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sickficsforthesoul · 3 years

Note

Here is a second prompt!

Epileptic Suga having a seizure for the first time in front of the first years, maybe in a tougher situation to handle like a bus ride 👀

-Lu

This one took me a little while, but it's done now, so enjoy! As mentioned in a prior post, this fic is part of the Setter Health Conditions (SHC) universe, so it might be referenced in other fics taking place in the universe. (Fun fact, this fic was originally titled "Into the Sugaverse" before I edited the title to be less cryptic.)

That One Bus Trip

Epileptic Suga with caretaker Daichi

Word count: 3447 words

Daichi was stressed. That wasn’t a new thing, though. With three siblings and two very busy parents, Daichi’s life was near-constant chaos. Though right now, the current cause of Daichi’s stress was sitting right next to him. Suga was curled up against Daichi on the bus seat. They were driving home from a weekend training camp in Tokyo. It was only early evening, but Suga looked quite sleepy leaning against Daichi’s arm.

“Are you okay, Suga?” Daichi asked quietly. They were seated near the back of the bus to keep an eye on everyone. The first years sat in the row in front of Daichi and Suga, and Daichi didn’t want to broadcast Suga’s private business to them (or anyone else on the bus, for that matter).

“Yeah,” Suga groaned as he shifted against Daichi’s arm. “Just feeling kind of off, ya know?”

Daichi’s eyes widened in alarm. “What kind of “off,” Suga? Like off off?”

“Off off,” Suga agreed, pressing the side of his face into Daichi’s club jacket.

“Do you want me to get someone?” Daichi muttered urgently.

This wasn’t good. Feeling off off was how Suga liked to refer to having an aura, and an aura meant a seizure was coming soon. And to make matters worse, they were on a bus, hours away from home. If Suga had a seizure now, it would be chaos. Everyone would panic because only Daich, Asahi, and Mr. Takeda knew about Suga’s epilepsy (Daichi wasn’t sure if Coach Ukai knew, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Suga never mentioned his condition. Suga was very shy about sharing his epilepsy with others. It had taken Daichi and Asahi cornering a first year Suga in the locker room after a particularly long practice to get Suga to tell them anything, and they were some of Suga’s closest friends.)

“No,” Suga murmured. “I have my medication. I’ll take it, so hopefully, things won’t get too bad.”

Suga leaned forward and rummaged through the bag at his feet, producing a medicine bottle seconds later. Daichi grabbed a water bottle from his own bag and presented it to Suga, who took it gratefully. Suga shook out one pill from the bottle and swallowed it down with a gulp of water. He handed the bottle back to Daichi and bent down to his bag again.

Daichi turned to his bag to distract himself from all the possible futures flashing through his mind. Even though Suga had taken his medication, that didn’t guarantee nothing would happen. Similar to migraine prevention medication, Suga’s medicine only worked some of the time. Daichi was praying to every deity in existence that it would work this time because he hated Suga seizing in any circumstance, but especially on a bus with their loud, emotional teammates. Suga didn’t seem too panicked on the surface, but Daichi was keenly aware of the setter’s clenched hands and furrowed brow. Suga was worried too, but he was far too prideful to ever tell anyone directly.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Daichi ordered, voice low to keep their conversation discreet.

“Okay,” Suga yawned, “I think I’m gonna take a nap. This medicine always makes me drowsy.”

“Alright,” Daichi nodded slightly. “Just try to stay calm. Getting worked up will only make everything worse.”

“I know, Daichi,” Suga huffed good-naturedly. “I’ve been dealing with this for years. I think I know how to take care of myself.”

Daich chuckled and patted Suga’s head with his free hand. “I know, I know. But I’m still worried, you know. I’m your best friend and your captain. I think I have the right to worry about you sometimes.”

“You’re such a dad, Daichi,” Suga snickered mischievously. “Dad... Daichi… Oh! Dadchi! From now on, I’m gonna call you Dadchi.”

Daichi sighed wearily. “How can you be so responsible one minute and then so childish the next?”

“It’s a gift,” Suga smiled goofily. Then a yawn escaped his mouth, and he blinked slowly.

“Take a nap, Suga,” Daichi said, slipping off his jacket to drape over the setter. “You’re tired, and it’ll make you feel better.”

Suga hummed in agreement, leaning against Daichi’s side and snuggling under the jacket. He sighed contently and closed his eyes. Within minutes, Suga was sleeping comfortably against Daichi’s shoulder. Daichi smiled at the sight, silently resigning himself to being Suga’s pillow for the rest of the bus ride. They still had over three hours left until they reached Karasuno High School, so Daichi was hoping Suga would be able to take a good, long nap until they arrived.

With Suga sleeping soundly, Daichi could finally relax. He gazed out the window at the setting sun, admiring the beautiful colors as the sun disappeared from the sky. Suga’s body was warm, Daichi noticed. Not feverish, but warm enough to keep Daichi’s body pleasantly warm as well. The bus was also fairly quiet. Most of their teammates were either reading or playing video games (even Kageyama was attempting to work a DS after Hinata’s incessant nagging). After two days of grueling training, Daichi’s body was begging for a break, and between the warmth and quiet murmurings of his teammates, Daichi felt himself nodding off too. His head drooped against Suga’s, and Daichi was asleep almost instantly.

When Daichi awoke, he noticed light flashing through the very dark bus. Lifting his head drowsily, Daichi quickly found the light source. Someone (probably Tanaka or Noya) had brought a portable DVD player onto the bus, and everyone (minus Suga, Daichi, and Asahi, who had donned an eyemask and fell asleep sometime after Daichi had) was gathered around it watching a movie of some sort.

Daichi yawned and pulled out his phone. He sent a quick text to Ennoshita asking about what movie they were watching. Ennoshita replied with the title (“Into the Spider-Verse,” apparently) along with what he’d missed so far. The movie was only a third of the way done, so Daichi hadn’t missed too much. Suga was still sleeping soundly, so Daichi didn’t dare move. He couldn’t see the movie, but that was fine so long as Suga was asleep and calm.

Suga continued to sleep for another half hour at least while Daichi ignored the DVD player in favor of looking at his phone. During that time, Ennoshita texted frequent updates on the movie, summarizing the plot, characters, and visuals with stunning clarity. Daichi would occasionally see some bright flashes of light, but he was too focused on his phone to register the problem the lights might pose. Daichi was snickering at the reveal of Doctor Octavius when Suga stirred next to him.

“You’re up, huh?” Daichi murmured to a drowsy Suga.

“Yeah…” Suga yawned, eyes still shut.

“Are you feeling better?” Daichi asked gently.

“A little, yeah,” Suga hummed, shifting to a sitting position and cracking open his eyes.

“That’s good, at least,” Daichi smiled, reaching over to grab his jacket from Suga’s lap.

“I guess,” Suga sighed, his brown eyes still half-lidded with exhaustion. “What’s going on?”

“We’re watching a movie. Into the Spider-Verse, apparently.” Daichi lifted his phone to show Suga the screen. “Ennoshita’s been keeping me updated. He’s actually pretty good at it too.”

Suga grabbed the phone and scrolled to the beginning of Ennoshita’s recent texts. He took a moment to read before handing the phone back to Daichi. “You’re right. He is pretty good. Is the movie still on?”

“Yes,” Daichi nodded, “The DVD player’s in the aisle. We can watch it if we move over a little.”

“Let’s watch it,” Suga replied. “It’s not like we have anything better to do right now.”

“Okay,” Daichi agreed easily, sliding over into the aisle to watch the movie. Suga moved too, taking Daichi’s now-vacant seat.

They settled down to watch the movie without much trouble. The occasional bright flash made Suga wince and turn away for a moment, but the instances were infrequent, so Daichi didn’t think much of them. Suga seemed to be enjoying the movie too. He laughed at the jokes and fawned over the action sequences. Daichi wasn’t surprised. He’d known about Suga’s nerdy side for a while now.

To be fair, Daichi was also enjoying the movie. The soundtrack and animation were very well done, and Daichi was always a sucker for action movies. Perhaps that was why Daichi forgot about the danger the movie could pose to Suga. Daichi was so absorbed in the movie that he failed to notice Suga’s furrowed brows and rapidly paling face. The final straw for Suga’s fragile health was the collider scene. The frantic, aggressive flashes of light sent Suga’s body headfirst into an epileptic episode.

At first, Daichi thought Suga was just shivering. Small trembles wracked Suga’s frame, but when the trembles grew stronger and more sporadic, Daichi became concerned. Turning away from the DVD player, he squinted through the dark at his best friend, and what Daichi saw was horrible. Suga’s body spasmed erratically while Suga’s eyes were blown wide with panic and distress. Tears slipped down Suga’s cheeks as a soft whine escaped his mouth. Suga’s eyes settled on Daichi, silently begging for help.

Daichi was panicking, but Suga needed him, so he had to focus. Daichi quickly wrapped his jacket around Suga’s head and neck, creating a cushion to protect the vulnerable areas during Suga’s thrashing. Then he carefully scooted Suga’s body farther into the seat, so he wouldn’t fall off and hit something against the bus floor. With Suga in a secure position, there was nothing left to do now but time the seizure and wait for it to end. Daichi hated this part the most because he was powerless to help his best friend.

Their teammates slowly started to notice that something was wrong. Suga’s breathing was irregular and audible over the movie to the people sitting near Daichi and Suga. Ennoshita sent him a text a minute later to make sure everything was okay. Daich responded with a cryptic text that told Ennoshita something was wrong but didn’t specify what. Naturally, Ennoshita sent more texts, each becoming more and more worried, though he thankfully had the sense to keep his inquiries in texts instead of voicing them aloud.

Suga’s trembles finally slowed, and Daichi checked the clock on his phone. The seizure had lasted for just over two minutes. While not ideal, the seizure was still under five minutes. Seizures lasting longer than five minutes tended to be the most dangerous ones, so at least Suga avoided that.

Now that the seizure was over, Daichi needed to get Suga help. So Daichi got to his feet and walked down the bus aisle. Most of his teammates grumbled in annoyance, but Daichi caught the worried gazes of Ennoshita and his seatmate Kinoshita. He gave them a small smile, hoping to convey that things were getting better, but the duo still looked worried. Daichi continued on his trek and finally reached the front of the bus. Thankfully, Coach Ukai was driving while Mr. Takeda was helping Coach Ukai navigate from the front bus seat.

“Mr. Takeda?” Daichi leaned towards the club advisor, keeping his voice low.

“Daichi?!” Mr. Takeda yelped in surprise, but he quickly fell silent once he saw Daichi’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Suga had an… episode,” Daichi whispered to the club advisor.

“An episode?” Mr. Takeda blinked in confusion. “What kind of episo- Oh!” Mr. Takeda lowered his voice out of courtesy to Suga and his privacy. “Suga had an epileptic episode?”

“Yeah,” Daichi sighed tiredly. “His seizure lasted for a little more than two minutes. He’s resting now, but we should take him to a hospital to get checked out.”

“Of course!” Mr. Takeda nearly shouted again. “I’ll let Coach know right away! Do you need any help with Suga?”

“I don’t think so,” Daichi shook his head. “I just might need help getting him off the bus when we get to the hospital.”

“Alright. I’ll find the nearest hospital and tell Coach to get us there as soon as possible. Can you keep Suga comfortable until we arrive?” Mr. Takeda asked.

“I’ll take good care of him,” Daichi replied firmly.

“I’m sure you will,” Mr. Takeda agreed before he moved to the driver’s seat to let Coach Ukai know about the change of plans.

Daichi returned to his seat swiftly, anxious from leaving Suga alone for so long. Suga was still lying across their seats, but he was conscious and relatively alert because he turned his head when Daichi got back to their seats. Daichi sat in the aisle to keep an eye on Suga, rubbing the setter’s ankle soothingly. Daichi and Suga stayed like that until the bus pulled into a hospital parking lot.

Cries of confusion and irritation broke out until Mr. Takeda silenced them with an uncharacteristically stern stare. “Move out of the aisles, everyone. The paramedics need to use them.”

Everyone obeyed immediately, but looks of confusion were etched on most of their teammates’ faces. Two paramedics boarded their bus, with Mr. Takeda directing them back to Suga and Daichi’s seats. Daichi moved out of their way, helping them pull Suga into the larger paramedic’s arms. Suga remained limp in the paramedic’s hold, though his eyes darted over to Daichi as the paramedics carried him away. Daichi waved reassuringly, and Suga flashed him a brief smile before his eyes fell shut. That caused the paramedics to panic and rush off the bus. Daichi watched them place Suga on a waiting stretcher from the bus window, and then his best friend disappears into the large white building with the paramedics.

They weren’t allowed to see Suga for the next few hours. Their teammates’ confusion had morphed into shock and despair once they realized that something was wrong with Suga. The first and second years badgered Daichi and Asahi relentlessly until they finally caved, informing the team of Suga’s epilepsy. Daichi also explained why Suga was currently in the hospital, and Tanaka looked guiltier by the second. Daichi reached out a hand and rubbed the spiker’s shoulder, explaining that it wasn’t Tanaka’s fault. He didn’t know about Suga’s epilepsy until a few minutes ago, so there was no way for him to know how dangerous the movie would be for his vice-captain to watch. Tanaka still moped in his hospital chair until they were finally allowed to see Suga.

It was very early morning when a nurse approached their group with information about Suga. She pulled Mr. Takeda and Coach Ukai away for a few minutes to inform them of Suga’s condition. With Suga’s parents out of the country for work, they were acting as Suga’s legal guardians while he was in the hospital. Daichi waited with the team until the two adults returned to their group.

“Suga will be fine, everyone,” Mr. Takeda smiled exhaustedly. The events of the night had taken a visible toll on him. “He was just dehydrated and exhausted. He’s on an IV right now to get some fluids and nutrients into his system, but he’ll be okay after getting some rest.”

“He’ll be released soon,” Coach Ukai continued gruffly. “They’re just waiting until his IV is done. We should be out of here in an hour or so.”

“Can we see him?!” Nishinoya and Hinata asked eagerly.

“Yes,” Mr. Takeda laughed at their antics, “but you have to be quiet, ok? Suga might be asleep, and we shouldn’t wake him if he is.”

“Yes sir!” The duo nodded before dashing down the hallway.

“Wait!” Mr. Takeda let out a panicked cry. “You don’t even know Suga’s room number!”

Mr. Takeda chased after the two, and soon the entire team was running down the hospital hallway to Suga’s room. Mr. Takeda directed them to take two flights of stairs and a long corridor to reach Suga’s room. Unsurprisingly, Hinata and Nishinoya were the first to the door, with Kageyama and Tanaka not far behind. Mr. Takeda caught up with them, forcing them to wait until everyone had gathered to open the door. Daichi pushed his way to the front of the group, citing his captain status. Suga was his best friend, and he was going invoke his captain rights if it let him see Suga faster.

Mr. Takeda opened the door, and the Karasuno VBC filed into the room silently. Daichi stared at Suga as he entered. Suga was awake and sitting up in his bed. He looked exhausted, but his face had color, and he looked much better than he had hours ago. Suga watched them all carefully, offering them a wave. The IV in his elbow bounced in time with Suga’s wave. Once everyone was settled into the room, Suga gave them a warm Suga-Smile™.

“Hey, guys,” Suga said with exhausted but genuine enthusiasm. “What’s up?”

“SUGA!!!!” Hinata, Nishinoya, and Tanaka yelled, launching themselves at Suga.

They piled themselves on top of a shocked Suga, but he was quick to pull the trio into a warm hug.

“You scared us, Suga,” Daichi said quietly as he sat on the side of Suga’s bed.

“Sorry. I should have told someone earlier,” Suga sighed, snuggling into the cuddlepile on his lap.

“It’s not your fault, Suga,” Asahi hummed from the other side of Suga’s bed. “You can’t control your epilepsy.”

“I guess so… But I still feel bad for scaring you guys like that,” Suga confessed, eyes full of guilt.

“It’s okay, Suga,” Hinata chirped from the cuddle pile. “We’re just glad that you’re okay!”

“Thanks, Hinata,” Suga laughed into the blocker’s red hair.

“Hinata’s right,” Ennoshita chimed in. “I just wished you’d told us about your epilepsy earlier.”

“I know I should have, and I’m really sorry.” Suga bowed his head in apology. “I just hate talking about it. Daichi and Asahi basically had to kidnap me to get me to tell them about it.”

“Is that true, Daichi?” Nishinoya asked excitedly.

“I guess so…” Daichi laughed awkwardly. “In our defense, Suga was very stubborn. That was the only way we got Suga to talk to us instead of changing the topic.”

“Was I really that bad?” Suga cocked his head to the side.

“You were,” Asahi nodded solemnly. “I didn’t think we’d ever get you to tell us anything.”

“You’re always so negative, Asahi.” Suga poked the ace’s arm lightly. “It’s that negativity goatee, I swear.”

“My goatee has nothing to do with it!” Asahi whined sadly.

Suga giggled lightly at his friends, and Suga’s laugh was always infectious. The cuddle pile trio was giggling too, and then Daichi and Asahi joined in as well. Soon, the entire team was laughing, even Mr. Takeda and Coach Ukai. The previous events were long and stressful, so now everyone was finally relaxing a little.

The team chatted amongst themselves quietly until a nurse entered the room to check Suga’s IV. She declared that it was done and swiftly removed the needle from Suga’s elbow before the setter could even process what was happening. The nurse left the room for a moment and returned with a wheelchair for Suga to sit in. Hinata, Nishinoya, and Tanaka clambered off Suga’s lap, so Daichi and Asahi could help Suga into the wheelchair. They wheeled Suga out to the bus and got him situated on a bus seat near the front, so the adults could keep an eye on him. Daichi also sat beside Suga to help him if need be.

Everyone boarded the bus, and they were on their way back to Miyagi. Suga leaned his head on Daichi’s shoulder, eyes heavy with sleep.

“Daichi,” he yawned heavily. “Thanks for everything today.”

Daichi smiled tiredly at his best friend. “Sure. I’m always here for you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I do,” Suga hummed happily. “I’m glad you’re such a good friend.”

“Thanks, Suga.” Daichi yawned as well. “You’re a pretty good friend too.”

“You’re still better,” Suga teased lightly before a big yawn escaped his mouth.

“And you’re still exhausted. Get some rest. I’ll wake you up when we get back,” Daichi said softly.

“Thanks, Daichi,” Suga murmured as his eyes slipped shut.

“Any time, Suga,” Daichi whispered as he felt his eyes grow heavier by the second. He leaned his head on top of Suga’s. The adults would wake them when they got to the school, Daichi reasoned before his eyes shut completely. Karasuno’s captain was asleep in a matter of seconds, taking a well-deserved nap after the chaos of the past few hours. The bus wouldn’t arrive for a few hours, and Daichi was content to nap with his best friend as the bus rolled on through the night.

#sickiesoul writes #reply #sickfic #epilepsy #epileptic seizures #seizure #haikyuu!!#haikyu!! whump #haikyu whump #haikyuu whump #sugawara koushi #daichi sawamura #setter health conditions universe #shc universe #shc #setter health conditions #anime whump

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heartfragment · 3 years

Text

Heart Fragment Walkthrough: Clive

In a lot of ways, Clive is similar to the protagonist. He has the same cynical view of the world, the same sharp tongue, and the same inability to be honest with himself. The strange events that bring Clive into your life make you wonder, though: is he an ally? Or an enemy?

Note: Most endings have multiple ways of getting to them. This is a guide to guarantee you get them all, but feel free to mix and match or experiment with your own ideas!

Endings Overview

(for those who don't want a full guide, just the general idea of how to get the endings; if you want a step-by-step guide instead, keep reading!)

Clive branch 1 criteria: certain traits will add points towards this branch. Branch 1 can be unlocked by focusing on the following traits: genuine, nurturing

Clive branch 1, good ending, romantic: end the route with a pink heart or higher

Clive branch 1, good ending, platonic: end the route with an orange heart or lower

Clive branch 2 criteria: focus on the following traits: nosey, paranoid, cautious

Clive branch 2, good ending, romantic: end the route with a pink heart or higher

Clive branch 2, good ending, romantic BONUS: end the route with a pink trait or higher AND the bold trait unlocked

Clive branch 2, good ending, platonic: end the route with an orange heart or lower

Clive bad ending 1: choose "Little Red is eaten by the wolf" during Act 2 of Clive's route, then choose "Keep on running" later on

Clive bad ending 2: choose "Little Red is saved in the end" during Act 2, then choose "Run" and "Turn to look" later on

Clive bad ending 3: have the paranoid OR cautious trait unlocked on Saturday of Act 2, and avoid the previously mentioned bad endings

Clive bad ending 4: have the paranoid trait unlocked on Wednesday of Act 2, then choose "Don't meet up with him"

Clive bad ending 5: choose "Don't do it" when prompted in Act 3, AND do not have the cautious or nurturing traits unlocked

Clive bad ending 6: have cautious trait unlocked on Saturday of Act 2 OR have Clive's heart at dark blue or lower

Full Walkthrough - Common Route

Be polite

Don't disturb her

Yeah, it's me

Sit near him

Search your mother's name

Read the obituary as well

Should I start posting selfies too...?

Ask Shannon about mutants

Offer to shake his hand

You are seriously all crazy

Yes

Walk in

Admit you're curious

ask all the questions available

Don't pull away

Do more research on your laptop first

Don't tell Kay

I'm not too sure about this yet

Speak up yourself

Tell her it was about something else

Nah, I can go by myself

Yes

Ask if you can draw Kay

Were you blind from birth?

They can be different now

Don't disturb them

Don't do it

Yes

Post about yourself

The panacea

Yes

Jasper

You don't think it's too late for that?

Thank you

Welcome home

Your father

I think it has improved

Superpowers

...a good power to have

I want to know more

Your teacher

No, sorry

A full nights rest does sound good

I was just curious

Yes

Post about yourself

Run away

click the eye in the bottom left when it appears with Shannon to read her heart

Tell her about your father

Yes

I feel inspired lol

Do I really need to move?

Am I going to survive this...?

Follow him

Clive is behind a tree, slightly right of center on the screen

Are you saying I was attractive?

Tell him why

Tell Shannon that you're moving

type in "Clive" when prompted for his name

Don't reach for it

Reach out to the hand

I'll tell Clive

I'll tell him about Jasper

You can come again

select the red/orange fragments

Fantasy Intro / Act Zero

Maybe we can hang out

So you think I'll be safe from now on?

CREATE SAVE POINT 1

Text her

Let's meet up soon

I guess I'll go outside for a bit

I am scared, to be honest

Leave the subject alone

Mention all the dreams you've had

Please tell me

Give him the benefit of the doubt

Pancakes are great!

Alright

Yes... I want to talk about it

Ask about his interests

Maybe I should give it a try someday

Yes I am

Maybe

there are three shells on the screen (one small, one medium, and one big). the small shell will lose the contest, medium will end in a tie, big one will result in you as the winner. it's up to you which you do but the medium shell will add a point in favor of Clive's branch 2. the small one is near the very bottom of the screen, slightly to the left on the shore. the medium one is near the shore down from center and slightly to the right. the big shell is a little bit away from the shore and further to the right than the medium shell. end the search by finding the feather at the bottom right corner on the sand.

Grab his arm for support

I'm not happy

Clive Act One

So... what shells did you find?

I should get some rest

...nice (romantic) OR ...interesting (platonic)

Keep your eyes shut

A latte

I'm not sure

I really miss him

Tell the truth

It's alright

Go to the forest without hesitation

Stay

How did his heart end up this way?

Try messaging him on StarxSocial

Sure

Clive Act Two

I believe you

Get up and sit next to him

CREATE SAVE POINT 2

What's wrong?

How long ago did you meet?

Leave the matter alone

CREATE SAVE POINT 3

...Little Red is saved in the end

It sounds like fun

I'll take your word for it

Thanks for bringing me here

...afraid of storms?

Let's take cover somewhere

Suggest continuing in clear weather

I want to play it with you (romance) OR the game sounded fun (platonic)

Reply to Clive (romance) OR reply to Shannon (platonic)

It's kind of nice to have him around

You should stay for lunch

I wish I could have told you where I was

You are pretty bad at it

No, you can stay

Ask what Lana means by that

I am enjoying myself

CREATE SAVE POINT 4

Run

Keep on running

Steam achievement granted for continuing to run: "Filthy Mutant!"

I'll keep fighting

Message him now

I'm worried about you (romantic) OR I hope you're safe (platonic)

choose neither option; instead, click the window curtain

Steam achievement granted for clicking the curtain: "Clive? Are you there?"

I believe Clive has a genuine explanation

Meet with Clive

Steam achievement granted for meeting up with him: "Benefit of the Doubt"

I don't believe that

Clive Act Three

1 update will show up on your phone in the bottom right corner while in Lana's living room, check it

Touch his hand (romantic) OR Offer words of support (platonic)

I want to be closer to him (romantic) OR I do care about Clive (platonic)

Come back to the city with me

Steam achievement granted for inviting Clive to come with you: "Come With Me!"

Leave the topic alone for now

Cover him with a blanket

I like the way you are now (romantic) OR You already remind me of Kay (platonic)

Try to contact Jasper

Clive is more handsome than I thought (romantic) OR Why is he so self-conscious? (platonic)

Yes

Clive End Branch 1

1 update will show up on your phone in the bottom right corner after you got to take a nap, check it

Don't go (romantic) OR Be careful (platonic)

1 update will show up on your phone in the bottom right corner while on the beach with Clive and Gray, check it

Steam achievement granted for reaching Branch 1 ending: "My True Home"

RELOAD SAVE POINT 2

Clive Act Two - Guide to Branch 2

You don't need to hide in your hoodie

How long ago did you meet?

Ask him about it

...Little Red is eaten by the wolf

It sounds like fun

I'll take your word for it

Why did you bring me here?

...stalling to spend more time with me?

