler) 84.) Athena Cykes (Ace Attorney) vs Kotori Mizuki/Tori Meadows (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL) 85.) Kairi (Kingdom Hearts) vs Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones) 86.) Mary Winchester (Supernatural) vs Chloe von Einzbern (Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA) 87.) Natasha Romanoff (MCU) vs Gwen Stacy (Marvel Comics) 88.) Eve (Paradise Lost) vs Cordelia Chase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series) 89.) Misa Amane (Death Note) vs Nezuko Kamado (Demon Slayer) 90.) Margaret Houlihan (MASH (Movie 1970)) vs Madison Paige (Heavy Rain) 91.) Casca (Berserk) vs Stephanie Brown (DC Comics) 92.) Dahlia Hawthorne (Ace Attorney) vs Hélène Kuragina (War and Peace) 93.) Sonia Hedgehog (Sonic Underground) vs Elektra Natchios (Marvel Comics) 94.) Susan Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia) vs River Tam (Firefly) 95.) Mikaela Banes (Transformers) vs Momo Yaoyorozu (My Hero Academia) 96.) Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs Abbie Mills (Sleepy Hollow)

WEEK 3

65.) Starfire (DC Comics) vs Gwen (BBC Merlin) 66.) Marwa (What We Do in the Shadows (TV Series)) vs Azula (Avatar the Last Airbender) 67.) Chloe Bourgeois (Miraculous Ladybug) vs Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball) 68.) Bumble (Warrior Cats) vs Irene Adler (BBC Sherlock) 69.) Alex DeWitt (DC Comics) vs Amber Volakis (House MD) 70.) Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Miraculous Ladybug) vs Jade (Dragon Quest 11) 71.) Leafpool (Warrior Cats) vs Holy Kujo (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders) 72.) Mikan Tsumiki (Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair) vs Lisa Cuddy (House MD) 73.) Kaede Akamatsu (Daganronpa V3) vs Kamala Khan (Marvel Comics) 74.) Teresa (Maze Runner Series) vs Stephanie (EverymanHYBRID) 75.) Ochako Uraraka (My Hero Academia) vs Malty S Melromarc (Rising of the Shield Hero) 76.) Asuna (Sword Art Online) vs Tasha Yar (Star Trek: The Next Generation) 77.) Sakura Haruno (Naruto) vs Hinata Hyuuga (Naruto) 78.) Quiet (Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain) vs Pussy Galore (Goldfinger) 79.) Ann Takamaki (Persona 5) vs Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones) 80.) Flora Reinhold (Professor Layton) vs Deanna Troi (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

ROUND 1

(Due to limits on links per post, Round 1 links are here.)

WEEK 2

33.) Kendra Young (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series) vs Sylvanas Windrunner (Warcraft) 34.) Katherina Minola (The Taming of the Shrew) vs Barbarara Gordon (DC Comics) 35.) Arcee (Transformers) vs Naomi Misora (Death Note) 36.) Orihime Inoue (Bleach) vs Julia (Hellraiser) 37.) Talia al Ghul (DC Comics) vs Amy Amanda Allen (The A-Team (TV Series)) 38.) Britta Perry (Community) vs Grelle Sutcliff (Black Butler) 39.) Athena Cykes (Ace Attorney) vs Carmelita Montoya Fox (Sly Cooper) 40.) Kotori Mizuki/Tori Meadows (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL) vs Iris Sagan (AI: the Somnium Files) 41.) Kairi (Kingdom Hearts) vs Clarke Griffin (The 100) 42.) Gamora (MCU) vs Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones) 43.) Mary Winchester (Supernatural) vs Konan (Naruto) 44.) Jade Harley (Homestuck) vs Chloe von Einzbern (Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA) 45.) Natasha Romanoff (MCU) vs Sylvia (Two Gentlemen of Verona) 46.) Dragona Joestar (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The JOJOLands) vs Gwen Stacy (Marvel Comics) 47.) Katara (Avatar the Last Airbender) vs Eve (Paradise Lost) 48.) Jiang Yanli (Mo Dao Zu Shi) vs Cordelia Chase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series) 49.) Misa Amane (Death Note) vs Nami (One Piece) 50.) Rey (Star Wars) vs Nezuko Kamado (Demon Slayer) 51.) Tetra (The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker) vs Margaret Houlihan (MASH (Movie 1970)) 52.) Amy Pond (Doctor Who) vs Madison Paige (Heavy Rain) 53.) Casca (Berserk) vs Sweet-P (The Caligula Effect) 54.) Stephanie Brown (DC Comics) vs Aki Izayoi/Akiza Izinski (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's) 55.) Dahlia Hawthorne (Ace Attorney) vs Ophiuchus Shaina (Saint Seiya) 56.) Hélène Kuragina (War and Peace) vs Laurel Lance (Arrow (CW)) 57.) Sky (Lost in Blue) vs Sonia Hedgehog (Sonic Underground) 58.) Elektra Natchios (Marvel Comics) vs Celica (Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia) 59.) Charlie Bradbury (Supernatural) vs Susan Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia) 60.) Mildred "Millie" Knolastname (Helluva Boss) vs River Tam (Firefly) 61.) Allura (Voltron: Legendary Defender) vs Mikaela Banes (Transformers) 62.) Ophelia (Hamlet) vs Momo Yaoyorozu (My Hero Academia) 63.) Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs Alys Brangwin (Phantasy Star IV) 64.) Abbie Mills (Sleepy Hollow) vs Misaki Unasaka (Buddy Daddies)