Let's run home quickly

Suggest continuing when the weather is clear

I'm willing to try it

1 update will show up on your phone in the bottom right corner after you get home from being with Clive, check it

Reply to Clive (romance) OR reply to Shannon (platonic)

It's kind of nice to have him around

You're leaving already?

I wonder what's up with the coincidences

No, you can stay

React by being flustered

Run

Turn to look

Steam achievement granted for turning to look: "Friends with the Enemy"

Clive was working with him

I want to find out the truth from Clive!

Message him now

I'm worried about you (romantic) OR I hope you're safe (platonic)

Maybe it was Lana's phone

I want to know his side of the story so far

We'll talk, but not in person

Some people aren't supposed to exist

Touch his hand (romantic) OR Offer words of support (platonic)

I want to be closer to him (romantic) OR I do care about Clive (platonic)

But you could still get hurt

What happened to him?

Steam achievement granted for asking what happened to him: "Nosey"

Cover him with a blanket

You can't replace Kay

Try to contact Jasper

Clive is more handsome than I thought (romantic) OR Why is he so self-conscious? (platonic)

Clive End Branch 2

1 update will show up on your phone in the bottom right corner while talking to Clive in your bedroom at night, check it

...I love you (romantic) OR ...you're my best friend (platonic)

Steam achievement granted for reaching Branch 2 ending: "Internal Consequences"

Bad Ending #1

RELOAD SAVE POINT 3

...Little Red is eaten by the wolf

It sounds like fun

You could word that a bit better

Why did you bring me here?

...afraid of storms?

Let's run home quickly

Wait until he invites you again

Reply to Clive

I think he's sticking a little too much

See you later, then

I wonder what's up with all the coincidences

Do whatever you want

Run

Keep on running

Steam achievement granted for reaching bad ending: "Deal with the Devil"

Bad Ending #2

RELOAD SAVE POINT 4

Run

Turn to look

Bad Ending #3

RELOAD SAVE POINT 1

Don't text her

I'm going to stay inside

It's terrifying

Ask her about it some more

Read her heart when the eye symbol appears

Keep it to yourself for now

Refuse to be friends with him

CREATE SAVE POINT 5

It'll be fine

I do prefer waffles, actually

Alright

Yes... I want to talk about it

Ask about his interests

Maybe I should give it a try someday

No I'm not

No way

find the feather in the bottom right of the beach

Grab his arm for support

I'm not happy

So... what shells did you find?

No way, let's have a rematch

I should plan my next move

...weird

I need to look eventually!

A latte

Well...

I don't really know

Make something up

I prefer you don't pry anymore

Go to the forest without hesitation

Leave

How did his heart end up this way?

I hope he's safe right now...

Sure

Don't give up

I still want him back!

I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt

Maybe a little

You don't need to hide in your hoodie

Do you spent a lot of time with Clive?

Ask him about it

...Little Red is saved in the end

Isn't it too childish?

You could word that a bit better

Thanks for bringing me here

...afraid of storms?

Let's run home quickly

Wait until he invites you again

Reply to Shannon

It's kind of nice to have him around

You're leaving already?

I wish I could have told you where I was

You're embarrassing him

CREATE SAVE POINT 6

Leave it for another day

Steam achievement granted for reaching bad ending: "Quiet. At Last."

Bad Ending #4

RELOAD SAVE POINT 5

I don't trust him

Pancakes are great

I'd rather not

I don't want to talk about it

Walk in silence with him

Click the eye when it appears to read Clive's heart

I need to keep an eye on him

No I'm not

No way

find the feather in the bottom right of the screen

Get up on your own

I'm not happy

You can go home now, you know

I should plan my next move

...weird

Keep your eyes shut

Black coffee

Well...

I don't really know

Make something up

I prefer you don't pry anymore

Think it through

Click the eye when it appears to read Jasper's heart

Leave

I want to help Kay...

Can I really trust him after that?

I dunno...

Give up

But what will happen to Clive?

Steam achievement granted for reaching bad ending: "You did that wrong"

Bad Ending #5

RELOAD SAVE POINT 6

Go meet with him

Run

Keep on running

I'll keep fighting

CREATE SAVE POINT 7

Leave it here

Steam achievement granted for reaching bad ending: "Fool..."

Bad Ending #6

RELOAD SAVE POINT 7

Take it home with you

Wait it out a bit longer

I want to know his side of the story so far

CREATE SAVE POINT 8

We'll talk, but not in person

Some people aren't supposed to exist

Offer words of support

Clive has grown on me

You should leave town too

Say good night to him

You can't replace Kay

Don't do it achievement granted for reaching bad ending: "Poison"

Bad Ending #7

RELOAD SAVE POINT 8

Don't respond

#heart fragment #clive #clive heart fragment #walkthrough #heart fragment walkthrough #otome walkthrough #clive walkthrough #otome game #otome games #otome #english otome games #english otome game

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deejadabbles · 3 years

Text

A Thousand Songs (Atem/Yami x Reader)

Chapter One: We Are Broken

One /// Two /// Three /// Four /// [Five Coming Soon]

Summary: You knew that you and your band could make it big. Not only that, but stay together while doing it; the five of you were family, after all. The only problem was that despite all your musical talents...none of you were particularly good at lyrics. After years of struggling to put out your first full album, the solution finally made himself know in chance meeting on an empty stage.

Rock Band AU, Atem x Reader, gender neutral reader.

A.N. Woo look at me, starting a new series before I finish my current ones. Don't hate me I have the attention span of a squirrel! I know band AUs are pretty cheesy but I don't care, this idea has been floating in my head for awhile and it's super cute okay?? I was also going to wait to post this until all the chapters were done but I couldn't control myself anymore. These chapters will be much shorter than my usual length so hopefully that means I can update faster??? I won't make any promises but I'll try. Anywho, I hope you guys like fashionable, sensitive Atem because that's who'll be featured in this fic <3 The reader's gender is never mentioned but I will admit I tended to lean more towards songs sung by women in this, I don't really think that matters though (I have Atem sing songs originally sung by women so...). I really hope you guys like this series and I'll love to hear your thoughts <3 Also: @ohyema This is the series I told you about all that time ago lol

I am outside

And I've been waiting for the sun

With my wide eyes

I've seen worlds that don't belong

My mouth is dry

With words I cannot verbalize

Tell me why

We live like this

The crowd was small, as always, but it was enough. Anyone hearing your songs was enough for now, or so you told yourself week after week. You felt Yugi’s eyes on you as you leaned away from the mic, plucking the cords of your Stratocaster for the brief solo and you looked to your left to see him smiling at you; always the positive optimist, the sun that shone on you and the rest of the band.

You flashed him the briefest smile in return before turning back to the mic. If you closed your eyes, got lost in Anzu’s keys, Jou’s steady beats, and Honda’s strings, you could almost pretend you were playing in front of a packed venue. One full of fans solely there to hear music, and not just a dozen or so patrons who enjoyed the music as a backdrop to their late-night drinks.

Keep me safe inside

Your arms like towers

Tower over me

You could have sworn you heard another voice in the crowd join yours as the chorus came. Ah, so there was an actual fan in the crowd.

Cause we are broken

What must we do to restore

Our innocence

And all the promise we adored?

Give us life again

Cause we just wanna be whole

Your eyes fluttered back open for the briefest second and through the smoky haze in the room, you saw that someone at the bar was holding up their phone, camera aimed at the stage. That managed to make you smile, at least you had someone’s attention.

Lock the doors

Cause I'd like to capture this voice

It came to me tonight

So everyone will have a choice

And under red lights

I'll show myself it wasn't forged

We're at war

We live like this

“Are you guys on SoundCloud or anything? Cos that was pretty awesome!” asked a young man who looked barely old enough to be in the bar at all.

You were just helping Yugi pack away his turntables, having finished your set and wishing the small crowd a good night. The young man was with two others, all of them looking enthused as they stood at the base of the small stage. The girl even giggled when Honda winked at her.

Yugi, as usual, was the one to speak up and pulled out a small leather folder from his back pocket. “Yeah, we are actually! We also have a youtube channel,” he pulled cards from the folder, black cardstock with your band’s name, logo, and media accounts scrawled across it in gold text. He handed one to each in the trio, smile still bright on his face, “Check us out if you get the chance, we’re trying to put out a new album this summer, so we should have plenty of new songs to listen to soon.”

With a few ‘cool man’s and ‘awesome’s, the trio wandered back to the bar, the one who had spoken already pulling out his phone with the card in hand, and the girl waving at Honda over her shoulder.

“You know you shouldn’t get their hopes up,” Anzu whispered as she set her keyboard case at the foot of the stage, “Two songs does not an Album make- we have no clue when we’ll actually have it out!”

“Well,” you chimed in, clicking one of Yugi’s several cases closed, “Maybe telling new fans to expect more from us will finally light a fire under our song-writing-asses.” When Jonouchi opened his mouth, that cheeky look on his face, you held up your hand to silence him, “And yes, I know I procrastinate too much, I’m to blame too.”

Yugi lifted two of his cases- and answered after Jou jumped in to take the heavier of the two, “I still think all of us should take a week's vacation, lock ourselves in our studio and work on the album together. Only getting together a few times a week is what’s really killing us I think- we can’t get into a creative groove!”

You and Anzu exchanged a look, knowing full well that neither of your bills would appreciate the week's loss in pay. Still, maybe it was something that you guys could find a way to work out. Then again, there was another idea that had been brewing in the back of your mind for a while now, and you weren’t sure if it was really something that the others in your band would go for...like, at all.

“I don’t know, a week probably wouldn’t even be long enough,” Honda chimed in after slinging his guitar case over his shoulder, grabbing an amp in the free hand.

Jou nodded as you all started filing out the bar’s back door, “I’m still thinking that gettin’ together every single night until the album’s done is the best way to go, even if it’s just for a few hours!”

This was the usual road the song writing debate took, or at least, how it usually went the past month or so, and soon enough the topic came to a standstill, as it usually did.

After loading up Jonouchi’s truck with your equipment, Honda gave the suggestion of stopping for some burgers at the 24 hour joint down the road, a common ritual after your monthly gig at “The Bandit’s Den”. As usual, Jou parked in the space best visible from the front windows of the dinner, and the five of you were glad to find that not another soul sat at the tables.

After settling at your usual booth and ordering, Yugi actually splayed his hands out on the table, looking rather determined. “You don’t start work until seven tomorrow. Right?” he asked you.

“Yeah?”

“I think we should take another trip to the station.”

You actually had to repress a sigh at that. Yugi was all about trying to trigger inspiration for songs, and the “station” referred to an old train station on the outskirts of town. You guys had discovered it long ago and were eager to use it in a music video, but were waiting for the perfect song to go with it. Sure, the old giant clock and brick stairs were a perfect setting, but it had only sparked a line or two of lyrics, nothing to make a full song.

Out of the five of you, most of the lyric writing fell on your’s and Yugi’s shoulders, with Anzu, Honda, and Jonouchi giving occasional input. Since you were the lead singer most seemed to think you would be the natural lyric maker, but the truth was that, despite your talent in singing and playing the lead guitar, lyrics just weren’t your forte. You’d had some luck when teaming up with Yugi, his emotional maturity helping you work through the written expressions, but that only went so far. Yugi also tried things like this, exercises and field trips in the hopes that it would spark creativity.

“How many times have we been to the station before, Yugi?” you asked, “I just don’t think it’s the oracle of inspiration we all hoped it would be. I still want to film there some time, but I don’t wanna take time out to visit it again, I’ll just get annoyed when it doesn’t lead to anything.”

Yugi’s set expression seemed to blink away, replaced with something almost like guilt, “Okay, I was just trying to think of something to get our inspiration flowing…”

Now you’re the one who felt guilty. “I know...hey maybe we could try something new? Like we could go some other place or try some different way to spark our heads?” you suggested, trying to sound positive.

Yugi’s eyebrows lifted in interest, but he was cautious when he asked, “Like what?”

“I…” you trailed off when your mind came up blank. It remained blank even as your eyes trailed over the entirety of the empty dinner as well as the dark scenery outside. A growl of frustration left your throat as you face planted on the table, “I don’t know!”

You heard Yugi giggle as he reached out and patted your head. Beside him, Jonouchi said, “What you need is some brain food! That’s sure to help some ideas come- ah! And here’s our feast now!”

Even though the food was good, kick-start your brain, it did not. If anything the meal just made you more sleepy, even as you guys chatted over the next hour before paying the tab and piling back into Jou’s truck.

Like always the next stop was the studio, the home and hideaway for you and your friends. For a small-time band whose biggest fame was on Youtube, all of you were actually quite proud of your studio. Yugi’s grandfather owned a few rental properties, and since the building wasn’t fitting for a residential space, nor in a part of town that would serve a shop well, he had agreed to give you guys the small building in exchange for help around his game shop every week.

Working together to make the space your own was some of the best memories you had with your oldest friends; going to second-hand shops to gather fitting set pieces, saving up for the sound dampeners so you could record your songs without paying a big-time studio, setting up the back room with tattered old furniture and a mini-fridge that was sure to break down any day.

The only thing that beat those days were the times you actually spent in the studio; rehearsing, recording your few music videos, spending downtime together writing new music on lumpy bean bag chairs and worn rugs (and definitely getting distracted by each other every ten minutes).

The night was late enough that no one bothered the five of you as you unloaded the truck, and soon enough all of you were taking your usual spots in the back room (Anzu sprawling out on the battered chaise, Jonouchi and Yugi filling up the loveseat, Honda falling onto a pair of beanbags, and you plopping down in the hammock chair).

“Alright you guys, I’m just going to come out and say it,” Anzu sighed after a few moments of hanging off the arm of her seat, “We need help writing our songs.”

You actually sat up as straight as you could in your chair and peered over at her- had she really just said what you had been thinking of saying for weeks?!

When she saw your look, something like panic colored her face as she waved her hands, “Not that I don’t think you’re a good writer! The songs you came up with were awesome! ...But-”

You waved off her concern, the hard motion causing your hammock to spin a little, “No- no, Anzu, I totally agree! I just didn’t know if I should bring it up...”

Even if you hadn’t thought of it too, Anzu had plenty of reason to think you needed help. In the whole four years since your group had started the band, from the first days sitting in class drawing up logo ideas, you had only written six original songs- and that included the two that were meant to go on your new album. You had gotten by with relying on covers to fill out your live sets and media accounts and making a host of excuses for the lack of originality.

“You really think bringing in another bandmate’s a good idea?” Honda chimed in, eyes narrow as he leaned back in his beanbag chair.

“Yeah, we don’t wanna end up like half the other bands out there,” Jonouchi chimed in, seeming to subconsciously pull Yugi closer to his side, “you guys know the only reason our band works is because we get each other- we’re family! We can’t just bring another person into that, it’ll ruin it and maybe even break us up!”

Yugi put a hand over Jonouchi’s, “Hey hey, slow down, don’t you think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves? First of all, bands hire ghostwriters all the time, and they don’t always join the band. Besides... I don’t know, if the person’s really cool, would it be that bad to have another member?”

“We could always have them ghostwrite for us for a while, and if we like them, then talk about letting them join,” you offered, and were glad when everyone seemed to contemplate that with at least some positivity. “But that brings up the issue I think we’ll have, I’m not sure we can find someone who fits with our style all that easily. Like Jonouchi said, there’s a reason all of us work well together.”

It was true, all of you brought something to the table, something more than an instrument. The five of you had slightly different tastes, all of it coming together in something that wasn’t quite punk, not quite rock, not quite pop or even metal, and that’s what worked to your advantage. You wanted to prove that different sounds and styles could come together in harmony and appeal to listeners all across the spectrum. Not fit into a genre-labeled box that only fans of said genre would even bother listening to.

Eventually, Anzu gave a shrug, “We won’t know until we try. Why don’t we put the word out and see what happens?”

“We can still work on our own, and if we don’t find anyone who fits, we didn’t really lose anything besides time,” Yugi added, and that pretty much settled the matter.

Tomorrow the search for a new member of your team began.

#atem x reader #yami x reader #yugioh #yugioh x reader #Atem #yami yugi #series: a thousand songs #band AU #Yugioh Band AU #violinist atem

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bqstqnbruin · 4 years

Text

Teach me something 3

The Bruins winning the series means another part of this fic (I’m so sorry to my canes followers [if I even have any wait do I?] I still love you pls don’t hate me but as someone from Connecticut we’re still bitter that the Whalers left and went to Carolina in the first place again don’t hate me)

Will I ever write the requests that y’all have sent in? Who knows (JK you know I will)

I hope you like this!

ALSO a warning, this partially takes place in the hospital

Read the other parts: part 1 // part 2 // part 4

--------------

“Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Chemistry class!” you say in what was probably perceived as an overly chipper tone, but you were genuinely excited to start the new school year, especially after missing the end of last year. “I’m Mrs. Tkachuk, and I know that most of you probably hate ice breakers, especially since you’re going to be doing them all week, but today is just going over the syllabus, getting to know me, and then we’re going to spend the rest of class doing a little chemistry-related ‘get to know you’ activity.” Some of your students roll their eyes, some even groan. “It’s chem class, guys, what did you expect?”

You spend the first part of the morning with the boring stuff, the class expectations, listening to them groan over the fact that you give what weren’t technically pop quizzes, but were something very similar, having them break into chatter when you said you gave one partner test per quarter, and that they got to pick which unit was the partner test expect during the third quarter, and then have no reaction at the chemistry jokes that you made throughout the class.

“So, do you guys have any questions for me?” you ask, glancing over at the clock. You had half the period left to go through your little PowerPoint, then have them do their activity. One of the boys in the back of the room raises his hand. “Robbie, right?”

“Yeah, are you related to Matthew Tkachuk?” A few of the boys around him start to murmur over whether or not you were, definitely excited by the possibility, especially since they were all wearing jackets for the hockey club they were part of.

“I meant about the syllabus, but I’ll answer that in a sec, ok? Any questions about the syllabus before I tell you about myself?” you ask the class, none of them raising their hands in hopes of knowing whether or not Matthew was related to you. God, you hoped not. “Ok, then.”

You turn on the projector, the screen filled with a short PowerPoint that you showed every year, updating every so often. You started telling them about where you were from, where you went to school, even that you used to dance with the Stampede. “So, I’m not related to Matthew Tkachuk,” you say, the boys seemingly deflated by that fact. You switch slides, a picture of you and him on the ice after their most recent Stanley Cup win, the one from your wedding that was your phone background for so long, one of you, Matthew, and your son, Oliver when he was a year old, and the newest one, the two of you with you a now three-year-old Ollie, and your newborn daughter, Tessa. “He is my husband. You might have heard that I was out for the last two months of last school year because of maternity leave, and I’m also surprised that you didn’t already know I was married to him considering he’s come with me to school events plenty of times. Maybe you’ll even get to meet him.”

The rest of the class goes fine: the students making ‘their elemental symbol,’ which they surprisingly like doing; their initials were the symbol, and they decorated it with things they liked and things that represented them. You told them you would be making a class periodic table on the windows behind them, leading to all the hockey boys begging to be together so they could do one coherent background image. You couldn’t help but laugh, thinking of how Matthew would get his friends to do the same thing if given the opportunity.

Every period brought up the same questions about you and Matthew: the girls wanted to know how you met (you met at a bar but that seemed a little inappropriate to tell your high schoolers, saying you met at a charity function was what you went with), how’d you come up with the names for your children (weird, but fine: you came up with Oliver just because you’ve always loved the name, Matthew came up with Tessa because it was the closest name to his sisters that he could think of without actually naming her Taryn as well, and he adores his sister, so why not?), the boys asked how much of his team you knew (all of them), how many games you went to (as many as you could but it was hard with children), can you get them free tickets (no). Teachers weren’t supposed to share a lot about their personal life, but the students could probably find enough of this information out on social media, even though you kept your own accounts private.

You have one more period before the end of the day, luckily you had a prep time, even though there wasn’t much to do since it was the beginning of the year. While browsing through your roster for your last class, your room phone starts to ring.

“Chucky’s room,” you answer, using the nickname your husband’s teammates used for him.

“Hi, Y/N, your husband called. He said he needed you to call him back and that it was urgent. Margot said she would cover your last class,” the school secretary says from the other end.

“What? Is everything ok?” you ask, trying to stretch the chord of the phone long enough to reach your phone at your desk.

“He didn’t say, he just said to call him. I’m assuming you have to leave, so you’re good to just go.”

You hang up, starting to panic. What happened to him? What about Ollie? What if it was Tessa? Oh my god, what if something happened to all three of them? You start to panic, preparing for the worst as you dial Matthew’s number and pack up your bag as fast as you can. “Babe, what’s wrong?”

“You need to meet us at Alberta Children’s Hospital as soon as you can, ok?” you hear him say, the same panic in your voice that you started to feel.

“Matthew, what happened?” you say, Margot standing in your doorway, sensing your panic. ‘What’s going on?’ she mouths to you as you hold up a finger to her, waiting for Matthew’s answer.

“It’s Oliver, don’t worry, just get here, please. I need you.” He hangs up before you can say anything else.

“Telling me don’t worry and get to the children’s hospital because of Oliver in the same sentence is oxymoronic,” you say to Margot, not really knowing what else to tell her, “Just tell them they can hang out or something, not to get too loud. Hand out the syllabus, tell them don’t worry about it because I’ll see them soon. Tell them I’ll be emailing them tonight so to check their school accounts, but I had a family emergency,” you spit out to her as she just nods along.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but he’ll be alright. Let me know if you need anything.”

She brings you in for a hug, trying to calm your nerves even though it didn’t really work. You run out of the door right before the bell rings, students swarming around you as you try to beat them down the staircase. The upperclassmen who had study halls this period were also allowed to leave, a privilege none of them had lost yet since it was the beginning of the year, which means you had to battle with them to get out of the single entrance your school had.

You were shaking, trying to plug in the directions to the hospital as you were walking to your car, praying that it would save you some time to just get the hell out of there and go see what happened to Oliver.

Why didn’t Matthew tell you what was wrong? How bad was it that it could only be said in person? Or was it something trivial and he just didn’t want to say it over the phone? Either way, why didn’t he tell you? What was wrong with Oliver? Your mind was racing the entire drive there, nothing that you could think of or listen to could take your mind off the fact that your husband was waiting in the hospital with your son, for who knows what reason?

You rush into the hospital, bag on your arm, hands shaking, ready to cry and just wanting to find your son. “I’m looking for Oliver Tkachuk? T-k-a-c-h-u-k. I’m his mother,” you frantically say to the lady at the desk.

“Sorry, I can’t give you any information right now, the doctor is still with him,” she says, trying to give you a reassuring smile.

“Is there anything you can tell me? Where he is? If his father is here? Where his father is? Anything about how long it will be?” you start to spit out, a constant stream of panic running through you, “Sorry, sorry, that was a lot. Are you sure there’s nothing you can tell me about my son? If I can where my husband is can I go to him?”

You didn’t mean to panic at her, if that was a thing, but it just kind of happened anyway. “Yes, if you can find him that’s fine. If you take a seat right now, I can tell you something as soon as I find out if you’re still here,” she says, reassuringly. You do as she says, digging out your phone from the bottom of your bag to see if Matthew has sent you anything.

‘Hey, I’m in the emergency waiting room, where are you?’ you send him, just in case he’s in the middle of something with a doctor. Your phone buzzes immediately, him telling you where to find him. You get up, the lady at the desk nodding at you, probably assuming you were going to wander to find Matthew.

“Y/N!” you hear Matthew call once you get up to the floor. You run to him, the panic in his voice pushing you to the verge of tears. He takes you in for a hug. You can feel his body shaking.

You look up at him, tears filling his eyes. “What happened?”

He buries his head in your shoulder, the two of you standing in the middle of the hallway, probably in the way. “We were outside playing after lunch and I turned my back for two seconds because Tessa was crying and then I look and Oliver is crying and there’s blood everywhere because he fell, and,”

“Matthew, Matthew,” you say, trying to get him to stop.

“I feel so bad. I can’t believe I let our son get hurt. And then I couldn’t get a hold of you because your phone was off and I just panicked and brought him here” You can feel tears soaking through your shirt.

“Babe,” you say, pulling him off your shoulder. You’ve never seen him so upset before. He looks just like Oliver did when you told him he couldn’t have dessert before dinner. “Kids get hurt. That happens. He’s probably going to need some stitches, yeah?”

“I can’t believe I let this happen,” he says, the two of you walking to go sit down.

“You were watching two small children at once. It was going to happen at some point, and it could happen to either of us,” you tell him, trying to get him to calm down. “There is no way you never busted your lip open or something like that when you were a child. He just takes after his father.”

“Oh no,” he says, the color nearly draining from his face as he realizes Ollie was practically going to be his mini-me.

“Speaking of: where is our daughter? I really hope you didn’t leave her alone.”

“Oh, god, no. She’s with Rory.” You look at him, shocked that he would leave her with Rory of all people. “Ok, she was the only one within a ten-mile radius that I would trust and could reach. Out other option was Johnny. Do you trust him with our newborn daughter?”

“Point taken,” you say, suddenly thankful for Rory. “Has the doctor said anything?”

“Just that it’s going to be a while and that he’ll come get us when he’s ready to,” Matthew says, looking down at his hands.

You take his hand in yours. “Ollie will be alright. I promise.”

“How are you so calm? How am I the one who’s freaking out? God, being a parent has made me soft.”

You can’t help but laugh: his last game of the season he got flat out ejected from the game because he was fighting. If that’s soft, you don’t want to see him any other way. “If both parents are freaking out that never ends well. So I’m just freaking out internally,” you say, leaning your head on his shoulder.

He kisses the top of your head, “God, I’m lucky to have you.”

“I know.” You look up at him and smile, him rolling his eyes at your modesty. “Ollie’s going to be fine. This happens to kids all the time.”

The two of you sit there in silence, watching doctors and nurses walk by, parents and siblings going around probably trying to find their child. Matthew seems to have calmed down, a little at least. You both knew Oliver was going to be fine, but shit, was it scary to not know anything.

You lean down to your bag, digging through it to find your computer. You might as well start drafting an email to your students now while you have time. “What are you doing?” Matthew asks, curious as the family picture you used in your slideshow pops up as your lock screen.

“I have to email my last class. They should be out of school by now and I told Margot to have them watch for an email from me.” Matthew looks almost angry, but why? “You should come into school one day if we can get Rory to watch the kids; the boys went crazy when they found out we were married, I think they would love it if you did an experiment with them.”

“We’re literally in the hospital for our son, and you’re thinking of your students, instead?” he snips, his face starting to turn red.

You weren’t thinking of your students instead of Oliver, you were thinking of them and Oliver, just not at the same time. “Sorry that in addition to our two children, I also have, what, four class rosters of thirty students each? And my junior homeroom class? And a study hall section? My entire life is occupied by children, so sorry if I have more than just ours on my mind.” You knew this anger was coming from his worry of Oliver, but that doesn’t mean he has the right to take it out on you. “Matthew, I’m just writing them an email, and then I don’t have to worry about them until tomorrow.”

“I mean, it’s getting a little annoying that I have to stay home with the kids all day while you’re at work. I couldn’t even reach you because you don’t check your phone, and then the school said I would have to wait to hear from you until you have a free period because they couldn’t find anyone to cover your class. Do you even care about Oliver and Tessa?” He can’t believe he just said that to you. He knows your two kids mean more to you than he probably does. Before he can say he’s sorry, you start.

“Ok, four things. One: we talked about me returning to teaching and both agreed that it was something that we were comfortable with me doing. You only have to stay home with the kids for another week before Tessa starts at daycare and Oliver starts preschool. Two: you know that I can’t have my phone out during the day. It’s not like I can call you in the middle of practice or during a game, so you being irritated about that is ridiculous. Three: the school being understaffed isn’t really my fault. Yes, they were wrong to not get a hold of me, but that, again, is not my fault. And four: the only reason you are acting like this is because you are worried about Oliver, which I understand, because, and this may shock you: I am, too. But that does not mean that you have the right to turn your worry into anger, and then take it out on your wife,” you say, surprising yourself by staying calm the entire time. “So if you excuse me, I’m going to go call Rory and check on Tessa, unless that’s something you think you should do because maybe I don’t care enough about my own children.”

You get up and go to the end of the hallway before he can say anything. “Hey, Rory, it’s me. How’s my girl doing?”

“She poops. So much. Did you know babies poop this much? I think I’ve changed her diaper three times since Matthew dropped her off.” Maybe Johnny would have been better than Rory, but then again, you could see Johnny using a curtain as a diaper a la Uncle Jesse and Joey in Full House.

“Yes, remember, Tessa is my second baby. Oliver pooped a lot, too,” you say, laughing.

“I don’t remember pooping this much as a child,” you hear her say, obviously switching her phone to speaker. “Like I see why you love because she is just so cute,” you hear Tessa laughing as Rory is probably tickling her or making a stupid face as she does baby talk to her, “But the poop!” “Ror, you wouldn’t remember pooping as a child, you don’t start forming explicit memories until you’re two, but implicit memories when you’re seven. But other than the poop, how is she doing? Is she giving you any other trouble?”

“You know too much about science for a teacher,” she says, you rolling you eyes at the comment, “But, nah, she’s great. She’s probably going to nap soon? Matthew had mentioned that she normally naps around now?”

“Yep, she’s typically asleep when I get home, so put her down for a nap and keep an eye on her, please. I don’t need both my children in the hospital.”

“Well, who else would you trust with your child?”

“Most other people I know.”

“Johnny?”

“I said most.” You finally hang after she reassures you four times that Tessa is fine with her, telling her that one of you will call when you’re leaving the hospital, whichever parent doesn’t have Oliver will go to Rory’s, and that you’ll text her with updates on Ollie if you have any.

You walk over to Matthew, sitting in the chair with his head in his hands, his fingers intertwined with his curls. He looks up when you sit down, the look on his face saying that he was sorry for what you said.

“You are the best mother our kids could have,” he says.

“Mr. and Mrs. Tkachuk?” a man in a white coat, stethoscope and clipboard stands in front of you. You stand up and go to him, both of you hoping for good news as Matthew puts his arm around you. “Your son is fine; he just needed stitches and a cast on his left arm. If you follow me I can take you to his room.”

“A cast? You said there was just blood,” you look at Matthew, wide-eyed and unsure if you were confused or shocked.

“There was blood! I don’t know, you’re the science teacher, you should know this stuff,” he says, trying to defend himself.

“You do understand that biology and anatomy are different from chemistry, right? Like, I love you so much, but how do you know nothing about science? I never stop talking about science.”

He just shrugs as the two of you stand outside the door of the room your son was in. “I went to school in America, babe.” You roll your eyes as he takes your hand. “Ready?”

You nod, both of you walking into the room to see your so sitting on the bed. He looks so small with the blue cast on his arm, stitches stretching across his chin. “Mommy! Daddy!” he screams, “Look! It’s blue!”

You can feel yourself start to cry at the sight of your son hurt, even though his curls are going in every direction as he tries to jump off the bed to show you his cast. “Oh sweetie, your chin,” you say, tilting his head up so you can get a better look at it.

“Aren’t they cool?” he screams again. “And look! They gave me a lollipop!” he holds up the yellow candy in your face, you not even noticing that he had to begin with.

“He really is your son,” you say, looking at Matthew as Oliver squirms around on the bed.

“The stitches can be taken out in five days, so you’ll need to bring him back here to have them removed. Then for his arm, I’ll want a check after two weeks, but it probably won’t be coming off for five to seven,” the doctor starts spitting out. He hands Matthew a piece of paper from his clipboard, Matthew looking at it like it’s written in a foreign language before stuffing it in your bag. “You can take your son home, just sign the discharge papers,” he finishes, leaving the room.

“You sign the papers and get Tessa from Rory’s, all take Ollie home?” you say to him, picking up Oliver in your arms.

Matthew nods, kissing Oliver on the head. “Daddy, can we have ice cream for dinner?”

You both laugh, Matthew’s mini-me giving you the same puppy dog eyes that Matthew gives you when he wants something. “Only if Mommy is ok with it, but only because you got hurt.”

“We’ll get some ice cream on the way home, bub,” you say, kissing Oliver on the cheek as he squeals with joy. “See you at home, babe? With Tessa.”

“See you at home.”

#matthew tkachuk #matthew tkachuk imagine #calgary flames #calgary flames imagine #flames #flames imagine #nhl #nhl imagine #hockey #hockey imagine

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inthedayswhenlandswerefew · 4 years

Text

Eccentricity [Chapter 6: You Know You Got Me In The Palm Of Your Hand]

Series Summary: Joe Mazzello is a nice guy with a weird family. A VERY weird family. They have a secret, and you have a choice to make. Potentially a better love story than Twilight.

Chapter Title Is A Lyric From: Mean It by Lauv.

Chapter Warnings: Language, references to sex and violence, slavery in American history.

Other Chapters (And All My Writing) Available: HERE

Tagging: @queen-turtle-boiii @bramblesforbreakfast @writerxinthedark @maggieroseevans @culturefiendtrashqueen @imnotvibingveryguccimrstark @escabell @im-an-adult-ish @someforeigntragedy @imtheinvisiblequeen @deacyblues @tensecondvacation @brianssixpence @seven-seas-of-ham-on-rhye @some-major-ishues @haileymorelikestupid @loveandbeloved29

Please yell at me if I forget to tag you! 💜

What The Fuck, Washington Animals Are Weird

I woke up in a bedroom drenched in a rainbow of darkness, shades of grey vacillating from charcoal to the wings of a mourning dove; indolent dawn rain pattered against the window. There were no glaring veins of sunlight spilling in through gaps in the curtains, no promise of dry invigorating heat, no whistle of vicious parched wind. Toto, we’re not in Phoenix anymore.

“Ugh,” I complained to the empty room, unraveling from a tangle of blankets patterned with cacti and pure white clouds and rust-orange suns.

I clicked off my iPhone alarm—I’d beaten it by two minutes; my circadian rhythm was finally conceding that this whole Pacific Time thing was permanent—and read my nine new texts from Joe.

3:12 a.m.: Hey it’s an emergency what’s the plural of octopus

3:13 a.m.: Rami is insisting that it is octopuses

3:14 a.m.: But it’s octopi, right? Right?? I just announced in front of everyone that it’s octopi

3:15 a.m.: Scarlett is verbally abusing me

3:18 a.m.: Oh you are probably asleep

3:21 a.m.: Update, according to the internet Rami is right and now I have to assume a new identity and move to Antarctica

3:25 a.m.: We can discuss logistics of the Antarctica relocation tomorrow

3:26 a.m.: Hope you like penguins

3:30 a.m.: Okay goodnight!! Don’t let the mythical creatures bite!!

“That man,” I murmured to myself, smiling.

I typed out: It’s definitely octopuses, you clown. Then I deleted ‘clown’ and replaced it with its Italian equivalent: pagliaccio. Text sent.

Joe responded almost instantly. I had to ask Lucy what pagliaccio meant and now she’s verbally abusing me too. Send help. See you at lunch. xx

Wait, two Xs? What did Xs mean?? Kisses???

Did Joseph Francis Mazzello, sexy undead Italian man, just send me multiple text kisses?

“You’re gonna give me an aneurism, Chicago boy,” I muttered at my phone as I slid it into the pocket of my flannel pajama pants. And then I glanced out the bedroom window into a tussle of rain and thick, caliginous fog.

Just a few feet beyond the misted glass, its leathery talons hooked around a branch of Charlie’s decades-old red alder tree, was an owl. But not just any owl. A hulking, spotlessly white owl.

“Oh, hey, you,” I whispered, leaning closer, pressing my palms against the cold window. My hands left transparent imprints in the condensation. “Hey, buddy. Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping? I sure wish I was. Did something wake you up? Did your idiot vampire boyfriend disturb you with a series of ridiculous texts?”

The owl just contemplated me with unnervingly vast, slick, engrossed eyes. And there was something else, too: those eyes were blood red.

“So you’re an albino owl, huh big guy? Good for you. You know, usually albino animals don’t last all that long in the wild. Because they’re really easy for predators and prey to spot. Or they get skin cancer. So congratulations on living to become the voluptuous, tremendously creepy creature that you are today. Job well done.”

The owl stared back at me unflinchingly, blinked, then resumed staring. Rainwater gathered in swelling beads like blood drops on its ivory-colored beak and talons.

“Well,” I noted, turning away and grabbing my shower towel off the back of the desk chair. “You don’t get that in Arizona.”

Thirty minutes later, I was bounding down the stairs two at a time to meet Charlie in the kitchen. He was browsing through his daily newspaper at the table, drinking coffee and nibbling messily on burnt triangles of toast. Crumbs littered his moustache.

“You didn’t tell me that living here came with the added benefit of freaky albino animal friends.”

Charlie crinkled his forehead at me. “Huh?”

“How was bowling with the dads last night?”

“Oh, awesome!” he exclaimed, folding up his newspaper and slapping it down on the table. “We bowled against the team from Mora and it came right down to the wire, but we caught them. Dr. Lee got a strike on his very last turn. He always seems to do that...he’ll be bowling hit or miss all night and then when it really matters he manages to pull a strike out of nowhere. He’s a beast.”

“He’s a pretty remarkable guy,” I agreed, rummaging through the cabinets for Pop-Tarts.

“He mentioned that you and his son were really hitting it off,” Charlie said, grinning. “Not the ragey blond one. The spindly annoying one. What’s his name again? Josh? Jimmy?”

“Joe.” I conjured up my best poker face of lofty indifference. It crumbled like a sandcastle beneath reckless, rushing footsteps.

“Ohhhh, I saw that!” Charlie said, pointing, delighted. “Check out that smile. My gorgeous, brilliant progeny has a crush. I knew it. I knew you wouldn’t be single for long up here. Alright, I’m ready. Bring on the grandchildren.”

“Shut up,” I pleaded good-naturedly.

“Relax, I have great news. According to Gwil, that Joe kid is pretty wild about you too.”

“Oh, is that what you old guys do between bowling turns? Betray your children’s deepest confidences? Matchmake them over nachos and chili cheese dogs?” Still, my curiosity was piqued. “What else did Dr. Lee say about Joe?”

“I think the exact word he used was...” Charlie reminisced, sipping his coffee, curls of steam pouring over the rim of the mug. “Smitten.”

Supernatural Pictionary

I turned the notebook to Joe so he could see; everyone else momentarily covered their eyes or looked away. Then Lucy started the timer on her iPhone. Thirty seconds.

“Go!” Lucy announced.

“I think it’s a boat,” Rami said, hesitantly, haltingly, squinting at Joe with great concentration.

“Do you?” Joe teased.

“Yeah. But I’m also getting something about a fish.”

“Maybe I’m trying to make you think it’s a fish because it’s actually a boat,” Joe replied flippantly.

Rami muttered: “Or you want me to think it’s a boat because it’s actually a fish.”

“Interesting.”

“Now you’re mentally singing Never Gonna Give You Up just to fuck with me.”

Joe gasped, pressing a palm to his chest. “That doesn’t sound like something I would do!”

Scarlett snickered, dunking her chicken tender in honey mustard, slurping Coke through a straw clenched between crimson-painted lips. “That sounds exactly like something you would do.”

“Fifteen seconds,” Lucy warned.

“Fish or boat, boat or fish...” Rami chanted, peering fixedly at Joe.

“Make a decision,” I taunted, hugging the notebook to my chest.

“I’m going with boat,” Rami decided.

“Final answer?” Lucy asked, then stopped the timer when Rami nodded.

“Loser!” Joe cackled victoriously, leaping out of his chair, waving his L-shaped fingers in the air. Calawah University students at nearby tables glanced over with wide, startled eyes, their beloved chicken tenders briefly forgotten. “How’s it feel to not win every round of a game, huh?! Loser!”

I flipped my notebook so Rami could see the extremely unskilled pencil sketch I’d drawn there: a smiling fish. “My condolences.”

“Damn.” Rami pulled a ten-dollar bill out of his wallet and slid it across the table to Joe. Joe snatched it up, tucked it into the waistline of his jeans like a stripper collecting money in her G-string, and slung his arm around my shoulders.

“We are the champions. Bask in our glory.”

Scarlett turned on her iPhone flashlight and waved it in slow arcs over her head. “Youuuuu are the champions, my friendssssss...”

From my usual lunch table, Jessica gazed at my esteemed place among the Lees with palpable envy, resting her chin in her hands. I had worked out a schedule that seemed fairly obvious given my extensive experience as a child of divorce: lunch with Jessica et al. one day, lunch with the Lees the next. I took a bite of the Chipotle veggie bowl that Joe had insisted on ordering for me and tossed Jessica a sympathetic wave. Get Ben’s Snapchat for me! she mouthed back. I harbored serious doubts that Benjamin August Hardy, former professional assassin, born in 1893, had a Snapchat.

Joe’s words from last week rolled around in my head; I could see him all over again, nodding to the enormous painting hung in Gwil’s upstairs office, telling me about those startling, ethereal figures who had initiated Ben into life as a vampire. They call themselves the Draghi. They collect dues from covens, offer protection, keep order, protect our secrets. But they also demand loyalty. They force people they want into service. They might try to make it seem like you have a choice, but you don’t. They destroy anyone who tries to resist them. And they feed on humans.

“This is so awesome,” Lucy sighed, elated. “We could never play Pictionary before, drawing something is way too much of a mental process, Rami always figured it out right away...”

But now they had a built-in blindfold, someone who could draw without Rami getting a peek into their thoughts, a fighting chance at hiding the truth from him...for thirty seconds, at least.

“Okay Benny Boy, you’re up.” Joe darted over to Ben’s side of the table and massaged his tense, muscular shoulders as Ben grimaced. “You got this. I believe in you. Baby Swan is gonna pitch you a home run.”

“I’ll pass,” Ben said.

“You can’t!” Lucy cried. “Ben, please? Rami got Scarlett’s, and then he didn’t get Joe’s...and I know he’s going to see though me immediately. You’re our only chance to tie things up and maybe beat him!”

“Traitor,” Rami told Lucy affectionately.

“Uhh...” Ben hesitated, glimpsing longingly at the doors that led outside to the grove of bigleaf maple trees. He was fidgeting restlessly with his vape pen.

“Come on, Benny!” Joe begged. “I’ll owe you. I’ll do anything.”

Ben perked up a little bit. “You’ll do my Calc 2 homework for a month?”

Joe groaned theatrically, but nodded. He was wearing a grey U Chicago hoodie today. “Fine. Okay. But you’re gonna have to learn that shit eventually, I can’t take the MCAT for you.”

“Deal.” Ben bumped his knuckles against Joe’s.

“Batter up,” Joe heralded in his best mock-umpire voice, grinning at me expectantly, drumming the table with his palms. “Go Baby Swan, go! What will she choose? Will she continue with the nautical theme? Will she change it up, maybe switch to beloved Chicago landmarks? Baseball or food? Will she invent a variety of pizza even more despicable than pineapple?”

“Hm.” I flipped to a fresh notebook page, scratched my temple with the eraser end of the pencil, then quickly sketched a picture for Ben. “Okay, I’m ready.” I showed the drawing to Ben while everyone else covered their eyes.

Ben shook his head, scowling. “You’ll have to try again. I have no idea what that is.”

“Really?!” I checked the picture again. Okay, it definitely didn’t belong in the Louvre or anything, but it was lifelike enough to be decipherable. “You don’t recognize it? At all?”

“No,” Ben replied flatly.

From behind his shielded eyes, Rami scanned through the images in Ben’s mind. He dropped his hands onto the table. “SpongeBob?!”

“Who...?” Ben ventured.

Everyone else looked too. “Oh yeah, that’s definitely SpongeBob,” Joe said, then chuckled. “Aww, Baby Swan, you even remembered his little necktie!”

“It’s so cute!” Lucy trilled.

Ben just stared at the picture, blinking, completely lost, increasingly morose. And now there was a new guest at the table; or maybe not a new one, maybe just a quiet one, something that perched on the ledge of every conversation and field of vision just waiting to tap its claws against the wall and make its presence known: that interminable reminder of Ben’s unconventional past life, of how incomparable his vampiric upbringing was to those of the rest of the Lee kids.

“Benny Boy, you’ve never seen SpongeBob?” Joe inquired gently. “No problem. We’ll have a marathon tonight. I have the entire series on DVD. Also several Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy action figures.”

Scarlett snorted. “This is why you’ve been single since Hoover was president.”

“I wasn’t single the whole time,” Joe corrected.

“Oh, really?” Not that I’m interested, my voice suggested. I was a total liar. I was super interested. Thank the great deity that Rami and Ben couldn’t read me like a restaurant menu. Today’s specials are Being In Love With Someone Wildly Inappropriate for $15.99, and also Lamenting My Own Lack Of Sexual Experience for $11.99. Oh, and clam chowder.

“He had a couple of...what would you call them?” Scarlett combed her elegant fingers through her voluminous blonde hair. “What’s the modern vernacular? Fuck buddies? Booty calls? Netflix and chill partners?”

My stomach lurched; I nonchalantly buried my fork in a mountain of guacamole and left it there. I kept my lips turned up into a smile like a mask. Of course he’s loved other people. Duh. He’s hot and immortal. Get over it. But that didn’t calm my pounding heartbeat at all, didn’t soothe that sudden and irrational melancholy.

“Whoa whoa whoa, okay, you’re making it sound way worse than it was,” Joe protested, glancing at me nervously.

Scarlett continued: “It wasn’t serious, whatever it was. None of them would have cared about your action figure collection or obsession with a city you haven’t lived in for fifty years. It wasn’t your personality they wanted. Thank god.”

Oh this is bad, I thought helplessly. How am I ever going to be able to compete with the memory of countless gorgeous vampire girlfriends?

“Uh, ScarJo, you’re single too.” And Joe’s nickname for her was strangely apt; Scarlett could pass for Scarlett Johansson’s younger, blonder, much hotter sister. And Scarlett Johansson, in case you’re somehow unaware, is already pretty fucking hot.

Scarlett flashed a grin. “Entirely by choice.”

“And much to Mercy’s eternal and profound concern,” Lucy told me. “She stages an intervention at least twice a month. Did I overhear one last week, Scarlett?”

“Oh jesus, yeah. I was like, ‘Mom, what the hell do I need a husband for? I have my own money. I can fix household appliances. I have a vibrator. I’m good to go.’”

Joe rocked back in his chair, howling. “You did not tell Mom that!”

“I did. She was so distraught. She just kind of pinched her eyes shut and shuddered and then went out back to feed the alpacas.”

“Scarlett, babe,” Rami managed between gales of laughter. “A vibrator isn’t going to keep you company for all of eternity. It’s not a suitable substitute for a life partner.”

“You’re right. It’s even better. It’ll never abandon or disappoint me. Assuming I keep the batteries fresh, of course.”

“Oh my god,” Lucy giggled into her hands.

“She’s not wrong,” I said, shrugging, sipping my Diet Coke.

And Joe peered over at me, surprised, intrigued, slowly raising his thin dark eyebrows. I winked back. Yeah, okay, I’ve never slept with someone. But that doesn’t mean I’ve never had an orgasm.

“Ah, loud thoughts! Loud thoughts! Joe, please!” Rami moaned, pressing his balled fists to his forehead.

Ben smirked. “There’s a color I’ve never seen from you before, Joe.”

“This family is the worst!” Joe exploded.

“I like that girl,” Scarlett decided, signaling to me with glossy maroon fingernails. “She can stay.”

Joe sighed, flustered, then shook it off as he turned to me. “You coming over tonight?”

“I can’t spend every night at your house petting alpacas, mob guy.”

“Yeah?” he asked, smiling, draping his arm around the back of my chair. “Why not?”

“Well, my tonight-specific reason is that I’m visiting a friend.”

“Cool. Your friends are my friends. Can I visit too?”

“You’re aware that you’re a legit stalker, right?” But actually, Archer was dying to meet Joe: the loud Lee, the approachable Lee, the Lee who I definitely liked more than a Tinder swipe could ever convey. This could work. “Offer to buy dinner and you can come.”

“I’m a walking Visa, baby.”

Ben stood, hauled on his backpack, gathered up his trash to throw away. “I need a smoke break before Chem. See you guys later.”

“Don’t forget!” Joe called after him. “SpongeBob marathon starts at 8! I’ll bring the Milk Duds!”

And when Ben disappeared through the doors, a solemn hush descended over the table.

“Poor guy,” Lucy said softly. The other Lees nodded.

And again, I recalled what Joe had told me in Gwil’s office, what he had said when I asked how Ben came to join the Lee family. He was assigned to us, to be the liaison to our coven. And Gwil saw something in him. Potential, suffering, unrealized decency, I don’t know. But Gwil worked on him for years, trying to convince Ben to leave the Draghi when his contract was up and come live with us. To give a peaceful life a try. And to be honest, Ben never seemed interested. But something must have resonated with him, because we opened the front door on October 15th, 2016 and he was sitting on the steps of our porch with a single suitcase, puffing on that fucking vape pen and watching the storm clouds roll in off the Pacific Ocean.

But why would they just let him leave? I had asked, tracing my fingertips over the uncanny and magnificent faces in that painting. Why would they let him live?

Because they know how valuable he is. And because they think they can get him back.

“I think he’s a good person,” I said, breaking the silence. “You know. Underneath the whole being raised to be a killing machine thing.”

“Yeah,” Rami replied, frowning thoughtfully. “Just try not to spend too much time alone with him.”

Car Jacks And Sneak Attacks

“Joe, this is Archer James Foxchild, my first-ever best friend.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you!” Joe said, shaking Archer’s oil-stained hand. “I understand you are really good at making mud pies and poking dead animals with sticks.”

Archer chuckled. “It’s true. We found a shark tooth down at La Push one time and I convinced Baby Swan here that it was from a sea monster. She had nightmares for months. Charlie called my dad over it and I got my Game Boy taken away.”

“No!” Joe gasped in horror. “Were you a Pokémon guy?”

“For sure.”

“Ruby or Sapphire?”

“Emerald.”

Joe grinned. “This dude knows what’s up.”

“And to think, my grandpa tried to tell me that you guys were freaks,” Archer replied.

“Well,” Joe conceded. “Not all of us.”

“Maybe you two should start dating,” I said. “Don’t mind me. I’ll just sit in my Honda and eat my Taco Bell cheese quesadillas and Cinnamon Twists and try not to interrupt all the sex.”

“Yes, you brought Taco Bell,” Archer sighed euphorically. “Give me five minutes, I just gotta finish rotating these tires real quick.” He jogged to the other end of the garage, knelt beside a Ford Mustang that was propped up on a jack, and starting twisting off lug nuts with a tire iron.

“You have a nice place here,” Joe observed, strolling around the small garage with his hands in the front pocket of his U Chicago hoodie, eyeing the fractures in the concrete floor and the spidering cracks in the windows. “You have any investors?”

“Are you kidding?!” Archer replied from the Mustang. “No, man, it’s just me. I rent for now, but at some point I’ll buy my own shop. Once I’ve saved up enough. A great big one with shiny new equipment and no mice squeaking behind the walls.”

“What’s your cash flow like?”

“I’m netting around three grand a month after taxes.”

“Not bad!” Joe noted admiringly.

“Yeah. It’s a hustle, but I love it.”

“Hey, I don’t know if you’d be interested—and absolutely no pressure if you’re not, really—but I do a lot of work with start-ups and I’d love to help you get into your own shop. By this Christmas, preferably. If we can work out a deal.”

“Really?!” Archer peeked incredulously over the hood of the Mustang.

“Absolutely.”

Archer beamed at me. “This guy is willing to drop serious cash to look good in front of you. You should probably marry him. No prenup though.”

I held my pinky out towards Joe, grinning. “No more sad prenups.”

He laughed and hooked my pinky with his. “Bankrupt me, bitch.”