WEEK 1

1.) Starfire (DC Comics) vs Nya Smith (Lego Ninjago) 2.) Natasha Rostova (War and Peace) vs Gwen (BBC Merlin) 3.) Marwa (What We Do in the Shadows (TV Series)) vs Mikoko Sakazaki (Kaiji) 4.) Azula (Avatar the Last Airbender) vs Jennifer Lopez (John Dies at the End) 5.) Chloe Bourgeois (Miraculous Ladybug) vs Milla Maxwell (Tales of Xillia) 6.) Kallen Kouzuki (Code Geass) vs Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball) 7.) Padmé Amidala (Star Wars) vs Bumble (Warrior Cats) 8.) Irene Adler (BBC Sherlock) vs Leia Organa (Star Wars) 9.) Alex DeWitt (DC Comics) vs Elya Musayeva (Топи/The The Swamps (2021)) 10.) Is (Kamen Rider 01) vs Amber Volakis (House MD) 11.) Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Miraculous Ladybug) vs Throné Anguis (Octopath Traveler 2) 12.) Jane Crocker (Homestuck) vs Jade (Dragon Quest 11) 13.) Leafpool (Warrior Cats) vs Katherine Pierce (The Vampire Diaries) 14.) Holy Kujo (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders) vs Poppy Pipopapo (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid) 15.) Mikan Tsumiki (Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair) vs Ochette (Octopath Traveler 2) 16.) Lisa Cuddy (House MD) vs Brunhilda/Mym (Dragalia Lost) 17.) Kaede Akamatsu (Danganronpa V3) vs Juvia Lockser (Fairy Tail) 18.) Agent Texas (Red vs Blue) vs Kamala Khan (Marvel Comics) 19.) April O'Neil (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)) vs Teresa (Maze Runner Series) 20.) Stephanie “Steph” Nocanonlastname (EverymanHYBRID) vs Megaera (Hades) 21.) Ochako Uraraka (My Hero Academia) vs Julia Wicker (The Magicians) 22.) Ran Mouri (Detective Conan) vs Malty S Melromarc (Rising of the Shield Hero) 23.) Magne (My Hero Academia) vs Asuna (Sword Art Online) 24.) Tasha Yar (Star Trek: The Next Generation) vs Yan Hui (Back from the Brink) 25.) Sakura Haruno (Naruto) vs Ada Vessalius (Pandora Hearts) 26.) Hinata Hyuuga (Naruto) vs Niki Nihachu (Dream SMP) 27.) Pyrrha Nikos (RWBY) vs Quiet (Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain) 28.) Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail) vs Pussy Galore (Goldeneye) 29.) Ann Takamaki (Persona 5) vs Mikuru Asahina (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) 30.) Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones) vs Kes (STar Trek: Voyager) 31.) Flora Reinhold (Professor Layton) vs Agent South Dakota (Red vs Blue) 32.) Deanna Troi (Star Trek: The Next Generation) vs Nemu Kurotsuchi (Bleach)

#announcements #bracket