I heard the metallic clang of a lug nut hitting the concrete floor and rolling under the Mustang. “Come back here, you bastard,” Archer muttered, then dropped to his stomach and crawled beneath the car.

“Hey, kid, be careful,” I fretted, crossing my arms across my chest and taking a step closer.

“Relax, Baby Swan, I am a professional, changing a tire for me is like feeding a fish for you, so just chill and keep fantasizing about those Cinnamon Twists—”

There was a squeal of metal as the car jack collapsed and the Mustang came crashing down. In a fraction of a second—faster than I could see him moving, faster than I could loose a scream—Joe had soared across the garage, yanked Archer out from beneath the falling Mustang, and dragged him to the center of the room.

“Oh fuck,” Archer wheezed, his dark eyes huge and fascinated and horrified. “Grandpa was right.”

I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)

We rolled up to the Lee house in my 1999 Honda Accord just as I polished off the last of my Cinnamon Twists and Archer chewed, tentatively and dazedly, on a Cheesy Gordita Crunch. The sun was beginning to set in a clouded sky that perpetually threatened rain.

He asked Joe for the fifth time from the back seat: “But wait, seriously, no one is going to eat me, right? Because I’m too young to die. I haven’t taken enough vacations yet. I can’t die without seeing Hawaii. I want to swim with the sea turtles.”

“No, none of us have ever eaten people. Well, almost none of us. Maybe stay away from Ben.”

“I would like a little more exposition,” Archer replied, blanching.

“Hey, if you stay until 8, you guys can join us for the SpongeBob marathon!”

Gwil and Mercy were waiting on the front porch, thanks to Joe’s ‘hey I accidentally exposed myself as a paranormal being and now we have a new friend, plz don’t be mad okay love you see you soon!1!!’ text.

“Welcome, sweetheart!” Mercy fussed, enfolding Archer into her arms as soon as he stepped out of the Honda. “Would you like some hummingbird cake? I just baked it this morning. And maybe some sweet tea too. And some peanut butter cookies. And banana pudding.”

“Sure,” he responded, bewildered. This lady does not seem like a bloodsucking demon, that voice said. And he was absolutely right.

“I’ll fix you up a tray,” Mercy promised, and hurried into the house.

“We’re so very happy to have you, Mr. Foxchild.” Gwil shook Archer’s hand firmly. “We don’t get many visitors around here. I’m sure you understand why.”

“My grandpa always insisted that there was something off about you guys. Especially you, Dr. Lee. Said you shouldn’t still be around.”

“Yes, I imagine that would have been disconcerting for him. He must have remembered us from the 1940s...that’s the last time we settled down in Forks. It’s not often that someone recognizes us after so long, but it happens. It was just Mercy and me and Rami and Joe back then. And look how far we’ve come.” Gwil beamed warmly, then turned to Joe. “But really, son, you’re going to have to stop telling humans about us.”

“Hold up, I was not responsible for her!” Joe exclaimed, waving at me. “Take it up with Ben!”

The garage door rumbled open and Scarlett sauntered out, wiping her filthy hands with a rag. She halted abruptly, stood there in her high-waisted vintage jeans and black crop top and bare feet with maroon-colored toenails, tilted her head and pondered Archer with an innocent sort of curiosity that I hadn’t seen from her before.

“Wait,” Archer said, gaping. “Is that...is that an Aston Martin Vantage in there?!”

“You bet,” Scarlett replied. “You want to learn how to work on it?”

“Uh, hell to the yeah!” He trotted over and they vanished into the garage together.

“Huh,” Joe muttered, watching them. “She was nice to him. Very weird.” He whirled back to me. “Anyway, come on. I promised you an education in classic rock music. And I shall deliver.”

Joe’s bedroom was a chaotic jumble of economics textbooks and Chicago Cubs paraphernalia and U Chicago apparel and action figures and comic books and classic rock posters. There was a massive Italian flag tacked to the wall above his bed. But what caught my attention immediately was a life-sized cardboard cutout of Ben lurking in the corner by a bookshelf full of cassette tapes.

“How is there any possible logical explanation for that?” I asked, pointing.

“Oh, that! That was a joke. When Ben first showed up, he pretty much lived in his room and never came out. Gwil was worried. Mercy was heartbroken. So I made a cardboard cutout of him and would bring it to family activities and do this really deep and seductive Ben voice when I pretended to have conversations with him. It gave the whole situation some levity...and I think Ben secretly liked that we missed him enough to make an artificial version to fill the void.”

“So this bitchy, brooding, blood-craving Ben I met is actually a drastic improvement?”

“Oh, Baby Swan,” Joe confided, almost sadly. “You have no idea what he was like four years ago.”

“I’m glad he has you. All of you. That he has a chance to get better.”

“I think you might be good for him too. Seeing a human as a real person instead of a walking, talking Hi-C juice box. And you care about him, don’t you? Despite everything.”

“Of course. It’s not his fault they taught him to be a monster.”

Joe just looked at me for a while, and then he cradled my face with one hand and grazed a thumb across my cheek “You’re never going to stop saying things that knock me into next week, are you?”

“Joe...” I hesitated, laying my hand over his. His skin was smooth and yielding yet strong, cool yet not unnaturally so. Refreshing. Safe. Fan-fucking-tastic. Oh noooooo. “Are we a thing?”

“Why? Do you want to be a thing?”

“Oh, uh, no, I was just wondering if we were.”

He stepped away, teasing me with a crooked smirk. “...So you don’t want to be a thing?”

“What would that entail?”

“Well...we’d be an official thing, you and me.” He shot finger guns at me, and then towards himself. “Which means you can’t be a thing with anyone else. And neither can I.”

“Ahhh, I see. So this thing is an exclusive thing.”

“Will you shut up and just admit that you’d totally be thrilled to be a thing with me?”

“Fine. Whatever. We’re a thing.”

“Nice.” He high-fived me.

“This is the most romantic moment of my life.”

“But wait, there’s more.” He went to the bookshelf, browsed through his cassette tape collection, found the one he wanted and popped it into a boombox that was probably older than I was. The frantic opening piano notes of I’d Do Anything For Love poured out.

“Meat Loaf,” I said in disbelief. “Really. This is the product of your superior taste in music. This is the culmination of over a century of musical experience. Meat Loaf.”

“The man is a genius!”

“This is all an elaborate joke about my vegetarianism, isn’t it?”

“No,” Joe mused. “But now that you mention it, I have yet another reason to force you to appreciate this song.” He took my hand in his, spun me around like a ballerina in a slow and careful circle, sang along—with extreme and dramatic enthusiasm—to the music.

“And I would do anything for love

I'd run right into hell and back

I would do anything for love

I'd never lie to you and that's a fact...”

“I don’t dance,” I cautioned him, laying a palm against his chest to catch my balance. That brisk, comforting scent of pine and snow and peppermint was everywhere. It feels like I can’t stand to be away from him. Like I’ll never get close enough. “I am terribly uncoordinated. I will step all over your feet. And I’m really not sure if I can trust you. You didn’t even know the plural form of octopus until like eighteen hours ago. You’re kind of a disaster. A, you know, uh, unexpectedly charming, unconventionally super cute, kind of bizarrely enchanting disaster.”

“Yeah,” Joe whispered, smiling, tilting up my chin, leaning in to kiss me. “I like you too.”

Cato

He came out of the oak trees like a ghost, pushing aside massive chandeliers of Spanish moss that blotted out the dusk sun, his expensive shoes sloshing in the marshy water that flooded the rice field. He was wearing a full suit, but no top hat; his hair was black and chin-length and wild around his face. And at first I thought he was a hallucination, a dream conjured by heat sickness or those first dreaded signs of malaria. He was unnervingly, uncommonly beautiful; beautiful like a hurricane, beautiful like lightning or an eclipse. But he was real. I straightened up as I watched him approach, my back aching in protest, a basket full of seedlings slung over my shoulder.

“Mr. Cato.”

His voice, clear and beckoning and twisted by an accent I’d never heard before, rang in my skull like church bells. He called me mister. This white man called me mister.

“Yes sir?” And I almost added: You want to be careful there, sir. The water moccasins like to hide among the tree roots, especially when the sun starts going down. But I had an inexplicable feeling that this man wasn’t afraid of things like snakes. Maybe the snakes should be afraid of him.

“Mr. Cato,” he said again, this time to himself, very quietly, tasting it.

I kept trying to look away, to disentangle my gaze from him like a hook out of a sturgeon’s mouth, because staring piercingly and astonished at a white man like that in the rice swamps of South Carolina in 1851 could get me beaten or the lash, could get my teeth pried right out of my jaw. But it didn’t seem to bother him. He grinned, hugely, all-knowingly, under prehistoric golden eyes like an alligator’s. He knew exactly what he was doing to me. And he was proud.

“Do you want to be free?” he asked, almost hissed, still grinning from the tree line.

What kind of question was that? Did a sandpiper want to fly? Did a coyote want dirt under its paws and flesh disappearing down its throat? But that wasn’t something you ever confessed aloud, not if you wanted your feet on the ground instead of swinging ten inches above it. But this man wasn’t a master, wasn’t an overseer. He wasn’t from the South. He didn’t carry a whip or a club to remind you of the rules of the world. He stood there tall and radiant in the shadows of the fading daylight like he was the one who wrote the rules to begin with; which meant that maybe he could change them. “Yes sir.”

“I can only take you,” the man warned. “No others. No family. No friends.”

“No trouble, sir,” I told him. “They sold my family. They hanged my friends.”

The man’s grin stretched wider under glinting eyes. His canine teeth were sharp, I realized: like a coyote’s, like a snake’s fangs. He held out his hand. “We are going to get along very well, you and I.”

I let the basket fall from my shoulder. I slogged through the mud and rows of wispy verdant rice plants to meet him in the shade of the oak trees. And there, for the first time in forever, a man with skin the color of bones looked me dead in the eye and shook my scarred hand.

“Welcome, Cato,” he whispered; and I was home.

He took my face in his cool palms, gingerly, reverently, like a lover. He touched his teeth to my throat. And every nerve ending in my body flooded with wildfire as he dragged me, screaming, into the depths of the forest.

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rosemaidenvixen · 3 years

Text

Ugly Sweaters and Hot Cocoa

Happy Secret Santa, Merry Christmas, and Blessed Yule to @tigereyes45. You wanted something with adult asexual Krel enjoying his best life, so I wrote this little one shot with him and his fellow ace friends calling Aja to update her about his life on earth. Hope you enjoy!

@toa-secret-santa

Ao3

Krel carefully placed the laptop down on the coffee table and looked around “Everyone ready?”

Eli plopped down on the couch right next to him “Ready,”

Zoe hopped over the back and landed on Krel’s other side “All set, now we just need to wait for Douxie to get her with the--”

“Ask and you shall receive,” Douxie stepped around the side of the couch and slid the pile of DVDs onto the table before flopping back next to Zoe “Ready when you are Krel,”

“Awesome,” Krel turned and opened up the laptop, typing in the commands to establish the connection “Let’s get started,”

A few seconds later Aja’s blue face popped up on the screen.

“Hello little brother!”

“Hello Aja,” Krel greeted her with a small smile.

“Hi Aja!”

“Nice to see you,”

“How’s it going, did you get the video games I sent you?”

She held up a thin plastic box in front of the screen “Yes, thank you Zoe, but we’ll have to be quick today, I can’t talk for long, there is a meeting with dignitaries from the far territories,”

Abruptly Aja’s figure on the screen froze, before slowly lowering the box and leaning in to squint at them “What are you all wearing?”

“Ah, well you see, today we participated in a Earth winter solstice ritual known as the ‘Ugly Sweater Party’,”

“Check it out!” Eli flipped a switch on the underside of his collar causing the Christmas tree on the front of his sweater to become illuminated with multicolored lights.

“You call that an ugly sweater?” Douxie said with a smirk “This is an ugly sweater,”

He pressed the red nose of the reindeer on his chest, causing tinny instrumental music to play. Krel and Zoe looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Douxie and Eli could be such dorks, although to be fair the snowman on Krel’s sweater shed glitter on every surface it touched, and Zoe’s sweater had so much tinsel it was hard to look directly at her.

“Oh, excellent work, your sweaters are most hideous,”

“I know,” Krel leaned back “I don’t really understand it either,”

Aja giggled before she started, zooming closer until her face took up the entire screen “Seklos and Gaylen Krel! Is this your new house?”

Krel perked up “Oh yes, sorry I thought I already told you we moved in. We’re on the loft right now but I can show you the rest,” he stood and picked up the laptop, walking over to the landing so Aja could see down stairs “There’s the kitchen, and the living room, there’s a patio outside but it might be hard to see through the sliding doors,”

“Very lively! I will have to come over to see it the next time I am on earth,”

“Yep,” Eli said with no small amount of pride “The four Ace-cateers finally have a home base,”

Krel turned and made a face so that only Aja would see; her eyes sparkled, cheeks puffed with barely restrained giggles. He hadn’t been the one to pick out that name, Eli had, and to Krel’s eternal torment it stuck.

Asexual was the english word to describe what the four of them were. There existed no such translation in the Akiridion dialect, the closest thing would be ‘preferences’.

Some Akiridions preferred those similar to themselves, some preferred those who were more different. Some enjoyed the company of others regardless of how similar or different they were. And some, like Krel, preferred to abstain altogether.

Krel had never really needed a word to describe what he was; Aja, Varvatos, and his parents had always known his preferences and accepted them without question.

So yes, Krel had never needed the word, but being able to use it to find others that were similar to him was incredible.

Other people that would roll their eyes with him when Steve did one of his musical calls to Aja, to complain with about how nearly everything in human society was geared towards couples.

Eli, Douxie, and Zoe were some of the best friends he could ask for during his years on earth. Even if ‘The four Ace-cateers’ was an embarrassing name.

“We just moved in last week,” Zoe said loud enough for Aja to hear even though Krel was standing across the room with the laptop “There’s still a lot of unpacking to do, but that can wait until after finals,”

“Congratulations! Are your classes going well little brother?”

“Oh yes they are challenging to be sure but I having a blast,” Krel returned the laptop to the table while sitting back down on the couch “Humans have such a complex history, and the way the carbon based life on this planet evolved is truly fascinating,”

Douxie leaned over and grinned at the computer screen “You have no idea how disappointed the engineering school was to miss out on him, there was even talk about some of them throwing him into a sack and dragging him to the engineering campus so they could force him to join,”

“Kleb that,” Krel folded his arms and leaned back “If I wanted to learn utterly basic engineering from some larvox that doesn’t even know what a Daxial array is, I would go back to high school,”

Aja giggled before turning towards Eli “How are your studies going, Ambassador Pepperjack?”

“I’m hanging in there, Mr. Strickler’s been helping with my political science classes, but learning all the different languages is hard,”

Krel grinned and nudged him with an elbow “Eli, tell her what happened your debate,”

Aja’s eyeridges rose “Debate?”

Eli blushed scarlet while the three of them started smirking “There’s nothing to tell!”

“If it is nothing why are you turning red?”

“Let’s just say Ash Dispersal Pattern, featuring DJ Kleb, made a guest appearance,” Douxie said with a sly grin.

“Is that what you call it?! There was a dragon in the auditorium!”

Zoe held up a finger “Hey, Charlemange is a cool guy,”

“The quad was on fire.”

“I assure you, we had everything under control,”

“And the gnomes!?” Eli said indignantly, face still crimson.

Krel opened his mouth to retort, paused, shut his jaw with a click, and then opened it again “....yeah ok that was our bad, we took that one a little too far,”

Eli covered his face and moaned

Aja’s expression was both confused and intrigued “Ok, we don’t have enough time right now, but you will definitely have to tell me the full story later,”

Zoe nodded at her “I’ll send you the pictures,”

“Oh, that reminds me, how is your deejaying Krel?”

“Klebtastic, I’ve been doing pretty regular work at the recreation center’s party nights, and I’m going to be doing the music in town square for Arcadia’s New Years eve celebration,”

“That’s Amazing!” she beamed at him “You know when I told the council of elders what your DJ name is they were so horrified, a few of them actually fainted,”

Krel let out a short laugh “Oh man, I wish I could have been there,”

Aja chuckled along with him for a moment when someone suddenly called to her from offscreen. She leaned over and disappeared from view for a while responding to them before quickly popping back “I have to go soon, but it was good talking to you,”

“Yes,” Krel sighed, the other three sitting back to let him and his sister say goodbye “I miss seeing you,”

“Krel I--” Aja hesitated before speaking up again “Krel...I am glad that you are happy on earth with your friends and your deejaying and your studies...but there will always be a place for you on Akiridion-5,”

Krel froze, caught off guard by the sudden heaviness in his chest and stinging in his eyes.

His life on earth wasn’t perfect, there were pieces missing; Aja was the biggest one. But he had his friends, his town. A life outside being a prince that he’d never imagined.

Maybe one day he would want something different, but for now this was enough.

“Thank you Aja,”

Aja gave him a soft smile “You can always come back whenever you want, but I know earth is your home to,”

Someone called to her from beyond the computer again, Aja frowned sharply, standing abruptly and shouting offscreen “I will be finished soon, now would you please give me a mekron to speak with my brother in peace!”

She sat back down into view and sighed “I have to go now, but it was good talking to you, and Krel--”

“Yes, I know, I will give hugs and kisses to the oaf for you,”

“I was going to say don’t take so long to call again, but if you really want to, I can ask Steve to--”

“Flishgag no!”

“Aja! Ew!” Eli’s face was a picture of disgust.

She laughed at them through the screen, Douxie and Zoe going right along with her.

“Take care of yourself little brother,”

“I will, and you do the same,”

She gave him a melancholy smile “Goodbye,”

Bittersweet feelings stirred in his stomach “Bye, see you soon,”

With that he pressed a button on the keyboard causing the screen to go dark.

Krel pressed the power button and shut the laptop, but not before he could see the glum look on his face reflected in the blaack screen.

It was good to catch up with Aja, he should definitely arrange another call soon. But immediately after their calls ended was always when he felt the literal lightyears of distance between them most acutely.

He played off the swell of emotion as a shudder “Why your race chooses to express romantic affection by mushing your mouths together I will never understand,”

“Agreed,” Eli punctuated the word with a nod.

“I don’t know guys,” Douxie said “Kissing isn’t all that bad,”

“Yeah,” Zoe slid closer to him “I think I might like to do some right now,”

“Please no,”

“Gross,”

Douxie flashed them a malicious grin while pulling a smirking Zoe in closer “We’re going to do it,” he said in a sing-song voice.

“Guys, eeww!”

“If you two kiss I am throwing myself out the window,”

“Pucker up honeypie,” Zoe leaned in close, Douxie bending his head down to meet her.

Eli made gagging noises.

“The window is open and I am ready to jump!”

Zoe and Douxie were less than an inch away when Lucy suddenly popped up from behind the couch, causing Zoe to fall and Douxie to jump with a yelp.

“Nuh uh uh kiddos, no PDA in the living room. Got to be on your tip top best behavior now, Santy Claus is watching,”

Zoe got back up with a grumble “We’re grown adults in our own house,”

Lucy didn’t so much as bat an eye “How about you sports have some hot cocoa, extra whipped cream and extra marshmallows,” she held out a tray with four steaming mugs.

“...if this is a bribe I will totally take it,” Zoe reached up and grabbed one of the mugs, Eli and Douxie following suit.

Krel shut the window with a sigh of relief and walked over to accept his own mug. Zoe and Douxie would pick chocolate over making out any day; besides, if past experience was anything to go by Krel wasn’t very good at hiding his gloom at being separated from his sister, and they had only been trying to distract him.

He picked up one of the DVDs from the stack on the coffee table “Should I start the movie now?”

“Yes,”

“Definitely,”

“Fire it up,”

Krel popped the disk into the player before going back over to plop down on the couch between Eli and Douxie. Zoe picked up the box from where he set it on the table “When a big city lawyer heads home for the holidays it’s love at first sight when-- wow, they aren’t even trying anymore are they?”

“They’re the Hallmark channel,” Eli said between sips of his hot chocolate “What do you think?”

“You know, when I first arrived on Earth I thought that these movies were an accurate representation of human courtship, you have know idea how relieved I was when I learned they weren’t,”

“Yeah they are inaccurate drivel,” Douxie said as the opening credits started rolling “But they are a ton of fun to watch with my fellow Ace-cateers,”

Krel grinned and held up his mug “I’ll drink to that,”

#Toasecretssanta2020 #toasecretsanta #tales of arcadia #fanfic #krel tarron #eli pepperjack #hisirdoux casperan #douxie #zoe #toa zoe #rmvwrites #toasecretsanta2020 #aro ace krel #aro ace eli #panromantic ace douxie #demiromantic ace zoe

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lesbianecrivain · 3 years

Text

Retourne-toi!

Summary: Denise decides to travel, hoping to take her mind off everything, only to end up doing more work as she makes the mistake of admiring a castle that has remained hidden from humanity for years.

AO3 link HERE!

(I’ll be posting all of the chapters on AO3. If you liked this, check that out more often because updates would be there. This is not too related with the game. F/F pairing)

Warning for a little bit of violence when OC remembers her childhood. Also, should I continue this? Reviews and kudos are highly appreciated!! 💕

Now, let us simp for the tall vampire~

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Chapter 1: Wandering Traveller

The wars never stopped. Up until today, humans still fight amongst themselves for silly reasons instead of working together to be united. Anyone would want to take a break from all these wars. Especially someone who had done everything they could to, at least, lessen or slow the effects of these unending wars. So, that is what Denise Rodriguez is going to do. She took a break from everything, flew back to her country hoping to feel snow again. She really loves the snow despite having low tolerance for cold. If lucky, there might be children on the street who would be willing to play snowball fight with her. A smile broke the straight line on her lips at the thought, heart warming at the images of children smiling as they throw the snowballs at each other. She couldn't wait to reach their destination, she made sure that the place is snowing this time of the year. Having been born from the tropical side of the planet, snow can quite be something desirable for someone like Denise. Something spectacular and worthy of attention and praises.

Here Denise was, sitting by the window seat and staring at the bright cloudy yet calm view outside, a small smile playing on her lips as the plane continued heading towards its destination. Only a few more hours until they reach Europe. Her heart bloomed at the thought of returning to a land that it acknowledged as home more than her land of origin.

When Denise opened her eyes, the sun was not shining anymore. A grin crept up to her face. The person beside Denise stared at her weirdly before going off with their own life. Denise couldn't care less though, she is finally back and she would never allow a mere stranger to ruin her vacation here. She will be staying here for some time, taking the opportunity to stay here for as long as she'd like to. Perks of dual citizenship. She badly needs a break from handling a lot of environmental issues and having to provide for hundreds of students, she almost forgot about her corporation. Yes, when she says she needs a break, she needs a damn break. From everything, especially her other country that has been a shit show ever since she became aware—this having started when she reached twelve years of age, and she is in her early 30's now. It has been a long time yet within the years she lived in her country, not even a single road in her street has been fixed.

"Alright," She muttered, bracing herself while her hand gripped her baggage tightly. "Romania, here I come!"

Denise went straight to her house and after organizing the stuff she brought, she glanced at her phone. There laid on her bright screen, 19:34 in black as her eyes wandered to the other time zones as well. The way to her house was splendid, she can't help but to marvel at the various infrastructures that passed as she rode the taxi despite seeing them for the nth time. She has observed how great the difference is between this foreign land and her own, and then she was again further disappointed with her own land. Enough of that, she is here to free herself of worry, Denise reminds herself, eyes quickly ridding of all the gloom and anger as they caught sight of the marble structure that she has been longing for ever since she departed from this land two years ago. She has always been a regular here the moment she found out about this place, around seven years ago. They just served the best pizzas Denise has ever known to exist, though that could change when she further travels across Europe in the future.

"Miss Rodriguez!"

Denise smiled at the chipper servant and greeted them back just as gleeful. She is glad to know that they are the same servant from two years ago. Even the other staff smiled at their guest, knowing how prominent she is in this place, seeing that she is a regular customer here and actually treated them properly than how other customers would, disregarding them as if they were lower than them.

"Denise!"

Her head turned toward the all-too-familiar light voice, almost squeaking, as soon as their eyes caught sight of Denise. A wide grin set itself comfortably on her lips, turning around to open her arms, preparing to envelop whoever had greeted her.

"Sophie!" Denise was too slow to react as the other woman practically threw herself in her arms. "Looks like someone had missed me," she chuckled, patting Sophie on her small back.

"You damn bet I do," Sophie pulled away but the smile on her lips was relentless. "I told them all to prepare your favorites as soon as you informed me that you will be coming here, and it seems like I am not the only one who missed you,"

Confusion was briefly on Denise's face then her eyes darted behind Sophie. There she saw people carrying a tray, enough to feed all the people inside, with smiles plastered on their faces. Denise knew herself that she couldn't finish it all by herself. Sophie seemed to close the restaurant earlier because the only people here are the staff, herself, and Denise, their guest. Warmth spread through the small woman like a drop of milk spreading lightness to a black coffee.

"Y'all," Denise shook her head in disbelief. "C'mere, let's eat. I cannot finish these all by myself!"

The place was filled with laughter, the faint glow of gold surrounding the place and adding to the calming and light atmosphere. They all took a seat on the long table with Denise on the head and Sophie on her side while the staff sat along by them. They all looked genuinely happy, as if this was the only time they could take a break from all the stress the day has brought upon. The wide grins, sounds of soft laughter filling the room, and the gleam in each of their eyes were enough to take Denise's worries away, even for the briefest moment.

"Y'all didn't have to do this," She told them, shaking her head.

"But we wanted to!" chorused most of the staff while some just kept smiling at her. Sophie then raised a brow in her direction. "Save your irrational guilt, sunshine," she told the small woman who seemed to be rethinking her decision of informing her of her coming. "We missed you and here is our way of showing you. So, shut up and eat, young lady, we've got so much to catch up on."

"Alright, Soph," Denise sighed in defeat yet the grin never left her face. "Y'all dig in too! I'm tipping all of you extra because y'all look extremely happy right now," and that warms my heart, Denise wanted to add but didn't want to sound cheesy or seem like a softie as she wasn't either of those.

Sophie hummed her disagreement. "Ugh ugh, this one's on the house! You keep eat—"

"No." interrupted Denise with a frown. "The least I can do is to pay and leave a huge amount of tip for you all individually, and no Sophie, this is not up for a debate."

Denise was determined and Sophie knew that there is no way she can convince the raven-haired woman when she is determined. She shook her head and released a sigh. "Fine, you are lucky you're handsome."

Denise was thankful for her brown complexion that a blush didn't appear on her cheeks at the sudden compliment. She wouldn't want to be blushing in front of anyone. She coughed, "So, how's everything with you?" She said, clearly dismissing the compliment and hoping that her friend wouldn't push it.

"Eh, nothing eventful while you were gone. Same old same.." Sophie shrugged, mind wandering to the events in her life in the past two years that Denise was gone. "How about you, busy bee? I've seen you on some article while I was surfing the net last night.." She grinned then teased the smaller woman, nudging her softly with her elbow, "You're really doing something big out there! Planning to contribute positively to the world along with a bunch of other stuff!"

At this, Denise's hand crept to the back of her head where her palm was able to feel her shaved head, all while she huffed as she smiled. Maybe it was the time where she joined in one of the protests against the passing of a ridiculous nonsensical bill. "I'm not doing 'something big', you silly," She rolled her eyes at the exaggeration. She doesn't want anyone thinking that what she is doing is grand, especially with all her wealth. "I'm just doing my responsibility as an inhabitant of this world.." She shrugged, and in her defense, she really was although Sophie has told her a lot of times that she is being a hero by doing so. But, Denise had quickly countered that what she does is not a heroic act but her moral obligation as a human. It would be natural to want to help in any way you can, at least that is how Denise thinks, which further amazes Sophie.

"Well, whatever you say," Sophie took a sip from her glass. "How long do you plan to stay? And tell me all the places you'd go to!! Maybe I can tag along if you want to or if I've got the time..."

"I think I'm gonna stay for a while and go to the old times.." Denise explained when confusion crossed Sophie's expression. "I plan on visiting this ancient village. I heard that the sceneries there are spectacular.. I'm going for this old-y vibes for my book that I'm currently writing.. and I plan to take pictures as well." Then she showed Sophie her phone which displayed the village she is referring to. The other woman nodded approvingly at her choice as she kept scrolling through the pictures.

"Well, what exactly are you looking for?"

Denise shrugged as she put her phone back to her pocket. "Nothing really specific.. If I go there and feel it, I would immediately take a picture. I hope to find an abandoned infrastructure or if I'm lucky enough, maybe a castle?"

Sophie grinned at her. "Look at you being all things at once," elbow nudged Denise again, urging her to shake her head. "I really wonder how the hell you're able to do all your responsibilities at once!"

Denise rolled her eyes. "That is why I'm taking a break, silly."

A chuckle bubbled its way out of her throat. Laughter filled the room along with the small conversations among the staff and themselves. Having this unfold in front of her prompted another smile on Denise's lips as one word screamed loud in her mind;

Home.

—————

Denise would have already started her travel, or adventure as she likes to call it, the day after she met with Sophie; however, works keep holding her back and as a result, she has been occupied by them for a whole week, unable to do anything exciting and relaxing other than to play her musical instruments or catch up on series. Why couldn't she just bring her stuff along with her so she could work when she reaches wherever she wants to go? Denise isn't certain if the area she plans to go to has internet or even supply of electricity. Either way, she finally has finished all her follow-up tasks, releasing a sigh—whether it be from relief, exhaustion, or both—as her palm pushed down the screen of her laptop.

"Fucking finally," She sighs again, leaning back on her office chair. She rubs her eyes before closing them. The silence in her home provided a calming effect after her long day of work. Imagine coming here to relax only to be haunted by those damned works. The city was calm. The loud sirens fading from a distance, honking of the car horns, and sometimes a loud chatter would bloom from a small crowd, created a soft cadence lulling Denise to sleep on her position that she would surely regret next morning. But, whatever worry she may have for tomorrow was left unthought of as the night progressed with much ease she hasn't had for quite a while.

The same calm she has been seeking for.

The following morning, the dull ache on her back was quicker than her eyes to open and be aware of their surroundings. "Dammit," grumbled Denise with her voice hoarse. She slowly stood up, still groggy from waking from such a deep slumber that she hasn't had for a while. Her hand immediately reached to rub her back, seeking for relief albeit brief, before she proceeded to go to the bathroom to clean herself. After doing her morning routine—cleaning herself, exercising then eating breakfast, Denise started prepping for her long journey. She had informed Sophie that she will be gone for quite a while and that her brunette friend may occupy her house during her leave, to which the restaurant owner quickly agreed to—saving both of them time and money.

Denise felt like a scout because of all the things she is going to bring with her. She nearly brought her house with her. Better ready than not, she thinks to herself as she packed her razor that she uses to keep her head shaved. Along with that are the various tools she deemed necessary (she brought her toolbox), and some weapons that are easy to hide and bring, for precaution. She also packed a lot of foods and clothings, and of course, money. After packing all of those stuff, she went to put her portable generator on the back of her van, just in case.

When she is satisfied with everything, Denise ceased her movements before sitting on her couch, a sigh escaping past her lips before she could even think of it. She took a deep breath and then closed her eyes, letting the silence envelop her in its tranquilizing arms. The comfort se found in silence started reminding her a moment from her childhood. Something she didn't want to remember. It was midnight back then and she jolted up from her bed because of the tingling sensation in her abdomen. Realizing this, she stood up and went downstairs, only to halt on her way as she heard a whimper below— on the living room where her parents sleep. The lights were off but the soft glow emanating from the television was enough to show her father strangling her mother. At that very moment, Denise completely forgot about her bladder's needs and went straight back to the bedroom she shared with her siblings as silent as she could. The confusion, fear, anger, disappointment, and sadness that she felt that night were too overwhelming. Since then, she promised to herself that she would never marry or have children if she would only act like her father.

"I am so ready!!" Denise practically bounced as she moved, hopping like a bunny on a meadow, as she stepped into her huge van. She decided to bring some of her musical instruments and some of her books to have something to keep herself entertained. Sophie stood by her doorway, waving and smiling at her as she drove away and into the unknown.

Denise had promised that she would take a lot of pictures so that when she shows them to her, Sophie would feel as if she were with her all along her journey. She hasn't reached her destination yet, however, the tall trees she kept passing by as she was hours into her drive were always able to amaze and put a smile on her face. Nature has always been enough to make all her worries drift away, one of the reasons why she does all her best to take care of it. She is a devoted environmentalist, writing articles about the issues regarding nature in her free time while also using her resources for further development of restoration of deforested lands. It may seem like a big work, just like what Sophie insists because it truly is, but for Denise herself it isn't. She loves what she is doing, she wouldn't feel the exhaustion if she weren't mortal. Unfortunately, she must take breaks every now and then for her to be able to continue doing her passion.

After two days of driving and taking breaks to get some sleep, Denise finally arrived at the said village. She immediately felt the atmosphere she needs for the inspiration of both her book and its cover. The village itself wasn't grand, quite the opposite. The way of living here seemed to be simple almost as if the people here are still living in the olden days, and she thought it is possible that they still are. She parked her van near the entrance of the village. The village was small so she didn't bother bringing her van inside, for it would be easier to leave it outside of the village. She greeted the people who met her eyes with a small smile, hoping that they are not hostile to tourists. Thankfully, she felt welcomed enough although some just glanced at her and didn't really pay her any attention but at least no one scowled at her. She doesn't plan on staying here for too long. In fact, after she bought some supplies and asked for the elder for permission to take pictures and after taking pictures, she was already bidding her goodbye and gratitude to the elder before she hopped back to her van.

Something in the north caught her eye as she scrolled through the pictures she's taken, which pulled her gaze away from her camera. The sun was still up, there's still time for her to travel further and find a place to park her van safely— she doesn't need to spend night in a hotel or motel since her van is big enough to host, but she still needs a place to stay for her security. Denise carefully placed her camera back to its place, securing it, then proceeded to drive further up north. What caught her eyes is the enormous structure that seems like a mountain covered in snow on top, a perfect scenery to add to her choices. But as she neared the said mountain, another caught her sight. This time, she also completely forgot what it is that she went for as she was utterly amazed by the sight in front of her eyes.

Her mind couldn't think of anything except;

Perfection.

A castle. It hadn't been in the map nor did the elder of the village informed her of this. It wasn't even on Google when she searched for this area. She thought that maybe this beauty was meant to remain hidden from the outside world. The reason behind for this possibility? She couldn't care. All she could give a damn about is that she finally found what she is hoping to see. So, she did what any people would do. She took her bag and her camera before stepping out of her van—making sure to bring the keys with her, after she parked it in front of the gates.

"Woah," Denise couldn't help but gape at the infrastructure.

Jackpot, she internally celebrates.

The structure seemed to be a mixture of both Gothic and Romanesque style, with its round walls yet pointed arches and stained glasses. Overall, the castle was impressive. Its walls were enough to tell about its age, which to Denise's opinion, this castle might have been built around 18th century. She went to the gate, searching for any doorbell or anything that would notify the inhabitants of the castle—if there were—of its visitors, only to find none. But, luckily, she found out that the gate is left unlocked. Maybe, the castle is abandoned? Denise thinks then smiles as she proceeds further outside the castle grounds. The gate squeaked as Denise pushed it slightly just enough for her figure to fit perfectly.

Denise walked around as if she were strolling around the zoo for the first time, gaping at the size and the details of the castle. The castle emanated a vibe she can't quite put her finger on. She wasn't sure what it was but she felt calm and relaxed. This is perfect for my book, she thinks as she turned around once more to gape at the place. She felt like a person entering an aquarium for the first time, amazed by all the aquatic creatures.

When she was in the middle of the property, not inside the castle yet since the outside was a wide space that would have been green if it weren't winter, Denise finally pulled her camera to her chest. Hesitation kept holding her back. She doesn't want to take pictures without the owner's or at least the caretaker's permission, but whom would she ask if there seemed to be no one to ask for permission? Denise felt as if she just invaded the property despite not going fully inside the castle. She felt horrible, knowing that she must desert the place because she doesn't have the permission to be here, yet the curiosity and wonder in her became stronger than the guilt she felt creeping in her earlier. And soon enough, the latter completely overthrew any hesitation she had.

"Just one picture," Denise promised to no one in particular, trying to drown the voice in her head that screams at her to just walk away. "Let me take just one picture of this masterpiece, then I will leave." Her eyes closed in concentration as she did her best to drown any guilt creeping in her. Obviously, she didn't listen to the rational part of herself as she went to crouch and angled her camera where it covers mostly the upper part of the castle together with the plain sky and the snow falling.

It was perfect, the shot she took was splendid. Denise smiled to herself as she dusted herself off while getting up. A smile graced her face before she could even process it. She took another look at the single picture she took, after all she promised that she would only take one picture then she will go away, and that is what she is about to do if it weren't for the picture she took. The curve on her lips was immediately set straight.

Something caught her eyes the longer she stared at the picture. There. In one of the castle windows, there stood something—someone, she wasn't sure which, but it seemed to be a figure dressed in white and smiling down at her? Denise shook her head, closed her eyes then took a deep breath before looking at the picture again, squinting her eyes at it. It was still there, the...she wasn't sure what name to put to it... The creature? Either way, it doesn't seem like this castle is abandoned at all. She took one last glance at the part of the castle where she also caught the figure. There was no one there. Not the dress, not the smile, not the figure, nothing. Only darkness. Weird. Maybe it had been one of her imaginations? But she looked at the picture and the same figure was smiling at her. It couldn't be her mind's doings. Maybe the castle wasn't abandoned at all, and maybe she could ask for permission? All while Denise thinks what she could do to be more polite to whoever is living inside the wondrous castle, standing dumbly in the middle of nowhere, another thought occurred to her. This one she didn't like;

What if they're not human?

#lady dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu x original character #lesbians #useless lesbians #lady dimitrescu is a little soft here #slow burn #original character #resident evil village #my writing #gay #aint we all gay for Lady Dimitrescu

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luna666us · 3 years

Text

Unknown Relationship pt.1

This is that Felix x reader that my friend asked for.

Here you go lily I hope you enjoy

“He’s just so sweet.” Wendy had been talking for twenty minutes straight and I had yet to type even a single word for my book. I’m just sitting there in my plaid widow outfit looking bored out of my mind. then my phone chimed. Thank the gods. It was from Felix. I smiled. “who is it, Y/n?” She asks. “Felix.” I say. “Ooooooo.” She whoops while raising her eyebrows up and down. I laugh and hit her with a pillow. “shut up.” I say. I pick up my phone and read. “Hey, Y/n” I read. “Hey, Felix. What’s up” I replied. Then Wendy starts laughing. “I ship it.” She says. I make a face. “what! Eww! I don’t think of him like that.” I protest. She laughs. “sure,sure.” She answers. Then my phone chimes again. “I’m good. How’s the book coming along so far” he asks. I roll my eyes. “It would be if Wendy would get off my back for two seconds. It Pan this, and Pan that. Pan, Pan, Pan, Pan. I’m sick and tired for hearing how sweet Pan is. If only she actually knew him.” I start venting. I’m about to put my phone down when it chimes again. “That was fast.” Wendy says playfully. “oh shut up.” I say. Then I read his text. “You could come over to my place and we’ll work on the book together.” He suggested. My eyes light up. “really, that would be great. Thanks Felix I’ll be there in five.” I answer. then I get an immediate response. “no prob. Kay I’ll wait for you.” I read. I smile. “I’m going over to Felix’s place to work on my book so you can spend the rest of your night texting Pan.” I say. She giggled. I get up and grab a backpack and stuff my, phone, laptop, and some cloths in case it gets cold at Felix’s and I can change, and strap my skateboard onto it. Then I point at her with an apple in my hand. “Stay out of my room and behave.” I say. She salutes me. “mam yes mam!” She says. I laugh once and we head out of my room. I close the door and lock it with a key and put the key in my pocket. Then I wave my hand over the door knob and lock it with magic so that she can’t brake in. Then I grab my boots and head out. I get on my black and red motocross bike, and I drive off, and soon I make it to Pan, and Felix’s apartment. I grab my stuff and I chain up my bike. And use magic so no one can steal it. Then I walk over to the huge steel door and press the buzzer for apartment B9. I hear a returning buzz that tells me that I’m being let in, and I open the door and walk in. I go up thirty nine flights of stairs. Luckily I’m on the track team so it doesn’t really bother me. I knock on the door and Peter opens it. “Oh, hey y/n come on in.” He says. “Felix! Y/n is here.” He shouts. “ok!” Felix shouts back. “he’s in his room.” He says. I nod once and head down the hall. I knock on the door. “come in.” I hear Felix say. I open the door and lean against the door frame. He’s sitting in a gaming chair and playing. Game of thrones, with Baelfire, Nibs, and Devin. “Devin to your left.” Felix says. I laugh once and the whole game stops. Devin, Nibs, Baelfire, and Felix’s characters all go still. They all have their cameras on so I can see them. Felix turns and sees me. I wave with my fingers. “so I see you guys have been playing Game Of Thrones without me.” I say. They all look guilty. I smile. “its fine I have a lot to do anyways.” I say. They all look relieved and I go sit with Felix. “we’ll work on the book later.” I say. He nods once. “want to join us?” He asks. I smile. “sure.” I get up and grab a controller and head set. Then I turn on his other game system and login. Then I wait for an invite. Devin sends it, and I join. I take some time to edit my character. Then I click join and I spawn in the world. I turn on my camera and headset. They all unpause their game. And we get back to it. I see an orc about to kill Felix and I know that if I warn him it will only take up more time so I use my bow and one shot him in the head. Then I attack the dark elf that goes at me for killing the Orc. Soon we get rid of most of the enemies, and we move out. We split up into teams. Then Henry logs on and Devin invites him. We all split up into teams of three. Devin, Nibs, and Baelfire are one team and Felix, Henry, and I are on the other team. After a few hours of playing I realized how dark it was outside now. “Crap!” I say. “What is it?” Henry asks. “It’s 10:30 PM. I need to work on my book the last time I took so long to update the story all my followers banned together and started a mob that literally found out where I lived to demanded that I work on the next chapter.” I say. Felix laughs. “ok guys me and Y/n are gonna log off so we can work on her book together.” He says. “Mmhmm... sure.” I flip Nibs off before logging off. They all wish us a good night and then he log off too. I get up and pull out my laptop and in less time than it takes me to get up and walk across the room. I logged into my story account and and get to my recent books. then I get comfortable and Felix sits with me on a large beanbag. He pulls me into his lap so he can see the screen too. Then I immediately type on my forum page. “Sorry guys for making you wait so long but I’m writing the next chapter right now.” I hit send and then I begin typing something else. “you guy remember me talking about my best friend Felix. He is here with me today to help write my story.” I send it and take a picture of us he has his arms around me and I hit the ten second countdown button and right before it takes the picture he starts tickling me and I struggle to get out of his arms, and then it takes a picture of both of us laughing, him tickling me and me trying to escape. “noooooo!” I shout. He laughs and stops. The picture automatically sends instead of making me send it because when I take a picture with the app it automatically sends the message with the picture in it. He laughs as I watch the comments roll in like a flood. “you ass! You knew that was going to happen.” I accuse him. He laughs. “maybe I did maybe I didnt. The world will never know.” He says. I laugh and look at the comments. “@Bagellover65- awwww you guys look so cute together.” I read. “@bookworm39- I ship It.” I read next. “@batcat33- I will dedicate my time to this Ship and together the Y/s/n (your ship name) Fan club with make this ship sail.” I read the last one and laughed. I then type. “how the hell is there already a fan club for me and Felix, and sorry but we are not together he is just an adorable little demon boy that the gods have cursed me with.” I say. Felix shouts. “hay!!” He shouts but its a playful scolding. “That is for vengeance.” I say then I get to work on the book. Felix helps out a lot and sometimes we have to act out scenes so that we can describe them right. Then it gets to an action scene in the book and I focus mainly on picturing the scene playing out in my head so that I can describe them. At the end of the action scene katie’s (the main character) best friend billy dies and then I end the book on a cliffhanger. I smile and write at the bottom of the page in an authors note. “Mwahahahaha thats the end of the story folks your gonna have to wait for the next book in the series.” I write then I publish the story and mark it as a finished story. “wow I did not see that coming.” Felix says. I laugh and stretch. I look outside and see how dark it is. “You could stay here for the night if you want.” He says. “no. Its okay Felix, I’ll can find my way home in the dark.” I say. “wait you didnt bring a car.” He says. “no, I came on my motocross bike, and the lights haven’t been working lately.” I say. “well in that case your staying here tonight there is no way in hell that I’m letting you outside in the dark in this part of town.” He says. I start to protest but he shushes me and I know that I’m not gonna win this argument. “Fine.” I mumble. Then I head down the hall to the bathroom with my clothes and change. I walk back out, and I head back to Felix’s room and flop down on the beanbag. “your a jerk.” I say into the beanbag. “yes, yes I am.” He reply’s. We head into the living room and then I hear my motocross bikes alarm going off. I look out the window. “hay thats my bike!” I shout then I run out of the apartment the boys following Pan with his keys to the apartment so we dont get locked out. I throw myself over the stairwell railing and drop the rest of the way down. Then I land skillfully on my feet and Felix jumps over the railing too landing by my side. I get to the door and open it then I sprint down the side walk with the boys following after me. I see a man trying to use his magic to take down my spell so he can steal my bike. “HAY!! GET AWAY FROM MY BIKE!!!” I yell at him. He looks my way and keeps trying to get at my bike. I get to him and I punch him across the face. He jack knives to his feet and throws a punch at me. I dodge it and he throws another punch I catch it and twist his arm behind his back and slam him against the wall. “stay the hell away from my bike!” I yell. He teleports out of my hold and punches me in the back of my head. I spin around and throw a punch but he dodges this time and punches me so hard across the face that I fall the the floor. Felix and Peter both brake into a sprint and beat the dude senseless. Then I get up and stummble almost loosing my footing due to how dissy I was. Felix rushes to my side and helps me. I use my magic to take the spell off of the bike and unchain it then I wheel it back to the apartment. Felix helping me the whole way there. We head into the cellar of the apartment and put my bike in their storage compartment and we lock it up. Then we head back upstairs. I almost fall again so Felix picks me up bridal style. “Felix put me down. I’m fine.” I protest. “Shut up, Y/n. If I put you down and let you walk up these stairs your gonna fall over the railing and brake your neck.” He says. I huff and cross my arms grumpily. we get back to the apartment and Peter opens the door and lets Felix in first so he can put me down. Felix walks over to the couch and sets me down. He crouches down and looks at my head. “your fine but I suggest that you stay off your feet for a little while. I’ll go get you an ice pack for your head.” He says he says. I nod once. And he goes to get me an ice pack. Peter walks in and places a hand on my head and uses his magic to heal me but even though that its healed it still hurts a bit. When Felix gets back he hands it to me and sits with me. Later that night I end up sleeping on the couch and even though I had told him that it wasn’t nessary Felix had committed to staying with me in case I needed him I was snuggled up against his side his arm around me a blanket over us to keep us warm. I woke up with Felix’s arms around me protectively. Both of them wrapped around my waist. I blushed a little at the fact that he was shirtless and in just a pair of black jeans. I managed to get out of his grasp. I took the blanket and covered him with it. For once in his life he looked at peace. Not grumpy or angry or irritated or even bored just peaceful. I smile at this and go to the kitchen. I make myself some breakfast. Bacon and eggs with some sausage as well I made enough for all three of us. Then I make three mugs of coffee. As soon as I pour the first cup Felix walks in sleepily sniffing around. He sees me making pouring coffee and I walk up to him and hand him the mug. “thanks.” He says in a sleepy voice. I nod and try not to look at him because he’s still shirtless. However I did happen notice just how extremely toned his body was. I blush deeply with the thought. Then I turn and make more coffee he sits at the table. Then Peter walks in.... shirtless. “Damn it. Does no one wear clothes around here.” I complain. Both of them burst into laughter. I roll my eyes. Then I remember that I dont have anything to wear today. “DAMN IT!! Plus I have nothing to wear. And peter before you make a comment on that I would think about weather or not I will strangle you for it.” I say. He closes his mouth instantly. “thats what I thought.” I say. “you can barrow one of my shirts and just where the same pants.” He says. I thank him and he goes to go get me a shirt. He comes back with a white button down shirt and tosses it to me. I catch it and head over to the bathroom. I take a shower and clean up then I change back into my under clothes and shorts and pull on Felix’s shirt and button it up leaving the last button undone because it was broken. I roll up the sleeves and and head out. The shirt is so long that’s it covers up my shorts making it look like the shirt is all I’m wearing, but I dont get self conscious easily. I walk out and grab my bag. “I’ll see you guys later at Wendys party!” I shout. Felix walks me out and I hug him goodbye. Then I climb onto my bike and start it. Me and Felix do our hand shake and then I drive off. ...to be continued

A/n: I apologize for how horrible this was i just edited it so that it at least makes sense. I will be making a part 2 and posting it today thank you

#Ouat felix x reader #once upon a time story #writer

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fuyupeach · 4 years

Text

In The Works // Ryuji Sakamoto x Reader - Chapter 9

(really) long time no see!! i hope you're all doing well and staying safe!! i'm doing my best trying to get through this fall semester, and playing among us with friends is really fun! i hope you all enjoy this chapter, it ends a little abruptly but i don't think it's a bad place to stop since i really wanted to update! hopefully the next chapter will be out soon! thank you all so much for the support!! <3

The air smells faintly of curry, coffee overpowering its scent as you walk into Le Blanc. Looking easily to the left you see Akira, Ann, and Ryuji seated at one of the many booths, each waving once they see you.

“Welcome.” An older unknown voice greets you, an old man with glasses and a beard behind the counter. “One of Akira’s friends?”

“Yes,” you reply, still facing him as you slide into the booth next to Ryuji. “It’s nice to meet you.” You supply an awkward smile.

“No need to be nervous around me,” Sojiro smiles, turning to wipe freshly washed cups down. “Do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t interfere with my business.”

“That’s Sojiro for ya.” Ryuji catches your attention, lowering his voice as he looks at Akira. “So, we’re obviously all here because.. you-know-what.”

A cat pops up from Akira’s bag, seemingly sneering at Ryuji before it...talked..

“How do we know we can trust her?” Oddly enough, the voice sounded quite familiar to one very annoying creature that looked like a cat all that time ago.

“Morgana?” Your face scrunches up. Great.. You roll your eyes. “I can promise your secret will be safe with me. And it’s not like you won’t see me almost everyday at school.”

“I trust her.” Akira speaks up, pushing Morgana back into his bag and from sight.

“Me too.” Ann nods. “We’ve known her for a while, can’t imagine not trusting her.” She motions between her and Ryuji. It was true and common knowledge to you, but the statement still gave you comfort.

“Meeting adjourned then.” Akira gives you a small smile. “Anyone want drinks?”

------

Much hadn’t changed, if you were being honest. It was easier to have more company around you than just Ryuji, your transportation routine aligning with everyone else’s. You’re standing next to Ann on the morning train to Shujin when you decide to bring up Kamoshida. You had talked to Ryuji, but you knew Ann was just as affected, even more so with Shiho leaving. You may not talk with Ann as much as you two had in the past, but you wanted to try and change that.

“How are you feeling?” You ask quietly. “With… I know it isn’t the best place to talk but we haven’t had many chances to talk alone. ” you gesture awkwardly with your hands, but Ann seems to understand just fine, a bit of a shadow crossing over her face.

“I…” She sighs, tugging at the end of one of her pigtails. “I’m getting by. It’s a little weird being able to walk down the halls and not worry about having to avoid that asshole. It irritates me that he has that impact on me, despite his apology.”

Your eyebrows furrow, but you stay silent, letting her know you’re listening as you stand next to her. You weren’t sure if she needed a hug, but maybe you could ask her later. For now, you just listen.

“I know Shiho leaving will be for the best, but I’ll still miss her. It’ll be a little different, but I just gotta tell myself that we’ll both be growing stronger in our own ways.” Ann finishes, looking back up at you with a small smile on her face. “Thanks for asking, ___. I appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem.” You smile back, reaching for her hand and giving it a small squeeze. “We may not have been able to talk much before, but I’m totally here for you. I’d love to be close like we were before.”

“Me too.” Ann squeezes your hand back. “We should totally go out to this crepe stand I LOVE. And if you want, I’d love some updates on the Ryuji situation.” She winks.

“Ann!” You whisper, slapping her arm gently, eyes darting over to an unsuspecting Ryuji a few feet away. Akira seems to have heard it though, a small smile tugging his lips upward, Morgana’s eyes poking out of his bag, full or mirth. Goddammit. Whatever. Despite your thoughts your heart still races.

That had been the beginning of your assistance with the phantom thieves, though nothing much had happened for a good while after Kamoshida. You had gotten closer with Akira and Ann, sometimes even Morgana on his good days (he was still on thin ice). You helped out however you could, getting drinks from the vending machines and convenience stores when you could for their trips to Mementos, being there during their meetings, keeping a low radar.

It wasn’t until one morning on the train to school that things had begun to pick up again.

You’re standing next to Ryuji as you both talk to Akira, waiting for Ann to show up, a yawn leaving your lips. You never were a morning person.

Ryuji yawns next to you, mumbling. “So sleepy… I ended up pullin’ an all-nighter once I realized today’s the last day of exams.”

“You? Staying up studying?” Morgana asks in disbelief.

“Nah, I gave up on the exam.” Ryuji states. “I was playin’ some games, then before I knew it, it was morning.”

“You’re failing for sure.” Akira adjusts his glasses.

“I tried to get him to study,” You sigh. “You’re lucky you have such a great friend that’ll let you study her notes on the way to class.” Ryuji smiles at you as Ann arrives, also yawning.

“Morning! ..Huh?” Ann looks behind her suddenly.

“What’s wrong?” Akira asks, taking the question right from your mouth.

“What, you see a groper or something?” Ryuji asks as well.

Ann turns back around to face you, twirling one of her pigtails. “No, that’s not it. It’s… nothing.”

You continue to be concerned, standing next to Ann as you all get on the train. Not long after you all get off at the designated station, Ann still subtly looking around her. Everything seems fine until she turns back around while you’re all on the escalator out, gasping.

“Oh my god, that guy got off! Isn’t this bad?”

“What guy?” you ask, immediately trying to spot who she was referring to.

Akira’s eyebrows furrow while Ryuji lets out another yawn next to you, lifting his arms. You try to ignore the flutter in your stomach as he seems closer than before.

“Hey! At least act like you care!” Ann pouts. Ryuji scratches his head as he sighs, moving up the escalator.

“Fine. Come on.” The three of you follow him.

You stick with Ann while Ryuji and Akira hide not too far, standing open in the city square. It doesn’t take long to hear footsteps that grow closer to you, keys subtly jingling with each step the guy took. You wait until it gets too close, turning around to see a pale hand reaching out to the both of you. Looking up, the guy is actually quite cute, dark blue hair almost completely covering one of his eyes. He would be if he wasn’t stalking your friend. Ryuji and Akira step in front of the both of your, intimidation on their faces. The boy tilts his head in confusion. Ryuji and Akira also glance him up and down, Ryuji turning to Ann with a doubtful expression.

“Hey, uh… Are you sure that’s him or are you just that self-conscious.” Ryuji asks.

“Urgh, I’m not that--” Ann starts before the stranger interrupts.

“Is there something you want?”

Ann pushes past Ryuji, you following a little bit behind. “That’s my line! You were the one stalking me!” She points.

“Stalking you..? That’s outrageous.”

“I know you’ve been following me! Ever since the train!”

“That’s because…”

And as if the situation couldn’t get any more comical, a black car pulls up, honking at you all. The backseat window rolls down, an old man in a green yukata laughing as he says this is where the stranger’s passion had led. What was going on…?

“I saw you both from the car… and I couldn’t help myself from chasing you.” The boy starts, turning his eyes to you as well. “I didn’t even notice the calls from sensei… But thank goodness I caught up to you.”

“Huh?” You couldn’t help but let out.

“OK…” Ann trails off.

“What?” Ryuji scratches his head again.

“You are the women I’ve been searching for all this time! Please, won’t you--”

“W-wait a minute, I--” Ann starts.

“Be the models for my next art piece?” The boy finishes.

All you can do is blink. This was already a tiring morning.

#ryuji sakamoto x reader #ryuji x reader #persona 5 x reader #peach writes

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echodrops · 3 years

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The Promises I’m Making (2021 Edition)

So how about we all just pretend that 2020 did not happen and we all call it good to erase the year from our memories entirely? I’m game. But I’m also not going to let 2020 totally ruin a long-standing tradition (14 years as of 2021!), so here are my 50 resolutions for this year! When writing promises this year, I decided to go easy on myself, so if the promises aren’t quite as adventurous as normal, well... you know what happened.

2021 Promises

1) Complete the window well on the new basement window so I can finally call that project good.

2) Get the Utah house sprinklers working again to prevent dead grass.

3) Get the back fence back into place and the greenery trimmed.

4) Get the patio replaced before it honestly does just fall down on someone.

5) Get an official exercise routine including walking/jogging, please.

6) Related to the above, lose 15 pounds. Teaching from home basically meant I spent all of 2020 sitting in front of computer, not moving, and it shows...

7) Successfully use the new Roomba my parents got me to keep my floors cleaner. (So much... dog hair...)

8) Get my wisdom tooth removed. (Holy shit, please Echo...)

9) Get a haircut. (No, really, I didn’t get a haircut at all in 2020 and my hair is so long I’d make Sailor Mars jealous.)

10) Find a real doctor to renew my medicine prescriptions so I don’t have to use an asthma inhaler that expired two years ago... please...

11) Fix the back Texas lawn because I let it get pretty bad.

12) For that matter, uhhhh, let me fix the front yard too.

13) Find a credenza for the foyer. Even if it’s expensive, just buy one already Echo.

14) Finish at least seven new books this year. (This goal feels so small, but when do I ever get time to just sit down and read nowadays?)

15) Organize my documents (especially student papers)—my desktop and documents folders give me nightmares just looking at them.

16) Get a decent paper shredder to shred old mail.

17) Talk to an HR rep about my retirement savings so that I can consolidate my retirement accounts.

18) Do at least one artwork to actually use that new paint program I bought.

19) Get the dishwasher fixed... even if I don’t quite know what’s wrong with it.

20) Pay my credit card down by at least 1/2. I made good progress this last year but I need to get it down a lot more before I’ll really be feeling good again.

21) Have all class changes and updates done before classes begin so I only have to worry about grading, not prep too. (There’s always new prep... I never get a break...)

22) Get the toilet in the Texas house fixed as well as the water heater checked because the shower in the back bathroom is cold, blech.

23) Help King lose weight to help with his arthritis. Aim for 85 pounds!

24) See a groove-billed ani. (It’s another type of bird.)

25) Make it to 3000 followers on tumblr. Can I do it? Maybe if I posted actual content once in a while…

26) Update HaaH at least once. Please. At least once...

27) Force Convince my father to fix the fixture in my parents’ front bathroom so my mother will finally stop complaining to me about the leaking sink.

28) Buy a new pair of shoes. I’ve literally worn the same pair of shoes almost every day for the last four years and it’s like... time to let them go.

29) Finish streaming the Fruits Basket remake with Kacchan.

30) Finish the other two QEP courses I was offered because bonus money...

31) Save up to finally buy one of those Ember heated tea mugs.

32) Help my parents save money on their bills by consolidating their services and making some calls to retention of these companies for them.

33) Get vaccinated for Coronavirus as soon as the vaccine is available.

34) Play the new TWEWY game (if it isn’t delayed)--I’m so excited!

35) Find a way to spend more time with my coworker. She does so much for me; I really need to repay her kindness more.

36) Do a video chat and bake with Kacchan since we can’t meet in person to bake together this year!

37) Learn to take better FFXIV screenshots. I need to learn how to use Gposers. XD

38) I will go birdwatching at least six times this year.

39) I will use the exfoliating mask and sugar scrubs I was given for Christmas. I will this time, I really will!!

40) I will get my kitty Gremory to the vet because there’s something not quite right with his claws and I want it checked out.

41) Get a bedframe for the new guest bedroom bed I was able to buy.

42) Eat fewer snacks in 2021--stop buying Oreos, Echo. You can do it.

43) Help ensure that the Todoroki family zine makes it out to everyone who ordered and we are able to close out that zine project strong!

44) Get all of the wolf mounts in FFXIV, finally. I never bothered to grind these at all lol.

45) I will help my mother go through all the family’s Christmas things because the house is so overloaded with Christmas stuff it’s actually becoming a big nuisance. (My family’s Christmas obsession could probably be a plot of a Christmas comedy movie at this point...)

46) Actually watch the Downton Abbey movie, finally.

47) Take ten “really good” photographs this year.

48) Spend more time with my aunt; we don’t see each other nearly enough.

49) A promise provided by a friend: “Try a new Mexican dish. One that doesn’t have mole on it, for once.”

50) I will keep these promises. LOLLLLL.

#50 promises #new year's resolutions #IRL stuff #please 2021 #don't hurt me

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logical-little-lies · 4 years

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The Secret Surprise Playdate- Little Vlogs (Chapter Seven)

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated this in almost a month! The chapters in this fic are longer compared to the ones in my agere au, and even my oneshots are usually shorter! I love this series and I like surprising you guys with 3000+ word chapters! Hope you enjoy it, please leave comments (wattpad)/send asks w/reactions to my inbox (tumblr)!!

Chapter Summary: The four go on another "date", this time it's a picnic at the park. It's quickly revealed that its a surprise playdate, set up by Logan. Let's see how this turns out.

Okay, Logan was willing to admit that he may have specifically picked this spot for their "date" so that the littles could regress if they wanted to. And maybe, just maybe, he packed a bag of new little stuff in the car just in case that did happen. Maybe he planned to softly push them into littlespace with said items.

And he may have possibly chosen a nice, but tucked away playground so that they all felt comfortable being vulnerable if they did just so happen to regress. . But of course, none of the others knew of this plan.

Roman and Virgil stayed at Patton's house the night prior, just like every other weekend.

"Where are you taking us? Like, why can't you tell us?" Roman complained, brushing his teeth in the hallway bathroom. Logan came by the bathroom, pausing in front of the door.

"It's a surprise, princey. I suggest you don't dress up a ton, though. Just wear something cute." Logan spoke from the doorway.

"Trick question, I'm cute in everything." Roman set his toothbrush in a cup with the rest of theirs, kissing Logan quickly.

"That wasn't a question, but yes, that statement is true." Logan chuckled.

"I'm gonna go pick something out though. Do you mind if I steal your clothes?" Roman didn't actually let Logan reply before he spoke again. "No? Thank you, you're the best." he kissed Logan's cheek and ran off before the freckle-faced man could get a word in.

Roman laughed as he shut Logan's bedroom door behind him. Logan rolled his eyes, leaving him to it and going into Patton's little room, checking if Patton was in there. He found Virgil and Patton, sitting on the bed and talking.

"Hi Lo! I was letting Virgil borrow some of my jewelry, and I keep most of it in here." he explained. Virgil was dressed in a loose black tank top, and some grayish high-waisted shorts. He also wore a black belt, accessorizing it with his own chains, and some of Patton's bracelets.

"How do you manage to stay emo, even in the heat?" Logan teased the boy, who blushed a bit. Virgil glanced down, smiling shyly. Virgil wasn't soft, ever. But when one of the other three in his house teased him, or was flirty in any way, suddenly there were a few exceptions to that rule.

Logan came over to him, lifting his face by his chin before kissing him. "You look cute, don't worry."

Virgil smiled wider. "Thank you,Mr. Freckles. Can we know where you're taking us now?" he asked, shifting the subject.

"Nope, you simply can't." Logan gave a shrug, leaving Virgil to give a playful glare. He looked at Patton, who wore a pastel blue t-shirt, paired with black shorts similar to Virgil's. He had a colorful belt, and he wore some kandi bracelets. He also wore his round glasses instead of his usual ones.

"You look adorable too. The pastel shirt goes well with your hair," Logan complimented. Patton smiled immediately.

"Thank you!" Patton thanked him as he walked out of the room.

It was a little while after that that the four headed out in the car. "Okay so we are going on some sort of picnic, we know that much. But where?" Roman asked. It was Roman's turn to sit next to Logan in the passenger seat. He had spotted Logan putting food into a picnic basket in the kitchen as they were getting ready to leave.

"You'll see where, darling. Just be patient," Logan instructed, making sure to focus on the road.

"But I wanna know nowww," Roman whined, crossing his arms.

"You sound suspiciously like a child right now. Do you want me to put you in timeout when we get there, Roman?" Logan came to a stop at a stop sign on a corner of a street. Logan looked at him, raising his eyebrow. Logan was mostly teasing, but he really had picked up on the childish undertone in Roman's voice. Patton and Virgil watched from the backseat as if this was a teen drama show, Roman giving a slight pout.

"Um,no timeout please. Sorry," he went quiet, uncrossing his arms. Virgil was the only person to see Roman regress and he knew that's what was happening. He was a mixture of excited for what was planned, and also upset that Logan wouldn't tell him. It was two conflicting emotions, and mostly excitement was taking over. It was a positive trigger for his headspace and Logan had obviously been prepared for it.

"It's alright, Ro. You're aloud to be excited, but you don't need to whine when I don't ruin the surprise just because you want me too." Logan turned onto another street. Roman nodded a bit, looking out the window.

"I've never seen Roman little," Patton whispered to Virgil in the backseat.

"He doesn't regress a ton. He's almost completely involuntary when it comes to his headspace, he had negative and positive triggers. Being excited is a positive one," Virgil explained. Patton nodded.

"Logan is good at caring for me if I regress while we are out and about. If he know's it's a bad situation, or not the right place, he will guide me out of my headspace for the time being. It we are on a walk, or somewhere where I don't need to interact with other people, he might baby me a bit and let me act discreetly little. I'm sure he can do the same for Roman," Patton assured. Virgil agreed, and they continued talking for a bit.

Eventually, Logan turned onto a car path that led into a forest. It was a community park, with lakes, different playgrounds, and even running paths.

"You've taken me here before!" Patton looked out the window, glancing around. "We go on runs together sometimes, you can see some really pretty plants on the paths here." he told Virgil.

Logan used signs to navigate, confusing everyone when he drove away from where everyone else was. "I'm going to an area farther out, no one really goes there but it's nice, I promise."

Patton's eyes widened when they finally parked, looking at the playground. It was completely empty, and there were some lunch-table benches scattered about. It was sunny, and there were some flowers in the grass. "This is the playground we found when we were looking for a quiet spot to eat! I completely forgot about it," Patton seemed shocked with himself, but also happy he recalled it in the first place.

"I've been planning to bring you back here at some point, but it's a little farther out and there's been a lot going on. Then we met Roman and Virgil and I thought it'd be the perfect place to spend the day." Logan unbuckled himself, smiling at the boy in the back seat.

"It is kinda cute..." Virgil seemed to be eyeing the swingset, shrugging before unbuckling himself and climbing out of the car. Logan opened Patton's door, moving to help him unbuckle.

"I can do that myself! I was just distracted!" Patton whined, trying to push his hands away.

"Oh shush, let me help you." Logan instructed, finishing the job before Patton could say no. Roman was out of the car by the time Patton shut the door behind him.

"You two go pick out a table for us to eat at," Logan instructed to Virgil and Patton, looking to Roman, "You help me get the stuff out of the car."

They did as they were told, splitting up. "Why are you being so quiet, Roman?" Logan questioned as he opened the trunk of the car. Logan felt a little bad for immediately threatening timeout the moment Roman started whining about something in the car, but he knew he probably wasn't actually gonna punish the boy no matter what.

"I feel like a kid and I don't wanna embarrass myself," he admitted, biting at his lip.

"You shouldn't repress your headspace if it's avoidable. I don't see anyone here, do you?" Logan asked,pulling the picnic basket out of the car and handing it to him. Roman shook his head.

"Just us."

"Which means..." Logan trailed off, looking at him. Roman tilted his head.

"You can regress if you want. There just so happens to be a playground right here for you to play in...." Logan gave him a look, and Roman smiled. "I'll even push you on the swings, if you'd like. And if you don't feel comfortable regressing in public, even when no one is around, I respect and understand that. We can always eat and play some question games if you'd rather do that."

"If it's okay, playing on the playground sounds kinda fun." Roman looked at Logan hopefully as he pulled a small cooler from the car.

"Of course it's okay, darling. Now, let's go take these to the picnic table, hmm?"

Logan had gone back to grab the super-secret bag on little gear, closing the trunk of the car after he was done. While we was doing that, the others dug into the food.

"So, I have a second surprise for all of you." Logan announced as he sat back down.

"You're just spoiling us today, aren't you?"Virgil chuckled, popping a blueberry in his mouth.

"You guys deserve it. You two work shifts at the mall on weekdays, and Patton is constantly filming and working to improve his channel. You guys work a lot, and I decided to give you guys some rewards for working so hard, that's all."

The three of them waited for him to begin. "Now,before I start, I wanna say that basically all this stuff is meant for when you're little."

Roman seemed even more excited to see said items now, taking a bite from a strawberry as he waited for Logan to keep going. "Roman, we will start with you, buddy. Okay?" He started pulling things out of the bag, and Roman nodded.

"Here's a few sticker sheets. Some of them are disney princesses, and just disney-themed in general. Others are hearts, and cute stuff like that." Roman seemed content, going through the different sheets.

"Virgil, you got mostly Halloween themed stickers. Bats, pumpkins, stuff like that." He hand ed Virgil the stack of sticker sheets.

"Thank you. You didn't have to get me anything, though." He commented.

"It'd be a bit unfair if I only got Roman and Patton stuff, though. Wouldn't it?" he raised his eyebrow, and Virgil shrugged.

"Yo! You got me a Nightmare Before Christmas pack!" He was immediately distracted and occupied while Logan got Patton's stickers out.

"Yours is mostly pastel-colors. Hearts, and other cutesy things you like," Logan knew for a fact that pushing Patton into little space was one of the easiest things ever. He was pretty sure that by the time he got through the gifts, Patton would surely be referring to him as "Daddy" and asking him to play on the playground with him.

"Roman and Patton, you two got these." He gave them each those kiddy lipglosses, the ones that didn't do much but the containers were cute and kidish so littles tend to love them anyways. Virgil pouted a bit.

"Don't worry, baby. I got you something else I thought you'd like," Logan dug through the bag, pulling out some nail polishes. They were only a few, in shades of purple mostly. "We can combine those with the stuff we have at home, I figured we could have a nail-painting day. Doesn't that sound fun?"

Virgil nodded, setting them carefully back on the table. Logan continued to go through the bag,gifting them things. The stuff was small items that you could find easily in the toy section of any store, cheap items that he knew would appeal to each boy. He gave each of them bubbles, and boxes of crayons too.

"I didn't know how old you regressed to, so I got you a kid's water bottle and a sippy cup," He gave Roman two cups. Both of them were disney princess themed, and Roman immediately loved them.

"They're pink! Thank you Lo!" he cheered. He didn't quite know much about his regression yet either, so chances were,he'd try both and decide what he liked.

Logan gave Virgil a sippy cup with a skull on it, and Patton a carebears themed one. "One last thing for each of you, and then we are done with the gifts." All three of them waited in anticipation, already happy with what they got.

"Close your eyes and clear off a spot in front of you," he instructed. They did so, closing their eyes. A few seconds later, Logan spoke again. "Open!"

Patton immediately hugged the stuffed kitten in front of him. Roman looked at the little stuffed puppy in front of him, hugging it after a few seconds. It had dark brown fur, and it was the same size as Patton's black kitten. Virgil got a gray elephant stuffie, with really soft fur.

They all said their thank you's, hugging the stuffed animals. "None of them have names yet, we can come up with those later. Now, let's eat some food, and then we can go play."

At this point, they were all at least somewhat regressed, just on different levels. Logan put the majority of the stuff back in the bag, including the stuffed animals so that that didn't get dirty. The only thing he left out was the sippy cups.

He opened the cooler, taking Patton's cup and pouring apple juice into it. "Thank you, Daddy." he replied, swinging his legs under the table.

"Would you like me to put this in the sippy cup for you?" he spoke to Virgil softly, holding up a bottle of grape juice. "If you don't want to go into littlespace here, I understand that Vee."

"Wanna but m' scared," he mumbled, hugging himself because he didn't have the stuffed animal anymore.

"No one is here, it's just us. I won't force you, but if you're okay with it, I can take care of you?" he offered. Virgil sighed, biting his lip. He nodded, pushing the sippy cup across the table. Logan filled it up quickly, giving it back to him and looking to Roman.

Roman handed him the children's water bottle without another word, and Logan put orange juice in it. He knew Roman liked orange juice, he drank a glass almost every morning when he woke up at their house. He took the sippy cup and put it back in the back. All three of the boys were little, and they had a whole park to play on.

The rest of this day was gonna be really fun.

After the boys ate, the immediately wanted to go play on the playground. Logan had made them sandwiches, and let them each more of the fruit as they pleased. Once they all ate, he sent them to play while he packed up the food. They all drank up their sippy cups, so he threw them back in the bag, leaving the stuff neatly on the table.

Roman climbed every climbable contraption on the playground. The little rock wall, the metal dome, the rope webbed-bridge. He also liked the monkey bars. Patton went down the slides, and also talked to Virgil through the "telephones", giggling every two seconds.

Virgil stayed on the swings at first. "Baby boy, do you wanna go on the roundabout?" Logan asked as his swing slowed down. He pointed to the playground's simplified carousal, and Virgil hummed.

"Will you spin me on it?" he asked. Logan nodded. Virgil got off the swing, hesitantly moving offer to the spinny contraption. He climbed onto it.

"I'll spin you slow at first, okay?" Virgil nodded. Virgil was scared at first, but he realized that it was fun quickly. He didn't like being dizzy when he got off though.

"Daddy? Can I do the monkey bars?" Patton called out after going down a slide.

"Sure thing, go ahead." Logan nodded, helping Virgil off the roundabout. Patton went on the monkey bars, no problem. One thing about them not acutally being kids, is that there was no issue with them being to small physically to do things. They did look a bit big on the playground though.

They continued their games and shenanigans for a while before they got tired. They played hide and seek, tag, and they also went to the highest spot of the playground (that you could get to without climbing something that wasn't meant to be climbed.) It was the little tower that stood above everything else, with a yellow slide coming off of it.

Logan learned that Virgil gets nervous to do things a lot when little. He needs pushed to go down a slide, or even ask for help.

Roman likes to talk a lot, all about everything. He likes doing the "adventurous" things, while still finding a way to keep it kidish. Logan knew they weren't completely regressed because they were in a public space, but he did get to learn a bit about two littles he hoped he'd be allowed to call his own soon.

"You can go down the slides a few more times while I put the stuff in the car, okay babies?" he asked. Roman pouted a bit about leaving, but they all agreed. Logan smiled to himself a bit as he closed the trunk, happy with the outcome of today. They all had tons of fun.

He helped all three of them get buckled into the car. Virgil sat in the front seat this time.

They all seemed to slowly come out of their headspace as they drove home. "You evil genius, you planned a secret playdate, basically!" Roman huffed, figuring it out within a few moments of managing to pull himself out of his headspace.

"I wanted to give you guys the chance to regress around me for the first time in a fun, childish setting. I gave you all the option of not regressing if you didn't feel comfortable, but I'm glad you guys did, it was fun." Logan smiled.

"I've regressed around you before though," Virgil said.

"But that was when Patton was big, and he kinda took over. Today was the chance for me to learn more about Little Virgil, and Little Roman. And how you guys do when it comes to interacting with Little Patton." Logan explained.

"Today was fun, Logan. Thank you," Roman spoke from his place behind Virgil.

The other two thanked him as well, "You're welcome. We can go back to that park soon, okay?"

"yay! I can climb the metal dome again!" Roman cheered. Virgil rubbed at his eyes, yawning.

"Are you sleepy? You guys did play a lot." Virgil nodded a bit to Logan's statement.

"How does a movie night sound? You can take a nap, and do whatever you'd like while I make dinner, and then we can watch movies until we get tired again." Patton offered.

Once agreeing to this plan, their plan for the night was set. That day was an amazing one they'd all remember. The time Logan tricked them into turning what they thought was a date, into a littlespace playdate.

Logan did all that just to learn more about Roman and Virgil, and they appreciated it so much.

They could almost say they loved him for it.

Taglist: @stimmingsides @smollilsanderssides @novacloudcat @analogical-agere @fairyhuman2000 @aphandgflover@softastarlight @littlesapphygem @softflowerinmyheart @virgietheprincess @babeyalstar @b3an-spr0ut @babeyvoid @because-were-fam-ily @lonelysoul43-0 @lgbtqiaemo

please let me know if you’d like to be added/I forgot to add you!

#The Agere Channel Lamp AU #The Agere Channel AU #LAMP/CALM #ts agere #sanderssidesagere #sanders sides agere #little patton #little virgil #little roman #roman agere #virgil agere #patton agere #cglogan #cg logan #littlevirgil #littleroman #littlepatton

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aaliyrah · 3 years

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i fell in love with are i don’t understand - chapter 8 is out!

GOD IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I’VE UPDATED THIS FIC. i’ll never abandon it, it’s my fucking baby dude. punk!max is, at least. i’ll even make more art for this shit.

anyway, i know most people have followed me because of my art and stuff, but hey, to my oldest of oldest followers (and the life is strange half of my followings) please please please give my fic a try. you’ll probably be bribed more with art, so i can only promise that a comic is going to come out of it soon!

but here’s an excerpt of it and one of the fun scenes i got to write:

“What was your band?” “Hm?” “Yesterday,” Chloe continues, absentmindedly doodling at the sidelines of her paper, “when we played two truths and a lie. I never asked about them.”

Max hummed again, but this time it was in realization. “Well you know...just some punk band.”

“Don’t want to talk about it?”

“No, not too much.”

Chloe pursed her lips. It’s clear to see that Max is oblivious to the damage her bluntness causes, but Chloe learned to swallow her pride to not let it get to her. Too much, at least.

“A’ight; loud and clear.”

“But I can tell you that I was the bassist,” Max continued, twirling a piece of her hair that framed her face around her finger, “ oh , and also the keyboardist sometimes. I’m still in touch with them and play here and there, mostly bass though. But photography comes first, of course. Couldn’t stick with the band since I had to move, and I think they’re still looking for a replacement right now, last time I checked.”

“For how long?”

Max scrunched her nose as she calculated a number in her head. “...Around a month?”

“Hah. Were you that good?”

“Maybe. I guess. I’m keeping humble.”

That smirk says otherwise, Caulfield.

“...But enough about me,” Max continues. She starts to shift her whole body so that her front was facing Chloe’s, her forearms bridging together on top of her knees to rest her chin on, “you haven’t done your part of the game.”

Chloe hummed, acknowledging the comment. “Well I’m flattered that you’ve noticed,” she confesses, “I honestly didn’t think that you would, and I was also kind of hoping you wouldn’t.”

“Why, think you’re not all that interesting?”

“Hmph. And what gave that away?”

“You’re interesting.” Chloe was caught off guard with how serious Max sounded. Her voice was flat and her face held no emotion, but the eye contact had too much intensity it caused a burning blush from Chloe. She had to avert her eyes somewhere else. “I mean, you’re seen as the leader standing against the Vortex Club and you’re the daughter of the head of security here in Blackwell. If anything, you must be filled with stories.”

“I-I uh, well,” Chloe coughed into the side of her fist, vigorously wiping away the sweat forming at the back of her neck, “I just have stories of people who are interesting , b-but there’s not really much to say about me —”

“Do I need to repeat myself—”

“N-no! No, don’tcomeanycloser , ” Chloe rushes in a breath, hovering a hand on Max’s chest. Max stiffened, her nose fluttering dangerously close to the edges of Chloe’s personal space. Max, completely oblivious to her effect, only furrowed her brows and slowly reverted back to her original position. “Let’s just—yeah! Game. Right. I’m thinking.”

Max let a beat of silence interrupt their flow of conversation. Chloe appreciated it, but the waiting stare she got from the girl might as well have been more anxiety-filling than an interruption. Even with Max’s patient aura, Chloe still felt rushed. It made her mind mush and everything she knew about herself was out the window.

She decided to wing it and let her mouth run. “ Fuck . Okay, okay, uhhm: I used to be a literary arts major, I’ve designed covers for magazines once, and I used to be religious.”

Those words seeped in a slow matter. Max’s face changed at the same pace as a sloth would move, her eyebrows elevating higher and higher. Even her head started to rear back.

“Way to sell yourself short, Price.”

“ Pfft . Really? I could see the magazine one being interesting but everything else is just…”

Max giggles. Chloe couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t know you, Chloe. Remember that? They’re all cool even if one of them is a lie.”

“Heh. Just a little. Do you have your guess?”

The punk makes a low, thoughtful hum. With pursed lips, there is a genuine concentration that plasters her face as she squints.

“...You weren’t a literary arts major.”

Chloe allowed a flash of shock to be expressed before suppressing it. “Yeah. What made you think so?”

“I figured you probably wrote as a hobby, but it wasn’t serious enough for a major.”

“Yeah, that’s...basically on point.

I guess you could say the magazine one is also a lie since people usually think of People or Vogue when the word ‘magazine’ is said… but really I’ve only done covers for the school’s literary magazine. Literally speaking though, it’s not a lie. Just...a psychological one maybe.

The religious one is kind of funny since no one really expects it. My parents—before David—forced me to go to church since one of their friends invited them and they didn’t want to be rude. I think I was...ten? My parents weren’t listening and I was actually really invested in the sermon. It was a weird phase; I even read a children’s version of the Bible in my free time...I kind of tortured my parents into church since I kept having to force them to go.”

“Wow.” Her laughter could be a drug. “This is, like, the reverse of what’s supposed to happen. What got you to stop?”

“They got to the whole gay thing. That’s always the breaker, ain’t it?”

Max’s face went soft after that. There was a distant look in her eyes, but her smile was still there. “Yeah. It always is.”

#my writings #i fell in love with art i dont understand #life is strange #pricefield #man. i miss writing #anyway #thank you to those who've stuck with this fic after all these years #even though i dont think people did? still feels nice to think about #anyway tata

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haziel-luz · 4 years

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Own it..then Redeem it (2007!Leonardo x reader)

Chapter 1: Still Waiting

I’m giving you guys the first chapter to see how you feel about it. The other chapters is in the link at the end of this chapter, if you wanna see more. This is an ongoing story, so I’m not sure how long it will be, but enjoy~~😍

Summary: You haven't had good days since Leo left, but why should you wait for him to come back and make it better? Instead of looking back, you should look forward cause there are better things waiting for you. Or so you thought...

"(Y/n), can you do us a big favor and come by tonight, I got a feeling that Casey is going trick and treating tonight and I need you to remind him that he's got a deadline to meet." April says through the phone a little irritated and you giggle.

"Not responding to your messages today huh." You say walking to my fridge and getting a beer.

"Exactly, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with him." She says with a huff while you open my beer.

"Well April, we're gonna have to let the boys be boys until they learn a big lesson into becoming a man." You say getting my jacket and walking out of my window and up the rooftop.

"So never?" She says and you laugh, and then you hear rustles of leaves in her background.

"Where are you now by the way?" you ask curiously.

"Well there's this guy that is really obsessed with these ancient statues and I bring those to him for a good price. I'm actually at the jungles of Central America looking." She says cutting down some leaves while you open my chair and sit on it with an open beer.

"That's cool, I wish I can get to travel just to clear my head for a while." You said drinking my beer a bit.

"Yea it's beautiful here, and there's also this legend going around the village about the "Ghost of the Jungle"." You laugh at the name and shake my head.

"Now there's something to be on the lookout in the jungle, be careful April or the ghost will get you too." You say jokingly and giggle.

"This is actually serious though, this legend is actually an active hero. This guy helps the village in danger and no one knows his identity, all he does is kicks the bad guys asses and he retreats into the shadows of the jungle. Kinda seems familiar don't you think?.." April explains with a soft voice at the end and you go from a smile to a straight face.

"Familiar to who exactly?" You say with no tone and stare at the city.

"(Y/n), you know who I'm talking about. Don't you think it's time that someone finds him?" April says gently.

"April if he wanted to be found, then you would've found him right when you got into the jungle, trust me I know him, he's probably observing you right now just to make sure your safe." You say with a sigh and rub my face softly.

"That sounded a little creepy but you might have a point, but I still think I can give it a shot, the guys need him back." She says while cutting more leaves down.

"Yea your right, just be careful, Leo isn't the only one in the jungle." You say getting up with the empty beer in hand.

"Want me to give him a message from you?" She asks softly. You think about it for a moment and shake my head.

"I don't think that's necessary, if he wants to be in contact with me then he'll find a way to do it, just get back safe." You say putting that beer bottle in the trash can and starting to walk across the rooftop.

"Alright, I'll update you later about him, see you soon and I'll be careful, oh and don't forget to give Casey a surprise visit." She says with a serious voice in the end and you laugh.

"Don't worry I will, bye."

"Bye (Y/n)."

We both hung up the phone and you started running across the rooftops to get to Casey.

__________________________

It wasn't easy trying to find Leo at all in this jungle, he could basically fit in by just walking around being green and all. April heard rustling in the bushes and she slowly stood up with a raised eyebrow.

"Is anyone here?" Proceeding through the bushes and looking around. "Hello?"

I'm starting to get tired of this. Maybe (Y/n)'s right-

She suddenly fell through a hole and crashed through vines. April yell and close her eyes waiting for a strong impact, but when she landed, she didn't land on anything hard.

"It's a long way from the city to just drop in." She hear a familiar voice and open her eyes to see Leo in the flesh grinning.

"Leo." April smiled, happy to finally see her lost friend.

They talked and she tried convincing him to come back for his brothers but he's too stubborn. Why won't he budge?

"Your training period ended a year ago, and Splinter says you don't write anymore." April keeps persuading him, hoping that it would at least make him think about it.

"Splinter sent me down here to become a better leader. I can't go back to failure. Besides, these people need me more than my brothers do." He confirms while poking the fire with a frown.

"If Master Splinter were here, he would ask you 'what is your heart telling you?'" She said softly while looking at him.

"I don't know..I just know something's missing." Leo sighs while standing up and dropping the stick in the fire.

If (Y/n) were here, she knew what to say to him. Speaking of which...

"What about (Y/n)?" April asked hesitantly. Leo froze and looked back at her.

"What about her?" Leo asked as if he was clueless. She sighed and shook her head.

"Don't you think it was a bad idea breaking up with her through a letter?" She responded, observing his reaction. He looked away a little sad but looked back at her with his regular self.

"I did what I had to. She can't have a normal life with a mutant like me, April. I'm supposed to help everyone move forward, not holding them back." Leo picks up another stick for the fire.

"You should've talked to her to see how she feels about this. She has the right to choose her own path and future. Leo, you should've seen how heartbroken she was. (Y/n) wasn't able to think about her future, she was just furious at herself for not knowing what she did wrong." April reasoned gently and he clenched his fists.

"It was hard sending that letter..but I had to. Come on April, we're talking about (Y/n) here, she's so loyal that she'd do anything to be by my side, even if I can't give her the life she deserves. I don't want her to sacrifice all those great opportunities out there because of me. I just can't live with myself if I failed her." Leo sighed and looked away.

"If you're willing to let her go for good, at least give her some closure, she needs that to move forward. Your brothers need you, Leo. They're all lost without you." April looked down sadly at everyone else's outcome for his absence. When she looked back up, he was gone. She tried calling out for him and looking for a bit but it was getting dark, and she needed to get back home.

Looks like I'm coming home empty handed.

_______________________

You ended up on Casey and April's rooftop apartment and checked that Casey wasn't there. You sighed and shook your head while looking at your watch.

"A little early for playing vigilante this evening Jones." You looked around and closed your eyes while closely listening to the city and focused intensely.

Your vision went dark and back into seeing Casey beating up some crook with another vigilante with a metal suit.

"Ah, so the Night watcher is at it again and with a side kick." You say opening my eyes and start sprinting and jumping across the rooftops.

You got to them when the guys were tying the guy up in chains and you cross my arms looking at Casey.

"Really Casey? I thought you were gonna watch a game tonight." Casey and the Nightwatcher turned around surprised.

"(Y/n)?? How did you find me?" Casey said, taking off his hockey mask.

"It really wasn't that hard, trust me." You say and look at the Night Watcher, slowly walk towards him.

"So you're the Night Watcher huh? Never thought I'd bump into you." You say crossing my arms and tilt your head while Casey looks a little nervous.

"Nice to meet you as well ma'am but I-uh gotta go-"

"Raph I know it's you."

"Is it really that obvious?!"

"Yes it was that obvious." You laugh and shake your head

He takes off his helmet and glares at Casey who was laughing.

"Can it sidekick". Raph points at Casey

You hear a groan on the ground and look at the douchebag, he started to crawl and climb away from us.

"Aww, ain't that cute, he's trying to get away." Casey sweetly mocks.

You turn to the boys and you all smirked at each other, you turn back to the crook and approach him.

"Well, looks like I got sidekicks." Casey grins and you huff.

"Yea right, you're the sidekick." Raph says confidently.

"In your dreams boys." You glare playfully at them.

_______________________

Once the crook was chained to the light post, we three ended up on the roof top watching the crowd.

Casey and I look at each other knowing the burning question in our minds. You were brave enough to ask first.

"Hey, what's with the vigilante phase? I thought you and your brothers were done with fighting crime since Leo left." You asked, concerned for his well being. Raph sighed and he looks at the street.

"What was I supposed to do? Sit around, wait for Leo to come back and save the day? I mean we haven't heard word one from him since Splinter sent him away on his little "vacation." Raph glares at the street.

"You're right on that part, but don't you think it's a little tiresome cleaning the streets by yourself? I mean, there hasn't been a foot clan activity since the Shredder's death, so there's no use of handling lower class criminals." You sighed softly and nodded towards the guy chained on the light post.

"Come on, you think these lowlifes take vacations at the first sign of pressure? No. The criminal element of this city may be guilty of a lot of things, but being quitters ain't one of them." Raph puts his helmet in his duffle bag. You look towards Casey and he nods.

"So, what happens if Leo comes back? Are you gonna keep being the NightWatcher?" You asked softly with concern.

"You know, I-I don't even care about Leo anymore. Kinda hope he never comes back." Raph gets up with a dismissive wave. You sighed a bit, kinda feeling guilty about thinking the same thing.

"Come on, aren't you being a little hard on the guy?" Casey suggested calmly.

"Who wouldn't be hard on him." You mumbled quietly.

"I don't know. It's possible. I guess if I could live anywhere other than the city I'd go to, but I can never leave this place. I can't even sleep without the sound of the subway rumbling over my head." Raph sighs while his hands above his head, making his point.

"No offense, but aren't you guys used to loud noises by now since you guys make a lot of noise." You pointed out, looking at him. He sat back down beside me.

"Guess it comes from growing up with a house full of brothers." Raph looks down at the streets again.

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do, I'm just saying that, if it was my brother, I'd find a way to work it out. But that's just me. I got my own issues y'know? Like back at home with April." Casey says, taking off his hockey mask.

"You don't say." You hide my grin and let him continue.

"There's this whole thing about settling down that makes me miss the old times. I don't know if I can be the grown up she needs me to be." Casey sighs and looks down at the street. You pat his shoulder lightly and smile at him.

"It's okay to miss the old times, but it's not okay to wait for it to come back. We all had a good run together. It's time to make more out of our lives other than breaking bones every once in a while. It's not gonna be easy to let go of those awesome times but we can make better ones. Just think about what you want to do with April." You reassured him with a gentle smile and he smiled back.

Casey puts his hockey mask on top of his head and we hear snoring. We look to our right and see Raph asleep while sitting up. Casey sighs and You giggle at Raph's tired state.

"Good talk Raph." Casey sarcastically says and stands up to shake him. You stop him and smile.

"I'll take him back to his place, you go back to your apartment and rest. April told me to tell you to stay alert of the time tomorrow. She's gonna be coming back waiting for you." You informed him with a grin and picked up Raph's duffle bag.

"Oh shit. Thanks for the heads up, I'll put the alarm clock on. Are you sure you can handle this?" Casey gestures towards Raph and you laugh.

"I've handled him from the very beginning, watch this." You grin and knock Raph's shell, making Casey eyes a bit wide.

"Come on Raph, you're sleeping on the rooftop again. Let's go to the lair." You insisted and Raph wakes up and rubs his eyes while standing up.

"Sorry Casey, what were ya saying?" Raph asks looking at Casey. Casey rolls his eyes and pats your back.

"Nothing sidekick, just saying goodnight because April needs me in the morning." Casey salutes to Raph and puts his bat over his shoulder.

"Alright, see ya later." Raph was confused but shrugged it off.

Once Casey left, you walked with Raph to the nearest manhole cover. It's been almost three weeks since you've been to the lair. Being busy with being a bartender and waitress at a fancy restaurant wasn't easy to balance.

"So, how have you been?" Raph questioned curiously.

"Things have been coming along, pretty tired from the long shift, but I'm taking some days off to save the energy." You smiled at him.

"Meet anyone new?" He raised an eyebrow, hinting something.

"Raph...I don't know..He's a good guy, and wants nothing but to spend time with me whatever chance he gets. I don't feel ready for that no matter how long he waits." You hop down the fire escape and stand beside the manhole cover with him. Raph notices the internal battle I'm having and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. Just go on one date with him and see how it goes. If you still don't feel like you're ready then cut it off, but if you do then keep going. Stop waiting on Leo to come back. It's been a year. After that letter, you should start thinking about what's best for you. No more looking back." Raph softly says and see's your eyes collect tears, he froze in place, not sure what to do.

"I just want to know why I wasn't enough..." Your voice cracked and tears started to fall from my eyes. Raph sighs and hugs you close.

"It's gonna be okay." Raph murmured softly, rubbing your back. Ever since the break up letter, Raph has been there for you. April was the first to know but since she couldn't stand the way you were shutting myself out, she told the guys about it. Splinter was surprised to learn that his eldest son has ended the relationship with the woman he truly loves.

Ever since then, they were the ones picking up the pieces that Leo left behind. Raph was pretty pissed when Leo decided to break things off with you. He thought that it was cowardly on Leo's part, he may be his brother but you're like a sister to him. He's gonna show Leo that he can't get away with anything when he comes back.

Once you were done crying, Raph took his duffle bag from you and opened the manhole cover.

"You should sleep, and then visit us tomorrow cause Mikey won't shut up about you." Raph grunts thinking about Mikey, making you wipe your tears and giggle.

"I will come by after my shift, so tell Mikey to hold on a little longer." You smile gently. Raph nods and smiles while going into the sewers.

You sigh, disappointed by how Leo still had this affect on you, feeling sorry for yourself and lowering your self esteem. It's been over a year and you need to move on from him. On your walk home you pull out your cell phone and call the number. He picked up on the second ring.

"(Y/n), it's nice to hear from you, are you alright?" He softly asks, concerned.

"I'm good Winters, I-uh, wanted to take your offer on coffee tomorrow. I'm sorry if I called you at a bad time." You felt nervous accepting his offer but you need to keep going.

"Not at all my dear, I'm rather happy of this surprise. I'll come pick you up around 8 o'clock, will that be alright?" You could hear the smile through the phone even though you couldn't see it.

"That sounds great, see you then?" You smiled through the phone as well.

"See you then (Y/n)." Winter chuckles and you both hang up.

You smiled to yourself and put a strand of hair behind your ear, you walked into your apartment and landed on the bed. You finally took the step to move forward and you don't feel as guilty as you would a couple months ago. You get up from the bed and smile while picking out the clothes from your closet, ready for tomorrow in general. You changed into your comfortable clothes and went to bed. Closing your eyes, you can't stop smiling at the thought of giving someone else a chance, it felt weird and exciting. Maybe things aren't so bad after all.

________________________

“Who was that brother?” Aguila asked, observing Winters closing his flip phone.

“That, my brother, is an important guest who will help us fulfill our birthrights.” Winters grins at his brother.

Hopefully she's the answer.

//////////////////////////////////////

Any thoughts? Love it? Feeling it?

↪ Next Chapter

MASTERLIST

#leonardo hamato #2007tmnt #tmnt x reader #leonardo x reader #leo x reader #2007leo #tmnt 2007 #tmnt #x reader #fanfic #tmnt fanfiction

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bladekindeyewear · 4 years

Text

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-05-19

Figured an upd8 was coming, it’s felt like enough time has passed for one.

Huh, looking at my last post I’d completely forgotten I was supposed to play through Pesterquest sometime... work is busy and stressing me out a bit, I’m not sure when I’ll have the energy on the side to do that. (Maybe I’ll livetweet it like I did Undertale a while ago, but this time not looking at my twitter replies so I don’t get spoiled by One Guy™?)

Also, including bonus commentary on A Threat Sensed.

Okay, going in completely blind. I’d guessed from context that we’re hopping over to Meat side to get a chapter there before we can come back to actually see Yiffy?

Yep. Okay, what is this about exactly?

(Agh, dammit, I’ve been copying and pasting so much at work remoting into Windows lately that now I’m automatically trying to hit control-C instead of command-C to copy.)

> CHAPTER 9. How Goes The Eulogizing, Dear?

CONTENT NOTE: This chapter contains Child Abuse.

Which one???

Wait

JANE: (Where is he?) JANE: (It's a question I've found myself asking many times in recent days.)

Holy SHIT we get two Candy chapters in a row??? So we might see her right away?? No, it’s gotta just be another tiny glimpse.

(Has two Candy chapters in a row happened before? Future Boots, scroll back up and put this here. FUTURE BOOTS: “I forgot to scroll back up and put that here.” EDIT: Also, not the first time with two in a row, but it IS the first time with THREE in a row, huh.)

So Jane has to be talking about either Tavros or Dave. --Oh, if this was a Candy Side chapter title, I guess Rose or Jade is eulogizing Dave for John?

> (==>)

JANE: (Where now is our merry savior?) JANE: (Where is the horn that was honking?) JANE: (Where is the cape and the codpiece, and the...) JANE: (The...) JANE: (Oh, fiddlesticks.)

What? Is she reading a childrens’ book? --Oh. She’s eulogizing Gamzee. So that gives us a third option, where the rebellion crashes the funeral somehow, probably audiovisually rather than in person. (Which would make sense, given Candy practically began with Gamzee crashing Dirk’s funeral.)

> (==>)

Ah never mind, she’s still writing it.

That sure is a single button drama-remote that’s going to be pressed at some point. Oh, and who the fuck keeps a spork in a pen cup??? --No no, don’t say it’s one of those pens with a spork at the eraser end, either ready-made or rubber-banded to the side. That would make sense. You totally know it isn’t that and is just a spork.

JANE: (Okay, poetry is out.) JANE: (What else?) JANE: (Hrm...) JANE: (I've always been pretty good at crying on cue.) JANE: (Could I try staging an emotional breakdown?) JANE: (That could work; playing to people's humanity.)

Why were you crying in Jake’s arms about his death if you didn’t care that much? Did you just want him to hold you and kinda make him feel in on things again? Or did you just cry yourself out about him?

JANE: (Or whatever is the more inclusive term.)

I bet the rest of Earth C figured out a more inclusive term millenia ago FUCK I accidentally added millennia to my dictionary misspelled instead of correcting it hold on--

...There, killed the entry for it. ...Huh. Take a look at my Chrome dictionary’s custom-added words over the years, apparently:

Caliborn Eridan Kanaya Matriorb Meenah Tavros alchemiter dichotomic nephilim reblogged uncaptchalogues uncaptchaloguing

That’s fun.

Okay back to reading. Millennia. Phew! Where was I.

JANE: (One really good and calculated weep could do it, I think.) JANE: (But then there's the danger that I might get carried away and do it for real.) JANE: (And I can't risk that.)

So still feeling something, just too used to calculating over the past years.

JANE: (What can I say about him that will stir up their emotions?) JANE: (Do I mention the stuff about the milk?) JANE: (Think Crocker, think.)

WHY would you-- how much did Gamzee normalize adult breastfeeding?!

JAKE: Ahoy over there!

Not the best time.

(The thing with the divorce papers from the Epilogue and John implying he was planning with Jake to execute something that sounds like a divorce... is that going to be sprung here? Did her lawyers send the divorce papers way back when she was in a fit of pique, and he just had them available to sign now at the tactical moment? Or... let me pull the exact text...)

JOHN: now, harry anderson, i know that you and tavros haven't always gotten along. JOHN: but i am going to have to ask you to try and look out for him for the time being. JOHN: your uncle jake and i... well, i'll explain later. JOHN: let's just say that gamzee isn't the only family member jane is losing today.

(So is John going to submit the papers? Or did they already go through a while ago and default custody to John or something who’s going to adopt him too or some nonsense? And did he plan this out with Jake NOW, or a while ago, and if only a while ago, is Jake going to KNOW whatever John’s about to pull in that respect is about to happen??)

> (==>)

Butte

Janepalme

> (==>)

JAKE: Er... how goes the eulogizing, dear?

Gah. I completely forgot again that capitalized-first-letter chapter names don’t mean KANAYA is saying them. That probably makes a lot more sense out of my wondering about the chapter title earlier to those of you who didn’t realize I was making that mistake.

JANE: It turns out that it's mighty difficult to find touching things to say about a person, the relationship with whom was predicated on deep-seated mutual loathing.

Hah!

--A loathing you regarded as largely more important to you than Jake ever was, by the way. You asshole.

JANE: I imagine this is one of the reasons no funerary tradition was ever established on Alternia, besides the barbarism of their culture. DIRK: Jesus christ. JANE: Not only did a significant proportion of their interpersonality depend on romance in the form of hatred, but it was a society based on cruelty and violence. JANE: What reason could they have had to provide for the dead? JANE: What kind of last rites could they have even imagined?

I wondered for a moment why (bg!)Dirk of all people would react to a single line of her starting to bring up prejudices, but then I realized that (1) Brain Ghost Dirk is a little more Jakey, and (2) Dirk knew that more ranting would follow the first line.

JANE: I can't think of anything good to write about him because deep down, I hated his guts. JANE: But he was and is beloved of the multitude, so I have to think of something regardless. JAKE: Im not sure i understand. JANE: Don't worry your pretty little head about it. JANE: This is politics, Jakey. JANE: Lying through your two front teeth about people you hate is about as good a definition as it's possible to get. JANE: But, by gum, is it tiring work.

Mm. It’s a position Jane put herself in, but it’s still a legitimate position once you’re there.

JANE: The funeral is tomorrow, after all.

Got it.

DIRK: Dude, the bowl. JAKE: Hm? JAKE: Oh, right. JANE: What is it now, Jake. JAKE: I brought something for our guest as well. JANE: You mean the prisoner. JAKE: Y...es.

Wait, bowl?

Oh god damnit which of you had the idea to feed her with a DOG BOWL. Either of you could have thought of it, and either of you would be horrible for it.

> (==>)

Huh, that outfit on Yiffy looks familiar, like a reference to something. And a black tail? This definitely isn’t quite the look I was expecting from Jade Plus Rose, but I suppose the snazzy tie is a Roseish vibe. Also reminiscent of Jade’s old Dead Shuffle dress. Formal wear and soccer cleats??

JANE: She's over in the corner. JANE: Don't worry, she won't bite. JANE: I've seen to that already.

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN. I don’t see anything over her mouth! Did she stick something in it, or drug her? File her fucking teeth???

I mean I did forget the Child Abuse trigger warning to be fair. Hoping whatever would be on her mouth is just not shown in-panel yet for stylistic reasons.

> (==>)

JAKE: Its only mac and cheese, sorry. JAKE: Its all I know how to make, haha. JAKE: ... JAKE: I um... hope you can safely partake of cheese? JAKE: ... JAKE: Well, JAKE: Bon appetit.

How the fuck did Jake eat on his island then? --Oh right, preserved food cans that Grandma Jade stored up, I think I remember. Why would cheese not be a thing for them, if it’s fine for Jade? I know he’s probably not just worried about lactose intolerance.

Either way, if she’s drugged here, that’ll mean we won’t get a good idea of her for a while, so which is it...

> (==>)

DIRK: Bon appetit. DIRK: Seriously dude? JAKE: (What? Did i pronounce it wrong?) DIRK: Jake. DIRK: You put the food in a fucking dog bowl. JAKE: (It was all there was, ok???) JAKE: (I feel awful enough as it is without you getting on my case about it.)

Ah, missed the bone pun. AND, yeah, Jake, you’re a fucking idiot, you could have put it in a cup or something.

JAKE: (So far ive yet to see anything come of that brilliant plan of yours.) JAKE: (Are you sure sending that message to the others was enough?)

Okay, so he IS coordinating this slightly.

> (==>)

Horrifying image to contemplate, eh Jane?

Or anger-inducing?

> (==>)

Seems about right!

> (==>)

Oh that’s a GREAT exasperated Jane face.

JANE: I hope you're not expecting dessert, young lady.

I like how Jane didn’t notice, comment on, or care about the bowl. How can you hate a kid so much??

> (==>)

Oh I know why I felt like I recognized the outfit style, it’s because it’s ANIME AS FUCK. Feels like some Persona 4 Arena nonsense, and I say that not having played any of those games or even remembering what they looked like. Also, white hair, black fur’d dog parts? Nice change of pace.

YIFFY: GRRRRRRRRR... JANE: Oh no you don't.

Red text? What color exactly... “#D00009”? Huh. That’s nowhere near Alt-Callie’s #FF0000, and darker than Dave’s #E00707. In fact, let me go back and check those spilled color pins the commentary pointed out from an update or two ago... no, the red pin is #E63225, closer to Dave’s color. (Also, is Yiffy blocking the doorway out? That’s a pretty slack chain then.)

Did Jane see to it that she wouldn’t bite with like, a water spray bottle?

(EDIT: Oh my FUCKING GOD, THAT's why it's #D00009...)

> (==>)

FUCK I didn’t notice the shock collar in the Yiffy image! FUCK YOU, Jane.

> (==>)

Keeping someone in line with collars, especially ones that punish whenever one strays out of line, has always been a decent way for her to mix in some Doomy control of others to show how she’s “grown” to balance her main role and her Tiara-controlled-like inverse for more power. Doom in part represents boundaries that you can’t cross without getting hurt or punished.

> (==>)

FUCK, those little buck teeth!? D’:

JANE: That's more like it.

She HAS to have more of a reason for hating her than hating her parents, right? Like, more than that and general racism applying to partdogfolk?

> (==>)

Hey fuck off with that!

> (==>)

This is a pretty cool ima-- are those piercings on her dog ear? I didn’t notice that in the first shot, neat.

JANE: You've been a thorn in my side ever since I agreed to enroll you at the academy, little madam. JANE: Back then, I was doing a favor for two old friends who made a disgusting mistake. JANE: I'm no longer going to play nice with you just because of your parents, however. JANE: That truce is over. JANE: Do I make myself understood?

What the fuck? WHY would you do that? Why does Jane run "Ms. Paint’s Home for Inconvenient Girls”? What did Yiffy do to piss her off so much there, how much trouble could she have caused?

I don’t know if she’s referring to the behind-Kanaya’s-back part as disgusting or she’s just being MORE racist.

> (==>)

JANE: We don't want you passing out during the ceremony, do we?

Oh, just showing the hostage off during the clown funeral, huh? Classy much?

> (==>)

JANE: Now, be a good hostage and get some rest, Yiffany dear. JANE: We've got a big day tomorrow.

For a politician, Jane’s not good at looking at herself in a mirror.

> (==>)

JANE: Night night. JANE: Hoo hoo.

> (Yiffy: Lights out.)

Huh, dream stuff is gonna be relevant out in Candy then? *click*

Okay, dark background all of a sudden. Properly dramatic? You even have to highlight the non-link “>” part of the Next link to see it.

> (==>)

-- thespiansGlamor [TG] began pestering adamantGriftress [AG] --

Well, I don’t know WHY it’s happening, but the white-backed pesterlog suddenly on the dark site framing is certainly evocative. Of like, a mood, or something.

TG: i thought he was pretty quiet down there. TG: we'll make a rebel of him yet! AG: Lol. AG: I think it's more that he can't sleep. AG: I know how he feels. TG: yeah. TG: today was a lot. AG: ... TG: do you wanna talk about it? AG: Ugh, not you as well.

It’s really jarring to transition between Homestuck’s “kids jarringly mentally resistant to freaking out about the end of the world” to HS^2′s more realistic “kids traumatized by their first firefight even though it was an overwhelming victory-escape”.

TG: but seriously, do you? AG: Not really. TG: not even about... you know? TG: her? AG: No. TG: ... are you sure? AG: A8solutely. AG: What are you, my moirail? AG: Just leave it, Harry. TG: ok.

Are they about to have an “I wonder what Yiffy’s like” talk?

> (==>)

Very similar Tav/Vrissy convo to the previous one.

GG: I havent ever shared a bedroom before,,, GG: Not even for a slumber party,,, AG: Tavvy, you are just a8out the saddest person I've ever met.

Well, we have an even better idea how horrible Jane can be with kids, now. From Nanna to THIS is quite jarring. I wonder how the double Nannasprites that must still be around here somewhere feel?

> (==>)

TG: nothing about my dad is cute. TG: what are you even saying. AG: Lmao. TG: seriously! TG: i think he has something against that word, even. he gets super weird about it. AG: He's a strange and funny m8n. TG: yeah. TG: ... TG: i think something bad must have happened.

...um. What? Why would John have some sort of trauma about the word cute or being called it?

Did John dress up as a hint of his buried June ambitions as a kid and Dad lavish him with “SO CUTE” praise in an epic supportiveness backfire that caused him to shelve the idea of wearing non-masc clothes and being happier on the flipside of gender ever again??? Because if that’s how June gets canonized as promised, it’s a little harsher than the back of my mind was hoping. I guess it kind of had to be though from the premise of how it was read into his childhood for the original idea, though. Fuck, I hope this Cute business is about something different from that (like a Terezi reference or such) just to get less John Sads. (But still June. Definitely still want to get June.)

> (==>)

Oh, and now Vrissy is doing nothing but talking about what she said she didn’t want to talk about, of course. (Also I like how JANE’s now being called the Batterwitch.)

AG: And the worst part was they didn't even fight a8out it! AG: That made me madder than 8nything else. AG: It felt like I was the only person who even W8S mad! GG: I dont think thats true,,, AG: What would you know a8out it?! GG: Maybe nothing,,, GG: Sorry,,, GG: Its just,,, GG: To me,,, all the way through the conversation,,, aunt kanaya looked even angrier than you,,, AG: ... AG: Adults are so fucking weird.

Guh, I don’t want to be reminded how hurt a good chunk of the fanbase is by Kanaya getting hurt this badly.

Original Tavros was always SLIGHTLY perceptive of others sometimes, but maybe perceptiveness is being hinted at as a Tavros specialty? We still don’t know his classpect/hero-title or have any firm guesses based on purely him evidence. (Also, frightened kids of abusive households tend to learn to get perceptive pretty fucking quickly I hear.)

> (==>)

TG: dad was sitting in the cafeteria with aunt jade and your moms. TG: it looked like they were discussing something important... they were whispering and stuff.

[etc etc] Alright, the what-happened-to-Dave bit. And I imagine they’re kind of helping John grieve there, since Rose and Jade have talked that out already.

TG: aunt kanaya's was the only face i could see. TG: she was standing next to them, but she wasn't looking at what was going on. TG: almost like she couldn't bear to. AG: I doubt it. Kanaya's got a8out as much Emotivity as a very reclusive stone. TG: ok, i think that is bullshit but whatever. TG: she saw me standing there, but didn't say anything. she just shook her head slightly, and pointed back out into the hallway i came down.

Yep, giving them some space to grieve. Also-- gosh, shouldn’t Vrissy have the same emotive senses that Aranea implied Vriska shared with her? Kanaya isn’t that EXPRESSIVE but she’s certainly full of emotion. Also, I hope part of her not bearing to watch wasn’t lingering anger toward Jade and Rose mixing with that, but there probably was a bit of that too, though Dave being gone is so much harsher than that. --I just realized they might not have broken the news to Karkat yet, either.

AG: I guesadxcxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz TG: vrissy?

Put to sleep by someone slumping down on your phone keypad, or surprised by something about the other conversation?

Oh shit, “other conversation” reminded me I didn’t look at Tavros’s chumhandle:

glutinousGymnast [GG]

HHHHHhhhhuh. Hm... huh? hhhh. huh? what, but. Why would. ?????

I really don’t understand what that chumhandle or any of its entendres should signify in this context.

Also, this means for our new four kids we have TG, GG, AG, and ??.

> (==>)

GG: I think she might have succumbed to sleep quite suddenly,,, GG: It would explain the,,,,,, interesting messages I've been getting for a while,,, TG: hehe. TG: i guess that tracks. TG: she does that from time to time.

That’s... strange. Homestuck’s taught us to be suspicious of that.

TG: ... TG: tav? GG: Yes,,, harry anderson,,,? TG: what does it feel like to know someone who's died?

Who is Harry referring to? (EDIT: Yes I know Gamzee for Tavros, but I meant Harry talks like he's worried he'll have to feel that way soon?) Is he just kind of inferring that something bad might have happened to Uncle Dave? Got that perceptive “parents are about to tell me about a death in the family” vibe? Or did he overhear more than he let on to Vrissy?

...alright, that’s the last page of this update. Looks like this chapter is going to continue to have a good bunch of grieving, or talk around it.

---

Now for Bonus Commentary for A Threat, Sensed. For some reason I have a dim memory of like... reading this myself without commenting on it? Or skimming it? But I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that. Weird. Must have imagined doing it.

Ah, I think I saw the opening paragraph scrolling Patreon, and my mind kinda filled in the blanks, this is still looking new to me.

Okay, mostly banter and japes in the commentary here. About Dirk “throwing a huge tantrum in his philosophy cave”.

We’ve had quite a bit of speculation on whether this is “really” Andrew. To that, I think we’d say that it doesn’t “really” matter.

Really? That was speculated about? :/

Here we discover that Dirk has not, as some people have speculated, been directly intervening into the Candy timeline, or influencing it in any way. In fact, he has a very hard time seeing anything going on there at all.

Mhmm, and that was a pretty important thing to learn.

A couple of years ago I might have agreed with the take that everything happening in Candy is simply too outlandish to ever happen naturally, without direct, villainous interference, but that was before literally every fucking batshit insane thing that has happened on Real Life Earth started going down, and now I will believe literally anything.

This is a nice bit of distraction from the idea that at least the opening parts of the Candy story were written/narrated by Original, Alive Calliope over on meat side. To refresh your memory of what was pointed out to me:

ROXY: back when jade first got all effed up callie saw somethin and it made them freak out ROXY: it took me weeks to convince them that it was safe to come home ROXY: but now we got the opposite problem and they arent leavin the house at all ROXY: they stay home all day with the blinds drawn paintin some weird ass shit on the walls TEREZI: WH4T? ROXY: its not as bad as it sounds i promise ROXY: some of it is like ROXY: weird and violent?? ROXY: like lotsa nasty purple blood and um ROXY: nudity???? TEREZI: >:? ROXY: yeah yikes ROXY: but MOST of it is cute stuff like... various combos of all of us being happy and gettin married and shit ROXY: anyway thats kept callie kinda busy

Which tracks with the initial out-of-character-seemingness of almost everyone at the start of Candy, and how they kind of tried to railroad things back onto the “Happy??” track after Dirk derailed it with his weird self-accumulation suicide, along with some of the flowery-idyllic descriptions of characters seeing each other bathed in a halo of light and such.

Of course, they’re not going to out-and-out STATE that Calliope was at fault for that narration, helping the Candy story not necessarily fall out the way it did “naturally”, until we finally get a glimpse of her on the heroes’ ship in Meat probably still painting the continuing Candy events, inspiring them into the void of the singularity with her latent powers. Til then, it’s a bit of misdirection whenever the topic is to be brought up. Along with a mix of Roxy’s late-Candy point to John of more or less “why COULDN’T we have done this naturally? you don’t know”.

He might even think that he has more direct power over the narrative than Hussie does himself. Surprise, motherfucker, you are a fictional character.

I’ll quote this next part in full:

There’s been talk of whether or not this bonus was written in the two days between its release and the Yiffy reveal chapter. The answer is--no. It was written over a month ago. But I think the things it addresses were not difficult to suss out. Obviously, Dirk is highlighting the issues that the readership are having with Yiffy, in his typical Dirk fashion. If it seems a little defensive, well...I suppose it is. Yiffy is one of the two hard lines drawn in the sand, and all of us love her, and we’re hoping that everyone else will love her too. But more than that, it focuses on the fact that update culture has a rhythm to it--shock, revulsion, acceptance (or not), and then excitement (or not). Will it follow that pattern this time? Who knows. I guess we’ll find out.

Yeah, given what was going to be dropped on us I expected they would have had exactly this lined up, especially because Andrew specifically mandated Yiffy. --I wonder why they aren’t mentioning that somewhere in the commentary and only on one of their Twitters?

Also quoting this:

There’s something both incredibly “cringe” and self-indulgent, as well as philosophically intriguing, about the author arguing with his villain, especially since he’s writing both halves of the conversation himself. You are, for all intents and purposes, trying to solve a problem that you have created for yourself. You are looking an aspect of your personality in the eye and asking, hey, what the fuck, man?

But in the end, isn’t that what every story is? Trying to untie knots that you put in the rope yourself?

Since it’s part of the central struggle of this story, and kind of the question Andrew’s tried to imply with every Homestuck work about what right we have to keep these characters trapped in a story, and if they’d be better off escaping it.

I’m really trying to avoid quoting so much of this, since the commentary is paid... but I think we can make an exception here? I’ll have only quoted about half of it; just, the really plot-important half. Plus, I left out a LOOOT of japes.

Dirk has a certain idea of how stories are supposed to go. That’s pretty much what the Epilogues is about. The audience also has a certain expectation of how a story is supposed to go. In a way, the Epilogues were also about that. They were taking a story that had reached the traditionally “acceptable” happily ever after, and saying, wait, no. What happens next? Thinking past happily ever after in any story is a terrifying prospect. Once Cinderella marries the prince, what then? Sure, she got what she wanted, but who knows that it will be everything she dreamt it would? What if she changes her mind, if not today, what about ten years from now? What if the prince dies of malaria?

And I’m...

Yeah I don’t have anything else to add here, I’m kind of out of brain juice to think about this tonight. BUSY day I had. Y’all take care!

#Homestuck #hs2 #Homestuck Liveblog #upd8 #Homestuck^2 #bladekindeyewear #blastyoboots #spoiler #spoilers #Homestuck Commentary

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 3 years

Text

Maou-jou 9 - 12 (FINAL) | Idolish7 s2 10 - 15 (FINAL) | SLS 2

I’ve been holding off new seasonals because of other things, but after I post this I’ll have enough time to get around to them. That’s why I can’t guarantee winter 2021 seasonal tags on this post...maybe the next one will have them...

Maou-jou 9

…it seems shopping channels even are the same in the demon world.

Now even the demons have quests! (The frame is different to the princess’s, though.)

Oh! The quest failed.

Neo Alraune: in flower language, “the 2nd coming of happiness”. The worry from a little while ago was, “I’m worried about my brother.” The worry from recently: “I didn’t think about being happy that the princess didn’t kill my brother.”

The penguin demons are pretty cute!

Don’t you know how parents forbid children from sleeping until they finish all their homework? Must be something like that.

Yoku ganbarimashita! – Syalis worked hard!

LOL, mental age: 3. Poseidon likes cute things…I can’t read a lot of this…the hardsubs cover the JPN text.

They…both succeeded! (…LOL?)

Maou-jou 10

Owarinocity = Endopolis. It’s a good equivalent, if I do say so myself.

…oh yeah. What happened to Alraune? Update: There she is!

Also, that blonde guy in the infomercials doesn’t look too bad…*makes chef’s kiss gesture with one hand* Nice.

I wonder, was Twilight once human…?

LOL, there’s a goat symbol on the cleric’s pyjamas. Also “first time”, LOL.

I think they were playing shiritori at one point.

Hanamaru saikou yoku dekimashita!

Maou-jou 11

…How does one “sleep cheerfully”, anyway?

I think I saw Twilight drop something…some kind of paper…

Aw, Twilight blushing is kinda cute!

LOL, 70s shoujo style. Also, “It cannot be!”

Whoa, she cancelled it?!

I read up on this series on TV Tropes…and apparently the Demon King captured the Princess in her sleep.

Kagemusha? Like a ninja or something?

Apparently the Demon Cleric is much older than he looks.

Ooh! Hypnos is back!

A-whatsit really is abysmal levels of stupid!!! (LOL)

Maou-jou 12 (FINAL)

Who’s that one tiny guy occupying one of the Ten Kings’ seats?

*watching after Christmas, about a week after the anime finished* This is not seasonally appropriate!

…*thinks for a second, then spits* That’s the 2nd Nemu in the fall 2020 season!!!

Ooh, the head paladin doesn’t look that bad, either.

“…is it good to be…”

“…has seized the princess!”

“…that demon king is rather cute.” – See? Someone agrees with me.

Anyways, that was a fun series. See you soon!

Idolish7 s2 10

…Back at it after so long…(I can’t help it though – Crunchyroll, per month, is about double the local Funimation sublicensor’s fees, and for much less content that’s worth my money to boot!)

I’ve always thought Momo was like Sasara (HypMic), so seeing him anguished hurts me in the kokoro too…

I know Banri was involved with Re:vale somehow…this must be it.

…Male idols are also popular among men? Is this why there are 8 (!!!) idol anime in winter 2021 alone…? (Also, that’s why HypMic became popular? Multidemographic appeal crossed over with obvious merchandising opportunities?)

It’s kind of scary how Momo stepped the formality towards Yuki like that (to -san).

I guess in his heart Momo still reveres Yuki, some way or another.

The rakugo curtain really sold the moment that they (current Re:vale) were acting like an old married couple.

Yay! Silver Sky is such a cool song! Of course I recognised the intro when it came on.

…I see. The elder Kujo is entrusting his dream to Tenn, so that’s why he banned Aya from seeing Tamaki. However, it’s hard to know what to feel when Aya speaks in the vaguest terms possible.

I think that was a special ending for only this episode. I don’t know what its name is, but I guess I might recognise it on Spotify one day.

Idolish7 s2 11

LOL, Nagi’s reaction.

Considering the ‘rona is getting worse outside our very windows as we speak (type?), I think it’s correct to be concerned about your future right now.

Looking at these narrow streets reminds me of going to eat hotpot at the end of my Japan trip…only Japanese streets look like that, I think. Hong Kong’s streets are more crowded than that and America likes their suburbia.

Of course, when you say hajimemashite (nice to meet you), someone’s gotta say it back, hence the reply.

Considering there are people all over the world watching the Idolish7 anime, I would say you are telling the world about I7, Riku.

Oh! Restart Pointer! There was an MV for that one…I think it was around the time Idolish7’s MVs started getting better.

So this is the context around the new outfits! Cool!

There have been way too many puns about “idol” being…y’know, “ai (love) doll” and stuff like that…

I have one Twitter person who I follow (DejiNyucu, part of the creative team for Autumn’s Journey) because I don’t get much I7 content and they keep mentioning this “Haruki” person…and suddenly a “Haruki the Betrayer” showed up in the graffiti…they might be the same person, I think. Not Deji, but Haruki. Update: Sakura Haruki, perhaps…?

Sougo’s such a bad liar…

Sometimes, the best way to deal with things is to be direct…(I’m not very good at that, I naturally talk in a very roundabout sort of way.)

Sougo with long hair like Yuki would be really pretty… (<- has an obvious thing for guys with long hair)

Idolish7 s2 12

Nagi’s stupid accent is generally what he’s best remembered for (for me), so seeing him speak normally, and do a press conference on top of that, is…impressive.

A kabedon on top of all this! Whoa!

Shibuya 109 parody…? (I’ve seen that once or twice – parodying that means people know their stuff about Shibuya.)

I think the “it’s overflowing!” is referring to the hype in the “room”.

…this dejected Momo is worrying…(well, he is worrying and I am worrying about him.)

Oh, I see. The person responsible typed the letter so that they couldn’t be traced back. Kind of like those old movies where the culprit would cut letters out of newspapers to make threat mail, but…with even less traces than that, because cutting letters out leaves evidence.

…wow, it took a while for this ep. to have an intro…

…LOL, I just spotted Kenjiro Tsuda cited as the “fake Zero”, meaning the real one might never show up this season.

There’s something really stupid and infectious about these managers’ enthusiasm for drinking energy drinks. It puts a goofy smile on my face.

Is Musubi Tsumugi’s mother…? Update: Yes, she is.

…Wait, so the Chiba Shizuo guy is actually important?!

Idolish7 s2 13

Whenever someone says “by the way”, it means they’re changing the subject. I hate to state to obvious, but Sougo is clearly deflecting the topic of conversation from being about him.

I wonder if this guy (Haw9) is the actual Zero graffiti vandal…?

Hmph, I didn’t realise Tenn doesn’t refer to Kujo-san as his father, but…like that (“Kujo-san”) instead.

Oh hey! These are shots from Vibrato!

Most dramas can be solved with the power of Good Communication. That includes this one.

I feel like “he has a dark side” describes both Tenn and Kujo-san.

“Everyone, remember to wash your hands and gargle thoroughly.” – This is always a good thing to remember in the time of ‘rona. Reminds me of Jakurai’s line in ARB (<- this game started just after the ‘rona came down).

What did Sougo go to uni for (what specialisation)?

Idolish7 s2 14

I just realised Banri calls Momo -kun. Hmm…

Denki = electricity, LOL.

I feel like Tenn is basically Ramuda, give or take actual pink hair…guys in musical groups with pre-existing angst that they become the “centre” of. The fact Fling Posse have Saito Soma and so do Trigger strengthens the connection.

I would watch the heck out of a musical like that! Make it come true, Idolish7! (Also, today is I7 day! I’m not much of an I7 fan outside the anime, but…that’s cool!)

That shot of them jumping! I remember seeing it on the official site before!

Idolish7 s2 15 (FINAL)

There you go! I was wondering where Banri’s injury was – that was the only bit that didn’t add up for him to be Yuki’s old partner.

Hmm…Momo is 4 years younger than Yuki but 2 years younger than Banri…

This episode has a real concert vibe to it, to the point where I got startled by how loud the yell was at one point. (Even if it is mostly stills.)

LOL, lookit Okazaki!

Apparently, if you’re a hako oshi, you like all the members of a group. Someone with a green light and a pink light likes both members of Re:vale.

LOL, Usagi for Asahi beer.

…I forgot Nagi is 19.

…Ooh, I think that’s the kid from ZOOL. No wonder they needed a season 3!

That’s all. See you next time!

SLS 2

“fine and upstanding person” – That’s…hard to believe, Hayato.

I wonder how many bois Toboso designed for SLS…?

…The episode title is actually “Blank”. Not “Break”.

One of the guys’ shirts says moteki on it. That’s a period in one’s life where one enjoys more romantic attention than usual, literally “popularity season”.

The subs missed an I, so initially I knew Kiriyama’s name as “Kiryama”.

There are meant to be 2 wings, right…?

“He who controls information controls everything, right?” – For once, I’m surprised Hayato is right (and not just in that smug way of his).

“…I’m being treated like a manager.” – But Hayato is a manager! (In a sense.)

The plait guy jumps to nicknames really fast…also, why do I get the feeling Maeshima will lose the key?

I hate to say this Maeshima, but I side with your childhood friend (Kiriyama) here. As much as the anime wants me to back you, I’m watching for everyone else at this point.

That blocky building looks pretty cool. I think Zel (Archi-Anime) would like it.

Sasugai’s setup looks pretty cool, including his chair.

…hmm, Maeshima’s like me in a sense. I learn best by copying others, but memory is my best asset. If I don’t regularly train the fundamentals, I suck at everything. That said, I don’t have an eidetic memory. Also, I didn’t quite figure out Ken = Ken(sei Maeshima) until I watched long enough to connect the dots.

LOL, Derry’s. (<- reminded of a word for “butt” <- derriere)

Well, the guy’s (Souta…?) shirt does say moteki…

Kiriyama kinda looks like Jyuto (HypMic), come to think of it…Right down to his angry streak (although Jyuto has a reputation to keep as a “cool dude”, while Kiriyama is more of a Manza (Boueibu HK) and he’s more angry than he looks).

…This ED is nothing special.

…Hmm? Is that a small Terauchi and Maeshima…?

I think I’m sold for now, but I’m rooting for the other team, not Maeshima’s…not yet, anyways.

#simulcast commentary #skate-leading☆stars #idolish7 #Idolish7 Second Beat!#Maou-jou de Oyasumi #sleepy princess in the demon castle #Chesarka watches I7 #Chesarka watches Maou-jou

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